Microsoft used Build to present itself as both an AI platform and a first-party model lab, announcing seven MAI models across reasoning, code, image, transcription, and voice. The standout was MAI-Thinking-1, described as a 35B active MoE with 256K context and clean data lineage. The recap also ties the launches to GitHub Copilot, Windows agent runtime ambitions, Web IQ grounding APIs, Foundry distribution, and MAIA 200 hardware.
TechCrunch frames 2026’s browser competition around alternatives to Chrome and Safari. The roundup covers AI-centric browsers like Perplexity Comet, Dia, Opera Neon, OpenAI Atlas, and Aside, alongside privacy-focused options such as Brave, DuckDuckGo, Ladybird, and Vivaldi. It also highlights niche products including Opera Air, SigmaOS, and Zen Browser, showing how browsers are becoming AI assistants, productivity hubs, privacy layers, and wellness-oriented tools.
CNN has filed a lawsuit in New York against Perplexity, alleging the startup’s AI tools produce “verbatim” copies of its journalism. The complaint also claims Perplexity gives users access to information locked behind CNN’s subscription. The case highlights growing legal tension between publishers and AI answer engines over copyright, paywalled content, and how generated responses use news sources.