The truth behind OpenAI

👋 Good morning/evening (wherever you are). It’s Thursday.

Who do you trust to take us to AGI?

The guy investors love, employees tried to oust, and some call reckless?

The OpenAI Files reveal a company that began with a mission to serve humanity, now reshaping itself to serve investors.

Safety standards pushed aside.

Whistleblowers silenced.

Profit caps removed.

This goes way beyond leadership. It’s a live test of whether any group can build world-changing tech without losing the plot.

With great power comes great res...yeah, I’ll stop.

Switching gears:

A lot of creatives are getting excited about Midjourney video, especially the extend feature.

On X, I’m seeing some incredible 17 to 21 second clips and I’ll share a few favorites (and some of my own tests) in the next couple newsletters.

If you want a quick preview of assorted clips, check out the Explore page.

Overall, it feels like the early days of Midjourney again, when artists first got their hands on it and couldn’t stop creating.

That same spark is back.

In the meantime, enjoy this stunning 90-sec AI video (posted on LinkedIn). It’s from one of my favorite creators, not just in science or AI, but overall.

I can’t believe it either, but we now live in a world where AI-generated macro documentaries look better than the real thing.

OK let’s keep going ↓

Here’s what you should know:

• Meta tried to buy Ilya Sutskever’s $32 billion AI startup

  After Sutskever rejected Meta’s acquisition offer, Zuckerberg pivoted to hiring SSI co-founder Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman, and taking a stake in their venture fund, NFDG.

• Humain launches new division for ads, gaming, and film

  Saudi AI firm Humain has formed a creative unit called Humain Create, partnering with Luma AI to develop content across advertising, gaming, and entertainment.

• Google launches Search Live with voice in AI Mode

  Users in the AI Mode experiment can now have real-time voice conversations with Google Search, powered by a custom Gemini model and enhanced link exploration.

• YouTube brings Veo 3 to creators

  At Cannes Lions, YouTube announced Veo 3 will launch in Shorts this summer, giving creators powerful new tools for video generation and multilingual dubbing.

• Google confirms what everyone suspected

  YouTube videos are being used to train AI models like Gemini and Veo 3, sparking concern among creators over consent and compensation.

• Cloudflare warns AI is siphoning publisher traffic

  Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince warned that AI is draining publisher traffic as Anthropic now scrapes 60,000 pages for every visitor it sends, prompting a push to block content scraping and protect media revenue.

• AI avatars outsell real influencers in China

  AI avatars in China co-hosted a livestream modeled after real influencers and generated over $7 million in sales in just 7 hours, highlighting their rising dominance in the influencer economy.

• Chinese studios plan AI remakes of kung fu classics

  The $13.9M effort will remake 100 kung fu classics from Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, including Fist of Fury and Drunken Master. It aims to preserve the originals while updating them for a new generation.

• UK rolls out AI-powered drone “mules”

  Britain is investing over £100 million in AI-powered drone gunships, or “mules,” that will fly alongside Apache helicopters, operate autonomously, and control ground swarms to boost firepower and battlefield survivability.

• C.H. Robinson launches first AI agent for LTL freight classification

  The logistics giant now automates over 75% of LTL orders using in-house AI, ahead of the new national freight standards coming this July.

• Preparing for future AI capabilities in biology

  OpenAI outlines its safeguards, partnerships, and biodefense strategies as AI models approach high-level biological capabilities.

• Paris startup uses AWS and AI to fight superbugs

  French biotech company Phagos is using generative AI models on AWS to predict which phages can precisely target deadly bacteria, offering a scalable alternative to antibiotics.

• LexisNexis and Harvey announce strategic alliance

  Harvey users will gain access to LexisNexis’s trusted legal content and generative AI tools to enhance legal research and analysis.

The numbers:

• Ramp raised $200M Series E at a $16B valuation to deepen AI-driven automation across finance and corporate spend platforms.

• Commure raised $200M growth funding from General Catalyst to scale its AI-enhanced tools for clinical workflows and physician note-taking.

• Pelico raised $40M to scale its AI-powered supply chain control platform, now based in Miami and used by major manufacturers like Airbus and Eaton.

• Profound raised $20M Series A to help marketers monitor and optimize how their brands appear in AI-generated search responses.

• Tadaweb raised $20M Series B to grow its AI/graph-based “small data” platform for OSINT and threat-hunting analytics.

• Sifflet raised $18M in Series B to tackle data reliability, a “silent AI crisis,” with its AI-native platform serving enterprises like Penguin Random House and Euronext.

• Supply Wisdom raised $14M Series B to expand its AI-powered real-time risk intelligence platform.

• Acorn raised $12.3M Series A led by Level Equity to scale its capabilities-mapping AI for performance-driven learning and career planning.

Thought starters:

Here’s a mix to explore: four articles and two YouTube videos to spark new ideas.

• VR, grief, and a father’s ghost

• 62% of Gen Z say AI is overhyped

• Failure to build AI skills could cost billions

• What’s killing corporate jobs: AI or specialization?

• AI users form relationships with technology

  ⏱️ 9:22 min (YouTube)

• Andrej Karpathy: Software Is Changing (Again)

  ⏱️ 39:31 min (YouTube)

Meme of the day:

Thanks for reading,

Eddie

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