Plus: AI chip startup Positron valued at $5 billion in new funding round. And laser fusion tech could play a new role in modern warfare. Imani Moise hosts.
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[00:00:01] [SPEAKER_00] Here's your morning TNB Tech Minute for Thursday, September 10th. I'm Imani Moise for The Wall Street Journal. Anthropic has given the European Union's cybersecurity authority access to its powerful Mythos AI model after months of talks with officials in the bloc. The announcement comes roughly four months after the EU's executive arm first said it was in discussions with the company over Mythos 5.
[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_00] The Trump administration moved to ban foreign entities from using the model in June after its ability to spot vulnerabilities in code sparked national security concerns, but allowed the company to re-offer access to a limited group of companies and governments weeks later. A spokesperson for ENISA, the EU cybersecurity authority, said it has been testing the model this month and that the agency has also gained access to two frontier open AI models.
[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00] We exclusively report, AI chip startup Positron has raised $875 million at a valuation of $5 billion, a significant increase in the company's worth over the last six months. In its most recent funding round in February, it was valued at $1 billion. The Reno, Nevada-based company, which is focused on designing hardware that helps AI models run more quickly, is seeking an edge in the crowded chips business by bringing its chips to market as soon as possible.
[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_00] And in another exclusive, we report Exxemer Energy is working with aerospace and defense company RTX to develop pulsed laser weapons that can shoot down drone swarms, missiles, or other threats. The companies have a roughly $50 million development agreement and are making a prototype that aims for an initial demonstration within two years. The pairing would combine recent advances in laser fusion technology with the need to develop cheaper ways to defend against missiles or drones,
[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_00] which have emerged as key weapons in wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. And that's your TNB Tech Minute. We'll be back this afternoon with more. Thanks for listening. Thanks for listening.