SpaceX to buy AI coding firm Anysphere for $60bn and passes Amazon valuation

Elon Musk's SpaceX has agreed to acquire Anysphere, the software firm behind the popular AI coding App Cursor, for $60 billion in a bid to ramp up its foothold in the enterprise AI market.

The announcement comes just days after Musk took his Rockets-To-AI company public in a blockbuster Nasdaq debut that valued the firm at more than $2 trillion and immediately made it one of the world's most valuable companies.

SpaceX is the parent of Musk's AI business xAI, which will be able to boost its capabilities in an area AI systems writing code that has proven to be a strong commercial success for Anthropic, the rival company behind the Claude Chatbot.

The news was announced as SpaceX passed Amazon in market capitalisation, a key measure of value for a publicly listed company.

The deal is meant to help SpaceX's AI division catch up to the major AI labs.

Despite being a centerpiece of its IPO promises, SpaceX's AI division has been in the midst of a restructuring after running into repeated controversies, like allowing users to generate non-consensual deepfakes of women and children.

SpaceX options are already the third-most traded among single stocks, behind Tesla and Nvidia, which typically trade millions of contracts and over $1 billion a day.

Reference Sources

1. latimes - Elon Musk’s new ‘trillionaire’ status is a good thing, actually
2. cnbc - 'Godfather' of options sees SpaceX surpassing Nvidia, Tesla as early trades come in
3. thestarmy - SpaceX to buy Cursor AI coding agent operator Anysphere for $60 billion
4. theguardian - SpaceX to buy AI coding firm Anysphere for $60bn and passes Amazon valuation
5. techcrunch - SpaceX to acquire Cursor for $60B in stock, days after blockbuster IPO

Japan’s tech business SoftBank rolls out OpenAI ‘patches’ against cyberattacks

Japanese technology giant Softbank Group Corp. has announced that it will launch a Cybersecurity service powered by OpenAI for Japanese enterprises.

The service will use OpenAI's advanced models to identify Vulnerabilities in corporate systems, and later expand to broader tasks, such as addressing threats or making system improvements.

The company aims to deploy the service across Japan's roughly 3,000 operators of critical infrastructure and targets a full-scale Rollout by the end of 2026.

Speaking at an event in Tokyo attended by around 200 senior executives from 130 local enterprises, CEO Masayoshi Son warned that Japan could be facing a historic turning point with the rise of AI use in cyberattacks.

The announcement comes days after Anthropic suspended access to Claude Mythos for all users after the US government moved to restrict foreign access to the powerful cybersecurity AI model.

The decision has prompted concern among companies and government agencies in Japan that had been exploring the technology for Cyber defense.

Reference Sources

1. usnews - Japan's Tech Business SoftBank Rolls Out OpenAI 'Patches' Against Cyberattacks
2. apnews - Japan’s tech business SoftBank rolls out OpenAI ‘patches’ against cyberattacks
3. nikkei - SoftBank launches OpenAI cybersecurity in Japan as US restricts rival model

EssilorLuxottica, Applied Materials strike deal to develop smart glasses, AR technology

EssilorLuxottica, the world's largest Eyewear maker, has signed a long-term deal with US chipmaking equipment company Applied Materials to develop augmented reality (AR) display technology and AI glasses.

The collaboration focuses on creating high-performance, lightweight optical platforms aimed at scalable augmented reality applications in consumer eyewear.

The agreement expands Applied Materials' activity beyond semiconductor equipment into commercial AR and intelligent optical technologies.

EssilorLuxottica is one of the world's largest Eyewear makers and has a market capitalisation of over $1 bn.

Reference Sources

1. thestarmy - EssilorLuxottica, Applied Materials strike deal to develop smart glasses, AR technology
2. Yahoo Finance - Applied Materials (AMAT) Teams Up With EssilorLuxottica To Build AR Smart Eyewear

The CommonWealth English daily news digest is a service curated by CommonWealth English team with the help of AI tools.  

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