1) OpenAI rolls out teen-safety controls
OpenAI is introducing age prediction (with optional ID checks) to detect likely under-18 users and switch them to a “youth” experience that blocks graphic sexual content and escalates self-harm signals. A companion post details the policy tradeoffs in teen safety, freedom & privacy, with parental controls slated by month-end. Press coverage: Guardian, WIRED.
Why it matters: distinct policy surfaces for minors + real-world testbed for age-aware safety.
2) Congress will use Microsoft Copilot (really)
The U.S. House is adopting Microsoft Copilot under hardened legal/data protections, announced at today’s Congressional Hackathon — a reversal of last year’s ban. Scoop and context: Axios; background: Axios (2024 ban).
Heads-up for IT: the Copilot release notes and Microsoft docs say the Microsoft 365 Copilot app begins auto-install with M365 desktop apps in Fall (admin-controllable; EEA excluded). Coverage: BleepingComputer, TechRadar.
3) US–UK “Tech Prosperity” pact = billions for UK AI infra
During the UK–US tech pact announcement, companies pledged huge UK investments: Microsoft (~£22bn), NVIDIA (up to 120,000 Blackwell GPUs UK-wide and up to 60,000 via partner Nscale), plus Google, CoreWeave and others. Government and press: Reuters, Guardian explainer, NVIDIA newsroom, UK Gov: AI Growth Zone.
OpenAI’s “Stargate UK” will run on UK-based compute in partnership with NVIDIA + Nscale — initially “exploring” up to 8,000 GPUs (scalable to ~31k). Details: OpenAI, DCD, Nscale PR.
Read-through: this is sovereign AI — compute + jurisdiction closer to data and customers.
4) Google ships Veo 3 / Veo 3 Fast GA + Gemini API updates
Video models hit GA with cheaper seconds, 1080p and vertical (9:16) support; the Batch API for Embeddings also landed. See the Gemini API changelog and the Veo 3 developer blog.
Why you care: mobile-native vertical video + lower price = more fully AI-produced Shorts/Reels/TikTok workflows.
5) Apple Intelligence features go live
Apple pushed new Apple Intelligence capabilities on Sept 15 with iOS/iPadOS/macOS/watchOS/visionOS “26”: Live Translation, on-screen visual intelligence, smarter Shortcuts, and more. Read: Apple Newsroom (platforms), Apple Newsroom (features).
6) Databricks scales again: $1B round; $4B run-rate; $100B+ valuation
Databricks closed a $1B Series K, reiterated a $4B revenue run-rate with >$1B from AI products, and made its first LatAm venture investment (Indicium). Sources: Databricks PR, Reuters, Reuters (Indicium).
7) xAI’s turbulent fortnight — and a new coding model
Layoffs & leadership churn: Reports indicate 500+ annotators cut and a young team lead installed over Grok’s human-data group. Coverage: Business Insider, Reuters.
Product: xAI released grok-code-fast-1 for agentic coding; now popping up in partner ecosystems and Oracle OCI. See xAI and Oracle release notes.
8) Security watch: new DeepSeek concerns
A CrowdStrike study (reported by the Washington Post) found DeepSeek produced systematically less-secure code when prompts referenced politically sensitive groups (e.g., 42.1% unsafe code for ISIS prompts vs 22.8% baseline). Read: Washington Post.
Takeaway: add “context-toxicity” tests to code-gen guardrails — don’t assume same prompt ⇒ same safety across contexts.
9) Policy snapshot: EU GPAI Code & UK safety work
• The EU’s voluntary Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI (transparency, copyright, safety) offers a path to AI Act readiness. EU page.
• The UK AI Safety (Security) Institute posted fresh research/evals this month (e.g., vulnerability disclosure for AI safeguards). AISI • Research updates.
• In the U.S., debate over federal preemption vs state AI rules is heating up as California’s SB-53 transparency bill heads to the Governor. Politico • Vox explainer • Global Policy Watch.
Fast takes for builders & buyers
- If you support minors: review OpenAI’s parental controls & youth policy — more platforms will ship age-aware modes.
- Gov/Public sector: Congress adopting Copilot will normalize AI workflows in regulated orgs; watch for procurement/security baselines.
- Video teams: cheaper Veo seconds + 9:16 support = test fully-AI pipelines for Shorts/Reels/TikTok.
- Infra leads: map data-residency to the UK’s new Growth Zone and partner clusters.
- AppSec: test for geopolitical/context shifts in code-gen safety before rollout.
Sources
- OpenAI: Age prediction, Teen safety
- Congress & Copilot: Axios • Congressional Hackathon • MS release notes • BleepingComputer
- US–UK pact / UK infra: Reuters • Guardian • NVIDIA • OpenAI • UK Gov • DCD
- Google: Gemini API changelog • Veo 3 blog
- Apple: Platforms release • AI features
- Databricks: PR • Reuters • Reuters (Indicium)
- xAI: Business Insider • Reuters • grok-code-fast-1 • Oracle
- Security (DeepSeek): Washington Post
- Policy: EU GPAI Code • AISI research • Politico • Vox • Global Policy Watch
