2026-W34

openai's q2 losses widen as anthropic posts first

Thursday, August 20, 2026Sent to 557 subscribers

This Week in AI

OpenAI's Q2 Losses Widen as Anthropic Posts First Operating Profit

OpenAI's Q2 2026 revenue grew 18% sequentially to $6.7 billion, but operating losses widened to $12.3 billion, while rival Anthropic posted its first operating profit of $559 million on $11.6 billion revenue. The contrast highlights OpenAI's slowing growth and rising costs ahead of its anticipated IPO, with analysts warning of broader tech sector risks if OpenAI fails to meet growth targets.

Industry

OpenAI Expands Ads Pilot to 31 European Markets as Revenue Climbs

OpenAI is expanding its advertising pilot to 31 new European markets, including Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, as ad revenue grows over 25% since August 2025. With ChatGPT now reaching one billion weekly users and 20% showing commercial intent, the company is positioning itself as a major player in digital advertising. The move, announced on August 19, 2025, signals a strategic push beyond subscriptions.

AI Tools

Anthropic Fixes 36-Minute Outage Hitting Five Claude Services

Anthropic resolved a 36-minute outage on August 16, 2026, that disrupted five Claude services, including claude.ai, the API, and Claude Code. Users faced sign-in failures and stalled requests before a fix was deployed. The incident was the fourteenth on the status page in two weeks, though 90-day uptime remains above 99% for all components.

Industry

New Mexico Court Rules Meta's Platforms Are a Public Nuisance in Historic Decision

A New Mexico state court ruled that Meta Platforms' social media networks constitute a public nuisance, marking the first successful public nuisance charge against a social media company. The court ordered Meta to pay $567 million into an abatement fund for harm to teenagers. Legal experts say the precedent could extend to AI chatbots, with a similar lawsuit already filed against OpenAI in Florida.

Industry

Microsoft Patches Critical Copilot Flaw Eight Months After Report

Microsoft patched a critical vulnerability in personal Copilot, dubbed CoSnitch, eight months after it was reported by Varonis. The flaw allowed one-click data exfiltration via three chained exploits, including automatic prompt execution and memory poisoning. Microsoft says enterprise customers are unaffected, but analysts warn of risks in mixed environments.

Industry

OpenAI, HubSpot Buy Creator Media Outlets to Own Audiences, Not Just Rent Them

OpenAI and HubSpot have acquired creator-led media outlets TBPN and Futurepedia, respectively, signaling a strategic shift from renting attention via sponsorships to owning audiences outright. The deals highlight the growing value of direct audience relationships and distribution as feeder systems for corporate goals, from AI communication to software sales.

AI Models

Meta AI Research Open-Sources Muse Glimmer, a 30B-Parameter Local Agentic Model

Meta AI Research has open-sourced Muse Glimmer, a 30B-parameter agentic model designed for always-on local workflows. Released under Apache 2.0, it runs on consumer GPUs via dynamic quantisation and speculative decoding, offering strong tool-use reliability and failure recovery. The model supports multimodal inputs and is available across major local inference frameworks.

Product Launch

LG and NVIDIA Sign Multi-Track Robotics and AI Agreement

LG Corp. and NVIDIA have signed a multi-track agreement covering robotics, AI factories, and automotive technology. The partnership includes the development of a next-generation bipedal humanoid robot built on NVIDIA's Isaac GR00T foundation model, targeted for unveiling in Q1 2027. The agreement also outlines an AI factory reference site, an 80 MW facility in Cheonan, and an automotive track on NVIDIA's DRIVE Hyperion platform.

Developer

llm-gemini 0.33 Adds Gemini 3.7 Flash and LLM 0.32 Support

Simon Willison released llm-gemini 0.33, adding support for Google's Gemini 3.7 Flash and other new models. The update brings compatibility with LLM 0.32, enabling terminal reasoning traces and server-side tools. The release also highlights browser-specific SVG rendering differences that affect how the model's image outputs appear.

Industry

Florida Sues OpenAI and Sam Altman Over AI Chatbot Harms

Florida has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging that their AI chatbots, including ChatGPT and GPT-5, constitute a public nuisance harming the state's nearly 24 million residents. The complaint, filed on June 1, 2026, seeks monetary damages and injunctive relief, citing mental health issues, economic costs, and deceptive practices. The case could reshape state-level AI regulation.

Industry

Norway's $2 Trillion Fund Should Buy OpenAI, Guest Post Argues

A guest post by Zachary Jones proposes that Norway's $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund purchase OpenAI to manage it for the benefit of humanity. The article argues that AI's rapid advancement and concentration of power necessitate public ownership, citing Norway's moral credibility and the fund's financial capacity. Despite practical obstacles, the proposal aims to expand the Overton Window on AI governance.

Industry

Google Cuts Pixel 11 Pro AI Trial to Six Months, Adds Three Costly Catches

Google has reduced the free Google AI Pro trial bundled with the Pixel 11 Pro from 12 months to six months, cutting the perk's value by $119.94. The change applies across the Pixel 11 Pro lineup and introduces three costly catches, including losing the trial if upgrading to AI Ultra, auto-renewal before the next flagship launch, and termination of existing promos when redeeming new ones. The Pixel 10 Pro still offers the full 12-month trial, making it a viable alternative for shoppers.

AI Models

Z.ai Releases GLM-5.3 With Big Coding and Cyber Gains, Open Weights Coming in Two Weeks

Z.ai released GLM-5.3 on August 14, 2026, with major improvements in coding and cybersecurity, achieved through scaled-up post-training rather than architecture changes. The model shows significant gains on long-horizon benchmarks like Terminal-Bench 3.0 and DeepSWE, and unexpectedly strong cyber exploitation capabilities. Open weights will be released in about two weeks after safety evaluation.

AI Tools

Pony.ai and Uber to Deploy 2,000+ Robotaxis Across Europe

Pony.ai and Uber announced on August 13, 2026, an expansion of their partnership to deploy over 2,000 robotaxis across Europe, building on the first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb, Croatia. The multi-city rollout will follow a joint-deployment model, with Pony.ai providing technology, Uber handling platform services, and local partners managing fleets. Each new market will require regulatory approval, with further expansion planned for the Middle East.

Industry

Unitree Robotics Soars 629% on Shanghai Debut, Founder Wang Xingxing Now Worth $16 Billion

Unitree Robotics shares surged as much as 629% on their Shanghai debut, making founder Wang Xingxing a billionaire with a net worth of $16 billion. The IPO raised 6.1 billion yuan, with retail demand oversubscribed by over 5,500 times. Despite geopolitical risks from a U.S. ban on Chinese humanoids, the company's revenue grew over 300% last year, and it continues to innovate with products like the high-speed 'Superman' robot and the GD01 transformable robot.