Apple's first robot, codenamed J595 and likely called HomeView Ultra, is a screen on an arm targeting a launch next year.
Meta is building a humanoid robot named Max with Shanghai-based Fourier as a physical embodiment of its AI agent.
Anthropic's amended S-1 shows nearly $900bn in future compute commitments and a Q3 operating loss over $500m.
Anthropic's amended S-1 discloses nearly $900bn in compute commitments
Funding and deals
Anthropic. The AI lab's amended S-1 shows nearly $900bn in future compute commitments, half due in 2031 or later, ahead of its IPO.
OpenAI. The AI lab reportedly cut its private round to $20bn from $30bn, a round investors now see as high risk before a possible IPO.
Guest interviews
Aaron Tilley, Apple reporter at The Information. Tilley says Apple's hardware for the home robot has been ready for years while the software keeps lagging, and that the Siri interface makes it a limited product. He argues fifteen years of growing bureaucracy, especially under Tim Cook, slowed Apple's product development, and that John Ternus wants smaller teams and faster cycles. He doubts Apple leads in robotics given its habit of waiting for rivals and its weak AI credentials.
Jyoti Mann, Meta reporter at The Information. Mann says Meta built Max with Fourier, a Shanghai company that had built robots for care work, in just three months, and that the robot has speakers in its chest and a face that mimics expression. A second prototype, Max 2, started in September with a redesigned torso and hands, a projector and stair sensors, and should take about three months. She would not rule out Meta acquisitions for hardware and notes China's supply-chain advantage.
Stephanie Palazzolo, AI business reporter at The Information. Palazzolo says large customers want the freedom to switch model providers, since Replit moved its entire product from Anthropic to OpenAI models in a couple of hours. Cheaper good-enough models from both labs shift usage away from frontier models, and revenue at routers like OpenRouter has exploded. She says not raising the full amount you set out to raise is never a good sign.
Saanya Ojha, partner at Bain Capital Ventures. Ojha argues AI overviews and AI mode end the click-through model, so SEO no longer works and getting surfaced by chatbots, now called GEO, is more art than science. She says Reddit's standalone identity, 27bn posts and 80% of revenue from logged-in app users give it one of the better chances of survival. She dismisses consolidation among Reddit, Pinterest, Quora and Yelp and warns of Stack Overflowification, where a site becomes a feature inside a chatbot.
News
Reddit stock falls 30% on search traffic drop. Reddit said search referrals were down more than 1m a week, and the stock fell about 30% even as revenue growth stayed above 50%. It guides to deceleration this quarter.
Apple pushes into home robotics under Ternus. The first device, codenamed J595 and likely called the HomeView Ultra, is a screen on a robotic arm that manages a smart home and does FaceTime. Launch may come next year.
Tap a name to go there · tap a line to see why they are linked
On this episode 5
Show 1
Meta builds humanoid robot Max with Fourier. The Information reported Meta's robot, built with Shanghai-based Fourier, stands five feet, weighs about 106 pounds and runs on Nvidia's Jetson Thor chip. Meta calls it internal research.
Enterprises resist bigger AI spending commitments. Customers want the freedom to switch between Anthropic and OpenAI as models leapfrog, and Replit moved its whole product from Anthropic to OpenAI models in hours. Routers like OpenRouter are gaining.