Our takeaway
Introducing the AI & Data Science Pulse - our curated monthly briefing on the trends, technologies, and industry moves that actually matter.
June's Pulse covers seven stories: a government export order that took a frontier lab's top models offline, a $60 Bn acquisition of a leading AI coding startup, and more.
Our take: capability is no longer the constraint. When a ~750 Bn-parameter model ships under an open-source license, the conversation changes. The question is no longer, “Can we access a capable model?” — it’s about control of the underlying systems. Where do your models actually run? What happens when access disappears without warning? The real 2026 question is: How much control do you really have over your AI models?
In this issue:
- SpaceX to acquire Cursor for $60 Bn.
- China eyes a $295 Bn AI compute grid.
- GLM-5.2 raises the open-weight bar.
- US government directive pulls Fable 5 offline.
- Google launches a Gemini smart speaker.
- Context, not model size, drove agent accuracy.
- Taktile raises $110 Mn for AI underwriting.