Mission Everywhere

Clement Delangue, co-founder and chief executive officer of Hugging Face. Bloomberg/Getty Images AI developer startup HuggingFace has been in talks to be acquired for at least $13 billion. Hugging Face allows developers to publish, share, and download various AI models. The potential interest comes as Stripe acquired OpenRouter for a deal worth around $8 billion. The AI industry's next blockbuster acquisition may not be another model maker. Hugging Face, whose platform helps developers discover, share, and build AI models, has been exploring a sale that could value the company at $13 billion or more. The startup has been working with a bank to gauge bidders' interest, and no deal has been reached yet, according to people familiar with the matter. Hugging Face is a platform where developers publish, share, and download various AI models. The talks could show how valuable AI developer platforms have become as the industry matures. The startup was last valued at $4.5 billion i...

George Hammond / Financial Times : Ramp data: Fable 5, launched in June, has plateaued at ~11% of spending on Anthropic tools, as companies shift to cheaper models; Opus 5 surpassed Fable 5   —  AI lab's Fable 5 has met with sluggish demand from corporate clients  —  Anthropic's US customers are using cheaper alternatives … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/vSf9CNQ

A Bundeswehr soldier looks out of a military vehicle Hannes P. Albert/picture alliance via Getty Images Documents show Germany plans to invest roughly $14 billion in long-range weapons to counter Russia. Germany aims for low-cost missiles by 2027, internal defense ministry documents show. Germany intends to collaborate on Tomahawks and hypersonic missiles for strategic defense. BERLIN — The German government expects it will need almost €12 billion — roughly $14 billion — to build a new arsenal of long-range weapons aimed at deterring Russia, according to defense ministry documents seen by POLITICO. The weapons would give German forces the ability to hit military targets hundreds or even thousands of kilometers behind the front — including command centers, airfields, missile launchers, and supply hubs. Internal documents call the effort a top priority for both Germany and NATO. They say the goal is to allow German forces to strike "far into the rear area of an adversary" and ...

Sonja Wind / Bloomberg : Apparel retailers like Zalando, Zara, and ASOS are betting on AI virtual fitting rooms to create a better online shopping experience and cut costly returns   —  Buying clothes online can leave shoppers frustrated and retailers drowning in returned goods.  Now brands hope that AI-powered tools will deliver the perfect fit. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/JCtZ0bI

OpenAI announced a feature that lets texters write and send messages with ChatGPT. Tim Robberts/Getty Images OpenAI launched a plugin that lets ChatGPT draft and send text messages within iMessage on a Mac. The feature drew backlash from many texters online. One called it an "open-book 'are you an idiot' test." Others worried about the privacy implications of giving ChatGPT access to all your texts. A hot new bombshell has entered the group chat: ChatGPT. OpenAI announced a new plugin for Apple Messages on Thursday. On a Mac, ChatGPT can now search your text messages, draft replies, and hit send. The company suggested using prompts to look for birthday or spam messages to delete. The launch cracked open a debate: how human should your text chats be? Some made it clear that they considered AI texts crossing a line. "If I find out that AI has been texting me on your behalf, I will never speak to you again," one X user wrote. The OpenAI texting launch OpenAI...

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch : Meta rolls out Pocket, an experimental vibe-coding app that lets users create and share small games, in the US, after launching it in Brazil last month   —  Meta's experimental vibe-coding gaming app, Pocket, is now rolling out to everyone in the U.S. The app, which arrived quietly last month … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/jc9kpfx