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New AI firm Deep Cogito launches versatile open models

A new San Francisco-based startup, Deep Cogito, has unveiled its first family of AI models, Cogito 1, which can switch between fast-response and deep-reasoning modes instead of being limited to just one approach.

These hybrid models combine the efficiency of standard AI with the step-by-step problem-solving abilities seen in advanced systems like OpenAI’s o1. While reasoning models excel in fields like maths and physics, they often require more computing power, a trade-off Deep Cogito aims to balance.

The Cogito 1 series, built on Meta’s Llama and Alibaba’s Qwen models instead of starting from scratch, ranges from 3 billion to 70 billion parameters, with larger versions planned.

Early tests suggest the top-tier Cogito 70B outperforms rivals like DeepSeek’s reasoning model and Meta’s Llama 4 Scout in some tasks. The models are available for download or through cloud APIs, offering flexibility for developers.

Founded in June 2024 by ex-Google DeepMind product manager Dhruv Malhotra and former Google engineer Drishan Arora, Deep Cogito is backed by investors like South Park Commons.

The company’s ambitious goal is to develop ‘general superintelligence,’ AI that surpasses human capabilities, rather than merely matching them. For now, the team says they’ve only scratched the surface of their scaling potential.

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DeepMind blocks staff from joining AI rivals

Google DeepMind is enforcing strict non-compete agreements in the United Kingdom, preventing employees from joining rival AI companies for up to a year. The length of the restriction depends on an employee’s seniority and involvement in key projects.

Some DeepMind staff, including those working on Google’s Gemini AI, are reportedly being paid not to work while their non-competes run. The policy comes as competition for AI talent intensifies worldwide.

Employees have voiced concern that these agreements could stall their careers in a rapidly evolving industry. Some are seeking ways around the restrictions, such as moving to countries with less rigid employment laws.

While DeepMind claims the contracts are standard for sensitive work, critics say they may stifle innovation and mobility. The practice remains legal in the UK, even though similar agreements have been banned in the US.

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IBM unveils AI-powered mainframe z17

IBM has announced the launch of its most advanced mainframe yet, the z17, powered by the new Telum II processor. Designed to handle more AI operations, the system delivers up to 50% more daily inference tasks than its predecessor.

The z17 features a second-generation on-chip AI accelerator and introduces new tools for managing and securing enterprise data. A Spyre Accelerator add-on, expected later this year, will enable generative AI features such as large language models.

More than 100 clients contributed to the development of the z17, which also supports a forthcoming operating system, z/OS 3.2. The OS update is set to enable hybrid cloud data processing and enhanced NoSQL support.

IBM says the z17 brings AI to the core of enterprise infrastructure, enabling organisations to tap into large data sets securely and efficiently, with strong performance across both traditional and AI workloads.

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Bank appoints head of AI enablement

Standard Chartered has appointed David Hardoon as its global head of AI enablement, further embedding AI across its operations.

Based in Singapore, he will report to group chief data officer Mohammed Rahim.

Hardoon will lead AI governance and identify areas where AI can enhance productivity, efficiency, and client experiences. His appointment follows the bank’s recent rollout of a generative AI tool to over 70,000 employees across 41 markets.

The bank has been steadily introducing AI-driven tools, including a smart video column to provide insights for clients in Asia. It plans further expansion of its internal AI systems across additional regions.

With more than 20 years of experience in data and AI, including with Singapore’s central bank, Hardoon is expected to guide the responsible and strategic use of AI technologies across Standard Chartered’s global footprint.

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OpenAI’s Sam Altman responds to Miyazaki’s AI animation concerns

The recent viral trend of AI-generated Ghibli-style images has taken the internet by storm. Using OpenAI’s GPT-4o image generator, users have been transforming photos, from historic moments to everyday scenes, into Studio Ghibli-style renditions.

A trend like this has caught the attention of notable figures, including celebrities and political personalities, sparking both excitement and controversy.

While some praise the trend for democratising art, others argue that it infringes on copyright and undermines the efforts of traditional artists. The debate intensified when Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, became a focal point.

In a 2016 documentary, Miyazaki expressed his disdain for AI in animation, calling it ‘an insult to life itself’ and warning that humanity is losing faith in its creativity.

OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, recently addressed these concerns, acknowledging the challenges posed by AI in art but defending its role in broadening access to creative tools. Altman believes that technology empowers more people to contribute, benefiting society as a whole, even if it complicates the art world.

Miyazaki’s comments and Altman’s response highlight a growing divide in the conversation about AI and creativity. As the debate continues, the future of AI in art remains a contentious issue, balancing innovation with respect for traditional artistic practices.

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OpenAI negotiates $500m deal for AI startup

OpenAI is reportedly in talks to acquire io Products, an AI hardware startup co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, in a deal that could exceed $500 million.

Instead of focusing solely on software like ChatGPT and API tools, OpenAI appears to be eyeing consumer devices as a way to diversify its revenue.

io Products is said to be working on AI-powered consumer tech, including a screenless smartphone and smart home gadgets.

The company’s team includes several former Apple designers, such as Tang Tan and Evans Hankey. Instead of traditional screens, these new devices are expected to explore more ambient and context-aware ways of interaction.

Jony Ive, best known for his role in designing iconic Apple products like the iPhone and iMac, left Apple in 2019 to launch his design consultancy, LoveFrom.

His collaboration with Altman on io Products was publicly confirmed last year and has already drawn interest from high-profile backers, including Laurene Powell Jobs. Funding for the startup was projected to reach $1 billion by the end of 2024.

The move echoes Altman’s previous investments in AI hardware, such as Humane Inc., a wearable tech startup that also focused on screenless interaction. Instead of scaling that venture, however, HP acquired some of Humane’s assets for $166 million earlier this year.

OpenAI’s potential acquisition of io Products could mark a significant shift toward physical consumer products in the AI space.

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Anthropic grows its presence in Europe

Anthropic is expanding its operations across Europe, with plans to add over 100 new roles in sales, engineering, research, and business operations. Most of these positions will be based in Dublin and London.

The company has also appointed Guillaume Princen, a former Stripe executive, as its head for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. This move signals Anthropic’s ambition to strengthen its global presence, particularly in Europe where the demand for enterprise-ready AI tools is rising.

The company’s hiring strategy also reflects a wider trend within the AI industry, with firms like Anthropic competing for global market share after securing significant funding.

The recent $3.5 billion funding round bolsters Anthropic’s position as it seeks to lead the AI race across multiple regions, including the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Instead of focusing solely on the US, Anthropic’s European push is designed to comply with local AI governance and regulatory standards, which are increasingly important to businesses operating in the region.

Anthropic’s expansion comes at a time when AI firms are facing growing competition from companies like Cohere, which has been positioning itself as a European-compliant alternative.

As the EU continues to shape global AI regulations, Anthropic’s focus on safety and localisation could position it favourably in these highly regulated markets. Analysts suggest that while the US may remain a less regulated environment for AI, the EU is likely to lead global AI policy development in the near future.

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DeepSeek unveils new approach to improve AI reasoning

Chinese AI firm DeepSeek has unveiled a new method to improve LLM reasoning skills, claiming it offers more accurate and faster responses than current technologies. The approach, developed with researchers from Tsinghua University, combines generative reward modeling (GRM) with a self-principled critique tuning technique.

The method aims to refine how AI LLMs respond to general queries by better aligning their outputs with human preferences. According to a paper published on the arXiv scientific repository, the resulting DeepSeek-GRM models showed stronger performance than existing methods and proved competitive against widely accepted public reward models.

DeepSeek has announced intentions to release these models as open source, though no release date has been set. The move follows increased global interest in the company, which had earlier gained attention for its V3 foundation model and R1 reasoning model.

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Digital Morocco 2030 strategy focuses on tech-driven transformation

Morocco has set ambitious goals to boost its economy through investment in emerging technologies, aiming for a 10% increase in GDP by 2030. As part of its Digital Morocco 2030 strategy, the government is committing over 11 billion dirhams ($1.1 billion) by 2026 to drive digital transformation, create more than 240,000 jobs, and train 100,000 young people annually in digital skills.

The roadmap prioritises digitising government services through a Unified Administrative Services Portal, with the long-term goal of placing Morocco among the world’s top 50 tech nations. Blockchain plays a central role in this vision, being adopted to improve transparency and efficiency in public services, and already undergoing trials in private sectors like healthcare and finance.

Despite an ongoing official ban, digital asset ownership has surged, more than six million Moroccans now hold such assets, representing over 15% of the population. In parallel, the country is rapidly expanding its use of AI. Notably, Morocco has introduced AI into its judiciary, launched an AI-powered university learning system, and trained over 1,000 small- and medium-sized businesses in AI adoption through partnerships with LinkedIn and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

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Copyright lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft combined in AI showdown

Twelve copyright lawsuits filed against OpenAI and Microsoft have been merged into a single case in the Southern District of New York.

The US judicial panel on multidistrict litigation decided to consolidate, despite objections from many plaintiffs who argued their cases were too distinct.

The lawsuits claim that OpenAI and Microsoft used copyrighted books and journalistic works without consent to train AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot.

The plaintiffs include high-profile authors—Ta-Nehisi Coates, Sarah Silverman, Junot Díaz—and major media outlets such as The New York Times and Daily News.

The panel justified the centralisation by citing shared factual questions and the benefits of unified pretrial proceedings, including streamlined discovery and avoidance of conflicting rulings.

OpenAI has defended its use of publicly available data under the legal doctrine of ‘fair use.’

A spokesperson stated the company welcomed the consolidation and looked forward to proving that its practices are lawful and support innovation. Microsoft has not yet issued a comment on the ruling.

The authors’ attorney, Steven Lieberman, countered that this is about large-scale theft. He emphasised that both Microsoft and OpenAI have, in their view, infringed on millions of protected works.

Some of the same authors are also suing Meta, alleging the company trained its models using books from the shadow library LibGen, which houses over 7.5 million titles.

Simultaneously, Meta faced backlash in the UK, where authors protested outside the company’s London office. The demonstration focused on Meta’s alleged use of pirated literature in its AI training datasets.

The Society of Authors has called the actions illegal and harmful to writers’ livelihoods.

Amazon also entered the copyright discussion this week, confirming its new Kindle ‘Recaps’ feature uses generative AI to summarise book plots.

While Amazon claims accuracy, concerns have emerged online about the reliability of AI-generated summaries.

In the UK, lawmakers are also reconsidering copyright exemptions for AI companies, facing growing pressure from creative industry advocates.

The debate over how AI models access and use copyrighted material is intensifying, and the decisions made in courtrooms and parliaments could radically change the digital publishing landscape.

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