I wrote extensively about AI last summer, starting with AI’s $600B Question, The Game Theory of AI CapEx, AI is Shovel Ready, Steel, Servers & Power, and ending with AI’s Supply Chain Tug of War.

Reflecting one year later, it’s interesting how little has changed: AI’s $600B Question is now roughly AI’s $840B Question, assuming that Nvidia reaches something like $210B in run-rate data center revenue by year-end 2025. OpenAI remains the lion’s share of AI’s overall revenue, crossing $10B recently, according to Reuters. The total revenue in the AI ecosystem still pales in comparison to the dollars that have been put into the ground — if anything, my estimates last year around how much revenue the Big Tech companies were making on AI were probably too high.

There have been three major improvements in AI over the last year: First, coding AI has really taken off. A year ago, the demos for these products were mind-blowing, and today, the coding AI space is generating something like $3B in run-rate revenue. The second change is that reasoning has found product-market fit, and the AI ecosystem has gotten excited about a second scaling law, around inference-time compute. By repeatedly querying these models and by using reinforcement learning, we can get better, more robust results. And finally, there seems to be a “smile curve” around ChatGPT usage, where this new behavior is really getting ingrained into day-to-day life.

The app layer ecosystem for AI has continued to improve, leveraging cheap compute and integrated workflows to build durable businesses. More abundant compute has been good for the startup ecosystem, and companies like Harvey, Sierra, Abridge, SmarterDx, Perplexity, OpenEvidence, Clay, Sesame and many others have made great strides around packaging this capability for their customers. Our ambition one year ago was to back as many of these companies as possible, and that continues to be our ambition today.

There is one dynamic, however, that has really changed since last year. A year ago, everyone was talking about cluster size and pre-training scaling, and now that seems to have quietly disappeared from the public dialogue. Perhaps this is because new clusters are taking longer to get online, or because as Ilya Sutskever said in December, “Pre-training as we know it will end.” By the same token, one year ago we were seeing a consolidation in research labs because of the daunting costs of building a foundation model lab. Microsoft/OpenAI, Amazon/Anthropic, Google, Meta and xAI emerged as five “finalists” in the AI race as others folded, because these companies had reached GPT-4 level models and had sufficient capital to continue scaling. Now, by contrast, a new cohort of players has sprouted up, including SSI, Thinking Machines, and DeepSeek, who claim talent, not raw compute scale, as their primary differentiators.

Whereas one year ago the narrative was around pre-training compute requirements driving consolidation, today the narrative is all about talent advantages being critical in a world of increasing compute abundance. This is especially true for Google and Meta. Google is under siege from a product positioning perspective and is doing everything in their power to reverse this dynamic. Meta’s bold decision to acquire a 49% stake in Scale and bring in CEO Alex Wang to lead their new “founder mode” AI lab is an even more clear move in this direction. For both companies — and for the ecosystem at large — the message of 2025 is that large-scale clusters alone are insufficient. Everyone understands that new breakthroughs will be required to jump to the next level in the AI race — whether in reinforcement learning or elsewhere — and talent is the unlock to finding them.

With their obsessive focus on talent, the AI labs are increasingly looking like sports teams: They are each backed by a mega-rich tech company or individual. Star players can command pay packages in the tens of millions, hundreds of millions, or for the most outlier talent, seemingly even billions of dollars. Unlike sports teams where players often have long-term contracts, AI employment agreements are short-term and liquid, which means anyone can be poached at any time. One irony of this is that while the notion of AI race dynamics was originally popularized by the AI safety community as a boogeyman to avoid, this is exactly what has been wrought across two distinct domains: First compute and now talent.

I think this is a function of human nature. When have humans ever seen something wonderful, and then said, “Now we have enough, it’s time to cool off?” It is an intrinsic property of humanity that once critical thresholds are passed, we take things all the way to the extreme. We cannot hold ourselves back. And when the prize is as big as the perceived AI prize is, then any bottleneck that gets in the way of success — especially an illiquid bottleneck like talent — will be pushed to staggering levels.

And yet, even amidst this fierce competition, the broader AI ecosystem also feels calmer today than at any point in the last three years. That’s because for most people, the race itself is now a constant and the market structure feels stable. People are getting comfortable with the status quo. The unstable competitive equilibrium is itself stable — for now.

I love my Amazfit Band 7. Fitness tracker or smart watch, I don’t mind what you call it. But the Band 7 is my favorite of the bunch — and not because it has an epically long battery life.

Most of the best fitness trackers are pretty complex, with loads of smart features I know I’m never going to use. So, for me, the Band 7 is the perfect watch. It never lets me down, whether that’s with sleep tracking or workout tracking.

Investors, Buyers and Founders Unite for Three Days of Bold Ideas, Sharp Insights and Startup Showdowns

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Dedicated to delivering actionable, memorable opportunities to its community, HR Tech today shared details of this year’s Investor Experience and Pitchfest competition, which will take place throughout the event this September 16 – 18 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Advised by leading industry analyst George LaRocque of WorkTech, both the Investor Experience and Pitchfest shine a spotlight on the next generation of HR technologies, helping founders build the right connections within the market. This year’s agenda features several elements relevant to investors and attendees, including the following sessions:

• HR Tech in Motion: Global Trends, Capital Flows, and Market Moves – LaRocque will explore the global forces shaping HR technology innovation and adoption, from macroeconomic trends to shifting buyer behaviors. LaRocque will consider venture capital activity, emerging tech trends and the evolving priorities of HR leaders worldwide.
• First In: Early-Stage Insights on HR Tech’s Next Wave – In a candid discussion, Donald Knight, Venture Partner at Valor Ventures, and Jason Corsello, founder and General Partner of Acadian Ventures, share where they are placing their bets this year, which trends they are tracking and how they evaluate founders and innovations in a rapidly evolving market, offering a front-row seat to the future of HR tech – from those helping shape it early.
• Winning the Pitch, Beating the Market: HireBrain’s Breakout Year – What does it take to turn a Pitchfest win into real-world traction? David Nason, founder and CEO of HireBrain, will share the company’s journey since winning HR Tech’s Pitchfest in 2024, including how it has navigated the challenges of fundraising, scaling and delivering customer results. Hear what it takes to win in today’s HR tech market – on stage and in the field.
• Smart Month, Sharp Moves: PE and M&A Trends in HR Tech – This panel, featuring Ron Cano, Managing Partner at K1, and William Filip, founder and Managing Director of Delancey Street Partners, will explore how strategic capital is being deployed, what deal activity signals about market direction and how firms are navigating growth, consolidation and exit strategies in a dynamic environment.
• Buying the Future: How Top HR Tech Platforms Drive Growth through M&A – Hear from companies including Paychex and Cornerstone for an insider’s look at how leading HR tech vendors use acquisitions to accelerate growth and shape the market. This session will consider the strategic rationale behind recent deals, how platforms identify and integrate targets and what these moves mean for innovation and competition in the industry.

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Previous attendee Bill Mastin, co-founder of Learnie, shared, “HR Tech was instrumental in helping me during my tenure as CEO of Topia connect with a highly targeted group of prospective buyers. The event created the right environment for conversations, which ultimately led to a successful transaction in early 2025. It played a key role in our journey, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity the event provided.”

The Pitchfest competition returns this year, with HR tech startup founders pitching their solutions for up to $30,000 in cash prizes, sponsored by CoAdvantage/PrimePay. Across three preliminary rounds, 30 companies-ten in each round-will each have three minutes to pitch, followed by two minutes to answer questions from the judges. Each round will also include audience voting. Six companies will then advance to the finals, where one will take home the grand prize, which also includes bragging rights and booth space at next year’s conference.

George LaRocque commented, “Each year, HR Tech is the launch pad for countless companies, and for good reason, as hundreds of top-tier investors join us to discover the next wave of innovation redefining how work gets done.”

He continued, “Since its inception, Pitchfest has grown into the world’s most influential startup competition, with HR Tech creating space for even the earliest stage companies to connect with buyers, like-minded founders, leading investors, venture capitalists and the industry’s top influencers. The HR Tech Investor Experience and Pitchfest are where vision meets opportunity – and where the future of HR technology takes shape.”

HR Tech 2025 is scheduled for September 16 – 18 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Register now to help shape the future of HR technology: https://www.hrtechnologyconference.com/register.

About HR Tech

HR Tech is the industry’s premier event series showcasing breakthrough HR technologies, with its flagship U.S. conference serving as its cornerstone since 1997. HR Tech in the U.S. features the world’s largest expo of innovative HR solutions, live product demonstrations and the industry’s preeminent startup competition. The HR Tech portfolio has expanded globally with additional annual events in Europe and Asia, creating a worldwide network of innovation hubs that shape the future of work.

HR Tech is part of the event arm of HR Executive, a prestigious global media company established in 1987 that delivers news, content and analysis of strategic HR trends to more than 220,000 subscribers worldwide. The synergy between the events and media channels enables the brands to create a comprehensive knowledge ecosystem that addresses all aspects of human resource management, establishing the organization as the definitive authority for visionary HR leaders. Visit www.HRTechConference.com to learn more.

CONTACT: Note to editors: Trademarks and registered trademarks referenced herein remain the property of their respective owners. A limited number of media and industry analyst passes are available for this event. To apply, please visit https://www.hrtechnologyconference.com/media.

Media Contact:

Kate Achille

The Devon Group

[email protected]

Mumbai, June 17 (SocialNews.XYZ) The state Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Tuesday cleared the Maharashtra Agriculture-Artificial Intelligence MahaAgri-AI Policy 2025-2029, which aims to keep the state’s agriculture sector at the forefront of the digital era.

“Sustainable and scalable solutions will be implemented with the help of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative AI, Internet of Things (IoTs), Drones, Computer Vision, Robotics and Predictive Analytics. It will help in taking forward projects like Agristack, Maha-Agristack, Mahavedh, CropSap, Agmarknet, Digital Farming School, and Maha-DBT in the state. There will be a three-tier administrative structure for the implementation of this policy. A fund of Rs 500 crore will be made available for the first three years for the implementation of this policy,” said the government release.

The Cabinet also decided to amend or make changes to the policy in the next five years, as the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector is changing rapidly. For this, the State Level Steering Committee, State Level Technical Committee, Artificial Intelligence and Agritech Innovation Centre, and Agricultural Artificial Intelligence Research and Innovation Centre under the Agricultural University will work.

“The policy will create a leading hub for AI and innovation in the agricultural sector in the state, will increase ‘farmer-centric use’ of AI technology, research, data sharing, support for start-ups, and it is expected to put Maharashtra at the forefront of digital agricultural innovation,” said the government release.

According to the state agriculture department, the policy will encourage startups, private companies/technology companies, agricultural universities, research institutes, agricultural science centres, private institutions and farmers/Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to adopt “farmer-centric” use of Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies.

This will involve institutionalising an Artificial Intelligence and Agritech Innovation Centre, which will act as an independent, full-time implementing mechanism for the practical implementation of this policy. This mechanism will work on various aspects under the policy, such as partnerships with national and international institutions, promotion of innovations, selection, implementation and financing of projects, coordination and capacity building.

Agri-Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Incubation Centres will be set up in four agricultural universities in the state under the guidance of institutions like IITs/IISc. According to the policy, a digital public infrastructure will be set up to support data-driven agriculture and AI applications. These facilities will facilitate state-wide, secure, consistent and consent-based data exchange.

A cloud-based Agriculture Data Exchange (A-DeX) and sandboxing facility will be made available, connecting all agriculture-related databases of the Central and State Governments (Agristack, Mahavedh, Maha-Agritech, CropSap, Agmarknet, Digital Shetishala and Maha-DBT) to this digital platform. Through this exchange, data on farmers, their land, crop information, local weather, and soil health will be made available for AI projects.

“An integrated engine with AI-enabled Remote Sensing and Geo-spatial Intelligence will be developed. This will help in decision making by analysing spatial information from various sources collected through satellite imagery, drone surveys, UAVs and IoT-based devices. This system will be connected to national and state platforms like MahaVedh, FASAL, and Bhuvan through API. This platform can be used by departments like Agriculture, Water Resources and Revenue and Disaster Management for various purposes,” said the government release.

Source: IANS

About Gopi

Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.

He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.

When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.

He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz

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As TechRadar’s Senior Fitness and Wearables Editor and someone with 10 years of fitness writing experience, I know (on paper) a thing or two about the gym. At one point in my life, I had made considerable strength gains: I could crank out a set of 10 strict-form pull-ups, and I was very happy with what I saw in the mirror.

Alas, life happens. Due to a combination of moving cities (losing my old gym community in the process), age and changing my priorities from building muscle to running marathons, I’ve lost a lot of my old strength gains. I’ve switched my best gym shoes for my best running shoes.