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SK Hynix launches AI Company in the U.S. with at least $10 billion to centralize SK Group's AI efforts and fund U.S. startups. Building on HBM dominance—key for Nvidia chips with up to 1 TB/s bandwidth—this hub addresses AI demand surges. Q4 profits soared amid memory shortages in a super-cycle driven by data centers and 5G. Restructuring Solidigm supports AI storage needs, while $3.87B Indiana plant targets HBM production by 2028. Aligning with U.S. policies, it mitigates tariffs and boosts bilateral ties, intensifying competition and creating jobs.

Clawdbot, an open-source AI assistant for tasks like email sorting and browser automation, faces security risks in self-hosted setups, with hundreds of exposed instances vulnerable to attacks like prompt injections that could reroute private data. OpenClaw's new hosted platform, OpenClawd.ai, counters this with default authentication, automatic updates, encrypted storage, and isolated environments. Evolved from Moltbot, Clawdbot integrates with WhatsApp, Telegram, and Slack, boasting thousands of GitHub stars. Users benefit from seamless deployment and scalability, ideal for developers and businesses avoiding sysadmin burdens while maintaining open-source flexibility. Compare options and get started in three steps for secure AI productivity.

OpenClaw, the AI agent that acts on commands via messaging apps like Slack and Discord, has amassed 100,000 GitHub stars quickly. Built for local execution to enhance privacy, it handles tasks from calendar checks to browser actions—but deep system access invites risks. Security experts highlight misconfigurations exposing interfaces online, prompt injection threats enabling malicious commands, and scams via fake repos post-rebrands. Enterprises report 22% of employees using variants without oversight, amplifying shadow IT issues. Discover its evolution, functionality, and lessons for securing agentic AI tools.

LMArena, founded in 2023 by UC Berkeley researchers, just raised $150 million in Series A funding at $1.7 billion valuation, led by Felicis and UC Investments, with backers like Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins. This triples its prior $100 million seed valuation in seven months, amid booming demand for AI evaluation tools. The platform uses crowdsourced prompts and user feedback to compare models side-by-side, tackling issues like data contamination and outdated benchmarks. Top rankings feature Google's Gemini 3 Pro, followed by Gemini 3 Flash and xAI's Grok 4.1. Developers like OpenAI test models here pre-launch, with AI Evaluations service hitting $30 million annualized run rate for verifiable insights.

Physical AI at CES 2026 spotlighted tangible tech, blending AI cognition with physical actions in robots and vehicles. Key components include multi-sensor perception for environment mapping, predictive modeling to foresee movements, and precise control systems for tasks like folding laundry or avoiding obstacles. Challenges like low-latency edge processing were addressed via Nvidia's Cosmos Reason 2 for simulations and Jetson T4000 for efficient hardware. Announcements featured Isaac GR00T N1.6 for humanoid control, Arm's dedicated Physical AI unit, and Boston Dynamics' Atlas updates for manufacturing. These pave the way for safer automation in homes, factories, and autonomous driving, potentially boosting productivity by 30-50% in repetitive tasks.

Project Genie brings Google DeepMind's Genie 3 to life as a web-based prototype, allowing users to sketch, explore, and remix AI-generated worlds in real time. Start with text prompts or images to build environments for walking, flying, or driving, with physics simulations ensuring realistic interactions. Limited to 60-second sessions for U.S. Google AI Ultra subscribers 18+, it highlights advancements in world models from early game AI like Chess masters to versatile simulations. Testers in entertainment and education praise its consistency and potential, though visual fidelity and latency need refinement. This tool fosters creativity in prototyping VR concepts, historical recreations, and more, signaling progress toward AGI.

Microsoft's BitNet b1.58 2B4T is a 2-billion-parameter 1-Bit LLM natively trained with 1.58-bit ternary weights {-1, 0, +1}, matching full-precision models in benchmarks like MMLU (78.5%) and GSM8K (45.7%) while using just 0.4 GB memory and 15 ms/token latency on CPUs. It outperforms 4-bit quantized alternatives in energy (0.5 J/1K tokens) and speed, enabling on-device AI for mobiles, IoT, and wearables. Key features include absmean quantization, BitLinear layers, and bitnet.cpp for seamless inference. This breakthrough supports edge AI without GPUs, reducing costs and carbon footprint for developers and enterprises.

Microsoft shook off AI bubble worries with Q2 revenues of $81.27 billion, beating forecasts by $950 million and posting EPS of $4.14 against $3.92 expected. Azure grew 39% year-over-year, down slightly from 40%, but Microsoft Cloud hit $50 billion for the first time. CEO Satya Nadella emphasized early AI diffusion, building a business larger than key franchises. Shares fell 4% on growth slowdown concerns, yet the company maintains a two-year streak of beating estimates. With $505 billion in projected AI infrastructure spend by top tech firms, Microsoft's investments position it for sustained leadership in cloud and AI.

Microsoft's shares dropped 12%, wiping out $400 billion in value after earnings revealed Azure growth slowing to 37-38% due to AI chip shortages. Capital spending surged 66% to $37.5 billion for data centers, while OpenAI ties now represent 45% of cloud backlog, introducing $280 billion in revenue risk amid the startup's $100 billion debt. Analysts like Dan Ives see 2026 as an AI inflection point, but concerns over profitability and competition from Google and Amazon persist. This sell-off signals broader tech sector caution on AI hype versus execution, with implications for jobs, energy use, and global supply chains.

Moltbot AI Assistant, formerly Clawdbot, runs offline on local devices, integrating with emails, files, and apps for proactive task management—driving its viral growth among developers and productivity users. Yet, security researchers flag severe risks: hundreds of exposed admin interfaces allow unauthenticated access to credentials and chats, while malicious Skills in the MoltHub registry enable supply-chain attacks, with one demo infecting 16 users in hours. In enterprises, 22% of clients run unauthorized instances, risking data leaks, prompt injections, and malware like RedLine targeting its storage. Key threats include plaintext credential files and root-level access; experts recommend VM isolation, firewalls, and audits to balance innovation with safety.