AI in practice Archive

Jan 15, 2026

What China can do, the US can do too: OpenAI has published a call for proposals to boost domestic AI hardware production. AI relies on a broad ecosystem of physical components beyond chips, OpenAI says. The company is seeking manufacturers and suppliers of data center components like cooling systems, power supplies, and networking equipment, plus consumer electronics and robotics. Applications are open through June 2026.

The move comes as China reportedly restricts Nvidia H200 imports and pushes domestic manufacturers to source hardware locally. If China succeeds in decoupling its supply chain, the US can expect countermeasures—and if both countries want true independence, they'll each have to build their own.

The initiative fits squarely with Trump's "America First" agenda. OpenAI frames it as "reindustrialization of the country." Notably, OpenAI President Greg Brockman donated $25 million to Trump's campaign.

Comment Source: OpenAI

Matthias Bastian

Jan 15, 2026

Short News

OpenAI has invested in Merge Labs, a startup developing brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). The company raised a total of $252 million in seed funding, according to Bloomberg. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is a co-founder of Merge Labs. The exact size of OpenAI's investment remains unknown.

Merge Labs aims to combine biological and artificial intelligence to improve human capabilities. The startup is working on safer BCIs with higher bandwidth by combining biology, devices, and AI, according to OpenAI. OpenAI views BCIs as an important way for humans to interact more naturally with AI systems. The collaboration includes basic science models and tools to speed up research.

Merge Labs relies on ultrasound technology instead of electrodes. The goal is to create less invasive BCIs that can interact with more neurons. This puts OpenAI in direct competition with Elon Musk's Neuralink, which was founded in 2016 and uses electrode-based implants. The investment follows OpenAI's strategy of backing hardware and interface technologies. Rumors about this investment had circulated since summer.

Comment Source: OpenAI | Bloomberg

Maximilian Schreiner

Jan 15, 2026

AI in practice

Anthropic cuts AI productivity forecasts in half after analyzing Claude's real-world failure rates

Matthias Bastian

Jan 15, 2026

Short News

OpenAI has launched a standalone translation tool built on ChatGPT. "ChatGPT Translate" supports more than 25 languages with an interface similar to Google Translate or DeepL—two text fields with automatic language detection for the input.

OpenAI's ChatGPT Translate uses the familiar two-panel layout seen in other translation tools. | Screenshot: THE DECODER

Users can refine translations with additional prompts, for example, switching to a business tone or simplifying for children. These prompts redirect to the main ChatGPT interface, suggesting the tool is mainly designed as a gateway to the chatbot. OpenAI hasn't officially announced it yet.

Unlike full ChatGPT, the tool only handles text with apparent length limits. During testing, it sometimes returned chatbot responses asking for clarification instead of translations, with no way to respond. This suggests it's essentially a prompt in a new interface rather than a specialized translation model. For now, ChatGPT itself remains the more capable option.

Comment Source: ChatGPT Translate

Matthias Bastian

Jan 15, 2026

Short News

The US AI industry continues to deliver drama. OpenAI has rehired three former employees from Mira Murati's AI startup Thinking Machines, including co-founder Barret Zoph, who was recently fired as CTO. Thinking Machines let Zoph go for "unethical conduct," according to journalist Kylie Robison, citing two sources.

A source speaking to Wired claims Zoph passed confidential company information to competitors. OpenAI, the company he's now returning to, would be the obvious candidate. OpenAI's product CEO Fidji Simo announced Zoph's return in an internal memo and on X, saying the company doesn't share Murati's concerns. According to Simo, his return had been "several weeks" in the making.

Zoph and Metz originally worked at OpenAI before co-founding Thinking Machines with Murati, who served as OpenAI's CTO before starting the company. Along with Zoph and Metz, Sam Schoenholz is also returning to OpenAI. Zoph will report directly to Simo. Soumith Chintala takes over as CTO at Thinking Machines.

Comment Source: Kylie Robison / Zoph firing | Wired / Zoph allegations | Fidji Simo / Zoph return | Mira Murati / CTO takeover

Maximilian Schreiner

Jan 15, 2026

AI in practice

OpenAI signs $10 billion deal with Cerebras Systems

Matthias Bastian

Jan 14, 2026

Short News

OpenAI has released GPT-5.2 Codex to developers through the Responses API. The model was previously limited to the Codex environment. According to OpenAI Developers, it excels at complex, tedious tasks like developing new features, refactoring code, and tracking down bugs. OpenAI also says it's their best cybersecurity model yet, helping identify vulnerabilities in codebases.

The model accepts text and images as input and offers four levels of reasoning effort: low, medium, high, and very high. Pricing comes in at $1.75 per million input tokens and $14 per million output tokens, a notable increase from earlier GPT-5 Codex models, which cost $1.25 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens.

Coding platforms Cursor and Windsurf have already integrated the model, with Windsurf offering it at half price for a limited time. OpenAI has published a prompting guide.

Comment Source: OpenAI via X

Matthias Bastian

Jan 14, 2026

Short News

Microsoft is shaping up to be one of Anthropic's best customers. According to The Information, the software giant is on track to spend nearly $500 million a year on Anthropic's models. Microsoft is using the OpenAI competitor's AI technology in products like GitHub Copilot and Office applications, likely in part to strengthen its bargaining position with OpenAI.

Microsoft has also told its Azure sales team to count Anthropic model sales to cloud customers toward their quotas, just like they would for Microsoft's own software. That's unusual for third-party products, which typically generate less revenue for Azure. The deeper collaboration follows Microsoft's investment of up to $5 billion in Anthropic last November.

Comment Source: The Information

Matthias Bastian

Jan 14, 2026

AI in practice

Google taps its massive data advantage with new Gemini feature

Google knows where you went on vacation, what you bought, and who you email. Now that knowledge is supposed to make your AI assistant smarter. The new “Personal Intelligence” feature connects Gemini with Gmail, Google Photos, and YouTube—an advantage competitors can’t match, if it works as intended.

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Jonathan Kemper

Jan 14, 2026

Short News

Deutsche Telekom is soon using AI voice agents from Elevenlabs in its customer service. Customers can talk to realistic-sounding AI voices around the clock through the app or by phone. The partnership between Europe's largest telecom company and the AI audio startup goes back a while. Since October 2025, Magenta customers have been able to convert text into podcasts up to 25 times a month for free in the MeinMagenta app. Deutsche Telekom also invested in Elevenlabs' Series C funding round.

According to Elevenlabs' internal data, the AI support agent successfully resolves about 80 percent of user queries, particularly when it comes to specific documentation questions. For more complex issues like troubleshooting or pricing inquiries, though, the system still hits its limits and needs to hand off to human support.

Elevenlabs recently launched a marketplace for licensed voices of famous people like John Wayne and Judy Garland. Last year, the company introduced the Eleven v3 voice model with expanded expression options.

Comment Source: Elevenlabs