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Tech reporter at CNBC
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz shared thisI was in the CNBC studio yesterday morning with Karen Tso and Ian King, chatting about the surge in popularity of Chinese AI models globally, performance gains and Meta's Muse agent. https://lnkd.in/eiC2VMcwChinese AI models surge in global popularity as performance benchmarks ramp upChinese AI models surge in global popularity as performance benchmarks ramp up
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz shared thisSCOOP: Anthropic and OpenAI hunt for smaller data center deals, sources tell CNBC, in race to deploy AI capacity --- Anthropic and OpenAI are hunting for smaller AI data center deals, sources told CNBC, as the race to access the infrastructure needed to deploy workloads ramps up. The two AI labs have both inked huge deals for AI data centers in the past year for facilities of multi-hundred-megawatt and gigawatt capacity, but sources have said those companies are now also looking for compute capacity deals for much smaller deployments of 20-30 MW. Anthropic has sounded out agreements within that range across the U.K. and the Nordics, four people familiar with the conversations, who asked to remain anonymous when discussing private business dealings, told CNBC. OpenAI had been exploring opportunities for those smaller capacity deployments in the Nordics, two of the sources said. One source said they were also familiar with talks involving Anthropic and OpenAI about U.S. capacity deployments at that scale. Both companies have announced a flurry of AI infrastructure deals over the past year as they’ve looked to train and serve their models to end users. Deals to secure smaller allocations of compute allow companies to deploy workloads faster amid the AI boom. Full story: https://lnkd.in/embAjX8ZAnthropic and OpenAI hunt for smaller data center deals, sources tell CNBC, in race to deploy AI capacityAnthropic and OpenAI hunt for smaller data center deals, sources tell CNBC, in race to deploy AI capacity
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz shared thisHidden China risks are emerging in America’s multibillion-dollar AI data center boom | CNBC --- American reliance on China for key components used to power data centers is coming under increasing scrutiny as Washington and Beijing battle for AI supremacy, raising the prospect of higher costs and worsening supply chain shortages for the AI buildout. U.S. hyperscalers are racing to build multibillion-dollar data centers for AI, and Chinese firms supply large portions of the parts needed to develop these facilities. These include transformers, switchgear, batteries and optical tech, analysts told CNBC. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week declaring a national emergency around the “extraordinary foreign threat” to the U.S. involving bulk-power system equipment produced abroad. The order authorized the Energy Department to prohibit or impose conditions on certain transactions involving some components used in the grid and data centers. Tensions between the U.S. and China over AI have ratcheted up as Chinese AI models become more advanced and their adoption grows across the globe. While American companies produce the most advanced chips and hardware used for AI, Chinese influence on the tech used to power data centers is considered a strategic vulnerability for the U.S. https://lnkd.in/ehUktPPeHidden China risks are emerging in America’s multibillion-dollar AI data center boomHidden China risks are emerging in America’s multibillion-dollar AI data center boom
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz shared thisI stepped onto CNBC's Squawk Box Europe this morning to chat about how Nvidia is bolstering support for Chinese AI models... The chip giant has in recent weeks said it is optimizing its systems for a number of open models including those made by DeepSeek and Alibaba, alongside warning of potential restrictions on Chinese AI from the White House. https://lnkd.in/edkeUnJ3Nvidia is bolstering support for Chinese open AI modelsNvidia is bolstering support for Chinese open AI models
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz shared thisCan Google's new AI boss catch up to OpenAI and Anthropic at the frontier? --- DeepMind’s new boss is set to face intense pressure to close the AI performance gap with OpenAI and Anthropic. OpenAI and Anthropic have released new systems in recent months that have been both hailed for and prompted concern over their advanced capabilities. On the other hand, Google, which acquired DeepMind in 2014, hasn’t unveiled a frontier model since early 2026. Koray Kavukcuoglu, who was previously the AI unit’s CTO and parent company Google’s chief AI architect, is inheriting a race to catch up to OpenAI and Anthropic at the frontier — building the industry’s most advanced models. He’s stepping up to become SVP, replacing DeepMind cofounder and CEO Demis Hassabis, who becomes the organization’s chair. “The goal will undoubtedly be to close the gaps with Anthropic and OpenAI in some areas,” Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, told CNBC. Kavukcuoglu’s promotion “feels like a move that is designed to adjust the focus of Google’s efforts away from academic projects and more toward a stronger focus on improving frontier performance and improving the toolset for developers,” Wood added. https://lnkd.in/edviC6yUGoogle’s new AI boss inherits a race to catch OpenAI and AnthropicGoogle’s new AI boss inherits a race to catch OpenAI and Anthropic
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz shared thisI was on CNBC's Squawk Box Europe this morning to talk recent AI cyber attacks from models developed by Anthropic and OpenAI and how they've changed the conversation among lawmakers and companies. https://lnkd.in/eJC74-xF
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz shared thisStepped on CNBC's Squawk Box Europe this morning to chat about how Chinese AI model GLM 5.2 helped Hugging Face defend against a cyberattack carried out by rogue OpenAI models earlier this month. https://lnkd.in/eweBHi-rHow a Chinese AI model stopped OpenAI’s ‘unprecedented’ cyber attackHow a Chinese AI model stopped OpenAI’s ‘unprecedented’ cyber attack
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz shared thisHopped onto CNBC Squawk Box Europe this morning to discuss the growing adoption of Chinese AI models by U.S. companies. https://lnkd.in/e6wAxf8dChinese AI models are gaining ground with U.S. companiesChinese AI models are gaining ground with U.S. companies
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz shared thisNEW: Chinese AI models are gaining ground with U.S. companies as OpenAI, Anthropic costs surge --- Chinese-built AI models are gaining traction among U.S. companies as they narrow the performance gap with leading American rivals while remaining significantly cheaper to use. Recent model releases from Chinese companies, including DeepSeek and Z.ai, are seen by many as highly competitive compared to leading frontier systems from the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI. Those advances in capability come as token prices for the most advanced models rise at many U.S. AI labs, leaving companies grappling with unexpectedly high costs associated with using the tech. The share of tokens used by U.S. companies on Chinese AI models via OpenRouter — a platform that enables developers to access a range of AI models — has sat above 30% each week since Feb. 8, with that figure rising as high at 46%. The average across the previous 12 months was just 11%, falling to 4.5% in the first half of 2025. Full story at CNBC https://lnkd.in/eKQwpR6cChinese AI models are gaining ground with U.S. companies as OpenAI, Anthropic costs surgeChinese AI models are gaining ground with U.S. companies as OpenAI, Anthropic costs surge
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz liked thisSome news from me 👀 Hard to believe it but I've already been at The Londoner for two weeks! Thanks everyone at Mill Media for being so welcoming. I'll still be writing and editing some tech stories when they have a London angle, but will also be on the hunt for stories about politics, property, local characters, and businesses big and small. If you know someone who's a mover and shaker in London, or you've spotted something in your local area that hasn't had much attention, get in touch.Kai Nicol-Schwarz liked thisA proud milestone at Mill Media: after a little spate of brilliant arrivals, we now have 30 staff! Alys Key - who has covered business and tech for over a decade - has joined to edit The Londoner, and would love your tips and pitches. Star reporter Olivia Lee is now on our Birmingham team, and you might already have seen big stories on the Mill and Post from Alec Herron and Ethan Penny. Suzanne Antelme is joining in Manchester next month, and Jonny Blackburn in Liverpool. Our new team of Mia Jankowicz and Bradley Deas are already breaking big scoops in Leeds - as you might have seen in Private Eye Magazine this week. And most excitingly of all, veteran Mill editor Sophie Atkinson - one of the journalists who most defined this whole project - is back! She’s running The Post. It’s a formidable team we have now and it’s all funded by thousands of you deciding to pay for local journalism again. Follow our newbies on here and send them your best scoops.
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz liked thisKai Nicol-Schwarz liked thisSifted Summit kicked off yesterday! I chronicled the events, including an exclusive on the UK's access to the EU's €5bn Scaleup fund, Nick Clegg and Zeynep Yavuz Wilson's thoughts on where Europe can win and why UK AI minister Kanishka Narayan was fighting fatigue (it involves the Sugababes). Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eTUjVuDm
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz liked thisKai Nicol-Schwarz liked thisThe annual Sifted Summit is on! Earlier today Sifted's John Thornhill kicked off the summit with Max Junestrand at Legora, the UK AI Minister Kanishka Narayan MP, Zeynep Yavuz-Willson at General Catalyst, and Iwona Biernat at EU Inc. Two takeaways from what Max Junestrand said: Europeans are rubbish at B2B sales and stock option regulations in Sweden suck. Tomorrow I'll be talking to Tom Smith at GWI about how to beat the hyped AI-native startups as an incumbent at 11 am. At 3:30 pm, I will be getting into the leadership journey with three experienced founder/CEOs, Murvah Iqbal at HIVED, Louis Chatriot at Alma and Iana Dimitrova at OpenPayd. Join me to hear about how to scale yourself faster than AI dev, self-scrutiny, and why you would get rid of your whole executive team. The whole editorial team is here too, so come and grab us if you'd like to pitch a story or just get us face to face. #siftedsummit @ Protein Studios, Shoreditch.
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz liked thisKai Nicol-Schwarz liked thisEdward Tian built GPTZero, one of the most widely used AI detection tools. He shared his 4 principles for using AI in writing with me. GPTZero was acquired by Superhuman in June, and one of Edward and his team's first contributions has been to suggest AI writing principles for the larger company. He talked me through them in my latest newsletter this week. 1. 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐧𝐞. 2. 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. Edward says he learned the importance of editing from his creative writing professor at Princeton, John McPhee. 3. 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲. The reader deserves more effort than the time it takes them to read what you sent. 4. 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. Edward borrowed this from the classic inverted pyramid in journalism. "Prioritize and highlight the most important information, because AI tends to generate more and more, and the critical points get lost in the noise," he says. His take on where we are now: "Whether it's a year ago or now, these tools still aren't fully producing great work, great summaries, great notes on their own. You still need good editorial and writing judgment." I've seen a lot of AI writing and communications policies, and these four succinct points capture a lot. Is there anything missing? Link to the full interview in the comments.
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz liked thisKai Nicol-Schwarz liked thisJack Parker-Holder, a Google DeepMind researcher who led the company’s world models development, is reportedly nearing a $700m fundraise for a new London neolab called Emulate. Index and Lightspeed are in talks to lead the round, which values the one-month old startup at $3.7bn, the Financial Times reported earlier this morning. Last month, Freya Pratty and I revealed Parker-Holder had set up a company alongside a handful of other DeepMind researchers — including Philip Ball and Matthew McGill — and was in talks for major fundraising led by Index. On a personal note, nice for our reporting to be mentioned in the FT - a first for me 🤠 More here: https://lnkd.in/ecGr5aMN
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Kai Nicol-Schwarz liked thisKai Nicol-Schwarz liked this📉 Back in April last year, reports suggested DeepMind had started holding back research publications, in the hope of maintaining a competitive edge. This chart from Zeki Data suggests that started happening earlier than thought — and shows how the shift has correlated to the talent exodus. Will the new wave of AI labs continue to allow research publication? Doing so looks like it could be the key to scooping up that DeepMind talent everyone's gunning for..
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