AI
AI
AI
Cloudflare’s AI game-changer, Intel’s challenges and the Trump-Musk catfight
Artificial intelligence model providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic that have had a mostly free ride on scraping the entire internet to train their models may be facing a serious roadblock now.
Internet infrastructure services firm Cloudflare this week enabled website operators to charge AI developers for access to their material. It’s a bit of a closing-the-barn-door-after-the-horses-fled situation — not Cloudflare’s fault — but since AI models need constant training and retraining, maybe this will change the balance of power.
Meanwhile, competition is intensifying in AI — isn’t it always? Apple, for one, is playing off Anthropic against OpenAI to run its voice assistant Siri. Elon Musk’s xAI raised $10 billion to upgrade its infrastructure to stay in the game. And Baidu has open-sourced its Ernie AI model in a bid to take on OpenAI.
Can Intel survive? Dave Vellante and David Floyer think new CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s plan has a chance, but a lot still has to go right — including some downsized ambitions, the latest of which is that it’s looking at moving on from one of its fab processes.
No sooner did Musk rake President Trump’s awful-for-every-reason budget bill and call the GOP the Porky Pig Party (for once he’s not wrong) than Trump said he’d maybe review Musk’s immigration status. Then Tesla’s stock tanked. The next day, Tesla deliveries plunged but not as much as investors feared, and shares rose 5%. More popcorn, please!
Cybersecurity firm Cato Networks raised a massive $359 million late-stage funding round, as consolidation in the industry continued.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise finally closed its acquisition of Juniper Networks after getting the green light from the Justice Department. Zeus Kerravala looked at the implications for both sets of customers, but as always, it will depend on how well the acquirer manages the combination.
You can hear more about this and other news on the latest podcast theCUBE Pod from John Furrier and Dave Vellante: On theCUBE Pod: The robotics debate, stablecoins and the AI race continues
Here’s all the news this week from SiliconANGLE and beyond — a slightly early Independence Day week edition — but check back later this week, since I’ll be adding new stories as they break:
AI and data: Cloudflare’s game-changer
New models and services
AI game changer? Cloudflare lets website operators charge AI developers for access
China’s Baidu declares war on OpenAI and others by open-sourcing Ernie AI model
Apple reportedly considering using tech from OpenAI or Anthropic as it falls behind in AI race
Report: Meta is developing chatbots that will send unsolicited messages to users
Google expands access to AI tools in the classroom for educators with Gemini
Anysphere’s Cursor brings AI coding agents to web and mobile browsers
Agentic AI workflow automation startup FileAI launches in public access
BrowserStack launches AI agent suite to automate software testing workflows
ChatGPT Data Collective launches to give users control over their AI chat histories
Bright Data introduces new lineup of AI data tools
Money matters
Global venture capital shows signs of life in second quarter as AI deals dominate capital flow
Elon Musk’s xAI raises $10B to upgrade its AI infrastructure
Canadian legal tech startup Clio swoops to acquire vLex for $1B
Data labeling startup Surge AI reportedly seeking $1B in first capital raise
Chinese GPU startups Moore Threads and MetaX file for IPOs, seeking a combined $1.65B in funding
Perplexity AI launches new ‘Max’ subscription priced at $200/month
Levelpath raises $55M+ more to bring AI-native procurement to the enterprise
AI startup Tandem Health raises $50M to reduce notetaking burden on European doctors
UK-based AI-driven parcel delivery startup Hived raises $42M
Campfire reels in $35M for its AI-powered ERP platform
Customer support automation startup Wonderful raises $34M
CRED launches with $15M to bring predictive AI to enterprise teams
Argon AI raises $5.5M to build AI-native workspace for biopharma teams
Zango raises $4.8M to help financial firms with regulatory compliance using agentic AI
LogicFlo raises $2.7M to bring agentic AI to change work for pharmacology and medtech teams
Policy
Europe’s biggest companies call for two-year pause on EU’s landmark AI Act
Publisher group files EU antitrust complaint against Google over AI Overviews
There’s even more AI and big data news on SiliconANGLE
Around the enterprise: Can Intel rewire its destiny?
Analysis
The last word on Intel’s fate: Breaking Analysis: Inside Intel’s bid to rewire its destiny And another step to downsizing its ambitions: Report: Intel considers moving on from 18A chip manufacturing process
Money matters
HPE finally gets green light to buy Juniper and take on Cisco in AI networking and then quickly closes the deal: HPE closes $14B Juniper acquisition following regulatory approval Meantime: Datadog stock jumps 10% on inclusion in S&P 500 index, replacing Juniper
And Zeus Kerravala’s analysis: Analysis: With HPE-Juniper deal now cleared, what’s ahead for customers?
Arista acquires VeloCloud from Broadcom and Todd Nightingale joins as president and COO
TSMC reportedly accelerates investment in Arizona chip complex as Samsung delays Texas fab
Grammarly acquires email client developer Superhuman
Oracle wins cloud contract expected to generate $30B+ in annual revenue
Figma makes IPO plans public following earlier confidential SEC filing
Low-power chip supplier Ambiq Micro files to go public
SoftBank’s acquisition of AI chip designer Ampere may face FTC probe (per Bloomberg)
Chipmaker Wolfspeed files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
New products and services
Freshworks launches Freshservice Journeys to streamline employee service workflows
We have lots more news on cloud, infrastructure and apps
Cyber beat: Cato Networks bulks up
Money matters
Cato Networks raises $359M in funding for its SASE platform
LevelBlue to acquire Trustwave in push to expand managed cybersecurity capabilities
Concentric AI buys startups Swift Security and Acante to expand scope of data protection platform
Attack & response
Thales finds enterprises losing ground in race to secure AI and cloud
Cofense uncovers dramatic rise in phishing attacks using Spain’s .es domains
New services
Exabeam expands Nova AI platform with new strategy agent for CISOs
Legit Security launches MCP Server to secure AI-generated code
Elsewhere around tech: Elon rips Trump’s bill, Trump threatens to deport him
Elon Musk says latest version of Trump’s budget bill is ‘utterly insane’ and will destroy clean energy sector He had some choice things to say about the GOP. Then Trump said “we’ll have to take a look” at deporting Musk: Tesla shares slump after Trump threatens Elon Musk with DOGE and entertains deportation Clash of the infants.
Amazon is on the cusp of using more robots than humans in its warehouses (per the Wall Street Journal)
Telegram blockchain developer startup TOP raises $28.5M at $1B valuation
Qedma raises $26M for its quantum error correction software
And check out more news on emerging tech, blockchain and crypto and policy
Comings and goings
Microsoft cuts 9,000 jobs in latest round of layoffs
Safe Superintelligence CEO Daniel Gross joins Meta‘s new AI lab
Alteryx named a new chief technology officer: former Bluecore CTO and Salesforce SVP of Engineering Arvind Krishnan.
AI edge inference accelerator startup Axelera AI promoted Chief Marketing Officer Alexis Crowell, who joined the company last October after years at Intel, to general manager of Americas. Former Oxa executive Marta Ostroumoff is new chief financial officer and former Thales Digital Identity and Security exec Eke Bijzitter is new head of legal (per CRN).
Empower Semiconductor appointed Steve Hertog SVP of sales.
What’s next
Events
July 9: AWS & Ecosystems Leaders Halftime Report: A virtual event from theCUBE, with interviews of Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman and many other AWS execs.
Earnings
July 10: TSMC
Image: SiliconANGLE/Reve
A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:
Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.
- 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more
- 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network.
About SiliconANGLE Media
SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.
Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.
