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By Stephanie Palazzolo

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Recent Editions

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...

Art via Getty Images

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

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

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

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

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...

Art via Getty Images

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...

Art via Getty Images

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...

Art via Getty Images

New Security Breaches at Anthropic and OpenAI Proved Mark Zuckerberg Right

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

Art via Getty Images

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...

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...

Art by Getty Images/Mike Sullivan

Anthropic’s ID Verification Imperils Chinese Founders

By Juro Osawa · Apr 21, 2026 7:00am PDT

Anthropic has quietly flourished in China thanks to businesses—including big tech firms and startups—circumventing Anthropic’s official restrictions on usage. That may soon change.Anthropic last week started requiring some customers to provide a government-issued photo ID and an image of themselves taken from their phone or webcam. It’s the... Anthropic has quietly flourished in China thanks to businesses—including big tech firms and...

Images from Reddit.

OpenAI Takes Aim at Google with New Image Model

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 20, 2026 7:00am PDT

If you’ve been on X or Reddit in recent weeks, you’ve likely seen images created by an upcoming model from OpenAI floating around. Sharp-eyed people have pointed out that the new model is potentially being tested with some ChatGPT users and on leaderboards under code names. The images generated by that model, which some are calling “... If you’ve been on X or Reddit in recent weeks, you’ve likely seen images created by an upcoming...

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

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

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

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,...