Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Vietnam has enacted a comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence, positioning itself among the first countries to establish rules for AI tools developed by companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic. The new legislation mandates that companies classify risks and label content, including deepfakes, as part of their compliance.
Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank, has committed over $60 billion to OpenAI, making the firm the second-largest external shareholder with a 13% stake. This substantial investment has raised concerns among SoftBank insiders regarding the sustainability and risks associated with such a large commitment, particularly given the lack of direct control over OpenAI and the competitive landscape of the AI market. Executives worry that Son's strong personal ties to OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, may lead to a one-sided relationship that could jeopardize SoftBank's influence in critical decisions.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced at the Google I/O 2026 conference that the company will release new smart glasses and integrate AI 'agents' into its search engine, powered by the Gemini model. The AI Ultra subscription plan will now start at $100 per month, down from $250, and will include features such as the Gemini Spark, a persistent AI agent that assists with tasks across Google services. The Gemini app will also shift to a usage-based pricing model, allowing for more flexible access to AI capabilities.
Meta Platforms Inc. has initiated layoffs affecting approximately 8,000 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring plan aimed at enhancing efficiency and reallocating resources towards artificial intelligence investments. The job cuts, which were communicated to employees at 4 a.m. local time in various regions, coincide with a record profit quarter for the company, which reported $56.31 billion in revenue and $26.8 billion in net income in Q1 2026. Concurrently, OpenAI announced a partnership with the Singapore government to establish a new AI lab, committing $234 million to bolster the city-state's AI development initiatives.
Andrej Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI and former AI director at Tesla, has joined Anthropic to lead a new team focused on pre-training research for its AI models. Starting this week, Karpathy aims to leverage his expertise in large language models to enhance the capabilities of Anthropic's Claude system. His appointment follows a series of high-profile hires at Anthropic, which is competing with OpenAI and Google for talent in the AI sector.
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