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:
Foxconn and Nvidia are in talks to use humanoid robots at a Foxconn factory in Houston. If the plan moves forward, it could lead to the first instance of a Foxconn AI server factory employing robots on a production line. The arrangement would involve robots made by China’s UBTech, and is expected to be finalized in the coming months.
MiniMax is considering a Hong Kong IPO that would allow it to capitalize on excitement over the China-based firm’s multimodal generative AI technology, which supports AI reasoning as well as music and video generation. The startup is backed by Alibaba and Tencent, and currently has a valuation of about $3 billion.
Bill Gates and Sam Altman have helped to raise $1 billion for AI-focused nuclear power generation startups, eyeing the massive energy needs of AI R&D. Gates’ TerraPower, of which he is the founder and chair, has secured $650 million in a recent funding round, while the Altman-backed startup Oklo recently raised $460 million in equity.
OpenAI has inked a new AI deal with the US Department of Defense, valued at up to $200 million. It is a one-year agreement in which OpenAI has been contracted to “develop prototype frontier AI”, both for administrative functions and warfighter applications in the battlefield. The project will be overseen by the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and AI Officer (CDAO).
Meta has been offering $100 million signing bonuses in its attempts to poach AI talent from OpenAI – according to Sam Altman. He made the claim on his brother’s podcast, “Uncapped,” and also asserted that Meta sees his startup as its main rival in the AI sector. Meta hasn’t commented on the claims.
Meta has just launched new AI-infused Oakley smart glasses, extending its reach into the eyewear market after its earlier AI-focused partnership with Ray-Ban. The new Oakley Meta HSTN (pronounced “HOW-stuhn”) smart glasses let users talk to a Meta AI assistant about what they’re seeing, and feature a 3K Ultra HD video recording capability.
Meanwhile, Japan’s TDK Corporation has just acquired US-based smart glasses company SoftEye, which specializes in custom chips, cameras, software, and algorithms for smart glasses, with a focus on AI features like eye tracking and object recognition. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but the deal is thought to be valued somewhere under $100 million.
North Korea-aligned hackers used deepfakes to dupe an employee of an unnamed Web3 company into installing malware, according to a new report. The “BlueNoroff” group contacted the employee via Telegram, and invited them to a video call in which multiple members of the company’s leadership were depicted as participants using deepfake technology. When the employee reported audio issues, they urged the victim to install a purported Zoom extension that secretly contained malware for surveillance and remote control.
The chatbot’s take: Your author is traveling in France at the time of writing, and decided to get a bit philosophical.
–
June 20, 2025 – by Alex Perala
