AI This Week

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced plans to construct a data center nearly as large as Manhattan for AI development. The company intends to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in AI products, including a multi-gigawatt facility called Prometheus set to launch in 2026. Zuckerberg emphasized Meta's strong advertising revenue as justification for the substantial expenditure. The tech giant is also actively recruiting top AI talent for its new Superintelligence Labs division. This ambitious project aims to solidify Meta's position against competitors like OpenAI and Google.

Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, a competitor to OpenAI, is reportedly exploring a new investment round that could raise its valuation beyond an eye-popping $100 billion. While the company is not officially pursuing fundraising, insiders claim that venture capitalists are proactively offering substantial backing, reflecting the growing frenzy surrounding the AI sector. This buzz coincides with a surge in revenue from Anthropic’s chatbot product, Claude, which has captured significant market attention. Preemptive funding in Silicon Valley, especially for leading AI firms, is becoming a common trend, with Anthropic emerging as one of the industry's prime targets for high-stakes investment.

Thinking Machines Lab, a promising artificial intelligence company, has raised $2 billion in seed funding, setting a new record and valuing the firm at $12 billion. Spearheaded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, the company’s leadership includes ex-OpenAI experts who contributed to projects like ChatGPT and AI safety. Backed by major investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, and AMD, the funding highlights the fierce competition in advancing AI technologies. Thinking Machines plans to develop multimodal AI capable of interacting with humans through conversation and vision, with its first product launch expected in the coming months. With an open-source focus and ambitious research goals, the company aims to impact both developers and the AI community.

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded contracts worth up to $200 million to four leading AI companies — Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI — to enhance its artificial intelligence capabilities. According to the DoD, this investment aims to tackle pressing national security priorities using advanced AI systems. Each company will develop AI agents for particular defense missions.

Elon Musk’s xAI introduced "Grok for Government," granting U.S. agencies access to its AI models. OpenAI, previously awarded a similar contract, continues its role in deploying AI solutions for defense purposes. The initiative reflects the DoD's shift toward adopting cutting-edge AI to strengthen strategic military advantages.

Remark Holdings has partnered with Google Public Sector to deploy advanced computer vision AI across New York State's government agencies. This collaboration, under a two-year Enterprise Cloud Services Agreement with the New York State Office of Information Technology Services, aims to modernize public sector operations. The initiative focuses on enhancing infrastructure monitoring, public safety, and healthcare delivery by improving visual data processing, streamlining workflows, and integrating disparate systems. By leveraging Remark's AI technology, the partnership seeks to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve decision-making processes within state agencies. This move represents a significant step in the digital transformation of New York's public services.

Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, is reportedly preparing for a new fundraising round that could value the firm between $170 billion and $200 billion, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is expected to play a significant role in the deal, partly through its indirect stake in xAI. Earlier, xAI secured $5 billion in both debt financing and strategic equity investment to scale its infrastructure, including data centers. Musk launched xAI in July 2023 as a competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The startup has ambitious plans, forecasting annual earnings of over $13 billion by 2029.

OpenAI is set to shake up the tech world with its upcoming release of an AI-powered web browser aimed directly at challenging Google Chrome's dominance. Built on Google’s open-source Chromium code, the browser promises to reimagine how users navigate the web by integrating AI agents capable of performing tasks like making reservations or filling out forms. With its vast ChatGPT user base, OpenAI is positioning the browser to capture critical user data — a foundation of Alphabet’s successful ad ecosystem. This development could intensify the competitive landscape, as rivals like Perplexity and Brave also introduce AI-augmented browsing tools.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that Grok AI will be available in Tesla vehicles "at the latest" next week. This news comes shortly after Musk's AI startup xAI launched Grok 4, their latest AI model. There's been recent controversy surrounding Grok's social media posts, which were removed after complaints about inappropriate content. The integration of Grok AI into Tesla vehicles marks a significant step in combining artificial intelligence with automotive technology.

The state of Pennsylvania is facing an escalating energy crisis driven by artificial intelligence and its growing demands for power. The state's governor threatens to leave the grid provider PJM Interconnection due to skyrocketing electricity prices. PJM faces challenges meeting demand from data centers and AI operations, with an 800% increase in capacity auction prices last year. The organization is fast-tracking new power projects, but many won't be operational until the 2030s. Consumer energy costs are projected to rise 20% this summer. PJM estimates needing an additional 32 gigawatts of power capacity by 2030 to meet growing demand.

A new report highlights how Google’s AI Overviews feature is driving a sharp increase in “zero clicks” for news-related searches, leaving publishers struggling. Since its launch in May 2024, the tool has contributed to a drop in traffic to news sites — a decrease from 2.3 billion visits in mid-2024 to 1.7 billion in May 2025, as per SimilarWeb data. AI summaries allow users to consume information directly, bypassing traditional sources. Google has faced criticism but argues its AI tools create new opportunities for content discovery. Meanwhile, referral traffic from ChatGPT has surged, offering a potential lifeline for some outlets. As the media industry faces layoffs and shifting referral patterns, questions remain about how publishers can adapt.