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In Today’s Issue:
🤑 Codenamed "Campos," the new Siri will replace the current interface with a full-fledged chatbot in iOS 27
💵 Sam Altman is in Abu Dhabi seeking a massive funding round at an $830B valuation
📈 Google and The Princeton Review launch full-length
📉 Barret Zoph returns to OpenAI to lead the company's aggressive new enterprise general manager model
✨ And more AI goodness…
Dear Readers,
Today, Sam Altman is knocking on doors in Abu Dhabi, chasing a jaw-dropping $50 billion that could value OpenAI at $830 billion - and in doing so, he's quietly reshaping who gets to decide AI's future.
But while the geopolitical chess game heats up, the everyday AI race isn't slowing down either: Apple is finally transforming Siri from a glorified timer into a full-blown ChatGPT competitor (codenamed Campos, launching this fall), Google just made SAT prep completely free inside Gemini, and OpenAI is reshuffling its leadership to chase enterprise dollars harder than ever.
We've also got Anthropic's Dario Amodei sharing his philosophy on the AI arms race, and - this one's personal - Stanford researchers may have just cracked the code on regrowing cartilage in aging joints, potentially saving millions from knee replacements. Grab your coffee and dive in.
All the best,
🚀 Apple Turns Siri Into Chatbot
Apple is planning a major Siri overhaul, transforming it into a full generative AI chatbot embedded across iPhone, iPad, and Mac to better compete with OpenAI and Google’s Gemini. Code-named "Campos," the new Siri will handle web search, content creation, image generation, and file analysis, launching after a June preview at WWDC and targeting a September release, while relying heavily on Google’s AI models in a reported ~$1B-per-year deal. The move signals Apple’s most aggressive AI pivot yet as ChatGPT tops 800M weekly users and rivals like Samsung Electronics and Google race ahead with conversational assistants.
🎓 Gemini Adds Free SAT Practice
Google is teaming up with The Princeton Review to drop full-length SAT practice tests inside the Gemini app, completely free and on-demand. After you finish a test, Gemini gives instant feedback on strengths and gaps, and you can ask it to explain any answer you missed, helping you turn results into a personalized study plan that’s closer to real test-day conditions.
🏢 OpenAI: Zoph Leads Enterprise Push
OpenAI is reshuffling its applications org and tapping Barret Zoph to run the enterprise sales push, while COO Brad Lightcap steps back from leading product/engineering for enterprise but stays in charge of commercial functions. The company is moving to a general manager model across product lines (ChatGPT, enterprise, Codex, ads) to tighten the feedback loop between research ↔ product/engineering, as it ramps revenue efforts and faces sharper competition, especially in business and coding tools.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on AI race:
Focused on making our models as smart and capable as possible
OpenAI Chases Gulf Billions
The Takeaway
👉 OpenAI is pursuing a $50 billion funding round from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds at a valuation of up to $830 billion - a massive jump from its $500 billion valuation just months ago
👉 The company has committed $1.4 trillion to AI infrastructure over the next eight years, making continuous mega-rounds essential for survival
👉 Abu Dhabi-based investors like MGX are becoming critical players in the global AI race, giving Gulf nations significant leverage in shaping AI's future
👉 Despite being unprofitable, OpenAI continues to attract record-breaking investments, signaling investor confidence that AI infrastructure bets will pay off long-term
Sam Altman is on a money mission like no other. The OpenAI CEO is currently in the United Arab Emirates, meeting with sovereign wealth funds in Abu Dhabi to secure a staggering $50 billion funding round. If successful, this would value ChatGPT's creator at somewhere between $750 and $830 billion, nearly doubling its valuation from just months ago.
Why the Gulf? Simple: OpenAI has committed to spending over $1.4 trillion on AI infrastructure in the coming years, and that kind of cash doesn't grow on trees. Last year's $40 billion round led by SoftBank was the largest private tech funding on record, but apparently, that's just the appetizer. The company is also reportedly in talks with Amazon for another $10 billion.
What's fascinating here is how the AI race has become a geopolitical chess game. Abu Dhabi-based MGX already participated in OpenAI's previous funding rounds, and the region is positioning itself as a critical player in AI's future. This signals that the infrastructure buildout is only accelerating, and the winners will be those with the deepest pockets.
Why it matters: This funding round could reshape global AI development by cementing Middle Eastern nations as kingmakers in the tech world. It also shows that despite fierce competition from Google and Anthropic, investors still believe OpenAI holds the keys to AI's future.
Sources:
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Cartilage Regrowth Breakthrough
Your knees might just get a second chance at life. Stanford Medicine researchers have discovered a treatment that can actually reverse cartilage loss in aging joints and prevent arthritis after knee injuries, something that seemed impossible just a few years ago. The secret: Blocking a protein called 15-PGDH, which increases as we age and drives the gradual loss of tissue function.
When researchers injected older mice with a small molecule inhibiting this protein, cartilage that had become thin and dysfunctional actually thickened across the joint surface. Even more exciting, human cartilage samples from knee replacement surgeries began regenerating when exposed to the treatment.
The implications are staggering. Osteoarthritis affects about one in five American adults and costs an estimated $65 billion annually in healthcare. Current treatments only manage pain or replace joints surgically. There are currently no approved drugs that can slow or reverse the underlying cartilage damage, until potentially now.
"Imagine regrowing existing cartilage and avoiding joint replacement," said researcher Helen Blau. An oral version of the treatment is already being tested in clinical trials for age-related muscle weakness, meaning human trials for cartilage regeneration could follow soon!
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