News reporting focused on AI and machine learning, covering the companies behind these technologies, their real-world applications, and the ethical concerns they raise. This includes areas like generative AI (large language models, text-to-image and video), speech tech, and predictive analytics.
NVIDIA's Vera Rubin platform is ramping up with 300 global partners, delivering 10x more tokens per megawatt than Grace Blackwell NVL72 in benchmarks. CoreWeave, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Mistral are among early adopters. The platform's extreme co-design across seven chips and five rack trays achieves the highest performance per watt and lowest token cost for AI factories.
Alphabet is developing a new server chip internally called Frozen v2, expected in 2028, to make its Gemini AI models up to 10 times more efficient than current Google AI chips. The chip aims to address AI computing shortages and reduce reliance on Nvidia, boosting investor confidence ahead of earnings.
General Compute, an AI inference cloud startup, secured a $400 million loan from Upper90, marking what may be the first deal to use inference-specific chips as collateral. The financing signals growing market demand for cost-efficient AI infrastructure that runs open-source models, as investors seek alternatives to expensive GPU-based systems.
Google has placed an order with Intel to manufacture over three million AI chips for 2028, while Nvidia is testing Intel's manufacturing process for its next-generation Feynman GPU architecture. The moves come as TSMC struggles to keep pace with surging demand for AI chips, giving Intel's foundry business a rare second chance after years of losses. Memory maker SK Hynix is also evaluating Intel's packaging technology.
SpaceX revealed in a regulatory filing that Google will pay $920 million per month for AI computing power, totaling about $30 billion over the contract's duration. The deal grants Google access to 110,000 Nvidia AI chips and comes as SpaceX prepares for a blockbuster initial public offering next week, with a potential valuation exceeding $1.7 trillion.
A shortage of memory chips, driven by soaring demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI data centers, is forcing consumer electronics prices higher. HBM consumes three times the wafer capacity of standard memory, and its allocation is set to jump from 2% to 20% by 2026. The shift is already hitting sub-$100 smartphones hardest.
Nvidia chief Jensen Huang boarded Air Force One in Alaska with President Trump for a trip to Beijing after a last-minute invitation. Trump called Huang on Tuesday morning following reports of his absence from the business leaders list. Huang has pushed for a year to sell AI chips to China amid ongoing tensions over such sales.
Amp, a startup in Menlo Park, California, has secured more than $1.3 billion to build a global pool of specialized computer chips for AI training. Founded by Anjney Midha, the company aims to provide access to computing power for startups, universities, and others excluded by tech giants like Amazon, Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI. Investors include Andreessen Horowitz and Y Combinator, with partners such as Periodic Labs and ElevenLabs joining the effort.
The trial pitting Elon Musk against OpenAI has begun, promising messy revelations about AI's early days and profits. Vergecast features Liz Lopatto on the case details and Sean Hollister on Framework's new repairable laptop. Discussion also covers new chips boosting small laptops like the Surface Go.
Chinese AI company DeepSeek launched a preview of its V4 model, featuring longer prompt handling and open-source access. The model offers strong performance at low costs, a 1 million token context window, and optimization for Chinese chips like Huawei's Ascend. It builds on R1's success while addressing efficiency and hardware independence.
Weiyao Wang left Meta after eight years to join Thinking Machines Lab, following a multibillion-dollar cloud deal with Google. The AI startup now accesses Nvidia GB300 chips and competes with giants like Anthropic and Meta. Talent moves both ways as TML hires from Meta while Meta poaches its founders.
Meta has agreed to deploy millions of AWS Graviton chips to meet its expanding AI demands, Amazon announced. These ARM-based CPUs target workloads from AI agents, such as real-time reasoning and multi-step tasks. The move pulls Meta's spending back to AWS after a prior large Google Cloud commitment.