OpenAI $500B, Chip Deals, Model Race, Safety Law

OpenAI’s latest round valued the company at about $500 billion and it has struck chip partnerships with Samsung and SK Hynix for its “Stargate” infrastructure, boosting semiconductor interest. The model race is intensifying — Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4.5 offers multi-hour runtimes and developer features, while OpenAI’s new Sora 2 video app has faced criticism over NSFW outputs and copyright concerns. OpenAI and Anthropic have conducted joint safety tests as part of industry efforts to set standards, and California has enacted new AI safety legislation increasing regulatory oversight. Privacy tensions rose after Meta confirmed plans to mine chatbot conversations to power ads, prompting backlash over data use. Large infrastructure and enterprise moves (including activity from Cerebras, Nscale, CoreWeave, reported Rivos interest, Thinking Machines, UiPath, and device rollouts from Google and Amazon) have helped lift markets even as venture funding outside blockbuster AI rounds stays muted. Suppliers such as Photronics could benefit from long-term chip demand but face near-term headwinds, and OpenAI is expanding into hiring with an AI-powered recruitment platform and an OpenAI Academy aiming to certify millions by 2030.