Signal creator Moxie Marlinspike wants to do for AI what he did for messaging
Ars Technica ↗
Introducing Confer, an end-to-end AI assistant that just works.
AI BRIEFING · 2026-01-13
AI Briefing — January 13, 2026
The 10 most important AI stories of January 13, 2026, hand-curated from the day's coverage. Every story links to its primary source.
AI Optical Illusions, NVIDIA Fights Doom, AppleGemini Deal
Forward Future ↗
AI fooled by illusions, NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang rejects doomerism, Apple taps Gemini, AI search hits media, China probes Meta, TSMC profits surge.
AI Chip Startup Etched Raises 500 Million to Take on Nvidia
Bloomberg Technology ↗
AI chip startup Etched raised about $500 million in a new funding round, according to people familiar with the matter, part of an effort to compete with Nvidia Corp. in the booming market for artificial intelligence processors.
Cerebras in Discussions to Raise Funds at 22 Billion Valuation
Bloomberg Technology ↗
AI chip provider Cerebras Systems Inc. is in talks to raise roughly $1 billion in a new funding round, according to a person familiar with the matter, bolstering the company’s efforts to compete with Nvidia Corp.
Microsoft announces glut of new data centers but says it won’t let your electricity bill go up
TechCrunch AI ↗
The tech giant has pledged to be a "good neighbor" as it continues to invest in AI infrastructure throughout the country.
Deepgram raises 130M at 1.3B valuation and buys a YC AI startup
TechCrunch AI ↗
Deepgram is raising its Series C round at a $1.3 billion valuation.
Ring founder details the camera companys intelligent assistant era
TechCrunch AI ↗
AI is ushering in Ring’s next chapter, as the Amazon-owned video doorbell maker shifts toward becoming an “intelligent assistant.”
ElevenLabs CEO says the voice AI startup crossed $330M ARR last year
TechCrunch AI ↗
The company said it took only five months to go from $200 million to $330 million in annual recurring revenue.
Anthropic shakes up C-suite to expand its internal incubator
The Verge ↗
Mike Krieger, the Instagram co-founder who joined Anthropic two years ago as its chief product officer, is moving to a new focus at the AI startup: co-leading its internal incubator, dubbed the "Labs" team. The Anthropic Labs team started in mid-2024 with just two members; now, the company has decided to expand it, with a […]
Doctors think AI has a place in healthcare but maybe not as a chatbot
TechCrunch AI ↗
OpenAI and Anthropic have each launched healthcare-focused products over the last week.
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