More companies are restricting employee use of AI tools after widely rolling them out, citing rising costs. Amazon, Walmart, Cisco, Uber and Meta are setting usage limits, curbing waste and steering staff to cheaper models as AI agents drive higher computing demand. Interest in low-cost models is growing, with surveys showing Chinese models leading U.S. rivals in token usage. Anthropic opened a Seoul office and OpenAI expanded activities in Korea, including an MOU on AI safety.

AI translation company DeepL said on Wednesday it will acquire the team and technology of San Francisco-based ultra-low-latency audio platform Mixhalo. DeepL plans to integrate Mixhalo’s infrastructure into its real-time AI voice translation solution, DeepL Voice, and expand support to large live events and conferences. The move also expands DeepL’s San Francisco base. Mixhalo, founded in 2016, has been used at sports and entertainment events and already supports real-time translation via the DeepL Voice API.