Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8 on May 28, scoring 69.2 percent on agentic coding benchmarks and introducing dynamic workflows that let it tackle massive engineering problems end to end. Fast mode is now three times cheaper than it was on prior Opus models, keeping prices flat while performance climbs.
Anthropic closed a $65 billion Series H at a $965 billion valuation, officially overtaking OpenAI. The company has crossed $47 billion in annualized revenue, driven largely by Claude Code, and this round is almost certainly its last before going public.
NextEra Energy’s $67 billion acquisition of Dominion Energy, the largest utility merger in 28 years, is being driven explicitly by AI data center power demand concentrated in Northern Virginia, with management projecting 9 percent annual earnings growth through 2032 on that basis.
The EU, Parliament, and European Commission agreed on May 7 to delay enforcement of key AI Act provisions by 16 months, pushing the deadline for high-risk AI systems from August 2026 to December 2027, citing competitiveness concerns.
Anthropic acquired Coefficient Bio, a stealth biotech AI startup with fewer than 10 employees and no public product, for $400 million in stock, signaling a serious push into AI-driven drug discovery as the pharmaceutical industry races to adopt the technology.
Coinbase cut 14 percent of its workforce citing AI acceleration, with CEO Brian Armstrong telling employees the machines have changed how the company operates. The company is eliminating management layers it says AI can now replace.
MIT Technology Review analyzed US Census data and found only one in five companies is using AI in any business function, puncturing fears of mass displacement. But a separate finding warns that entry-level workers in AI-exposed occupations have already seen a 16 percent relative employment decline.
Anthropic’s Project Glasswing deployed its Claude Mythos AI model against critical open-source software and uncovered more than 10,000 high-severity vulnerabilities in one month, including a 27-year-old OpenBSD bug that had survived every prior human code review.
Elon Musk’s xAI sued Colorado over its AI anti-discrimination law, the Trump DOJ intervened on xAI’s side, a federal judge blocked enforcement, and Colorado replaced the law with a neutered version that has no real teeth.
Gartner’s latest research shows that companies using AI automation as the stated reason for slashing their workforces are not generating the returns they promised their boards. Roughly 80 percent of AI-deploying organizations cut workers, but those seeing the highest ROI were not the ones running layoffs.