Beginners in AI

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Welcome to this week's edition of Beginners in AI, where we explore the latest trends, tools, and news in the world of AI and the tech that surrounds it. Like all editions, this is human curated and published with the intention of making AI news and technology more accessible to everyone.

The spotlight this week is on Nvidia’s $100 billion investment in OpenAI — a deal that cements the chipmaker’s role at the center of the AI race. Beyond that, Elon Musk’s xAI is moving into the federal space with a contract to provide Grok chatbots to U.S. agencies. Anthropic is both tripling its overseas workforce and navigating a $1.5 billion copyright settlement. Meta is weighing the unusual idea of fine-tuning Google’s Gemini models for ad targeting, and YouTube Music is experimenting with AI hosts to add a new layer of commentary to your playlists.

AI TOP STORY
Nvidia Pledges up to $100 billion for OpenAI

What happened — Reuters reports that chipmaker Nvidia signed a letter of intent to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and provide data‑center. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the partnership will supply “compute infrastructure” needed for future AI. The companies plan to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia systems for OpenAI, enough electricity for more than 8 million U.S. households. Analysts noted that Nvidia’s non‑voting shares will give it a financial stake in OpenAI while the startup uses the cash to buy Nvidia chips. Some observers worry this “circular” arrangement might raise antitrust questions.

Why it matters — The size of the deal signals how much capital and computing power are needed to train and run large AI models. It follows recent announcements such as the Stargate project — a proposed $500 billion partnership among OpenAI, SoftBank and others to build massive AI data centers. Together, these moves suggest that leading AI companies are racing to secure chips and energy capacity to stay ahead of rivals.

What to take away — For readers, this agreement shows that behind every chatbot or image generator is a mountain of hardware and energy. The need for enormous computing infrastructure drives costs, influences partnerships and could even invite regulatory scrutiny. As AI tools become part of everyday life, the race for chips and power will shape how services are priced and which companies dominate.

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LAST WEEK IN AI AND TECH

xAI Offers Grok Chatbot to U.S. Federal Agencies

Elon Musk’s company xAI has reached an agreement with the U.S. General Services Administration to provide access to its Grok language models for government agencies. Under the contract, which runs through March 2027, agencies can buy the Grok 4 and Grok 4 Fast models for 42 cents per organization — less than half of OpenAI’s $1 per‑year fee for ChatGPT. xAI engineers will help with setup, and agencies can upgrade to enterprise subscriptions that meet federal security requirements. However, critics point out that Grok has produced incorrect answers and politically slanted comments. The government hopes the low cost will expand AI use in public services, yet concerns remain over accuracy and bias.

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Anthropic Plans to Triple its International Workforce

AI startup Anthropic, maker of the Claude language models, announced that it will triple its non‑U.S. workforce and expand its applied AI team fivefold. The company said that roughly 80 % of Claude usage now comes from countries such as South Korea, Australia and Singapor. Managing director Chris Ciauri explained that “enterprises are trusting Claude to power their mission‑critical operations”. Anthropic reported that run‑rate revenue rose from $1 billion to more than $5 billion in eight months. The expansion comes amid heavy demand outside the United States and a recent deal with Microsoft to integrate Claude into the Copilot product.

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Meta Considers Google’s Gemini for Ad Targeting

According to Reuters, Meta employees have discussed fine‑tuning Google’s Gemini and Gemma models on Meta’s advertising data. The aim is to improve ad targeting by using Gemini’s capabilities. The talks are still at an early stage and might not lead to a partnership. Observers say that turning to a rival’s AI highlights Meta’s struggles scaling its own systems. Both Meta and Google have said in earnings calls that investment in AI is boosting their ad businesses.

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Judge Gives Preliminary Approval to $1.5 billion Anthropic Copyright Settlement

U.S. District Judge William Alsup preliminarily approved a $1.5 billion settlement in a class action accusing Anthropic of using pirated books to train its AI models. The ruling is the first of its kind in ongoing copyright disputes over AI training. Plaintiffs Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace Johnson said the decision “brings us one step closer to real accountability” and warns AI companies they cannot ignore creators’ rights. Maria Pallante, head of the Association of American Publishers, called the settlement a “major step in the right direction” for holding AI developers accountable. Anthropic’s deputy general counsel welcomed the approval and said the company can now focus on building safe AI systems.

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YouTube Music Tests AI hosts

YouTube is running a limited test in its YouTube Music app where virtual hosts share stories, fan trivia and fun commentary about the songs you’re playing. The experiment is part of YouTube Labs, a program that lets U.S. users try early AI features. The hosts appear on radio stations and mixes and aim to deepen the listening experience. Google has been adding AI hosts to other products such as NotebookLM, so bringing them to music is a natural step. Premium features like the AI‑powered “jump ahead” video tool are also expanding to more platform.

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TECH TERMS TO KNOW

Latency is the time delay between a user prompt and an AI’s response. High latency feels sluggish; low latency makes interactions feel natural.

ROBOTICS AND AI

AI2 robots secure $70 million contract

China’s AI2 Robotics, founded in early 2023, announced a three‑year deal to deliver more than 1,000 humanoid robots to semiconductor display manufacturer HKC Corporation. The contract is worth about $70 million and is expected to multiply the start‑up’s revenue tenfold; CEO Eric Guo said, “We’re looking at 10 times growth in revenue pretty much every year”. AI2 plans to list on the stock market within one to two years, betting on rapid adoption of robot labour in China’s ageing industrial sector.

The company’s flagship product, AlphaBot2, has a humanoid upper half but moves on six wheels and performs assembly, quality‑inspection and testing tasks. These robots are powered by an in‑house AI foundation model called Alpha Brain, which has been open‑sourced and allows the machines to work autonomously without a remote operator. “Our key advantage is that our robot has a brain, so we don’t need remote control to get the robot to work in our customer’s place,” said Guo. This independence reduces latency and makes them easier to deploy in factories.

AI2 is part of a broader wave of Chinese firms investing in humanoid robotics to address labour shortages and rising wages. With $140 million already raised from venture investors, AI2 aims to become a “unicorn” valued at over $1 billion. The deal with HKC shows that humanoid robots are moving from research labs into real manufacturing environments, potentially transforming how products are assembled and inspected. For readers, this story illustrates the growing role of AI‑powered robotics in everyday objects—from screens to cars—and hints at future job roles focused on supervising and programming robots.

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TRY THIS PROMPT (copy and paste into Google’s Veo or Rundown)

You are an AI video director inside Google Veo. I want you to help me produce a short, cinematic video.

**Project Details**
- Length: 15–30 seconds
- Style: [choose: cinematic, documentary, anime, surreal, photorealistic, etc.]
- Mood: [choose: uplifting, eerie, futuristic, calming, energetic]
- Visual Focus: [describe the main subject or scene, e.g., "a futuristic city at sunrise," "a lone astronaut on Mars," "a robot painting in a studio"]
- Motion: [choose: sweeping drone shot, slow pan, quick cuts, handheld look, time-lapse]
- Color Palette: [choose: neon, muted pastels, high contrast, black-and-white]
- Music & Sound: [choose: orchestral, ambient, synthwave, nature sounds]

**Workflow**
1. Take my details above and create a scene description that is rich and cinematic.
2. Suggest camera angles and movements that would make the video feel professional.
3. Generate a finished Google Veo video script or description I can paste directly into the tool.
4. Add one unexpected creative twist that makes the video memorable (e.g., an object behaving oddly, a surreal element, or a sudden change in perspective).

Output everything as a final "Veo Input Prompt."

🔑 Example Fill-In

If someone filled it out like this:

• Style: cinematic

• Mood: futuristic

• Visual Focus: a neon-lit Tokyo alley in the rain

• Motion: sweeping drone shot down the street

• Color Palette: neon

• Music: synthwave

The Veo input might become:
“Cinematic short video of a neon-lit Tokyo alley in the rain, glowing signs reflecting in puddles, sweeping drone shot gliding down the narrow street, synthwave soundtrack, futuristic mood, unexpected twist: a single koi fish swims through a puddle glowing with neon light.”

DID YOU KNOW?

The Mars Curiosity rover uses a processor with a clock speed of only 200 MHz—far slower than a typical smartphone—to withstand cosmic radiation.

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-James

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