Our 242nd episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!Recorded on 04/22/2026Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and Jeremie HarrisFeel free to email us your questions and feedback at [email protected] and/or [email protected] out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/In this episode:OpenAI released a new ChatGPT image model that excels at accurate text and screenshot-like generations, suggesting a transformer-style approach aligned with agentic “computer use” ambitions.Chinese model activity accelerated with Alibaba’s Qwen 3.6 Max Preview moving to an API-only offering, plus open releases from Moonshot AI (Kimi K2.6, a 1T-parameter MoE) and Minimax (Minimax M 2.7) showing strong benchmark results.Google expanded Deep Research with a “Max” option built on Gemini 3.1 Pro and MCP support for accessing proprietary data, while Mozilla reported using Anthropic’s Claude to find and fix 271 Firefox bugs.Business and policy updates include a reported SpaceX–Cursor deal with a $60B buy option, Cerebras filing for an IPO, Amazon adding $5B to Anthropic alongside a $100B AWS spending pledge, and platform responses to synthetic media like AI music spam and YouTube deepfake takedown requests.A thank you to our current sponsors:Box - visit Box.com/AI to learn moreODSC AI - go to odsc.ai/east and use promo code LWAI for an additional 15% off your pass to ODSC AI East 2026.Factor - head to factormeals.com/lwai50off and use code lwai50off to get 50 percent off and free breakfast for a yearTimestamps:

Intro / Banter

News Preview

Sponsors

Response to listener commentsTools & Apps

ChatGPT's new Images 2.0 model is surprisingly good at generating text | TechCrunch

Alibaba Drops Qwen 3.6 Max Preview—Its Most Powerful Model Yet - Decrypt

Google launches Deep Research and Deep Research Max agents to automate complex research

Mozilla Used Anthropic’s Mythos to Find and Fix 271 Bugs in Firefox | WIRED

Ordering with the Starbucks ChatGPT app was a true coffee nightmare | The VergeApplications & Business

SpaceX is working with Cursor and has an option to buy the startup for $60B | TechCrunch

AI chip startup Cerebras files for IPO | TechCrunch

Two startups want to replace how AI learns: one just raised $180M, another is seeking up to $1B

Months-old start-up Recursive Superintelligence raises $500mn for self-teaching AI

Anthropic takes $5B from Amazon and pledges $100B in cloud spending in return | TechCrunch

Kevin Weil and Bill Peebles exit OpenAI as company continues to shed 'side quests' | TechCrunch

Meta hires five Thinking Machines Lab founders including a reported $1.5 billion engineer - Meta cuts 198 Bay Area jobs as even larger layoffs reportedly loom

Meta employees are up in arms over a mandatory program to train AI on their mouse movements and keystrokes

Chinese fabs import record volumes of US chipmaking equipment via Singapore and Malaysia — homegrown tool makers booked record 2025 revenues as price competition squeezes margins

Google Eyes New Chips to Speed Up AI Results, Challenging Nvidia

Canadian quantum company Xanadu soars to $16 billion valuation after Nvidia releaseProjects & Open Source

Moonshot AI releases Kimi-K2.6 model with 1T parameters, attention optimizations - SiliconANGLE

MiniMax Just Open Sourced MiniMax M2.7: A Self-Evolving Agent Model that Scores 56.22% on SWE-Pro and 57.0% on Terminal Bench 2 - MarkTechPostPolicy & Safety

Infusion: Shaping Model Behavior by Editing Training Data via Influence Functions

Scoop: NSA using Anthropic's Mythos despite blacklist

Unauthorized group has gained access to Anthropic’s exclusive cyber tool Mythos, report claimsResearch & Advancements

Parcae: Scaling Laws For Stable Looped Language Models

OccuBench: Evaluating AI Agents on Real-World Professional Tasks via Language Environment SimulationSynthetic Media & Art

Deezer says 44% of songs uploaded to its platform daily are AI-generated | TechCrunch