- OpenAI's Jalapeño chip brings the heat
- New startup takes AI from words to physics
- Build a website hands-free with Claude Voice
- Perplexity, Nvidia go portable with Computer
Image source: OpenAIThe Rundown: OAI just published the first benchmark results for Jalapeño, the custom chip it built with Broadcom to run AI models (not train them), with its tests showing wins over Nvidia's flagship systems on both speed and power efficiency.The details: - In tests, OAI's 700-watt chip topped Nvidia’s own options rated at 1,200 watts, answering up to 3.6x faster with up to 1.9x more work per watt.
- The company said it leveraged its own upcoming Astra model and Codex to create Jalapeño, taking nine months from first design to manufacturing-ready.
- OAI won't sell the chip, with hardware VP Richard Ho saying it has "so much need for it" internally, and still leans on Nvidia to train new models.
- Two more generations are already in the works, with plans to reach OAI's data centers later this year and production set to ramp up through 2027.
The Rundown: Physical AI is the next frontier, but complex real-world variables and multimodal experimentation make building embodied systems a challenge. Our new e-book, Advancing Physical AI: From Learning to Embodied Intelligence, shares practical strategies to help you optimize robotics workflows and accelerate development.Get the guide to learn:- Techniques to close the sim-to-real gap through real-time iteration
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- How to train VLAs at scale
Image source: Accelerated UnderstandingThe Rundown: Caltech professor Anima Anandkumar and engineer Benedikt Jenik just launched Accelerated Understanding, a new startup training AI to forecast how the physical world evolves rather than predict what word comes next. The details:- Instead of the traditional transformer, the model runs on “neural operators”, a physics-based design that follows events through 3D space and time.
- Anandkumar and Jenik were initially offered top positions and a 35% stake in Jeff Bezos’ Prometheus, but chose to build their own venture instead.
- In tests, AU’s model processed 5T data points in a single run, about 5M (!) times what Google and Anthropic's top models hit.
- Early business targets include chip materials, extreme-weather prediction, and robotics, with the company focused on enterprise over consumer models.
- Optional: If you have photos or design references, you can stash them in a folder. Now open Claude Desktop, start a regular chat, and click Voice
- Explain the website, then ask Claude to interview you until it has a design plan and brand direction
- At the end of the voice chat, have Claude write out the website building plan in full in the chat
- Now with Claude in text mode, drop in the photos and tell it to build the prototype based on the plan. If it skips images, say: “Use photos in this artifact”
The Rundown: Scribe Optimize automatically maps how work actually happens across your org — so before you build an AI strategy, you're working from reality, not assumptions.With Scribe Optimize, you can:- Map real workflows — no surveys or consultants
- Surface inefficiencies leadership can't currently see
- Build your AI strategy on ground truth, not gut feel
Image source: PerplexityThe Rundown: Perplexity and Nvidia just launched Portable Computer, a new on-device take on Perplexity’s Computer agent that keeps files private and is free to run locally on Nvidia’s DGX Spark consumer hardware.The details: - Users can select between Qwen 3.8 27B or Perplexity’s own PPLX 27B as the local model, with the option to call in 15+ cloud models when needed.
- On-device work doesn’t use any credits, with connectors able to integrate with popular apps and all cloud use requiring approval by the user.
- Portable installs in a single click on Nvidia’s $4,699 DGX Spark desktop supercomputer, with certain PCs also able to run the agent in the near future.
- The release comes just days after reports that Nvidia is in talks to invest billions of dollars in Perplexity in a new equity round at a valuation of over $30B.
Adapt - Your company, your agent. One agent connected to every tool your team uses. Start building free*
Portable Computer - Perplexity's agent that runs fully on Nvidia hardware
Keenable - Search API that lets agents query and learn from the live web
Stickers in ChatGPT - Build sticker packs from photos to send on iMessage
- Read our last AI newsletter: SpaceX-Nvidia partnership heads to orbit
- Read our last Tech newsletter: Apple’s Mac Mini makes an AI comeback
- Read our last Robotics newsletter: Humanoids beat Bolt’s 100M record
- Today’s AI tool guide: Build a website hands-free with Claude Voice
- RSVP to next workshop on Aug. 27: Build your first AI Eval
Source: https://therundownai.beehiiv.com/p/open ... s-the-heat