| |  | Aug 29, 2025 | | | | | | TGIF! Microsoft unveils its own AI models to reduce its reliance on OpenAI. Alibaba's cloud computing revenue jumps 26% thanks to growth in AI-related products. China's government warns against "disorderly" AI competition.
| | | | Microsoft on Thursday debuted two new large language models it developed over the past year to reduce its reliance on OpenAI's artificial intelligence in powering Copilot products. Microsoft will start swapping in the new models, dubbed MAI, to power Copilot features in the coming weeks, Microsoft's consumer AI chief Mustafa Suleyman said in a blog post. Microsoft also confirmed The Information's earlier report that it plans to offer the models to developers the same way OpenAI sells models such as GPT-5. One of the new models responds to voice commands and talks back, similar to models developed by OpenAI and Google. Suleyman has been leading a team training the MAI models since as early as May 2024, The Information first reported, but the effort ran into technical problems, including when the team tried to replicate OpenAI's models. (Microsoft has exclusive access to OpenAI's intellectual property.) | | | | Alibaba Group said its revenue from cloud computing services in the quarter through June grew 26%, boosted by triple-digit sales growth for artificial intelligence-related products. The solid cloud revenue growth came after Alibaba in April launched Qwen3, the latest generation of its open-source AI foundation models, cementing its position as one of the leaders in China's domestic AI competition. For Alibaba Cloud, China's largest cloud service provider, offering a broad lineup of open-source AI models is a way to motivate more businesses to start using the company's cloud computing platform. Alibaba's revenue from its China e-commerce segment rose 10%. But the company's overall revenue rose only 2% in the quarter, in part because Alibaba earlier sold two major brick-and-mortar retail businesses. Those businesses are no longer included in Alibaba's revenue. | | | | China's top economic planner warned against excess competition and wasteful investment in the country's artificial intelligence industry. Zhang Kailin, an official at China's National Development and Reform Commission, said at a briefing on Friday that the country would avoid "disorderly competition" in AI development. Earlier this month, the Chinese government released an action plan aimed at speeding up the country's AI development. The official's comments come at a time when competition is heating up among China's tech giants and startups as they race to launch more capable AI models and applications. | | | | The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a letter Thursday explaining how it would allow a pathway for overseas crypto exchanges to legally accept U.S.-based customers. The guidance could benefit crypto exchanges such as Binance, Bybit, BitGet, which currently ban U.S. users. That means it could introduce more competition for domestic exchanges such as Coinbase. CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham said the guidance will bring back "trading activity that was driven out of the U.S. due to the unprecedented regulation by enforcement approach of the past several years." Many trading firms, such as Jane Street and Jump Crypto, have set up their crypto trading operations outside of the U.S., in part because that allows them to access Binance, the biggest global crypto exchange. | | | | Rain, a stablecoin-backed card issuer that works with Visa, said it raised $58 million in Series B round led by Sapphire Ventures, just months after its last fundraising round, demonstrating once again investor enthusiasm for crypto startups flowing from congressional passage of stablecoin legislation in July. With the deal, Rain's valuation increased nearly six times from its $24.5 million Series A round led by Norwest announced in March, according to a person familiar with the transaction. Dragonfly, Galaxy Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, Samsung Next, Lightspeed also joined the new round. Annualized spending amount on Rain-enabled cards exceeded $1 billion, said a person familiar with the firm. Rain issues Visa-enabled cards that make stablecoins easy to spend at all locations that accept Visa cards. Founded in 2021 by Farooq Malik, CEO, and Charles Yoo-Naut, chief technology officer, Rain allows neobanks and fintech firms, such as Nuvei, to provide stablecoin payments. Its biggest market is Latin America, including countries such as Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, where stablecoins are popular for cross-border transactions or savings. The company will use the funding for hiring and adding new features. | | | Popular articles
By Ann Gehan and Natasha Mascarenhas
By Aaron Tilley, Wayne Ma and Valida Pau
| | | | | Opportunities Empower your teams to stay ahead of market trends with the most trusted tech journalism.
Learn more
Reach The Information's influential audience with your message. Connect with our team | | | | | |
0 comentários:
Postar um comentário