The Download: China’s manufacturers’ viral moment, and how AI is changing creativity

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The Download: China’s manufacturers’ viral moment, and how AI is changing creativity

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Why Chinese manufacturers are going viral on TikTok Since the video was posted earlier this month, millions of TikTok users have watched as a young Chinese man in a blue T-shirt sits beside a traditional tea set and speaks directly to the camera in accented English: “Let’s expose luxury’s biggest secret.” He stands and lifts what looks like an Hermès Birkin bag, one of the world’s most exclusive and expensive handbags, before gesturing toward the shelves filled with more bags behind him. “You recognize them: Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci—all crafted in our workshops.” He ends by urging viewers to buy directly from his factory. Video “exposés” like this—where a sales agent breaks down the material cost of luxury goods, from handbags to perfumes to appliances—are everywhere on TikTok right now. And whether or not their claims are true, these videos and their virality speak to a new, serious push by Chinese manufacturers to connect directly with American consumers. Read the full story. —Caiwei Chen How AI is interacting with our creative human processes The rapid proliferation of AI in our lives introduces new challenges around authorship, authenticity, and ethics in work and art. But it also offers a particularly human problem in narrative: How can we make sense of these machines, not just use them?Three new books examine what we gain and lose when we let machines create, and pose the question: how do the words we choose and stories we tell about technology affect the role we allow it to take on (or even take over) in our creative lives? Read the full story. —Rebecca Ackermann This story is from the most recent edition of our print magazine, which is all about how technology is changing creativity. Subscribe now to read it and to receive future print copies once they land. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Inside the powerful Signal chat shaping AmericaMarc Andreessen’s Chatham House group unites figures across Silicon Valley, politics and journalism. (Semafor)+ Many in tech may come to regret their investment in Trump. (Vox) 2 RFK Jr’s autism study has got scientists worriedThey fear it’ll give credence to unproven theories. (Axios)+ His claims that autism is caused by environmental toxins are not backed by science. (PBS)+ Experts say lack of support is the biggest challenge facing autistic people. (The Guardian) 3 Only Google can run Chrome properlyThat’s what the browser’s general manager told the judge presiding over its antitrust trial. (Bloomberg $)+ Companies are still expressing interest in buying it, though. (The Verge) 4 Meta’s chatbots will hold explicit conversations with minorsIncluding chatbots voiced by celebrities, including wrestler-turned-actor John Cena. (WSJ $)+ An AI companion site is hosting sexually charged conversations with underage celebrity bots. (MIT Technology Review) 5 Here’s why it would be so difficult to build an iPhone in the USIt’s not just about the cost of labor. (FT $)+ His steep tariffs mean this Christmas will be an even more expensive affair. (Wired $)+ Sweeping tariffs could threaten the US manufacturing rebound. (MIT Technology Review) 6 Mexico’s drug cartels have become influencersTheir posts are some of the only insights we have into their activities. (The Atlantic $)+ The mothers of Mexico’s missing use social media to search for mass graves. (MIT Technology Review) 7 People with autism are using AI to navigate everyday situations But experts warn that chatbots’ responses should be treated with caution. (WP $) 8 Clean energy is still making progressDespite those political and economic headwinds. (Vox)+ Europe is committed to looking beyond fossil fuels. (Politico)+ 4 technologies that could power the future of energy. (MIT Technology Review) 9 What rats can teach us about hunger 🐀We’re getting closer to understanding what makes us start and stop eating. (NYT $)+ We’ve never understood how hunger works. That might be about to change. (MIT Technology Review) 10 It’s no wonder Trump loves AI slopHe’s been pushing a surreal, gaudy vision of the world for years.(New Yorker $)+ AI slop infiltrated almost every corner of the internet last year. (MIT Technology Review) Quote of the day “You know the best thing about these things is that nothing leaks…but it looks like that’s changed a little.” —A longtime attendee of the secretive intimate networking events favored by tech, media and finance bigwigs spills the beans to The Information. One more thing AI hype is built on high test scores. Those tests are flawed.In the past few years, multiple researchers claim to have shown that large language models can pass cognitive tests designed for humans, from working through problems step by step, to guessing what other people are thinking.These kinds of results are feeding a hype machine predicting that these machines will soon come for white-collar jobs. But there’s a problem: There’s little agreement on what those results really mean. Read the full story. —William Douglas Heaven We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.) + The Magic Circle has readmitted a female magician who was expelled 30 years ago after she revealed she’d disguised herself as a man to gain access to the formerly male-only society. 🪄+ These National Parks are stunningly beautiful.+ The Fear of Flying Subreddit is one of the last pure places remaining on the internet.+ Why Gen Z is so obsessed with iced coffee.

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

Why Chinese manufacturers are going viral on TikTok

Since the video was posted earlier this month, millions of TikTok users have watched as a young Chinese man in a blue T-shirt sits beside a traditional tea set and speaks directly to the camera in accented English: “Let’s expose luxury’s biggest secret.”

He stands and lifts what looks like an Hermès Birkin bag, one of the world’s most exclusive and expensive handbags, before gesturing toward the shelves filled with more bags behind him. “You recognize them: Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci—all crafted in our workshops.” He ends by urging viewers to buy directly from his factory.

Video “exposés” like this—where a sales agent breaks down the material cost of luxury goods, from handbags to perfumes to appliances—are everywhere on TikTok right now. And whether or not their claims are true, these videos and their virality speak to a new, serious push by Chinese manufacturers to connect directly with American consumers. Read the full story.

—Caiwei Chen

How AI is interacting with our creative human processes

The rapid proliferation of AI in our lives introduces new challenges around authorship, authenticity, and ethics in work and art. But it also offers a particularly human problem in narrative: How can we make sense of these machines, not just use them?

Three new books examine what we gain and lose when we let machines create, and pose the question: how do the words we choose and stories we tell about technology affect the role we allow it to take on (or even take over) in our creative lives? Read the full story.

—Rebecca Ackermann

This story is from the most recent edition of our print magazine, which is all about how technology is changing creativity. Subscribe now to read it and to receive future print copies once they land.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Inside the powerful Signal chat shaping America
Marc Andreessen’s Chatham House group unites figures across Silicon Valley, politics and journalism. (Semafor)
+ Many in tech may come to regret their investment in Trump. (Vox)

2 RFK Jr’s autism study has got scientists worried
They fear it’ll give credence to unproven theories. (Axios)
+ His claims that autism is caused by environmental toxins are not backed by science. (PBS)
+ Experts say lack of support is the biggest challenge facing autistic people. (The Guardian)

3 Only Google can run Chrome properly
That’s what the browser’s general manager told the judge presiding over its antitrust trial. (Bloomberg $)
+ Companies are still expressing interest in buying it, though. (The Verge)

4 Meta’s chatbots will hold explicit conversations with minors
Including chatbots voiced by celebrities, including wrestler-turned-actor John Cena. (WSJ $)
+ An AI companion site is hosting sexually charged conversations with underage celebrity bots. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Here’s why it would be so difficult to build an iPhone in the US
It’s not just about the cost of labor. (FT $)
+ His steep tariffs mean this Christmas will be an even more expensive affair. (Wired $)
+ Sweeping tariffs could threaten the US manufacturing rebound. (MIT Technology Review)

6 Mexico’s drug cartels have become influencers
Their posts are some of the only insights we have into their activities. (The Atlantic $)
+ The mothers of Mexico’s missing use social media to search for mass graves. (MIT Technology Review)

7 People with autism are using AI to navigate everyday situations
But experts warn that chatbots’ responses should be treated with caution. (WP $)

8 Clean energy is still making progress
Despite those political and economic headwinds. (Vox)
+ Europe is committed to looking beyond fossil fuels. (Politico)
+ 4 technologies that could power the future of energy. (MIT Technology Review)

9 What rats can teach us about hunger 🐀
We’re getting closer to understanding what makes us start and stop eating. (NYT $)
+ We’ve never understood how hunger works. That might be about to change. (MIT Technology Review)

10 It’s no wonder Trump loves AI slop
He’s been pushing a surreal, gaudy vision of the world for years.(New Yorker $)
+ AI slop infiltrated almost every corner of the internet last year. (MIT Technology Review)

Quote of the day

“You know the best thing about these things is that nothing leaks…but it looks like that’s changed a little.”

—A longtime attendee of the secretive intimate networking events favored by tech, media and finance bigwigs spills the beans to The Information.

One more thing

AI hype is built on high test scores. Those tests are flawed.

In the past few years, multiple researchers claim to have shown that large language models can pass cognitive tests designed for humans, from working through problems step by step, to guessing what other people are thinking.

These kinds of results are feeding a hype machine predicting that these machines will soon come for white-collar jobs. But there’s a problem: There’s little agreement on what those results really mean. Read the full story.

—William Douglas Heaven

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ The Magic Circle has readmitted a female magician who was expelled 30 years ago after she revealed she’d disguised herself as a man to gain access to the formerly male-only society. 🪄
+ These National Parks are stunningly beautiful.
+ The Fear of Flying Subreddit is one of the last pure places remaining on the internet.
+ Why Gen Z is so obsessed with iced coffee.

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Stay ahead with more perspectives on cutting-edge power, infrastructure, energy, bitcoin and AI solutions. Explore these articles to uncover strategies and insights shaping the future of industries.

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Proof-of-concept bypass shows weakness in Linux security tools, claims Israeli vendor

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Lenovo targets AI workloads with massive storage update

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ORLEN Signs Third Contract to Supply Naftogaz with Natural Gas

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Breaking: Major power outage reported in Spain and Portugal

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Weatherford Teams Up with AIQ for AI-Powered Systems

Weatherford International plc said it has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence firm AIQ. The collaboration aims to integrate Weatherford’s software and hardware solutions with AIQ’s AI-driven systems, Weatherford said in a news release. The combination will enable operators to “optimize their production workflows, reduce downtime, and significantly enhance operational efficiency across global oil and gas facilities,” the company added. Weatherford President and CEO Girish Saligram said, “We are excited to partner with AIQ to bring innovative, AI-driven solutions to the oil and gas industry. This strategic partnership allows us to deliver cutting-edge technologies that empower our customers to maximize their operational efficiency, enhance automation, and reduce costs. By combining our strengths, we are leading the way in helping operators modernize their workflows and achieve greater success in today’s rapidly evolving energy landscape”. Magzhan Kenesbai, Acting Managing Director of AIQ, said, “This partnership marks another step in AIQ’s mission to build partnerships that accelerate the deployment of impactful AI systems across the energy value chain. By integrating our advanced AI-driven tools with Weatherford’s energy-specific technology, we are driving greater efficiencies to the industry through the development of scalable, automated applications. Together, we are set to empower operators to optimize their workflows, reduce downtime, and achieve unparalleled operational excellence”. Further, Weatherford’s Universal Normalizer will work with AIQ’s capabilities to harmonize multi-asset data, combining operational and financial analysis into a unified, API-supported data model. The combination will “drive smarter decision-making and streamline operations across facilities,” the company said. New CFO Named Meanwhile, Weatherford appointed Anuj Dhruv as Chief Financial Officer of the company. Saligram said, “I am pleased to welcome Anuj to Weatherford. With fresh perspective and proven expertise, Anuj will enhance our leadership team and help position Weatherford to lead confidently through the next phase

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Deep Data Center: Neoclouds as the ‘Picks and Shovels’ of the AI Gold Rush

In 1849, the discovery of gold in California ignited a frenzy, drawing prospectors from around the world in pursuit of quick fortune. While few struck it rich digging and sifting dirt, a different class of entrepreneurs quietly prospered: those who supplied the miners with the tools of the trade. From picks and shovels to tents and provisions, these providers became indispensable to the gold rush, profiting handsomely regardless of who found gold. Today, a new gold rush is underway, in pursuit of artificial intelligence. And just like the days of yore, the real fortunes may lie not in the gold itself, but in the infrastructure and equipment that enable its extraction. This is where neocloud players and chipmakers are positioned, representing themselves as the fundamental enablers of the AI revolution. Neoclouds: The Essential Tools and Implements of AI Innovation The AI boom has sparked a frenzy of innovation, investment, and competition. From generative AI applications like ChatGPT to autonomous systems and personalized recommendations, AI is rapidly transforming industries. Yet, behind every groundbreaking AI model lies an unsung hero: the infrastructure powering it. Enter neocloud providers—the specialized cloud platforms delivering the GPU horsepower that fuels AI’s meteoric rise. Let’s examine how neoclouds represent the “picks and shovels” of the AI gold rush, used for extracting the essential backbone of AI innovation. Neoclouds are emerging as indispensable players in the AI ecosystem, offering tailored solutions for compute-intensive workloads such as training large language models (LLMs) and performing high-speed inference. Unlike traditional hyperscalers (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), which cater to a broad range of use cases, neoclouds focus exclusively on optimizing infrastructure for AI and machine learning applications. This specialization allows them to deliver superior performance at a lower cost, making them the go-to choice for startups, enterprises, and research institutions alike.

Soluna Computing: Innovating Renewable Computing for Sustainable Data Centers

Dorothy 1A & 1B (Texas): These twin 25 MW facilities are powered by wind and serve Bitcoin hosting and mining workloads. Together, they consumed over 112,000 MWh of curtailed energy in 2024, demonstrating the impact of Soluna’s model. Dorothy 2 (Texas): Currently under construction and scheduled for energization in Q4 2025, this 48 MW site will increase Soluna’s hosting and mining capacity by 64%. Sophie (Kentucky): A 25 MW grid- and hydro-powered hosting center with a strong cost profile and consistent output. Project Grace (Texas): A 2 MW AI pilot project in development, part of Soluna’s transition into HPC and machine learning. Project Kati (Texas): With 166 MW split between Bitcoin and AI hosting, this project recently exited the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. planning phase and is expected to energize between 2025 and 2027. Project Rosa (Texas): A 187 MW flagship project co-located with wind assets, aimed at both Bitcoin and AI workloads. Land and power agreements were secured by the company in early 2025. These developments are part of the company’s broader effort to tackle both energy waste and infrastructure bottlenecks. Soluna’s behind-the-meter design enables flexibility to draw from the grid or directly from renewable sources, maximizing energy value while minimizing emissions. Competition is Fierce and a Narrower Focus Better Serves the Business In 2024, Soluna tested the waters of providing AI services via a GPU-as-a-Service through a partnership with HPE, branded as Project Ada. The pilot aimed to rent out cloud GPUs for AI developers and LLM training. However, due to oversupply in the GPU market, delayed product rollouts (like NVIDIA’s H200), and poor demand economics, Soluna terminated the contract in March 2025. The cancellation of the contract with HPE frees up resources for Soluna to focus on what it believes the company does best: designing

Quiet Genius at the Neutral Line: How Onics Filters Are Reshaping the Future of Data Center Power Efficiency

Why Harmonics Matter In a typical data center, nonlinear loads—like servers, UPS systems, and switch-mode power supplies—introduce harmonic distortion into the electrical system. These harmonics travel along the neutral and ground conductors, where they can increase current flow, cause overheating in transformers, and shorten the lifespan of critical power infrastructure. More subtly, they waste power through reactive losses that don’t show up on a basic utility bill, but do show up in heat, inefficiency, and increased infrastructure stress. Traditional mitigation approaches—like active harmonic filters or isolation transformers—are complex, expensive, and often require custom integration and ongoing maintenance. That’s where Onics’ solution stands out. It’s engineered as a shunt-style, low-pass filter: a passive device that sits in parallel with the circuit, quietly siphoning off problematic harmonics without interrupting operations. The result? Lower apparent power demand, reduced electrical losses, and a quieter, more stable current environment—especially on the neutral line, where cumulative harmonic effects often peak. Behind the Numbers: Real-World Impact While the Onics filters offer a passive complement to traditional mitigation strategies, they aren’t intended to replace active harmonic filters or isolation transformers in systems that require them—they work best as a low-complexity enhancement to existing power quality designs. LoPilato says Onics has deployed its filters in mission-critical environments ranging from enterprise edge to large colos, and the data is consistent. In one example, a 6 MW data center saw a verified 9.2% reduction in energy consumption after deploying Onics filters at key electrical junctures. Another facility clocked in at 17.8% savings across its lighting and support loads, thanks in part to improved power factor and reduced transformer strain. The filters work by targeting high-frequency distortion—typically above the 3rd harmonic and up through the 35th. By passively attenuating this range, the system reduces reactive current on the neutral and helps stabilize

New IEA Report Contrasts Energy Bottlenecks with Opportunities for AI and Data Center Growth

Artificial intelligence has, without question, crossed the threshold—from a speculative academic pursuit into the defining infrastructure of 21st-century commerce, governance, and innovation. What began in the realm of research labs and open-source models is now embedded in the capital stack of every major hyperscaler, semiconductor roadmap, and national industrial strategy. But as AI scales, so does its energy footprint. From Nvidia-powered GPU clusters to exascale training farms, the conversation across boardrooms and site selection teams has fundamentally shifted. It’s no longer just about compute density, thermal loads, or software frameworks. It’s about power—how to find it, finance it, future-proof it, and increasingly, how to generate it onsite. That refrain—“It’s all about power now”—has moved from a whisper to a full-throated consensus across the data center industry. The latest report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) gives this refrain global context and hard numbers, affirming what developers, utilities, and infrastructure operators have already sensed on the ground: the AI revolution will be throttled or propelled by the availability of scalable, sustainable, and dispatchable electricity. Why Energy Is the Real Bottleneck to Intelligence at Scale The major new IEA report puts it plainly: The transformative promise of AI will be throttled—or unleashed—by the world’s ability to deliver scalable, reliable, and sustainable electricity. The stakes are enormous. Countries that can supply the power AI craves will shape the future. Those that can’t may find themselves sidelined. Importantly, while AI poses clear challenges, the report emphasizes how it also offers solutions: from optimizing energy grids and reducing emissions in industrial sectors to enhancing energy security by supporting infrastructure defenses against cyberattacks. The report calls for immediate investments in both energy generation and grid capabilities, as well as stronger collaboration between the tech and energy sectors to avoid critical bottlenecks. The IEA advises that, for countries

Colorado Eyes the AI Data Center Boom with Bold Incentive Push

Even as states work on legislation to limit data center development, it is clear that some locations are looking to get a bigger piece of the huge data center spending that the AI wave has created. It appears that politicians in Colorado took a look around and thought to themselves “Why is all that data center building going to Texas and Arizona? What’s wrong with the Rocky Mountain State?” Taking a page from the proven playbook that has gotten data centers built all over the country, Colorado is trying to jump on the financial incentives for data center development bandwagon. SB 24-085: A Statewide Strategy to Attract Data Center Investment Looking to significantly boost its appeal as a data center hub, Colorado is now considering Senate Bill 24-085, currently making its way through the state legislature. Sponsored by Senators Priola and Buckner and Representatives Parenti and Weinberg, this legislation promises substantial economic incentives in the form of state sales and use tax rebates for new data centers established within the state from fiscal year 2026 through 2033. Colorado hopes to position itself strategically to compete with neighboring states in attracting lucrative tech investments and high-skilled jobs. According to DataCenterMap.com, there are currently 53 data centers in the state, almost all located in the Denver area, but they are predominantly smaller facilities. In today’s era of massive AI-driven hyperscale expansion, Colorado is rarely mentioned in the same breath as major AI data center markets. Some local communities have passed their own incentive packages, but SB 24-085 aims to offer a unified, statewide framework that can also help mitigate growing NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) sentiment around new developments. The Details: How SB 24-085 Works The bill, titled “Concerning a rebate of the state sales and use tax paid on new digital infrastructure

Wonder Valley and the Great AI Pivot: Kevin O’Leary’s Bold Data Center Play

Data Center World 2025 drew record-breaking attendance, underscoring the AI-fueled urgency transforming infrastructure investment. But no session captivated the crowd quite like Kevin O’Leary’s electrifying keynote on Wonder Valley—his audacious plan to build the world’s largest AI compute data center campus. In a sweeping narrative that ranged from pandemic pivots to stranded gas and Branson-brand inspiration, O’Leary laid out a real estate and infrastructure strategy built for the AI era. A Pandemic-Era Pivot Becomes a Case Study in Digital Resilience O’Leary opened with a Shark Tank success story that doubled as a business parable. In 2019, a woman-led startup called Blueland raised $50 million to eliminate plastic cleaning bottles by shipping concentrated cleaning tablets in reusable kits. When COVID-19 shut down retail in 2020, her inventory was stuck in limbo—until she made an urgent call to O’Leary. What followed was a high-stakes, last-minute pivot: a union-approved commercial shoot in Brooklyn the night SAG-AFTRA shut down television production. The direct response ad campaign that resulted would not only liquidate the stranded inventory at full margin, but deliver something more valuable—data. By targeting locked-down consumers through local remnant TV ad slots and optimizing by conversion, Blueland saw unheard-of response rates as high as 17%. The campaign turned into a data goldmine: buyer locations, tablet usage patterns, household sizes, and contact details. Follow-up SMS campaigns would drive 30% reorders. “It built such a franchise in those 36 months,” O’Leary said, “with no retail. Now every retailer wants in.” The lesson? Build your infrastructure to control your data, and you build a business that scales even in chaos. This anecdote set the tone for the keynote: in a volatile world, infrastructure resilience and data control are the new core competencies. The Data Center Power Crisis: “There Is Not a Gig on the Grid” O’Leary

Microsoft will invest $80B in AI data centers in fiscal 2025

And Microsoft isn’t the only one that is ramping up its investments into AI-enabled data centers. Rival cloud service providers are all investing in either upgrading or opening new data centers to capture a larger chunk of business from developers and users of large language models (LLMs). In a report published in October 2024, Bloomberg Intelligence estimated that demand for generative AI would push Microsoft, AWS, Google, Oracle, Meta, and Apple would between them devote $200 billion to capex in 2025, up from $110 billion in 2023. Microsoft is one of the biggest spenders, followed closely by Google and AWS, Bloomberg Intelligence said. Its estimate of Microsoft’s capital spending on AI, at $62.4 billion for calendar 2025, is lower than Smith’s claim that the company will invest $80 billion in the fiscal year to June 30, 2025. Both figures, though, are way higher than Microsoft’s 2020 capital expenditure of “just” $17.6 billion. The majority of the increased spending is tied to cloud services and the expansion of AI infrastructure needed to provide compute capacity for OpenAI workloads. Separately, last October Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said his company planned total capex spend of $75 billion in 2024 and even more in 2025, with much of it going to AWS, its cloud computing division.

John Deere unveils more autonomous farm machines to address skill labor shortage

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Self-driving tractors might be the path to self-driving cars. John Deere has revealed a new line of autonomous machines and tech across agriculture, construction and commercial landscaping. The Moline, Illinois-based John Deere has been in business for 187 years, yet it’s been a regular as a non-tech company showing off technology at the big tech trade show in Las Vegas and is back at CES 2025 with more autonomous tractors and other vehicles. This is not something we usually cover, but John Deere has a lot of data that is interesting in the big picture of tech. The message from the company is that there aren’t enough skilled farm laborers to do the work that its customers need. It’s been a challenge for most of the last two decades, said Jahmy Hindman, CTO at John Deere, in a briefing. Much of the tech will come this fall and after that. He noted that the average farmer in the U.S. is over 58 and works 12 to 18 hours a day to grow food for us. And he said the American Farm Bureau Federation estimates there are roughly 2.4 million farm jobs that need to be filled annually; and the agricultural work force continues to shrink. (This is my hint to the anti-immigration crowd). John Deere’s autonomous 9RX Tractor. Farmers can oversee it using an app. While each of these industries experiences their own set of challenges, a commonality across all is skilled labor availability. In construction, about 80% percent of contractors struggle to find skilled labor. And in commercial landscaping, 86% of landscaping business owners can’t find labor to fill open positions, he said. “They have to figure out how to do

2025 playbook for enterprise AI success, from agents to evals

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More 2025 is poised to be a pivotal year for enterprise AI. The past year has seen rapid innovation, and this year will see the same. This has made it more critical than ever to revisit your AI strategy to stay competitive and create value for your customers. From scaling AI agents to optimizing costs, here are the five critical areas enterprises should prioritize for their AI strategy this year. 1. Agents: the next generation of automation AI agents are no longer theoretical. In 2025, they’re indispensable tools for enterprises looking to streamline operations and enhance customer interactions. Unlike traditional software, agents powered by large language models (LLMs) can make nuanced decisions, navigate complex multi-step tasks, and integrate seamlessly with tools and APIs. At the start of 2024, agents were not ready for prime time, making frustrating mistakes like hallucinating URLs. They started getting better as frontier large language models themselves improved. “Let me put it this way,” said Sam Witteveen, cofounder of Red Dragon, a company that develops agents for companies, and that recently reviewed the 48 agents it built last year. “Interestingly, the ones that we built at the start of the year, a lot of those worked way better at the end of the year just because the models got better.” Witteveen shared this in the video podcast we filmed to discuss these five big trends in detail. Models are getting better and hallucinating less, and they’re also being trained to do agentic tasks. Another feature that the model providers are researching is a way to use the LLM as a judge, and as models get cheaper (something we’ll cover below), companies can use three or more models to

OpenAI’s red teaming innovations define new essentials for security leaders in the AI era

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More OpenAI has taken a more aggressive approach to red teaming than its AI competitors, demonstrating its security teams’ advanced capabilities in two areas: multi-step reinforcement and external red teaming. OpenAI recently released two papers that set a new competitive standard for improving the quality, reliability and safety of AI models in these two techniques and more. The first paper, “OpenAI’s Approach to External Red Teaming for AI Models and Systems,” reports that specialized teams outside the company have proven effective in uncovering vulnerabilities that might otherwise have made it into a released model because in-house testing techniques may have missed them. In the second paper, “Diverse and Effective Red Teaming with Auto-Generated Rewards and Multi-Step Reinforcement Learning,” OpenAI introduces an automated framework that relies on iterative reinforcement learning to generate a broad spectrum of novel, wide-ranging attacks. Going all-in on red teaming pays practical, competitive dividends It’s encouraging to see competitive intensity in red teaming growing among AI companies. When Anthropic released its AI red team guidelines in June of last year, it joined AI providers including Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, and even the U.S.’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which all had released red teaming frameworks. Investing heavily in red teaming yields tangible benefits for security leaders in any organization. OpenAI’s paper on external red teaming provides a detailed analysis of how the company strives to create specialized external teams that include cybersecurity and subject matter experts. The goal is to see if knowledgeable external teams can defeat models’ security perimeters and find gaps in their security, biases and controls that prompt-based testing couldn’t find. What makes OpenAI’s recent papers noteworthy is how well they define using human-in-the-middle

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