Axios

Anthropic, the AI lab whose identity is wrapped around warning the world about AI risk, is claiming "early signs" of AI not just coding its own products but building itself.

Why it matters: Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark predicted this week that there's a 60%+ chance of an AI model fully training its successor by the end of 2028. "What I'm looking at is a technological trend where, if anything, the speed will accelerate further," Clark told us.

In the new research agenda for The Anthropic Institute — first shared with us, and out Thursday — the company says it's seeing signs of "AI contributing to speeding up the research and development of AI itself," a process known as recursive self-improvement. And Anthropic researchers think the world should know.

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Open-source AI platform Hugging Face will formally launch an app store Wednesday for its Reachy Mini robot, CEO Clément Delangue tells Axios.

Why it matters: The goal is to help nontechnical people create customized uses for the open-source robot, Delangue said.

LOS ANGELES — Media companies should focus on creativity instead of growth, The Chernin Group co-founder and North Road chair Peter Chernin said at a May 3 Axios Live event.

Why it matters: Original content gives smaller studios a rare opportunity to compete with industry titans.

Axios' Dan Primack spoke to Chernin for the event, which was sponsored by Edelman Smithfield.

Fun fact: At the time of the interview and a first for the streaming platform, Chernin's production company had the No. 1 TV show ("Man on Fire") and movie ("Apex") on Netflix.

What they're saying: "You can't beat an incumbent on scale," Chernin said. "You beat an incumbent on creativity."

• Studios are also "wildly over-focused on sequels," he added. "Those companies should be in the business of creating and inventing original" intellectual property.
• "The most exciting things happen where young people and talent and technology come together."

Case in point: North Road's new movie "Backrooms," directed by YouTube creator Kane Parsons and based on a 2019 viral internet post, is projected to be "the most successful new horror movie in the last several years," Chernin said.

What's next: Chernin recommends that major platforms rethink their approach to keeping everything in-house when it comes to ownership, production and distribution rights.

• "Embrace independent, creative companies" to stay competitive and relevant, Chernin said.
• "Resisting technology is a stupid idea," he added.

Content from the sponsor's segment:

Lisa Leiter, Edelman Smithfield's managing director and U.S. co-head of financial services, told Axios publisher Nicholas Johnston that the rise of AI is causing concern.

• "People are worried about losing their jobs," she said, "and there's a fear that [AI] could really damage society."
• Companies should be clear, concise and specific as they share information with the public to reinforce trust, she added.

Scale AI CEO Jason Droege tells Axios that AI is often too unreliable for mission-critical use by business, military and government.

• "The cost of mistakes in these environments can be high," Droege, 47, said in an interview from San Francisco, where Scale — which celebrated its 10th anniversary this week — is based.

Why it matters: Droege — who succeeded founder Alexandr Wang last June when the wunderkind became Meta's first chief AI officer, and Meta took a 49% stake in Scale — wants to signal that it isn't merely a data annotation company, but has long been an AI infrastructure and deployment company.