2026-07-29
At Waymo, an AI project isn't ready until its evals are — not when the model performs well
Few companies face higher stakes when deploying AI than Waymo, the self-driving car company under Alphabet that spun out of Google. Its models do not merely generate text or automate back-office tasks: They help vehicles navigate unpredictable streets, respond to human drivers and make split-second decisions in the physical world.But the methods Waymo uses to manage those risks — continuous eval [...]
2026-07-29
Microsoft’s AI spending became cloud revenue. Meta’s became a cash-flow hole.
Two of the biggest AI spenders reported on the same day. Microsoft’s spending showed up as cloud revenue. Meta’s showed up as a hole in its cash flow. Meta’s revenue rose 28% to $60.8bn, beating forecasts, CNBC reported. But profit fell 14% to $15.8bn, earnings per share missed, and the shares dropped about 5% after […]<br /> This story continues at The Next Web [...]
2026-07-29
Microsoft’s Azure just crossed $100bn a year, and the AI bet mostly paid off
Microsoft went into its earnings facing one question: is the vast AI spending working? The numbers said yes, mostly. Revenue rose 18% to $90bn for the quarter to 30 June, and net income climbed 31% to $35.8bn, the company reported. Microsoft Cloud brought in $59.3bn, up 27%. The shares rose about 2% after hours. Azure […]<br /> This story continues at The Next Web [...]
2026-07-29
OpenAI is giving 100,000 scientists free AI. Here’s how it can afford to.
OpenAI made two announcements this week that look unrelated. One is generous. The other explains how it can afford to be. The generous one: OpenAI is giving 100,000 academic researchers free access to its frontier models through 2027, Axios reported. The programme, ChatGPT for Academic Researchers, starts with 10,000 users this summer and scales from […]<br /> This story continues at The N [...]
2026-07-29
She left the AI race over her health. Two days later, OpenAI had her back.
On Tuesday, Lilian Weng said she was stepping down from Thinking Machines Lab because the job was making her ill. On Wednesday, she was back at OpenAI. Weng co-founded Thinking Machines Lab with Mira Murati, OpenAI’s former chief technology officer. She is rejoining OpenAI to work on recursive self-improvement, or using AI models to build […]<br /> This story continues at The Next Web [...]
