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By Stephanie Palazzolo

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Recent Editions

Art by Mike Sullivan

World Models vs VLAs: The Rift Dividing Physical AI

By Rocket Drew · Jun 25, 2026 7:01am PDT

Tech leaders from Elon Musk and Jensen Huang to a slew of startup founders and their venture-capitalist backers say robotics is headed for a “ChatGPT moment” where AI enables a wide range of physical world tasks. But the industry is increasingly split on how to get there.At issue is which kind of AI models are most promising for powering robots.... Tech leaders from Elon Musk and Jensen Huang to a slew of startup founders and their...

Runpod CEO and cofounder Zhen Lu. Photo courtesy of Runpod.

Cloud Startup Runpod Raises $100 Million, Says It Turned Down Buyout Offers

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 24, 2026 7:00am PDT

By some accounts, the compute crunch of 2026 has become even more dire than the chip crunch of 2023, which saw even venture capital firms becoming quasi-cloud providers temporarily. That’s good news for a subclass of firms that popped up to rent out computing power and help developers run open-source models to power applications. Some people... By some accounts, the compute crunch of 2026 has become even more dire than the chip crunch of...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Why Agent Loops Are Hot

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 23, 2026 7:01am PDT

If you’ve been on the AI side of X or Reddit recently, you’ve probably seen the phrase “agent loops” popping up more than usual. That term refers to a new way to run models and AI agents to improve their performance on longer-running or more vaguely-defined tasks, and it’s been gaining traction with developers in recent months.The basic idea... If you’ve been on the AI side of X or Reddit recently, you’ve probably seen the phrase “agent...

Photo by Brent Lewin/ Getty Images

Why Canva Doesn’t See ChatGPT and Claude As a Threat

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 22, 2026 7:01am PDT

Photo by Brent Lewin/ Getty Images

Why Canva Doesn’t See ChatGPT and Claude As a Threat

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 22, 2026 7:01am PDT

Some businesses that use Anthropic and OpenAI models to develop AI apps for coding, design, legal work and other white-collar tasks are getting worried that those two AI model suppliers might eat their lunch.Design app Figma seems attuned to that kind of threat, especially from Anthropic’s recently launched Claude Design app, as we reported. But... Some businesses that use Anthropic and OpenAI models to develop AI apps for coding, design, legal...

Photo via Getty Images

A Competitor to OpenClaw Emerges

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 18, 2026 7:00am PDT

After the success of OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent software that took the tech world by storm earlier this year, it’s no surprise that copycats are popping up. And some of these copycats are catching up to OpenClaw, by some measures.Hermes, an agent tool from Nous Research, recently eclipsed OpenClaw in terms of new GitHub contributors in... After the success of OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent software that took the tech world by storm...

Photo via Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

Amazon’s Lower Cost AI Chip Offerings Hold Appeal for Businesses

By Catherine Perloff · Jun 17, 2026 7:00am PDT

For companies debating which AI server chips to use in their data centers, Amazon appears to have one advantage over Nvidia: price. The cost of using Amazon’s Inferentia2 and Trainium’s second generation chips to run existing AI models, known as inference, can be 80% lower than Nvidia’s H100 chips, for comparable workloads, according to ... For companies debating which AI server chips to use in their data centers, Amazon appears to have...

Donald Trump, left, and Dario Amodei. Photos via Getty Images; art by Mike Sullivan

Is Anthropic Losing Goodwill With AI Researchers?; AGI House Alums Raise $25 Million For New Fund

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 16, 2026 7:01am PDT

Remember the last time Anthropic tussled with the Trump administration, all the way back in February, when a coterie of competing AI researchers and CEOs (even Sam Altman!) quickly came to Anthropic’s defense?That doesn’t seem to be happening this time. In the wake of Trump officials’ Friday night move to effectively ban Anthropic’s most... Remember the last time Anthropic tussled with the Trump administration, all the way back in...

Screenshot via YouTube

AI’s Cost Problem Becomes Front and Center, At Least in Asia

By Qianer Liu · Jun 15, 2026 7:01am PDT

Screenshot via YouTube

AI’s Cost Problem Becomes Front and Center, At Least in Asia

By Qianer Liu · Jun 15, 2026 7:01am PDT

Anthropic can’t catch a break! Leaders of the AI firm are meeting with Trump administration officials in D.C. this week to try to resolve a dispute that blew up on Friday night. The administration said that it would need to cut off access to its most advanced Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 models to foreign nationals, which led to the... Anthropic can’t catch a break! Leaders of the AI firm are meeting with Trump administration...

Art via Mike Sullivan/Getty Images

Why Microsoft and Other Anthropic Customers Held Off On Using Claude Fable

By Aaron Holmes and Catherine Perloff · Jun 11, 2026 7:25am PDT

Anthropic’s latest AI is so good at coding tasks that many firms are willing to pay top dollar to use it even as Anthropic effectively raises prices. But some customers are holding off over cybersecurity concerns.In releasing its latest model, Claude Fable, Anthropic started a new policy of holding onto any data that customers feed into the... Anthropic’s latest AI is so good at coding tasks that many firms are willing to pay top dollar to...

Dario Amodei. Photo via Getty Images

Anthropic’s New Model Targets Power Users But Cuts Off AI Rivals

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 10, 2026 7:00am PDT

App developers finally got their first real look at Anthropic’s Mythos Tuesday when Anthropic released a somewhat neutered version of the model, Claude Fable 5, following weeks of breathless chatter about it.Developers who tried the new model said the AI largely deserved the hype. They said it thoroughly outperformed earlier Anthropic models in... App developers finally got their first real look at Anthropic’s Mythos Tuesday when Anthropic...

Craig Federighi speaks on a screen at WWDC 2026. Photo by Josh Edelson/Getty Images)

Anthropic’s Mythos Is Coming Today; Apple Pursues Modest Goals with Siri Revamp

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Aaron Tilley · Jun 9, 2026 7:06am PDT

Big news: Anthropic has a new version of a Mythos-class model coming later today called Claude Fable, according to a person with knowledge of the release. It’s a neutered version of Mythos with safeguards to protect against its misuse either in cybersecurity hacks or the construction of bioweapons, the person said.For those who have been living... Big news: Anthropic has a new version of a Mythos-class model coming later today called Claude...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Anthropic Sounds Alarm on Recursive Self-Improvement

By Rocket Drew · Jun 8, 2026 7:00am PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan

Anthropic Sounds Alarm on Recursive Self-Improvement

By Rocket Drew · Jun 8, 2026 7:00am PDT

Last week, Anthropic boasted that Claude is now writing 80% of Anthropic’s code, which the company presented as a harbinger of a critical leap in artificial intelligence called recursive self-improvement. That’s when models are so capable that they can create the next generation of AI without human involvement. Excitement about recursive... Last week, Anthropic boasted that Claude is now writing 80% of Anthropic’s code, which the...

Andy Konwinski, co-founder of Databricks and Perplexity AI. Photo by Marc Fong

Billionaire Databricks and Perplexity Co-Founder Pitches AI Researchers to Not Work for Big Tech

By Laura Bratton · Jun 4, 2026 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

The billionaire co-founder of Databricks and Perplexity AI, Andy Konwinski, is singularly focused on plugging the years-long drain of talent from academia to Big Tech.He wants to encourage academics to focus on publishing more openly available research, a reaction to the move by frontier AI companies to reduce the amount of AI research they... The billionaire co-founder of Databricks and Perplexity AI, Andy Konwinski, is singularly focused...

Art via Shutterstock/Mike Sullivan

The Unintended Consequences of Codex’s Comeback

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jun 3, 2026 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

OpenAI’s Codex—which was once pitched as a coding agent for developers and is now being framed as a more general-purpose agent for knowledge workers—is having a moment, as OpenAI chief revenue officer Denise Dresser put it on Tuesday. As I wrote about in this story from Tuesday, lots of developers are making the switch from Anthropic’s more... OpenAI’s Codex—which was once pitched as a coding agent for developers and is now being framed as...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Cognition Aims to Be the Switzerland of AI Agents with App Makeover

By Rocket Drew · Jun 2, 2026 7:01am PDT

AI coding startup Cognition is revamping its app to help users manage coding agents from many providers, executives told The Information. Cognition is betting that being a neutral platform will strengthen its hand in the increasingly competitive market for AI coding tools.The change, to be announced on Tuesday, involves the Windsurf application... AI coding startup Cognition is revamping its app to help users manage coding agents from many...

Art via Getty Images

AI Evaluators Struggle with Models That Know When They’re Being Tested

By Rocket Drew · Jun 1, 2026 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art via Getty Images

AI Evaluators Struggle with Models That Know When They’re Being Tested

By Rocket Drew · Jun 1, 2026 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

AI researchers are starting to make progress on a confounding problem: AI models are getting better at telling when they are in an evaluation.That could become a problem for AI companies that use evaluations to gauge the capabilities and behaviors of their models before releasing them. If models act differently during testing, that could mean... AI researchers are starting to make progress on a confounding problem: AI models are getting...

Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI. Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images

Microsoft to Release New Coding Model Next Week in Comeback Attempt

By Aaron Holmes · May 28, 2026 7:00am PDT

Microsoft next week will unveil a suite of new homegrown AI models at its annual Build conference for app developers in San Francisco. The question is whether it can win over these people.The company plans to unveil a coding model to boost the competitiveness of Microsoft-owned GitHub Copilot, a coding assistant whose early lead in the AI coding... Microsoft next week will unveil a suite of new homegrown AI models at its annual Build conference...

Art via Getty Images

The Hot New Way to Communicate with AI? Whispering

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 27, 2026 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

If you wander into the Manhattan office of AI startup Basis on a workday, you’ll see most of its 100 or so staffers whispering quietly into gooseneck microphones at their desks. They aren’t taking phone calls or talking with other humans at all. They’re speaking softly to their AI agents and chatbots. Such whispering has become a... If you wander into the Manhattan office of AI startup Basis on a workday, you’ll see most of its...

Photo via Getty Images

OpenAI’s PR Challenge

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 26, 2026 7:01am PDT

The battle between OpenAI, Anthropic and Google spans revenue, models, server access and research talent. But as OpenAI and Anthropic barrel toward initial public offerings, public perception is also an important factor in the race as political backlash to the industry grows.OpenAI seems particularly vulnerable in PR after a series of awkward or... The battle between OpenAI, Anthropic and Google spans revenue, models, server access and research...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Cursor Sees Opening as GitHub Flounders

By Rocket Drew · May 21, 2026 7:10am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Mike Sullivan

Cursor Sees Opening as GitHub Flounders

By Rocket Drew · May 21, 2026 7:10am PDT · 1 comment

Microsoft's GitHub unit has been on the defensive lately. Amid a series of outages and other snags, Jay Parikh, who oversees the software-project management platform, recently warned deputies that coding tools from Cursor and Anthropic could eventually make GitHub obsolete, my colleague Aaron wrote this week.Parikh was right to be worried.... Microsoft's GitHub unit has been on the defensive lately. Amid a series of outages and other...