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By Stephanie Palazzolo

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Recent Editions

Anthropic’s Dario and Daniela Amodei. Photo via Getty.

Anthropic Beat OpenAI in Test of AI That Performs AI Research

By Rocket Drew · Nov 18, 2024 7:00am PST

Since the days of Alan Turing, artificial intelligence developers have been captivated by the prospect of AI powerful enough to improve itself. OpenAI, we recently reported, has already developed an internal AI “research assistant” tool to help its researchers work faster, a possible first step in the development of AI that can conduct AI... Since the days of Alan Turing, artificial intelligence developers have been captivated by the...

Photo via Getty

How AI Researchers Are Rising Above Scaling Limits

By Kalley Huang, Rocket Drew and Jon Victor · Nov 14, 2024 7:00am PST

Now that we know OpenAI isn’t the only artificial intelligence developer seeing a slowdown in improvements using traditional “scaling” methods, it’s worth looking at all the ways companies are trying to make up for that.There are tried and true methods to make large language models perform better, such as tweaking the parameters—settings that... Now that we know OpenAI isn’t the only artificial intelligence developer seeing a slowdown in...

Inside xAI's facility. Photo via YouTube/ServeTheHome.

Why Elon Musk’s AI Rivals Will Face Delays with Supercomputers

By Anissa Gardizy · Nov 13, 2024 7:00am PST · 2 comments

OpenAI and other artificial intelligence developers are scrambling to keep up with Elon Musk’s xAI startup in setting up data centers to develop new AI models. Among their tactics: flying a plane over his brand new Memphis AI datacenter so they can scrutinize how it was developed and powered, as I reported this morning. Now I’m hearing... OpenAI and other artificial intelligence developers are scrambling to keep up with Elon Musk’s...

Ex-CTO of OpenAI, Mira Murati. Photo via Getty

Ex-OpenAI CTO Murati’s New Team Takes Shape

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Erin Woo · Nov 12, 2024 7:30am PST

Ex-CTO of OpenAI, Mira Murati. Photo via Getty

Ex-OpenAI CTO Murati’s New Team Takes Shape

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Erin Woo · Nov 12, 2024 7:30am PST

A month ago, we reported that former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati had begun to pitch current OpenAI staffers on joining her new venture. It seems like at least one OpenAI researcher has taken her up on her offer.Mianna Chen, a research program manager at OpenAI responsible for preparing AI models for release, has recently... A month ago, we reported that former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati had begun...

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Goodbye, GPT. Hello, Reasoning ‘O’

By Amir Efrati · Nov 11, 2024 7:00am PST · 4 comments

On Halloween, a Reddit user asked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman whether “GPT-5” was coming, as well as the full version of the company’s o1 reasoning model—a preview version of which went on sale seven weeks ago. In other words, when would the public see the company’s next flagship large language model? Altman answered, “we are prioritizing... On Halloween, a Reddit user asked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman whether “GPT-5” was coming, as well as...

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Expect AI Developers to Benefit from Energy Buildouts, Face Chip Uncertainty Under Trump, Experts Say; Are LLMs Reaching a Plateau?

By Kalley Huang · Nov 7, 2024 7:00am PST · 1 comment

We don’t know how Donald Trump and his administration will handle open-source artificial intelligence, as Stephanie wrote on Wednesday. But AI developers in the U.S. should expect to benefit from easier access to more energy sources and face fresh uncertainty in the AI chip industry, policy experts said on a call with subscribers to The... We don’t know how Donald Trump and his administration will handle open-source artificial...

Photos by Getty

The Battle Over Open-Source AI Will Be Settled in Trump’s Presidency

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 6, 2024 7:15am PST

Donald Trump’s victory in Tuesday’s presidential election has a lot of implications for AI. Some are clear: Trump has said he will repeal President Joe Biden’s AI executive order, which requires companies training large AI models to share information about them with the federal government. In another key area, though, Trump’s stance isn’t... Donald Trump’s victory in Tuesday’s presidential election has a lot of implications for AI. Some...

Photo via Shutterstock

Coding Assistants Are Great—But Flawed

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 5, 2024 7:00am PST · 3 comments

Photo via Shutterstock

Coding Assistants Are Great—But Flawed

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 5, 2024 7:00am PST · 3 comments

These days, venture capitalists, major artificial intelligence developers and cloud providers have zeroed in on AI-powered coding assistants as the killer product for large language models. But coding assistants aren’t perfect. It turns out that as they become ubiquitous, coding assistants are creating plenty of problems at companies that... These days, venture capitalists, major artificial intelligence developers and cloud providers...

Art by Midjourney/Mike Sullivan

Five New AI Hacks For Developers

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Nov 4, 2024 7:00am PST

Since generative AI exploded onto the scene two years ago with the release of ChatGPT, we’ve seen the rise and fall of various creative hacks developers have used to eke out better performance and lower costs from large language models. And over the past few months, I’ve seen a flurry of new tricks and hacks pop up in conversations with... Since generative AI exploded onto the scene two years ago with the release of ChatGPT, we’ve seen...

Shaun Maguire. Photo via Sequoia Capital.

Why Sequoia’s Shaun Maguire is Betting on a Year-Old AI Video Startup

By Aaron Holmes · Oct 31, 2024 7:00am PDT

Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire has risen to prominence over the past year for his friendship with Elon Musk, which has helped the firm get in on highly-coveted rounds in SpaceX and X. Through X, Sequoia also stands to get a stake in xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence lab. Maguire’s latest bet is on Decart, a startup that one day hopes to... Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire has risen to prominence over the past year for his friendship with...

Photo via Adobe/Shane Burke

Seven Acquisitions That Could Happen in 2025

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Oct 30, 2024 7:40am PDT · 2 comments

As we wrapped up our generative AI takeover list and our fifth annual most promising startups list, I got to thinking: how many of the companies will still be independent a year from now?Already, this year has seen a flurry of acquisitions and quasi-acquisitions as startups look for a safe haven in the arms of larger tech companies. And there... As we wrapped up our generative AI takeover list and our fifth annual most promising startups...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo via Getty.

Microsoft Strikes Deals With OpenAI’s Top Rivals For AI Coding Assistant

By Aaron Holmes · Oct 29, 2024 9:10am PDT

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo via Getty.

Microsoft Strikes Deals With OpenAI’s Top Rivals For AI Coding Assistant

By Aaron Holmes · Oct 29, 2024 9:10am PDT

Microsoft is turning up the heat on OpenAI. Microsoft’s developer platform GitHub announced on Tuesday that its wildly popular GitHub Copilot tool—which previously relied entirely on OpenAI models—will now also incorporate AI models from Anthropic and Google. GitHub Copilot will be able to toggle between Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet,... Microsoft is turning up the heat on OpenAI. Microsoft’s developer platform GitHub announced on...

Notion CEO Ivan Zhao. Photo via Sequoia Capital.

Notion CEO Sees Flaws in Computer-Using Agents

By Jon Victor · Oct 28, 2024 7:15am PDT

Anthropic, OpenAI and now Google are betting that the future of artificial intelligence involves technology that can take over a person’s computer and automate all manner of work involving applications and internet browsers. (See my colleague Erin’s Saturday scoop on Google’s efforts here.)If these computer-using agents eventually work and the... Anthropic, OpenAI and now Google are betting that the future of artificial intelligence involves...

Photo via Adobe.

Open-Source AI Struggles to Close Gap with Closed Rivals

By Kalley Huang · Oct 24, 2024 8:54am PDT · 1 comment

Over the past week, artificial intelligence developers have posted rave reviews on X and Reddit about the quality of Nemotron, a series of large language models Nvidia built using Meta Platforms’ open-source Llama model.The buzz about Nemotron rekindled questions about whether the race between open- and closed-source models is tightening. The... Over the past week, artificial intelligence developers have posted rave reviews on X and Reddit...

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Photo via Getty.

Anthropic Pulls Ahead in the AI Agent Race

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Oct 23, 2024 7:00am PDT

In the tight race between well-funded developers of conversational AI, Anthropic has suddenly made some real gains.The startup on Tuesday announced new software that completes tasks for people, such as building a website or editing a spreadsheet. The feature, called “computer use,” means that Anthropic’s Claude model can actually view users’... In the tight race between well-funded developers of conversational AI, Anthropic has suddenly...

Photo via Getty

How AI Dealmakers Are Sidestepping Regulators

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Oct 22, 2024 7:15am PDT

Photo via Getty

How AI Dealmakers Are Sidestepping Regulators

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Oct 22, 2024 7:15am PDT

Attention: AI startups. What’s the best way to sell your company without the prying eyes of antitrust regulators? Make yourself so small you won’t attract attention!We’re serious, kind of. We’re hearing that a lesser-known loophole to the rules determining when companies have to notify antitrust regulators about an acquisition is based on the... Attention: AI startups. What’s the best way to sell your company without the prying eyes of...

Photo by Getty

What OpenAI’s Leadership Team Is Missing

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Oct 21, 2024 7:00am PDT

A rare piece of OpenAI personnel news: a leader coming back to the company rather than leaving.Senior leaders expect Greg Brockman, co-founder and president, to return to OpenAI in the next month or so, following a sabbatical that started in August. While Brockman had said he would return at the end of the year, his decision to take a break had... A rare piece of OpenAI personnel news: a leader coming back to the company rather than leaving....

Mistral's CEO, Arthur Mensch. Photo via Getty.

Why Mistral is a Takeover Candidate

By Kalley Huang · Oct 17, 2024 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Earlier today, we published our Generative AI Takeover List of 78 startups that could be acquisition targets. The list includes companies that develop their own models or robots, haven’t raised funding in at least two years, or both. These companies are most likely to face a cash crunch and be open to takeover offers.My colleagues Stephanie and... Earlier today, we published our Generative AI Takeover List of 78 startups that could be...

Photo via Getty

Chip Boom Strains Nvidia’s Relationship with its Most Important Supplier

By Amir Efrati · Oct 16, 2024 7:00am PDT

Nvidia and OpenAI may get the headlines, but their microprocessors and artificial intelligence wouldn’t be possible without the good people of Taiwan—specifically, more than 70,000 employees and leaders of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.A few years ago, my colleague Wayne took readers into the deep relationship between TSMC and Apple,... Nvidia and OpenAI may get the headlines, but their microprocessors and artificial intelligence...

Photo via Getty.

OpenAI’s Charity Could Soon Be Worth $40 Billion

By Rocket Drew · Oct 15, 2024 7:00am PDT

Photo via Getty.

OpenAI’s Charity Could Soon Be Worth $40 Billion

By Rocket Drew · Oct 15, 2024 7:00am PDT

Score one for OpenAI? Before we get to today’s column, we should flag Aaron’s scoop yesterday about OpenAI hiring one of Microsoft’s most prominent artificial intelligence researchers. It must be a welcome relief for OpenAI to be on the receiving end of such a move for a change.Onto today’s issue…Between headlines about OpenAI’s... Score one for OpenAI? Before we get to today’s column, we should flag Aaron’s scoop...