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👇️ Feature: Fei Fei Li: Physical AI is Next Frontier + World Labs' Marble 3D World Model, LeCun leaves Meta to start World Model startup, xAI Raises $15B

Also: Shutdown Ends, Economic Data, Fed Eyes Bond Purchases, Trump's Wall Street Dinner, , Epstein Emails, Google's Faces Anti-Spam Case, Google v Phishing

Company Watch: xAI $15B, Cursor $2.3B, Apple Digital ID, Exowatt, Wonderful Raises $100M, diVine, Joby Aviation, Polymarket Relaunches in US.
Buzzy Tools: Latest Buzzy tech, AI and financial tools
Deep Tech: The latest in deep tech, biotech, futurism and more
Space Tech: Latest news in the space race and aerospace tech
Crypto: Blockchain and crypto policy and startups or protocols to watch

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TECH IN THE NEWS

Shutdown Ends — The U.S. government has reopened after a historic 43-day shutdown, restoring federal services and back pay for workers. Agencies are now issuing full SNAP benefits for November, while TSA employees receive bonuses.

Economic Data — The Labor Department is being urged to release November employment and inflation reports after the shutdown.

Fed Eyes Bond Purchases — New York Fed President John Williams announced potential resumption of bond purchases to manage interest rates. He reassured that this does not indicate a shift in monetary policy.

Trump's Wall Street Dinner — President Trump will host a private White House dinner with top Wall Street leaders like JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon and Nasdaq's Adena Friedman to boost ties and support U.S. capital markets and supply chains.

Epstein Email Revelations — House Democrats released emails linking Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, alleging Trump’s knowledge of the operation. The White House and Trump denied any wrongdoing.

Google Faces Anti-Spam Scrutiny — The EU investigates Google for potentially unfair anti-spam policies affecting publishers' search rankings. If violating the DMA, Google could face fines and operational limits.

Google v Phishing — Google has filed a RICO lawsuit against the Lighthouse network for running a phishing platform compromising up to 115M credit cards, aims to dismantle the operation and push for stronger cybercrime legislation.

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TechBuzz Editorial

Physical AI moved into the spotlight this week. Within a single day, three events made world models feel like the next major shift in the industry. Yann LeCun announced he is leaving Meta to build a company focused on world models. Fei Fei Li explained again why AI systems need to learn the rules of space and physics to reach higher intelligence. Then company World Labs also released Marble, a new platform that builds stable 3D environments from simple prompts. At the same time, xAI revealed a $15 billion funding round that raised its valuation to $200B as it is engaged in a push towards World Models in partnership with Tesla.

These updates are pushing the topic of world models from a research idea into a global race among the largest companies in technology.

Why world models matter right now

LeCun has warned for years that language alone cannot guide AI toward real planning or reasoning. He says systems need to learn how the world behaves. They need to track movement, understand objects and form predictions that relate to physical reality. Fei Fei Li shares this view. She says spatial intelligence is the heart of the next wave of AI because it helps systems act inside real or virtual environments instead of only responding to text. She points out that “spatial intelligence will transform how we create and interact with real and virtual worlds.”

Marble shows what this looks like outside a lab. Early users can fly through 3D spaces that hold their shape. Rooms and landscapes stay consistent. This solves one of the most common problems in earlier 3D generation models, where walls and objects changed every few seconds. By keeping scenes steady, Marble gives creators a tool that feels closer to a real design program instead of a toy.

Pressure on Meta Mounts

LeCun’s exit raises questions for Meta. The company has reorganized its AI research groups several times this year. It has also made large investments in superintelligence to catch up with companies like OpenAI and Google. Even with this effort, Meta has struggled to generate the same excitement around its Llama models. Losing its most respected scientist at this moment shows that the company’s long term plans are still unsettled.

xAI Steps Into a Stronger Position

On the other hand, Elon Musk’s xAI is gaining speed. It has quickly become one of the most valuable AI startups in the world. The new $15B raise will mostly go toward GPUs which are needed to train powerful world models. These models learn from video, robotics data and other sources that help them understand real environments.

There is also growing attention on the connection between xAI and Tesla. Tesla shareholders are currently considering an investment in xAI. Musk has suggested that the two companies could share data or research. Tesla’s fleet provides huge amounts of driving video and sensor information. This type of data is extremely helpful for world model training because it captures real motion and physical behavior. Very few companies have access to data on that scale.

xAI has also been hiring experts from Nvidia and other research centers that specialize in video learning and robotics. This gives xAI a path toward advanced game creation tools, robotics systems and virtual worlds that respond to physics in realistic ways.

Google DeepMind Makes Progress in Visual Reasoning

Google DeepMind is also strengthening the science behind world models. Researchers just introduced a new method that helps AI vision models understand relationships between objects. For example, the model can see a link between a car and an airplane even though they belong to different categories. This makes the model more flexible and more aligned with how humans notice patterns.

DeepMind reports that this method improves tasks like learning a new category from one image and making correct decisions when image styles shift. The model also shows a better sense of uncertainty which is a key part of safe and stable reasoning. These improvements support any future world model that relies on strong visual understanding.

China’s Spatial Intelligence Push

Tencent has also begun investing in world models. Leaders at the company describe spatial intelligence as a major opportunity for the next decade. Tencent has large game studios and virtual platforms that already create many 3D worlds. This gives the company useful data and experience as it explores world model research. The global field now includes companies from the US, Europe and China all racing to solve similar problems.

A shift from words to environments

The momentum behind world models has grown across the entire industry. Companies are exploring AI systems that can observe, imagine and act inside complex spaces. These systems could support robotics, science tools, design software and new forms of entertainment.

The events of this week show a clear change in direction. AI development is moving toward models that learn the structure of the world. The companies that master this skill will guide the next stage of the technology.

“Spatial intelligence will transform how we create and interact with real and virtual worlds—revolutionizing storytelling, creativity, robotics, scientific discovery, and beyond. This is AI’s next frontier.”

— Dr. Fei-Fei Li, Founder World Labs

COMPANIES TO WATCH

xAI — Raised a landmark $15B valued at $200B to boost its GPUs and AI capabilities. Interest from Tesla shareholders may link the two companies, offering synergies.

Cursor — The AI coding solutions startup secured $2.3B in funding, elevating its valuation to $29B. This caps its rapid growth in valuation over just the past 3 months.

Google — Relaunched Cameyo for ChromeOS virtualization, upgraded Gemini Live with human-like speech features, and launched AI shopping agents using Duplex to autonomously check inventory and purchase at local stores.

Apple — The tech giant has introduced a Digital ID feature in the U.S., allowing iPhone and Apple Watch users to store their U.S. passport in Apple Wallet for TSA checkpoints. Part of iOS 26, this feature enhances convenience and privacy.

Anthropic — Committed $50B to build AI data centers in Texas and New York by 2026. The investment aims to create 800 jobs and enhance AI infrastructure.

Meta — Announced a $1B investment in a new AI-optimized data center in Wisconsin. This 30th global facility will feature renewable energy and dry-cooling.

Exowatt — The Sam Altman-backed company focuses on providing electricity at one cent per kw-hour using solar-thermal batteries to reliably supply AI data centers.

Wonderful — Israeli AI startup specializing in AI customer service agents raised a $100M Series A led by Index Ventures. With an 80% resolve rate, it operates in 11 markets and plans expansion into Germany, Austria, and Asia-Pacific.

diVine — Jack Dorsey is backing diVine, reviving Vine's six-second videos with access to 100,000+ archived clips. Developed by Evan Henshaw-Plath, it emphasizes user control and copyright, offering non-AI-driven decentralized social media.

Joby Aviation — Successfully executed its first military drone test flight with L3Harris, showcasing a hybrid aircraft for both autonomous and piloted operations. This rapid development could lead to substantial defense contracts by 2026.

Polymarket — The prediction market platform has relaunched its U.S. operations in beta, post-resolution with the CFTC. Notable partnerships with PrizePicks and Yahoo Finance signal growth, with a full relaunch set to introduce POLY.

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BUZZY TOOLS

Buzzy Tech Tools To Watch & Use

Google — Cameyo virtualization tool for businesses in ChromeOS, Windows apps direct in browsers. Deep Research for AI research plans on NotebookLM.

Hyperlink — App for NVIDIA RTX PCs; 3x faster indexing, 2x LLM inference

NVIDIA MLPerf Win — Blackwell Ultra architecture sets AI training record.

ByteDance — Doubao-Seed-Code AI agent cheap coding SWE-Bench record.

Mozilla — AI Window in Firefox offers model choice, enhances control, privacy.

LinkedIn — AI-powered people search using natural language on premium in U.S.

BUZZY TECH

The Latest Deep Technology & Trends To Watch

Microsoft-OpenAI Chip Partnership — MS gains AI chip rights from OpenAI.

Microsoft-backed VEIR — Superconducting cables address AI power demands.

Quantum Light Transmissions — UTS Earth>space ultra-secure quantum comms.

Photonics Chips — Light transfer tech accelerates data speeds.

Chemical Computer — Enzyme networks do temperature measurement, id.

Microwave Brain Microchip — Faster, efficient AI and edge computing.

Waymo Highway Robotaxis — AVs improve travel times 50% in Phoenix, SF, LA.

CRYPTO WATCH

Senate Crypto Bill — A bipartisan draft bill classifies bitcoin and ether as digital commodities under CFTC oversight, potentially unlocking institutional investment. It mandates structural changes for crypto exchanges.

SEC's Crypto Clarity — Paul Atkins proposes a "token taxonomy" using the Howey Test to clarify which cryptocurrencies are securities. The SEC will pursue fraud and enable trading on non-regulated platforms, aligning with legislative efforts.

JPMorgan Blockchain — JPMorgan Chase launches its blockchain-based deposit token, JPM Coin (JPMD), on Coinbase's Base for institutional payment services. Following a pilot with Mastercard and B2C2, a euro version, JPME, is planned.

Grayscale's NYSE Debut — Grayscale Investments is filing for an IPO to list Class A shares on the NYSE, managing $35B in assets. Targeting a $365B market, this move aligns with the 2025 crypto IPO surge, amid favorable conditions.

Arc Token Initiative — Circle is considering launching a native token for its Arc blockchain, designed for stablecoin transactions. The Arc Network is in public testnet, enabling over 100 institutions to test features like instant settlements and privacy.

Visa's Stablecoin Leap — Visa has launched a pilot program enabling businesses to make payouts in USDC stablecoins, targeting creators, freelancers, and gig workers for speedier cross-border transactions. A wider rollout is anticipated by 2026.

Canary XRP ETF — Nasdaq approved the Canary XRP ETF under the symbol XRPC amidst a government shutdown. The SEC clarified crypto ETF procedures, aiding firms like Bitwise and Grayscale. REX Shares launched an XRP ETF.

SPACE_RACE

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS — Ion tail growth suggests increased activity.

NASA's DSS-14 Antenna — Over-rotation damage outage, straining network.

Microgravity Mission — EU microgravity research via SpaceX launches in 2026.

Blue Origin_ Launching NASA's ESCAPADE to Mars; booster landing attempt.

Firefly Aerospace — 15% stock jump on Q3 revenue + $177M NASA contract.

Rocket Lab Neutron Rocket — Partially reusable rocket delayed to 2026.

U-Space — €24M boosts small satellite production to one per week by 2027.

Supermassive Black Hole Flare — Largest ever flare, 10T suns' light.

Black Hole Merger Mystery — Magnetic fields solve gravitational wave mystery.

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