Tech
tech
Rani Molla

What the competition — Nvidia, OpenAI, Microsoft — is saying about DeepSeek

News of DeepSeek’s AI models pummeled American AI stocks yesterday. Leaders of the competition were quick to comment on how DeepSeek was seemingly able to do more for so much less.

While OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman struck a genial tone about how DeepSeek’s ingenuity was impressive and welcome competition, Nvidia was a little more backhanded, suggesting that DeepSeek just did the easy part:

“DeepSeek is an excellent AI advancement and a perfect example of Test Time Scaling. DeepSeek’s work illustrates how new models can be created using that technique, leveraging widely-available models and compute that is fully export control compliant. Inference requires significant numbers of NVIDIA GPUs and high-performance networking. We now have three scaling laws: pre-training and post-training, which continue, and new test-time scaling.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella suggested on LinkedIn that DeepSeek is sort of a rising tide that will raise all ships, invoking Jevons Paradox, the idea that increased efficiency would drive demand.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, for his part, seems to have gone the sour grapes route, agreeing with Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang that DeepSeek probably has more high-powered Nvidia chips than they’re letting on.

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tech
Jon Keegan

Report: Anthropic cuts off xAI’s access to its models for coding

Competition between the top AI companies is fierce. Top employees are being poached, and companies are training their AI on competitors’ models to stay ahead of the pack.

Anthropic is taking steps to make sure it’s not helping the competition in any way. According to tech reporter Kylie Robison, this week Anthropic cut access to xAI developers who were using its Claude models for coding via the popular Cursor AI coding tool.

Robison reports that xAI cofounder Tony Wu told his team in an email:
“This is a both bad and good news. We will get a hit on productivity, but it rly pushes us to develop our own coding product / models.”

Kylie Robison on X: "Scoop: xAI staff had been using Anthropic’s models internally through Cursor—until Anthropic cut off the startup’s access this week.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Kylie Robison on X: "Scoop: xAI staff had been using Anthropic’s models internally through Cursor—until Anthropic cut off the startup’s access this week.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Here’s what xAI cofounder Tony Wu sent to staff on Wednesday according to a copy of the internal Slack message I viewed: “Hi" / X

Robison reports that xAI cofounder Tony Wu told his team in an email:
“This is a both bad and good news. We will get a hit on productivity, but it rly pushes us to develop our own coding product / models.”

Rani Molla
1/9/26
Grok has been climbing Apple and Google’s app store rankings amid calls to remove it for sexualized images

Critics have pointed out that Apple and Google have removed other apps for less.

Grok X Ai - Photo Illustration
tech
Rani Molla

xAI’s revenue is growing, but so are its staggering losses

Good news: xAI’s revenue nearly doubled to $107 million in the third quarter compared to the second.

Bad news: Its net losses grew to $1.46 billion in Q3, up from $1 billion in the first quarter, and more than 13x revenue, Bloomberg reports.

The company, which is currently worth north of $230 billion, is burning through staggering amounts of cash — nearly a billion dollars a month — in service of building data centers and developing what it calls “self-sufficient” AI that can one day power robots like Tesla’s Optimus. Meanwhile, its revenue still looks more like that of a midsize startup than a tech giant.

Despite receiving more yes than no votes, Tesla’s board didn’t approve a shareholder proposal to invest in xAI, leaving a more formal relationship between the companies unresolved, even as xAI continues to burn cash at a pace that will require steady access to outside capital.

Of course, Elon Musk’s AI company is already deeply financially intertwined with his EV company. In 2024, xAI spent nearly $200 million, largely on Tesla Megapack batteries — a figure that appears to have grown significantly in 2025.

Musk’s xAI Burns Almost $8 Billion in Cash, Reveals Optimus Plan

Musk’s xAI Burns Almost $8 Billion in Cash, Reveals Optimus Plan

The company, which is currently worth north of $230 billion, is burning through staggering amounts of cash — nearly a billion dollars a month — in service of building data centers and developing what it calls “self-sufficient” AI that can one day power robots like Tesla’s Optimus. Meanwhile, its revenue still looks more like that of a midsize startup than a tech giant.

Despite receiving more yes than no votes, Tesla’s board didn’t approve a shareholder proposal to invest in xAI, leaving a more formal relationship between the companies unresolved, even as xAI continues to burn cash at a pace that will require steady access to outside capital.

Of course, Elon Musk’s AI company is already deeply financially intertwined with his EV company. In 2024, xAI spent nearly $200 million, largely on Tesla Megapack batteries — a figure that appears to have grown significantly in 2025.

Millie Giles
CHAT-PCP
1/9/26
American patients are increasingly turning to AI for medical advice — so are their doctors

As OpenAI announces the launch of ChatGPT Health, it seems everyday Americans and professional physicians alike are already using the tech to help with healthcare.

Robot hand toy finger holding medical stethoscope on yellow background, AI and smart technologies in medicine and diagnostic concept.
tech
Rani Molla

Apple’s hardware chief is the front-runner to be the next CEO

The New York Times is the latest news organization to cite Apple sources who think the company’s hardware chief, John Ternus, will be the one to fill CEO Tim Cook’s shoes. Citing people close to Apple, the publication reports that Cook is “tired and would like to reduce his workload” and that 50-year-old Ternus is the most likely to take his place, as the company accelerates its succession planning.

The Times is in good company. Both the Financial Times and Bloomberg have previously said Ternus is the top pick to succeed Cook at the helm of the tech giant, and Ternus is currently enjoying the top spot on prediction markets. His market-implied odds of being the next CEO are currently above 60% on both Polymarket and Kalshi event contracts.

Apple’s John Ternus Could Be Tim Cook’s Successor as CEO

Apple’s John Ternus Could Be Tim Cook’s Successor as CEO

The Times is in good company. Both the Financial Times and Bloomberg have previously said Ternus is the top pick to succeed Cook at the helm of the tech giant, and Ternus is currently enjoying the top spot on prediction markets. His market-implied odds of being the next CEO are currently above 60% on both Polymarket and Kalshi event contracts.

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