Homechevron_rightArchives

Archives

Explore Stories by Date

11 Feb 2026

Anthropic pledges to cover electricity costs driven by its AI data centers

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei announced the company will pay 100% of grid upgrade costs and cover electricity price increases caused by its data centers. The move follows growing concerns about rising electricity costs linked to energy-intensive data centers, with wholesale prices jumping 267% in five years in some areas. The pledge addresses mounting pressure from both political leaders and local communities worried about AI infrastructure's impact on utility bills.

16 Sources

OpenAI researcher quits over ChatGPT ads as Perplexity abandons AI advertising entirely

A former OpenAI researcher resigned this week citing concerns that ChatGPT ads could manipulate users, drawing parallels to Facebook's privacy erosion. Meanwhile, Perplexity walked away from advertising entirely, stating that ads fundamentally conflict with user trust in AI. The moves highlight a growing industry divide over how AI companies should monetize their services.

16 Sources

Meta breaks ground on $10 billion Indiana data center to accelerate AI infrastructure buildout

Meta has started construction on a $10 billion data center campus in Lebanon, Indiana, designed to deliver 1 gigawatt of power capacity. The facility marks one of Meta's largest AI infrastructure investments as CEO Mark Zuckerberg prioritizes securing massive computing power to compete in the AI race. The project will support over 4,000 construction jobs and create 300 permanent positions when operational in late 2027 or early 2028.

4 Sources

EssilorLuxottica sells 7 million AI glasses in 2025, tripling sales as Meta partnership surges

EssilorLuxottica reported an 18% surge in fourth-quarter sales, driven by explosive demand for Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley smart glasses. The eyewear giant sold over 7 million AI-powered glasses in 2025, more than triple the combined sales from 2023 and 2024. Meta is now seeking to double production capacity to 20 million units this year to meet growing consumer demand.

2 Sources

Meta launches Dear Algo on Threads to let users personalize feeds with AI-powered prompts

Meta introduced Dear Algo, an AI-powered feature that lets Threads users personalize the Threads feed through written prompts. Users can post requests starting with "Dear Algo" to influence content recommendations for three days. The feature is now testing in the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand as Meta pushes deeper into AI algorithm personalization.

4 Sources

QuitGPT campaign gains 700,000 supporters as users boycott ChatGPT over OpenAI's Trump ties

A grassroots boycott against ChatGPT has attracted over 700,000 supporters, with activists urging users to cancel subscriptions over OpenAI's political donations and government contracts. The QuitGPT movement highlights growing tensions between AI utility and ethical concerns, as actor Mark Ruffalo and thousands pledge to switch to alternative AI chatbots.

4 Sources

Google introduces AI shopping features in Search and Gemini to monetize AI infrastructure

Google is rolling out AI-powered shopping features in Search and Gemini, allowing users to buy from Etsy and Wayfair directly within the chatbot. The company is testing new ad formats and Direct Offers while partnering with Shopify, Target, and Walmart to enable seamless checkouts, aiming to generate revenue from AI experiences as tech giants plan to spend $650 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026.

2 Sources

GlobalFoundries beats estimates, bets big on Physical AI as data center chips fuel growth

GlobalFoundries reported Q4 revenue of $1.83 billion and forecast Q1 revenue above Wall Street expectations, driven by strong chips demand from data centers. The company announced a $500 million share buyback program and revealed its silicon photonics revenue doubled to over $200 million, with plans to nearly double again this year as it pivots toward Physical AI.

2 Sources

Cloudflare stock surges 10% as AI agents fuel networking and security demand

Cloudflare's stock rallied 10% after the company reported Q4 earnings that beat Wall Street estimates, driven by surging demand from AI agents. CEO Matthew Prince highlighted a fundamental re-platforming of the internet as AI agentic tools increasingly rely on Cloudflare's infrastructure. The company raised its 2026 revenue forecast to $2.79-$2.80 billion.

4 Sources

Aehr Test Systems stock surges 33% on next-generation AI processor production order win

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) shares jumped 33% after announcing an initial production order from a leading hyperscaler for its Sonoma ultra-high-power test and burn-in systems. The order supports next-generation AI processors for data center applications, with delivery scheduled for summer 2026. This marks a significant validation of Aehr's technology in the rapidly expanding AI chip testing market.

3 Sources

Google offers exit packages to employees as it doubles down on AI-first strategy

Google has launched its third voluntary exit package in less than 12 months, targeting employees in its Global Business Organization who may not align with the company's accelerating AI-first strategy. Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler told staff the industry pace is electric and stakes are high, offering severance to those uncomfortable with the transformation despite Alphabet reporting record $402.8 billion revenue.

2 Sources

Apptronik Raises $520 Million to Scale Apollo Humanoid Robots for Industrial Deployment

Apptronik secured $520 million in new funding led by Google and Mercedes-Benz, tripling its valuation to over $5.5 billion. The Austin-based startup plans to accelerate production of its Apollo humanoid robot for manufacturing and logistics customers, with pilot programs already underway at Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics facilities.

6 Sources

Tower Semiconductor beats profit estimates as AI chip demand fuels $920M silicon photonics push

Israeli chipmaker Tower Semiconductor surpassed fourth-quarter profit expectations, posting 78 cents per share versus estimates of 68 cents. The company announced a $920 million total investment in silicon photonics technology to meet surging demand from data center operators building AI infrastructure, aiming to quintuple production capacity by late 2026.

2 Sources

Elon Musk reveals xAI plans for moon factory with giant satellite catapult amid co-founder exits

At an xAI all-hands meeting, Elon Musk unveiled plans to build an AI satellite factory on the moon, complete with a giant electromagnetic catapult to launch satellites into space. The announcement comes as six of xAI's 12 co-founders have departed and the newly merged SpaceX-xAI entity targets a $1.5 trillion IPO this summer, marking a dramatic shift from Mars to lunar ambitions.

10 Sources

Zhipu Unveils GLM-5 Model With 744B Parameters, Intensifying Chinese AI Race With DeepSeek

Chinese AI startup Zhipu released GLM-5, a new flagship model with 744 billion parameters that rivals Anthropic's Claude Opus in coding benchmarks. Trained entirely on Huawei Ascend chips, the open-source model achieved a record-low hallucination rate and sent Zhipu shares surging 34%. The release intensifies competition among Chinese AI companies ahead of DeepSeek's anticipated next-generation model launch.

5 Sources

Get all updates into your inbox 💌, Stay Up-to-date for Free 🥳

Your Daily Dose of Curated AI News

Don’t drown in AI news. We cut through the noise - filtering, ranking and summarizing the most important AI news, breakthroughs and research daily. Spend less time searching for the latest in AI and get straight to action.

The Outpost

News

About