🔥 Story Of The Week: OpenAI signed a 7 year, $38 billion cloud deal with AWS. This deal follows OpenAI's recent restructuring, freeing it from Microsoft's exclusive cloud provider status and signaling a major diversification of its AI infrastructure partners.
⭐️ Must Reads: The race to integrate powerful AI into consumer products is accelerating. Apple reportedly nearing a $1 billion annual deal to use Google's Gemini to power a new Siri. In a more future-looking move, Google also unveiled Project Suncatcher, a plan for AI data centers in space. However, as capabilities grow, new research from Anthropic shows AI self-awareness is still "highly unreliable". In some ways this sentiment is echoed by Microsoft's AI chief who dismissed the pursuit of machine consciousness as "absurd."
🧰 Technology: Google is integrating AI into core products, with Gemini now powering conversational navigation in Google Maps. AI coding tools are also advancing, with Cursor 2.0 launching a new proprietary model for faster performance. A new study provides a crucial counterpoint, revealing that these same AI coding assistants can reduce critical thinking among developers.
📊 Business: The enterprise AI market is booming, with Anthropic now projecting a massive $70 billion in revenue by 2028. This growth is creating new conflicts, as Amazon is now in a battle with Perplexity over its AI shopping agent. The impact on the workforce is also becoming clearer, with Microsoft's CEO announcing a new AI-first hiring strategy following major layoffs.
📝 Policy: The legal battle over AI and copyright continues. A UK court delivered a mixed verdict in the Getty vs. Stability AI case, leaving key questions unanswered. This uncertainty is fueling more action, as major Japanese publishers are now demanding OpenAI stop using their content. A different safety issue is also gaining urgency, with new research showing AI chatbots are failing mental health crisis tests as teen usage surges.
⚡ Startups: The AI hardware and interface space is seeing new innovation. A smart ring from startup Sandbar captures voice notes with a whisper. On the software side, Nvidia plans for a massive $1 billion investment in AI coding startup Poolside. In the design space, Figma is acquiring AI startup Weavy for over $200 million to integrate its capabilities into a new platform.
👇 Keep scrolling to read the full stories in detail.
