Welcome back to Week in Review! I’m Karyne Levy, TechCrunch’s deputy managing editor, and I’ll be writing this newsletter from here on out. Thrilled to be here! This week we’re checking out everything at SXSW; Waymo’s expansion into Silicon Valley; Intel’s new CEO; TikTok’s new suitor; and why DeepSeek isn’t taking VC money. Let’s get […]
Week in Review: SXSW week comes to a close Read More »
This week, OpenAI inked a five-year, $11.9 billion deal with CoreWeave, the GPU-heavy cloud provider, securing its own AI computing pipeline—and a $350 million equity stake in the company. With CoreWeave’s pending IPO and deep ties to Microsoft, OpenAI’s deal marks a significant shift in the AI cloud wars. Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts
OpenAI and Microsoft’s ‘frenemies relationship,’ and what you missed at SXSW Read More »
SoftBank is marching ahead on its ambitions to build out a major AI operation in its home market of Japan, on its own steam and in strategic partnership with others like OpenAI. On Friday, the tech company confirmed it would pay $676 million for factory previously used by Sharp to build LCD panels to convert
SoftBank buys $676M old Sharp plant for its OpenAI collab in Japan Read More »
In a new policy proposal, OpenAI describes Chinese AI lab DeepSeek as “state-subsidized” and “state-controlled,” and recommends that the U.S. government consider banning models from the outfit and similar People’s Republic of China (PRC)-supported operations. The proposal, a submission for the Trump Administration’s “AI Action Plan” initiative, claims that DeepSeek’s models, including its R1 “reasoning” model,
OpenAI calls DeepSeek ‘state-controlled,’ calls for bans on ‘PRC-produced’ models Read More »
When I was sixteen, I attended a writing workshop with a group of precocious young poets, where we all tried very hard to prove who among us was the most tortured upper-middle-class teenager. One boy refused to tell anyone where he was from, declaring, “I’m from everywhere and nowhere.” Two weeks later, he admitted he
OpenAI’s ‘creative writing’ AI evokes that annoying kid from high school fiction club Read More »
In a proposal for the U.S. government’s “AI Action Plan,” the Trump Administration’s initiative to reshape American AI policy, OpenAI called for a U.S. copyright strategy that “[preserves] American AI models’ ability to learn from copyrighted material.” “America has so many AI startups, attracts so much investment, and has made so many research breakthroughs largely
OpenAI calls for U.S. government to codify ‘fair use’ for AI training Read More »
Watch out, fiction writers. OpenAI may have you in its crosshairs. In a post on X on Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the company has trained a “new model” that’s “really good” at creative writing. He posted a lengthy sample from the model given the prompt “Please write a metafictional literary short story
OpenAI says it has trained an AI that’s ‘really good’ at creative writing Read More »
On Tuesday, OpenAI released new tools designed to help developers and enterprises build AI agents – automated systems that can independently accomplish tasks – using the company’s own AI models and frameworks. The tools are part of OpenAI’s new Responses API, which lets businesses develop custom AI agents that can perform web searches, scan through
OpenAI launches new tools to help businesses build AI agents Read More »
In a grandmaster-level chess move, OpenAI has signed a five-year, $11.9 billion agreement with the GPU-heavy cloud service provider CoreWeave, according to Reuters, which cites people close to the deal. The deal involves OpenAI receiving $350 million worth of equity in CoreWeave, the sources told Reuters. The private placement is said to be separate from
In another chess move with Microsoft, OpenAI is pouring $12B into CoreWeave Read More »
Elon Musk lost the latest battle in his lawsuit against OpenAI this week, but a federal judge appears to have given Musk — and others who oppose OpenAI’s for-profit conversion — reasons to be hopeful. Musk’s suit against OpenAI, which also names Microsoft and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as defendants, accuses OpenAI of abandoning its
Musk may still have a chance to thwart OpenAI’s for-profit conversion Read More »
