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By Stephanie Palazzolo

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Recent Editions

Art by Mike Sullivan.

The Buzz at This Year's Hot Chips Conference: AI Is Supercharging Chip Design

By Phoebe Liu · Aug 27, 2026 7:01am PDT

AI is speeding up chip design. That was a key theme in conversations I had this week with engineers, researchers and a handful of startups pitching AI-driven design help at the annual Hot Chips semiconductor conference in Palo Alto, Calif. OpenAI’s Jalapeño chip, which it claims is better than Nvidia’s Blackwell chips at AI inference, is... AI is speeding up chip design. That was a key theme in conversations I had this week with...

Art by Mike Sullivan

How Companies Are Using Old-School Software to Grade AI Agents

By Rocket Drew · Aug 26, 2026 7:00am PDT

Measuring the quality of an AI model’s work can be tricky, especially when it comes to AI agents that can take a broad range of actions to autonomously solve a task. As businesses turn to agents to automate longer and more important tasks, they are getting savvier about how to evaluate the performance of those agents.“Enterprises are getting... Measuring the quality of an AI model’s work can be tricky, especially when it comes to AI agents...

John Higgins, CuriosityStream’s Vice President of Content Partnerships. Photo via Businesswire

A Video Subscription Site Gets a New Life From Licensing Videos to AI

By Alix Coutures · Aug 25, 2026 7:00am PDT

A streaming service called CuriosityStream, which offers documentaries on ancient Egypt, the Persian Gulf and other topics, was nearly delisted by the Nasdaq Stock Market three years ago. Squeezed by a post-pandemic glut of online streaming services, its revenue dove 27% in 2023 to a four-year-low. The service’s decision last fall to license... A streaming service called CuriosityStream, which offers documentaries on ancient Egypt, the...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Josh Edelson/ Getty Images.

Jensen Huang's Manic Moves

By Amir Efrati · Aug 24, 2026 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Josh Edelson/ Getty Images.

Jensen Huang's Manic Moves

By Amir Efrati · Aug 24, 2026 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang continues to not rest on his laurels, particularly as clouds continue forming over the AI buildout. On Sunday, Phoebe, Valida and I reported that Nvidia was planning to lead a multibillion-dollar investment in Perplexity, the search firm-turned-AI agent provider whose revenue growth has been pretty great this year.A few... Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang continues to not rest on his laurels, particularly as clouds continue...

Photo courtesy of Foxglove.

Robots Are in Their GPT-2 Era

By Rocket Drew · Aug 20, 2026 7:00am PDT

It’s no secret that AI-powered robots aren’t so good yet. They struggle with a broad range of simple tasks, from untangling cables to chopping vegetables. Nonetheless, morale is high among roboticists who are flush with venture cash as they work toward a “ChatGPT moment” when robots become broadly useful and available. Until then... It’s no secret that AI-powered robots aren’t so good yet. They struggle with a broad range of...

Sam Altman. Art via Getty Images

OpenAI Raises the Safety Bar on Anthropic; Anthropic Expands Its Revenue Lead

By Amir Efrati · Aug 19, 2026 7:01am PDT

In the Anthropic-OpenAI horse race, the now-much-smaller OpenAI has been looking to slow down its ascendant rival. That includes undercutting Anthropic’s model prices, as we covered yesterday, and playing nice with federal officials that have gone to war with Anthropic.Another potential avenue is safety. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday... In the Anthropic-OpenAI horse race, the now-much-smaller OpenAI has been looking to slow down its...

Art by Clark Miller.

OpenAI Gains Against Anthropic Among OpenRouter Customers

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 18, 2026 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

OpenAI has found a new place to fight Anthropic for developer wallets: OpenRouter, a service AI app developers use to access models from different providers from one application programming interface. (In case you’ve been under a rock, Stripe is about to buy OpenRouter for a pretty penny.)A big chunk of OpenRouter’s business recently boiled down... OpenAI has found a new place to fight Anthropic for developer wallets: OpenRouter, a service AI...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Will Anthropic and OpenAI Stop Selling Their Best AI to Businesses?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 17, 2026 7:01am PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan

Will Anthropic and OpenAI Stop Selling Their Best AI to Businesses?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 17, 2026 7:01am PDT

Anthropic and OpenAI’s move to develop AI applications and features tailored to specific industries continues to worry their customers, some of which must now compete head-on with their main AI suppliers. Design app Canva is the latest to find itself in this predicament, as we reported earlier this month.Through it all, though, most people... Anthropic and OpenAI’s move to develop AI applications and features tailored to specific...

Why The AI Compute Crunch Is Hitting Neolabs Especially Hard

Why The AI Compute Crunch Is Hitting Neolabs Especially Hard

By Rocket Drew · Aug 13, 2026 7:00am PDT

The AI chip shortage is causing headaches for tech giants such as OpenAI. Among those hardest hit, though, are the startups trying to build their own AI models—so-called neolabs that need to use their limited funding to secure access to enormous clusters of graphics processing units for the compute-intensive task of model training.“It’s like VC... The AI chip shortage is causing headaches for tech giants such as OpenAI. Among those hardest...

James Sagan, CEO of Architect Capital, on TITV.

OnlyFans Investor Says Company Will ‘Never’ Use AI to Replace Creators

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 12, 2026 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Every AI executive I talk to these days wants to tell me what their models can now do. James Sagan, the low-profile investor who just bought 16% of OnlyFans at a $3 billion valuation, spent most of our interview telling me what his platform is betting AI can't do.In a wide-ranging exclusive interview about the deal, and how he plans to evolve... Every AI executive I talk to these days wants to tell me what their models can now do. James...

Trajectory cofounders Ronak Malde, Michael Elabd and Arjun Karanam.

Trajectory, Founded by Ex-Google and Apple Researchers, Raises Funding From Sequoia in Back-to-Back Round

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 11, 2026 7:01am PDT

As closed-source models have gotten more expensive, businesses have found workarounds by customizing open-source AI for their specific needs. Some are also trying to improve the software they use that allows models to use tools and take actions, otherwise known as a harness. Now, startups that help businesses with both tasks are seeing more... As closed-source models have gotten more expensive, businesses have found workarounds by...

Getty Images.

OpenRouter Bidding Sparks Router Frenzy

By Alix Coutures · Aug 10, 2026 7:05am PDT

Getty Images.

OpenRouter Bidding Sparks Router Frenzy

By Alix Coutures · Aug 10, 2026 7:05am PDT

Even before Stripe entered talks to buy startup OpenRouter for $10 billion, several tech companies were exploring or developing router technology, which helps customers use the most cost-effective AI models. And Stripe’s talks with OpenRouter, which my colleagues last week reported have entered the advanced stage, have set off a frenzy of... Even before Stripe entered talks to buy startup OpenRouter for $10 billion, several tech...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Rain AI CEO Jack Kendall. Art by Clark Miller; YouTube.

OpenAI Acquired Patents from Altman-Backed AI Chip Startup Following Failed Acquisition

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 6, 2026 7:06am PDT · 1 comment

There’s no question that some of the companies OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has invested in—like chipmaker Cerebras and nuclear fusion firm Helion Energy—have benefitted from doing business with the firm Altman leads. However, just because Altman is an investor in a startup doesn’t mean that OpenAI will be that helpful.Take AI chip startup Rain AI,... There’s no question that some of the companies OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has invested in—like...

Getty Images.

How Meta Plans to Close the Gap with Anthropic and OpenAI in Coding

By Jyoti Mann · Aug 5, 2026 7:00am PDT

As Meta Platforms races to catch up with Anthropic and OpenAI, it’s asking thousands of engineers to use its in-house AI coding agent, MetaCode, in their day-to-day work in an effort to improve the coding capabilities of its AI models.Maher Saba, vice president of Meta’s Applied AI Engineering organization, last month asked engineers across the... As Meta Platforms races to catch up with Anthropic and OpenAI, it’s asking thousands of engineers...

Art via Getty Images; Mike Sullivan

A Customer Feedback Startup Is in Talks For $125 Million Financing Led By Anthropic Investor

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 4, 2026 7:11am PDT · 1 comment

AI that generates realistic voices has come a long way. It powers applications like ChatGPT, phone-based customer support and increasingly helps businesses solicit verbal feedback from their customers about products or experiences.One AI startup in that field is San Francisco-based Listen Labs, which helps businesses automate interviews with... AI that generates realistic voices has come a long way. It powers applications like ChatGPT,...

Jasjeet Sekhon, Chief Strategy Officer at Google DeepMind. Photo courtesy of the Berkeley Center for Responsible, Decentralized Intelligence.

Google DeepMind Exec Says Unprecedented Capex Is Actually a Bet On ‘RSI’

By Amir Efrati · Aug 3, 2026 7:01am PDT

Jasjeet Sekhon, Chief Strategy Officer at Google DeepMind. Photo courtesy of the Berkeley Center for Responsible, Decentralized Intelligence.

Google DeepMind Exec Says Unprecedented Capex Is Actually a Bet On ‘RSI’

By Amir Efrati · Aug 3, 2026 7:01am PDT

Over the weekend, Jasjeet Sekhon, the chief strategy officer at Google’s DeepMind AI unit, used two words to describe what needs to happen to justify his industry’s unprecedented capital expenditures: recursive self-improvement. The white-hot term refers to AI that can automatically create better versions of itself.RSI is a “key part of the... Over the weekend, Jasjeet Sekhon, the chief strategy officer at Google’s DeepMind AI unit, used...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

Server Networking Boom Drives $300 Million Funding For Xsight

By Phoebe Liu · Jul 30, 2026 7:00am PDT

Graphics processing units are all the rage, but startups developing the networking equipment that connects GPUs to one other are getting some love from investors, too. The latest is Xsight, a nine-year-old startup based in Israel that makes server networking and storage chips, the latter of which are also in high demand in the current boom.Five... Graphics processing units are all the rage, but startups developing the networking equipment that...

Vitality Mechanical CEO Robby Hogle. Photo courtesy of Vitality Mechanical.

Why Data Labeling Startups Are Paying HVAC Companies $150,000 For Data

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Jul 29, 2026 7:01am PDT

In June, data labeling startup micro1 approached Robby Hogle, CEO of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning company in Troy, Mich., with a proposition: why not learn how to use AI in his business and get paid for it?Hogle had already been doing some work for micro1 as a side hustle. Hogle, a former investment banker, had been providing... In June, data labeling startup micro1 approached Robby Hogle, CEO of a heating, ventilation and...

Sam Altman, left, and Dario Amodei. Photos via Getty Images

OpenAI and Anthropic Are Quietly Teaming Up in Washington

By Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati · Jul 28, 2026 7:01am PDT

OpenAI and Anthropic are arch enemies whose leaders can’t stand each other. But the two foes have formed an unholy alliance in Washington in the interest of self-preservation. With the Trump administration set to finalize its framework for regulating and evaluating “frontier models” by August 1, the two leading AI developers are quietly... OpenAI and Anthropic are arch enemies whose leaders can’t stand each other. But the two foes have...

Credit: Tacta Systems™ Inc.

Robotics Startup Tacta Shows Its Hand (and Glove)

By Rocket Drew · Jul 27, 2026 8:35am PDT

Credit: Tacta Systems™ Inc.

Robotics Startup Tacta Shows Its Hand (and Glove)

By Rocket Drew · Jul 27, 2026 8:35am PDT

As robotics companies explore new ways to collect the massive volumes of data needed to train the physical AI models that will power humanoid robots, one approach is gaining steam. Some robotics companies are relying on specialized gloves that people can wear while they carry out tasks at work or around the home. The gloves record information... As robotics companies explore new ways to collect the massive volumes of data needed to train the...