AI Leaders Weekly Briefing

June 26, 2026

Major AI leaders face tightening export controls and talent wars while OpenAI debuts custom silicon and weighs a 2027 IPO and more.

• The Trump administration issued an export control directive against Anthropic, suspending foreign access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models due to national security and cybersecurity concerns. ^12345678910
• OpenAI and Broadcom unveiled 'Jalapeño,' a custom-built AI inference chip designed to optimize performance for large language models while reducing reliance on external hardware suppliers. ^11121314
• OpenAI is reportedly considering delaying its initial public offering until 2027, with the company aiming for a $1 trillion valuation amid market volatility and shifting internal strategies. ¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷
• Anthropic is planning a massive funding round that could value the startup at $900 billion, even as its CEO warned that high operational spending creates a risk of bankruptcy if growth miscalculates. ^1819202122
• Google DeepMind continues to face high-profile talent departures to rivals like Anthropic and OpenAI, as researchers seek lucrative pre-IPO equity and more agile development environments. ^232425262728
• China's DeepSeek and Z.ai (Zhipu AI) signaled aggressive expansion plans, with DeepSeek aiming to double its workforce and Z.ai releasing new models that reportedly rival GPT-4 performance levels. ^2930313233
• Other notable developments include xAI integrating Grok with Interactive Brokers for trading, ElevenLabs partnering with Google DeepMind for audio watermarking, and Meta automating 50% of its content review processes. ³⁴³⁵³⁶

Sources

1. Weighing The Implications Of The Anthropic Export Directive - Law360 Law360
2. US says in talks with India on Anthropic Fable model rollout, calls discussions 'sensitive national security' matter Moneycontrol
3. Brussels held talks with Washington over Anthropic access after Fable 5 ban TNW
4. Anthropic AI restrictions spark lawsuit against Trump administration CyberNews
5. AI startup is suing the government for taking away new Anthropic model Business Insider
6. N.S.A. Lost Access to Powerful A.I. Model Amid Anthropic Dispute The New York Times
7. Trump vs. Anthropic: The AI wars are heating up Computerworld
8. Anthropic's Fable 5 ban exposed AI's next big problem — but Sakana's Fugu may have the answer Tom's Guide
9. US Lawmakers Push for AI Export Ban After Anthropic’s Risk Disclosures Webpronews
10. Amazon’s Jassy Flags Anthropic AI Flaw to Trump Officials, Sparking Swift Export Ban Webpronews
11. Zhou Hongyi announced the creation of a vulnerability mining agent, Tesla China confirmed access to Doubao and DeepSeek ... Guokr
12. OpenAI just built a chip to cut Nvidia out of one job TheStreet
13. OpenAI and Broadcom unveil Jalapeño inference chip OpenAI
14. OpenAI, Broadcom Develop Custom Chip for AI Inference The Wall Street Journal
15. OpenAI to delay IPO until 2027? Inside Sam Altman's changing strategy as SpaceX stock slide Financial Express
16. OpenAI Leans Toward Waiting Until 2027 for IPO, NY Times Says Bloomberg
17. OpenAI Weighs Delay of IPO as Tech Stock Volatility Rattles Advisers | PYMNTS.com PYMNTS.com
18. Anthropic CEO Warns One Wrong Year Could Mean Bankruptcy as AI Spending Tops $700 Billion Memeburn
19. Anthropic Prepares Funding Round That Could Value It at $900B FingerLakes1.com
20. Anthropic achieves record valuation and overtakes OpenAI Bluewin
21. WeChat's 'Xiaowei' goes live in grayscale; Anthropic makes first profit of $559 million; DeepSeek's first round of financing... QQ News
22. Menlo Ventures raises $3B fund after Anthropic bet TechCrunch
23. 'I resigned from Google DeepMind': Another 'lead' quits after 18 years amid AI-related exits Financial Express
24. AI researchers continue to leave Google for its rivals Yahoo Finance
25. Google Poised to Lose Two More High-Profile AI Staffers to Anthropic Bloomberg
26. As top talent leaves Google DeepMind, some question if the lab can remain at the... Fortune
27. There's a big reason why Google is suddenly losing top AI talent Business Insider
28. Alphabet Shares Drop 6% as Top AI Developers Shift to Anthropic and OpenAI Yahoo Finance
29. DeepSeek Bids Farewell to 'Small and Beautiful': After Securing 50 Billion in Funding, First Double the Headcount QQ News
30. Z.ai to use listing cash on AGI push as US gulf closes RTHK
31. Z.ai releases GLM-5.2 in Cursor Z.ai
32. Z.ai's GLM-5.2 doubles app development task completion Z.ai
33. This new Chinese AI Is outperforming ChatGPT — and it runs locally Tom's Guide
34. ElevenLabs partners with Google DeepMind for audio watermarking ElevenLabs
35. Meta automates 50% of content review via LLMs, FT reports Seeking Alpha
36. xAI announces Grok integration with Interactive Brokers for trading xAI