The AI lab revolving door spins ever faster
AI labs just can’t get their employees to stay put. Yesterday’s big AI news was the abrupt and seemingly acrimonious departure of three top executives at Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines lab.
Taiwan to invest $250B in US semiconductor manufacturing
The U.S. struck a trade deal with Taiwan as the country looks to help boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
AI video startup, Higgsfield, founded by ex-Snap exec, lands $1.3B valuation
Higgsfield says it’s on a $200 million annual revenue run rate. So it opened its previous Series A round back up and sold another $80 million in shares.
The US imposes 25% tariff on Nvidia’s H200 AI chips headed to China
The Trump administration formalized its 25% cut of H200 chip sales in China with a tariff that applies to certain semiconductors.
OpenAI invests in Sam Altman’s brain computer interface startup Merge Labs
OpenAI is participating in a $250 million seed round into Merge Labs, Sam Altman’s brain computer interface startup. The startup is valued at $850 million.
Wikimedia Foundation announces new AI partnerships with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Perplexity and others
The AI partnerships allow companies to access the org’s content, like Wikipedia, at scale.
US senators demand answers from X, Meta, Alphabet on sexualized deepfakes
In a letter to the leaders of X, Meta, Alphabet, Snap, Reddit and TikTok, several U.S. senators are demanding the companies provide proof that they have “robust protections and policies” in place, and how they…
Parloa triples its valuation in 8 months to $3B with $350M raise
The massive round was led by existing investor General Catalyst, with participation from other returning backers.
After Italy, WhatsApp excludes Brazil from rival chatbot ban
WhatsApp is allowing AI providers to continue offering their chatbots to users in Brazil, days after the country’s competition agency ordered the company to suspend its new policy that bars third-party, general-purpose chatbots from the…
Mira Murati’s startup, Thinking Machines Lab, is losing two of its co-founders to OpenAI
The abrupt change in personnel was in the works for several weeks, according to an OpenAI executive.