Chinese labs are dropping open-source models that are at the level of the best proprietary models of highly funded US labs with unlimited GPUs.

On the other hand, said US labs are just stealing talent from each other at this point. 

Kimi K2 seems amazing and better than Grok 4, and it's open-source, so free

for anyone to use and modify. 

Seems like an amazing story arc.

Anyways, here’s what’s been going on in the AI world this week…

📈 How are companies using AI?​

➜ Cybersecurity Gets a GenAI Upgrade. A major insurance provider is using generative AI to boost threat detection and automate security workflows. It’s part of a broader move to modernize digital defense systems.
Finextra

➜ AI-Generated Refugees. A UN-affiliated research lab has introduced AI avatars named "Amina" and "Abdalla"—one portraying a refugee in Chad, the other a Sudanese combatant—to educate users and train negotiators on refugee and conflict dynamics.
404 Media

➜ Avatars Take Over Video Calls. Quest app transforms users into virtual avatars during meetings to make Zoom calls feel more immersive. The push signals a future where video conferencing becomes fully gamified.
TechTimes

➜ New Platform Built Around AI Agents. New Generation, a startup backed by Visa, is rolling out autonomous agents for everything from operations to payments. It’s a full-stack vision of what “agentic AI” in business could look like.
PYMNTS

➜ Marketplace for AI Agents in the Works. Amazon is reportedly building a store for AI agents that users can browse, download, and deploy. It could be the next big ecosystem shift—beyond apps, into autonomous assistants.
Inc.

💡 What are the nerds up to?

➜ Finance Teams Get AI Agents. Ramp introduces AI agents for automating reconciliation, reporting, and close processes with AI built specifically for controllers. It’s accounting help, minus the spreadsheet headaches.
CPA Practice Advisor

➜ Photo and Video Editing with Prompts. Gemini is rolling out visual tools that let users create and edit photos or videos directly with natural language. It puts high-end creative control into everyday hands.
The Verge

➜ Voice Tech Joins the Stack. Meta has acquired a voice AI company to make its assistants sound more lifelike. The goal is better conversations—less robot, more human.
TechCrunch

➜ AI Enters the Legislative Process. Helios, a public policy platform, is using AI to streamline how governments write, revise, and manage laws. It’s bureaucracy, reimagined with neural networks.
Mischa Dohler

➜ Comet Aims to Reinvent Search. Perplexity’s new AI assistant promises faster, deeper research with more context-aware results. It’s less search engine, more research partner.
Perplexity

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