AI / Large Model
Anthropic's new funding round may value it at $900 billion, with a target of $50 billion.
With a pre-money valuation of approximately $90 billion, it has become the world's second-largest AI unicorn, second only to OpenAI.
Anthropic releases research on natural language autoencoders that transform Claude's "thoughts" into text.
By using autoencoder technology to map the internal representations of a model into readable text, a new direction for open interpretive research is emerging.
Google releases AlphaEvolve, a Gemini-powered programming agent that can expand its influence across various fields.
From biomedicine to materials science, automated programming agents are beginning to enter practical applications in laboratories.
> Hot Take: Anthropic's valuation is approaching $100 billion, Claude has transformed from a "safety advocate" to a "money magnet," and OpenAI's competitors finally have real financial firepower.
DeepSeek 4 Flash native inference engine supports Metal, an open-source implementation by developer antirez.
Metal acceleration allows Mac users to run DeepSeek 4 locally, further improving the local inference toolchain.
Mozilla partners with Claude Mythos Preview to enhance Firefox security.
AI models are beginning to directly participate in browser security hardening, marking a new paradigm of collaboration between technology and security research.
Encryption / Web3
Zcash surges 70% in a week, bringing renewed attention to the privacy coin sector.
The growing emphasis on privacy and changes in the regulatory environment may open new opportunities for privacy coins.
Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have escalated again, and clashes between the US and Iran have fueled a V-shaped rebound in oil prices.
Three US destroyers were attacked by Iran while transiting the strait. After the US retaliated, Trump claimed that he "destroyed them," leading to increased volatility in oil prices and risk assets.
The People's Bank of China has increased its gold holdings for the 18th consecutive month.
Risk aversion and de-dollarization persist, with central bank gold reserves increasing by a record high in 14 months.
Chip / Hardware
SK Hynix distributes bonuses of several million yuan per employee to capitalize on AI boom; Samsung employees plan strike.
The surge in demand for memory chips has led to huge bonuses for SK Hynix employees, while Samsung faces strike pressure due to disparities in compensation.
Hot Topic: AI is further widening the wealth gap within the semiconductor industry.
TSMC's revenue in April was NT$410.73 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17.5%.
Demand for AI chips continues to drive TSMC's revenue growth.
Nvidia's "own child," CoreWeave, is facing a major earnings test tonight, and its stock price has already surged by 245%.
The market is beginning to worry about three major risks: overvaluation, intensified competition, and customer concentration.
Technology companies
Cloudflare announced layoffs of approximately 20%, affecting over 1,100 employees.
Cloud service giants have significantly scaled back operations amid economic uncertainty, with layoffs on a scale rarely seen in recent years.
Hot Topic: Layoffs at Tech Companies Are Not Over Yet, Even in High-Growth Sectors.
> Hot Take: Cloudflare cut one-fifth of its employees, making its "We protect the Internet" slogan seem ironic now—it can't even protect its own employees' jobs.
Sony PS5 sales plummet, with memory shortage and price increases being the main reasons.
Soaring memory chip costs forced Sony to raise prices, resulting in a drop in sales.
Apple's camera-equipped AirPods are nearing mass production, paving the way for AI features.
The camera in AirPods may be used for spatial computing and AI-assisted scene recognition.
US stocks
Kodiak AI raised $100 million at a significant discount, causing its stock price to plummet 37% in a single day.
Valuation discount financing triggered market panic, and the valuation bubble of autonomous truck companies began to burst.
Uncertainty surrounding US-Iran peace talks dampened risk sentiment, causing the three major US stock indexes to close lower.
The ongoing tensions in the Hormuz region have made market sentiment cautious, with the offshore yuan hitting a four-year high during trading.
New products / New trends
The world's first dual-core neutral atom quantum computer, "Hanyuan-2," has been released, with a total power consumption of less than 7 kilowatts.
China has made new progress in quantum computing using the neutral atom approach, with power consumption only a fraction of that of the superconducting approach.
Russia launches Rassvet satellite network, a competitor to Starlink.
Geopolitics is driving the development of independent satellite internet, intensifying competition in space infrastructure.
> Hot take: A quantum computer consumes 7 kilowatts, roughly the power of three household air conditioners—finally, it can be put into a laboratory instead of a power plant.
Today's hidden story
AI valuations soaring, tech company layoffs, escalating geopolitical conflicts—today's news appears to be three parallel lines, but they all point to the same anxiety: where is the end of growth? Anthropic raised $50 billion to bet on the future of AI, Cloudflare laid off one-fifth of its employees to protect cash flow, and the gunfire in the Strait of Hormuz serves as a reminder of how fragile global supply chains are. Money is concentrating on the most certain future while simultaneously withdrawing from the most uncertain present.
