#242 - ChatGPT Images 2.0, Qwen 3.6 Max, Kimi-K2.6

Our 242nd episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!
Recorded on 04/22/2026
Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov (twitter.com/andrey_kurenkov) and Jeremie Harris (linkedin.com/in/jeremieharris)
Feel free to email us your questions and feedback at andreyvkurenkov@gmail.com and/or hello@gladstone.ai
Read out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at lastweekin.ai
In this episode:
• OpenAI released a new ChatGPT image model that excels at accurate text and screenshot-like generations, suggesting a transformer-style approach aligned with agentic “computer use” ambitions.
• Chinese model activity accelerated with Alibaba’s Qwen 3.6 Max Preview moving to an API-only offering, plus open releases from Moonshot AI (Kimi K2.6, a 1T-parameter MoE) and Minimax (Minimax M 2.7) showing strong benchmark results.
• Google expanded Deep Research with a “Max” option built on Gemini 3.1 Pro and MCP support for accessing proprietary data, while Mozilla reported using Anthropic’s Claude to find and fix 271 Firefox bugs.
• Business and policy updates include a reported SpaceX–Cursor deal with a $60B buy option, Cerebras filing for an IPO, Amazon adding $5B to Anthropic alongside a $100B AWS spending pledge, and platform responses to synthetic media like AI music spam and YouTube deepfake takedown requests.

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Timestamps:
• (00:00:10) Intro / Banter
• (00:01:05) News Preview
• (00:01:41) Sponsors
• (00:04:41) Response to listener comments

• Tools & Apps
• (00:09:40) ChatGPT's new Images 2.0 model is surprisingly good at generating text | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/chatgpts-new-images-…)
• (00:16:02) Alibaba Drops Qwen 3.6 Max Preview—Its Most Powerful Model Yet - Decrypt (decrypt.co/364948/alibaba-qwen-3-6-max-preview…)
• (00:19:26) Google launches Deep Research and Deep Research Max agents to automate complex research (the-decoder.com/google-launches-deep-research-…)
• (00:25:00) Mozilla Used Anthropic’s Mythos to Find and Fix 271 Bugs in Firefox | WIRED (wired.com/story/mozilla-used-anthropics-mythos…)
• (00:28:35) Ordering with the Starbucks ChatGPT app was a true coffee nightmare | The Verge (theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/915821…)

• Applications & Business
• (00:29:48) SpaceX is working with Cursor and has an option to buy the startup for $60B | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/spacex-is-working-wi…)
• (00:34:11) AI chip startup Cerebras files for IPO | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com/2026/04/18/ai-chip-startup-cere…)
• (00:38:23) Two startups want to replace how AI learns: one just raised $180M, another is seeking up to $1B (the-decoder.com/two-startups-want-to-replace-h…)
• (00:38:56) Months-old start-up Recursive Superintelligence raises $500mn for self-teaching AI (ft.com/content/a92bf04b-bbac-400f-9554-5b1c709…)
• (00:41:36) Anthropic takes $5B from Amazon and pledges $100B in cloud spending in return | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com/2026/04/20/anthropic-takes-5b-f…)
• (00:45:09) Kevin Weil and Bill Peebles exit OpenAI as company continues to shed 'side quests' | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com/2026/04/17/kevin-weil-and-bill-…)
• (00:46:04) Meta hires five Thinking Machines Lab founders including a reported $1.5 billion engineer (thenextweb.com/news/meta-thinking-machines-lab…) - Meta cuts 198 Bay Area jobs as even larger layoffs reportedly loom (sfgate.com/tech/article/meta-reality-labs-layo…)
• (00:50:12) Meta employees are up in arms over a mandatory program to train AI on their mouse movements and keystrokes (businessinsider.com/meta-new-ai-tool-tracks-st…)
• (00:51:43) Chinese fabs import record volumes of US chipmaking equipment via Singapore and Malaysia — homegrown tool makers booked record 2025 revenues as price competition squeezes margins (tomshardware.com/tech-industry/chinese-chip-to…)
• (00:54:01) Google Eyes New Chips to Speed Up AI Results, Challenging Nvidia (bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-04-20/google-…)
• (00:54:20) Canadian quantum company Xanadu soars to $16 billion valuation after Nvidia release (ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/canadian-quantum-com…)

• Projects & Open Source
• (01:00:13) Moonshot AI releases Kimi-K2.6 model with 1T parameters, attention optimizations - SiliconANGLE (siliconangle.com/2026/04/20/moonshot-ai-releas…)
• (01:05:22) MiniMax Just Open Sourced MiniMax M2.7: A Self-Evolving Agent Model that Scores 56.22% on SWE-Pro and 57.0% on Terminal Bench 2 - MarkTechPost (marktechpost.com/2026/04/12/minimax-just-open-…)

• Policy & Safety
• (01:06:25) Infusion: Shaping Model Behavior by Editing Training Data via Influence Functions (arxiv.org/abs/2602.09987)
• (01:10:25) Scoop: NSA using Anthropic's Mythos despite blacklist (axios.com/2026/04/19/nsa-anthropic-mythos-pent…)
• (01:11:03) Unauthorized group has gained access to Anthropic’s exclusive cyber tool Mythos, report claims (techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/unauthorized-group-h…)

• Research & Advancements
• (01:17:21) Parcae: Scaling Laws For Stable Looped Language Models (arxiv.org/abs/2604.12946)
• (01:24:20) OccuBench: Evaluating AI Agents on Real-World Professional Tasks via Language Environment Simulation (arxiv.org/abs/2604.10866)

• Synthetic Media & Art
• (01:27:01) Deezer says 44% of songs uploaded to its platform daily are AI-generated | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com/2026/04/20/deezer-says-44-of-so…)
• (01:29:47) Celebrities will be able to find and request removal of AI deepfakes on YouTube | The Verge (theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/915872…)
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