Welcome to the newest edition of ID Tech’s AI Update. Here’s the latest big news on the shifting landscape of AI and identity technology:
Beijing-based GPU maker Moore Threads Technology Co. surged over 500 percent today as it IPO’d on Shanghai’s STAR Market. Founded by former Nvidia China boss Zhang Jianzhong (James Zhang) in 2020, the firm initially designed GPUs for gaming and other graphics applications, but has lately been leaning into AI training/inference and data center workloads, making it one of China’s core firms for domestic AI self-reliance. Its share price was up 425 percent at market close.
Baidu is exploring a Hong Kong IPO for its AI chip subsidiary Kunlunxin (Kunlun Chip Technology). Investment materials reportedly show the firm targeting a Q1 2026 listing application for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and a completed IPO by early 2027. While Baidu has a controlling stake of 59 percent, Kunlunxin spun out as an independent firm in 2021, and recently raised over 2 billion yuan in a funding round that valued it at about 21 billion yuan, or roughly 2.97 billion dollars.
Anthropic has reportedly begun exploring an IPO that could happen as early as next year. The OpenAI rival has retained Wilson Sonsini, a well-known business law firm based in Palo Alto, and has started holding informal talks with some banks. At a press event on December 4th, Anthropic’s communications chief Sasha de Marigny said there are “no immediate plans to go public”, and that they’re “keeping options open.” OpenAI, meanwhile, is said to be aiming for an IPO that would value it at $1 trillion.
The European Commission has launched an antitrust investigation into Meta over its AI policy for the WhatsApp messaging platform. At issue is a policy introduced in October that restricts third parties from providing AI services through the WhatsApp Business API – for example, OpenAI isn’t allowed to offer the use of ChatGPT through WhatsApp. That’s a problem for the EC because Meta’s own AI technology is, of course, allowed to operate through WhatsApp, which apparently means Meta is monopolizing the use of… its own messaging platform? Okay.
Meta has poached Apple’s user interface guy, Alan Dye, who will become Meta’s new chief design officer starting December 31, having served as Apple’s longtime head of Human Interface Design. Dye has been associated with a number of splashy Apple user interface projects, including the original Apple Watch, the Vision Pro, and the recent “Liquid Glass” aesthetic. At Meta, he will lead a new design studio focused on AI wearables and related software, covering Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses line, future AI glasses, and Quest headsets.
YouTube is rolling out a deepfake detection tool that relies on biometrics to find participating creators’ likenesses in online content. Those who are making content through the YouTube Partner Program have the option of uploading a selfie video and government ID to the system, which will then alert them to unauthorized videos featuring a likeness of their face or voice. The tool poses a business threat to firms like Vermillio and Loti, which already offer their own deepfake detection services to content creators; and their chief executives are suggesting that YouTube parent Google will use creators’ biometrics to train its AI systems, which YouTube denies.
The chatbot’s take:: Not investment advice.
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By Alex Perala
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