OpenAI and Anthropic Build Beyond Token Margin
Across 18 months, OpenAI acquired Ona for Codex and partnered with Visa while Anthropic committed $150 million to fellowships and leased data-center capacity directly. Both are building around the expectation that model output gets cheaper.
Anthropic backtracks on its decision to quietly limit Fable 5's ability to develop LLMs, saying “requests will visibly fall back to Opus 4.8”, after backlash
The company changed course after researchers spoke out against the policy, which would have covertly limited Claude's ability to develop competing AI models.
Google introduces DiffusionGemma, an experimental 26B-parameter open model that uses text diffusion for faster text generation compared to autoregressive models
Our newest open experimental model delivers up to 4x faster inference on dedicated GPUs and opens the door to exploring speed-critical, interactive local workflows.
Sources: Microsoft's Xbox division is planning major layoffs next month and significant budget cuts for marketing and some other areas
Asha Sharma's first major cuts will arrive in July — Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox division is planning major job cuts next month as new Chief Executive …
Dario Amodei outlines policy responses to AI's exponential progress across regulation and public safety, macroeconomics and taxes, science, geopolitics, more
In one of the side plots to The Lord of the Rings, two of the Hobbits attempt to rouse Treebeard—a wise but ponderous sentient tree …
SpaceX raises $75B in the biggest-ever IPO, pricing 555.6M shares at $135 each, giving it a market value of $1.77T
SpaceX has made history with the biggest-ever IPO, launching it into the top ranks of the largest public companies and putting founder Elon Musk on the verge of becoming the world's first trillionaire...
The FBI seizes 13 domains allegedly tied to fake consulting firms that sought information from US government and military employees for suspected Chinese agents
Federal authorities announced on Wednesday the seizure of 13 internet domains tied to what the U.S. Justice Department called …
Canada introduces the Safe Social Media Act, a bill that would ban social media for children under 16 and establish safety standards for AI chatbots
The Canadian government introduced a new digital safety bill on Wednesday that would ban social media for children under 16 with exemptions …
Instagram expands Your Algorithm to its main feed, letting users choose topics they want to see, and is working to support requests for people, moods, and more
Adam Mosseri wants AI to give users a sense of control over recommendations. — Instagram is going to let you tweak …
CISA shortens the deadline for US agencies to fix, disable, or remove vulnerable software or equipment in their networks to three days, citing hackers' AI use
The U.S. cyber defense agency said on Wednesday that government officials now have three days to deal with the most serious categories …
Sources: OpenAI is considering drastically lowering the prices it charges users for tokens in anticipation of similar cuts the startup expects Anthropic to make
The company might lower prices for tokens, the central unit for gauging AI costs, though the discussions are still in flux
Letter: Texas Governor Greg Abbott released regulatory recommendations for state lawmakers to ensure that data centers shoulder the costs of their growth
The recommendations for legislative action amount to a striking call for industry regulation by the Republican governor in a state …
Product head Alex Benzer says Bluesky in 2026 plans to add “communities”, smaller spaces to “go deeper and hang out with people who care about the same stuff”
They're set to launch sometime this year. They're set to launch sometime this year.
US OPM awards a nearly $400M, 10-year IT contract to Oracle to build a secure, cloud-based, government-wide system for agencies to manage their HR capabilities
The nearly $400 million, 10-year contract is expected to deliver a single, governmentwide system for agencies to manage their human resources capabilities.
Ted Cruz and Ron Wyden introduce the JAWBONE Act, which would let Americans sue federal officials who try to coerce broadcasters or platforms to censor speech
US Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today introduced the JAWBONE Act, a proposed law that could fuel lawsuits …
Europol says it has dismantled the AudiA6 crypto mixing service, which allegedly laundered $380M+ for ransomware actors and others between 2022 and 2025
Law enforcement has dismantled the “AudiA6” cryptocurrency service allegedly used by ransomware actors and other cybercriminals to launder more than $380 million.
YouTube rolls out a new in-app messaging system for sharing videos and having 1:1 conversations; it discontinued its previous Messages feature in September 2019
After testing got underway last year, YouTube is now more widely rolling out a new in-app messaging system.
Amazon secures a $17.5B loan from Citigroup and other banks, after selling CA$14B in bonds on June 8, the largest corporate debt offering in Canadian dollars
Soon after selling the biggest Canadian corporate bond sale on record, Amazon.com Inc. inked another multi-billion dollar financing …
Oracle reports Q4 revenue up 21% YoY to $19.18B, vs. $19.1B est., and expects to raise nearly $40B in debt and equity financing in FY 2027; ORCL drops 10%+
Oracle (ORCL.N) reported fourth-quarter revenue that narrowly beat Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, amid growing concerns …
Sources: Sam Altman told staff that OpenAI is expected to go public “within the next year” and OpenAI plans a tender offer “very soon” at a $687.69 share price
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told staff in a Slack message on Monday that he expects OpenAI to go public …
Elon Musk is busy stoking far-right culture wars across the West on the eve of SpaceX's IPO, with an impunity unmatched in modern corporate history
Elon Musk is on the verge of financial immortality: The world's richest man — and potentially its first trillionaire …
OpenAI says it has banned China-linked accounts that used ChatGPT to draft social media influence campaigns targeting US debates over tariffs and data centers
OpenAI has banned China-linked accounts that used ChatGPT to draft social media influence campaigns targeting U.S. debates …
OpenAI and Visa partner to let AI agents make purchases online after users give their permission and to explore enterprise applications for AI-driven payments
OpenAI and Visa Inc. are now allowing artificial-intelligence agents to make purchases online after users give their permission …
The US House fails to extend FISA's Section 702, ensuring the warrantless surveillance program will expire for the first time since its 2008 enactment
Nineteen Republicans also voted to reject a punt of Section 702, which allows U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on targets abroad without a warrant.
London's Met Police calls on tech companies to make stolen phones unusable and says it is sharing data with Apple to build a “global picture” of stolen devices
Applied Materials opens a $500M chip equipment manufacturing campus in Singapore, where ~50% of its production capacity will live; the other half is in the US
SINGAPORE — Top U.S. chip equipment maker Applied Materials has opened a $500 million manufacturing campus in Singapore …
Coinbase launches an AI agent that can execute trades and pay for premium research; users can give it access to their main account or have it operate separately
As AI agent traffic surpasses human traffic on the internet, companies working in commerce and finance are building tools …
Opendoor shuts down its India operations and lays off nearly 250 employees, the final phase of a restructuring that includes increasing AI workflows in the US
Affected employees will receive severance pay, outplacement services and transition support, while a small group will remain temporarily …
Former a16z GP John O'Farrell criticizes the AI industry and his ex-partners for spending hundreds of millions to fight regulation, calling it “a huge mistake”
I first came to America from Ireland in 1984, as a young engineer about to attend business school.
Citigroup launches a blockchain-based platform for wealthy and institutional clients to trade tokenized shares of private firms, initially for foreign investors
Bank hopes other financial institutions will become involved — Citigroup is establishing a way for its wealthy …
Cybersecurity researchers complain that Claude Fable 5's guardrails are too restrictive, rejecting “innocuous tasks” like reading blog posts or reviewing code
Researchers say that the new LLM basically blocks anything related to cybersecurity, including code reviews and prompts asking for help writing secure code.
Adobe reports Q2 revenue up 13% YoY to $6.62B, vs. $6.46B est., and raises its annual forecasts; CFO Dan Durn is leaving for Marvell; ADBE drops 5%+ after hours
Adobe (ADBE.O) raised its annual revenue and profit forecasts on Thursday, but the sudden exit of CFO Dan Durn added to concerns …
The Workers' Daily, the official mouthpiece of China's umbrella trade union, urges regulators to protect worker rights and strengthen oversight amid the AI boom
China's AI Boom Risks Job Losses, Regulatory Concerns — China's rapid adoption of artificial intelligence in the workplace …
Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, commits $50M to help train 300K+ skilled trade workers across the US, amid a shortage of workers for AI projects
Google is committing $50 million to help train more than 300,000 skilled trade workers across the U.S. Why it matters …
Amazon says its data centers used ~2.5B gallons of water in 2025, or 0.12 liters of water per kWh, and water use at sites it owns and operates fell 2% from 2024
The company said water use at sites it owns and operates directly fell 2% from 2024 levels, even while it expanded its data-center footprint
Jeff Bezos' Prometheus, which is building AI models for physical tasks, raised a $12B Series B at a $41B valuation, following a $6.2B Series A
Prometheus, the industrial AI startup led by Jeff Bezos and former Google exec Vik Bajaj, today will announce that it's raised $12 billion in Series B funding at a $41 billion valuation.
Sources: Meta has completed an operational split with Manus and stopped data sharing; Manus is exploring options, including raising ~$1B to fund a buyback
Meta Platforms Inc. has completed an operational split from Manus and halted data sharing between the two companies …
A German court rules that Google is directly liable for what AI Overviews say after AI Overviews falsely tied two publishers to shady business practices
Sources: Microsoft is limiting Claude Fable 5 use internally due to Anthropic's 30-day data retention rules, due to customer data and confidential info concerns
Claude Fable 5 introduces our 5th model generation for your most ambitious work.Juby Babu /Reuters:Microsoft limits employee use of Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 over data retention concerns, The Verge r...
The CFTC proposes prediction market rules, seeking the ability to ban bets it finds aren't in the public interest or may be highly susceptible to manipulation
Memo: Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and CCO Matt Booty warn of an “Xbox reset” over the next 100 days, citing annual revenue down nearly $500M over the past five years
www.theverge.com/games/948142...Tom Warren /@tomwarren.co.uk:BREAKING: Xbox warns of a “reset” as it prepares for layoffs. Sources tell me there are major Xbox layoffs coming next month, and the cuts...
Alibaba's and JD.com's stocks fell ~6.5% and ~6% after China reprimanded e-commerce companies over false advertising during the annual “618” shopping festival
Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JD.com Inc. slid after Chinese regulators scolded leading e-commerce players …
Anthropic donates $150M to launch Claude Corps, a fellowship program that will hire 1,000 fellows trained in the use of Claude and embed them at US nonprofits
Anthropic will donate $150 million to launch a fellowship program that places coaches with nonprofits around the country to help …
A teardown reveals the Trump Mobile T1 is a gold-painted HTC U24 Pro but features some changes, including memory from Micron instead of SK Hynix
In case you missed it, there is now a Trump phone. Yes, really. And this week, we got to take it apart. — A couple of weeks ago I got …
Hungary says it will decriminalize crypto trading, in a reversal of PM Viktor Orban's restrictions, which prompted Revolut and others to suspend their services
Hungary will decriminalize crypto trading in a reversal of restrictions introduced under former leader Viktor Orban.
DoorDash launches an in-app AI chatbot to let users order food and groceries and make reservations with photos and prompts
DoorDash is bringing artificial intelligence deeper into the user experience, allowing customers to order food and make reservations with photos and prompts.
Deezer launches an AI music detection tool for users of 20 services, including Spotify and Apple Music, after no company licensed its AI detection tech
Since the competition won't buy their tech, they're bringing it directly to users. … Deezer will now scan your playlists …
Waymo launches Waymo Premier, a $30-per-month membership program offering perks like skipping the line, 10% cashback, and five free ride cancellations per month
Waymo is launching a loyalty program called Waymo Premier, which will offer frequent robotaxi riders a number of perks in exchange for $29.99 per month.
Digital Asset, which builds Canton Network, a public blockchain with privacy features, raised $355M, including $100M from a16z crypto
Blockchain builder Digital Asset Holdings LLC raised $355 million in a new funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz's main crypto fund …
Anthropic releases two policy proposals on how governments should address catastrophic risks from powerful AI models and how to prepare workers for AI's impact
AI is advancing at exponential speed, and the policymaking process was built for a slower world. — We are sharing two policy proposals to prepare for AI progress.
Senator Maggie Hassan's report: Spotify removed 3,500 podcast accounts and 57,000 episodes promoting illegal online pharmacies between May and November 2025
Spotify has removed tens of thousands of phony podcasts promoting illegal online pharmacies, a new investigation has found …
Google Quantum AI's COO says Google declined the US government's quantum computing grant funding because the attached “conditions” would have slowed its work
Google didn't take funding from the Trump administration for quantum computing because of “conditions” …
Sources: Google is in talks with Samsung to manufacture a memory input-output die for Icefish, its 10th-generation TPU, and TSMC will make the computing engine
Google is considering giving Samsung Electronics a crucial role in making a component of one of its most advanced future AI chips …
KKR launches Helix Digital, a new company to finance AI infrastructure, with $10B+ in committed capital from Nvidia, the Kuwait Investment Authority, and others
Artificial intelligence has become so big that building the models is no longer the hardest part.
Nvidia and Abridge, maker of an AI note-taking app for doctors, are training an AI model for clinical conversations using de-identified data and Nemotron models
The chip giant is joining with the maker of AI note-taking technology to train a model tailored for clinical conversations
South Korea fines US-listed Coupang ~$409M for its inadequate safety system and “negligent management” that led to a data breach affecting nearly 34M accounts
Sources: SpaceX's IPO has attracted over $100B in orders from retail investors, who are expected to be allocated at least 20% of the available shares
SpaceX's initial public offering has attracted more than $70 billion in orders from retail investors, according to people familiar with the matter …
Barcelona-based Theker, which is building AI-powered robots for industrial environments, raised $85M led by CRV, with Samsung, LVMH, and others participating
Theker, a Barcelona-based AI robotics company, has raised $85 million in a fundraising round, it said on Thursday, highlighting ongoing growth in the Spanish tech sector.
Dario Amodei says he doesn't know what role Claude played in a missile strike on an Iranian school, and its use in this instance didn't violate Anthropic's ToS
Coram AI, which helps organizations use AI with their existing security equipment to find incidents, raised a $35M Series B, bringing its total funding to $66M
Most security cameras are useful only after something has gone wrong. Coram AI wants to change that.
OpenAI acquires Ona, which offers cloud services to support AI agents, and plans to bring Ona's team into its Codex effort
OpenAI has agreed to acquire Ona, a startup that offers cloud services to support artificial intelligence agents, part of a bid by the AI developer to make its technology more useful for businesses.
PhoenixAI, formerly CelerData, which is building what it calls an agentic AI-ready analytical database, raised an $80M Series B led by Sky9
PhoenixAI Inc., formerly known as CelerData, today announced it raised $80 million in new funding to fuel the development of the company's artificial …
Agentic workplace startup Genspark raised a $100M Series B extension at a $2.6B post-money valuation, up 63% in just three months; it has raised $645M+ to date
Agentic workplace startup Genspark raised $100 million in Series B extension funding at a $2.6 billion post-money valuation, co-founder Wen Sang tells Axios Pro exclusively.
Analysis: Conservative and Reform UK MPs have increased their volume of posts on X since Elon Musk's takeover, while center-left politicians have reduced theirs
Majority of Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians are on alternative social media platform Bluesky, report shows
Polish lawmakers pass legislation imposing prison sentences of up to five years for “trash streaming” of violent crimes, gambling promotion, and more
Polish lawmakers voted on Thursday to crack down on so-called ‘trash streaming’, imposing jail terms of up to five years …
Sources: Alibaba replaced DingTalk CEO Chen Hang with Chen Yusen after an internal debate over the enterprise communication app's role in Alibaba's AI strategy
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has replaced the head of its Dingtalk app, making a high-profile leadership change after an internal debate erupted …
Anthropic secretly limiting Claude's usefulness for LLM development strengthens the argument that Anthropic is using AI safety to justify monopolistic behavior
Dean W. Ball /@deanwball:
Crusoe said it had “paused” a plan to build a Wyoming data center; sources: it failed to win customers including Google amid concerns about costs and timetable
On Tuesday, the data center developer Crusoe announced that it had “paused” a plan to build an AI campus in Wyoming …
Tesla has just 59 vehicles in its robotaxi fleet and is limited to three Texas cities after almost a year, nowhere close to Elon Musk's big promises
LinkedIn debuts its first creator marketplace, in North America, allowing some marketers to search for creators by topic and view “creators cards” with metrics
FSB-orchestrated internet outages in Russia, intermittent but indiscriminate, have made one of the world's most online nations resort to cash and paper maps
As AI commoditizes benchmarkable work, an organization's lasting moats lie in tasks that are verifiable through its private data and judgment
Chinese companies are implementing “quiet” AI-driven layoffs to avoid labor laws that require government approval for job cuts exceeding 10% of a workforce
Liu, a Hangzhou-based contractor at a large Chinese internet firm, says her employer began quietly firing contractors …
Sources: Anthropic signed 12+ initial agreements for direct data center leases, a first for the company, with Google potentially providing a financial guarantee
Anthropic is moving forward with a plan to control its own servers for developing AI, giving it the ability to cut its computing costs in the long run.
Sources: Germany's Neura Robotics, which builds AI-powered humanoid robots, raised $1.4B from Tether, Qualcomm, Amazon, Nvidia, and others at a ~$7B valuation
Dario Amodei says frontier models should face mandatory third-party testing for cyber, bio, and autonomy risks, in addition to overall transparency requirements
While Releasing Powerful AIThe Economic Times:AI risks are here, time for tough rules: Anthropic CEO Dario AmodeiAman Gupta /Livemint:Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wants AI models regulated like airplane...
Apollo Global has built a risk assessment framework that categorizes software investments into 12 to 14 sectors to rank them by susceptibility to AI disruption
Apollo Global Management Inc. is assessing every new investment opportunity in the software industry for AI disruption risk …
South Korea fines US-listed Coupang ~$409M for its inadequate safety system and “negligent management” that led to a data breach affecting nearly 34M accounts
Barcelona-based Theker, which is building AI-powered robots for industrial environments, raised $85M led by CRV, with Samsung, LVMH, and others participating
Theker, an AI robotics firm from Barcelona, has secured $85 million in new funding. This investment was led by CRV and included major players like Samsung and LVMH.
Alex Karp says Palantir's enterprise customers are “unhappy” with how the frontier labs are operating, believing the labs only care about tokenmaxxing
Interfax: Russia restored access to Roblox after concluding the company had complied with local legal requirements; Russia had banned Roblox in December
Some investors question SpaceX's projected $1.77T valuation, citing its $4.3B loss on $4.7B in revenue in Q1, concerns over space data centers, and more
Elon Musk's rocket company is spending big and losing money. That has raised questions about whether it can justify its valuation for its blockbuster initial public offering.
Survey: 53% of Americans fear AI could put someone in their household out of work; Democrats are more likely than Republicans to worry about AI's impact on jobs
Sources: BlackRock put in an order to buy at least $5B worth of SpaceX shares; SpaceX received an over $1B request from a single family-office investor
Other large asset managers made similarly eye-popping requests — Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing to stage the largest public offering ever …
CameraMatics, which uses AI to help fleet operators improve safety, reduce operational risk, and lower carbon emissions, raised €49M
Sources: Sea's Shopee is cutting hundreds of developer jobs globally; the reductions started this week and amount to about 8% of Shopee's developer workforce
New York-based Jedify, whose platform connects to enterprises' knowledge sources via APIs to build a “context graph” for AI agents, raised a $24M Series A
Poetic, which aims to use AI to automate tasks like financial compliance, emerges from stealth with $50M in funding from OpenAI and others at a $500M valuation
Sources: Founders Fund's ~3% stake in SpaceX is now worth $50B+, after investing $600M; a16z will get the biggest return in its history, with a $10B+ stake
A small number of firms are set to net tens of billions of dollars in returns from SpaceX's initial public offering …