This week featured shifts in AI’s legal and enterprise landscape: Anthropic’s $1.5B settlement with authors reset copyright risk even as Warner Bros. sued Midjourney over character IP. Microsoft moved to diversify by bringing Anthropic’s Claude into Office apps, Perplexity launched a government-grade suite and reportedly raised $200M at a $20B valuation to press Google, and Nebius signed a multiyear Azure infrastructure deal. Policy pressure mounted as California’s SB 243 advanced to regulate AI companions, while Sam Altman questioned social media’s authenticity amid bot-like discourse.
On the innovation and capital fronts, Harvard’s PDGrapher identified drug targets faster and more accurately, and a study reaffirmed U.S. universities’ lead in AI research output. Funding and strategic bets flowed to applied AI: Otovo USA debuted an AI-driven home energy service, Metric’s CFO AI for SMEs secured backing to expand across the GCC, ASML committed €1.3B to Mistral to bolster European AI sovereignty, and Teton.ai raised $20M to scale predictive elder care. Looking ahead, Berlin’s AI & Data Summit and Quantum Summit and San Francisco’s AI Conference will set the agenda on models, robotics, ethics, and commercialization.
Industry & Enterprise
Anthropic Reaches $1.5B Copyright Settlement with Authors in Landmark Case
Anthropic has agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement in a class action lawsuit over pirating millions of books for AI training, the largest copyright payout in U.S. history. If approved, the deal will provide at least $3,000 each to nearly 500,000 authors, closing legacy claims as Anthropic shifts focus to building AI systems under stricter compliance. (AI Insider)
Perplexity For Government Launched
Perplexity launched Perplexity for Government, giving federal agencies free access to its advanced AI models with secure-by-default protections that prevent data from being used for training. It also rolled out Enterprise Pro for Government at $0.25 per agency for 15 months, aligning with federal AI strategies as it positions itself as a trusted provider for secure frontier AI adoption. (AI Insider)
Nebius Announces $17.4 Billion Data Center Deal with Microsoft
Nebius Group signed a multi-year deal to supply Microsoft with AI infrastructure from its new Vineland, New Jersey data center, beginning later this year. CEO Arkady Volozh said the contract, the first of several expected with major AI labs, will fund growth through deal-backed financing and strengthen Nebius’s core AI cloud business. (AI Insider)
Warner Bros. Files Copyright Lawsuit Against Midjourney Over AI-Generated Characters
Warner Bros. sued AI startup Midjourney for copyright infringement, alleging it enabled users to generate unauthorized images and videos of characters like Superman, Batman, and Bugs Bunny. The case, following similar suits by Disney and Universal, seeks damages, profits, and an injunction, while Midjourney argues its practices fall under fair use. (AI Insider)
Microsoft Expands AI Partnerships with Anthropic to Power Office 365 Applications
Microsoft will integrate Anthropic’s Claude models, including Claude Sonnet 4, into Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, reducing its reliance on OpenAI, The Information reported. The move highlights Microsoft’s strategy to diversify AI partnerships amid tensions with OpenAI, while leveraging Claude’s strengths in areas such as presentation design alongside xAI’s Grok and its own in-house models. (AI Insider)
Sam Altman Concerned Over Bots and Authenticity on Social Media
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, a major Reddit shareholder, questioned whether social media can still be trusted for authentic human interaction after observing bot-like praise posts on r/Claudecode. He warned that humans increasingly mimic “LLM-speak” as platforms optimize for engagement, fueling inauthenticity amid debates over GPT-5 and speculation OpenAI could launch its own social network. (AI Insider)
Research & Innovation
Harvard Researchers Develop New AI Tool that Pinpoints Genes, Drug Combos to Restore Health in Diseased Cells
Harvard Medical School researchers created PDGrapher, an AI tool that identifies drug targets to reverse disease states in cells, showing strong potential to transform drug discovery. Tested on 19 datasets across 11 cancer types, it outperformed other models in accuracy and speed, and is already being applied to cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and rare disorders with future potential for personalized therapies. (AI Insider)
What Are The Top Universities For Students Interested in AI? Study Shows Stanford, Princeton and MIT Among Leaders Driving Global AI Research
U.S. universities including Stanford, Princeton, MIT, and Johns Hopkins dominated a new Studocu ranking of top schools for AI studies, based on global academic output. The United States led with more than 232,000 AI-related publications over the past four years, ahead of China with 217,000 and the U.K. with over 109,000. (AI Insider)
Policy & Governance
California Assembly Passes Landmark Bill Regulating AI Companion Chatbots
The California State Assembly passed SB 243, a bipartisan bill to regulate AI companion chatbots and protect minors and vulnerable users, sending it to the state Senate for a final vote. If enacted, the law would take effect January 1, 2026, making California the first state to mandate safety protocols, recurring AI-use reminders, and annual transparency reports from chatbot operators. (AI Insider)
Startups & Capital
Perplexity Reportedly Closes $200M in Funding at $20B Valuation to Challenge Google in Search
Perplexity raised $200 million at a $20 billion valuation just two months after closing $100 million at $18 billion, bringing total funding to $1.5 billion in three years, The Information reported. With annual recurring revenue nearing $200 million and a $34.5 billion bid for Chrome underscoring its ambitions, Perplexity is positioning itself as a fast-growing challenger to Google in AI search. (AI Insider)
Otovo USA Launches with $4+ Mill in Funding to Create an AI-Driven Home Energy “Power Partner” for American Homeowners
William J. “John” Berger, founder of Sunnova, launched Otovo USA with $4M in funding led by EIC Rose Rock, debuting in Texas with plans for nationwide expansion. Partnering with European leader Otovo, the company offers solar, batteries, EV chargers, generators, and AI-driven energy optimization through its Endurance™ platform under a membership model aimed at transforming U.S. residential energy. (AI Insider)
A-typical Ventures Backs Metric, Abu Dhabi-Based AI Fintech for SMEs
A-typical Ventures invested in Metric, an Abu Dhabi-based AI fintech startup providing real-time financial intelligence for SMBs through its Chief Financial AI platform Max. Founded in 2022 and already serving 130,000 businesses in 190 countries, Metric raised funding with participation from 500 Global, Hub71, i2i Ventures, Plus VC, Epic Angels, Oqal Angels, Accelerate Prosperity, and others to accelerate product development and expand adoption across the GCC and beyond. (AI Insider)
ASML Commits €1.3B to Mistral AI in Landmark European AI Investment
ASML will invest €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) in Mistral AI’s €1.7 billion ($2 billion) Series C, becoming the French startup’s largest shareholder and securing a board seat. The deal values Mistral at €10 billion ($11.7 billion) pre-money, cementing its status as Europe’s most valuable AI company and aligning with ASML to advance European tech sovereignty in AI and semiconductors. (AI Insider)
Teton.ai Raises $20M to Reinvent Elderly Care
Teton.ai raised $20M in a Series A led by Plural with participation from Bertelsmann Investments, Antler Elevate, Nebular, and PSV Tech to expand its predictive AI healthcare platform. With 13x ARR growth and partnerships including Nvidia, the company’s AI and computer vision technology aim to improve patient outcomes and caregiver efficiency. The funding will support a U.S. nationwide launch, European expansion, and scaling of its engineering team for predictive intelligence in senior care and hospitals. (AI Insider)
Upcoming Events and Conferences
AI & Data Summit and Quantum Summit
The AI & Data Summit and Quantum Summit will be held Sept. 16–17 at bcc in Berlin. The events will bring together industry, political, and scientific leaders to share best practices and explore the latest trends in AI, data, and quantum computing. (AI & Data Summit and Quantum Summit)
The AI Conference
The AI Conference 2025 will be held September 17–18, 2025, in San Francisco, CA, USA. This vendor-neutral event on AI innovation will cover code-level collaboration, foundational models, neural architectures, and applications in robotics, including embodied intelligence and humanoid systems. The program features keynotes, startup showdowns, panels on alignment and ethics, and networking for 5,000+ attendees, with sponsors such as eGain highlighting AI in customer service and robotics. (The AI Conference)
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