Artificial intelligence is moving deeper into the core of consumer tech, enterprise software and global infrastructure. This week, OpenAI began testing ads inside ChatGPT for U.S. users on its lower-cost tiers, Apple delayed key upgrades to Siri and Amazon explored a formal content-licensing marketplace for AI training. At the same time, leadership changes at Workday and internal restructuring at xAI suggest companies are reorganizing around AI as both a product and a strategy.
Beyond Big Tech, the buildout continues. India introduced strict new deepfake rules, New York lawmakers proposed a pause on new data centers and MIT researchers applied AI to Olympic figure skating analysis. On the capital front, major funding rounds for Cerebras, Goodfire, Resolve AI and Apptronik highlight sustained investment in chips, interpretability, reliability engineering and humanoid robotics, while Firebird advanced a multibillion-dollar AI supercomputing project in Armenia.
Industry & Enterprise
OpenAI Begins Testing Ads in ChatGPT for Free and Go Users in the U.S.
OpenAI has begun testing ads inside ChatGPT for users on its Free and $8-per-month Go tiers in the U.S., while keeping Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education plans ad-free. The company said ads will be clearly labeled, separate from responses and not used to influence outputs or share user conversations, as it explores monetization amid industry debate over AI advertising models. (AI Insider)
Apple Delays AI-Powered Siri Rollout as Apple Intelligence Timeline Shifts
Apple has reportedly delayed the rollout of its next-generation Siri, pushing back key features of its Apple Intelligence initiative beyond the expected iOS 26.4 update and potentially into a later spring release or iOS 27. According to reporting by Mark Gurman, the redesigned assistant aims to operate more like modern large-language-model chatbots, but development and integration challenges have slowed deployment. (AI Insider)
Amazon Explores AI Content Licensing Marketplace for Publishers
Amazon is reportedly exploring a marketplace that would let publishers license content directly to AI companies, signaling a push toward more formal, legally compliant training data models. The effort mirrors similar licensing platforms and follows a wave of media partnerships across the AI sector as companies seek to manage copyright risk and secure premium content for model training. (AI Insider)
Workday Leadership Transition Signals Strategic Focus on AI Transformation
Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach has stepped down effective immediately, with co-founder Aneel Bhusri returning from his role as executive chairman to lead the company amid a strategic push toward AI-driven enterprise software. The transition follows recent workforce reductions and signals a renewed focus on expanding artificial intelligence capabilities across Workday’s platform. (AI Insider)
xAI Reorganization Leads to Co-Founder Departures as Elon Musk Outlines AI Roadmap
xAI is undergoing a major internal restructuring that has led to the departure of several senior engineers and co-founders, leaving half of its original founding team no longer at the company as Elon Musk pushes for faster execution. The company has reorganized around four core AI products, including Grok and a video-generation system, as it faces regulatory scrutiny and intensifying competition from leading AI labs.(AI Insider)
Meta Introduces AI Features on Facebook to Boost Creative Expression and Gen Z Engagement
Meta is rolling out new AI-powered features on Facebook, including animated profile photos, AI-driven image restyling for Stories and Memories, and dynamic backgrounds for text posts, as it integrates Meta AI more deeply into the platform. The updates are part of a broader push to modernize Facebook’s experience and attract younger users with more personalized and visually engaging content. (AI Insider)
Research & Innovation
MIT Researchers Are Using AI to Help Olympic Figure Skaters — And Viewers
MIT Sports Lab researchers are applying AI to figure skating, using video analysis to quantify jump height, rotation speed and landing precision in ways not visible to the naked eye. The work also explores whether AI can assess the sport’s artistic elements, comparing machine evaluations with expert and novice human judgments. (AI Insider)
Policy & Governance
India Introduces New AI Deepfake Rules with Rapid Takedown Requirements for Social Platforms
India has amended its 2021 IT Rules to formally regulate AI-generated deepfakes, requiring platforms to label synthetic content, enable traceability and meet strict takedown deadlines, including three hours for official orders and two hours for urgent user complaints. Policy and legal experts say the compressed timelines will increase compliance burdens and heighten liability risks for social media companies operating in the country. (AI Insider)
New York Lawmakers Propose Moratorium on Data Center Construction Amid AI Infrastructure Concerns
New York lawmakers have introduced a bill that would pause new data center permits for at least three years, escalating scrutiny over the energy and economic impact of expanding AI infrastructure. The proposal comes as policymakers across the political spectrum debate power consumption and grid costs, while Governor Kathy Hochul advances efforts to modernize energy connections for large users under the Energize NY Development initiative. (AI Insider)
Startups & Capital
AlphaLab Selects 20 Startups For 2026 Cohort Embedding Intelligence Into Industry
AlphaLab has selected 20 startups for its 2026 cohort, marking its largest class to date as it expands support for early-stage companies moving toward commercialization. The group spans AI, robotics, health, energy and advanced manufacturing, with participants receiving up to $100,000 in investment and hands-on support from AlphaLab and Innovation Works. (AI Insider)
Cerebras Systems Closes $1B in Funding at $23B Valuation to Expand AI Chip and Compute Infrastructure
Cerebras Systems has raised $1 billion at a $23 billion valuation, nearly tripling its value in six months as demand for AI compute infrastructure accelerates. The chipmaker, known for its Wafer Scale Engine architecture, recently signed a multi-year agreement with OpenAI and is preparing for a potential public listing in the second quarter of 2026. (AI Insider)
AI Lab Goodfire Raises $150M at $1.25B Valuation to Design Models with Interpretability
Goodfire raised $150 million in a Series B led by B Capital at a $1.25 billion valuation to expand its work in AI interpretability and grow its model-design platform. The company focuses on understanding and modifying neural network internals to improve safety and reliability, aiming to move AI development beyond black-box scaling toward more transparent and debuggable systems. (AI Insider)
Resolve AI Announces $125M Series A at $1B Valuation to Advance AI-Driven System Reliability Engineering
Resolve AI has raised $125 million in a Series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners at a $1 billion valuation, positioning itself in the emerging AI-driven site reliability engineering category. Founded by former Splunk executives, the company is developing AI systems designed to automatically detect, troubleshoot and resolve infrastructure failures in complex software environments. (AI Insider)
Firebird and U.S. Announce Phase 2 of Armenia AI Megaproject, Scaling it to $4B and 50,000 GPU in 2026
Firebird is moving into the second phase of its AI supercomputing buildout in Armenia after securing U.S. export licenses for an additional 41,000 Nvidia GB300 GPUs, bringing total project investment to about $4 billion. The expansion aims to create one of the world’s largest AI GPU clusters, positioning Armenia as a regional hub for U.S.-designed AI infrastructure and large-scale model training. (AI Insider)
Humanoid Robotics Startup Apptronik Closes Over $935M Series A with New $520M Extension Round
Apptronik closed a $520 million Series A-X extension, bringing its total Series A to more than $935 million and total funding to nearly $1 billion as it scales production of its Apollo humanoid robot. The round included returning and new strategic investors, with the capital earmarked for expanding manufacturing, commercial deployments, training infrastructure and its partnership with Google DeepMind. (AI Insider)
Check out AI Insider every day for the latest developments in AI and robotics.
