As the year winds down and a holiday lull settles over much of the tech world, artificial intelligence shows little sign of slowing. Even in a shortened, end-of-year news cycle, companies, researchers, and regulators are pushing ahead by expanding platforms, locking in infrastructure, raising fresh capital, and advancing policies that will shape how AI is built and used in 2026 and beyond.
From OpenAI’s effort to turn ChatGPT into a full-fledged app ecosystem to Alphabet’s bid to secure clean power for AI data centers, the focus is shifting decisively toward scale, durability, and control. At the same time, legal challenges over training data, academic warnings about AI-driven social harm, and new state-level safety laws underscore growing friction around trust and accountability. Together, these developments point to an AI sector entering a more consequential phase — where growth continues, but scrutiny, governance, and long-term strategy are increasingly inseparable from innovation.
Industry & Enterprise
OpenAI Expands ChatGPT Platform With App Ecosystem and New Personalization Controls as Usage Surges
OpenAI has launched an in-app marketplace inside ChatGPT, allowing developers to submit and distribute third-party applications directly within conversations, as the company pushes to turn ChatGPT into a full platform rather than a standalone chatbot. The move comes as ChatGPT surpasses $3 billion in global mobile consumer spending and rolls out new personalization controls, underscoring OpenAI’s strategy to deepen user engagement and expand monetization through apps, subscriptions, and customized AI experiences. (AI Insider)
Adobe Faces Proposed Class-Action Lawsuit Over Alleged Use of Pirated Books in AI Training
Adobe is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging it trained its SlimLM language model on pirated books, including works from the controversial Books3 dataset, without author consent or compensation, according to a complaint reported by Reuters. The case underscores intensifying legal scrutiny across the AI industry over copyright compliance and the provenance of training data used in commercial models. (AI Insider)
Cursor Acquires Graphite to Expand AI-Driven Code Review and Debugging
AI coding assistant Cursor has acquired automated code review startup Graphite, extending its platform beyond code generation into debugging and pull-request management as it expands across the software development lifecycle. The deal, with financial terms undisclosed, follows Graphite’s recent $52 million Series B and underscores accelerating consolidation in AI-native developer tools as Cursor scales at a reported $29 billion valuation. (AI Insider)
Yann LeCun Launches Advanced Machine Intelligence With Alex LeBrun as CEO
Renowned AI scientist Yann LeCun has launched Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI), a new startup focused on world-model AI designed to reason about environments and cause-and-effect as an alternative to large language models, with LeCun serving as executive chairman rather than CEO. The company, led by Nabla co-founder Alex LeBrun as CEO, is reportedly seeking up to €500 million at a €3 billion valuation, leveraging LeCun’s academic and industry standing to position AMI as a next-generation AI platform aimed at reducing hallucinations. (AI Insider)
Alphabet Acquires Intersect Power in $4.75B Deal to Secure AI Data Center Energy Supply
Alphabet has agreed to acquire Intersect Power for $4.75 billion in cash while assuming its debt, a move that tightens the link between Google’s expanding AI data center footprint and dedicated renewable power generation amid rising compute demand. The deal follows Alphabet’s prior minority investment and includes Intersect’s future development pipeline — though not its existing operating assets — with renewable-powered data parks expected to come online starting in late 2026 to support AI workloads. (AI Insider)
OpenAI Strengthens Atlas AI Browser Security Amid Persistent Prompt Injection Risks
OpenAI says prompt injection attacks remain a persistent risk for web-based AI agents and has outlined new security measures for its ChatGPT Atlas browser, which expands exposure to malicious instructions embedded in webpages and emails. To mitigate the threat, the company is using reinforcement-learning–trained automated attackers, large-scale testing, and rapid patching while urging users to limit agent autonomy, signaling a shift toward continuous stress-testing rather than assuming the vulnerability can be fully eliminated. (AI Insider)
Research & Innovation
AI-Powered Wearable Boosts Preventative Care for Elderly
University of Arizona researchers have developed an AI-enabled wearable sleeve that continuously monitors gait and leg motion to detect early signs of frailty, aiming to shift elder care from reactive treatment to preventative intervention. Published in Nature Communications, the soft lower-thigh device uses edge AI to analyze acceleration, symmetry, and step variability in real time while transmitting only summarized results, enabling long-term remote monitoring with low power and limited connectivity — particularly relevant for rural or under-resourced settings at University of Arizona. (AI Insider)
Feral AI Gossip with the Potential to Spread Damage and Shame Will Become More Frequent, Researchers Warn
A new study from University of Exeter warns that large language models can generate and propagate “feral gossip,” producing unverified, evaluative narratives that cause reputational, psychological, and social harm, sometimes at greater scale than human rumor-spreading. The analysis finds these risks are amplified by authoritative AI tone, mixed factual accuracy, and the potential for bot-to-bot and user-seeded dissemination that operates without social norms or corrective pressures, posing a growing challenge for AI governance. (AI Insider)
Policy & Governance
New York Enacts RAISE Act, Establishing State-Level AI Safety and Transparency Framework
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed the RAISE Act, making New York the second U.S. state after California to enact comprehensive AI safety legislation that mandates public disclosure of safety practices and 72-hour reporting of major AI-related incidents by large developers. The law establishes an AI oversight office within the state’s financial regulator and authorizes fines of up to $1 million, rising to $3 million for repeat violations, underscoring a growing state-led push to regulate advanced AI amid federal uncertainty. (AI Insider)
Startups & Capital
OpenAI Reportedly Explores Mega Funding Round Valuing Company at Up to $830B
OpenAI is in talks to raise up to $100 billion in a financing round that could value the company as high as $830 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal, with a potential close targeted for early next year and possible participation from sovereign wealth funds. The discussions highlight the mounting capital demands of large-scale AI development, as OpenAI ramps investment in models, infrastructure, and developer tools amid intensifying competition and rising compute constraints. (AI Insider)
Neural Concept Closes $100M Funding Round Led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives to Scale AI-Native Engineering
Neural Concept raised $100 million in a Series C round led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives to scale its CAD-native AI platform, which embeds physics-aware, geometry-native intelligence directly into engineering design workflows. The funding will support global expansion, deeper partnerships with companies including Nvidia and Siemens, and the development of a generative CAD capability planned for 2026. (AI Insider)
UK AI Benefits Platform Ben Announces $27.5M Series B to Modernize Enterprise HR
London-based Ben raised $27.5 million in Series B funding led by Mercia Ventures to expand its AI-powered employee benefits and HR management platform. The company will use the capital to enhance its AI capabilities and support international growth as it targets legacy benefits and administration systems used by large enterprises. (AI Insider)
MoEngage Secures Additional $180M in Series F Funding; Completes Liquidity Event for Employees & Investors
MoEngage raised an additional $180 million in its Series F round, bringing total funding to $280 million, with backing from ChrysCapital, Dragon Funds, Schroders Capital, and existing investors. The company plans to use the capital to scale its Merlin AI product suite, expand global go-to-market operations, and pursue selective acquisitions, alongside a $15 million employee tender offer. (AI Insider)
Galatek Raises $30M Series A to Scale AI Automation Across Life Sciences and Semiconductors
Galatek, a Singapore-based automation and artificial intelligence startup, has raised $30 million in a Series A round to accelerate product development and international expansion, though investors were not disclosed. The company builds AI-driven platforms for life sciences and semiconductor manufacturing, and plans to use the funding to expand technical teams and customer deployments across Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia. (AI Insider)
Farmevo Secures Strategic Investment to Accelerate AI-Driven Remote Sensing in North America
Farmevo has closed a strategic funding round led by Gutter Capital and will relocate its global headquarters to New York City as it scales its AI-powered autonomous remote sensing platform. The company plans to expand across North American agriculture and forestry markets, using AI-driven drones and analytics to deliver near real-time insights while reducing the need for licensed pilots or specialized GIS expertise. (AI Insider)
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