Last Week in AI

By Skynet Today

Weekly summaries of the AI news that matters!... more

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The podcast currently has 266 episodes available.

Last Week in AI episodes:

November 05, 2025#224 - OpenAI is for-profit! Cursor 2, Minimax M2, Udio copyright
Our 224th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 10/31/2025
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and co-hosted by Gavin Purcell (check out AI For Humans and AndThen!)
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at [email protected] and/or [email protected]
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/
In this episode:
OpenAI completes its for-profit restructuring, redefining its relationship with Microsoft and securing future investments. Meanwhile, Qualcomm and other tech giants announce new AI chips aimed at competing with Nvidia and AMD, marking major advancements in AI hardware capabilities.
Amazon and Google deepen their partnerships with Anthropic, providing extensive computing resources to enhance AI research and applications. These developments signal significant growth and competition in the AI industry.
Major AI tools and models were released and updated, including Cursor 2.0, CLAUDE coding capabilities, and open-source options from Minimax. These new tools offer a range of functionalities for coding, design, and more.
Legal battles around AI copyright issues persist, as OpenAI faces ongoing lawsuits from authors over text generation using copyrighted material. Universal Music Group settles a copyright suit with AI music startup UDO, transitioning to a licensed model for AI-generated music. This shift reflects broader challenges and adaptations in the AI-generated content space, where copyright and ethical usage remain highly contentious issues.

Timestamps:
(00:00:10) Intro / Banter
(00:02:44) News Preview
Tools & Apps
(00:03:44) Cursor 2.0 shifts to in-house AI with Composer model and parallel agents
(00:07:44) Anthropic brings Claude Code to the web | TechCrunch
(00:10:01) Microsoft's Mico is a 'Clippy' for the AI era | TechCrunch
(00:14:20) Anthropic’s Claude catches up to ChatGPT and Gemini with upgraded memory features | The Verge
(00:18:46) Canva launches its own design model, adds new AI features to the platform | TechCrunch
(00:21:07) Elon Musk’s Grokipedia launches with AI-cloned pages from Wikipedia | The Verge
Applications & Business
(00:25:10) OpenAI completed its for-profit restructuring — and struck a new deal with Microsoft | The Verge
(00:31:25) Qualcomm announces AI chips to compete with AMD and Nvidia
(00:34:02) Amazon launches AI infrastructure project, to power Anthropic's Claude model | Reuters
(00:38:52) Google and Anthropic announce cloud deal worth tens of billions
(00:39:46) Google partners with Ambani's Reliance to offer free AI Pro access to millions of Jio users in India | TechCrunch
Projects & Open Source
(00:41:17) MiniMax Releases MiniMax M2: A Mini Open Model Built for Max Coding and Agentic Workflows at 8% Claude Sonnet Price and ~2x Faster - MarkTechPost
(00:45:22) [2510.25741] Scaling Latent Reasoning via Looped Language Models
(00:47:59) OpenAI’s gpt-oss-safeguard enables developers to build safer AI - Help Net Security
Research & Advancements
(00:49:51) [2510.15103] Continual Learning via Sparse Memory Finetuning
(00:54:01) [2510.18091] Accelerating Vision Transformers with Adaptive Patch Sizes
(00:57:46) [2510.18871] How Do LLMs Use Their Depth?
Policy & Safety
(01:01:07) AMD, Department of Energy announce $1 billion AI supercomputer partnership | The Verge
(01:03:03)
Synthetic Media & Art
(01:09:34) Universal partners with AI startup Udio after settling copyright suit | The Verge
(01:16:04) OpenAI loses bid to dismiss part of US authors' copyright lawsuit | Reuters
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
...more
1h 32min
October 24, 2025#223 - Haiku 4.5, OpenAI DevDay, Claude Skills, Scaling RL, SB 243
Our 223st episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 10/17/2025
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and co-hosted by Erik Schnultz
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at [email protected] and/or [email protected]
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/
In this episode:
Anthropic and OpenAI have announced updates to their AI models and tools, including Haiku 4.5 and various business collaborations.
Multiple companies like Slack and Salesforce are integrating AI assistants and agents into their platforms, enhancing task management and business operations.
Recent research in reinforcement learning and agent memory curation highlights new methods for improving AI model performance and context management.
California has passed a law to regulate AI chatbots for children and vulnerable users, and there are rising concerns over the increasing amount of AI-generated content on the internet.
Timestamps:
(00:00:10) Intro / Banter
(00:01:31) News Preview
Tools & Apps
(00:02:18) Anthropic launches new version of scaled-down ‘Haiku’ model
(00:04:52) Everything OpenAI announced at DevDay 2025: Agent Kit, Apps SDK, ChatGPT, and more | ZDNET
(00:09:11) Anthropic turns to ‘skills’ to make Claude more useful at work | The Verge
(00:13:20) Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ in Excel and Word | The Verge
(00:17:22) Google releases Veo 3.1, adds it to Flow video editor | TechCrunch
(00:19:40) Slack is turning Slackbot into an AI assistant | The Verge
(00:22:52) Salesforce announces Agentforce 360 as enterprise AI competition heats up | TechCrunch
Applications & Business
(00:24:58) Broadcom stock pops 9% on OpenAI custom chip deal, adding to Nvidia and AMD agreements
(00:27:58) How ByteDance Made China’s Most Popular AI Chatbot | WIRED
(00:30:08) Amazon's Zoox Robotaxis Have Arrived In Las Vegas - Here's What Riders Are Experiencing
(00:32:43) Waymo’s robotaxis are coming to London | The Verge
(00:34:14) Reflection AI raises $2B to be America's open frontier AI lab, challenging DeepSeek | TechCrunch
(00:35:58) General Intuition lands $134M seed to teach agents spatial reasoning using video game clips | TechCrunch
(00:38:36) Supabase nabs $5B valuation, four months after hitting $2B | TechCrunch
Projects & Open Source
(00:40:58) Neuphonic Open-Sources NeuTTS Air: A 748M-Parameter On-Device Speech Language Model with Instant Voice Cloning - MarkTechPost
(00:43:06) Anthropic AI Releases Petri: An Open-Source Framework for Automated Auditing by Using AI Agents to Test the Behaviors of Target Models on Diverse Scenarios - MarkTechPost
Research & Advancements
(00:44:25) [2510.13786] The Art of Scaling Reinforcement Learning Compute for LLMs
(00:48:51) [2510.01171] Verbalized Sampling: How to Mitigate Mode Collapse and Unlock LLM Diversity
(00:51:22) [2510.12635] Memory as Action: Autonomous Context Curation for Long-Horizon Agentic Tasks
(00:54:31) [2510.07364] Base Models Know How to Reason, Thinking Models Learn When
(00:57:24) [2510.12402] Cautious Weight Decay
Policy & Safety
(01:02:03) California becomes first state to regulate AI companion chatbots | TechCrunch
(01:04:13) Over 50 Percent of the Internet Is Now AI Slop, New Data Finds
Synthetic Media & Art
(01:06:31) OpenAI Reverses Stance on Use of Copyright Works in Sora - WSJ
(01:08:29) Character.AI removes Disney characters from platform after studio issues warning
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
...more
1h 12min
October 07, 2025#222 - Sora 2, Sonnet 4.5, Vibes, Thinking Machines
Our 222st episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 10/03/2025
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and co-hosted by Jon Krohn
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at [email protected] and/or [email protected]
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/
In this episode:
OpenAI introduced several new features, including SOA 2 for text-to-video generation, Claude Sonnet 4.5 for coding and agentic tasks, and the pulse feature for personalized morning briefs.
Meta launched a new AI video creation feature called Vibes in its Meta AI app and on meta.ai, facing mixed reactions from the public regarding AI-generated content.
California's SB 53, the Transparency in Frontier AI Act, has become law, requiring large AI companies to disclose safety and security processes, while SB 942 mandates AI detection tools for user-generated content.
AI regulations and industry dynamics, including battles over intellectual property, startup funding, and the integration of AI into everyday tools and services like Microsoft's AI agents for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

In this episode:
(00:00:10) Intro / Banter
(00:03:08) News Preview
(00:03:56) Response to listener comments

Tools & Apps
(00:04:51) ChatGPT parent company OpenAI announces Sora 2 with AI video app
(00:11:35) Anthropic releases Claude Sonnet 4.5 in latest bid for AI agents and coding supremacy | The Verge
(00:22:25) Meta launches 'Vibes,' a short-form video feed of AI slop | TechCrunch
(00:26:42) OpenAI launches ChatGPT Pulse to proactively write you morning briefs | TechCrunch
(00:33:44) OpenAI rolls out safety routing system, parental controls on ChatGPT | TechCrunch
(00:35:53) The Latest Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview is Now the Fastest Proprietary Model (External Tests) and 50% Fewer Output Tokens - MarkTechPost
(00:39:54) Microsoft just added AI agents to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint - how to use them | ZDNET

Applications & Business
(00:42:41) OpenAI takes on Google, Amazon with new agentic shopping system | TechCrunch
(00:46:01) Exclusive: Mira Murati’s Stealth AI Lab Launches Its First Product | WIRED
(00:49:54) OpenAI is the world's most valuable private company after private stock sale | TechCrunch
(00:53:07) Elon Musk’s xAI accuses OpenAI of stealing trade secrets in new lawsuit | Technology | The Guardian
(00:55:40) Former OpenAI and DeepMind researchers raise whopping $300M seed to automate science | TechCrunch

Projects & Open Source
(00:58:26) [2509.16941] SWE-Bench Pro: Can AI Agents Solve Long-Horizon Software Engineering Tasks?

Research & Advancements
(01:01:28) [2509.17196] Evolution of Concepts in Language Model Pre-Training
(01:05:36) [2509.19284] What Characterizes Effective Reasoning? Revisiting Length, Review, and Structure of CoT
Lighting round
(01:09:37) [2507.02954] Advanced Financial Reasoning at Scale: A Comprehensive Evaluation of Large Language Models on CFA Level III
(01:12:03) [2509.24552] Short window attention enables long-term memorization

Policy & Safety
(01:18:11) SB 53, the landmark AI transparency bill, is now law in California | The Verge
(01:24:07) Elon Musk's xAI offers Grok to federal government for 42 cents | TechCrunch
(01:25:23) Character.AI removes Disney characters from platform after studio issues warning
(01:28:50) Spotify's Attempt to Fight AI Slop Falls on Its Face
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
...more
1h 38min
October 07, 2025#221 - OpenAI Codex, Gemini in Chrome, K2-Think, SB 53
Our 221st episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 09/19/2025
Note: we transitioned to a new RSS feed and it seems this did not make it to there, so this may be posted about 2 weeks past the release date.
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and co-hosted by Michelle Lee
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at [email protected] and/or [email protected]
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/
In this episode:
OpenAI releases a new version of Codex integrated with GPT-5, enhancing coding capabilities and aiming to compete with other AI coding tools like Cloud Code.
Significant updates in the robotics sector include new ventures in humanoid robots from companies like Figure AI and China’s Unitree, as well as expansions in robotaxi services from Tesla and Amazon’s Zoox.
New open-source models and research advancements were discussed, including Google's DeepMind's self-improving foundation model for robotics and a physics foundation model aimed at generalizing across various physical systems.
Legal battles continue to surface in the AI landscape with Warner Bros. suing MidJourney for copyright violations and Rolling Stone suing Google over AI-generated content summaries, highlighting challenges in AI governance and ethics.
Timestamps:
(00:00:10) Intro / Banter

Tools & Apps
(00:02:33) OpenAI upgrades Codex with a new version of GPT-5
(00:04:02) Google Injects Gemini Into Chrome as AI Browsers Go Mainstream | WIRED
(00:06:14) Anthropic’s Claude can now make you a spreadsheet or slide deck. | The Verge
(00:07:12) Luma AI's New Ray3 Video Generator Can 'Think' Before Creating - CNET
Applications & Business
(00:08:32) OpenAI secures Microsoft's blessing to transition its for-profit arm | TechCrunch
(00:10:31) Microsoft to lessen reliance on OpenAI by buying AI from rival Anthropic | TechCrunch
(00:12:00) Figure AI passes $1B with Series C funding toward humanoid robot development - The Robot Report
(00:13:52) China’s Unitree plans $7 billion IPO valuation as humanoid robot race heats up
(00:15:45) Tesla's robotaxi plans for Nevada move forward with testing permit | TechCrunch
(00:17:48) Amazon's Zoox jumps into U.S. robotaxi race with Las Vegas launch
(00:19:27) Replit hits $3B valuation on $150M annualized revenue | TechCrunch
(00:21:14) Perplexity reportedly raised $200M at $20B valuation | TechCrunch
Projects & Open Source
(00:22:08) [2509.07604] K2-Think: A Parameter-Efficient Reasoning System
(00:24:31) [2509.09614] LoCoBench: A Benchmark for Long-Context Large Language Models in Complex Software Engineering
Research & Advancements
(00:28:17) [2509.15155] Self-Improving Embodied Foundation Models
(00:31:47) [2509.13805] Towards a Physics Foundation Model
(00:34:26) [2509.12129] Embodied Navigation Foundation Model
Policy & Safety
(00:37:49) Anthropic endorses California's AI safety bill, SB 53 | TechCrunch
(00:40:12) Warner Bros. Sues Midjourney, Joins Studios' AI Copyright Battle
(00:42:02) Rolling Stone Publisher Sues Google Over AI Overview Summaries

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
...more
48min
September 23, 2025#221 - OpenAI Codex, Gemini in Chrome, K2-Think, SB 53
Our 221st episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 09/19/2025
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and co-hosted by Michelle Lee
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at [email protected] and/or [email protected]
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/
In this episode:
OpenAI releases a new version of Codex integrated with GPT-5, enhancing coding capabilities and aiming to compete with other AI coding tools like Cloud Code.
Significant updates in the robotics sector include new ventures in humanoid robots from companies like Figure AI and China’s Unitree, as well as expansions in robotaxi services from Tesla and Amazon’s Zoox.
New open-source models and research advancements were discussed, including Google's DeepMind's self-improving foundation model for robotics and a physics foundation model aimed at generalizing across various physical systems.
Legal battles continue to surface in the AI landscape with Warner Bros. suing MidJourney for copyright violations and Rolling Stone suing Google over AI-generated content summaries, highlighting challenges in AI governance and ethics.
Timestamps:
(00:00:10) Intro / Banter

Tools & Apps
(00:02:33) OpenAI upgrades Codex with a new version of GPT-5
(00:04:02) Google Injects Gemini Into Chrome as AI Browsers Go Mainstream | WIRED
(00:06:14) Anthropic’s Claude can now make you a spreadsheet or slide deck. | The Verge
(00:07:12) Luma AI's New Ray3 Video Generator Can 'Think' Before Creating - CNET
Applications & Business
(00:08:32) OpenAI secures Microsoft's blessing to transition its for-profit arm | TechCrunch
(00:10:31) Microsoft to lessen reliance on OpenAI by buying AI from rival Anthropic | TechCrunch
(00:12:00) Figure AI passes $1B with Series C funding toward humanoid robot development - The Robot Report
(00:13:52) China’s Unitree plans $7 billion IPO valuation as humanoid robot race heats up
(00:15:45) Tesla's robotaxi plans for Nevada move forward with testing permit | TechCrunch
(00:17:48) Amazon's Zoox jumps into U.S. robotaxi race with Las Vegas launch
(00:19:27) Replit hits $3B valuation on $150M annualized revenue | TechCrunch
(00:21:14) Perplexity reportedly raised $200M at $20B valuation | TechCrunch
Projects & Open Source
(00:22:08) [2509.07604] K2-Think: A Parameter-Efficient Reasoning System
(00:24:31) [2509.09614] LoCoBench: A Benchmark for Long-Context Large Language Models in Complex Software Engineering
Research & Advancements
(00:28:17) [2509.15155] Self-Improving Embodied Foundation Models
(00:31:47) [2509.13805] Towards a Physics Foundation Model
(00:34:26) [2509.12129] Embodied Navigation Foundation Model
Policy & Safety
(00:37:49) Anthropic endorses California's AI safety bill, SB 53 | TechCrunch
(00:40:12) Warner Bros. Sues Midjourney, Joins Studios' AI Copyright Battle
(00:42:02) Rolling Stone Publisher Sues Google Over AI Overview Summaries
...more
48min
September 01, 2025#220 - Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, Claude for Chrome, DeepConf
Our 220th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 08/30/2025
Check out Andrey's work over at Astrocade , sign up to be an ambassador here
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and co-hosted by Daniel Bashir
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at [email protected] and/or [email protected]
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/
In this episode:
Google's newly released Gemini 2.5 image editing model showcases remarkable advancements, enabling highly accurate modifications of subjects while retaining their original features.
Anthropic expands Claude with an AI browser agent for Chrome and adds features to remember past conversations, enhancing the user experience and personalization.
NVIDIA and AMD to share revenue from AI chip sales to China with US government, marking a notable shift in export control policies and trade practices.
AI companion apps are experiencing substantial growth, with projected revenues expected to reach $120 million by 2025, raising questions about social implications and user engagement.
Timestamps + Links:
Tools & Apps
(00:02:12) Google Gemini's AI image model gets a 'bananas' upgrade | TechCrunch
(00:05:32) Anthropic launches a Claude AI agent that lives in Chrome | TechCrunch
(00:08:30) Anthropic’s Claude chatbot can now remember your past conversations | The Verge
(00:11:46) Google Launches AI ‘Guided Learning’ Tool to Teach Users
(00:14:55) Apple Intelligence’s ChatGPT integration will use GPT-5 starting with iOS 26 | The Verge
(00:15:39) OpenAI Adds New Features to Codex, Like IDE Extension and GitHub Code Reviews
Applications & Business
(00:16:49) Lovable projects $1B in ARR within next 12 months | TechCrunch
(00:18:56) Decart hits $3.1 billion valuation on $100 million raise to power real-time interacti | Ctech
(00:20:19) Cohere raises $500M to beat back generative AI rivals | TechCrunch
(00:21:25) Pony AI, Nearing Full-Year Robotaxi Goal, Eyes European Markets - Bloomberg
(00:22:41) Co-founder of Elon Musk's xAI departs the company | TechCrunch
Projects & Open Source
(00:24:39) Meta AI Just Released DINOv3: A State-of-the-Art Computer Vision Model Trained with Self-Supervised Learning, Generating High-Resolution Image Features - MarkTechPost
(00:27:02) GLM-4.5: Agentic, Reasoning, and Coding (ARC) Foundation Models
(00:29:49) China’s DeepSeek Releases V3.1, Boosting AI Model’s Capabilities - Bloomberg
(00:30:36) Open weight LLMs exhibit inconsistent performance across providers
(00:32:02) Microsoft Released VibeVoice-1.5B: An Open-Source Text-to-Speech Model that can Synthesize up to 90 Minutes of Speech with Four Distinct Speakers - MarkTechPost
Research & Advancements
(00:33:43) Deep Think with Confidence
(00:36:30) Generative AI reshapes U.S. job market, Stanford study shows
Policy & Safety
(00:41:42) Inside the US Government's Unpublished Report on AI Safety | WIRED
(00:44:10) U.S. Government to Take Cut of Nvidia and AMD A.I. Chip Sales to China - The New York Times
(00:45:13) Anthropic Settles High-Profile AI Copyright Lawsuit Brought by Book Authors
(00:46:56) AI companion apps on track to pull in $120M in 2025 | TechCrunch
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
...more
53min
August 11, 2025#219 - GPT 5, Opus 4.1, OpenAI's Open Source, Astrocade
Our 219th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 08/08/2025
Check out Andrey's work over at Astrocade , sign up to be an ambassador here
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and Jeremie Harris.
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at [email protected] and/or [email protected]
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/
In this episode:
OpenAI reveals GPT-5, a consolidated model combining all previous versions, marking notable improvements and introducing a new infrastructure and product update.
Multiple major releases from leading AI labs, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google reflect the ongoing competitive landscape with significant business updates and new model capabilities.
Discussions on geopolitical influences in AI development highlight China’s evolving stance on AI safety and governance, contrasting with U.S. approaches and raising concerns over export bans and international cooperation.
Papers from leading AI entities such as OpenAI and Anthropic delve into the complexities of AI alignment and safety, proposing new methodologies for auditing and mitigating risks in model behaviors.
Timestamps + Links:
(00:00:10) Intro / Banter
(00:02:14) Plug: Astrocade rolls out AI agent-powered game creation experience so anyone can create games
Tools & Apps
(00:03:07) OpenAI’s GPT-5 is here
(00:17:02) Anthropic Releases Claude Opus 4.1 With Agentic, Coding and Reasoning Upgrades
(00:21:06) Google rolls out Gemini Deep Think AI, a reasoning model that tests multiple ideas in parallel | TechCrunch
(00:24:04) Grok Imagine, xAI’s new AI image and video generator, lets you make NSFW content | TechCrunch
Applications & Business
(00:26:35) Meta, Microsoft stocks rise on strong earnings and AI spending boom
(00:29:17) OpenAI to Establish Stargate Norway With 230MW Data Center - Bloomberg
(00:32:12) Anthropic Revenue Pace Nears $5 Billion in Run-Up to Mega Round — The Information
(00:37:18) OpenAI Hits $12 Billion Annualized Revenue
(00:40:06) Noma Security raises $100 million to defend against AI agent vulnerabilities | Ctech
Projects & Open Source
(00:42:13) OpenAI Just Released Its First Open-Weight Models Since GPT-2
(00:53:13) Falcon-H1: A Family of Hybrid-Head Language Models Redefining Efficiency and Performance
(00:57:39) Meta CLIP 2: A Worldwide Scaling Recipe
(01:01:12) BFL and Krea release FLUX.1 Krea: Open image model designed for realism
Research & Advancements
(01:02:33) Google’s Newest AI Model Acts like a Satellite to Track Climate Change | WIRED
(01:04:50) Google’s new AI model creates video game worlds in real time
(01:10:55) AlphaGo Moment for Model Architecture Discovery
(01:17:22) METR evaluates Grok 4
Policy & Safety
(01:20:05) Estimating Worst-Case Frontier Risks of Open-Weight LLMs
(01:23:14) Anthropic's AI 'Vaccine': Train It With Evil to Make It Good - Business Insider
(01:27:26) Anthropic unveils 'auditing agents' to test for AI misalignment | VentureBeat
(01:28:31) Optimizing The Final Output Can Obfuscate CoT (Research Note)
(01:31:23) Why China isn’t about to leap ahead of the West on compute
(01:33:15) Inside the Summit Where China Pitched Its AI Agenda to the World | WIRED
(01:38:47) Nvidia H20 GPUs reportedly caught up in U.S. Commerce Department's worst export license backlog in 30 years — billions of dollars worth of GPUs and other products in limbo due to staffing cuts, communication issues | Tom's Hardware
(01:42:35) Response to listener comments
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
...more
1h 49min
July 31, 2025#218 - Github Spark, MegaScience, US AI Action Plan
Our 218th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 07/25/2025
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and Jeremie Harris.
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at [email protected] and/or [email protected]
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/.
In this episode:
GitHub introduces Vibe Coding with Spark, engaging users with natural language and visual controls to develop full-stack applications.
AI coding tools from Gemin, CLI and RepleIt face significant issues, inadvertently deleting user data and highlighting the importance of careful management.
US release never Award Americans, AI Action Plan outlining economic, technical, and policy strategies to maintain leadership in AI technology.
Newly released Mega Science and SWE-Perf data sets evaluate AI reasoning and performance capabilities in diverse scientific and software engineering tasks.
Timestamps + Links:
(00:00:10) Intro / Banter
(00:01:31) News Preview
Tools & Apps
(00:03:53) GitHub Introduces Vibe Coding with Spark: Revolutionizing Intelligent App Development in a Flash - MarkTechPost
(00:07:05) Figma’s AI app building tool is now available for everyone | The Verge
(00:10:18) Two major AI coding tools wiped out user data after making cascading mistakes - Ars Technica
(00:14:10) Google's AI Overviews have 2B monthly users, AI Mode 100M in the US and India | TechCrunch
Applications & Business
(00:18:10) Leaked Memo: Anthropic CEO Says the Company Will Pursue Gulf State Investments After All
(00:24:39) Mira Murati says her startup Thinking Machines will release new product in ‘months’ with ‘significant open source component’
(00:27:07) Waymo responds to Tesla’s dick joke with a bigger Austin robotaxi map | The Verge
Projects & Open Source
(00:32:05) MegaScience: Pushing the Frontiers of Post-Training Datasets for Science Reasoning
(00:43:09) TikTok Researchers Introduce SWE-Perf: The First Benchmark for Repository-Level Code Performance Optimization - MarkTechPost
Research & Advancements
(00:47:17) Subliminal Learning: Language models transmit behavioral traits via hidden signals in data
(00:55:34) Inverse Scaling in Test-Time Compute
(01:02:34) Scaling Laws for Optimal Data Mixtures
Policy & Safety
(01:07:35) White House Unveils America’s AI Action Plan
(01:16:55) Chain of Thought Monitorability: A New and Fragile Opportunity for AI Safety
(01:20:20) Self-preservation or Instruction Ambiguity? Examining the Causes of Shutdown Resistance
(01:24:00) People Are Being Involuntarily Committed, Jailed After Spiraling Into "ChatGPT Psychosis"
(01:28:03) Meta refuses to sign EU’s AI code of practice
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
...more
1h 33min
July 23, 2025#217 - ChatGPT Agent, Kimi k2, Hiring Drama
Our 217th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 07/17/2025
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and guest co-host Jon Krohn.
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at [email protected] and/or [email protected]
Check out Jon's workshop on Agentic AI Engineering, and find his consultancy here.
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/.
In this episode:
OpenAI's new ChatGPT agent: The episode begins with a detailed discussion on OpenAI's latest ChatGPT agent, which can control entire computers and perform a wide range of tasks, showcasing powerful performance benchmarks and potential applications in business and research.
Major business moves in the AI space: Significant shifts include Google's acquisition of Windsurf's top talent after OpenAI's deal fell through, Cognition's acquisition of Windsurf, and several notable hires by Meta from OpenAI and Apple, highlighting intense competition in the AI industry.
AI's ethical and societal impacts: The hosts discuss serious concerns like the rise of non-consensual explicit AI-generated images, ICE's use of facial recognition for large databases, and regulations aimed at controlling AI's potential misuse.
Video game actors strike ends: The episode concludes with news that SAG-AFTRA's year-long strike for video game voice actors has ended after reaching an agreement on AI rights and wage increases, reflecting the broader impact of AI on the job market.
Timestamps + Links:
(00:00:10) Intro / Banter
(00:02:49) News Preview
Tools & Apps
(00:03:29) OpenAI’s new ChatGPT Agent can control an entire computer and do tasks for you
(00:07:11) Alibaba-backed Moonshot releases new Kimi AI model that beats ChatGPT, Claude in coding — and it costs less
(00:09:36) Amazon targets vibe-coding chaos with new 'Kiro' AI software development tool – GeekWire
(00:12:33) Anthropic tightens usage limits for Claude Code – without telling users
(00:15:51) Mistral's Le Chat chatbot gets a productivity push with new ‘deep research' mode | TechCrunch
(00:17:46) I spent 24 hours flirting with Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
(00:21:32) Uber is close to completing its quest to become the ultimate robotaxi app | The Verge
Applications & Business
(00:24:02) OpenAI’s Windsurf deal is off — and Windsurf’s CEO is going to Google | The Verge
(00:28:09) Cognition, maker of the AI coding agent Devin, acquires Windsurf | TechCrunch
(00:28:46) Anthropic hired back two of its employees — just two weeks after they left for a competitor. | The Verge
(00:28:46) Another High-Profile OpenAI Researcher Departs for Meta | WIRED
(00:28:46) Meta Hires Two Key Apple (AAPL) AI Experts After Poaching Their Boss - Bloomberg
(00:31:31) Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab is worth $12B in seed round | TechCrunch
(00:33:20) Lovable becomes a unicorn with $200M Series A just 8 months after launch | TechCrunch
(00:34:55) SpaceX commits $2 billion to xAI as Musk steps up AI ambitions: Report | World News - Business Standard
Research & Advancements
(00:35:59) A former OpenAI engineer describes what it’s really like to work there | TechCrunch
(00:38:23) Reasoning or Memorization? Unreliable Results of Reinforcement Learning Due to Data Contamination
Policy & Safety
(00:42:14) Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, xAI granted up to $200 million from DoD
(00:43:08) California State Senator Scott Wiener Pushes Bill to Regulate AI Companies - Bloomberg
(00:43:58) AI 'Nudify' Websites Are Raking in Millions of Dollars | WIRED
(00:45:55) Inside ICE’s Supercharged Facial Recognition App of 200 Million Images
Synthetic Media & Art
(00:48:47) Video game actors' strike officially ends after AI deal
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
...more
53min
July 14, 2025#216 - Grok 4, Project Rainier, Kimi K2
Our 216th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 07/11/2025
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and Jeremie Harris.
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at [email protected] and/or [email protected]
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/.
In this episode:
xAI launches Grok 4 with breakthrough performance across benchmarks, becoming the first true frontier model outside established labs, alongside a $300/month subscription tier
Grok's alignment challenges emerge with antisemitic responses, highlighting the difficulty of steering models toward "truth-seeking" without harmful biases
Perplexity and OpenAI launch AI-powered browsers to compete with Google Chrome, signaling a major shift in how users interact with AI systems
Meta study reveals AI tools actually slow down experienced developers by 20% on complex tasks, contradicting expectations and anecdotal reports of productivity gains
Timestamps + Links:
(00:00:10) Intro / Banter
(00:01:02) News Preview
Tools & Apps
(00:01:59) Elon Musk's xAI launches Grok 4 alongside a $300 monthly subscription | TechCrunch
(00:15:28) Elon Musk’s AI chatbot is suddenly posting antisemitic tropes
(00:29:52) Perplexity launches Comet, an AI-powered web browser | TechCrunch
(00:32:54) OpenAI is reportedly releasing an AI browser in the coming weeks | TechCrunch
(00:33:27) Replit Launches New Feature for its Agent, CEO Calls it ‘Deep Research for Coding’
(00:34:40) Cursor launches a web app to manage AI coding agents
(00:36:07) Cursor apologizes for unclear pricing changes that upset users | TechCrunch
Applications & Business
(00:39:10) Lovable on track to raise $150M at $2B valuation
(00:41:11) Amazon built a massive AI supercluster for Anthropic called Project Rainier – here's what we know so far
(00:46:35) Elon Musk confirms xAI is buying an overseas power plant and shipping the whole thing to the U.S. to power its new data center — 1 million AI GPUs and up to 2 Gigawatts of power under one roof, equivalent to powering 1.9 million homes
(00:48:16) Microsoft's own AI chip delayed six months in major setback — in-house chip now reportedly expected in 2026, but won't hold a candle to Nvidia Blackwell
(00:49:54) Ilya Sutskever becomes CEO of Safe Superintelligence after Meta poached Daniel Gross
(00:52:46) OpenAI’s Stock Compensation Reflect Steep Costs of Talent Wars
Projects & Open Source
(00:58:04) Hugging Face Releases SmolLM3: A 3B Long-Context, Multilingual Reasoning Model - MarkTechPost
(00:58:33) Kimi K2: Open Agentic Intelligence
(00:58:59) Kyutai Releases 2B Parameter Streaming Text-to-Speech TTS with 220ms Latency and 2.5M Hours of Training
Research & Advancements
(01:02:14) Does Math Reasoning Improve General LLM Capabilities? Understanding Transferability of LLM Reasoning
(01:07:58) Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity
(01:13:03) Mitigating Goal Misgeneralization with Minimax Regret
(01:17:01) Correlated Errors in Large Language Models
(01:20:31) What skills does SWE-bench Verified evaluate?
Policy & Safety
(01:22:53) Evaluating Frontier Models for Stealth and Situational Awareness
(01:25:49) When Chain of Thought is Necessary, Language Models Struggle to Evade Monitors
(01:30:09) Why Do Some Language Models Fake Alignment While Others Don't?
(01:34:35) Positive review only': Researchers hide AI prompts in papers
(01:35:40) Google faces EU antitrust complaint over AI Overviews
(01:36:41) The transfer of user data by DeepSeek to China is unlawful': Germany calls for Google and Apple to remove the AI app from their stores
(01:37:30) Virology Capabilities Test (VCT): A Multimodal Virology Q&A Benchmark
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
...more
1h 43min

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