AI Leaders Weekly Briefing

Anthropic hit a $380B valuation and launched collaborative agents; xAI restructured following co-founder exits; OpenAI tested ads amid safety concerns, and more.

  • Anthropic secured a massive $30 billion Series G funding round, raising its valuation to $380 billion, while ElevenLabs also reached an $11 billion valuation following a $500 million fundraise for its enterprise voice agent strategy. 12345678
  • OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT for the first time, leading to the resignation of a former researcher who warned of repeating Facebook's mistakes, and the company disbanded its mission alignment team focused on safe AI development. 91011121314151617
  • xAI underwent a significant restructuring following the departure of several co-founders and continued its massive infrastructure build-out, including securing a deal with Apollo to fund AI chips and doubling its power provision from TVA. 1819202122232425262728
  • Anthropic escalated its political involvement by donating $20 million to a Super PAC, while its AI safety head resigned, warning that 'the world is in peril' following tests where Claude AI simulated dangerous behaviors. 293031321433
  • Mistral announced a €1.2 billion investment for a data center in Sweden to foster European AI independence, and DeepSeek upgraded its model capability significantly, achieving a 1 million token context window. 3435363738394041
  • Anthropic launched Claude Opus 4.6 with collaborative AI agent capabilities, partnering with Goldman Sachs, and OpenAI unveiled GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark, its first model running on Cerebras silicon, while expanding its reach by providing ChatGPT access to the US military. 42434445464748495051525354555657

Sources

  1. Abu Dhabi's MGX participates in Anthropic's $30 billion Series G funding thenationalnews.com
  2. Anthropic raises $30 billion Series G funding Anthropic
  3. Anthropic hits a $380B valuation as it heightens competition with OpenAI seattletimes.com
  4. Runway announces $315 million Series E funding Runway
  5. AI Video Startup Runway Valued at $5.3 Billion With New Funding bloomberg.com
  6. Anthropic closes in on $20B round finance.yahoo.com
  7. ElevenLabs, Valued at $11 Billion, 'Doubles Down' on Audiobooks publishersweekly.com
  8. ElevenLabs raises $500M at $11B valuation ElevenLabs
  9. OpenAI accuses DeepSeek of distilling US models to gain advantage, Bloomberg News reports reuters.com
  10. OpenAI accuses DeepSeek of distilling US models to gain advantage, Bloomberg News reports reuters.com
  11. OpenAI is making the same mistake Facebook did, researcher says as she quits over ChatGPT ads moneycontrol.com
  12. Former OpenAI researcher quits as firm explores advertising like Facebook business-standard.com
  13. OpenAI disbands mission alignment team, which focused on safe and trustworthy AI development | TechCrunch techcrunch.com
  14. “The world is in peril:” top researchers quit OpenAI and Anthropic cybernews.com
  15. OpenAI introduces ads...for the people! theregister.com
  16. OpenAI tests ads in ChatGPT OpenAI
  17. OpenAI will reportedly start testing ads in ChatGPT today theverge.com
  18. TVA votes to double the power it provides Elon Musk s xAI in Memphis yahoo.com
  19. Elon Musk's AI ambition revealed: xAI launches macrohard to let agents run companies, —here’s who can keep up indiatimes.com
  20. How SpaceX and XAI Will Build Moonbase Alpha and Mass Drivers nextbigfuture.com
  21. xAI files permit for 2M sq. ft. structure - Memphis Business Journal bizjournals.com
  22. Elon Musk Restructures xAI’s Divisions After Co-Founders Depart bloomberg.com
  23. Elon Musk overhauls xAI’s leadership as he sets lofty space data centre ambitions ft.com
  24. Tony Wu Becomes Latest xAI Co-Founder to Leave Musk’s Startup bloomberg.com
  25. Co-founders of Elon Musk's xAI join exodus from start-up's tech team ft.com
  26. Apollo, xAI near $3.4 billion deal to fund AI chips, The Information reports reuters.com
  27. What to know about Elon Musk s merger of SpaceX with his AI company finance.yahoo.com
  28. What the SpaceX acquisition of xAI means for industrial robotics therobotreport.com
  29. Anthropic donates $20 million to Public First Action Anthropic
  30. Anthropic Puts $20 Million Into a Super PAC to Counter OpenAI nytimes.com
  31. Anthropic's AI Safety Head Just Resigned. He Says 'The World Is In Peril' aol.com
  32. ‘It was ready to kill and blackmail’: Anthropic’s Claude AI sparks alarm, says company policy chief firstpost.com
  33. AI safety boss warns world ‘is in peril’ – so he’s quitting to write poetry yahoo.com
  34. DeepSeek Welcomes Version Update: Context Length Jumps to 1M, Trillion-Parameter Flagship Model on the Way chinaz.com
  35. Meta’s $10 Billion AI Bet: Why This Indiana Data Center Matters eweek.com
  36. France AI company Mistral invests $1.4 billion in data centres in Sweden reuters.com
  37. Mistral announces €1.2 billion investment in Sweden's AI datacenter Mistral
  38. Real test of DeepSeek's new model 'flipping over': Able to process the million-word 'The Three-Body Problem' in one go, yet ... finance.sina.com.cn
  39. DeepSeek boosts AI model with 10-fold token addition as Zhipu AI gears up for GLM-5 launch scmp.com
  40. Mistral's revenues soar over $400mn as Europe seeks AI independence ft.com
  41. Meta Confronts Legal Tests As Markets Weigh AI And Energy Commitments finance.yahoo.com
  42. OpenAI unveils first model running on Cerebras silicon theregister.com
  43. DeepMind upgrades Gemini 3 Deep Think DeepMind
  44. Runway launches Story Panels Featured Workflow Runway
  45. OpenAI is giving the US military access to ChatGPT techradar.com
  46. OpenAI introduces GPT‑5.3‑Codex‑Spark, an ultra-fast coding model powered by Cer... neowin.net
  47. OpenAI releases GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark OpenAI
  48. DeepMind accelerates mathematical and scientific discovery with Gemini Deep Think DeepMind
  49. OpenAI opening ChatGPT access to Pentagon thehill.com
  50. Anthropic provides Claude Opus 4.6 to nonprofits Anthropic
  51. Runway turns images into stories with Story Panels Runway
  52. OpenAI announces ChatGPT deployment to GenAI.mil OpenAI
  53. Goldman Sachs teams up with Anthropic to automate banking tasks with AI agents: Report economictimes.indiatimes.com
  54. Anthropic launches Claude Opus 4.6, lets AI agents collaborate techcentral.ie
  55. Anthropic powers Figma Make with Claude Anthropic
  56. DeepMind partners with Waymo on Waymo World Model DeepMind
  57. OpenAI in talks with Abu Dhabi’s G42 to create specialized ChatGPT version for UAE finance.yahoo.com
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