Companies And Business - AI news 2025-08-05

For the first time, OpenAI models are available on AWS

techcrunch.com • Aug 05, 2025

This is a juicy competitive move for both companies after AWS faced an onslaught of criticism over its progress with AI....

TL;DR

OpenAI announces a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), making its Open-Weight Reasoning Models available on AWS for the first time, a move that aims to counterbalance AWS's rival Microsoft as OpenAI's primary cloud partner.

Key Takeaways:

AWS becomes the first major cloud provider to offer OpenAI's Open-Weight Reasoning Models, available through AWS services Bedrock and SageMaker AI.
This partnership allows enterprise customers to easily experiment with OpenAI models for hosted AI apps, countering Microsoft's influence over OpenAI.
OpenAI's partnership aims to strengthen its cloud position while Meta's Mark Zuckerberg faces scrutiny over the openness of its 'superintelligence' models.

OpenAI returns to open source roots with new models gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b

venturebeat.com • Aug 05, 2025

Enterprises can use a powerful, near topline OpenAI LLM on their hardware totally privately and securely, without sending data to the cloud....

TL;DR

OpenAI releases two new open-source large language models, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b, with Apache 2.0 licensing, allowing enterprises and developers to use and modify them freely.

Key Takeaways:

These models outperform some of OpenAI's paid models and the competition's offerings, with ranking top performances on reasoning and tool-use benchmarks.
The gpt-oss models are multilingual and perform well across various non-English languages, with potential for fine-tuning to improve regional or linguistic contexts.
OpenAI's shift towards open-source models may signal a reevaluation of its business strategy, as competitors in the open-source AI space continue to gain traction and user adoption.

The EU AI Act aims to create a level playing field for AI innovation. Here’s what it is.

techcrunch.com • Aug 05, 2025

The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, known as the EU AI Act, has been described as “the world's first comprehensive AI law” by the Europe...

TL;DR

The European Union's AI Act has been rolled out, providing a comprehensive framework for AI development and deployment across the EU, with a focus on promoting trustworthy AI and preventing harm.

Key Takeaways:

The EU AI Act applies to companies both local and foreign, and sets a high bar for what AI should and shouldn't do for society.
The Act balances harm prevention against innovation through a risk-based approach, banning prohibited use cases, flagging high-risk uses, and applying lighter obligations to limited risk scenarios.
The regulation comes with penalties for non-compliance, including fines of up to €35 million or 7% of annual turnover, and will be enforced through staggered compliance deadlines starting in mid-2026.

Google agrees to pause AI workloads when power demand spikes

www.theregister.com • Aug 05, 2025

Article URL: https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/04/google_ai_datacenter_grid/ Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44800051 Points: 10 ...

TL;DR

Google will pause non-essential AI workloads when power demand spikes to protect the grid, under an agreement with power companies.

Key Takeaways:

Google will use dynamic load flexibility to reduce power consumption from its datacenters during peak demand periods.
The company aims to invest in alternative energy sources, including geothermal, solar, wind, hydroelectric, and nuclear.
Google's $85 billion AI infrastructure build-out plans may be impacted by measures to reduce power consumption and reliance on non-renewable energy.

Introducing Stability AI Solutions: Generative AI Solutions to Accelerate Enterprise Creative Production

stability.ai • Aug 05, 2025

Today we’re introducing Stability AI Solutions, a new offering designed to help enterprises scale creative production with generative AI....

TL;DR

Stability AI Solutions is launched, providing enterprise-level generative AI solutions that help accelerate creative production without sacrificing quality or brand integrity.

Key Takeaways:

Stability AI Solutions includes multiple generative AI tools for Marketing / Advertising / Design verticals, with more in development for Entertainment and Gaming.
The solutions offer custom models and workflows, as well as professional services, flexible deployment options, and dedicated support.
Partnership with WPP provides access to Stability AI Solutions through WPP Open, an AI-powered marketing services platform, further expanding creative possibilities.

AI-powered fintech Alaan raises $48M, one of the largest Series A rounds in MENA

techcrunch.com • Aug 05, 2025

When Parthi Duraisamy was a consultant at McKinsey’s Dubai office, he discovered that the American Express cards his company relied on for corporate e...

TL;DR

Alaan, a Middle Eastern fintech company, raised $48 million in Series A funding to fuel its expansion into Saudi Arabia and further automate finance processes using AI.

Key Takeaways:

Alaan has already saved finance teams over 1.5 million hours of manual work and processed over 2.5 million transactions for 1,500 finance teams across major regional enterprises.
The company is profitable, having spent $5 million to generate $10 million in revenue, and is looking to replicate its growth in Saudi Arabia.
Alaan plans to use the Series A funding to scale hiring, increase AI-driven finance automation, and expand its offerings in the region.