Topic: #ai
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BNB Chain targets 1M TPS with AI agents as token hits 2024 lows
BNB Chain is overhauling its architecture to process 1 million transactions per second and integrate protocol-level privacy, targeting traditional finance and autonomous AI agents. The pivot comes as BNB token has fallen more than 35% this year to $563, its lowest since October 2024.
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KOR Protocol raises $7.5M Series A from 1kx, Blockchain Capital
KOR Protocol, an onchain creative asset clearinghouse built on Coinbase's Layer 2, raised $7.5 million in Series A funding from 1kx and Blockchain Capital. The platform has surpassed $2 million in gross revenue and counts over 1,000 partners including Black Mirror and Beatport.
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ByteDance, Alibaba disable AI agents as China enforces emotional AI rules
ByteDance and Alibaba are shutting down custom agent features in their consumer AI products ahead of new Chinese regulations targeting humanlike emotional interaction services, which take effect July 15. China is the first country to impose a dedicated regulatory framework for AI-driven emotional interaction.
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Anthropic commits $200B to Google Cloud, intensifying AI data center competition
Anthropic pledged approximately $200 billion to Google Cloud services over five years, representing over 40% of Alphabet's cloud revenue backlog. The deal signals deepening ties between the AI maker and Google while intensifying competition for data center capacity with cryptocurrency miners and blockchain validators.
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Microsoft launches Frontier unit with $2.5B to solve enterprise AI ROI
Microsoft announced a new business unit backed by $2.5 billion and 6,000 industry experts to solve enterprise AI's biggest challenge: helping companies actually profit from their AI investments. The move positions the software giant as a hybrid vendor-consultant, directly competing with consulting firms and its own channel partners.
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Kling AI raises $2 billion at $18 billion valuation, targets 2027 IPO
Kuaishou's Kling AI unit is raising over $2 billion in its first external funding round, led by General Atlantic, at an $18 billion valuation. The funding facilitates a spin-off from Kuaishou and positions the video generation AI company for an early 2027 IPO.
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UBTech U1 humanoid robot hits $334M pre-orders in four weeks
UBTech Robotics generated $334 million in pre-order revenue for its U1 companion robot within four weeks of launch in June 2026, with over 5,000 pre-orders and shipments expected by September. The achievement exceeds the company's entire 2025 industrial robotics segment revenue.
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China's Manufacturing PMI Expands to 50.3 as AI Exports Surge
China's manufacturing PMI hit 50.3 in June, beating forecasts, as exports of AI-related hardware surged 66.1% year-on-year. Yet the employment sub-index contracted, raising questions about job creation amid the export-driven boom.
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Meta restricts engineers from Claude Code and Codex to protect training data
Meta has restricted its engineers from using Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex, citing concerns over exposure of proprietary AI training data and internal codebases to external servers.
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Soitec partners with ZenSemi to scale power chips for AI and EVs
French semiconductor materials company Soitec has partnered with Chinese specialty foundry ZenSemi to ramp production of BCD-on-SOI substrates for power management chips targeting AI datacenters, electric vehicles, and industrial systems.
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South Korea's $518B AI chip push widens crypto's capital deficit
Samsung and SK Hynix are accelerating a $518 billion chip-plant buildout by a decade to meet AI memory demand, signaling that the AI capital cycle continues to draw investment away from crypto.
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OpenAI restricts new model access after Trump administration security review request
The Trump administration asked OpenAI and Anthropic to limit rollouts of advanced AI models pending security reviews. OpenAI announced three new models—GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra, and Luna—but restricted early access to government-approved partners, signaling a shift toward federal oversight of AI releases.
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OpenAI Develops ChatGPT for Science Plan for Universities and Research Labs
OpenAI is building a dedicated ChatGPT subscription plan for scientific institutions, with code references discovered in June pointing to a product designed for researchers across biology, chemistry, physics, and materials science. No official pricing or launch date has been announced.
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Anthropic's Mythos AI model prompts House committee to weigh new banking security rules
Anthropic demonstrated its unreleased Mythos model to Congress, revealing how AI can identify critical banking vulnerabilities. Rep. Andrew Garbarino signaled potential new regulatory oversight for AI-powered cybersecurity and bank disclosure requirements.
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Domyn plans 400B open-source AI model for European regulated sectors
Domyn, a Milan-based AI company formerly known as iGenius, plans to release a 400-billion-parameter open-source model within a year, backed by NVIDIA hardware and targeting European financial services, government, and defense institutions seeking alternatives to US proprietary platforms.
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Cato Networks integrates GPT-5.5 into SASE platform via OpenAI Daybreak
Israeli cybersecurity firm Cato Networks joined OpenAI's Daybreak Cyber Partner Program on June 22, integrating GPT-5.5 and Codex security tools into its SASE platform to accelerate threat detection and patch generation.
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DeepSeek closes $7.4B funding round with employee non-poaching clause
DeepSeek's $7.4 billion funding round values the Chinese AI startup between $52 billion and $59 billion, with founder Liang Wenfeng imposing a condition barring investors from recruiting its roughly 150-person team. The capital is earmarked primarily for employee equity and stock options.
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Midjourney launches medical division with ultrasonic body scanner
Midjourney announced a new medical division featuring a full-body ultrasonic scanner concept targeting 0.5mm resolution in 60 seconds. The company plans a San Francisco flagship location with up to ten scanners by end of 2027, though it has never shipped a physical product before.
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Poland Acquires Stake in ElevenLabs at $11 Billion Valuation
Poland purchased an equity stake in ElevenLabs, the AI voice synthesis company co-founded by two Warsaw entrepreneurs, as the startup reached an $11 billion valuation in February 2026. The government investment signals Poland's push to establish itself as a tech hub, though it raises regulatory questions under the EU's evolving AI Act.
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Ant Group launches AI Wallet, Token Pay to challenge WeChat dominance
Ant Group rolled out AI Wallet and Token Pay on May 26, enabling autonomous transaction execution. Alipay's AI Pay reached 100 million active users by February 2026, processing 120 million AI-agent transactions in a single week.
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Anthropic CEO Amodei proposes government authority to block risky AI models
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei unveiled an Advanced AI Framework on June 10 that would grant the US government power to block AI models deemed unsafe, including mandatory third-party testing and revenue-based penalties for noncompliance.
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Trad.Fi and W3 compress equipment loans from months to one day with AI
Trad.Fi and W3 are working to move $650 million of equipment-finance origination onto blockchain rails over four years using AI to automate underwriting, but loan performance still hinges on collateral, servicing, and investor liquidity outside the token.
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MIT researchers develop self-revising AI framework for autonomous scientific discovery
MIT researchers Fiona Y. Wang and Markus J. Buehler published a mathematical framework enabling AI systems to autonomously revise their reasoning structures and adapt discovery strategies, marking a shift from heuristic-based agentic AI toward rigorous, formally validated self-evolution.
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Alphabet enters municipal bond market with $1B energy deal
Alphabet raised $1 billion through prepaid energy bonds issued by the California Community Choice Financing Authority, marking the first time a major US tech company has entered the municipal bond market. Strong investor demand tightened spreads, signaling confidence in the tech giant's credit profile.