Brief

Noetik, a biotech company, is leveraging AI, specifically transformer models like TARIO-2, to address the high failure rate in cancer clinical trials. Their approach focuses on better matching patients with specific tumor types to existing treatments, rather than discovering new drugs. This strategy has led to a significant $50 million deal with GSK, marking a shift towards licensing AI platforms rather than developing drugs directly. AI

China's National Development and Reform Commission has officially blocked Meta's $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus. The regulator cited concerns over core technology, data security, and compliance with foreign investment rules, emphasizing that an AI developed in China should not be sold to a US tech giant under a foreign shell. Despite Meta's assertion that the transaction complied with all laws, the decision has created uncertainty for Manus employees who had already relocated and integrated with Meta's Singapore operations. AI

Cybersecurity researchers have identified over 18 malicious AI browser extensions that pose as productivity tools but function as Remote Access Trojans (RATs) and infostealers. These extensions are designed to steal sensitive user data, including passwords and AI prompts. In a separate development, Palo Alto Networks announced its intent to acquire Portkey, an AI gateway startup, to enhance the security of autonomous AI agents by integrating Portkey's technology into its Prisma AIRS platform. AI

OpenAI is reportedly preparing for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and has significantly increased its projected compute costs. The company now anticipates spending $600 billion on compute by 2030, a substantial rise from previous estimates. OpenAI expects to incur losses until 2028, with profitability anticipated by 2030. AI

London-based startup Ineffable has secured a $1.1 billion seed funding round, marking the largest such round in European history. This significant investment highlights robust investor confidence in the UK's technology sector, particularly in areas related to AI development. The funding is expected to bolster the company's growth and influence within the European tech landscape. AI

Elon Musk's xAI is enhancing its Grok chatbot with a new "Skills" feature, enabling persistent memory across conversations and allowing users to teach it specific tasks. This development aims to transform Grok into a more programmable workspace, moving beyond simple Q&A. Concurrently, reports suggest SpaceX is preparing for a significant IPO, potentially valued up to $75 billion, with BlackRock considering a $5-10 billion investment. SpaceX is also reportedly in talks to acquire the AI coding startup Cursor for an undisclosed sum, which would bolster its AI capabilities. AI

Cursor has released its new Composer 2.5 model, which leverages Kimi as a base and claims to offer performance comparable to Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.7 at one-tenth the cost. This development is part of Cursor's strategic push towards self-developed models, partly driven by Anthropic's own entry into the coding assistant market with Claude Code. Concurrently, OpenAI's Codex and Anthropic's Claude Code are seeing significant upgrades and wider adoption, leading to unexpected budget overruns for companies like Uber due to their token-based pricing models. AI

Nvidia is reportedly acquiring assets from AI chip startup Groq for approximately $20 billion, marking its largest deal to date. This acquisition aims to integrate Groq's low-latency inference technology into Nvidia's AI factory architecture. While Nvidia is licensing Groq's intellectual property and hiring key personnel, Groq will continue to operate as an independent company, with its cloud business unaffected. AI

Elon Musk has lost his lawsuit against OpenAI, which alleged that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman misled him about the company's nonprofit mission. In parallel, SpaceX is preparing for a massive IPO, aiming for a valuation between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion, which could make Musk the world's first trillionaire. Meanwhile, xAI is reportedly merging with SpaceX to form a new division called SpaceXAI, consolidating AI projects under the SpaceX umbrella. AI