Welcome to AI Insider’s The Week Ahead in AI. See the key developments and events we’re watching Dec. 28, 2025 – Jan. 3, 2026.
Weekend AI News Briefs
OpenAI Opens Search for Head of Preparedness to Address Emerging AI Risks
OpenAI is hiring a senior executive to lead its Preparedness program, focused on identifying and mitigating emerging risks from advanced AI systems, including computer security flaws, biological misuse, and mental health impacts. The role expands a team launched in 2023 and reflects heightened scrutiny as Sam Altman has said increasingly capable models are already surfacing real-world vulnerabilities, underscoring OpenAI’s push to formalize governance around frontier AI risks. (AI Insider)
Prominent Authors File Copyright Lawsuit Against Leading AI Developers Over Training Data
A group of authors led by John Carreyrou, author of Bad Blood, has filed a new lawsuit accusing Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Meta, xAI, and Perplexity of training AI models on pirated copies of copyrighted books, following earlier litigation in which a court found piracy itself unlawful even if training might be permissible. The plaintiffs argue that past settlements failed to reflect the scale and commercial impact of the alleged infringement and seek stronger accountability for the use of copyrighted literary works in large-scale AI training.(AI Insider)
Axiado Raises Over $100M in Series C+ to Advance Hardware-Anchored AI Infrastructure Security
Axiado Corporation raised more than $100 million in an oversubscribed Series C+ round led by Maverick Silicon, underscoring growing investor conviction that silicon-level security is becoming critical as AI reshapes data center architectures. The funding will support global expansion and commercialization of Axiado’s hardware-anchored platforms, centered on its Trusted Control/Compute Unit chip, as the company positions hardware-level trust and autonomous control as foundational for securing increasingly complex, power-hungry AI infrastructure. (AI Insider)
Prance Holdings Raises Seed Funding Led by DEEPCORE to Scale AI-Driven Recruitment in Japan
Prance Holdings Co., Ltd. has closed a seed funding round led by DEEPCORE to accelerate development and adoption of its AI-powered recruitment platform, Prance Hiring, as it targets efficiency gains in Japan’s tightening labor market. The platform automates high-volume hiring workflows such as screening, interviews, and evaluations in Japanese and English, shifting repetitive tasks to AI so recruiters can focus on higher-value, relationship-driven decisions. (AI Insider)
Reface Closes €15.2M in Non-Dilutive Funding to Accelerate AI Consumer App Growth
Reface, a Kyiv-based AI content creation company, secured €15.2 million ($18 million) in non-dilutive user acquisition financing from PvX Partners to support its next growth phase across AI-powered creativity, wellbeing, and health applications. Founded in 2018 and led by Anton Volovyk, Reface has surpassed 300 million downloads globally and is backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz, positioning it as a leading AI consumer platform emerging from Eastern Europe. (AI Insider)
Ambassador Secures $7M to Expand AI-Driven Customer Feedback and Engagement Platform
Ambassador, a Seattle-based startup, raised $7 million to accelerate growth of its customer feedback and engagement platform and to launch HiroAI, an AI layer that analyzes data across referrals, surveys, loyalty programs, and outreach tools. Led by Geoff McDonald, the company plans to use the funding to scale product development and embed AI-driven insights across customer engagement operations without fully automating decision making. (AI Insider)
Policy & Governance
China Publishes Draft of Regulations for Human-Like AI Tech
The proposed rules would tightly regulate AI systems that simulate human personality and emotional engagement, citing risks ranging from psychological manipulation and addiction to data misuse, misinformation, and national security concerns. They impose full-lifecycle compliance on providers — including mandatory AI identity disclosure, stronger protections for minors and the elderly, strict limits on sensitive data use, and risk-based oversight paired with regulatory sandboxes — signaling Beijing’s intent to permit controlled AI innovation only under demonstrable social responsibility and socialist values. (AI Insider)
Italy Orders Meta to Suspend WhatsApp Policy Restricting Third-Party AI Chatbots
Italy’s Competition Authority, AGCM, has ordered Meta to suspend a WhatsApp policy that would block companies from using WhatsApp Business APIs to distribute general-purpose AI chatbots, citing risks of market foreclosure and favoritism toward Meta AI. The move, which affects potential access for providers such as OpenAI and Perplexity, comes amid a parallel inquiry by the European Commission, with Meta saying it will challenge the ruling. (AI Insider)
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