Welcome to AI Insider’s The Week Ahead in AI. See the key developments and events we’re watching March 1-March 7.
Weekend AI News Briefs
Anthropic Refuses Pentagon Demands as Federal Ban Imposed and AI Industry Leaders Weigh In
Anthropic refused a Pentagon request for unrestricted military access to its AI systems, leading the Trump administration to order a six-month federal phase-out of its products and designate the company a defense supply-chain risk. The standoff, which Anthropic plans to challenge in court, drew public backing from OpenAI and hundreds of tech employees, highlighting deepening tensions over the role of frontier AI in surveillance, autonomous weapons and national security policy. (AI Insider)
Oura Releases Proprietary AI Model to Deliver Personalized Women’s Health Insights
Oura has launched its first proprietary AI model to power Oura Advisor, expanding the chatbot’s ability to deliver personalized guidance across women’s reproductive health by integrating biometric data, long-term trends and pregnancy insights. The model, rolling out through Oura Labs, is positioned as a clinically grounded system built on reviewed medical research and hosted on Oura’s own infrastructure without sharing or selling user conversations. (AI Insider)
Perplexity Unveils Enterprise-Focused AI Agent System Powered by Multi-Model Architecture
Perplexity has launched Perplexity Computer, a cloud-based agentic system for its $200-per-month Max subscribers that integrates 19 AI models to autonomously execute complex research and enterprise workflows. The move signals a strategic pivot toward high-value enterprise applications, multi-model orchestration and greater infrastructure independence as the company prioritizes specialized performance and subscription revenue over mass-market growth. (AI insider)
OpenAI Surpasses 900M Weekly Users, Secures Landmark Funding, and Finalizes Pentagon AI Agreement
OpenAI said ChatGPT has reached 900 million weekly active users and 50 million paying subscribers as the company closed a $110 billion funding round at a $730 billion pre-money valuation, led by Amazon with participation from Nvidia and SoftBank. This coincides with a new agreement allowing the U.S. Department of Defense to use OpenAI models in classified systems with stated safeguards on surveillance and autonomous weapons, as legal and industry tensions over AI governance continue to mount. (AI Insider)
Mistral AI and Accenture Announce Multiyear Partnership to Accelerate Enterprise AI Adoption
Mistral AI has entered a multiyear partnership with Accenture to accelerate enterprise deployment of AI systems, with the firms jointly developing client solutions and Accenture adopting Mistral’s models internally. The agreement highlights a broader trend of model developers aligning with consulting giants to drive large-scale AI integration across complex business environments, though financial terms were not disclosed. (AI Insider)
New Relic Launches Agentic Platform to Advance AI-Driven Observability in the Enterprise
New Relic has launched the New Relic Agentic Platform, a no-code system that enables enterprises to build and manage AI agents focused on data observability, anomaly detection and performance monitoring while supporting Model Context Protocol integrations. The release, alongside expanded OpenTelemetry capabilities, reflects rising enterprise demand for structured agent management and unified monitoring environments designed to reduce operational fragmentation. (AI Insider)
China Releases National Standards for Humanoid Robotics and Embodied AI
China has released its first national standard system for humanoid robots and embodied AI, creating a regulatory framework that covers the sector’s full industrial chain and lifecycle, according to Xinhua. The six-part system, drafted by more than 120 institutions under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, is designed to guide technical standards, data governance and safety compliance as domestic manufacturers rapidly scale production. (AI Insider)
Encord Raises $60M in Series C Funding for AI-Native Data Infrastructure
Encord raised $60 million in a Series C round led by Wellington Management, bringing total funding to $110 million to expand its AI-native data infrastructure platform for production-scale systems. The company plans to accelerate development of a universal multimodal data layer as managed volumes surged to five petabytes and revenue from physical AI customers grew tenfold amid rising demand for production-grade infrastructure. (AI Insider)
JetScale AI Raises Oversubscribed $5.4M Seed Funding Round
JetScale AI has raised an oversubscribed $5.4 million seed round to support development of its artificial intelligence platform. The funding signals early investor demand as the company prepares to scale operations and advance its product roadmap in a competitive AI market. (AI Insider)
Notable Earnings
Ouster (OUST)
Ouster, Inc. (Nasdaq: OUST) is scheduled to report financial results on Monday, March 2, after market close for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2025, and will host a conference call at 5:00 p.m. EST to discuss the results. (Ouster)
Upcoming Events
MWC26 Barcelona
March 2–5, Barcelona, Spain, MWC26 Barcelona will convene global mobile and technology leaders at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via to explore 5G, AI, connectivity and digital transformation through large-scale demos, industry exhibitions and policy discussions. Organized by the GSMA, the event will feature more than 1,700 speakers across 24 stages, 2,900 exhibitors and dedicated showcases including 4YFN, New Frontiers and Connected Industries. (GSMA)
Check out AI Insider every day for the latest in artificial intelligence and robotics.
