nvidia, microsoft and meta Updates

The artificial intelligence sector continues its rapid expansion, marked by significant infrastructure investments, new model releases, and ongoing market debates. NVIDIA stands at the forefront, powering a massive global build-out of AI supercomputing capabilities. The University of Texas at Austin now leads academic AI computing with over 5,000 NVIDIA GPUs, including more than 4,000 Blackwell GPUs, backed by a $20 million investment from the Texas Legislature. This infrastructure supports research in agentic and generative AI and the creation of open-source large language models. Globally, NVIDIA is boosting over 80 new science systems, delivering 4,500 exaflops of AI performance. This includes America's largest academic supercomputer, Horizon, at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, which will utilize 4,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and come online in 2026. The U.S. Department of Energy also partners with NVIDIA for seven new AI supercomputers at Argonne and Los Alamos National Laboratories. Japan's RIKEN institution is building two new supercomputers with 2,140 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, with the first phase launching in spring 2026, aiming to accelerate research in life sciences and climate forecasting. NVIDIA also unveiled new tools like DGX Spark, the world's smallest AI supercomputer, NVIDIA Apollo for AI physics models, and NVIDIA Warp for speeding up Python physics simulations, with leading storage companies adopting NVIDIA BlueField-4. Amidst this growth, experts are debating whether the AI market is forming a financial bubble. While AI-related stocks have driven most of the S&P 500's growth since ChatGPT's launch in November 2022, some, like UBS's Andrew Garthwaite, point to investor behavior and stagnant earnings outside top tech companies as bubble signs. Conversely, Goldman Sachs' Peter Oppenheimer argues that current AI companies are profitable, valuations are lower than past bubbles, and strong demand is creating infrastructure bottlenecks rather than pure speculation. Arm Holdings, a key semiconductor design company, expects substantial revenue increases from the AI boom, continuing to develop energy-efficient chips for partners including Microsoft, NVIDIA, Meta, and Apple. On the software front, Google launched its Gemini 3 AI model, designed for better understanding of user requests, offering multimodal features like turning videos into flash cards and powering AI Mode in Google Search. Google also introduced Antigravity, an agentic development platform, with advanced agentic features available to high-tier subscribers. Meanwhile, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Martin Casado, noted that most startups pitching to the firm are utilizing Chinese AI models, with the Chinese model Kimi K2 Thinking currently holding a top spot on industry leaderboards. Microsoft partner Optrua rebranded to focus on AI for customer relationship management and sales automation, aiming to help mid-sized businesses with Microsoft's Dynamics 365 Sales and Power Platform through AI-powered sales insights and predictive analytics. The rapid advancement of agentic AI also presents new challenges, particularly in cybersecurity, where attackers are quickly deploying automation, making defense harder and faster. Organizations are reportedly losing money despite increased security spending, highlighting a lag in defending against malicious agentic AI attacks. Consumer-facing AI applications are also expanding, with Target introducing new AI-powered shopping tools for the holidays, such as the Target Gift Finder, a List Scanner for handwritten lists, and a Store Mode feature. In a cultural response to AI, Paul McCartney released a silent track, "Bonus Track," on his album's vinyl version to protest a proposed UK copyright law change that could allow AI companies to use recorded music and art without compensating artists. Finally, the Information Systems department will host an online AI Café meeting on Friday, November 21, 2025, for interested individuals.

Key Takeaways

  • The University of Texas at Austin now leads academia in AI computing power with over 5,000 NVIDIA GPUs, including more than 4,000 Blackwell GPUs, supported by $20 million from the Texas Legislature.
  • NVIDIA is powering over 80 new science systems globally, providing 4,500 exaflops of AI performance, including America's largest academic supercomputer, Horizon, and new systems in Japan and for the U.S. Department of Energy.
  • NVIDIA introduced new AI supercomputing tools like DGX Spark, NVIDIA Apollo for AI physics, and NVIDIA Warp for Python simulations, with BlueField-4 adopted by storage companies.
  • Experts are debating if the AI market is a financial bubble, with UBS citing investor behavior and stagnant earnings outside top tech, while Goldman Sachs points to profitable companies and strong demand.
  • Google launched its Gemini 3 AI model, featuring enhanced understanding, multimodal capabilities, and powering AI Mode in Google Search, along with the Antigravity agentic development platform.
  • Agentic AI is creating significant cybersecurity challenges, making defense harder and faster as attackers rapidly deploy new automation, leading to financial losses for organizations.
  • Most startups pitching to Andreessen Horowitz are reportedly using Chinese AI models, with Kimi K2 Thinking currently leading industry benchmarks.
  • Arm Holdings anticipates substantial revenue growth from the AI boom, continuing to develop energy-efficient chips for partners including Microsoft, NVIDIA, Meta, and Apple.
  • Microsoft partner Optrua rebranded to focus on AI-powered CRM and sales automation, leveraging Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales and Power Platform for mid-sized businesses.
  • Paul McCartney released a silent song, "Bonus Track," to protest proposed UK copyright law changes that could allow AI companies to use artists' work without payment.

UT Austin Boosts AI Power with 5,000 NVIDIA GPUs

The University of Texas at Austin now leads academia in AI computing power. It acquired over 4,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, bringing its total to more than 5,000 advanced NVIDIA GPUs. This new infrastructure will boost research in agentic and generative AI and help create open-source large language models. UT President Jim Davis stated this strengthens the nation's economic and security interests. The Texas Legislature provided $20 million for part of this AI infrastructure.

NVIDIA Powers 80 New Science Systems Globally

NVIDIA announced it is boosting AI for over 80 new science systems around the world, providing 4,500 exaflops of AI performance. This includes America's largest academic supercomputer, Horizon, at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). Horizon will use 4,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and go online in 2026 to speed up research in disease, astrophysics, materials, and earthquake prediction. The U.S. Department of Energy also partnered with NVIDIA to build seven new AI supercomputers at Argonne and Los Alamos National Laboratories. These powerful systems will help advance global scientific discovery.

Japan Builds AI Supercomputers with NVIDIA Power

Japan's RIKEN institution is building two new supercomputers using 2,140 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs. One system will have 1,600 GPUs for AI science, and another will use 540 GPUs for quantum computing. This partnership helps Japan's plan for its own AI infrastructure and will speed up research in areas like life sciences and climate forecasting. Satoshi Matsuoka from RIKEN said this creates a leading platform for AI, quantum, and high-performance computing. The first phase of these systems will launch in spring 2026.

NVIDIA Unveils New AI Supercomputing Tools

At the SC25 conference, NVIDIA showed off new advancements in AI supercomputing. They highlighted NVIDIA BlueField DPUs and next-generation networking. NVIDIA is now shipping DGX Spark, the world's smallest AI supercomputer, which offers powerful AI performance in a desktop size. The company also introduced NVIDIA Apollo, a new set of open models for AI physics, and NVIDIA Warp, a tool that speeds up physics simulations using Python. Leading storage companies like DDN and VAST Data are adopting NVIDIA BlueField-4 to improve AI infrastructure.

Experts Debate If AI Market Is a Bubble

Concerns are growing that the AI market might be a financial bubble, especially after US tech stocks recently dropped. AI-related stocks have driven most of the S&P 500's growth since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. Some experts, like Andrew Garthwaite from UBS, see signs of a bubble, pointing to investor behavior and stagnant earnings outside top tech companies. However, Peter Oppenheimer from Goldman Sachs argues that today's AI companies are profitable, unlike those in the dot-com bubble. He notes current valuations are lower, and strong demand for AI is creating infrastructure bottlenecks, not just speculation.

Experts Debate If AI Market Is a Bubble

Concerns are growing that the AI market might be a financial bubble, especially after US tech stocks recently dropped. AI-related stocks have driven most of the S&P 500's growth since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. Some experts, like Andrew Garthwaite from UBS, see signs of a bubble, pointing to investor behavior and stagnant earnings outside top tech companies. However, Peter Oppenheimer from Goldman Sachs argues that today's AI companies are profitable, unlike those in the dot-com bubble. He notes current valuations are lower, and strong demand for AI is creating infrastructure bottlenecks, not just speculation.

Paul McCartney Releases Silent Song to Protest AI

Paul McCartney released a silent track called "Bonus Track" on the vinyl version of the album Is This What We Want?. This 2-minute 45-second silent song protests a proposed UK copyright law change. The change could let AI companies use recorded music and art without paying artists. The original digital album, released in February, used background noise and spelled out a message against music theft by AI. Profits from the album will go to the Help Musicians charity.

Agentic AI Creates New Cybersecurity Challenges

A new report from Arkose Labs shows that agentic AI is making cybersecurity defense harder and faster. Attackers are quickly using new automation and early forms of agentic AI, giving security teams less time to react. Many organizations are losing money even after spending more on security. While companies use agentic AI to improve their own security, they are behind in defending against malicious agentic AI attacks. Security leaders believe these attacks will become very serious soon, forcing them to deploy solutions quickly.

Most Startups Use Chinese AI Models Says a16z Partner

Martin Casado, a partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), shared that most startups pitching to them use Chinese AI models. He estimates an 80% chance that these companies are using Chinese open-source models. This shows the growing importance of Chinese AI models, which are performing very well on industry leaderboards. For example, the Chinese model Kimi K2 Thinking currently holds the top spot.

Optrua Rebrands to Focus on AI Sales Tools

Optrua, a Microsoft partner, has rebranded with a new tagline, "Smarter Systems. Better Sales." This change highlights Optrua's focus on using AI for customer relationship management (CRM) and sales automation. The company aims to help mid-sized businesses update their sales systems, especially those using Microsoft's Dynamics 365 Sales and Power Platform. Optrua plans to expand its main services, including AI-powered sales insights and predictive analytics.

Arm CMO Says AI Growth Will Continue

Arm Holdings, a semiconductor design company, expects its revenue to greatly increase because of the AI boom. This growth is predicted even though some worry about a potential AI market bubble. Ami Badani, Arm's Chief Marketing Officer, stated that the company plans to expand its reach in data centers and mobile devices. Arm also continues to develop more energy-efficient chips for its many partners, including Microsoft, Nvidia, Meta, and Apple.

Target Adds New AI Tools for Holiday Shopping

Target has launched new AI-powered shopping tools to improve the holiday experience for its customers. These tools include the Target Gift Finder, which helps shoppers find presents for their loved ones. A List Scanner allows customers to add items to their cart by scanning a handwritten list in the Target app. The new Store Mode feature guides shoppers through store aisles. Target's chief guest experience officer, Cara Sylvester, said these innovations aim to make shopping more personal and intuitive.

Information Systems Hosts Online AI Cafe

Information Systems will host an online AI Café meeting on Friday, November 21, 2025. The event will take place from 9 to 10 a.m. via Zoom. The AI Café meets every fourth Friday of the month, switching between online and in-person gatherings. All curious individuals are welcome to attend.

Google Launches Gemini 3 AI Model

Google has launched its new Gemini 3 AI model, which it says will better understand user requests. The model is designed to grasp depth and nuance, offering multimodal features like turning videos into flash cards or analyzing sports performance. Gemini 3 is available in the Gemini app and powers AI Mode in Google Search. Google DeepMind leaders Demis Hassabis and Koray Kavukcuoglu noted that Gemini 3 Pro is less prone to "sycophancy" and more secure. Google also introduced Antigravity, an agentic development platform, but Gemini 3's advanced agentic features are only for $250 per month subscribers.

Sources

NOTE:

This news brief was generated using AI technology (including, but not limited to, Google Gemini API, Llama, Grok, and Mistral) from aggregated news articles, with minimal to no human editing/review. It is provided for informational purposes only and may contain inaccuracies or biases. This is not financial, investment, or professional advice. If you have any questions or concerns, please verify all information with the linked original articles in the Sources section below.

AI NVIDIA GPUs Supercomputing AI Infrastructure Academic Research Generative AI Agentic AI Open-source LLMs Scientific Discovery Blackwell GPUs Quantum Computing High-Performance Computing AI Supercomputing Tools BlueField DPUs AI Physics Models AI Market Financial Bubble Tech Stocks Cybersecurity Cyber Attacks Chinese AI Models Startups Sales Automation CRM Predictive Analytics Arm Holdings Semiconductor Design Retail AI Shopping Tools Customer Experience Google Gemini Multimodal AI AI Ethics Copyright Law Artist Rights National Security Economic Interests Data Centers Mobile Devices Microsoft Apple Meta TACC RIKEN U.S. Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory UT Austin Japan

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