Happy Monday!

This weekend was filled with loads of AI news. New models are leading the pack, billions are being raised, and per usual, Meta is poaching more talent.

Ready to dive in?

👓 The AI Race Just Got Personal

🧠 Alibaba Drops a Reasoning Beast

Alibaba’s new model, Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507, is outperforming OpenAI and Google in math and coding, and it’s open source under Apache 2.0. They also unveiled Quark, a pair of AI-powered glasses dropping later this year.

🧬 Self-Evolving AI Research Agents

ASI-ARCH, a self-improving system of AI agents, a Researcher, Engineer, and Analyst, can now design and test new AI architectures without human help. Early benchmarks suggest it's beating human-designed models at their own game.

🧑‍🔬 Meta Snags Another AI Star

Shengjia Zhao, co-creator of GPT-4 and o1, is now Chief Scientist at Meta’s Superintelligence Labs. With Alexandr Wang and billions in infrastructure, Zuckerberg’s “build-a-lab” project just leveled up.

🌍 Global AI Power Plays

💰 Musk Secures $165B Samsung Deal for Tesla AI Chips

Elon Musk just signed the largest AI hardware deal to date, partnering with Samsung to manufacture 10nm chips at Tesla’s new Texas plant. This gives Tesla vertical control of AI development and boosts the state's economic clout.

🤝 China Wants to Lead With Collaboration

At the World AI Conference, China pitched a global AI development plan centered on open-source models, shared infrastructure, and inclusion, a clear contrast to the U.S.'s “race for dominance” framing.

📈 Anthropic Chases $150B Valuation

Claude’s parent company Anthropic is reportedly raising a new round that would value it at $150B. If it closes, this puts Anthropic squarely in the top tier of AI juggernauts, rivaling OpenAI and Google DeepMind.

🛠️ Tools of the Day

• Emergent – Builds your app, backend, and security in one click
• Deckspeed – Make presentations just by chatting
• Pippit – Instantly generate marketing visuals
• Tapflow – Convert docs into guides, playbooks, and workflows

🎯 Prompt of the Day

Prompt:
I'm currently learning about #subject. Ask me a series of questions, one at a time, that will test my knowledge. Wait for my response before proceeding. Identify knowledge gaps and teach me as we go. At the end, summarize my score.

⚡ Quick Hits

• Huawei’s new AI chip may rival Nvidia’s top model
• Suno artist Imoliver signs record deal with Hallwood
• Tencent drops Hunyuan3D world gen model
• U.S. agencies adopt AI to slash redundant regulations
• Guess criticized for AI-generated model in Vogue
• Runway’s Aleph changes camera angles, lighting, and characters via text

🧠 TLDR

Alibaba launches a reasoning model that trounces GPT-4, Meta recruits another GPT architect, and a trio of AI agents begins redesigning the future of research. China goes diplomatic with AI cooperation plans while Musk builds an AI chip empire with Samsung. Meanwhile, Anthropic gears up for a $150B valuation, proving the AI arms race is alive and scaling.

See you tomorrow,
David