Subvolts take Track Anthropic's Opus 4.8, Microsoft's new models, and major AI funding news. Jun 5, 2026 - Developers
- Learn about new model capabilities like Opus 4.8 and Microsoft's MAI, plus tools for multi-agent tasks.
- Business
- Understand major funding shifts, enterprise AI solutions from Microsoft, and market valuations impacting the AI landscape.
This episode covers significant updates from major AI labs, including new model releases and substantial funding news.
#247 - Opus 4.8, MAI, Anthropic IPO, Minimax-M3
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From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
Last Week in AI episode #247 covers Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8 release, featuring improved benchmarks and system card details. Microsoft announced its Scout assistant and new MAI models. The episode also discusses major funding rounds for Anthropic and Cognition, alongside policy updates on AI testing and export controls. Hosts Andrey Kurenkov and Jeremie Harris break down the week's AI news.
This AI news roundup covers new versions of powerful AI like Anthropic's Opus 4.8 and Microsoft's MAI models. It also touches on big money investments in AI companies and government rules for AI safety, which affect how AI is developed and used.
This episode offers a comprehensive overview of significant AI developments, from model upgrades to major business and policy shifts. It's for AI enthusiasts, industry professionals, and policymakers tracking the rapid evolution of leading AI labs. The discussions on Anthropic's Opus 4.8, Microsoft's MAI models, and substantial funding rounds directly reflect the current competitive landscape and strategic directions of frontier AI companies.
- HostAndrey Kurenkov
- HostJeremie Harris
- Episode Title: #247 - Opus 4.8, MAI, Anthropic IPO, Minimax-M3
- Show: Last Week in AI
- Length: 105 minutes
- Anthropic Funding: $65B Series H at $965B valuation
- Cognition Funding: $1B at $25B valuation
- Claude Opus 4.8 Features: Improved benchmark scores, eval-awareness, welfare/corrigibility themes, Dynamic Workflows
Our 247th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 06/03/2026
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and Jeremie Harris
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at andreyvkurenkov@gmail.com and/or hello@gladstone.ai
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/
In this episode:
- Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8 with improved benchmark scores, discussed eval-awareness findings and welfare/corrigibility themes from its system card, and introduced Dynamic Workflows for long-running multi-agent tasks.
- Microsoft unveiled the always-on Microsoft Scout assistant built on OpenClaw plus new in-house MAI models (including MAI Thinking 1) and “frontier tuning,” emphasizing enterprise security architecture and model-from-scratch capability.
- Major business moves included Anthropic’s $65B Series H at a $965B valuation alongside an IPO filing, a JPMorgan analysis arguing OpenAI needs major revenue growth to justify infrastructure spend, and Cognition raising $1B at a $25B valuation.
- Policy and security highlights covered Trump’s voluntary pre-release government testing framework for powerful AI, Meta AI support being exploited to hijack Instagram accounts, tightened US Nvidia export controls and China’s travel approvals for AI experts, plus expanded Glasswing/Mythos-style cyber and biodefense initiatives.
A thank you to our current sponsors:
- Box - visit box.com/LWIAI to learn more
- Notion - visit notion.com/lwai to try Notion’s Developer Platform today.
- ODSC AI - visit odsc.ai/east and use promo code LWAI for an additional 15% off your pass to ODSC AI East 2026.
- Factor - visit factormeals.com/lwai50off and use code lwai50off to get 50 percent off and free breakfast for a year
Timestamps:
- (00:00:10) Intro / Banter
- (00:04:10) Sponsors
- (00:07:10) News Preview
- Tools & Apps
- (00:07:54) Anthropic releases Opus 4.8 with new 'dynamic workflow' tool | TechCrunch
- (00:22:37) Microsoft Scout is a new AI personal assistant built on OpenClaw | The Verge
- (00:26:55) Microsoft launches new MAI family of AI models at Microsoft Build | Mashable
- (00:37:43) Robinhood now lets your AI agents trade stocks | TechCrunch
- (00:40:49) OpenAI launches new Codex tools for white-collar work | TechCrunch
- (00:43:40) ElevenLabs' new music-generation model can
- eval-awareness
- Andrey Kurenkov
- AI models understanding how they are being tested.
- corrigibility
- Jeremie Harris
- AI systems designed to be safely corrected or shut down.
- multi-agent tasks
- Andrey Kurenkov
- Tasks where multiple AI systems work together.
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Questions people ask
- What did Anthropic announce?
- Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8 with improved benchmark scores and introduced Dynamic Workflows for multi-agent tasks.
- What are the latest business developments in AI?
- Anthropic filed for an IPO after a $65B Series H funding round, and Cognition raised $1B at a $25B valuation.
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