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.
The release of Kimi, a free open-source model from Chinese company Moonshot, has sparked public infighting among current and former Trump administration AI advisors. The model's capabilities rival those of paid US models from OpenAI and Anthropic, creating economic and political tensions. Disagreements have emerged over whether the government should restrict open-source competition or let market forces decide.
Anthropic now spends 2.3 times its payroll on AI compute, equating to $515,000 per engineer each year against a fully-loaded salary of $224,000. In contrast, the top 1% of software companies spend $89,000 per engineer and the median spends only $137. Three scenarios for 2029 explore how this gap may close, driven by token deflation, agentic workloads, and open-weight model competition.
Thibault Sottiaux, the engineer behind OpenAI's fast-growing Codex product, has been appointed head of core products. He now oversees the ambitious plan to transform ChatGPT into a personalized AI super app that handles tasks across personal and professional life. The move comes as OpenAI shuts down other initiatives and races toward an IPO amid intense competition.
Valentina Palmiotti, known as Chompie, won top prizes at the Pwn2Own hacking competition in Berlin but says AI models like Anthropic's Claude Mythos are so powerful that even champion ethical hackers will soon struggle to compete. She predicts the window for human bug bounty hunters is closing, though some peers remain optimistic about human creativity.
Phoronix benchmark results show NVIDIA's Vera CPU, powered by custom Olympus cores, delivers strong performance in agentic AI workloads. The 88-core processor achieved up to 1.5x overall performance advantage over a latest-generation 128-core x86 chip, with 1.2TB/s memory bandwidth and 90% sustained peak bandwidth. Vera compiled a Linux kernel in 20 seconds and showed a 1.6x geometric mean increase over the Grace CPU. Memory efficiency is notable with under 30W memory power versus over 100W for DDR5.
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek announced it will permanently apply a 75% discount on its flagship V4-Pro model, a price cut originally scheduled to expire at the end of May. The move is expected to intensify competition in the global AI market as Chinese firms aggressively court developers with lower pricing.
AI video startup Runway, founded by artists from NYU, shifts focus from tools for filmmakers to world models trained on video data. The company aims to surpass language-based AI leaders like Google by building systems that understand the physical world directly. Valued at $5.3 billion with $40 million in Q2 2026 recurring revenue, Runway faces tough competition but leverages its unique origins and recent funding.
Anthropic is discussing a new funding round of $30 billion to $50 billion that could value the AI startup at $950 billion, up from $380 billion three months ago. The company recently launched the Mythos AI model and faces tensions with the Pentagon while reporting a $30 billion revenue run rate. Deals with Google and Amazon provide additional support amid fierce competition.
Anthropic has partnered with Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, and other investors to launch a new firm that assists companies in integrating its AI model Claude. The venture includes $300 million each from Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman, plus $150 million from Goldman Sachs. This move highlights growing Wall Street interest in AI amid competition and upcoming IPOs.
The Musk v. Altman jury trial in California federal court has started to reveal key exhibits from OpenAI's early days. Emails from 2015 show initial plans, tensions over control, and structure debates. Documents include incorporation papers, funding talks, and concerns about competition with Google DeepMind.
A federal judge in the OpenAI trial ruled against discussing artificial intelligence as an existential threat to humanity, despite Elon Musk's longstanding concerns. Musk testified for a third day on Thursday in the monthlong case. The decision limits arguments from Musk's lawyers who seek to highlight global risks over business competition.
Microsoft and OpenAI have changed their agreement to lessen mutual reliance during the intense global AI competition. Microsoft keeps licensing rights to OpenAI's technology until 2032 but loses exclusivity. This shift allows OpenAI to work with other cloud providers while paying Microsoft a capped revenue share.