Daily AI briefing
AI Briefing: The "Mythos" Crackdown and the Smart Speaker’s Second Act
Anthropic's Mythos controversy signals new AI export controls, Google launches a Gemini-powered speaker, and Zhipu AI's GLM-5.2 nears Claude Opus performance.
- Briefing date: 2026-06-18
- Editorial AI analysis
- The AI Wrap
Stories covered on 2026-06-18
- GLM 5.2 Beat GPT-5.5. China Did It Again, For 1/10th The Price
Towards AI · 2026-06-18
China did it again. Z.ai shipped GLM 5.2 on June 16, 2026 and it beat GPT-5.5, the latest frontier model from OpenAI, by less than four…
- AI inference startup Baseten reportedly raising $1.5B months after its last mega-round
TechCrunch · 2026-06-18
Startup Baseten is reportedly close to finalizing a $1.5 billion round at a $13 billion as the “inference gold rush" marches on.
- Companies Move to Secure Data as AI Increases Security Risks
Bloomberg · 2026-06-18
Michael Cardaci, CEO of FedHIVE said that the government is moving 'faster than its ever moved before' to secure data and make sure that US computing companies are compliant in
- The White House Is Making Up Its Rules for AI in Real Time
WIRED · 2026-06-18
Anthropic still can’t distribute Claude Mythos or Fable 5 after running afoul of the Trump administration. But no one can say exactly what the company did wrong.
- Fmr. Lululemon CIO on AI’s Impact on C-Suites, Jobs
Bloomberg · 2026-06-18
Julie Averill, former CIO of Lululemon, REI, and Nordstrom, discusses this shift in the context of her new book
- Meta Strikes New AI Computing Deals With Data Center Firm Crusoe
Bloomberg · 2026-06-18
Meta Platforms Inc. has secured new agreements to get AI computing power from data center developer Crusoe, bolstering the infrastructure it needs to support an ambitious
- JPM Asset Mgt. CEO: AI Can Power Markets for Some Time
Bloomberg · 2026-06-18
George Gatch, CEO of JPMorgan Asset Management, discussed the current excitement surrounding mega-cap initial public offerings (IPOs) in the technology sector.
- Snap spins off AI video team into new company, Dotmo, due to costs
TechCrunch · 2026-06-18
The Snapchat maker is spinning off yet another internal unit. Dotmo will be composed of current Snap staff who are leaving the social media company to focus on AI video
- Perplexity Launches Brain, a Self-Improving Memory System That Builds a Context Graph of an Agent’s Work and Learns Overnight
MarkTechPost · 2026-06-18
Perplexity has launched Brain, a self-improving memory system for its Computer agent.
- How FERC’s Large-Load Interconnection Actions Help Address Grid Stress, Improve Affordability
NVIDIA AI Blog · 2026-06-18
In a consequential grid infrastructure decision, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today issued a major milestone on large-load interconnection impacting how those
- OpenAI is bringing on some big guns in the lead-up to its IPO
TechCrunch · 2026-06-18
OpenAI is bulking up before its IPO, landing Transformer co-inventor Noam Shazeer from Google DeepMind and former Trump AI policy official Dean Ball in the same week.
- Meta’s AI Workers Are Revolting, Peter Thiel’s Secret Society, and SBF’s Plea to Trump
WIRED · 2026-06-18
On today’s Uncanny Valley, we dive into the dysfunction in Meta’s newly formed AI unit and why it’s been driving already-low employee morale even further into the ground.
- ChatGPT's new health upgrade beats doctor-written answers, OpenAI says
The Decoder · 2026-06-18
OpenAI has upgraded ChatGPT's healthcare capabilities with GPT-5.5 Instant. In the company's own comparative tests, the model now outscores answers written by doctors in accuracy
- Rumble Bets on AI Compute Demand With New AI Platform
Bloomberg · 2026-06-18
Video platform Rumble is jumping on the AI bandwagon with its newest AI platform. Launching as Quake AI, the new sector combines cloud, compute, and AI infrastructure
- Investors Anticipate Fresh Liquidity Following Historic SpaceX Debut
Bloomberg · 2026-06-18
SpaceX's historic public debut comes during a critical inflection point as a wave of multibillion-dollar AI companies prepare to go public.
- Investors Look Beyond Chips For Next Big Thing in Tech
Bloomberg · 2026-06-18
As the AI hype continues to grow, investors are looking beyond chips to find the next big thing to revolutionize the tech sector.
- Anthropic brings Artifacts to Claude Code, letting teams share live pages from coding sessions
The Decoder · 2026-06-18
Claude Code can now turn work results into interactive web pages called "artifacts" and share them with your team.
- New usage analytics and updated spend controls for enterprises
OpenAI Blog · 2026-06-18
OpenAI introduces new spend controls and usage analytics for ChatGPT Enterprise, helping organizations manage costs and scale AI with confidence.
- Alleged China ties at SK Telecom alarmed US officials and triggered Anthropic crisis
The Decoder · 2026-06-18
SK Telecom had access to Anthropic's AI model Claude Mythos through the company's partner program Project Glasswing until the White House stepped in.
- Almost half of US singles feel negatively about AI in dating, Match says
TechCrunch · 2026-06-18
About 47% of singles look negatively at the use of AI in dating - but many dating app users are open to AI helping with profile punch-ups and conversation starters.
- Amazon hopes to challenge Nvidia more directly by selling its AI chips
TechCrunch · 2026-06-18
AWS is in talks to sell its chips to other data centers. CEO Andy Jassy has said this represents a $50 billion opportunity for the company.
- Ukraine's Denikeieva on Building AI for Citizens
Bloomberg · 2026-06-18
Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation Nataliia Denikeieva discusses digital resiliency and building artificial intelligence for citizens
- MosaicLeaks: Can your research agent keep a secret?
Hugging Face Blog · 2026-06-18
A recent discovery, dubbed MosaicLeaks, has revealed vulnerabilities in research agents, specifically those built using the LangChain framework
- Structured Outputs with LLMs: JSON Mode, Function Calling, and When to Use Each
Towards Data Science · 2026-06-18
Getting reliable, readable responses out of your LLM, and knowing which tool to reach for
- Google Deepmind treats its own AI agents like rogue employees with office keys
The Decoder · 2026-06-18
Google Deepmind treats its own AI agents as potential insider threats. The company's new "AI Control Roadmap" ties security measures to measurable AI capabilities
- Steinberger, LeCun, Habib on AI Deployment
Bloomberg · 2026-06-18
Austrian programmer Peter Steinberger, AMI Labs's Yann LeCun, and Writer CEO May Habib discuss the possibilities and deployment of artificial intelligence with Bloomberg's Francine
- AI data centers just got a government-mandated fast lane to the grid
TechCrunch · 2026-06-18
FERC told grid operators to give data centers a fast lane for interconnections, but it failed to address electricity supply shortages.
- Alibaba's Tsai, zu Furstenberg Discuss AI Investment
Bloomberg · 2026-06-18
Alibaba Group Chairman Joe Tsai and General Catalyst Managing Director Jeannette zu Furstenberg discuss investment opportunities and leadership with the development of artificial
- WWW Inventor Tim Berners-Lee on Development of AI
Bloomberg · 2026-06-18
Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, discusses the development of artificial intelligence with Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua and Tom Mackenzie at the VivaTech x
- Bernie Sanders unveils $7 trillion plan to give Americans control of AI industry
Ars Technica · 2026-06-18
Biggest AI firms will likely recoil at Bernie Sanders' AI wealth fund.