Allbirds Pivots from Shoes to AI Services

Footwear brand Allbirds announced it is pivoting to become an AI services provider named NewBird AI after selling its shoe business for $39 million. The company has secured $50 million in new financing to acquire GPU assets and offer GPU-as-a-Service, a move that caused its stock to surge over 600%.

OpenAI Releases GPT-5.4-Cyber Model and Expands Access Program

OpenAI has released GPT-5.4-Cyber, a new AI model specialized for defensive cybersecurity tasks. In tandem, the company is expanding its Trusted Access for Cyber (TAC) program to provide vetted security teams with access to the model, which has enhanced capabilities and lower refusal boundaries for sensitive queries.

Google to Invest up to $40 Billion in AI Company Anthropic

Google announced a plan to invest up to $40 billion in AI company Anthropic. The deal involves an initial $10 billion investment with an additional $30 billion contingent on performance targets, providing Anthropic with cash and crucial compute capacity from Google Cloud.

Cohere to Acquire German AI Startup Aleph Alpha in $20B Deal

Canadian AI startup Cohere is merging with its German rival Aleph Alpha, creating a combined entity valued at approximately $20 billion. The deal, backed by Lidl parent company Schwarz Group, aims to create a European sovereign AI alternative to American tech giants.

OpenAI Releases GPT-5.5 Model Codenamed 'Spud'

OpenAI has released its latest model, GPT-5.5, which is codenamed 'Spud.' The new model is designed to offer enhanced autonomy for multi-step workflows and improved performance in coding and scientific research, and is available to paid subscribers.

Anthropic Launches 'Claude Design' for AI-Powered Visual Creation

Anthropic has launched Claude Design, an experimental product that allows users to create visuals like prototypes and slides from natural language descriptions. The tool, which is available as a research preview, aims to help users without design backgrounds quickly create visual concepts.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Apologizes Over Tumbler Ridge Mass Shooting

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has apologized to the community of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, for the company's failure to alert law enforcement about a user who later committed a mass shooting. The user's activity reportedly did not meet the threshold for reporting, but the company is reviewing its policies.

Chinese AI Lab DeepSeek Releases New V4 Models

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has released preview versions of its new open-source models, DeepSeek-V4-Pro and DeepSeek-V4-Flash. The models feature large context windows and aim to compete with leading AI on performance benchmarks, particularly in coding and mathematics.

Apple's Mac Mini and Mac Studio Face Supply Shortages

Apple's desktop computers, particularly the Mac mini and Mac Studio, are experiencing significant supply shortages, with many configurations unavailable or showing long shipping delays. The scarcity is attributed to high demand for AI-capable machines and a wider memory supply chain issue, leading to inflated prices on reseller sites like eBay.

Jina AI Details Applications of Submodular Optimization

Jina AI published articles detailing the application of submodular optimization for various AI tasks. The company explained its use in text selection, passage reranking, context engineering, and diverse query generation within its DeepResearch system.

Elon Musk's SpaceX and xAI in Talks with AI Startup Cursor

Reports indicate that Elon Musk's companies are in discussions with AI coding startup Cursor. SpaceX has reportedly secured an option to purchase Cursor for $60 billion, while Musk's AI startup, xAI, has held talks about a potential partnership.

Anthropic Confirms Quality Issues with Claude Code AI Model

Following user complaints, Anthropic confirmed that its Claude Code AI model had experienced a decline in performance quality. The company stated it identified and fixed three product-level issues as of April 20 and is taking steps to prevent future degradation.