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By Stephanie Palazzolo

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Recent Editions

Boston Dynamics' humanoid robot, Atlas. Photo by Chris Jung/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Google’s New Model Makes Robotic Brains Slightly Smarter

By Rocket Drew · Apr 16, 2026 7:00am PDT

Earlier this week, Google DeepMind released Gemini Robotics-ER-1.6, a new vision and language model to help robots make sense of their surroundings. To show off its capabilities, Boston Dynamics—which has an agreement to use Gemini in its humanoid robots—published a video of its robot dogs using the model to read a thermometer during an... Earlier this week, Google DeepMind released Gemini Robotics-ER-1.6, a new vision and language...

Art by Mike Sullivan

China’s Probe of Meta’s Manus Purchase Sends Startups Scrambling

By Jing Yang and Juro Osawa · Apr 15, 2026 7:00am PDT

China’s AI startup founders are jittery. The Chinese government’s investigation of Manus’ sale to Meta Platforms has cast a shadow over a popular exit path for startup founders. And it has caused some startups to consider moving out of China or to shift some operations to Singapore.While some AI startups are happy to stay in China, relying on... China’s AI startup founders are jittery. The Chinese government’s investigation of Manus’ sale to...

Art via Getty Images

The Enigma of the Data Labeling Startup Explosion

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 14, 2026 7:52am PDT

If you’re like me, you’ve been watching the explosion of data labeling and reinforcement learning environment startups with a mix of confusion and awe. These companies, which hire experts in fields like medicine, law and software engineering and build fake copies of apps like Salesforce and Excel to produce training data for AI models, are... If you’re like me, you’ve been watching the explosion of data labeling and reinforcement learning...

Art by Mike Sullivan

‘Reinforcement Learning Gym’ Startup, Buoyed by Labs’ Appetite For Training Data, Reaches $750 Million Valuation

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 13, 2026 7:00am PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan

‘Reinforcement Learning Gym’ Startup, Buoyed by Labs’ Appetite For Training Data, Reaches $750 Million Valuation

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 13, 2026 7:00am PDT

AI developers are getting more creative in how they acquire data to train AI models. For instance, they’re paying startups to develop copies of popular apps, like Salesforce or Excel, to teach models how to use the apps—otherwise known as reinforcement learning environments or gyms.One beneficiary of this trend is Fleet, a two-year-old startup... AI developers are getting more creative in how they acquire data to train AI models. For...

Chapter cofounder and CEO Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz. Photo courtesy of Chapter.

The $3 Billion AI Medicare Broker Backed By Two Vice Presidents

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 9, 2026 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Meta Platforms’ Wednesday release of Spark, the first model in its broader Muse model family, doesn’t blow other frontier models out of the water, according to developers and researchers I talked to. But at least puts the company back in the AI conversation. The model is already powering the Meta AI app and website but it’ll take some time... Meta Platforms’ Wednesday release of Spark, the first model in its broader Muse model family,...

GitButler cofounders Scott Chacon, Anne Leuschner and Kiril Videlov. Photo courtesy of GitButler.

The Startup Building Code Management Software for ‘Tokenmaxxers’

By Julia Hornstein · Apr 8, 2026 7:00am PDT

Earlier this week, my colleague Jyoti reported on the great lengths Meta Platforms engineers are going to show off their AI prowess. An employee-created leaderboard tracks who burns through the most AI tokens—part of a broader trend known as “tokenmaxxing.” The article has sparked a flurry of armchair analysis on how much this strategy could... Earlier this week, my colleague Jyoti reported on the great lengths Meta Platforms engineers are...

Daniela Amodei, co-founder and president of Anthropic. Kimberly White/Common Sense Media/Getty Images.

Anthropic’s Compute Crunch Strikes Again

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 7, 2026 7:00am PDT

Anthropic said Monday afternoon it had topped $30 billion in annualized revenue, implying growth surged 58% since the end of February. It also suggests the maker of the Claude chatbot may have surpassed OpenAI, which was generating $25 billion in annualized revenue in February.Despite its success, Anthropic isn’t winning any fans in the... Anthropic said Monday afternoon it had topped $30 billion in annualized revenue, implying growth...

Art by Getty Images

Codex and Claude Code Can Work Together

By Rocket Drew · Apr 6, 2026 7:00am PDT

Art by Getty Images

Codex and Claude Code Can Work Together

By Rocket Drew · Apr 6, 2026 7:00am PDT

Forget all the chatter about which AI coding tool is winning the race. The companies behind the leading AI coding tools are learning the benefits of peaceful co-existence. On Thursday, for instance, Cursor announced a new version of its app designed for coding with AI agents from different coding providers simultaneously, including ... Forget all the chatter about which AI coding tool is winning the race. The companies behind the...

Wrtn Technologies co-founder and chief product officer Djay Lee. Photos courtesy of Wrtn Technologies.

An AI Storytelling Startup is On Pace to Generate $100 Million in Annual Sales

By Juro Osawa · Apr 2, 2026 7:00am PDT

Besides ChatGPT, relatively few AI consumer apps have become breakout hits. But one app maker’s experience suggests there are plenty of lucrative consumer niches to be served.Seoul-based Wrtn Technologies says it’s generating more than $8 million in revenue a month from operating AI storytelling apps for hardcore anime and game fans in South... Besides ChatGPT, relatively few AI consumer apps have become breakout hits. But one app maker’s...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Claude Code Leak Reveals Always-On ‘Kairos’ Agent

By Rocket Drew, Stephanie Palazzolo and Aaron Holmes · Apr 1, 2026 7:00am PDT

Anthropic’s cybersecurity employees have probably spent the past week scolding their colleagues. After accidentally publishing a blog post last week containing details of its next flagship AI model, Claude Mythos, the company on Tuesday said it had accidentally leaked some of the source code powering its popular Claude Code coding agent.In... Anthropic’s cybersecurity employees have probably spent the past week scolding their colleagues....

LTX CEO Zeev Farbman. Photo courtesy of LTX.

How This Startup Helps Users Generate Videos Without Breaking The Bank

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 31, 2026 7:00am PDT

Despite OpenAI’s decision to shutter Sora, other AI video developers aren’t giving up. Instead, they’re finding interesting new ways to make money from their video-generating models.Take LTX—a spinoff from Lightricks, the company behind the popular image editing app Facetune—which in January launched open-source AI software for video generation... Despite OpenAI’s decision to shutter Sora, other AI video developers aren’t giving up. Instead,...

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic. Photo by Chance Yeh/Getty Images

Anthropic’s Success Sparks Server Crunch

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 30, 2026 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic. Photo by Chance Yeh/Getty Images

Anthropic’s Success Sparks Server Crunch

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 30, 2026 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Anthropic has gained more than a few new fans in recent months (unless you’re Under Secretary of Defense Emil Michael). Thanks to the strength of its automated coding tools, Anthropic more than doubled its annualized sales to $19 billion during the first two months this year. And it’s closing the revenue gap with larger rival OpenAI.But as the... Anthropic has gained more than a few new fans in recent months (unless you’re Under Secretary of...

Art by Mike Sullivan/Shutterstock

Claude is Gaining on OpenClaw

By Rocket Drew · Mar 26, 2026 7:25am PDT

Anthropic has been on a tear in adding features to its Claude AI agents for coding and other white-collar work. The Claude agents now offer many of the features that turned OpenClaw, an open-source tool for developing personal AI agents, into a sensation.Claude’s new features include the ability to take over a person’s computer to perform... Anthropic has been on a tear in adding features to its Claude AI agents for coding and other...

Image via Shutterstock

Apple Can ‘Distill’ Google’s Big Gemini Model

By Jessica E. Lessin, Amir Efrati and Erin Woo · Mar 25, 2026 7:00am PDT

Before we get to today’s column, we wanted to flag OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s major reorg, the company’s new "Spud” model and its decision to shut down the Sora video app and application programming interface, which we scooped on Tuesday. (For what the company’s organizational structure looks like now after the changes, check out our updated OpenAI... Before we get to today’s column, we wanted to flag OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s major reorg, the...

Getty Images

Why AI Coding Agents Need Multiple Personalities to Do Their Best Work

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 24, 2026 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Something curious is happening with AI coding agents. Developers have started telling me they’re asking these coding agents to take on different personas so they behave like more of a team than an individual programmer.For instance, a developer creating a software product feature will first tell their AI coding product—whether it be Gemini or ... Something curious is happening with AI coding agents. Developers have started telling me they’re...

Art via Getty Images

Claude Code and Codex Are Outpacing Cursor Among Notion's Engineers

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 23, 2026 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Art via Getty Images

Claude Code and Codex Are Outpacing Cursor Among Notion's Engineers

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 23, 2026 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Software engineers embracing the AI coding revolution don’t have much loyalty to any particular coding tool, especially when a new, better one comes out. In the latest example of that, the growth of Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex is outpacing that of Cursor among hundreds of engineers at Notion, a maker of popular... Software engineers embracing the AI coding revolution don’t have much loyalty to any particular...

Giga Energy cofounders Brent Whitehead and Matt Lohstroh. Photo courtesy of Giga.

Meet Giga, a AI Data Center Developer That Has Barely Raised Capital

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 19, 2026 7:00am PDT

Startups developing data centers to power AI are among the most capital-hungry businesses around right now. Many are raising billions of dollars in equity and debt to build complicated facilities.There are few like Houston-based Giga Energy, however. Founded in 2019 by two Texas A&M juniors studying finance and industrial distribution, Giga... Startups developing data centers to power AI are among the most capital-hungry businesses around...

Jensen Huang speaks during a keynote address at the Nvidia GTC. Photo by David Paul Morris/ Getty Images

Nvidia’s Build-A-Claw Workshop

By Rocket Drew · Mar 18, 2026 9:15am PDT

Nvidia’s developer conference has agent fever. On Tuesday, one of the most popular spots at the company’s GTC convention was Nvidia’s “Build-A-Claw” tent, where attendees could try out Nvidia’s newly unveiled NemoClaw, open-source software for creating AI agents based on the popular OpenClaw.Many of the people who stopped by the Build-A-Claw... Nvidia’s developer conference has agent fever. On Tuesday, one of the most popular spots at the...

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, speaks during a keynote address at the Nvidia GTC. Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images

Nvidia Needed Groq After All

By Wayne Ma and Anissa Gardizy · Mar 17, 2026 7:00am PDT

Greetings from the San Jose Convention Center, where Nvidia is throwing its annual AI conference. The AI craze is palpable here. Humanoid robots offer fist-bumps to conferencegoers, and attendees are buying sweaters with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s face on them. Nebius, a cloud provider that rents out Nvidia graphics processing units, took... Greetings from the San Jose Convention Center, where Nvidia is throwing its annual AI conference....

Elon Musk, left, and Sam Altman. Photos by Getty Images.

What OpenAI Could Owe Elon Musk; An xAI Hiring Spree

By Rocket Drew · Mar 16, 2026 7:15am PDT

Elon Musk, left, and Sam Altman. Photos by Getty Images.

What OpenAI Could Owe Elon Musk; An xAI Hiring Spree

By Rocket Drew · Mar 16, 2026 7:15am PDT

Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, the judge hearing Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, has shown herself in other high profile tech cases—such as Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple—to be unafraid to skewer arguments or testimony from witnesses in her courtroom.That was clear on Friday, in a hearing in the OpenAI case to determine whether an economist Musk... Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, the judge hearing Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, has shown herself...