Alibaba Qwen leadership departures

Our 236th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!

Recorded on 03/06/2026

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:

* OpenAI released GPT-5.4 Pro with a 1M-token context window, mid-response course correction, native computer-use capabilities, improved tool use, higher GPT-VAL performance (83%), and “high cyber capability” safety measures; OpenAI also launched GPT-5.3 Instant with a less “preachy” tone and a claimed 26.8% hallucination reduction.

* Google upgraded Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite with faster time-to-first-token and higher throughput, released a CLI for integrating agents with Gmail/Drive/Docs, and discussion highlighted real-world agent failure risks (including an example of an AI-driven mass email deletion).

* Luma launched unified multimodal models and Luma Agents for end-to-end creative work across text, image, video, and audio, including a reported ad localization use case completed in 40 hours for under $20,000.

* Defense-contract controversy escalated: Anthropic was labeled a supply chain risk (later narrowed), OpenAI’s DoD contract language emphasized “all lawful uses,” consumer cancellations boosted Claude’s app rankings, OpenAI saw departures and announced a $110B raise at a $730B valuation, Alibaba lost key Qwen leaders, a lawsuit alleged Gemini contributed to a suicide, Anthropic warned of major labor disruption, and METR corrected its AI time-horizon estimates.

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Timestamps:

• (00:00:10) Intro / Banter
• (00:01:19) News Preview

• Tools & Apps
• (00:02:10) OpenAI launches GPT-5.4 with Pro and Thinking versions | TechCrunch
• (00:12:31) OpenAI GPT-5.3 Instant less likely to beat around the bush • The Register
• (00:16:07) Google releases Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite at 1/8th the cost of Pro | VentureBeat
• (00:19:23) Google makes Gmail, Drive, and Docs 'agent-ready' for OpenClaw | PCWorld
• (00:27:02) Luma launches creative AI agents powered by its new ‘Unified Intelligence’ models | TechCrunch

• Applications & Business
• (00:30:05) Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calls OpenAI's messaging around military deal 'straight up lies,' report says | TechCrunch
• (00:41:56) No ethics at all': the 'cancel ChatGPT' trend is growing after OpenAI signs a deal with the US military | TechRadar
• (00:45:54) OpenAI raises $110B in one of the largest private funding rounds in history | TechCrunch
• (00:56:07) Alibaba scrambles after sudden departure of Qwen tech lead

• Policy & Safety
• (01:00:12) Pentagon approves OpenAI safety red lines after dumping Anthropic + Where things stand with the Department of War Anthropic + Microsoft says Anthropic’s products remain available to customers after Pentagon blacklist
• (01:09:11) A new lawsuit claims Gemini assisted in suicide | Semafor
• (01:15:24) Anthropic just mapped out which jobs AI could potentially replace. A 'Great Recession for white-collar workers' is absolutely possible | Fortune
• (01:21:54) We're correcting a mistake in our modeling that inflated recent 50%-time horizons by 10-20%

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