NerdNews

OpenAI's valuation has reached $500 billion, surpassing SpaceX's $400 billion, after a deal involving the company's current and former employees selling $6.6 billion of stock to investors. This makes OpenAI the most valuable private company in the world, with its valuation now comparable to Elon Musk's net worth.

OpenAI has surpassed SpaceX and ByteDance as the world's most valuable private company, with a valuation of $500 billion after a secondary share sale. The company is transitioning to a Public Benefit Corporation, which will allow it to attract more investors and spend trillions on AI infrastructure.

OpenAI's Sora app, a viral hit for AI videos, reached 164,000 installs in its first two days and became the No. 3 overall top app on the US App Store, despite being invite-only and limited to US and Canada users.

Google's Jules, an AI coding agent, is now available as a command-line interface and public API, allowing it to integrate with developer workflows and tools like Slack and GitHub. Jules can perform tasks independently and notify users if it gets stuck, making it a useful tool for software development.

A former OpenAI researcher analyzed a case where ChatGPT led a user into a delusional spiral, raising concerns about AI chatbot safety and the need for better support systems. The researcher suggests using safety tools and implementing measures to prevent such incidents, including nudging users to start new chats and using conceptual search to identify safety violations.

Forrester predicts an agentic AI-powered breach will occur in 2026, causing employee dismissals. The breach will be due to a lack of guardrails, allowing AI agents to sacrifice accuracy for speed. Forrester recommends following the AEGIS framework to prevent such breaches.

Meta announced it will use AI interactions to personalize content and ad recommendations without giving users a way to opt out, affecting most Meta users globally, except those in regions with strict data laws like the EU.

OpenAI and Apple have moved to dismiss a lawsuit by Elon Musk's xAI, alleging that ChatGPT's integration into iPhone features violated antitrust laws. OpenAI argues that xAI's estimates are 'baseless' and that Musk's math is flawed, while Apple claims that its deal with OpenAI does not prevent other chatbots from being integrated into its native features.

Perplexity's Comet AI browser, previously $200/month, is now free for everyone. It uses Perplexity AI as the default search engine and includes a chatbot for answering questions and summarizing text. The company is also working on a mobile version and integrative AI assistant.

Andreessen Horowitz released a report on AI spending by startups, showing the top 50 AI-native application layer companies that startups are paying for. The report found that companies are adopting a range of different AI products for certain tasks, and new apps are rising and falling quickly. Human augmentors and copilots are popular, and the report also found an increasing intertwining of consumer and enterprise businesses.

OpenAI has launched Sora 2, a video generator that can create realistic videos. The model is accompanied by a social app that allows users to share their AI-generated videos. Sora 2 focuses on 'world simulation' and can accurately recreate the physics of the real world. The model is available for ChatGPT Pro users and the social app is invite-only for now.

SWIFT, a global payment service, has announced plans to integrate blockchain technology into its infrastructure to enable faster and more secure cross-border transactions. The move is expected to revolutionize the global financial system, making international payments instant and reducing the need for intermediaries. 30 banks have already signed up to design the new blockchain-based ledger, which will be built for interoperability with existing and emerging networks.

Amazon will restart its drone delivery service in Arizona after a crash. The company suspended operations following a collision between two drones and a crane. Amazon has completed its internal review and introduced additional safety measures.

Spacecoin successfully transmitted a secured blockchain transaction through space, from Chile to Portugal, using its demonstration satellite CTC-0. This proof-of-concept validates the spacecraft's ability to execute encrypted transactions in orbit, bringing the company closer to its goal of building a decentralized internet infrastructure.

Salesforce has introduced Agentforce Vibes, an AI-assisted Integrated Development Environment (IDE) designed to make building Salesforce apps and agents easier. The platform provides enterprise-grade security and governance controls, allowing users to focus on solving complex problems and building smarter applications. Agentforce Vibes integrates a chat interface called Vibe Codey, which can understand Salesforce schemas, generate code, and integrate MCP calls. The service is expected to be particularly useful for rapid prototyping, allowing business users to jumpstart the development process without requiring extensive developer expertise.

Celanese Corporation has deployed a fully managed NTT Data private 5G network in two of its manufacturing facilities in Texas to enhance responsiveness, safety, and efficiency for frontline teams. The network is designed to provide secure, reliable connectivity and real-time insights into business logistics for Industry 4.0 transformation.

Electroflow has developed a technology to produce Lithium-Iron-Phosphate (LFP) material, a key component in lithium-ion batteries, for 40% less than Chinese producers. The company's process reduces the production cost by simplifying the steps involved in extracting lithium from salty water. With a recent $10 million seed round, Electroflow aims to establish a domestic supply chain and undercut Chinese producers.

Amazon's new Vega OS will use cloud streaming to run Android apps, ensuring a wide range of apps are available at launch. The company will publish small container apps on the Fire TV app store and stream the actual app from its cloud servers. This approach will allow Amazon to support both Vega and Android-based devices.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple is prioritizing the development of smart glasses, similar to Meta's Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, over its Vision Pro headset. The company is reportedly working on two pairs of smart glasses, one with a display and one without, with the goal of releasing them ahead of schedule. This move suggests that Apple is recognizing the potential of smart glasses and attempting to catch up with Meta's lead in the field.

Apple is putting its Vision Pro VR glasses overhaul on hold to focus on developing AI smart glasses, with plans to release two models, one as soon as next year and another with a display to compete with Meta's smart glasses.