AI news6
Google opens Gemini 4 Argon beyond restricted cyber access
Google's October 13 rollout makes Argon available through the paid Gemini API and to eligible Pro and Ultra subscribers in its consumer products. Introductory API rates are US$2 per million input tokens and US$10 per million output tokens through November 30; they double afterwards. The API supports a combined one-million-token input and output limit.
blog.google ↗Why it matters
This delivers the broader access promised at the earlier restricted Fairwind launch, letting more teams test complex workflows against a known future price increase.
Anthropic rebuilds source control as daily merges pass 30,000
Anthropic reports that code changes merged daily rose from about 2,500 in May to over 30,000 in September. Seven engineers built its Scion source-control system, Antique review tool and related systems, completing migration in five months. It reports a 25% CPU-capacity saving in CI; the system is internal and designed for unusually large, agent-heavy repositories.
anthropic.com ↗Why it matters
This new infrastructure case study, separate from its recent distillation research, shows AI coding shifting pressure onto review, testing and coordination.
Apple opens HomeView preorders for a November 13 launch
Apple announced a seven-inch home display with Siri AI on October 13, priced from US$299. Preorders include Australia, with availability planned for November 13. Personal-context features require pairing with an Apple Intelligence-enabled device; Siri AI initially supports English, and HomeView is unavailable for sale in the EU.
apple.com ↗Why it matters
The new shared household screen extends AI beyond the personal-device use cases previously covered, making identity and access to private context central design choices.
Liquid releases an open-weight reasoning model with two billion active parameters
Liquid AI released LFM2.5-24B-A2B on October 13, with 24 billion total parameters and two billion active per token. The reasoning-only model has a 131,072-token context window and supports local runtimes including llama.cpp and MLX. Liquid reports 184 tokens per second on an Apple M5 Max in its own test.
liquid.ai ↗Why it matters
Unlike its earlier d1 decision scorers, this model generates reasoning and tool-oriented responses, expanding the options for agents running locally.
Fish Audio releases Drama 3, with editing tools still invite-only
Fish Audio's October 13 release brings expressive text-to-speech to its web and mobile apps and API, supporting 83 languages. It reports 93.2% pronunciation robustness on the Artificial Analysis benchmark. Open weights allow free commercial use for organisations and affiliates with combined annual revenue below US$500,000, with separate licensing for hosted voice services; interactive editing and word replacement remain invite-only.
beta.fish.audio ↗Why it matters
More precise vocal direction could reduce retakes for audio production, while licence and access limits still determine which workflows are available.
Character.ai enters a sale process while its service continues
Character.ai said on October 12 that it began a voluntary Chapter 11 process to pursue a court-supervised sale. Its platform and paid subscriptions continue operating for now. The company expects the sale process to finish in late November or early December, but says it will wind down the platform if no viable bid emerges.
blog.character.ai ↗Why it matters
AI service continuity now depends on a sale outcome, making data portability and supplier resilience practical concerns for users.
AI in the nonprofit sector2
Rockefeller and OpenAI foundations open a US$50M city-services call
Cities Deliver offers grants of US$500,000 to US$2 million to eligible nonprofit and civil-society organisations partnering with city governments. Its October 14 launch covers AI for public health, economic mobility, environmental resilience and civic engagement. Applications close at 3:59 pm Sydney time on November 30, equivalent to November 29 at 11:59 pm US Eastern; OpenAI products are not required.
prnewswire.com ↗Why it matters
This new global funding round extends earlier city pilots into an open application route, with a committed government partner required.
NewSchools names 105 ventures, including 25 using AI
NewSchools' October 14 release names 105 ventures selected from nearly 1,800 applications, including 25 organisations using AI in education. Its US$500 million milestone is cumulative investment across almost three decades, not a new AI funding pool. A further school-design funding opportunity is planned later this fall in the US, with no deadline or individual award sizes announced.
newschools.org ↗Why it matters
The newly named cohort supplies a concrete view of education philanthropy's AI investments; its older accelerator partnership is a separate announcement.