OpenAI hits some potholes, as Chinese AI models get more interesting – SiliconANGLE

OpenAI hits some potholes, as Chinese AI models get more interesting

This was a blessedly slow week — though less so than I thought it would be — so there were just a few highlights I’ll note in quick bullet points so you can get back to the fam too:

* Agentic AI is coming — but not for awhile, says theCUBE Research’s Dave Vellante.

* OpenAI hits a couple of potholes as an outage takes down ChatGPT and Sora, and Microsoft opens up to other models in 365 Copilot. On top of that, it has to figure out how to become a for-profit entity without angering too many current investors. And it needs that structure to get those and new investors interesting in ponying up more money for all that compute.

* Chinese AI models are getting more interesting as Alibaba announces an advanced visual reasoning model and Stepfun gets several hundred million dollars in funding.

* Late-breaking Friday: President-elect Trump asked the Supreme Court to give him time to try to save TikTok in the U.S.

* The printer market consolidates even more as Xerox acquires Lexmark.

* The Broadcom-Netflix patent battle intensifies as Netflix sues on VMware patents.

Here’s the rest of the week’s news:

AI and data: OpenAI moves toward for-profit status

Breaking Analysis: The yellow brick road to agentic AI

Confirming reports, OpenAI details plans to turn into a for-profit company

Outage takes ChatGPT, Sora and OpenAI’s APIs offline for many users

DeepSeek open-sources new AI model with 671B parameters

Alibaba announces advanced experimental visual reasoning QVQ-72B AI model

Chinese AI model maker Stepfun raises hundreds of millions in Series B funding

Microsoft reportedly integrating non-OpenAI models into Microsoft 365 Copilot

Report: OpenAI has considered developing a humanoid robot

Coralogix acquires Aporia to enhance AI and machine learning observability

Nodepay raises $7M to grow decentralized AI infrastructure

There’s even more AI and big data news on SiliconANGLE

Around the enterprise: Google’s ally in Cupertino

End-of-year legal activity for Google:

Apple asks to participate in Google’s upcoming antitrust trial

Google tries to persuade judge in antitrust case not to force the sale of its Chrome browser

Japan targets Google over alleged Android ecosystem monopolization

And other news:

TSMC begins mass-producing chips at newly opened fab in Japan

Leaks reveal beefed-up specifications for Nvidia’s next-gen GB300 AI server

Xerox to acquire rival printer maker Lexmark for $1.53B

Netflix files suit against Broadcom over VMware virtual machine patents

Italian energy giant Eni cranks up world’s 5th most powerful supercomputer

EU reportedly set to sign off on Synopsys’ $35B Ansys acquisition

Report: Apple’s M5 chips will use TSMC’s N3P process and 2.5D packaging technology

Apple reportedly eyes home security market with face-scanning smart doorbell

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan claims he has no interest in buying Intel

US officials launch investigation into China’s legacy chip sector

South Korea accelerates construction of Yongin semiconductor hub to start in 2026

No-code industrial project software startup Sitemate raises $27.5M

Financial services giant Fiserv buys Payfare to move into gig economy financing

PayPal Honey browser extension accused of misleading consumers and creators

We have more news on cloud, infrastructure and apps

Cyber beat: Agentic cyberattacks

AI agents may lead the next wave of cyberattacks

US allocates $3B to ‘rip and replace’ Chinese technology at smaller telcos

Hackers compromise Chrome extensions with 400,000+ users

Botnets leverage decade-old D-Link vulnerabilities in new attack campaigns

Fortinet warns of malicious Python packages targeting credentials and user data

Japan Airlines delays, cancels some flights following cyberattack

Marriott and Starwood ordered to implement security overhaul in FTC settlement

More cybersecurity news here

Elsewhere in tech: Crypto advocates drooling

Report: Palantir and Anduril join forces to try to secure US government defense contracts

Crypto advocates push Trump to take action on day one

Russia’s finance minister reveals bitcoin is being used to conduct foreign trade

North Korean hackers linked to hack of 4,500 bitcoins from Japanese crypto exchange

ChainOpera AI raises $17M to build blockchain network for AI agents and apps

Avalon Labs raises $10M to grow its bitcoin-based stablecoin

Iran votes to lift bans on WhatsApp, Google Play and other foreign-owned apps

And check out more news on emerging tech, blockchain and crypto and policy

What’s next

Jan. 7-10, 2025: CES, Las Vegas

Jan. 14: Cyber Resiliency Summit on theCUBE

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