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Top249: Issue 4
Learn more, scroll less. Curated AI/Tech/Business news and articles.
🌟 Welcome to the latest edition of Top249 🤩
We're here to keep you updated on AI, tech, and business news and articles, so you can save time and focus on learning and growth.
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AI & Tech Frontier
OpenAI has signed a multi-year deal with Google Cloud to expand its computing capacity, marking a surprising collaboration given their competitive positions in AI.
The partnership allows OpenAI to use Google’s TPU v5p chips and Cloud infrastructure to support its AI models, including ChatGPT and API services.
This move highlights the growing demand for AI compute and the complex interdependence among tech rivals in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
OpenAI has launched its new o3-pro AI model, designed specifically for enterprise use with improved reliability, reasoning, and tool integration.
The model offers better handling of complex workflows and supports smoother use of tools like code interpreters and web browsing.
However, this comes at the cost of reduced speed, making it a tradeoff between performance depth and response time.
IBM has announced plans to build the world’s first large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer, named Starling, targeted for completion by 2029.
The system will use 200 logical qubits capable of executing 100 million quantum operations, powered by advanced error-correction techniques to ensure reliability.
IBM outlined a phased development roadmap with intermediate systems like Quantum Loon, Kookaburra, and Cockatoo, leading up to Starling and a more powerful system called Blue Jay by 2033.
OpenAI has announced an 80% price reduction for its most advanced reasoning model, o3, making it significantly more accessible for startups, developers, and researchers.
Benchmark comparisons show o3 now offers strong performance at a much lower cost, coming in below competitors like Gemini 2.5 Pro and only slightly above Claude 4 Sonnet.
A new “flex mode” pricing tier has been introduced, offering developers more control with rates of $5 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens.
Mark Zuckerberg is forming a new “superintelligence” team at Meta, aiming to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI) and establish Meta as a leader in the next phase of AI evolution.
The team will include around 50 top AI researchers, with Meta offering massive compensation packages and considering investments up to $15 billion to attract top talent.
This initiative follows lukewarm reception to Meta’s Llama 4 model and is part of a broader strategy involving large-scale infrastructure expansion to power future AI advancements.
Business Briefs
Linear, a remote-first project management startup and competitor to Atlassian’s Jira, has raised $82 million in a Series C round led by Accel, reaching a valuation of $1.25 billion.
Revenue grew by 280% last year and it now serves over 15,000 customers, including major AI players like OpenAI, Scale AI, and Perplexity.
The fresh funds will fuel expansion of product capabilities—especially bug triage, sprint management, and AI collaboration tools—and support efforts to win more enterprise clients.
Over half of Fortune 500 companies are now engaged in blockchain or crypto initiatives, with a 39% year-over-year increase in on-chain activity among the top 100 firms.
Common use cases include stablecoins, tokenized Treasury bills, real-world asset tokenization, and payment systems, reflecting a broad move toward integrating blockchain into traditional business operations.
Key challenges remain, including a shortage of crypto-native talent and regulatory uncertainty, though most executives express strong interest in U.S.-based partnerships and support for a government-backed digital dollar.
A must read on Medium
Did You Know? In 2024, AI models were trained on over 10 trillion words, more than 500,000 times the length of the entire Harry Potter series. That’s how much data it takes to teach machines to understand and generate human language!
Till next time.