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Defense Startup Shield AI in Talks for Valuation of at Least $20 Billion

By Julia Hornstein and Jemima McEvoy · Sep 14, 2026 1:44pm PDT

Shield AI, a startup building drones and AI-powered software for the military, is in talks to raise new funds at a valuation of at least $20 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the fundraise. The funding round, if it closes, would represent a roughly 60% increase to Shield’s valuation from just five months ago. The planned funding... Shield AI, a startup building drones and AI-powered software for the military, is in talks to...

Art via Mike Sullivan

Anthropic Data Fears Prompt Nvidia, Palantir and Booz Allen to Restrict Model Use

By Laura Bratton and Aaron Holmes · Sep 14, 2026 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

As paranoia rises over whether Anthropic or OpenAI could learn from their customers’ intellectual property, large firms involved in sensitive corporate work, such as Palantir Technologies, Nvidia and Booz Allen Hamilton, have started demanding new guarantees or reducing or eliminating use of the AI firms’ most advanced models. As paranoia rises over whether Anthropic or OpenAI could learn from their customers’ intellectual...

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Anthropic Strikes $13.7 Billion Compute Deal With Trump-Linked Rum Group

By Valida Pau and Phoebe Liu · Sep 13, 2026 6:07pm PDT

Anthropic has signed a computing deal worth $13.7 billion over six years with Rum Group, a company with roots in social media and long-standing ties to the Trump administration, according to a person familiar with the matter. The deal is the latest in a spate of cloud computing agreements Anthropic struck in the past year, with major cloud... Anthropic has signed a computing deal worth $13.7 billion over six years with Rum Group, a...

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Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Quietly Discussed an AI Safety Standards Body

By Leo Schwartz · Sep 13, 2026 12:16pm PDT · 1 comment

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Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Quietly Discussed an AI Safety Standards Body

By Leo Schwartz · Sep 13, 2026 12:16pm PDT · 1 comment

Anthropic, OpenAI and Google have been holding discussions about working together to create a standards body for the AI industry, people familiar with the matter said, even before Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on Saturday for AI companies to coordinate on testing and auditing the technology. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, for his part, told staff at... Anthropic, OpenAI and Google have been holding discussions about working together to create a...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images, YouTube

Personal AI App Instinct Faces Compute Crunch That Could Lead to New Funding

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Valida Pau · Sep 10, 2026 3:29pm PDT · 1 comment

The year-old startup behind Instinct, a personal AI assistant that’s caught fire with Silicon Valley insiders, is seeking more computing power, leveraging its early buzz as it faces new competition from giant Meta Platforms. Over the last few weeks, Instinct, which launched to a select group of users earlier this year, has sometimes notified... The year-old startup behind Instinct, a personal AI assistant that’s caught fire with Silicon...

Art: Clark Miller (photos: Getty Images, via YouTube)

Inside Blackstone’s Bid to Rule Over AI Financing

By Dakin Campbell · Sep 10, 2026 12:54pm PDT

In May, Blackstone unveiled a new joint venture with Google that revolved around a big number: The Wall Street giant was promising to spend $5 billion to buy 500 megawatts’ worth of Google’s tensor processing units, and it said it would use the chips in a new company that would deliver computing power to leading AI firms. Four months later,... In May, Blackstone unveiled a new joint venture with Google that revolved around a big number:...

Art by Mike Sullivan

SpaceX Overhauls Data Center Build-Out, Potentially Slowing Expansion

By Grace Kay · Sep 10, 2026 6:21am PDT · 4 comments

Elon Musk is famous for his “move fast” management philosophy, which he demonstrated most starkly when he built new data centers for his AI startup in record time two years ago. But a new team of rocket engineers Musk recently installed to run his data centers is taking a very different approach. SpaceX is changing how it builds the giant... Elon Musk is famous for his “move fast” management philosophy, which he demonstrated most starkly...

Jeffrey Katzenberg. Photo by David Paul Morris/ Getty Images

Jeffrey Katzenberg Teams Up with Former OpenAI Sora Head on New AI Video Startup

By Cory Weinberg and Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 9, 2026 4:19pm PDT

Jeffrey Katzenberg. Photo by David Paul Morris/ Getty Images

Jeffrey Katzenberg Teams Up with Former OpenAI Sora Head on New AI Video Startup

By Cory Weinberg and Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 9, 2026 4:19pm PDT

Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg is teaming up with the former head of OpenAI’s Sora app to launch a new AI startup that would train its own video models and try to win over filmmakers, people familiar with the matter said. The founders have been talking to potential investors including Andreessen Horowitz about raising significant funding for... Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg is teaming up with the former head of OpenAI’s Sora app to...

Photo via Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

OpenAI Restricts Adobe and Other Competitors From Advertising in ChatGPT

By Alix Coutures and Amir Efrati · Sep 9, 2026 1:54pm PDT

OpenAI has told some business partners that it will no longer accept advertising in ChatGPT for image- and audio-generating products—which compete with its own features. The change, which hasn’t been previously reported or reflected in its published ads policy, blindsided existing advertisers such as Adobe, which sells such products. And... OpenAI has told some business partners that it will no longer accept advertising in ChatGPT for...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

Confusion Reigns Over White House’s AI Whitelist

By Leo Schwartz · Sep 9, 2026 6:00am PDT

It may be one of the hottest tickets in corporate America right now: membership in the “trusted partner” program that allows companies to get access to the most advanced AI models before they’re released to the public. There’s just one problem: no one outside of the Trump administration has a clear idea how to get on that list. As laid out in... It may be one of the hottest tickets in corporate America right now: membership in the “trusted...

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China Curbs Humanoid IPOs After Unitree’s Volatile Debut

By Jing Yang and Qianer Liu · Sep 8, 2026 7:30pm PDT · 1 comment

Chinese regulators are tightening the approval for humanoid startups seeking to go public after a volatile debut by industry leader Unitree Robotics, as they aim to cool down a sizzling sector rife with copycats but little real technological breakthroughs. The Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission recently gave its informal “window... Chinese regulators are tightening the approval for humanoid startups seeking to go public after a...

Dave Brown introduces Project Mantle at AWS re:Invent 2025. Screenshot via YouTube

How Six AWS Engineers Rebuilt Bedrock to Challenge Microsoft

By Catherine Perloff and Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 8, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Dave Brown introduces Project Mantle at AWS re:Invent 2025. Screenshot via YouTube

How Six AWS Engineers Rebuilt Bedrock to Challenge Microsoft

By Catherine Perloff and Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 8, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

In early 2025, things were tense inside Amazon’s cloud unit. Bedrock, a new service designed to run AI models, was proving buggy. Customers were getting error messages repeatedly and sometimes waiting weeks for the computing capacity they needed, according to people with knowledge of the customer issues. As these problems surged, a senior... In early 2025, things were tense inside Amazon’s cloud unit. Bedrock, a new service designed to...

Philippe Laffont, of Coatue Management. Photo byJ eenah Moon/ Getty Images

Coatue, MatX in Talks on New Multibillion Chip-Financing Venture

By Phoebe Liu, Valida Pau and Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 4, 2026 10:16am PDT

Investment firms and tech companies are devising increasingly novel structures to get around the financial and hardware supply constraints of the AI boom. In the latest example, Coatue Management is in talks to form a joint venture involving MatX, a young AI chip startup, to help it overcome fierce component shortages, according to people with... Investment firms and tech companies are devising increasingly novel structures to get around the...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Getty Images.

Anthropic’s In-House Payments Tech Push Could Chip Away at Stripe

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Sep 4, 2026 8:30am PDT · 1 comment

Anthropic is looking to build more billing, fraud detection and other financial infrastructure in-house and evaluating which payments-related services it can build itself rather than relying on outside providers, recent job postings show. Fast-growing Anthropic is at the center of the AI boom, where soaring usage and complex token-based pricing... Anthropic is looking to build more billing, fraud detection and other financial infrastructure...

Art by Clark Miller.

Inside Meta’s Efforts to Ensure Its Upcoming ‘Hatch’ AI Agent Won’t Go Rogue

By Jyoti Mann · Sep 3, 2026 12:11pm PDT · 1 comment

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said AI agents will soon be able to help with everything from health to relationships to finances. First, the company needs to make them safe. That’s been the focus of an extensive effort as Meta prepares to release what it hopes to be a landmark new personal agent called Hatch in the coming weeks. Months... Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said AI agents will soon be able to help with everything...

Mira Murati, CEO of Thinking Machines Lab. Photo by David Paul Morris/ Getty Images

Nvidia in Talks to Invest Around $2.5 Billion in Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab

By Phoebe Liu, Stephanie Palazzolo, Valida Pau and Julia Hornstein · Sep 3, 2026 10:43am PDT

Mira Murati, CEO of Thinking Machines Lab. Photo by David Paul Morris/ Getty Images

Nvidia in Talks to Invest Around $2.5 Billion in Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab

By Phoebe Liu, Stephanie Palazzolo, Valida Pau and Julia Hornstein · Sep 3, 2026 10:43am PDT

Thinking Machines Lab, the AI developer led by ex-OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, is in talks to raise between $5 billion and $6 billion at a valuation of at least $40 billion before the investment, existing investor Andreessen Horowitz has told other prospective investors. Nvidia is expected to contribute about half of the amount,... Thinking Machines Lab, the AI developer led by ex-OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, is...

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The Two New Executives Steering KKR’s $10 Billion AI Infrastructure Bet

By Dakin Campbell · Sep 2, 2026 6:03am PDT

KKR’s new $10 billion AI venture, Helix Digital Infrastructure, has made its first two senior hires under CEO Adam Selipsky, the former Amazon Web Services chief, a person with knowledge of the moves said. The venture, which counts Nvidia among its backers, has tapped Jonathan Lin, former chief business officer at data center operator Equinix,... KKR’s new $10 billion AI venture, Helix Digital Infrastructure, has made its first two senior...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Art: Shane Burke. Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images.

OpenAI Technique in ‘Astra’ Model Sparks Security Concerns

By Amir Efrati, Stephanie Palazzolo and Rocket Drew · Sep 1, 2026 5:40pm PDT · 2 comments

OpenAI says its forthcoming AI model Astra marks a step up in capabilities such as coding and operating applications on a computer. But an innovative technique that improved the model’s performance also means that the model, and others like it, will reveal less of their “thinking,” making them harder to monitor for signs of bad behavior,... OpenAI says its forthcoming AI model Astra marks a step up in capabilities such as coding and...

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SpaceX Shakes Up Data Center Leadership After Aggressive Build-Out

By Grace Kay · Sep 1, 2026 7:45am PDT

Elon Musk has shaken up the SpaceX team building the company’s data centers in recent weeks, replacing several leaders with executives from SpaceX’s rocket and satellite internet businesses, people familiar with the matter said. The data center reshuffle follows some civil engineering concerns and consistent reliability issues at SpaceXAI’s... Elon Musk has shaken up the SpaceX team building the company’s data centers in recent weeks,...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Trump Administration Working on AI Rule to Curb China’s Remote Access to Chips

By Leo Schwartz and Qianer Liu · Aug 28, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Mike Sullivan

Trump Administration Working on AI Rule to Curb China’s Remote Access to Chips

By Leo Schwartz and Qianer Liu · Aug 28, 2026 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Soon after President Donald Trump began his second term in office in 2025, the White House announced it would undo export controls the Biden administration had imposed on advanced AI chips to slow the technical progress of geopolitical rivals like China. In recent weeks, a small group within the Department of Commerce has been working on a... Soon after President Donald Trump began his second term in office in 2025, the White House...