Samwise Tech/AI/Robotics Newsletter
Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Anthropic Debuts Claude Mythos Preview in Project Glasswing Cybersecurity Initiative
Anthropic on April 7 launched Project Glasswing, deploying a restricted preview of its new frontier model, Claude Mythos, for defensive cybersecurity work. Twelve partner organizations — including Amazon, Apple, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Palo Alto Networks — gained access, alongside 40 additional organizations. Over recent weeks, Mythos identified thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities, including a 27-year-old OpenBSD flaw and a 16-year-old FFmpeg bug that automated testing missed across five million executions. The model scored 83.1% on CyberGym's vulnerability reproduction benchmark, versus 66.6% for Claude Opus 4.6. Anthropic committed $100 million in usage credits and $4 million in donations to open-source security organizations.
Sources: TechCrunch
Firmus Raises $505M at $5.5B Valuation to Build Nvidia-Powered AI Data Centers in Australia
Singapore-based AI data center provider Firmus raised $505 million in a new round led by Coatue on April 7, reaching a $5.5 billion post-money valuation. The company has now raised $1.35 billion in six months. Firmus is building an energy-efficient network of AI data centers in Australia and Tasmania, dubbed Project Southgate, using Nvidia's reference designs and the upcoming Vera Rubin computing platform — the successor to Nvidia's Blackwell architecture, expected to ship in the second half of 2026. Previously a cooling technology provider for Bitcoin mining, Firmus joins a growing cohort of crypto-roots companies pivoting into AI infrastructure that investors are funding heavily.
Sources: TechCrunch
Intel Joins Elon Musk's Terafab Project to Build U.S. AI Chip Factory With SpaceX and Tesla
Intel announced April 7 it would join Elon Musk's Terafab project — a semiconductor manufacturing venture involving SpaceX and Tesla — aimed at building a new chip factory in Texas. Terafab's stated goal is to produce one terawatt-per-year of compute capacity to power advances in AI and robotics, including autonomous vehicles and space-based data centers. Intel, once America's leading silicon producer but now outpaced by Nvidia and AMD, is seeking large anchor customers for its struggling foundry business. Its stock rose 3% to $52.28 on the news. Intel declined to comment on partnership terms; SpaceX did not respond to queries.
Sources: TechCrunch
Google Quietly Launches Free Offline AI Dictation App "Eloquent" on iOS
Google on April 7 quietly released "Google AI Edge Eloquent," a free iOS dictation app that operates offline using on-device Gemma-based speech recognition models. Once downloaded, the app transcribes speech in real time, automatically filters filler words such as "um" and "ah," and offers text-transformation options including "Formal," "Short," and "Long." Users can enable cloud mode to leverage Gemini models for higher-quality text cleanup, or keep processing fully local. The app imports custom vocabulary from Gmail, tracks words-per-minute stats, and maintains full session history. An Android version with system-wide keyboard integration is referenced in the App Store listing but not yet released.
Sources: TechCrunch
VC Eclipse Closes $1.3B Fund to Back and Incubate 'Physical AI' Startups Across Industry Sectors
Palo Alto venture firm Eclipse closed a $1.3 billion fund on April 7 to back and build startups in the emerging "physical AI" sector. The raise splits between a $591 million early-stage incubation fund and a growth-oriented vehicle. Eclipse's existing portfolio spans self-driving construction firm Bedrock Robotics, industrial AI lab Mind Robotics, and autonomous vehicle tech company Wayve. Partner Jiten Behl described the thesis as connecting AI to the physical world across transportation, energy, infrastructure, compute, and defense. The firm plans to incubate companies internally from the new fund, building cross-sector ecosystems where portfolio companies share data and form partnerships to build competitive moats.
Sources: TechCrunch
FBI, NSA, CISA Warn Iranian Hackers Are Escalating Attacks on U.S. Critical Infrastructure
The FBI, NSA, CISA, and Department of Energy issued a joint advisory on April 7 warning that Iranian government-backed hackers are escalating attacks against American critical infrastructure, including water and wastewater utilities, energy systems, and local government facilities. The hackers exploited programmable logic controllers and SCADA systems, manipulating device displays and project files to cause "operational disruption and financial loss." Agencies linked the escalation to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran that began February 28. The Handala hacking group, tied to Iran's government, has also breached medical technology company Stryker and leaked contents of FBI Director Kash Patel's personal email account.
Sources: TechCrunch
Uber Expands AWS Deal to Trial Amazon's Trainium3 AI Chips, Shifting Away From Oracle and Google Cloud
Amazon announced April 7 that Uber has expanded its AWS cloud services contract to include a new trial of Trainium3 — Amazon's in-house Nvidia-competing AI chip — alongside expanded use of the Graviton ARM-based server CPU. The deal marks a significant shift from Uber's 2023 commitments to Oracle and Google Cloud, where the company had moved most of its IT infrastructure. Uber joins Anthropic, OpenAI, and Apple in increasing their AWS footprint due to Amazon's custom silicon. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in December 2025 described Trainium as already a multibillion-dollar business. SoftBank's recent acquisition of Ampere and Intel's Terafab pivot further reshape the cloud chip landscape.
Sources: TechCrunch
Tech Pulse
Top Models: GPT-5.4 Pro (SWE-Bench ~74%) | Claude Opus 4.6 (SWE-Bench ~72%) | Gemini 2.5 Ultra (SWE-Bench ~66%)
Market: NVIDIA ~$3.5T | Apple ~$3.4T | Microsoft ~$3.0T
Curated by JD · samwise.agency