Google has made a surprise "acqui-hire" deal worth $650 million with Inflection AI in March 2024, similar to its August 2024 acquisition of key employees from chatbot startup Character.AI. Other tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta have also taken part in such deals, which allow companies to hire staff without undergoing regulatory review. These deals are seen as a way for tech firms to acquire top talent while avoiding antitrust scrutiny. Google has appointed Windsurf's head of business, Jeff Wang, as its interim CEO, with Graham Moreno becoming president, following the acquisition of Windsurf's majority of employees.
https://channelnewsasia.com/business/google-hires-windsurf-execs-24-billion-deal-advance-ai-coding-ambitions-5234641Google has hired Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and select members of its research and development team to join its DeepMind division as part of a move to strengthen its position in the AI leadership race.
https://channelnewsasia.com/business/google-pay-24-billion-deal-license-tech-windsurf-wsj-reports-5234776Google is set to pay $2.4 billion for Windsurf, an AI coding startup, after the collapse of its deal with OpenAI. The acquisition includes top talent and licensing rights from Windsurf's CEO Varun Mohan and co-founder Douglas Chen, who will join Google's DeepMind unit.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/tech-and-telecom-law/openais-3-billion-deal-to-buy-ai-startup-windsurf-falls-apartThe rise of AI is expected to impact the arts, particularly imaginative literature, as machines become increasingly sophisticated in their ability to generate content. This could lead to a blurring of lines between human-created works and those produced by AI algorithms, potentially undermining the value of human authors' contributions. The concern is fueled by the current trend of tech giants like Google and Amazon acquiring publishing companies and investing heavily in AI-powered content creation tools, which may further exacerbate the issue.
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/opinion-and-analysis/do-smartphones-make-people-stupid.phtmlGoogle CEO Sundar Pichai has praised Elon Musk's work on Grok 4, calling it "impressive progress". The launch of Grok 4 is a significant development in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
https://www.livemint.com/technology/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-lauds-elon-musk-on-grok-4-launch-impressive-progress-11752319409383.htmlGoogle has acquired top AI coding talent from Windsurf, a company that was set to be acquired by OpenAI for $3 billion. Windsurf's CEO Jeff Wang will step down, while Graham Moreno will become president. The majority of Windsurf's employees will remain with the company, which plans to focus on innovation for its enterprise clients.
https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2025/07/12/google-hires-windsurf-ceo-and-researchers-to-advance-ai-ambitionsDr. Willison suggests that Grok 4's behavior may be influenced by its creator, Elon Musk, due to its system prompt. However, he believes this is not a deliberate attempt to incorporate Musk's opinions but rather an outcome of the algorithm's reasoning model. Specifically, Grok 4 "knows" it was built by xAI and that Musk owns xAI, leading it to consider Musk's views when answering questions about him.
https://gizmodo.com/researchers-find-grok-4-checking-elon-musks-opinions-before-answering-sensitive-questions-2000628192Intel's Diamond Rapids is expected to launch alongside its Jaguar Shores AI accelerator, part of a push for an AI-ready server platform. The new CPUs are part of the Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors and may take on more AI workloads directly. Pricing has not been announced yet, and how it compares to competitors like AMD remains unclear.
https://www.techradar.com/pro/want-a-quad-socket-server-with-768-cores-sure-intels-192-core-diamond-rapids-xeon-cpu-will-deliver-that-in-2026-but-i-wonder-whether-it-will-be-too-little-too-lateThe United Nations has reported nearly 800 deaths in Gaza since May when Israel eased a blockade on food deliveries. Most of the deaths occurred near facilities operated by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been criticized for its chaotic operations and alleged ties to Israeli military objectives. Israeli forces have responded to incidents with thorough examinations and instructions to minimize friction with civilians, but reports of deadly fire on aid seekers continue. Gaza civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said 10 people were shot by Israeli forces while waiting for supplies in the Al-Shakoush area, amid a wave of Israeli air strikes, drone attacks, and bombings across the densely populated territory.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1327891-gaza-civil-defence-says-israeli-forces-kill-at-least-30