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By Stephanie Palazzolo

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Recent Editions

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

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...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai on stage at Google I/O. Photo courtesy of Google.

Google Pitches Its AI Coding Tools as the Cost-Effective Option

By Erin Woo · May 20, 2026 7:00am PDT

Google CEO Sundar Pichai on stage at Google I/O. Photo courtesy of Google.

Google Pitches Its AI Coding Tools as the Cost-Effective Option

By Erin Woo · May 20, 2026 7:00am PDT

Google came into its flagship developer conference, Google I/O, on Tuesday with a big question to answer: Does it have a counter to Anthropic’s dominance in coding?The takeaway, after a sweltering day in Mountain View, Calif.: Google wants to redefine the competition. Google didn’t release a new “pro” version of its flagship model, Gemini, to... Google came into its flagship developer conference, Google I/O, on Tuesday with a big question to...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Is the Gap Widening Between Anthropic and Open-Source Models?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 19, 2026 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Some developers have told me that the rising costs of frontier AI models from Anthropic and other firms could prompt them to shift to cheaper open-source AI. After all, when companies as sophisticated as Uber are accidentally blowing through their entire year’s AI budget in a matter of months, it makes sense to cut back by using a less capable... Some developers have told me that the rising costs of frontier AI models from Anthropic and other...

Krishna Rangasayee. Photo By Shauna Clinton/ Getty Images

Edge Inference Chip Startup SiMa.ai Raising at $1.4 Billion Valuation

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · May 18, 2026 7:00am PDT

Nvidia might be on a tear, but some investors are still convinced that there’s demand for another kind of specialized chips. And they’re putting their money where their mouth is. For example: San Jose, Calif.-based SiMa.ai, which develops chips that work on devices such as drones or cameras, is in talks with investors to raise more than... Nvidia might be on a tear, but some investors are still convinced that there’s demand for another...

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AGI Is the Elephant in the Musk v. OpenAI Courtroom

By Rocket Drew · May 14, 2026 7:00am PDT

Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI are set today to deliver closing arguments in their trial, which centers on Musk’s allegations that OpenAI breached a charitable trust, in part by violating its charitable mission. The two sides disagree on almost everything in the case, but one phrase is likely to be mentioned in both speeches: artificial... Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI are set today to deliver closing arguments in their trial, which...

Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei. Photo via Getty Images

How Anthropic Could Take an OpenAI Supplier Off The Table

By Laura Mandaro · May 13, 2026 7:00am PDT

Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei. Photo via Getty Images

How Anthropic Could Take an OpenAI Supplier Off The Table

By Laura Mandaro · May 13, 2026 7:00am PDT

Is a big AI model maker about to take out a supplier to its archrival? That seems possible if a deal we reported on late Tuesday reaches the finish line. Anthropic is in talks to buy developer tools startup Stainless for at least $300 million, according to Stephanie and Katie. The New York startup makes software development kits that... Is a big AI model maker about to take out a supplier to its archrival? That seems possible if a...

Judgment Labs cofounders (from left to right): Chief Scientist Andrew Li, CEO Alex Shan and CTO Joseph Camyre. Photo courtesy of Judgment Labs.

Why Lightspeed Backed This Agent Evaluation Startup’s Back-to-Back Rounds

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 12, 2026 7:00am PDT

Alex Shan may not have been old enough to legally buy alcohol in 2023, but he was still old enough to start his own company and join the AI boom.Shan was 20 when he was first introduced to James Alcorn, an investment partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, through a fellow Stanford University classmate. Shan, who started college at 16, had... Alex Shan may not have been old enough to legally buy alcohol in 2023, but he was still old...

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The Startup Helping OpenAI Optimize Its AI For Cerebras Chips

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 11, 2026 7:30am PDT

As access to Nvidia AI chips become more elusive, major developers such OpenAI and Meta Platforms are diversifying their sources of computing power, including by striking deals to use a variety of AI server chips. But making that approach work is not a cinch. The AI labs need to tailor the code that trains and runs their models to each type of... As access to Nvidia AI chips become more elusive, major developers such OpenAI and Meta Platforms...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Why Musk is Giving xAI’s Servers to Anthropic; AI Video-App Developer Reka Acquires Video-Generating Startup

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Anissa Gardizy · May 7, 2026 7:00am PDT

OpenAI and Anthropic’s servers are generally bursting at the seams, while xAI’s mountain of servers aren’t as busy, as we and others recently reported. That’s burning a multibillion-dollar hole in the pocket of new xAI owner SpaceX, which is trying to go public soon and is sure to receive tremendous scrutiny over its AI-related losses.So after... OpenAI and Anthropic’s servers are generally bursting at the seams, while xAI’s mountain of...

Art by Mike Sullivan; Shutterstock

Rising AI Costs Are Becoming a Problem For Even Investors

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 6, 2026 7:00am PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan; Shutterstock

Rising AI Costs Are Becoming a Problem For Even Investors

By Stephanie Palazzolo · May 6, 2026 7:00am PDT

In recent months, a lot of discussion has centered around the rising costs of AI, with even large, sophisticated public companies like Uber blowing through their 2026 AI budgets in a matter of months.Even venture capitalists are feeling the pain. One partner at a large fund told me that they previously gave five of their staffers enterprise ... In recent months, a lot of discussion has centered around the rising costs of AI, with even...

Greg Brockman, president and co-founder of OpenAI exits federal court in Oakland yesterday. Photo by David Paul Morris/Getty Images

Greg Brockman’s Rough Day

By Rocket Drew · May 5, 2026 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Monday was Greg Brockman's turn to get grilled, as Elon Musk's lawyer relentlessly questioned the OpenAI co-founder and president about his financial stake in the AI giant and companies it does business with.Brockman took the stand to start the second week of courtroom proceedings in Musk’s lawsuit alleging breach of charitable trust and unjust... Monday was Greg Brockman's turn to get grilled, as Elon Musk's lawyer relentlessly questioned the...

Art via Getty Images; Shutterstock

Cursor Keeps Its Distance From xAI Despite Tie-Up

By Laura Bratton and Stephanie Palazzolo · May 4, 2026 7:00am PDT

When Cursor agreed to a $60 billion conditional takeover offer from SpaceX last month—the purchase isn’t definite—some of Cursor’s rivals expected the coding startup to work with SpaceX’s xAI unit to develop new models, specifically for coding.That’s not happening anytime soon, apparently. Cursor doesn’t currently plan to codevelop coding models... When Cursor agreed to a $60 billion conditional takeover offer from SpaceX last month—the...

Art via Mike Sullivan

Standard Intelligence Rides Neolab Fervor with Computer Use Model

By Rocket Drew · Apr 30, 2026 7:00am PDT

Pedestrians in downtown San Francisco are used to seeing Waymos navigating the streets. But two months ago, people in the South Park neighborhood saw something new: a Toyota Rav4 driving around with a laptop propped on the dashboard. The laptop was running a new breed of AI model, known as a “computer use model,” from a two-year-old startup... Pedestrians in downtown San Francisco are used to seeing Waymos navigating the streets. But two...

Art by Mike Sullivan

XAI Shows How Hard It Is to Use a Lot of GPUs at Once

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 29, 2026 7:05am PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan

XAI Shows How Hard It Is to Use a Lot of GPUs at Once

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 29, 2026 7:05am PDT

AI developers have been desperately scrambling to get ahold of Nvidia server chips lately, as we wrote last week. When developers do get the graphics processing units, they’re under a lot of pressure to wring as much performance as possible from that expensive hardware.That’s easier said than done. Training AI models can be “bursty,” meaning... AI developers have been desperately scrambling to get ahold of Nvidia server chips lately, as we...

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Startup Founded by Ex-Nvidia Researcher Among New World Models Endeavors

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Julia Hornstein · Apr 28, 2026 7:00am PDT

Young startups such as Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs and Yann LeCun’s AMI Labs have raised billions of dollars in funding in the last year to develop world models. That’s the term for foundation models that approximate the physics of how objects and humans interact with their surroundings—attributes some researchers believe are key to developing... Young startups such as Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs and Yann LeCun’s AMI Labs have raised billions of...

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The Nuances of Cursor’s Gross Margin; Comparing GPT-5.5 and Claude Mythos

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Cory Weinberg · Apr 27, 2026 7:00am PDT

Before we get to today’s column, we’ve got an update in tech’s favorite relationship: OpenAI and Microsoft. As a result of a revision to their deal, Microsoft Azure no longer has exclusive rights to sell OpenAI models and that Microsoft no longer has to share 20% of the revenue it makes from selling OpenAI models on Azure with OpenAI. Both... Before we get to today’s column, we’ve got an update in tech’s favorite relationship: OpenAI and...

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New Security Breaches at Anthropic and OpenAI Proved Mark Zuckerberg Right

By Aaron Holmes and Rocket Drew · Apr 23, 2026 7:00am PDT

Hours after Anthropic said it was investigating a report that users had gained unauthorized access to its ballyhooed Mythos model, OpenAI accidentally made a slate of its own unreleased models available on its Codex app. The breaches are a reminder that Anthropic and OpenAI have plenty of their own cybersecurity issues even as they help... Hours after Anthropic said it was investigating a report that users had gained unauthorized...

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Are OpenAI and Anthropic Moving Away From Reasoning Tech?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 22, 2026 7:05am PDT

Art by Getty Images

Are OpenAI and Anthropic Moving Away From Reasoning Tech?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 22, 2026 7:05am PDT

Elon Musk rocked the business world again by announcing Tuesday that his rocket-satellite-social media firm SpaceX has signed a deal agreeing to buy AI coding app Cursor for $60 billion at an undisclosed later date or else SpaceX would pay a $10 billion breakup fee.It’s one of the biggest acquisitions of a venture backed startup ever, though it’... Elon Musk rocked the business world again by announcing Tuesday that his rocket-satellite-social...