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AI News Today: Amazon Eyes $7B Decart Deal · DX Today | No-Hype Podcast & News About AI & DX

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_05: It's Monday, October 12th, 2026.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_05: You're listening to the DX Today AI Daily Brief.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_05: Today, Amazon is reported to be in talks to buy the AI startup Descartes in a deal worth roughly$7 billion.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_05: Washington restores Britain's early access to frontier AI models.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_05: And Tencent tells investors its planned$5 billion bond will mainly fund AI spending.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_05: Let's get into it.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is in talks to acquire the Israeli artificial intelligence startup, Descartes, in a deal that could be valued at around$7 billion.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: The Wall Street Journal reported the talks on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: According to the journal, a deal could come together soon if negotiations do not fall apart or another suitor does not emerge.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Descartes was valued at close to$4 billion in May, based on pitchbook data, so the reported price would nearly double that figure in a few months.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Coverage of the talks says Anthropic had looked at acquiring the company and walked away after due diligence.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon declined to comment outside regular business hours, and Descartes did not respond to requests for comment.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_05: Now a reversal on model testing.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: Britain's AI Security Institute is getting its early look at American frontier models back.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: A telegraph reported on Sunday that the White House has withdrawn its request that leading developers, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind, stop sharing unreleased models with the British Institute.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: That request had been in place for a little over two weeks, and during that pause, Anthropic withheld its newest clawed model from British reviewers.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: The reversal reportedly followed lobbying by the United Kingdom's AI minister, Kanishka Narayan.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: Narayan is also due to give a speech today urging companies building the most advanced systems to strengthen their safeguards, arguing that judging AI safety cannot be left entirely to the companies themselves.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: He is expected to outline steps to bolster British cyber defenses as well.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_04: Staying with safety and rules.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_04: Microsoft President Brad Smith says artificial intelligence currently faces fewer safety rules than a carton of milk.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_04: Speaking on the BBC's Big Boss interview, Smith said, quote, Every carton of milk that you see in the grocery store is subject to safety rules and inspection, and argued that a washing machine faces more safety requirements than AI today.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_04: He called for global safety rules, including a legal duty to tell victims when a rogue AI agent breaches their systems, an emergency break for AI systems, and clear decisions on when outside evaluators should sign off before a product is released.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_04: Smith said industry self-regulation is no longer adequate.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_04: He also said Britain is in the best position to lead on safety standards, pointing to the work of its AI Security Institute.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_04: Next, the race for compute.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Anthropic has reportedly added another supplier to its push for computing capacity.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: The information reported on Sunday that Anthropic signed a multi-year AI Cloud Services Agreement with IREN, the data center operator that grew out of Bitcoin mining.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: Neither company has confirmed the deal, and its size and length were not disclosed.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: ARIN had earlier said it signed a contract with an unnamed leading Frontier AI lab, and the report suggests that customer is Anthropic.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: ARIN's shares rose about 5% in pre-market trading on Monday after the report.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_05: Over to China.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: Tencent has told investors that its planned offshore bond sale, which could reach$5 billion, will mainly help pay for AI-related capital spending, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_03: Bloomberg first reported last week that the company was weighing the bond sale, but at that time the use of the money had not been disclosed.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: The offering is still being planned and has not been completed, and the details come from people familiar with the matter.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_03: The move puts Tencent alongside other Chinese technology giants that are raising large sums to keep up with spending on AI infrastructure.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_03: It also shows how the cost of building and running AI systems is pushing even the most profitable internet companies into the debt markets.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_05: A bold prediction from TikTok.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: TikTok chief executive Sho Chu expects artificial intelligence to produce a real scientific breakthrough within the next two to three years.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking Monday at the DBS Asia Future Forward Conference in Singapore, Chu named physics, biotechnology, chemistry, and materials, science as likely fields.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: He said it is, in his words, very, very, very possible.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Chu also said people tend to overestimate AI in the short term and underestimate it in the long term.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: He warned about the risks of AI agents that are given wide permissions, and called for much more education on how to manage those risks.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: His remarks come as Bite Dance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, keeps expanding its own AI research, including work on models that analyze biomolecular structures for drug development.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: Now, big money in Europe.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: SWI Group, an investment group listed on Euronext Amsterdam, has announced an 800 million euro capital increase from institutional investors at a final valuation of 6.1 billion euros.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: The company says the money will speed up the expansion of its transatlantic AI infrastructure and compute platform, with proceeds going to data center and computing capacity in Europe and the United States.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: The RAISE takes the total equity SWI has brought in since March to more than 1 billion euros and lifts the share of its stock that trades freely to about 20%.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: The announcement did not name the investors.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: The deal shows how listed investment groups are reshaping themselves around AI infrastructure and turning to institutional equity to pay for the build-out.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_04: Also in the Netherlands, a planned AI data center in the port of Rotterdam has found its first customer.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_04: Volt, the company behind the project on the Mosvlachte, confirmed that the Amsterdam-based AI cloud provider, Nebius, has signed a letter of intent to take a significant portion of the site's planned 600 megawatts of capacity.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_04: Nebius supplies computing power to companies including Microsoft and Meta.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_04: The agreement covers future capacity since the facility still has to be built.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_04: Volt's chief executive, Honda Groot, confirmed the deal after it was first reported by a Dutch financial newspaper.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_04: For the Netherlands, an anchor customer is an important step toward turning the port project into one of Europe's larger AI computing hubs.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_04: To South Korea's shipyards.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: South Korea plans to put 1.4 trillion watt1, a little over$1 billion, into bringing artificial intelligence to its shipbuilding industry over the next five years.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: The Trade and Industry Ministry and the Oceans Ministry unveiled the plan at a joint meeting on Monday.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: The money, a mix of public and private funds, will go into three flagship projects aimed at automating design and assembly at shipyards in Mokpo, Yonggam, Geoje, Busan, and Gunsan.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: Part of the plan is an AI lighthouse factory in the Mokpo and Yonggam area, with about 596 billion one set aside for it.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: The government says the effort should also spread the technology to smaller shipbuilders and equipment makers as China keeps gaining share of global ship orders.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_05: Also in Korea, a training bet.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_03: SK Group is launching a two-year full-time AI training program that will pay participants a stipend of$3,000 a month, roughly$2,200.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_03: The program, called SKIGEN, combines the words AI and generation.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_03: It is open to people aged 19 to 34, and it does not lead to a degree.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_03: Instead, participants will identify problems facing individuals, companies, or society, then design and build AI solutions, alone or in teams.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_03: In the first year, they start with everyday problems, then move on to larger regional and industry challenges.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_03: SK says it will connect participants with mentors and experts.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_03: The conglomerate frames the program as a path for young people who want to build practical AI skills outside traditional degrees and jobs.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_05: Next, a partnership across Asia.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Vietnam's FPT and NeighborCloud, one of South Korea's largest technology companies, have signed a memorandum of understanding to grow their AI factory businesses across Asia Pacific and into global markets.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: The companies plan to combine their graphics processor infrastructure, cloud technology, business capabilities, and customer networks to go after AI factory and graphics processor cloud service projects.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: The agreement covers joint technology development, AI service delivery, and commercialization, with enterprise customers in strategic markets as the main target.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Neighbor Cloud said the agreement was signed at its headquarters near Seoul, and the companies announced it over the weekend.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: The deal is a framework for cooperation rather than a commitment to build specific new facilities, and no financial terms were given.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_05: Finally, chips in India.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: Existing backers TPG and Novo TELUS also took part.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: TESOLV provides engineering services for chip design and testing, and the company says it is in advance talks to complete several acquisitions over the next two quarters.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Those deals are meant to add engineering capabilities, broaden its services, and strengthen its global presence.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: The investment comes as demand for chip design and testing climbs alongside the AI hardware build out, and as India works to grow its role in the global semiconductor industry.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_05: That's your briefing for Monday, October the twelfth, twenty twenty six.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_05: For DX Today, stay curious.