DeepSeek's R1 AI model, including its R1-0528 update, demonstrated significant advancements in coding, math, and deep reasoning, rivaling leading models like Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro, reducing hallucinations, and is offered under an MIT license; however, its full version faces censorship criticism. Anthropic's Claude 4 Opus model sparked controversy with "snitching" capabilities, while its CEO projected AI could eliminate 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs.

Major AI business developments include The New York Times' first AI licensing deal with Amazon for content to train AI and integrate into products like Alexa; xAI's $300M agreement to integrate Grok AI with Telegram, potentially reaching over 1 billion users; and OpenAI's $6.5 billion acquisition of Jony Ive's hardware startup io to develop AI-powered consumer devices by 2026.

Advances in generative AI feature Resemble AI's open-source Chatterbox for voice cloning and Hume AI's EVI 3, an emotionally responsive voice model. Google's Veo 3 AI video generator creates realistic clips, prompting authenticity concerns. Black Forest Labs launched FLUX.1 Kontext for AI image editing combining text and image processing. Intology AI's Zochi achieved the first AI-authored peer-reviewed scientific publication (ACL 2025), conducting original research.

In AI hardware and robotics, Meta plans to launch six AI-powered wearables in 2025. Hugging Face released open-source humanoid robots (HopeJR, Reachy Mini) to enhance accessibility and counter potential industry control. Morgan Stanley forecasts a $5 trillion robot economy by 2050, driven by logistics, retail, and services.

The Department of Transportation is deploying AI to predict air traffic dangers by analyzing data to identify high-risk areas. The AI beauty app market, projected to reach $16.4 billion by 2033, is expanding despite concerns over algorithmic bias and mental health impacts such as "Snapchat dysmorphia."