💰OpenAI x Amazon: $38B deal

Good morning, AI enthusiast. OpenAI just signed a $38 billion cloud deal with Amazon Web Services, marking their first-ever partnership, and a new phase in the AI infrastructure arms race.

In today’s AI newsletter:

• OpenAI and amazon sign $38 billion cloud deal

• Studio Ghibli demands OpenAI stop using Its work

• Neuro-symbolic AI startup AUI raises $20M at $750M valuation

• How to personalize your learning experience with Google’s new tool

• AI tools & more

AI PARTNERHIPS

☁️ OpenAI and Amazon Sign $38 Billion Cloud Deal

OpenAI has agreed to pay Amazon $38 billion over seven years for cloud computing power, giving it access to AWS data centers and Nvidia chips as it continues to scale ChatGPT and train next-gen AI models.

• This is OpenAI’s first deal with Amazon, ending its previous Microsoft-only exclusivity

• Amazon gains a major new AI customer amid slower AWS growth compared to Google & Microsoft

• OpenAI now has nearly $600 billion in total cloud commitments across Oracle, Microsoft, and Amazon

• The deal includes access to agentic AI compute, letting models autonomously perform complex tasks

• Amazon recently opened an $11B data-center campus for Anthropic, another AI rival to OpenAI

This move signals a massive decentralization of AI compute power. OpenAI is spreading its infrastructure bets across multiple cloud giants to avoid dependency and scale faster. For Amazon, this is a big win, reclaiming ground in the AI cloud race it helped start.

AI ART

🎨 Studio Ghibli Demands OpenAI Stop Using Its Work

A coalition led by Studio Ghibli, Bandai Namco, and Square Enix has formally demanded that OpenAI stop training Sora 2 on Japanese anime and game content without permission. The group, known as CODA (Content Overseas Distribution Association), accused OpenAI of using copyrighted material to generate outputs that “closely resemble” Japanese art styles, calling it a clear case of copyright infringement.

• CODA represents top Japanese publishers, including Ghibli and Square Enix

• Japan’s government has already urged OpenAI to stop using anime and manga in training

• OpenAI initially required creators to opt out but reversed to default opt-out after backlash

• CODA says this isn’t enough, Japanese law requires prior permission for use

Japan is pushing back harder than any country yet on AI copyright misuse, defending its cultural exports, anime, manga, and gaming, as “irreplaceable treasures.” The move could set a global precedent for how AI companies are forced to handle creative rights going forward.

AI STARTUPS

🧠 Neuro-symbolic AI Startup AUI Raises $20M at $750M Valuation

New York-based Augmented Intelligence Inc (AUI) has raised $20M in a bridge round, valuing the stealth-mode startup at $750M. The company is developing Apollo-1, a new neuro-symbolic AI model that combines LLM-style language skills with deterministic logic, aiming to fix what today’s transformer models can’t.

→ Fuses transformer + symbolic AI for reliable, policy-enforced automation
→ Targets task-oriented dialog, not open-ended chat
→ Backed by investors from Vertex Pharma, IBM, and UKG
→ Currently in closed beta with Fortune 500s
→ Claims faster onboarding and lower compute costs than frontier models

AUI’s “neuro-symbolic” approach could mark a major shift beyond transformer dominance. Instead of guessing the next token, Apollo-1 reasons deterministically, a potential game-changer for enterprise AI where reliability, policy enforcement, and security matter more than creativity.

HOW TO AI

💻 How to Personalize Your Learning Experience with Google’s new Tool

In this tutorial, you will learn how Google’s “Learn Your Way” reimagines education by transforming static textbooks into personalized, interactive learning experiences. You’ll see how the AI rewrites content based on your interests, whether that’s basketball, gaming, or music, and turns complex concepts into relatable examples

🧰 Who is This For

• Students who find traditional learning dry or irrelevant

• Teachers looking to personalize classroom materials effortlessly

• Parents who want their kids to enjoy studying again

• Anyone curious about the future of AI-powered education

STEP 1: Access the Tool

First, head over to Learn Your Way.
Once you’re on the homepage, you’ll see a big header saying “Re-imagining textbooks for every learner.”
It’ll ask you to either upload your own PDF or join the waitlist, but don’t worry, you can still test it out without signing up.

STEP 2: Personalize your learning experience

Just scroll down a bit and you’ll see a list of subjects like Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, History, and more.
Click on any subject, for example, let’s choose Computer Science.

Next, you’ll see two personalization options pop up, like:

• “Middle schooler who likes 🍽️”

• “High schooler who likes 🏀”

Choose one that fits your vibe.

STEP 3: Start Learning

Once selected, Learn Your Way will transform the textbook content into something completely personalized.
For instance, if you chose “High schooler who likes basketball,” Newton’s Laws won’t be about boring objects anymore, they’ll explain how LeBron’s jump shot follows the same physics principles.

STEP 4: Explore Interactive Learning Tool

On the next screen, you’ll find multiple tabs at the top, Immersive Text, Slides & Narration, Audio Lesson, and Mindmap.
Each of these lets you explore the same topic in a different format:

• Immersive Text gives you a rewritten version of the textbook with examples from your interests.

• Slides & Narration turns it into a visual presentation.

• Audio Lesson lets you listen instead of reading.

• Mindmap shows the whole chapter visually, connecting all ideas together.

You can even take quizzes after each topic to check how much you’ve learned.

Dia, the AI browser by Atlassian, is bringing back Arc’s best features like sidebar mode and pinned tabs, plus new AI tools like memory and agents.

Anthropic announces a deal with Cognizant, under which Cognizant will deploy Claude to its 350,000 employees and co-sell Claude models to its business customers

Microsoft signs a five-year, ~$9.7B deal to buy AI compute capacity from Sydney-based IREN, giving Microsoft access to Nvidia's GB300 in IREN's Texas facility.

AI singer Xania Monet just became the first virtual artist to hit Billboard’s radio charts after landing a multimillion-dollar deal last month.

⚙️ Composer: Cursor’s new fast AI coding model

🎨 Creative OS: Canva’s new AI-powered visual suite

💼 Claude for Excel: AI that handles your spreadsheets so you don’t have to

🎬 Reve: AI tool for creating content, now supports videos

THAT’S IT FOR TODAY

Thanks for making it to the end! I put my heart into every email I send, I hope you are enjoying it. Let me know your thoughts so I can make the next one even better!

See you tomorrow :)

- Dr. Alvaro Cintas