LWiAI Podcast #247 - Opus 4.8, MAI, Anthropic IPO, Minimax-M3

Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8 with improved benchmark scores and Dynamic Workflows for multi-agent tasks, while Microsoft unveiled the always-on Scout assistant and new MAI models including MAI Thinking 1. Anthropic also filed for an IPO after a $65B Series H at a $965B valuation, and Cognition raised $1B at a $25B valuation.

LWiAI Podcast 247 - Opus 4.8, MAI, Anthropic IPO, Minimax-M3 Last Week in AI https://lastweekin.ai New Models, IPO Announcements, and the Rise of Open Source Competitors Note from Last Week in AI Andrey : I’m back And i’m sorry for putting the substack on a silent pause, work got a bit too overwhelming so I fell behind on this. I’ll do my best to resume normal posting, starting with catching up on podcast episodes missing from here which are not last week… but I guess I should post them still, sorry for the spam I’ve also paused paid subscriptions until I can get back to consistent posting. Apologies for the flakiness, and thanks for being a subscriber Our 247th episode with a summary and discussion of last week’s big AI news Recorded on 06/03/2026 Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov https://twitter.com/andrey kurenkov and Jeremie Harris https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremieharris/ Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at andreyvkurenkov@gmail.com and/or hello@gladstone.ai mailto:hello@gladstone.ai In this episode: Anthropic /glossary/anthropic released Claude /glossary/claude Opus 4.8 with improved benchmark /glossary/benchmark scores, discussed eval-awareness findings and welfare/corrigibility themes from its system card, and introduced Dynamic Workflows for long-running multi-agent tasks.Microsoft unveiled the always-on Microsoft Scout assistant built on OpenClaw plus new in-house MAI models including MAI Thinking 1 and “frontier tuning,” emphasizing enterprise security architecture and model-from-scratch capability. Major business moves included Anthropic’s $65B Series H at a $965B valuation alongside an IPO filing, a JPMorgan analysis arguing OpenAI /glossary/openai needs major revenue growth to justify infrastructure spend, and Cognition raising $1B at a $25B valuation.Policy and security highlights covered Trump’s voluntary pre-release government testing framework for powerful AI, Meta AI support being exploited to hijack Instagram accounts, tightened US Nvidia /glossary/nvidia export controls and China’s travel approvals for AI experts, plus expanded Glasswing/Mythos-style cyber and biodefense initiatives. Timestamps: 00:00:10 Intro / Banter 00:04:10 Sponsors 00:07:10 News Preview Tools & Apps 00:07:54 Anthropic releases Opus 4.8 with new ‘dynamic workflow’ tool | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/28/anthropic-releases-opus-4-8-with-new-dynamic-workflow-tool/ 00:22:37 Microsoft Scout is a new AI personal assistant built on OpenClaw | The Verge https://www.theverge.com/news/939713/microsoft-scout-assistant-openclaw 00:26:55 Microsoft launches new MAI family of AI models at Microsoft Build | Mashable https://mashable.com/tech/microsoft-launches-new-mai-family-of-models-at-build 00:37:43 Robinhood now lets your AI agents trade stocks | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/27/robinhood-now-lets-your-ai-agents-trade-stocks/ 00:40:49 OpenAI launches new Codex tools for white-collar work | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/02/openai-launches-new-codex-tools-for-white-collar-work/ 00:43:40 ElevenLabs’ new music-generation model can switch genres mid-track | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/27/elevenlabss-new-music-generation-model-can-switch-genres-mid-track/ Applications & Business 00:44:35 Anthropic Hits $965 Billion Valuation, Surpassing OpenAI - WSJ https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-valuation-openai-80bf2c0a 00:45:32 Anthropic Files to Go Public, Setting Stage for Huge I.P.O. - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/technology/anthropic-ipo.html 00:51:15 China’s ByteDance Developing New AI Chips Like Those from Nvidia Partner Groq https://www.theinformation.com/articles/chinas-bytedance-developing-new-ai-chips-like-nvidia-partner-groq?shem=rimspwouoe%2C 00:55:00 Anthropic expands Mythos to 150 additional organizations https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/02/anthropic-mythos-ai-project-glasswing.html 00:55:35 OpenAI needs a 26x revenue increase to justify its buildout https://boingboing.net/2026/05/25/openai-needs-a-26x-revenue-increase-to-justify-its-buildout.html?shem=rimspwouoe, 00:58:46 AI coding startup Cognition raises $1B at $25B pre-money valuation | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/27/ai-coding-startup-cognition-raises-1b-at-25b-pre-money-valuation/ Projects & Open Source Policy & Safety 01:06:08 Trump Signs Executive Order Seeking Oversight of A.I. Models - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/technology/trump-executive-order-ai.html 01:11:45 Hackers Simply Asked Meta AI to Give Them Access to High-Profile Instagram Accounts. It Worked https://www.404media.co/hackers-simply-asked-meta-ai-to-give-them-access-to-high-profile-instagram-accounts-it-worked/ 01:17:53 U.S. Tightens Controls on Nvidia AI Chip Exports | Let’s Data Science https://letsdatascience.com/news/us-tightens-controls-on-nvidia-ai-chip-exports-97a95018 01:21:47 OpenAI launches Rosalind Biodefense, offers federal agencies early access to its life-sciences model https://www.rdworldonline.com/openai-launches-rosalind-biodefense-offers-federal-agencies-early-access-to-its-life-sciences-model/ 01:24:00 Using LLMs to secure source code https://claude.com/blog/using-llms-to-secure-source-code?shem=rimspwouoe, 01:26:19 Project Glasswing: An initial update https://www.anthropic.com/research/glasswing-initial-update 01:29:30 White House Approves $9 Billion for Spy Agencies to Catch Up on A.I. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/22/us/politics/spy-agencies-ai-chips-shortage.html 01:32:11 US Law Enforcement Warns of ‘Anti-Tech Extremism’ as AI Hatred Grows https://www.wired.com/story/us-law-enforcement-warns-of-anti-tech-extremism/?shem=rimspwouoe, Synthetic Media & Art 01:35:38 YouTube will now automatically label AI videos | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/27/youtube-will-now-automatically-label-ai-videos/ Get AI news in your inbox Daily digest of what matters in AI. Key Terms Explained Anthropic /glossary/anthropic An AI safety company founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, including Dario and Daniela Amodei. Benchmark /glossary/benchmark A standardized test used to measure and compare AI model performance. Claude /glossary/claude Anthropic's family of AI assistants, including Claude Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus. Gemini /glossary/gemini Google's flagship multimodal AI model family, developed by Google DeepMind.