Anthropic's IPO delay, U.S.-China AI talks, and 3 more AI moves

In brief

Five developments

1. Anthropic's IPO timetable moves toward mid-October

• Anthropic is now expected to begin marketing its initial public offering in mid-October at the earliest, with a listing potentially arriving days before the U.S. midterm elections in November, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. 1
• The company's prospectus is now expected in late September rather than as early as next week, while Anthropic is working to finalize a $15 billion revolving credit facility. 1
• The schedule remains subject to change, Anthropic declined to comment, and Reuters said some investors have discussed a potential $2 trillion listing; the next firm signal is the prospectus itself. 1

2. U.S. and China prepare a possible AI safety dialogue

• The United States and China are preparing talks on AI safety risks for mid-September, Reuters reported, citing two people briefed on the planning; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to lead the U.S. side. 2
• The proposed agenda includes cooperation on monitoring AI-directed cyberattacks, and the U.S. has floated asking American and Chinese AI labs to police themselves and share information about such attacks. 2
• The White House said there was currently no planned AI-related meeting in mid-September, while participants and the agenda remain fluid; the dialogue is a reported plan rather than a confirmed government event. 2

3. Seattle Times and Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft

• The two newspapers sued OpenAI and Microsoft in federal court, alleging that the companies copied their journalism without permission to train AI systems. 3
• The complaint says the companies scraped newspaper websites, including paywalled material, and used the articles in products such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Bing's AI features; the newspapers also allege that the products can reproduce or closely paraphrase their reporting. 3
• OpenAI said its models use publicly available data and rely on fair use, while Microsoft said it was surprised and open to discussing the dispute; the newspapers seek destruction of copies, training datasets, or models that incorporate their work. 3

4. XDOF enters late-stage talks for a $1.2 billion valuation

• XDOF, a startup that gathers real-world teleoperation data for training general-purpose robots, is in late-stage talks to raise a Series B at a valuation of about $1.2 billion, led by 8VC, TechCrunch reported. 4
• The company emerged from stealth less than three months ago, has annualized revenue approaching $50 million, and previously told TechCrunch that it works with 20 customers, including frontier AI labs. 4
• XDOF combines remote robot operation with human collectors wearing sensors to capture tasks such as folding clothes and flattening boxes; the funding terms, including the amount raised, remain unsettled, so this is a financing report rather than a completed round. 4

5. Gemini Spark can work inside Google Photos

• Google's Gemini Spark personal agent can now edit images, curate albums, create shared albums, turn photos of concert flyers into calendar appointments, and run other Google Photos workflows. 5
• Google plans to roll out the feature over the next few weeks to eligible Gemini AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the United States using English; the rollout is an agent action inside an existing Google service rather than a standalone photo product. 5
• Users must connect Google Photos to Gemini, turn on Spark in the Gemini app, and enter a prompt, while Google has not said when the feature will reach other countries. 5

The read-through

Watch next

• Anthropic: the prospectus date, credit-facility terms, and any change to the mid-October timetable.
• U.S.–China: official confirmation of a meeting, its participants, and whether cyberattack monitoring enters the final agenda.
• Copyright litigation: the first court responses from OpenAI and Microsoft and any request for an injunction or data destruction.
• XDOF: whether the Series B closes, how much it raises, and whether the $1.2 billion valuation survives final terms.
• Gemini Spark: the first rollout reports and Google's decision on availability beyond the United States and English.