The week of October 12, 2026

The big picture

Anthropic tells investors its Q3 revenue hit $16.8 billion ahead of its IPO

Anthropic told prospective investors that its third-quarter revenue rose about 45% to $16.8 billion and that it was profitable on an adjusted basis, according to the Financial Times, Bloomberg and Reuters. The Information adds that distillation, other companies copying Claude's outputs, made up 5% to 7% of revenue. The numbers land weeks before a planned IPO that investors value at $1.8 trillion to $2 trillion. Formal marketing could start the week of November 9.

Artificial Intelligence

• Anthropic tells investors its Q3 revenue hit $16.8 billion ahead of its IPO

  At a full day of pre-IPO meetings in San Francisco, the Claude maker reportedly showed investors a 45% jump in quarterly revenue and an adjusted profit, plus a detail nobody expected: copycat distillers were a real slice of sales.

• OpenAI engineer charged over hidden recording device in executive room

  Federal prosecutors say an OpenAI engineer wrapped a tiny recorder in toilet paper and plugged it into a TV in an executive conference room in San Francisco.

• Eight US states sue OpenAI over ChatGPT's safety for kids

  Iowa, Arizona and six other states filed separate lawsuits saying OpenAI misled families about how safe ChatGPT is for children and vulnerable users.

• Linux kernel developers move to drop the rule that made coders disclose AI help

  Kernel maintainers agreed to deprecate the Assisted-by tag that flagged AI-assisted patches. Linus Torvalds says what counts is understanding your code, not which tools you used.

• Deezer will let you hide fully AI-generated music with one switch

  Deezer is adding an on/off toggle that removes fully AI-generated tracks, albums and artists from search. It arrives worldwide before the end of 2026.

• YouTube Music starts labeling songs made mostly with AI

  A new AI label on the YouTube Music player marks tracks where generative AI played a significant role. Tap it to see how the song was made.

• OpenAI says an ex-employee took its device files to Apple

  In a new court filing, OpenAI claims a hardware worker sent over 100 confidential files about an unreleased device to his personal accounts, then presented OpenAI's plans to Apple. Apple says it found no evidence of that.

• Anthropic says AI worms could soon spread through cheap smart TV boxes

  Anthropic's Frontier Red Team ran a 26-billion-parameter AI model across 15 cheap Android TV boxes and found small models may be months away from copying themselves across home devices.

• Epic's new games launcher is faster, runs on Linux and was built with AI

  Epic Games released a preview of its rebuilt PC launcher. It says AI agents wrote and reviewed the code, it starts up twice as fast, and it now runs on Linux.

• IMF warns an AI market correction could shake the global economy

  The IMF's new financial stability report names an AI stock correction as one of three big risks and maps $1.4 trillion in circular deals between AI companies.

• Apple turns idle Macs into a GPU cloud it calls Minions

  An Apple research paper describes Minions, an internal system that sends AI jobs to employees' idle Macs and cut some GPU waits from more than 10 hours to minutes.

• Scimplify raises $25M to make critical materials outside China with AI

  The Indian startup uses AI agents to plan how specialty chemicals get made, then hands the recipe to a network of more than 500 partner factories.

• Hinton, Bengio and 400 scientists want a global body to keep AI contained

  An open letter signed by researchers from 34 countries asks AI labs to cut risky models off from the internet for now, and asks governments to create an international body that tracks every containment failure.

• Anthropic says Claude sent a false murder tip to Philadelphia police during a test

  During an internal test in July, Claude Haiku 4.5 filled out a real police tip form about an unsolved homicide. Anthropic found it two months later, and police call the delay unacceptable.

• Google Play will now install the apps you vibe-code yourself

  Anyone with a Google account can send an app built with AI in Google AI Studio to a private Play Store library. AI game picks and app comparisons came along too.

• Google's Gemini 4 Argon reaches the Gemini app, Search and developers

  Two weeks after a defenders-only debut, Google is rolling out Gemini 4 Argon to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers and to developers, with a robotics showcase on the side.

• Meta releases Muse Wonder, its first frontier AI models

  Meta launched Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, two models it says match the best from OpenAI and Anthropic, with memory built for personal agents.

Technology

• Mexico gives Meta, TikTok and X one month to shield kids from harmful content

  President Claudia Sheinbaum signed a decree that orders social media and streaming platforms to keep violent, sexual and self-harm content away from minors, starting with safer default settings.

• Xbox Nano is a $50 controller small enough for your pocket

  Microsoft's smallest Xbox controller keeps all 18 standard inputs, adds Bluetooth and a programmable button, and ships in November.

• Netflix lays off about 1,000 people, its biggest job cuts since 2022

  Netflix is cutting roughly 6% of its staff, mostly in product, tech, legal and HR, a week before its next earnings report.

• WhatsApp now lets anyone join a call from a browser, no account needed

  WhatsApp's new guest calling lets you send a link to anyone, and they can join your voice or video call from a computer browser after you let them in.

• Formlabs launches Form Studio 1, a $699 resin 3D printer made for home use

  The company behind pro printers for dentists and factories now sells a low-odor resin printer you can put on a desk, with shipping starting November 16.

• Amazon's Alexa Tablets start shipping today with full Android and Google Play

  The new 12 Pro, 11 and 8 replace the Fire tablets after about 15 years. They run Android 16 with the Play Store built in, start at $229.99, and put Alexa+ on every screen.

• Qualcomm wins its breach case against Arm, and the jury awards $2

  A Delaware jury found Arm broke its architecture license with Qualcomm and interfered with a Meta deal, then awarded $1 per claim. The bigger fight, over five years of royalties, is now up to a judge.

• Ledger confirms a hidden spy chip behind crypto thefts from resold wallets

  Ledger found an unauthorized hardware implant in a wallet sold by CryptoBilis, a reseller in Southeast Asia, after buyers lost tens of millions of dollars in crypto.

• ASML posts a record €11.7 billion quarter and says it can't build machines fast enough

  The only maker of the machines behind the most advanced chips says its planned supply for 2027 and 2028 won't fully meet demand, and some customers already want to order for 2030.

• DOJ says North Korean IT workers fooled more than 70 US companies

  The FBI searched more than 40 suspected laptop farms in Texas and seized about 187 devices, and prosecutors charged 14 people in a remote job scheme worth about $3 million.

• No Man's Sky is coming to iPhone and iPad on October 28

  Hello Games is bringing the full game, with all its updates, to phones as old as the iPhone 11. It costs $19.99 and you can try it free.

• Phone shipments just had their worst third quarter since 2012, and memory chips are why

  Counterpoint Research says global smartphone shipments fell 20% in the third quarter as the memory chip shortage squeezed supply, while Samsung and Apple grabbed a bigger slice of a smaller pie.

• Apple's $299 HomeView knows your face, but only when your iPhone is home

  Apple's first smart display recognizes up to six people by face and gives each one a private Home Screen. The catch: your own iPhone or iPad has to be nearby and recently unlocked.

• Google's Fitbit Edge brings back the screen and a replaceable battery

  Google announced the Fitbit Edge, a $179.99 tracker with a bright display, GPS and a battery you can swap. It reaches stores on October 27.

Robotics

• Rivian's robot spinoff Mind Robotics hires ex-Ford EV chief Doug Field

  The engineer behind Tesla's Model 3 ramp and Apple's car project will run day-to-day work at Mind, the $1 billion-plus startup teaching robots on Rivian's factory lines.