April 04, 2026: Some Improvement In Headlines Dominated Market

Last week, Dow Jones gained ~3%, S&P 500 rose 3.4%, Nasdaq composite was up ~4.4%. These improvements follow major indices’ five-week losing streaks amid major ongoing geopolitical risks. During the brief futures trading window on Friday, Dow Jones was down 0.2% vs. fair value, S&P 500 futures were down 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.4%. OpenAI raised a massive US$122 billion funding round at an US$830 billion valuation, with major commitments from Amazon, SoftBank, and Nvidia. SpaceX filed confidentially for its June IPO, aiming to raise US$75 billion at a valuation exceeding US$1.25 trillion. Nasdaq is already shortening index entry rules to accommodate this and potentially other large listings. CoreWeave raised US$8.5 billion in a GPU-backed debt deal. Nvidia invested US$2 billion in Marvell. Amazon is reportedly in talks to acquire Globalstar for over US$10 billion to bolster its satellite efforts. Oracle is laying off thousands of employees to offset heavy data center spending. Allbirds agreed to a US$39 million fire sale. Activist investor Irenic Capital called for a restructuring at Snap, citing a potential value of US$26 per share. In Canada, Repay is acquiring Mississauga-based Kubra for US$372 million. NGen announced an $80 million envelope for AI adoption in manufacturing. ThinkLabs secured US$28 million to modernize power grids. In news pertaining to Sophic clients, Juno Industries upsized its financing to $10 million. Replenish Nutrients closed an oversubscribed $4.8 million private placement. Boardwalktech closed the first tranche of nearly $400K of its private placement. Intermap reported 2025 results with US$22.5 million in cash and confirmed it has been down-selected for Indonesia’s US$200 million ILASP project, leading to a positive reaction in the stock. Sophic clients, Juno Industries, Kraken Robotics, and Cybeats presented their stories to investors at the CG Defense Technology Conference held in Toronto last week.

Sophic Client Juno Industries related: Trail Blazer Capital Corp. announces upsizing of Juno Industries Inc.’s Subscription Receipt financing to $10,000,000.

Trail Blazer Capital Corp. (TSXV: TBLZ.P) (“Trail Blazer” or the “Company”), a capital pool company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (the “Exchange”), is pleased to announce that, further to its news release dated March 25, 2026, Juno Industries Inc. (“Juno”) has upsized its non-brokered concurrent financing from $7,000,000 to $10,000,000 (the “Upsized Financing”). Juno will now be offering up to 12,500,000 subscription receipts (the “Subscription Receipts”) at a price of $0.80 per Subscription Receipt for total gross proceeds of up to $10,000,000. Each Subscription Receipt will, prior to the effective time of the Company’s acquisition of 100% of the shares of Juno (the “Juno Shares”) through the amalgamation of Juno with a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Proposed Transaction”), automatically convert into such number of Juno Shares that will result in the holder receiving one common share in the capital of Trail Blazer (on a post 6:1 consolidation basis) in connection with the completion of the Proposed Transaction, for no additional consideration upon the satisfaction of certain escrow release conditions. Upon completion of the Proposed Transaction, the Company (the “Resulting Issuer”) expects that it will be listed as a Tier 2 Industrial, Technology, and Life Sciences Issuer on the Exchange. https://tinyurl.com/dt2amfje

Sophic Client Replenish Nutrients Holding Corp. (ERTH-CSE, VVIVF-OTC) completes oversubscribed Private Placement financing.

Replenish has closed the third and final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered private placement of units of the Company (“Units”), including the Debt Settlement (as defined below) for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $4.8 million (the “Offering”). In connection with the Offering, the Company issued, in aggregate, 40,850,112 Units at a price of $0.12 per Unit, including (i) 7,658,332 Units under the first tranche for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $919,000; (ii) 18,208,757 Units under the second tranche for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $2,185,050; and (iii) 3,745,667 Units under the third tranche for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $449,480. Under the Offering, Replenish issued an aggregate of 11,237,356 Units to certain directors and trade creditors (the “Creditors”) in connection with the settlement of approximately $1,348,000 in aggregate indebtedness owing by the Company to the Creditors (the “Debt Settlement”). Pursuant to the Offering, each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (“Common Share”) and one Common Share purchase warrant of the Company (“Warrant”), each whole Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.18 per Common Share for a period of two years following the issue date. All of the securities issued under the Offering are subject to a four-month and one-day statutory hold period. In connection with the third tranche of the Offering, the Company paid an aggregate of $13,444 in finder’s fees and issued, in aggregate, 48,020 finder’s warrants, entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.18 for a period of 24 months following the issue date. Neil Wiens, Chief Executive Officer of Replenish, commented: “We are pleased to complete this financing and appreciate the continued support from both new and existing investors. This capital strengthens our working capital position as we continue scaling production at our Beiseker facility and advancing our licensing partnerships with MJ Ag and Farmers Union. With Beiseker moving toward steady-state operations and our partners progressing toward initial commissioning, we believe Replenish is well positioned to execute on the next phase of growth in 2026. Our focus remains on increasing production volumes, supporting our licensing partners, and expanding adoption of our regenerative fertilizer platform across key agricultural markets.”The issuance of 200,000 Units, in aggregate, to an insider of the Company under the third tranche of the Debt Settlement constitutes a “related party transaction” within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”), requiring Replenish, in the absence of exemptions, to obtain a formal valuation and minority shareholder approval of the related party transactions. Pursuant to Sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, the Company relied on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements, respectively, as in addition to the Company’s Common Shares not being listed on a specified market, neither the fair market value of the Units nor the consideration for such Units, insofar as it involves the insider, exceeds 25 percent of the Company’s market capitalization. The Company did not file a material change report more than 21 days before the expected closing of the Offering, as the details and amounts of the related party participation were not finalized until closer to the closing and the Company wished to close the transaction as soon as practicable for sound business reasons. In connection with the second tranche of the Offering, the Company issued, in aggregate, 21,397,646 Units at a price of $0.12 per Unit, including (i) 17,550,000 Units issued to Sorbie Bornholm LP (“Sorbie”) in connection with a strategic investment (the “Strategic Investment”), where 16,250,000 Common Shares are held pursuant to a sharing agreement between Replenish and Sorbie (the “Sharing Agreement”). The Sharing Agreement provides the Company with a payment of $81,250 per month over 24 months, beginning five months following the closing of the Offering, multiplied by the percent difference between the benchmark price of $0.1730 (the “Benchmark Price”) and a 20-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) in the month of settlement. https://tinyurl.com/mt5knvys

Sophic Client Boardwalktech, Inc. (BWLK-TSXV, BWLKF-OTCQB) announces closing of first Tranche of Non-Brokered Private Placement.

Boardwalktech has closed a first tranche (“First Tranche”) of its non-brokered private placement (“the Offering”) consisting of 10,994,285 units (the “Units”) at a subscription price of C$0.035 per Unit, for gross proceeds of approximately C$384,800 raised in the First Tranche. Each Unit consists of one common share (“Common Share”) and one Common Share purchase warrant (“Warrant”). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of C$0.05, for a period of two years from the date of issuance. Certain finders received 8% cash and 8% non-transferable finder’s warrants exercisable for common shares of the Company at $0.05 per share for two years, for an aggregate of 302,400 finder’s warrants and C$15,384 cash commissions paid in the First Tranche. Insiders of the Company participated in the First Tranche for an aggregate of 3,000,000 Units for a total of C$105,000. https://tinyurl.com/3psuujrk

Sophic Client Intermap (IMP-TSX, ITMSF-OTC) reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 results.

Intermap reported its fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results, highlighting a strengthened balance sheet and continued growth in recurring subscription and data revenue. Intermap ended 2025 with a significantly strengthened balance sheet and continued growth in high-margin, recurring subscription and data revenue driven by innovative products and services. The strengthening of the balance sheet was driven by successful equity financings completed during the year, positioning the Company to pursue larger and longer-duration programs. At December 31, 2025, cash totaled US$22.5 million, compared with US$0.4 million at December 31, 2024. Total assets increased to US$31.7 million from US$11.9 million, and shareholders’ equity increased to US$24.6 million from US$3.7 million. Intermap has been notified by the Badan Informasi Geospasial tendering committee that the Company has been qualified and down-selected for all four remaining lots of the 1:5,000 scale Integrated Land Administration and Spatial Planning (ILASP) Project, representing a potential US$200 million opportunity. The next phase of selection and negotiation will transpire over the coming months, during which Intermap will not make further comments pursuant to its confidentiality requirements. Subscription and data revenue for the full year increased 29% to US$5.2 million, compared with US$4.0 million in 2024, representing 49% of total revenue. Subscription and data revenue is now the Company’s largest revenue category, reflecting continued growth in recurring, high-margin offerings. The decline in Value-added Data reflects delayed follow-on awards from the U.S. Department of Defense due to the federal government shutdown. These programs are fully funded and currently in contracting, and the declines are expected to reverse in the coming quarters. Total revenue for 2025 was US$10.6 million, compared with US$17.6 million in 2024. Fourth quarter revenue was US$1.6 million, compared with US$7.4 million in the prior-year period, reflecting the timing of procurement and delayed Indonesia contracting. Excluding Indonesia program timing, the Company’s commercial business grew meaningfully year over year, driven by expansion in insurance analytics and enterprise data solutions. Commercial revenue, which is recurring or repeating, represented 60% of total revenue, compared with 32% in 2024. For full year 2025, operating loss was US$6.9 million, reflecting lower revenue due to program timing and continued investment in personnel, product development and commercial expansion. Net loss was US$6.7 million, or US$0.11 per share, compared with net income of US$2.5 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, in 2024. Excluding the impact of currency fluctuations, changes in working capital, including prepaid and accrued, and new fixed asset investment, Intermap’s continuing business operated at approximately cash flow break-even as it competes for contracts with the potential to significantly expand its footprint in Southeast Asia. Intermap reaffirms its previously announced 2026 guidance of US$30–35 million in revenue and a 28% EBITDA margin. While the timing of government awards and revenue recognition can vary, management believes the underlying demand environment remains strong. Growth in recurring insurance analytics revenue, combined with the conversion of government programs, supports the Company’s long-term strategy. https://tinyurl.com/hukt7uey

Repay will buy billing platform Kubra for US$372 million.

Mississauga-based billing platform Kubra is set to be acquired by Atlanta, Georgia-based integrated payment processor Repay for approximately US$372 million ($518 million). Repay announced that the two bill payment companies entered an acquisition agreement on Monday evening. Repay said that it’s bringing its payment expertise and technology platform to the table, while Kubra has its “attractive verticals,” partnerships, and go-to-market approach. Repay added that, when combined, the companies will enable over US$130 billion in annual payment volume. Founded in 1992, Kubra helps North American utility, government, and insurance entities bill and connect with their customers through its payment processing, customer notification, and utility mapping solutions. Kubra claims that its more than 250 clients extend its reach into over 40 percent of households in the United States and Canada.. https://tinyurl.com/mr3xzm5a

NGen announces nearly $80 million for Canadian manufacturers to adopt AI.

Canada’s public and private sectors are funding AI’s introduction into factory floors in a bid to accelerate manufacturing and boost productivity. The 20 projects will help Canadian manufacturers make their processes more efficient with “cutting-edge AI solutions.” Industry-led non-profit Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen) announced at its N3 Summit manufacturing conference in Toronto on Tuesday that it would support 20 AI projects for manufacturers through a more than $79-million envelope. More than $50 million of that comes directly from industry partners, while the remaining $29 million consists of new federal funding through the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy. The 20 projects, which range from automotive assembly to defence and security tech, will help Canadian manufacturers make their processes more efficient and competitive with “cutting-edge AI solutions,” AI minister Evan Solomon said in a statement. https://tinyurl.com/2wm8ct6h

ThinkLabs secures US$28 million Series A to help power grids manage data centre demand.

ThinkLabs has secured a US$28 million ($39 million) Series A round to help utility providers modernize power grid infrastructure as a wave of electricity-hungry AI data centres comes online. The Canadian-led, New York-based company provides a “physics-informed AI” software that helps utility control room operators and planners maintain grid reliability and reduce bottlenecks and outages. The annual power demand of data centres in the United States is expected to exceed the entire power output of Texas by 2028, according to S&P Global. In Canada, the problem is also getting attention; Alberta last year added its utilities minister to the team behind its $100-billion AI data centre push. https://tinyurl.com/mszd3wxc

SpaceX said to submit confidential filing for IPO.

SpaceX has submitted the initial filing for its initial public offering, Bloomberg reported, a critical step for Elon Musk’s space company toward its much anticipated listing. The company submitted what’s known as a confidential filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SpaceX is not required to share its prospectus with the public until shortly before it goes public in June. The filing follows a report from The Information last week that SpaceX expected to file by this week. The company is aiming to raise US$75 billion in what would make it the largest U.S. IPO in history. https://tinyurl.com/3abwps9c

OpenAI says latest funding round raised US$122 billion at US$830 billion valuation.

OpenAI has secured commitments for its latest funding round totaling US$122 billion at a valuation of US$830 billion before the financing, the company announced on Tuesday. The total is about US$22 billion over its initial target of US$100 billion. SoftBank and Nvidia have each committed US$30 billion, OpenAI said in a blog post. Amazon committed to invest up to US$50 billion, with the first US$15 billion to be invested now and the remaining US$35 billion conditional on when OpenAI either goes public or achieves artificial general intelligence. Other investors participating in this round include Altimeter, Blackstone, Coatue, Dragoneer, Sequoia Capital, Sands Capital, Thrive Capital, among others, the company said. OpenAI has also raised over US$3 billion from individual investors through various banks. The fundraise comes as OpenAI generates about US$2 billion in revenue per month. Its ChatGPT chatbot has more than 900 million weekly active users and over 50 million paying subscribers. The company’s pilot advertising product hit more than US$100 million in annualized revenue within six weeks, while Codex, its coding agent, has more than two million weekly active users. https://tinyurl.com/yc7m3edh

Nvidia invests US$2 billion in Marvell.

Nvidia said it has invested US$2 billion in chip maker Marvell as part of a “strategic partnership” in which Marvell will supply chips that work with Nvidia technology. The investment is the latest in a series Nvidia has made lately—typically at around US$2 billion—with companies that work with the AI chip giant. Marvell designs chips for data centers. It competes with Broadcom in the custom AI chip business. https://tinyurl.com/29vepbtv

Nasdaq rule change would speed index entry for SpaceX IPO.

Nasdaq will change a rule for its flagship stock index to allow newly public companies to gain entry much more quickly, in a move that would help SpaceX and other companies expected to have gigantic initial public offerings this year. In a rule change outlined Monday and effective May 1, Nasdaq-listed companies will be able to join the index after 15 days of trading, down from three months currently. Nasdaq said that industry professionals it had surveyed were “mostly supportive” of the proposal, but that some had raised concerns about whether the change would reduce price discovery for IPOs or “direct passive investment flows to unproven or overvalued securities.” In addition to the fast entry change, Nasdaq will remove a rule requiring 10% of companies’ shares to be publicly floated. The rule change comes as SpaceX lays the groundwork to go public as soon as June, with bankers discussing anIPO that could raise more than US$75 billion at a valuation of more than US$1.25 trillion. The Nasdaq rule change would likely force managers of large passively managed funds that track the Nasdaq 100 to buy SpaceX shares shortly after it goes public. It could also drive up demand for shares of OpenAI and Anthropic if those companies follow through with plans to go public later this year. https://tinyurl.com/8jfvvppe

CoreWeave raises US$8.5 billion GPU loan backed by Meta deal.

CoreWeave Inc. has raised US$8.5 billion from a group of banks and investors to help finance an expansion of its cloud computing capacity in what the company says is the largest chip-backed debt deal of its kind. The investment-grade rated loan is secured by a combination of microchips, such as graphics processing units or GPUs, and a customer contract to use the chips, according to a statement Tuesday. Bloomberg previously reported that the debt is backed by contracts with Meta Platforms Inc. worth at least US$19 billion. https://tinyurl.com/yw3j6jv2

Autonomous ship startup Saronic raises US$1.75 billion.

Autonomous ship startup Saronic said Tuesday that it’s raised US$1.75 billion as it ramps up production to meet mounting U.S. military demand for newer and cheaper defense capabilities. The round, led by Kleiner Perkins, more than doubles Saronic’s valuation to US$9.25 billion from the US$4 billion it hit after a US$600 million raise early last year. Saronic plans to use the funding to scale its supply chain and shipyards, and build more than 20 ships a year by 2027. The company is potentially building its new shipyard, dubbed Port Alpha, in Texas, according to the Austin Business Journal. Last week, autonomous drone company Shield AI raised US$2 billion at a US$12.7 billion valuation. Palantir and Anduril have also been major winners during the Trump administration. Based in Austin, Texas, Saronic makes six autonomous surface vessel iterations, including a six-foot-long vessel known as Spyglass and its 40-metric-ton marauder. Saronic’s main shipyard in Franklin, Louisiana, is currently undergoing a US$300 million expansion. Mavrookas said the company is on pace to quintuple production there over the next 12 months. https://tinyurl.com/3mvfxcxc

Amazon in talks to acquire Globalstar.

Amazon in Talks to Acquire Globalstar. Amazon is in talks to acquire satellite company Globalstar, which provides backup texting services for iPhones, the Financial Times reported. The move would bolster Amazon’s efforts to compete with SpaceX, which has also considered buying Globalstar. Any acquisition of Globalstar would be complicated because Apple owns a 20% stake in the company following a US$1.5 billion investment in 2024. As part of the deal, Globalstar is required to use 85% of its capacity to power iPhone services, which include backup texting in dead zones. The Information reported last year that Globalstar wants to sell itself for more than US$10 billion. Globalstar shares spiked 8% on Thursday, giving the company a market capitalization of US$9.7 billion. Buying Globalstar would give Amazon access to mobile spectrum rights that could help it build a competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile service. SpaceX is spending about US$20 billion on spectrum licenses from Echostar to operate the service. While Amazon plans to compete with Starlink’s core business of beaming internet to consumer terminals starting later this year, it has not announced plans for a direct-to-cell service. https://tinyurl.com/4sy8etk9

OpenAI buys ‘TBPN’.

OpenAI has acquired “TBPN,” the popular tech news talk show that has become a hit over the last year with an enthusiastic embrace of AI and Silicon Valley. OpenAI didn’t say how much it had paid for “TBPN,” which was reportedly on track for $60 million in revenue this year. “TBPN” will have editorial independence from OpenAI, the company said in a statement, while the show’s co-hosts, John Coogan and Jordi Hays, will report to Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, who is responsible for helping shape the startup’s public image. The deal for “TBPN” comes at a time when OpenAI is feeling pressured by increased competition from Google and Anthropic and just weeks after it had said it would do fewer projects away from its core business, a decision that included shuttering its once-buzzy Sora video app. https://tinyurl.com/rkryrcmb

Fashion brand firm to buy Allbirds for US$39 million.

Ailing shoemaker Allbirds agreed to sell itself for just US$39 million, an ignominous end to the once-trendy venture-backed shoe firm that went public in 2021 with a valuation as high as US$4 billion. Allbirds has been suffering declining sales for several years. On Tuesday it reported its full-year 2025 numbers, showing sales fell 19.7%. The company reported a net loss of US$77 million, and it burned through US$58 million in cash. As of Dec. 31, Allbirds had just US$26.7 million in cash and long term debt of US$17 million. The company acknowledged there was “substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.” Under the deal, agreed on Sunday, American Exchange Group, which owns a number of fashion brands, will buy all of Allbirds’ intellectual property and “certain other assets and liabilities.” Allbirds shares fell 4.4% to US$2.85 on Tuesday. https://tinyurl.com/ywuwnzh2

Activist investor calls on Snap to make “meaningful changes”.

Activist investor Irenic Capital Management called on Snap CEO Evan Spiegle to make “meaningful changes” in how the company is run, in hopes of lifting its faltering stock price from its current price of below US$4. Irenic estimated Snap stock could be worth above US$26 a share. Irenic, whose management includes a former Elliott Management staffer, said Snap should spin off or shut down its Spectacles unit, which the investor estimated was costing Snap US$500 million annually. “At this point, if Specs cannot be funded on its own, it is time to shut it down.” Irenic, which said it owns about 2.5% of Snap’s stock, said the company needed to cut employee numbers, reduce its stock compensation, and give shareholders a vote. As it is now, Snap’s public shareholders have no vote, which means Irenic has no way of pressuring the company. Spiegel and his co-founder, Robert Murphy, control the company. Irenic noted that giving public shareholders a vote would allow more investors to buy the stock. Snap put out a statement saying Snap “welcomes input from all shareholders,” and would “evaluate actions that drive long term value for all stockholders.” https://tinyurl.com/hy9x68jb

SpaceX IPO buzz lifts aerospace shares on spillover bets.

Shares of aerospace companies jumped on Wednesday as mounting anticipation of a blockbuster IPO from Elon Musk’s SpaceX stirred hopes that the industry could see a renewed wave of investor interest. The startup giant has confidentially filed for its listing, a person familiar ‌with the matter told Reuters, setting the stage for a debut that could catalyze the next growth phase for the space industry. Shares of Rocket Lab and Planet Labs gained 5.5% and 11%, respectively. Intuitive Machines added 10.5% and Howmet Aerospace rose 4.2%. Satellite communications company EchoStar, which owns SpaceX shares, advanced 5.7%. Musk’s electric-vehicle company Tesla gained 2.7%. Exchange-traded funds tracking the aerospace sector such as Ark Space & Defense Innovation and Procure Space also climbed 2.9% and 4.9%, respectively. Destiny Tech100, a fund that invests in privately owned technology heavyweights, surged 4.9%. A marquee debut like SpaceX can reset how investors value an entire industry, directing capital flows to a sector that is already gaining traction thanks to falling launch costs, expanding satellite networks and growing interest in data center infrastructure in orbit. Space companies with steady government contracts have also drawn interest ‌due to ⁠the growing reliance on satellite infrastructure for defense. Space-based technologies are increasingly shaping modern conflict, from satellite-enabled communications to surveillance. The tech was widely used in the Venezuela strike and in the U.S.-Israel war against Iran this year. https://tinyurl.com/mv5v5bmn

Oracle lays off thousands of employees.

Oracle is laying off thousands of employees, CNBC reported. The move comes as the company’s substantial spending on AI data centers has eaten into its cash reserves, prompting it to issue tens of billions of dollars in debt. The company began the cuts on Tuesday in emails to employees citing “a broader organizational change,“ which were viewed by Business Insider. Oracle had 162,000 full time employees as of its most recent annual regulatory filing in mid-2025. Oracle has been operating less efficiently than peers. Its revenue per employee sat at US$354,000 for its most recent fiscal year, significantly lower when compared to other tech giants and more efficient software firms, including Microsoft, Palantir and even ServiceNow and Salesforce. Oracle shares rose 3% following the news, ahead of the S&P 500’s 1.6% advance during morning trading Tuesday. The company’s stock is still down more than 26% since the start of the year as investors have sold off software stocks amid fears that AI could disrupt software applications and because a lot of Oracle’s future AI server rental revenue depends heavily on one customer: OpenAI. Other major tech firms that are spending big on AI servers are also laying off staff or freezing hiring. Amazon announced it was cutting 16,000 roles in early 2026 after slashing 14,000 jobs late last year. Meta let go of 10% of employees in its Reality Labs Unit at the start of the year and laid off hundreds more across the company last week. Meanwhile, Microsoft has frozen hiring. https://tinyurl.com/yc6hnr5f\

Microsoft debuts new Copilot upgrades combining Anthropic, OpenAI models.

Microsoft on Monday announced new features in its 365 Copilot software, which uses AI features from both OpenAI and Anthropic to automate work in its Office and Teams products. One new feature, called Critique, uses OpenAI’s models to compile research on a topic, and then directs Anthropic’s models to double check that work, which Microsoft said leads to more accurate results. Another new feature called Council lets users see responses to the same query from different OpenAI and Anthropic models side by side and choose which is best. The upgrades come as Microsoft aims to convince more businesses to pay extra to use Copilot in their existing Office 365 subscriptions. Microsoft said earlier this year that it has 15 million paying users of 365 Copilot, which costs an additional US$30 per user per month on top of an Office 365 subscription. By contrast, there are more than 450 million Office users worldwide. Microsoft has also been racing to incorporate more features into Copilot that resemble Anthropic’s viral Claude Cowork product released earlier this year. https://tinyurl.com/ycyxavkf

Microsoft releases AI models for transcription, speech, image generation.

Microsoft on Thursday released three new AI models, building on the small but growing catalog of models it has trained internally as it aims to become more self-sufficient in AI. The three models are called MAI-Transcribe-1, MAI-Voice-1, and MAI-Image-2, and are meant to transcribe audio, have spoken conversations, and create images, respectively. Microsoft is aiming to develop in-house models that are comparable to cutting edge models from OpenAI and Anthropic, which the company currently uses to power most of the AI features in its Copilot AI products. That effort has been led since early 2024 by Mustafa Suleyman, who Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella hired to lead the company’s consumer AI efforts while paying US$600 million to license the technology of Suleyman’s startup Inflection. But progress on the models so far has been a mixed bag; while Suleyman has touted image-generating models that his unit created, he has yet to produce a publicly available, general-purpose AI model that can generate text or computer code, similar to ChatGPT or Claude. Suleyman said in August that his unit was making such a model available to some developers to test; but that model, MAI-1-preview, has yet to be made publicly available. Last month, Nadella curtailed Suleyman’s purview—he now oversees just foundation model training, while other parts of Microsoft’s consumer AI business have been reassigned to other executives. https://tinyurl.com/4crk6ytb

Meta unveils two new Ray-Ban prescription smart glasses.

Meta Platforms launched two new Ray-Ban prescription smart glasses on Tuesday, expanding ‌its offerings in an area that has become one of the few breakthrough successes in the race for ⁠artificial intelligence-powered gadgets. The new launches will broaden the range of options for prescription eyewear users, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg noting in January that “billions of people wear glasses or contacts for ‌vision ⁠correction.” The Facebook parent has been investing hundreds of billions of dollars in its pursuit of “personal superintelligence,” ⁠where advanced gadgets, among other things, would bring the benefits of ⁠AI to individual users. Meta develops its AI glasses ⁠in partnership with Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica. https://tinyurl.com/2j5s7zhe

DOJ reportedly probing insider trading on prediction markets.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are exploring whether certain bets on prediction markets have violated insider trading and other laws, CNN reported, citing unnamed sources. Officials for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York recently met with representatives of Polymarket to discuss how existing laws could be applied to potential misconduct, the report said. Prosecutors are investigating well-timed trades, including predicting the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, one person told the outlet. No companies have been accused of wrongdoing. The probe represents an escalation of regulatory scrutiny on prediction markets, which already face legal challenges from several states that claim such platforms offer illegal gambling. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office told CNN that “with regard to so-called ‘prediction markets,’ our office has made clear that various laws, including insider trading laws, anti-money laundering laws, laws prohibiting manipulation, and various anti-fraud laws are applicable to a wide range of observed activity.” Polymarket told CNN that it “proactively works with regulators and law enforcement to reinforce” its standards of market integrity. Kalshi’s head enforcement, Robert DeNault, said on X that insider trading and market manipulation are violations of Kalshi’s rulebook. https://tinyurl.com/5n63wmjm

U.K. launches antitrust probe of Microsoft’s cloud and software bundling.

The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority will investigate Microsoft’s sales of business software, the regulator said on Tuesday, citing concerns that Microsoft’s software licensing practices have reduced competition in the cloud computing market. The probe will last six months, after which the government could seek to impose restrictions on Microsoft, the CMA said. Separately, the CMA also said on Tuesday that both Microsoft and Amazon agreed to make changes to how they price cloud computing services in order to make it less onerous for U.K. customers to switch from one cloud provider to another. Those measures include reducing the cost of fees customers pay to move their data out of cloud servers and making it less expensive to run applications that rely on multiple cloud providers. “We recognize that the CMA will continue to review and assess additional issues relating to our products and services, including in the business software market,” Microsoft president Brad Smith said in a statement. “We are committed to working quickly and constructively to address these issues.” The move comes as Microsoft faces similar probes by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and other regulators around the globe, which hinge on whether Microsoft has used its dominance in the business software market to gain an unfair advantage in other markets like operating systems, cloud computing, and AI software sales. https://tinyurl.com/4pchub7b