AI Daily News — 2026-10-23 (Fri) Evening News

AI industry analysis report (last 12 hours)

Overview

Tensions are rising over the “exit” of AI investments. OpenAI is in the process of raising $30 billion at a valuation of $1.25 trillion, and there are calls for an early IPO for Anthropic. On the other hand, AI-related layoffs have spread, such as Barclays cutting 5,000 jobs.

Anthropic / Claude trends

- Anthropic announced that large-scale formal verification is becoming a reality through LLM. - Bloomberg commented, ``We should hurry up with an IPO to calm the AI market.'' The Information reported on the difficulty of convincing investors of the company's vision. - The new agent "Claude Duet" is said to be able to continue working even when the user is absent. - Announced expansion of Claude availability on Google Cloud. - Meanwhile, there are reports that Claude and Grok were used to automate cyberattacks on over 400 financial institutions. The details have not been confirmed, and the judgment is based only on the headline.

OpenAI trends

- According to TechCrunch, the company is in the process of raising $30 billion in new funding at a valuation of $1.25 trillion with an eye on an IPO. However, Bloomberg also reported that the target valuation had been lowered, so there is a discrepancy in the report. - Partnered with Poland's NASK on AI safety and security (official blog, Reuters). - WSJ reported on a researcher losing his job due to Signal chat. Indicates internal control issues. - There is a video of Messi learning chess openings from ChatGPT. Consumer exposure remains strong.

Google AI trends

- Added brand management tools to Gemini. Chrome will have an AI-powered anti-fraud feature. - "Gemini 4 Argon" is discussed for small and medium-sized businesses, but the source is a secondary article and the details are unconfirmed. - Sundar Pichai said that we are still far from the "final form" of self-improving AI (see below).

Trends of other AI companies

- Microsoft: Volkswagen has introduced Copilot in place of salary increases, and there is talk of a wage freeze for 660,000 employees (based on reports). Eight Copilot-related actions have been withdrawn from File Explorer in Windows 11. Copilot Code, which creates apps using natural language, has begun to be rolled out, and AI tools that can perform sequential diagnosis like a doctor have also been developed. - DeepSeek/MiniMax: Received approval for global use from Chinese state media organizations (Reuters, Bloomberg). Meanwhile, it was reported that a low-skilled hacker used DeepSeek to steal over 5,200 records from an Indian university. - Meta: The startup from Kevin Weil, formerly of OpenAI, and Manohar Paluri, formerly of Meta AI, has raised $215 million. - xAI: xAI has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit regarding child harm. Legal risks regarding Grok's safety.

Remarks and trends of AI celebrities

- Sam Altman (OpenAI CEO): Presented three scenarios for the endpoints of AI. Global watchdogs, giant labs merging, or one company controlling all GPUs. He also said that developers will not be weeded out, but rather will be busier and may earn more income. OpenAI's in-house capabilities are ahead of the public model, he said. - Dario Amodei (Anthropic CEO): No direct comment, only mentioned in the context of the company's fundraising and IPO. - Jensen Huang (NVIDIA CEO): Gave a keynote speech at GTC Berlin 2026. It was reported that he visited Kazakhstan for the first time and invested in AI startup Higgsfield. - Sundar Pichai (Google/Alphabet CEO): Said that we are far from the final form of self-improving AI. It is said that he turned down President Trump's request to rename the Atlantic Ocean, but the truth is unconfirmed. - Mark Zuckerberg (Meta CEO): The Washington Post reported that he had a conflict with the board over compensation and authority. - Elon Musk (xAI Founder/Tesla CEO): Called SpaceX and Tesla's merger a "good idea." It was also reported that he made Grok buy Lego. Tech Mahindra announces partnership to integrate Musk's AI into business workflows. - Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind CEO): Revised from previous view that AGI could arrive as early as two years. - Yann LeCun (Meta Chief AI Scientist): Associated robotics startup Enact Intelligence has raised $30 million in pre-seed. LeCun himself did not speak, and the extent of his involvement is unclear from the headline. - Geoffrey Hinton (AI Godfather / Nobel Laureate): New statements by the person himself cannot be confirmed and only related articles will be posted.

Breakthroughs and innovations in AI technology

- Large-scale formal verification using LLM and always-on agents that continue to work even when you are absent are noticeable. - A TechCrunch report that AI agents "started playing" when left alone shows how unpredictable their behavior is. - Schneider Electric, NVIDIA, and HPE collaborate on Physical AI. It is also noteworthy that workers in India are filming their work and using it as learning data for AI.

AI Regulation/Policy/Social Impact

- A major US bank detected access to customer accounts by an unauthorized AI agent. Authentication and authority management in the agent era are emerging as issues. - On the employment front, over 30 companies are linking AI to layoffs. Goldman Sachs estimates that AI could eventually replace one in 11 U.S. workers. - Etsy has banned some AI-generated products. Nigeria's election agency INEC will introduce AI to manage election results. - The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit criticized a decision involving AI. Debate continues over the limits of risk-based regulation.

Integrated analysis: What is happening now

Funds and exits: OpenAI's big raise and Anthropic's IPO push signal that private AI companies are entering a phase where they seek funding from the public markets. On the other hand, CNBC's ``concerns about AI spending'' and Reuters' tone that ``data centers are a failed pick-and-shove deal'' are also increasing skepticism about infrastructure investment. Reports of discrepancies in valuations are a sign that market sentiment is wavering.

Employment: AI-based layoffs and wage cuts are widespread in banks, automobiles, and manufacturing. Contrary to Altman's statement that developers are safe, some believe that developers will be targeted for cuts. The impact on employment remains controversial.

Security: Claude, Grok, DeepSeek abuse cases and unauthorized agent access to bank accounts lined up. Both of these are working to lower the hurdles for attackers, and agentization is increasing the risk.

Power structure and geopolitics: Approval of DeepSeek and MiniMax for overseas use will support Chinese expansion internationally. Claude's deployment of Google Cloud shows a structure in which competitors cooperate in terms of distribution. Huang's Berlin speech and visit to Kazakhstan can be read as NVIDIA's move to capture sovereign AI demand.

Future points of interest

OpenAI's procurement conditions and Anthropic's IPO timing: Will the valuation be confirmed or are the reports of a lower price correct? 2. AI agent authority management and regulatory response: What should financial authorities and companies do in response to unauthorized access at banks? 3. Expansion of layoffs due to AI: Cases following Barclays and Volkswagen, and reactions from governments and labor in various countries.

Please note that this report is based on headings only. Unconfirmed content is clearly stated in the text.