Google's Flash 3 beats their Pro model at fraction of the cost

Google's new Flash model delivers Pro performance at lightning speed

Google just pulled off something remarkable—their new Gemini 3 Flash model beats their previous Pro model on nearly every metric while running three times faster at a fraction of the cost, prompting Google chief scientist Jeff Dean to reveal this was intentional: "We strive to make each new Flash model as good or better than the previous Pro model." The release sparked unusual excitement from Google insiders, with Nom Shazir calling it

"my favorite model to use—the latency feels like a real conversation with deep intelligence intact,"

while Dennis Hassabis dubbed it "the best pound-for-pound model out there." Early testers are equally impressed, with AI entrepreneur Benu writing

"Gemini 3 Flash intelligence too cheap to meter—we have 100x more usage on Flash compared to Pro,"

though one concern emerged: the hallucination rate hit 91% on tests measuring when models should admit uncertainty. Has Google just made their expensive Pro models obsolete, or is this strategic cannibalization part of a bigger plan?

Amazon considers massive $10B investment as OpenAI targets $750B valuation

Amazon is reportedly negotiating a $10 billion investment in OpenAI at a valuation above $500 billion, potentially including equity-for-compute deals to offset OpenAI's $38 billion AWS server commitment over seven years—while separate talks could raise "tens of billions" more at a $750 billion valuation. Key details emerging from negotiations:

• Amazon pushing Trainium chip adoption as investment condition (like with Anthropic). OpenAI wants to sell enterprise ChatGPT seats to Amazon staff.

• Microsoft retains exclusive cloud offering rights for OpenAI models. Deal would partner OpenAI with all three major cloud providers. IPO targeting $1 trillion could strain public market liquidity.

The fundraising frenzy prompted divided reactions, with Daniel Newman noting "the smartest investors are piling into OpenAI at eye-watering valuations while wildly bearish narratives spread about its demise," as markets question whether venture funds can exit a trillion-dollar IPO without overwhelming liquidity. Meanwhile, Amazon restructured its AI efforts under 30-year veteran Peter DeSantis, consolidating Nova models, AGI labs, Trainium chips, and quantum computing into one organization.

Bernie Sanders calls for data center freeze as Oracle debt deal implodes

Year-to-date Oracle stock chart. Photo: CNBC.

Senator Bernie Sanders is pushing for a complete moratorium on data center construction to "give democracy a chance to catch up," consulting with AI pause advocate Geoffrey Hinton while warning about job displacement and child isolation from chatbots—a move that prompted swift backlash about handing China the AI race. Critics pointed out the irony, with Austin Allred noting "making it so no one else can build data centers literally locks AI into the richest companies," while computational biologist Pritha Mishra argued "you know who needs data centers? Scientists spending all their time trying to cure disease—blanket deceleration has consequences for all patients and families." Meanwhile, Oracle's stock plunged 5.4% after Blue Owl Capital declined to fund their $10 billion Michigan data center, with markets wondering if this signals the end of infinite private equity appetite for AI infrastructure. Will political resistance and tightening capital markets finally slow the AI buildout, or accelerate the divide between AI haves and have-nots?