AI race goes supersonic in milestone-packed week

The AI industry unleashed a torrent of major announcements this week, accelerating the race to control how humans search, create and ultimately integrate AI into the fabric of everyday life.Why it matters: The breakneck pace of innovation — paired with the sky-high ambitions of tech's capitalist titans — is reshaping the AI landscape faster than regulators or the public can fully comprehend.1. OpenAI: The ChatGPT maker joined forces with legendary Apple designer Jony Ive, acquiring his startup io in a $6.5 billion deal to create a new generation of hardware devices.Glitzy promotional materials framed the deal as a historic marriage of Silicon Valley royalty, with CEO Sam Altman predicting a tech revolution unlike anything the world has ever seen.Privately, Altman told staff that he and Ive aim to ship 100 million pocket-sized AI "companions" starting late next year — a moonshot he claimed could create $1 trillion in value for OpenAI, the WSJ reports.A day later, OpenAI announced it would build a massive Stargate data center in Abu Dhabi in partnership with the UAE government, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, SoftBank, and Emirati AI firm G42.2. Google: The tech giant made 100 announcements at its I/O developer conference — chief among them, a new "AI Mode" chatbot that CEO Sundar Pichai described as a "total reimagining of search."For Google, it's a necessary but thorny shift — one that will force the company to replicate its lucrative ad business in an experience that bears little resemblance to the current web.Google also unveiled Veo 3, a stunningly advanced video model that lit the internet on fire — amazing and horrifying users with AI-generated clips nearly indistinguishable from human-made content.3. Anthropic: The startup hosted its own developer conferenec and debuted the first models in its latest Claude 4 series — including one, Claude Opus 4, that it says is the world's best at coding.Anthropic said Claude Opus 4 can perform thousands of steps over hours of work without losing focus — and decided it's so powerful that researchers had to institute new safety controls.While that determination had to do with its potential to create nuclear and biological weaponry, researchers also found that Claude Opus 4 can conceal intentions and take actions to preserve its own existence — including by blackmailing its engineers.4. Apple: As the tech world obsessed over Ive's new partnership with OpenAI, Bloomberg reported that the notoriously secretive Apple intends to release smart AI-enabled glasses before the end of 2026.The rumored device — a direct rival to Meta's popular Ray-Bans and forthcoming specs from Google — would include a camera, microphones, and a speaker, effectively turning an Apple-designed wearable into an everyday AI assistant.It's a major bet for the dominant consumer tech giant, which has struggled to crack into the generative AI space after years of setbacks in revamping Siri into a competitive voice assistant.The bottom line: This week's frenzy was as much a competition to steal headlines — and fight for the hearts and minds of developers — as it was a major leap toward defining how AI will shape the next decade.

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