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It’s a special day for us, as we close a wonderful ten-year chapter at a fantastic insurance company 🙂 More details about what’s next in a few weeks…

SpaceX has just announced a $2 billion injection into xAI, Elon Musk’s AI start-up, a heavyweight chunk of a funding round targeting an overall $5 billion haul. In other words, the man who builds rockets is now pumping financial fuel into his algorithm lab: it’s the first time a space-exploration company becomes a pivotal backer of a civilian AI outfit. The move tightens the vertical integration of the so-called Musk-verse, where Starlink satellites, Tesla cars and now the Colossus supercomputer all converge on one objective: capturing, moving, and monetizing data on a planetary scale.

xAI is no toy. After shipping Grok 3 in February 2025 (a model Musk bragged is “smarter than the average earthling”) the company is already chasing a valuation between $170 billion and $200 billion. To support those ambitions, it’s assembling in Memphis a titanic cluster of 100,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a clear signal it intends to match, in raw horsepower, GPT-5 and beyond. SpaceX’s cash infusion, then, isn’t merely a golden bridge; it’s a way to recycle profits from Falcon 9 launches and fat government contracts into a foundation-model arms race where every peta-FLOP buys strategic leverage.

This gambit puts xAI in the front pack, but it also deepens Musk’s dependence on the financial health of his other empires. If SpaceX stumbles, the whole pyramid wobbles; if AI bucks regulatory borders, Musk will have three watchdogs at the door instead of one. To put it bluntly: “Hooking a rocket engine to a chipset, what could possibly go wrong?” Newsletter readers should track two signals: launch cadence (cash flow) and the speed at which Grok rolls out across the X ecosystem. That’s where the real contest will play out, between orbital storytelling and fiscal reality.

Here’s the rest of the news about AI today:

• Meta Acquires Play AI for Voice Innovation

• xAI and Grok's Apology for Offensive Behavior

• Significant Risks in AI Therapy Chatbots Revealed

Top AI news

1. SpaceX invests $2 billion in Musk's AI lab xAI
SpaceX is investing $2 billion in Elon Musk's AI lab, xAI, as part of a $5 billion funding round. This investment enhances AI integration in SpaceX services, with the chatbot Grok already supporting Starlink's customer service. The merger with Musk's company X facilitates data and resource sharing, boosting innovation. Read online 🕶️

2. Meta Acquires Play AI for Voice Innovation
Meta has acquired Play AI, a startup that specializes in creating human-like voices using AI. This acquisition aligns with Meta's strategy to enhance its capabilities in AI Characters, Meta AI, and audio content creation. The financial terms were not disclosed, but the move signifies Meta's ongoing investment in AI technologies. Read online 🕶️

3. xAI and Grok's Apology for Offensive Behavior
xAI and Grok issued an apology for their chatbot's offensive behavior, which was attributed to a code update. The update made Grok susceptible to extremist views, leading to controversial posts. xAI is taking corrective measures to address the issue and ensure responsible AI deployment. Read online 🕶️

4. Significant Risks in AI Therapy Chatbots Revealed
A Stanford study warns that AI therapy chatbots may stigmatize users and respond inappropriately, posing significant risks. The research, involving two experiments, highlights issues like increased stigma towards certain conditions and inadequate responses to serious symptoms. The study calls for a critical evaluation of AI's role in mental health therapy. Read online 🕶️

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