Apple’s AI exodus, OpenAI acquires Statsig & more (September 3, 2025)

Good morning,

Today’s stories cut across talent wars, billion-dollar funding rounds, and surprising new players in AI development. Apple’s brain drain continues, OpenAI doubles down on product acceleration, and Anthropic cements its dominance in the AI valuation race.

Let's dig in👇

🏁 Race to AGI

🤖 Apple’s AI Brain Drain Intensifies

Apple’s AI exodus continues with four senior researchers, including robotics lead Jian Zhang, heading to Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic. The departures highlight Apple’s struggle to retain top AI talent as rivals aggressively expand their labs. Analysts warn this could slow Apple’s pace in robotics and generative AI breakthroughs.

🚀 OpenAI Buys Statsig and Reshuffles Leadership

OpenAI acquires Statsig in a deal that brings its founder on as CTO of Applications while other leadership roles are being restructured. The move signals OpenAI’s push to speed up product testing and rollout cycles. With pressure from Anthropic and Google, OpenAI is clearly retooling for faster iteration.

💰 Anthropic Rockets to $183B Valuation

Anthropic raises $13B Series F boosting its valuation to $183 billion, nearly triple earlier this year. The funding will support enterprise adoption, expand global reach, and deepen safety research. Backers include major sovereign funds, showing confidence in Claude’s continued market momentum.

📊 International Impact

🧠 WordPress Experiments With Telex

WordPress shows off Telex at WordCamp US 2025, unveiling its first AI-powered developer assistant. The tool aims to help creators rapidly prototype and test code directly inside WordPress. While still experimental, Telex signals a pivot toward embedding AI deeper into mainstream content platforms.

🤝 PayPal Partners with Perplexity for Comet Invites

PayPal and Venmo are giving out Comet invites plus free Perplexity Pro subscriptions in a new partnership. The deal brings Perplexity’s AI services to millions of payments users while boosting PayPal’s AI footprint. For Perplexity, it’s a big step toward mainstream adoption through trusted financial platforms.

⚖️ Google Avoids Breakup in Antitrust Trial

Google avoided a breakup order but must abandon exclusive search and browser distribution deals. The ruling curtails Google’s dominance in key distribution channels without dismantling the company. Analysts say this remedy could reshape competition across AI-driven search and assistants.

📈 Still Trending from Last Week

Los Alamos Runs OpenAI Models on Venado Supercomputer

Los Alamos launches OpenAI models with Venado, raising questions on how national labs will leverage generative AI for nuclear modernization. The deployment continues to draw attention for both its scale and sensitivity.

Google AI Mode Advances in STEM

Google’s AI Mode improves on STEM questions, solidifying its role as a knowledge assistant for technical learners. Education experts are watching closely to see how this shifts study habits and testing.

🧰 Tools of the Day

→ AgentSea - unified, private chat with the latest AI models
→ Mnemosphere AI - productivity-boosted ChatGPT for high performers
→ Toffu AI - AI marketing agent that executes now, not tomorrow
→ ElevenLabs SFX v2 - generate infinite looping sound effects from a single prompt

✍️ Prompt of the Day

“Act as a competitive intelligence analyst. Create a two-paragraph briefing on my top three competitors, summarizing their most recent AI product launches and strategic moves. Highlight implications for my company’s positioning and recommend two defensive or offensive strategies we could take.”

⚡ Quick Hits

→ OpenAI routes sensitive conversations to GPT-5 while rolling out parental controls
→ Why I love my Kenmore canister vacuum shows tech nostalgia is alive and well
→ Qatar backs Anthropic’s $13B raise as sovereign wealth funds rush into AI
→ Amazon launches Lens Live to bring AI-powered search into real-world shopping

🧾 TLDR

Apple can’t stop the AI talent drain, OpenAI is doubling down with a major acquisition and leadership shuffle, and Anthropic has leapfrogged to an eye-popping $183B valuation with global backers. Meanwhile, WordPress and SEO agencies are adapting fast to an AI-first world. The theme: AI is no longer niche, it’s the infrastructure layer everyone is scrambling to control.

Cheers,
David