By the TensorMax editorial team
· Drawing from sources across the AI industry
Today's top story
funding event
According to the New York Times, a group of economists and tech leaders, including 15 Nobel laureates and the chief economists at Open AI and Anthropic, have signed a letter warning about the disruptions A.I.
Why it matters. This marks job displacement moving from an AI-safety talking point to a mainstream-economics position: 15 Nobel laureates and Anthropic's Jack Clark signing gives policymakers the political cover to act. Expect the letter to become the reference point for 2026 fights over retraining mandates and how fast labor-exposed AI can ship.
According to the New York Times, a group of economists and tech leaders, including 15 Nobel laureates and the chief economists at Open AI and Anthropic, have signed a letter warning about the disruptions A.I. could cause and calling on policymakers to prepare. The letter, titled We Must Act Now, states that AI may become radically more powerful over the next 10 years, driving an unprecedented transformation of the economy. This could bring risks, including large-scale job displacement, as well as opportunities such as major gains in living standards. The signatories argue that economists, policymakers, and technology leaders must act now to understand the economics of transformative AI and build the incentives, guardrails, and institutions needed to steer AI in a direction that complements humans and benefits society. The letter has been signed by over 200 experts, including Jack Clark, Jeff Dean, Noam Brown, Tyler Cowen, and Yoshua Bengio. The signatories emphasize the need for urgent action, with some noting that the window to prepare for AI's economic impact is closing fast. Others highlight the importance of keeping the intelligence layer open, neutral, and competitive to prevent any one entity from owning everything on top of it. The letter can be found at www.wemustactnow.ai, and its signatories are calling on policymakers to invest more in understanding AI's impact and to build the necessary guardrails to ensure that AI benefits society as a whole.
More from today
regulatory action
$15,155
Why it matters. The Senate's National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology has recommended $15 billion in funding over the next five years to support the development of the US biotechnology sector, citing the growing threat of biological risks and the need for increased national security measures. This investment is crucial as biological risks, such as the potential for non-state actors to develop bioweapons, pose a significant threat to national security. With the rise of artificial intelligence, the barriers to creating bioweapons are decreasing, making it more likely that threat actors will succeed in attacks. The recommended funding will help to unleash more private capital into the national biotechnology sector, driving innovation and development in areas such as biodefense and biosecurity.
enterprise adoption
$500M
Why it matters. The strategic stake of adopting cheaper Chinese AI models is significant, with major US companies like DoorDash, Airbnb, and Siemens making the switch to reduce costs. According to data from OpenRouter, Chinese models from DeepSeek and Z.ai have overtaken US equivalents, with some companies saving millions of dollars, such as one organization that reportedly spent $500 million in a month on Claude usage fees. This shift is driven by the high costs of US-based AI models, with businesses spending around $7,500 per employee every month on AI, and the appeal of Chinese models' lower costs and open-weight approach.
model release
Why it matters. The release of GLM-5.2 by Chinese startup Z.ai has significant implications for the AI industry, as it offers a cheaper alternative to US AI models. With corporate AI bills spiraling out of control, companies are looking for cost-effective solutions, and Chinese models are gaining traction. According to data from OpenRouter, leading Chinese models have overtaken US equivalents, with companies like DoorDash and Siemens adopting Chinese AI tools due to their lower costs and open-weight approach. This shift is driven by the need to cut costs, with one organization reportedly spending $500 million in a month on Claude usage fees, and businesses spending around $7,500 per employee every month on AI.
model release
Why it matters. The release of watchOS 27 with Siri AI marks a significant shift in how Apple envisions the use of smartwatches, with the goal of creating a consistent experience across devices. According to David Clark, Apple's senior director of software engineering for watchOS, the integration aims to provide a seamless experience, allowing users to access information and perform tasks on their wrist without feeling like they are using a separate entity from their phone. With Siri AI, the Apple Watch can finally feel like a wrist computer, enhancing its capabilities and making it a more useful device for users, as evident from the 27 version of the operating system.
research paper
Why it matters. The strategic stake of this signal lies in its potential to predict the outcomes of building advanced AI systems and the risks of uncooperative takeover. According to the model, safety is currently significantly underinvested, with the central estimate suggesting that uncooperative behaviour could settle at around 25% of the AI labour pool. This has significant implications for the development of AI systems, as it suggests that the risk of uncooperative takeover is a plausible outcome of continued AI development. With the model predicting that failure can arrive quickly, with the fastest failures crossing a 20% rate of uncooperative AI behaviour at around 5 months under naive exponentials, it is crucial to develop a robust early warning system to mitigate these risks.
enterprise adoption
Why it matters. The Los Angeles Police Department's decision to let its agreement with Flock Safety expire due to privacy concerns is a significant blow to the surveillance company, which has operated 138 pole-mounted cameras across Los Angeles since July 2023. With the LAPD being one of Flock's largest government customers, this move may impact the company's ability to expand its nationwide network of over 80,000 cameras. The expiration of the agreement, which was initially set for a three-year term, highlights the growing concerns over data ownership, security, and civil liberty, with the LAPD citing concerns that federal agencies could have access to data collected by Flock.
Catch up quick
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OpenCut, an open-source video editor, is being rewritten from the ground up with new features
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NestAI, founded by Peter Sarlin, releases its first AI models for military use to help Europe reduce reliance on foreign providers
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Netflix adopts Kueue, a cloud-native job queueing system, to simplify batch compute and replace custom queuing and scheduling logic in its managed batch solution Compute Managed Batch (CMB)
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Microsoft adopts Anthropic's Claude Code and GitHub's Copilot CLI, with adopters merging 24% more pull requests
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Prefect acquires Dagster, a rival of Airflow
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Ram Potham proposes mechanisms for making credible deals with a scheming AI, including using a chain of trust and five credible mechanisms to establish trust
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China's trade expands 21% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, driven by AI-related industries
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United Microelectronics Corporation starts mass production of silicon photonics wafers in Singapore to address growing demand for high-speed optical interconnects in AI and hyperscaler data center networks
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Australian Labor MP Ed Husic calls for stricter rules on AI companies, warning against self-regulation and advocating for fair compensation for creative workers
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Researchers detail 'context bombing', a technique to trigger guardrails of attackers' LLMs, reducing AI hacking success rates by ~90%
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Microsoft launches Surface Laptop 8 with improved performance, longer battery life, and a new haptic touchpad, starting at $1,599.99
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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to outline approach to AI, comparing its growth to the renewable energy transition
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Grok 4.5 reaches #1 position on Long-Horizon Terminal-Bench
Also on the desk
- Chinese electric vehicle makers such as BAIC, Seres, and GAC are experiencing losses due to rising materials costs, while their suppliers are seeing significant gains.
- Startups and scaleups are hiring Forward Deployed Engineers, a software engineering role pioneered by Palantir, in 2025.
- Wix's CEO Avishai Abrahami says AI gets too much credit, despite the company's investment in AI coding platform Base44
- DJI drones used in aerial extractions of stranded residents from rooftops in Guangxi, China, during flooding, sparking debate on their use in search and rescue operations
- NestAI partners with AMD, LUMI AI factory, and quantum startup Qutwo to develop its AI models
Cutting-room floor.Hit reply with one thing you'd delete from today's brief. Filler, repeated beats, a story you skimmed — that's the feedback we act on.
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