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Anthropic Turns Agent Skills Into an Open Industry Standard
Anthropic is donating Agent Skills to the Agentic AI Foundation, saying more than 70 platforms have already integrated the standard for giving AI agents specialized knowledge and workflows.
OpenAI Reportedly Nears Massive New Funding Round
OpenAI is reportedly approaching a funding round of up to $30 billion led by investors from the UAE and Coatue at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation, with the financing described as a bridge ahead of an IPO.
Canva Debuts Its First AI Image Generation Model
Canva has introduced Craft, an image generation model trained on human-designed templates that is available to all users, with plans for support in third-party chatbots.
Microsoft and Alphabet Push Back on Tokenized Shares
Microsoft and Alphabet have joined 14 other companies objecting to an OKXICE plan to trade blockchain-based versions of their shares.
Amazon Refunds Carry an Unusual FTC Attribution
Amazon is issuing refunds from a 2025 settlement credited to “President Trump's Federal Trade Commission,” described as the first time an FTC refund has been tied to a president.
Microsoft Touts AI System for Medical Diagnosis
Microsoft says its GPT-5-powered Diagnostic Orchestrator uses AI agents that mimic panels of experts and can diagnose conditions up to four times more accurately than doctors.
Datadog Reportedly Offered Nearly $4 Billion for Upwind
Datadog reportedly offered to acquire Israeli cloud cybersecurity startup Upwind Security for nearly $4 billion as Upwind works to complete a $300 million funding round at roughly a $3.8 billion valuation.
Amazon Turns Kindle Unlimited Into Kindle+
Amazon has rebranded Kindle Unlimited as Kindle+ while expanding the subscription's audiobook selection to include titles narrated by AI.
SB Energy Weighs Timing for a Public Offering
SoftBank's SB Energy is reportedly considering going public as soon as December or waiting until 2027 while closely watching Anthropic's expected November IPO.
Trump Asked Musk to Ease Starshield Restrictions, Officials Say
U.S. officials say President Donald Trump asked Elon Musk to lift Starshield restrictions, while Ukrainian officials said the system was operating at higher speeds Thursday but had not been fully fixed.
Formic Raises $50 Million to Expand Manufacturing Robotics
Chicago-based Formic, which provides robots-as-a-service automation to manufacturers, raised $50 million through a $40 million Series B and $10 million in asset-backed financing.
Arc Browser Heads for Shutdown as Dia Takes Center Stage
The Browser Company says it will shut down Arc on December 22 as it shifts its attention to Dia, the company's AI-focused browser.
Microsoft Is Closing The Garage After 17 Years
Microsoft is winding down The Garage, ending the 17-year companywide program that provided employees with space and tools for side projects and ran its Global Hackathon.
AI Companies Set New Highs for Quarterly Lobbying Spending
Filings show Nvidia, Anthropic, and OpenAI recorded their highest-spending lobbying quarter between July and September, spending $2.2 million, $2.1 million, and $1.5 million respectively.
Tractian Reaches $1.4 Billion Valuation With New Funding
Atlanta-based Tractian, which uses AI and sensors to predict machine failures and recommend maintenance plans, raised a $130 million Series D at a $1.4 billion valuation.
Sources: Anthropic; CNBC; TechCrunch; Fortune; Politico; The Verge; The Information; ZDNET; The Wall Street Journal; Axios; GeekWire.