Prominent tech companies are racing to roll out new AI models. Attention is focused on how this will change the AI experience and the industry landscape.

U.S. and Chinese tech companies have recently unveiled next-generation versions or updates to existing models. An offensive by Chinese companies stands out.

· New AI models pour out of China...Alibaba·ByteDance·Kuaishou push ahead

Alibaba has unveiled its new AI model Qwen 3.5. The company says Qwen 3.5 is designed to carry out complex tasks independently and outperformed major U.S. rival models on several benchmarks in performance and cost. ByteDance has released Seedance 2.0, an AI-based video generation model. Seedance 2.0 is drawing reactions from users calling it a “game changer” for features including multi-scene processing, audio and dialogue synchronisation and multilingual support. ByteDance also decided to strengthen protective measures as controversy over alleged copyright infringement surrounding Seedance 2.0 intensifies.

· Alibaba unveils next-generation AI model Qwen 3.5...what has changed · ByteDance unveils AI video generation model Seedance 2.0 · ByteDance to strengthen protections for Seedance 2.0 amid Hollywood backlash

DeepSeek is expected to soon introduce V4, its next-generation flagship AI model. The Information reported that tests based on internal benchmarks conducted by DeepSeek employees showed V4 surpassed existing models such as Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s GPT series in coding capability.

· DeepSeek’s next-generation AI model V4 launch imminent...fierce competition in coding AI seen

U.S. tech companies are pushing back by updating existing versions. Anthropic released its new AI model Sonnet 4.6. The company says Sonnet 4.6 has strengthened coding and context understanding capabilities. OpenAI unveiled GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark, a lightweight version of Codex. Google is also expected to soon introduce Gemini 3.1 Pro.

· Anthropic releases Sonnet 4.6...context window size doubles · OpenAI unveils lightweight Codex version...also deploying dedicated chips

Enterprise AI company Cohere announced Tiny Aya, a multilingual AI model. Tiny Aya is released in an open-weight format, in which only the weights are 공개, supports more than 70 languages and can run on local devices such as laptops without an internet connection.

· Cohere unveils multilingual AI model...supports 70 languages and can be used on laptops

OpenAI appears to be accelerating its push into the enterprise market by working with major domestic IT services companies. LG CNS signed reseller partner and enterprise AI service implementation partner agreements with OpenAI. Under the agreements, LG CNS will support domestic corporate customers across the entire process, from adopting ChatGPT Enterprise to using and operating it. Samsung SDS earlier signed a reseller partner agreement with OpenAI and began expanding its AX business based on ChatGPT Enterprise.

· LG CNS begins OpenAI reseller activities...kick-starting domestic spread of business ChatGPT · Samsung SDS-OpenAI expansion...major AX push based on ChatGPT Enterprise · Samsung SDS-OpenAI sign Korea’s first reseller partner agreement...ChatGPT Enterprise expansion

Moves by tech companies at home and abroad to develop or use AI directly continued this week as well.

Austrian developer Peter Steinberger (피터 슈타인버거), who created the personal AI agent OpenClaw, has joined OpenAI, drawing attention. In a blog post, Steinberger said, “I could have grown OpenClaw into a huge company, but that is not interesting. What I want is to change the world, not to build a big company. Teaming up with OpenAI is the fastest way to deliver this technology to everyone.” Google is adding an AI-based music generation feature to the Gemini app.

· OpenClaw developer joins OpenAI...“will lead the next-generation personal agent” · Google adds music generation feature to Gemini app...also supports Korean

Manus, an AI agent service acquired by Meta, is introducing a personal AI agent on Telegram and plans to integrate with major messaging apps including WhatsApp, Line and Slack. Figma, working with Anthropic, unveiled a “Code to Canvas” feature that converts AI-generated code into design. WordPress.com is unveiling an AI assistant to help edit websites. Users can change layouts, adjust styles and generate images using only natural language commands, without coding. China’s Baidu is embedding the AI agent OpenClaw into its search app and providing it directly to 700 million users.

· Manus launches personal AI agent on Telegram...plans support for other messaging apps · Figma works with Anthropic...converts AI code into editable design · WordPress.com adds AI assistant...enables style adjustments and image generation · Baidu embeds OpenClaw in AI search app...to provide to 700 million users

French AI startup Mistral AI acquired Paris-based startup Koyeb to support simplifying AI app deployment and infrastructure management. Koyeb was founded in 2020 by engineers from French cloud company Scaleway and provides a platform for easily deploying AI applications in a serverless environment. Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch (아서 멘쉬) drew attention by predicting that “more than 50 percent of the software used in the IT sector today will shift to AI.” ServiceNow acquired Israeli big data startup Pyramid Analytics and moved to target the AI-based business intelligence market.

· Mistral’s first M&A...acquires Koyeb and expands territory on-premises · Mistral CEO: “More than half of enterprise software can be replaced by AI” · ServiceNow acquires Pyramid Analytics...expands into generative AI-based BI

Search startup Perplexity has halted its advertising business. The decision runs counter to a trend of rivals adopting ads as a monetisation strategy. Perplexity stated that ads do not influence chatbot answers, but said, “With ads, users start to doubt everything,” and judged the ad model offered no practical benefit.

· Perplexity halts ads...“concerns over undermining user trust, accurate answers come first”

Airbnb is handling 30 percent of North American customer support through an in-house AI agent and plans to expand it to global markets.

· Airbnb handles 30 percent of North American customer support with AI...aims global expansion

Indian vibe coding platform Emergent surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue in 8 months after launch. Indian AI company Sarvam unveiled AI models for Nokia feature phones, cars and smart glasses. Sarvam also released a large language model and voice and vision AI models.

· Indian vibe coding startup Emergent surpasses $100 million in annualised revenue in 8 months · India’s Sarvam unveils its own LLM...also targets feature phones, cars and smart glasses

Interest remains strong in startups that specialise in AI inference. Modal Labs, a startup developing AI inference infrastructure, is in talks to raise new funding at a $2.5 billion valuation. If the round is completed, Modal Labs’ valuation will more than double from $1.1 billion 5 months ago.

· AI inference infrastructure startups pour in...unicorns also spreading

World Labs, an AI startup led by Stanford University professor Fei-Fei Li (페이페이 리), recently raised $200 million in investment from Autodesk. The two companies plan to combine World Labs’ AI model with Autodesk’s CAD software to develop new use cases in architecture, engineering and entertainment.

· World Labs raises $200 million from Autodesk...3D spatial AI collaboration

Apple is said to be developing 3 new products targeting the AI wearable market. In addition to AI smart glasses and AI AirPods, Apple is developing an AI pin with a camera in a pendant form factor the size of an AirTag that can be attached to a user’s clothing.

· From AI pins to AI glasses...Apple steps up development of 3 wearable AI devices

Lulumedic signed a memorandum of understanding with Upstage for cooperation on a “large language model-based services business applicable to medical mydata and the medical environment.”

· Lulumedic-Upstage cooperate on “medical specialised LLM” business

The global security market continues to see M&A led by large companies. Palo Alto Networks acquired Koi Security, a startup specialising in enterprise file security, for $400 million. Check Point has also recently acquired 3 startups. The combined purchase price totals $150 million. The companies acquired by Check Point are Cyclops, which developed a data lake platform that analyses corporate cybersecurity data to identify risk factors, Cyata Security, which sets security guardrails for AI agents, and Rot8, which developed an MSP security platform.

· Palo Alto Networks in another M&A...this time file security startup Koi · From AI to MSP...Check Point acquires 3 security startups