#247 - Opus 4.8, MAI, Anthropic IPO, Minimax-M3

Our 247th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!

Recorded on 06/03/2026

Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and Jeremie Harris

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 https://lastweekin.ai/

In this episode:

• Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8 with improved benchmark scores, discussed eval-awareness findings and welfare/corrigibility themes from its system card, and introduced Dynamic Workflows for long-running multi-agent tasks.
• Microsoft unveiled the always-on Microsoft Scout assistant built on OpenClaw plus new in-house MAI models (including MAI Thinking 1) and “frontier tuning,” emphasizing enterprise security architecture and model-from-scratch capability.
• Major business moves included Anthropic’s $65B Series H at a $965B valuation alongside an IPO filing, a JPMorgan analysis arguing OpenAI needs major revenue growth to justify infrastructure spend, and Cognition raising $1B at a $25B valuation.
• Policy and security highlights covered Trump’s voluntary pre-release government testing framework for powerful AI, Meta AI support being exploited to hijack Instagram accounts, tightened US Nvidia export controls and China’s travel approvals for AI experts, plus expanded Glasswing/Mythos-style cyber and biodefense initiatives.

Timestamps:

• (00:00:10) Intro / Banter
• (00:04:10) Sponsors
• (00:07:10) News Preview

• Tools & Apps
• (00:07:54) Anthropic releases Opus 4.8 with new 'dynamic workflow' tool | TechCrunch
• (00:22:37) Microsoft Scout is a new AI personal assistant built on OpenClaw | The Verge
• (00:26:55) Microsoft launches new MAI family of AI models at Microsoft Build | Mashable
• (00:37:43) Robinhood now lets your AI agents trade stocks | TechCrunch
• (00:40:49) OpenAI launches new Codex tools for white-collar work | TechCrunch
• (00:43:40) ElevenLabs' new music-generation model can switch genres mid-track | TechCrunch

• Applications & Business
• (00:44:35) Anthropic Hits $965 Billion Valuation, Surpassing OpenAI - WSJ
• (00:45:32) Anthropic Files to Go Public, Setting Stage for Huge I.P.O. - The New York Times
• (00:51:15)