Week 52 in AI: SoftBank and ByteDance commit $45B+, Nvidia disrupts chip market with Groq deal, Security threats explode with ransomware and prompt injection, and ‘Agentic AI’ becomes the dominant theme for 2026.

📋 Quick Takeaways

• China drafts landmark regulations for “human-like” AI, requiring labels and addiction prevention measures.
• Nvidia halts testing of Intel’s 18A node, dealing a major blow to Intel’s foundry comeback strategy.
• IREN confirms $9.7 billion AI cloud deal with Microsoft, pivoting from crypto to high-performance computing.
• Peking University unveils analog AI chip claiming 1,000x efficiency gains over traditional GPUs.
• Waymo begins testing Google Gemini models to enable verbal conversations in robotaxis.
• Andrew Ng predicts AI won’t replace humans anytime soon, despite warning of a short-term valuation bubble.
• Teachers flock to “Diffit”, an AI tool for differentiating curriculum, signaling mass classroom adoption.

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⚖️ AI Regulation & Policy

China Issues Draft Rules to Regulate Human-Like AI Interactions

Regulatory Milestone: The Cyberspace Administration of China released draft regulations on December 27 targeting AI services that simulate human personalities or engage in emotional interactions.