AI and society Archive

Feb 3, 2026

French prosecutors have raided the Paris offices of Elon Musk's platform X. The cybercrime unit is investigating multiple allegations, including unlawful data extraction and aiding the distribution of child sexual abuse material. Sexual deepfakes are also part of the investigation. Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino have been summoned for hearings in April, according to the BBC. X has previously called the investigation politically motivated.

At the same time, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has opened an investigation into Musk's AI tool Grok. The probe focuses on whether personal data was used without consent to create sexualized images. The UK media regulator Ofcom and the European Commission are also continuing their reviews of the platform. X has not commented on the investigations.

Comment Source: BBC

Maximilian Schreiner

Feb 3, 2026

AI and society

OpenAI's dissatisfaction with Nvidia chips sparked Cerebras deal

The ChatGPT developer is reportedly unhappy with the speed of certain Nvidia chips and is negotiating with startups that offer alternatives.

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Maximilian Schreiner

Feb 3, 2026

AI and society

"Project Vault": US builds $12 billion strategic mineral reserve

The US government wants to protect American companies from rare earth supply shortages through “Project Vault.”

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Maximilian Schreiner

Feb 2, 2026

AI and society

"Daddy", "Master", "Guru": Anthropic study shows how users develop emotional dependency on Claude

Maximilian Schreiner

Feb 2, 2026

Short News

The AI boom could cost Apple up to $57 more per iPhone – for memory chips alone.

"The rate of increase in the price of memory is unprecedented," says Mike Howard, an analyst at TechInsights, speaking to the Wall Street Journal. By the end of this year, the price of DRAM will quadruple from 2023 levels, and NAND will more than triple.

For Apple, the numbers are stark: The base-model iPhone 18 due this fall could cost $57 more in memory alone compared with the current iPhone 17 – a significant hit to profit margins on a device that retails for $799. This aligns with recent rumors that Apple may delay the base model's release to later this year.

The cause: AI companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta are now outbidding Apple for scarce components. Nvidia has even overtaken Apple as TSMC's largest customer, a position Apple held for years.

Comment Source: WSJ

Maximilian Schreiner

Jan 30, 2026

Short News

OpenAI is preparing for an IPO in the fourth quarter of 2026, the Wall Street Journal reports. The startup, valued at $500 billion, is holding informal talks with Wall Street banks and building out its finance team. Recent hires include Ajmere Dale as Chief Accounting Officer and Cynthia Gaylor for investor relations.

According to the report, OpenAI executives are worried internally that competitor Anthropic might beat them to the public markets. Anthropic has told financial partners it's open to an IPO by the end of 2026 and is expanding its finance team with experts like Andrew Zloto and former Blackstone investor Kevin Chang.

CEO Sam Altman said in a December podcast that he's not exited about running a public company. Some of those responsibilities will fall to Fidji Simo, the former Instacart CEO who now leads OpenAI Applications.

OpenAI is trying to raise more than $100 billion. The deal would value the startup at $830 billion. SoftBank is considering investing around $30 billion, while Amazon is negotiating a stake of up to $50 billion. Both AI startups are still burning billions of dollars annually. Anthropic expects to break even in 2028, while OpenAI doesn't anticipate reaching that milestone until 2030.

Comment Source: WSJ

Maximilian Schreiner

Jan 30, 2026

Short News

SpaceX is negotiating a merger with Elon Musk's AI company xAI ahead of a planned IPO, Reuters reports. The deal would bring SpaceX, Starlink satellites, the social media platform X, and the Grok chatbot under one corporate roof.

According to Reuters, the merger would involve exchanging xAI shares for SpaceX stock. Two companies were reportedly incorporated in Nevada on January 21 to handle the transaction. One of them lists SpaceX and its CFO Bret Johnsen as managing partners. Some xAI executives may receive cash instead of shares.

No final agreement has been signed yet, and the timeline and structure remain undecided, Reuters says. SpaceX is currently the world's most valuable private company at $800 billion, while xAI was valued at $230 billion in November. According to Bloomberg, SpaceX is also exploring a merger with Tesla.

Comment Source: Reuters

Maximilian Schreiner

Jan 27, 2026

AI and society

Anthropic CEO warns democracies must protect themselves from their own AI

Dario Amodei outlines the dangers of powerful AI systems in a new essay. His central demand: Democracies should only use AI in ways that don’t make them more like their autocratic adversaries.

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Jonathan Kemper

Jan 27, 2026

Short News

The British government has chosen Anthropic to develop an AI assistant for the GOV.UK website. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) plans to use the system to help citizens navigate government services and receive personalized guidance. The initial focus will be on jobseekers - helping them with career advice, connecting them to training opportunities, and explaining available programs.

The partnership builds on a declaration of intent signed in February 2025. Anthropic engineers are collaborating directly with UK officials to ensure the government can eventually run the system on its own. Users will keep full control over their data and can opt out at any time.

Anthropic's regional head Pip White said the collaboration demonstrates how AI can be deployed safely for the public good. The company isn't the only US tech firm making moves in the UK - Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia committed over 31 billion pounds to British AI infrastructure last year.

There's one notable difference between Anthropic and some of its competitors: while OpenAI holds a $200 million contract with the US Department of Defense, Anthropic prohibits US law enforcement agencies from using its models for domestic surveillance.

Comment Source: Anthropic

Maximilian Schreiner

Jan 26, 2026

AI and society

Nvidia invests $2 billion in cloud provider Coreweave, buying shares at $87.20 each. The two companies are expanding their existing partnership to build AI data centers with more than 5 gigawatts of capacity by 2030.

As part of the deal, Coreweave will deploy multiple generations of Nvidia hardware, including the Rubin platform, Vera processors, and Bluefield storage systems. The partners also plan to integrate Coreweave's software into Nvidia's reference architectures for cloud providers and enterprise customers.

Coreweave went public in March 2025 and specializes in AI-optimized cloud services. The company is involved in expanding OpenAI's Stargate project. OpenAI has also invested several billion dollars in Coreweave.

Comment Source: Coreweave