All Updates
Page 656 of 1676
May 12, 2026
A-Star Raises $450M Less-Is-More Fund
Early-stage VC A-Star, led by Eventbrite co-founder Kevin Hartz and ex-Coatue's Bennett Siegel, raised $450M for its third fund. This is the firm's largest yet but contrasts with multibillion-dollar funds chasing AI startups. The strategy prioritizes focused early-stage bets over massive deployments.
Threads Testing Grok-like AI Feature
Engadget reports rumors that Meta's Threads is testing an AI feature similar to xAI's Grok. The post tags @meta.ai to verify and adds a skeptical note: 'What could go wrong?' This hints at potential conversational AI integration in the social platform.
Ilya Holds $7B OpenAI Equity in Court Reveal
A major court trial has disclosed that Ilya Sutskever retains approximately $7 billion in OpenAI equity. This revelation solidifies OpenAI's reputation as a 'wealth creation myth' in the AI industry.
Waymo Recalls AV Software Over Flood Risk
Waymo recalled its autonomous driving software after it continued through severely flooded roads. The recall impacts 3,791 vehicles with 5th and 6th gen systems. Waymo filed the report with NHTSA.
TSMC & Applied Materials $5B AI Chip Center
TSMC and Applied Materials invest $5B in Silicon Valley's EPIC center for AI-era semiconductor tech. They collaborate on materials, equipment, and process integration. Aims for efficient chips across cloud to edge devices.
China Approves Tencent Ximalaya Deal with Conditions
Tencent Holdings secured conditional approval from China's SAMR to acquire audio platform Ximalaya after a year-long antitrust review. The regulator imposed five conditions, including bans on exclusive deals and fee hikes, to mitigate potential negative market impacts. This move bolsters Tencent's position in China's digital content ecosystem.
AI Enters Everyday Nigerian Journalism
A report finds AI integrating into daily journalism workflows in Nigerian newsrooms. This mirrors global challenges as generative AI reshapes news production and tests audience trust.
China's First AI Agent Policy: Precise Mandatory Rules
China releases landmark policy on AI agents, shifting to 'precise mandatory' standards in high-risk sectors like medical and public safety. Introduces AIP protocol for secure multi-agent interoperability. Balances regulation with innovation via user controls and standards.
Amazon Employees 'Tokenmaxxing' Under AI Pressure
Amazon employees face pressure to use AI tools, leading to 'tokenmaxxing'βmaximizing AI token usage. Workers are leveraging an internal AI tool to automate non-essential tasks amid this push.
Waymo Recalls Robotaxis Over Flooded Roads
Waymo is recalling software in 3,791 robotaxis after one drove on a flooded road despite detection. The fifth and sixth-generation systems allowed reduced-speed traversal of untraversable areas. Interim updates increase weather conservatism; full remedy in progress.
UISEE HK IPO Launches as L4 AV Leader
UISEE starts its Hong Kong IPO today through May 15, planning to list on May 20 under code 1511. It claims No. 1 market share in airport and factory zone autonomous driving. The company is expanding into city, port, mining, and farming scenarios.
Amazon Staff Inflate AI Token Metrics
Amazon employees run pointless tasks on new internal AI tool MeshClaw to fake high token usage amid adoption pressure. Targets include 80% weekly developer use; metrics tracked despite no-performance-link claims. Raises security fears for AI agents.
Flyer O1: First Home Flying Robot Secures Seed Funding
Shenzhen Entropy About Intelligent Technology raised millions in a seed round led by Chuxin Capital. The company launched Flyer O1, the world's first home flying robot designed for family spaces. It is set to officially launch by the end of this year.
CGI Appoints CEO After AI-Driven Share Plunge
Canadian IT firm CGI Inc. named Tim Hurlebaus as CEO following a 40% share price drop. The decline stems from investor fears over AI disruption from competitors like Anthropic. This leadership change aims to address AI threats to traditional consulting.
mpathic Launches mPACT AI Safety Benchmark
Seattle-based mpathic released mPACT, a clinician-led benchmark assessing leading AI chatbots on suicide risk, eating disorders, and misinformation. The evaluation shows models avoid overt harm but struggle in high-risk conversations.
Linux Idle Optimization Causes QUIC Bug
Cloudflare investigated a performance bug where CUBIC congestion window stuck at minimum due to Linux kernel idle optimization. This misidentified RTT waits as application idleness, plummeting QUIC throughput. The fix requires accurate measurement of true idle periods.
Dessn Raises $6M for AI Design Tools
Startup Dessn has raised $6M in funding. The investment targets AI-powered design tools that integrate directly with production codebases. This aims to streamline design workflows in software development.
Full duplex AI tests simultaneous voice listen-respond
Thinking Machines Lab is testing full duplex AI for voice chats that listen and respond simultaneously. This addresses awkward pauses in current assistants. The key question is if faster interactions prove useful in practice.
Dreame Exec Slams Funding Smear Rumors
Self-media blogger 'ε ½ζ₯Όε€' claimed on May 12 that Dreame founder Yu Hao uses high traffic to lure local government industrial funds for angel investments in thousands of affiliated companies. Dreame executive dismissed the article as fabricated for clicks and reputation smearing. The piece alleges Yu Hao targets gov funds over traditional VCs.
NVIDIA-SAP Boosts Trust in AI Agents
NVIDIA and SAP announced an expanded collaboration at SAP Sapphire, featuring NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang in SAP CEO Christian Kleinβs keynote via video. The partnership enables enterprises to run specialized AI agents with robust security and governance controls.