SoftBank in talks to invest up to $25bn in OpenAI

Pivot 5: 5 stories. 5 minutes a day. 5 days a week.

1. SoftBank in talks to invest up to $25bn in OpenAI

SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, making it the startup's top backer. The deal has not been finalized yet, but SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has been persistent in asking for a larger stake in the startup after putting $500 million into OpenAI's last funding round.

SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle are partnering in a joint venture called Stargate, which calls for billions of dollars to be invested in U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure. OpenAI is moving toward a for-profit structure, creating a public benefit corporation to oversee commercial operations. The company is aiming to compete in the generative AI arms race, which analysts say could reach $1 trillion within a decade.

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2. Google launches AI bot to call businesses for you about prices and availability

Google has launched an AI feature called "Ask for me," which uses AI to call local businesses on your behalf and ask about pricing and availability. The feature currently works for calling nail salons and local mechanics for oil changes or standard car maintenance, but more businesses are expected to be added soon. Google is increasingly focusing on agentic experiences, such as automating information-gathering calls and waiting on hold for customer service calls.

The Gemini tool, integrated with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Pixel phones, can pull together information, create calendar events, and send messages. Users can enroll in Search Labs to test the feature, agreeing to share data with Google to improve its AI models. The AI will ask about pricing and availability, and the receiver can respond in a conversational manner.

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3. An AI-powered robot and gaming are helping scientists identify new deep-sea species

The “agent” is an AI program integrated into MiniROV’s control algorithms. It’s being deployed for the first time in the ocean, allowing the robot to autonomously locate and track marine organisms.

Katija takes her hands off the joysticks and smiles as the robot begins following the square-shaped jellyfish of its own volition, firing thrusters to maintain pace with the animal as it rapidly swims away. MiniROV keeps up the chase for five minutes before the agent disengages after losing the trail.

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4. Meta Engineers see vindication in DeepSeek’s apparent breakthrough

DeepSeek has created an AI system that can match leading US products, indicating China's progress in the global race to build AI. The company built its technology more cost-effectively and with fewer hard-to-get computers chips than its American competitors, surprising the industry that believed bigger and better AI would cost billions and billions of dollars.

Meta executives believe DeepSeek's breakthrough shows that upstarts now have a chance to innovate and compete with tech giants that have mostly had the AI playing field to themselves. Meta has released its technology to the open source tech community and is creating "war rooms" where employees are reverse engineering DeepSeek's technology.

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5. Codename goose

Goose is an open-source AI agent designed to automate tasks, enhancing productivity and workflow. It operates as an intelligent, autonomous agent capable of handling complex tasks through a well-orchestrated coordination of its core features.

Goose can handle tasks from simple to complex across various engineering domains, such as code migrations, performance benchmarking, and data retention. It is compatible with various LLM providers and offers a user-friendly desktop interface and CLI.

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