# AI news for Friday, June 26, 2026

> Wortins' curated AI briefing for Friday, June 26, 2026.

_Wortins AI briefing · Friday, June 26, 2026 · Updated 2026-06-26_

## Daily AI Updates

### [Bell AI Fabric, Cohere, Hypertec and BUZZ HPC announce landmark deal to advance sovereign AI in Canada](https://www.wortins.com/story/bell-ai-fabric-cohere-hypertec-and-buzz-hpc-announce-landmar-1021ca71)

_Source: CBC · Friday, June 26, 2026_

A $220M all-Canadian compute stack lands days after the US cut Canada off from Anthropic's top models, proving the point.

[Read the full story at CBC](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bell-cohere-ai-infrastructure-deal-9.7240577)

### [South Korea debuts foundation model in sovereign AI push](https://www.wortins.com/story/south-korea-debuts-foundation-model-in-sovereign-ai-push-6494a8a0)

_Source: Computer Weekly · Friday, June 26, 2026_

An SK Telecom consortium ships A.X K1, a homegrown model built to cut foreign dependence and vault Korea into the top three.

[Read the full story at Computer Weekly](https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366638132/South-Korea-debuts-foundation-model-in-sovereign-AI-push)

### [What defines ChatGPT ads? 'Super intentional' users, OpenAI tells Cannes](https://www.wortins.com/story/what-defines-chatgpt-ads-super-intentional-users-openai-tell-317df0e6)

_Source: Marketing Dive · Friday, June 26, 2026_

At its Cannes debut, OpenAI pitched its four-month-old ad business as a middle-funnel play on high commercial-intent queries.

[Read the full story at Marketing Dive](https://www.marketingdive.com/news/how-openai-positioning-chatgpt-ads-cannes-lions-debut/823476/)

### [Former Infosys chief has a new startup that wants to challenge the IT services world](https://www.wortins.com/story/former-infosys-chief-has-a-new-startup-that-wants-to-challen-c1e2c2cd)

_Source: TechCrunch · Friday, June 26, 2026_

Vishal Sikka returns with a Mayfield and Aramco-backed venture stacked with SAP, Infosys and VianAI veterans.

[Read the full story at TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/24/former-infosys-chief-has-a-new-startup-that-wants-to-challenge-the-it-services-world/)

### [Rhoda AI exits stealth with $450M to train robots from video](https://www.wortins.com/story/rhoda-ai-exits-stealth-with-450m-to-train-robots-from-video-e93be8d9)

_Source: The Robot Report · Friday, June 26, 2026_

Khosla-backed Rhoda emerges with a video-predictive control model and $450M to push robots out of the lab into real factories.

[Read the full story at The Robot Report](https://www.therobotreport.com/rhoda-ai-exits-stealth-with-450m-to-train-robots-from-video/)

### [You certainly don't tell a researcher like me what to do, says LeCun as he exits Meta](https://www.wortins.com/story/you-certainly-don-t-tell-a-researcher-like-me-what-to-do-say-9ae5068b)

_Source: The Decoder · Friday, June 26, 2026_

Meta's departing chief scientist airs it all, manipulated benchmarks, a furious Zuckerberg and an exodus from the AI division.

[Read the full story at The Decoder](https://the-decoder.com/you-certainly-dont-tell-a-researcher-like-me-what-to-do-says-lecun-as-he-exits-meta-for-his-own-startup/)

## Interesting AI Articles

### [Inside the Thinking Machines meltdown](https://www.wortins.com/story/inside-the-thinking-machines-meltdown-de6066cc)

_Source: The Rundown · Friday, June 26, 2026_

Defections, secret talks and a battle for control, how Murati's $2B lab imploded and OpenAI quietly reabsorbed the fallout.

[Read the full story at The Rundown](https://www.therundown.ai/p/inside-the-thinking-machines-meltdown)

### [Meta just bumped its 2026 capex forecast up to as much as $145 billion, and investors flinched](https://www.wortins.com/story/meta-just-bumped-its-2026-capex-forecast-up-to-as-much-as-14-3e7cc5e2)

_Source: Fortune · Friday, June 26, 2026_

Zuckerberg's ever-climbing AI bill spooked the market, reframing the superintelligence bet as a test of investor patience.

[Read the full story at Fortune](https://fortune.com/2026/04/29/meta-zuckerberg-145-billion-ai-spending-roi/)

### [ChatGPT's market share slips below 50% for first time](https://www.wortins.com/story/chatgpt-s-market-share-slips-below-50-for-first-time-a4610bd7)

_Source: TechCrunch · Friday, June 26, 2026_

Still the biggest at 1.1 billion users, but Gemini and Claude are chipping away as the assistant market finally fragments.

[Read the full story at TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/16/chatgpts-market-share-slips-below-50-for-first-time/)

### [OpenAI's existential questions](https://www.wortins.com/story/openai-s-existential-questions-7894afc0)

_Source: TechCrunch · Friday, June 26, 2026_

Behind the acquisition spree lie two problems money may not fix, framed against eerie street posters daring OpenAI staff to defect.

[Read the full story at TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/19/openais-existential-questions/)

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_Curated and written by [Wortins](https://www.wortins.com) — The daily AI briefing. Every story links to its original source; the "Wortins read" on each is our own original analysis. [About Wortins & our editorial approach](https://www.wortins.com/about)._