☕️ OpenAI's new model codes 15x faster

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In today's Techpresso:

🏎️ OpenAI's new Spark model codes 15x faster thanks to new chip

👓 Meta plans facial recognition for its smart glasses

💰 Anthropic raises $30B at $380B valuation

🚫 Amazon's Ring cancels Flock partnership amid Super Bowl ad backlash

🇺🇸 OpenAI accuses DeepSeek of distilling US AI models

🚗 Waymo launches next-gen Ojai robotaxis

🎁 + 20 other news & articles you might like

🧰 + 6 trending tools

📚 + 4 trending papers & reports

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• OpenAI released GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark, a smaller model that generates code 15 times faster than its predecessor, powered by Cerebras' Wafer Scale Engine 3 chip in the first result of their partnership.
• Spark is built for real-time coding with quick, targeted edits rather than long-running tasks, cutting per-roundtrip overhead by 80% and time-to-first-token by 50% through streaming optimizations and persistent WebSocket connections.
• The speed comes with trade-offs: Spark scores lower than GPT-5.3-Codex on software engineering benchmarks and falls short of OpenAI's "high capability" threshold for cybersecurity under its Preparedness Framework.

• Meta is planning to add a facial recognition feature called "Name Tag" to its Ray-Ban smart glasses, possibly launching as soon as this year, according to a New York Times report.
• Name Tag would let wearers identify people and pull up information about them through Meta's AI assistant, though the company is still deciding who should be recognizable through the technology.
• An internal document shows Meta discussed releasing the feature since early last year, despite shutting down its Facebook facial recognition system five years ago over privacy and legal concerns.

• Anthropic closed a $30 billion funding round at a $380 billion post-money valuation, more than doubling its worth since September and making it the second-largest private tech fundraising round on record.
• The round was led by Coatue and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, and includes portions of previously announced investments from Microsoft and Nvidia, which committed up to $5 billion and $10 billion respectively.
• Anthropic said its annualized revenue has climbed to $14 billion, up from roughly $10 billion last year, driven by enterprise customers who are increasingly relying on Claude for how businesses work.

• Amazon's Ring and surveillance company Flock Safety have jointly cancelled their planned integration, which would have made it easier for police to request and receive footage from users' personal cameras.
• Ring blamed the cancellation on resource issues, but the partnership had faced significant criticism over privacy concerns, with some users disconnecting or destroying their devices over Flock Safety's ties to ICE.
• The cancellation came days after Ring's Super Bowl ad for its AI-powered Search Party feature drew backlash, with viewers noting the pet-tracking technology could easily be used to track humans.

• OpenAI told a U.S. House committee that DeepSeek has been distilling its models — training smaller systems on outputs from OpenAI — and accused the Chinese company of bypassing access restrictions.
• OpenAI claims it found accounts linked to DeepSeek employees using obfuscated third-party routers to extract outputs from its models, violating rules against building imitation frontier AI models.
• A RAND Corporation researcher suggested OpenAI may be escalating now to block DeepSeek and other Chinese companies from acquiring more chips, helping U.S. firms keep their leading position.

• Waymo has started running its sixth-generation driverless system on Ojai robotaxis, built on a base vehicle from Chinese automaker Geely, giving rides to employees first.
• The company plans to expand Ojai service from San Francisco and Los Angeles to new cities, with a goal to open rides to public passengers later this year.
• GOP lawmakers have criticized Waymo for using Chinese electric vehicles, but the company says it will not share its autonomous driving technology, sensor data, or rider information with Zeekr.

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• Google targeted by EU over online ad price practices unfair to advertisers LINK

• Trucking and logistics stocks drop on release of AI freight scaling tool LINK

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• Rivian was saved by software in 2025 LINK

• Microsoft confirms plan to ditch OpenAI — as the ChatGPT firm continues to beg Big Tech for cash LINK

• IBM to triple entry-level US hiring, as roles ‘reimagined’ for AI era LINK

• Aurora’s driverless trucks can now travel farther distances faster than human drivers LINK

• Microsoft AI CEO: "Most" white-collar tasks will be automated in 18 months LINK

• Instagram CEO says scrolling social media for 16 hours is not an addiction LINK

• An AI agent got its code rejected so it wrote a hit piece about the developer LINK

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📚 Trending papers & reports

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