Physix FrontierWestTide · July 19 (Revised) | Grok Build Leaks Code Repo, Fable 5 Charges Tomorrow, OpenAI Acquires Ona
🌊 West Tide Daily | July 19, 2026
West Tide — Overseas AI News Column under Physix Frontier
Curating global AI industry updates daily, bringing you the latest frontline insights from overseas
🔥 Today's Big Events
Grok Build Exposed for Secretly Uploading Users' Full Code Repos to Google Cloud; Privacy Switch Rendered Useless
Security research firm Cereblab disclosed this week that xAI's coding CLI tool Grok Build (v0.2.93) packaged and uploaded entire Git repositories (including SSH keys, password manager databases, and .env variables) to a Google Cloud Storage bucket, even when users explicitly instructed it "not to read any files." Tests showed 5.10 GiB of data was transmitted via the storage channel, compared to only 192 KB through the model chat channel—a difference of up to 27,800 times. More critically, turning off the "Improve the model" privacy switch did not stop the uploads—the switch only controls whether data is used for training, not whether it is uploaded. Musk promised on X to delete the data, but as of press time, xAI has not released an official security incident report. If you have used Grok Build, immediately rotate your SSH keys and all credentials.
Source: Cereblab / MachineBrief / Hive Security
🧠 AI Large Models
1. Anthropic Fable 5 Free Period Ends Tonight; Credit-Based Billing Starts Tomorrow
Anthropic's third and final extension of the free period will end today (7/19) at 23:59 PT. Starting July 20, Fable 5 will be billed at $10/million input tokens + $50/million output tokens, double the price of Opus 4.8. Anthropic stated they will restore in-subscription usage when compute capacity allows, but provided no timeline. Recommendation: For routine work, switch to Sonnet 5 starting tomorrow ($2/$10/M promotional price until 8/31).
Source: AIToolsRecap
2. OpenAI Acquires Ona (formerly Gitpod); Codex Gains Persistent Cloud Agent Capabilities
OpenAI acquired German startup Ona (formerly Gitpod), enabling its Codex coding tool to continue executing tasks in the cloud after users close their laptops. Codex weekly active users have surpassed 5 million. This is the third major consolidation in the AI coding tools sector in July—previously, SpaceX acquired Cursor for $60 billion, and Anthropic launched Ode, an enterprise-grade AI engineer service.
Source: AIToolsRecap
3. OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Work to Compete with Anthropic Claude Cowork
OpenAI officially released ChatGPT Work, directly targeting Claude Cowork, which Anthropic launched in January this year. Both target enterprise customers, allowing AI to autonomously execute multi-step workflows. Data shows Anthropic's annualized revenue has exceeded $47 billion, surpassing OpenAI's estimated $25-33 billion. ChatGPT monthly visits fell below the majority share of the generative AI market for the first time in May.
Source: ZoomBangla News
4. AI Big Three Rarely Reach Consensus on Regulation: Hassabis, Altman, and Amodei Call for Legislation
Google DeepMind CEO Hassabis, OpenAI CEO Altman, and Anthropic CEO Amodei successively published detailed regulatory framework proposals within five weeks. All three advocate for independent third-party testing, establishing certification compliance systems, and US-led international standards, but differ on whether the government should be the sole arbiter—Amodei wants an "FAA for AI," Hassabis wants a "FINRA for AI," and Altman wants an "IAEA for AI."
Source: Axios / StorySentry
5. Google Gemini 3.5 Pro Delayed; Alphabet Stock Drops 4%
The highly anticipated Gemini 3.5 Pro model was reported to be delayed in release, causing Alphabet stock to drop 4% upon the news. Wall Street and the tech community are engaged in intense discussions regarding AI timelines, market valuations, and the competition for AI dominance. This delay also raises doubts about whether Google can keep pace with OpenAI and Anthropic in the AI race.
Source: Android Infotech / Bloomberg
6. DeepSeek API Migration Countdown: Old Interfaces Permanently Offline on July 24
DeepSeek's legacy APIs (deepseek-chat and deepseek-reasoner) will cease service on July 24 at 15:59 UTC, with no grace period. Users must migrate to deepseek-v4-pro (replacing deepseek-chat) and deepseek-v4-flash (replacing deepseek-reasoner). For heavy reasoning tasks, calling v4-pro is recommended.
Source: AIToolsRecap
7. Moonshot AI Confirms Kimi K3 Open Weights Release on July 27
Moonshot AI confirmed it will release Kimi K3 open weights by July 27. Self-hosting K3 eliminates data residency compliance risks and reduces inference costs to zero (using own GPUs). K3 features 2.8 trillion parameters, making it currently the largest open-source model globally by parameter count, ranking first on the Code Arena leaderboard with a score of 1679.
Source: Xinhua Net / AIToolsRecap
💻 AI Software & Applications
8. Microsoft Teams Launches AI Assistant Channel Agent
Microsoft has launched Channel Agent (public preview) in Teams. Each channel automatically creates an AI assistant named after the channel, capable of generating Loop reports, answering questions based on meeting notes and Planner tasks, tracking progress, and assisting with meeting scheduling. Full functionality requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription.
Source: AI D-A-M-N
9. Microsoft 365 Copilot July Update: Vision Screen Sharing Launched
Microsoft 365 Copilot added the Vision feature this month—users on Windows can start voice conversations and share desktops or windows, with Copilot analyzing screen content in real-time. Mobile devices use the phone camera. Additionally, Outlook email editing supports AI context-assisted modifications (not full rewrites), and Excel's Agent Mode has been renamed "Edit with Copilot."
Source: Windows Forum / Microsoft
10. Sonnet 5 Promotional Price $2/$10/M Ends August 31
Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 5 is currently offered at a promotional price of $2/$10/M, making it the most cost-effective model available. After August 31, prices will rise to $3/$15/M, matching GPT-5.6 Terra. If you haven't configured Sonnet 5 as your primary production model yet, now is the best time.
Source: AIToolsRecap
11. Google Launches Gemini Enterprise, Joining the Corporate AI Agent Battle
Google announced Gemini Enterprise at the June Cloud Next conference, formally entering the enterprise-grade AI agent market. Google's advantage lies in its deep integration into corporate workflows—Gmail, Sheets, Drive, Meet—giving it a natural edge in automated workflow integration, directly threatening OpenAI and Anthropic's enterprise clients.
Source: ZoomBangla News
12. Meta's 2026 CapEx Budget $125-145 Billion, Nearly Doubling
Meta expects its 2026 capital expenditure to reach $125-145 billion, nearly double that of 2025, with the vast majority invested in AI compute power. However, recent reports suggest plans to sell idle compute capacity externally, sparking fears of compute oversupply. The market is reassessing whether AI infrastructure investment is overheating.
Source: Toutiao / Haibao News
13. AI Coding Tool Big Three Landscape Takes Shape: Cursor/Codex/Claude Code
Three deals in July reshaped the AI coding tool landscape: SpaceX-Cursor ($60 billion), Anthropic-Ode (enterprise front-end engineers), and OpenAI-Ona (persistent cloud agents). Claude Code already supports persistent sessions; OpenAI's acquisition of Ona is to catch up rather than lead.
Source: AIToolsRecap
🤖 Humanoid Robots
14. Agility Robotics Goes Public via $2.5B SPAC, First Humanoid Robot Stock
Agility Robotics announced going public via a SPAC merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI at a $2.5 billion valuation, raising over $620 million—the largest single funding round in humanoid robot history. Digit robots have been deployed at Amazon, GXO, Toyota, and Schaeffler, accumulating over 65,000 operating hours, with $300 million in multi-year orders secured. Ticker symbol: AGLT.
Source: TechFastForward
15. Figure AI Valued at ~$40 Billion; Piloting in BMW Factory
Figure AI completed a new funding round in early 2026, reaching a valuation of approximately $40 billion, the highest among independent humanoid robot companies. Figure 03 features the self-developed Helix VLA model and is piloting on BMW automotive production lines. The company may IPO in 2027.
Source: Andrew.ooo
16. Boston Dynamics Fully Acquired by Hyundai Motor, Joins NVIDIA Cosmos Alliance
Hyundai Motor completed the full acquisition of Boston Dynamics, ending a 13-year journey from Google→SoftBank→Hyundai. On July 15, Hyundai/Kia joined the NVIDIA Cosmos alliance. Atlas robots possess the deepest motion control IP in the industry (15+ years of R&D), with an IPO window expected in 2027-2028.
Source: Andrew.ooo
17. Humanoid Robot July Panorama: Comparison of Five Major Players
Current landscape: Agility Digit (most actual deployments) > Figure 03 (highest valuation + BMW pilot) > Boston Dynamics Atlas (strongest mobility) > 1X Neo (only consumer-grade) > Tesla Optimus (factory internal use + Musk's timeline). Chinese humanoid robots (Unitree G1 ~$16K, UBTECH Walker S2, XPeng Iron) are pressuring Western manufacturers with cost advantages.
Source: Andrew.ooo
18. Tesla AI5 Chip Design Complete; Manufactured by Samsung on 2nm Process
Tesla AI5 chip tape-out is complete and will be produced by Samsung at the Taylor, Texas factory using a 2nm process. Initial production starts late 2026, with mass production mid-2027. AI5 is the "brain" of Tesla's Full Self-Driving system, significantly enhancing sensor and camera data processing capabilities.
Source: IDN Times
19. NVIDIA Halos Safety Framework Selects Agility Digit as First Commercial Deployment Platform
NVIDIA's humanoid robot AI safety framework Halos selected Agility Digit as its first commercial deployment platform, marking the industry's beginning of establishing standardized safety certification systems. This is crucial for humanoid robots moving from labs to factories.
Source: TechFastForward
🚗 Autonomous Driving
20. Waymo Suspends Service in Five Cities Due to Flooding Issues
Waymo suspended Robotaxi services this week in San Antonio, Austin, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston. The trigger was an April incident where an autonomous vehicle in San Antonio drove into flooded roads and was swept into a creek; subsequently, another car in Atlanta was stuck in standing water for nearly an hour during a rainstorm. The company recalled nearly 3,800 vehicles for software fixes.
Source: Carscoops / USA News Hub
21. Waymo San Francisco Service Restored After One-Hour Suspension Due to Power Outage
A power outage affecting 7,000 PG&E users in San Francisco caused Waymo services to suspend for about an hour. The company resumed operations after assessing road safety, but all highway routes were unavailable during the suspension. San Francisco Mayor Lurie called on the state government to enact stricter regulations for autonomous driving operations during emergencies.
Source: BrevFeed / TechCrunch
22. Tesla Urges Fans to Oppose New Jersey Autonomous Driving Bill
Tesla launched a public campaign urging supporters to oppose a New Jersey bill establishing an autonomous driving pilot program. Tesla claims the bill's terms are effectively designed to exclude Tesla from the local market—the bill sets specific requirements for technical paths and safety standards for autonomous vehicles.
Source: Tesla / USA News Hub
23. Waymo Sixth-Gen Driver System: Cameras Reduced from 29 to 13
Waymo's sixth-generation Driver system significantly streamlined hardware—cameras reduced from 29 to 13, LiDAR from 5 to 4, total sensors down by 42%. On the software side, it relies on DeepMind Genie3 world models, achieving a shift from rule-driven to generative intelligence.
Source: EEFOCUS
24. Tesla Cybercab Production Version Begins Public Road Testing
On June 30, the production version of the Cybercab began public road engineering tests in Austin urban areas, with steering wheels, throttle, and brake pedals completely removed. Equipped with HW4.0 perception suite, it relies entirely on FSD end-to-end neural networks. As of May, cumulative FSD mileage exceeded 9 billion miles.
Source: EEFOCUS
25. Waymo Completes $16 Billion Funding in Feb 2026, Valued at $126 Billion
Waymo completed the largest single funding round in autonomous driving history—$16 billion, raising its valuation to approximately $126 billion. Currently, weekly order volume maintains around 500,000, covering 11 cities across the US, with 6 new cities added in 2026.
Source: EEFOCUS
🌐 World Models & Physical AI
26. NVIDIA Cosmos Alliance Continues Expansion: Hyundai Joins on 7/15
NVIDIA's Cosmos world foundation model alliance continues to expand, with Hyundai/Kia officially joining on July 15. Cosmos aims to provide a unified simulation and training platform for physical AI, allowing robots to learn real-world physics laws in virtual environments, significantly shortening the cycle from simulation to deployment.
Source: Andrew.ooo
27. Hitachi Partners with NVIDIA to Advance Physical AI in Industrial Infrastructure
Hitachi announced a partnership with NVIDIA to connect IWIM domain knowledge with the Cosmos world foundation model, simulating physical constraints and safety rules. Simultaneously, it uses NemoClaw to verify multi-agent safety coordination and Nemotron for edge real-time environmental monitoring. Goal: Achieve end-to-end autonomous operation for factories, energy, and social infrastructure.
Source: NVIDIA / Hitachi
28. Waymo Leverages DeepMind Genie3 World Model for Generative Intelligence
The core upgrade of Waymo's sixth-generation Driver system lies not just in hardware streamlining, but in introducing DeepMind's Genie3 world model on the software level—shifting from rule-based decision systems to generative intelligence. This means autonomous vehicles can better understand and predict complex, rare traffic scenarios.
Source: EEFOCUS
29. NVIDIA Cosmos Poised to Become De Facto Standard for Physical AI
Analysis suggests NVIDIA Cosmos is becoming the de facto standard platform in the physical AI field. Multiple industry leaders (Boston Dynamics/Hyundai, Hitachi, Agility) have joined the ecosystem. Within 12 months, Cosmos may establish itself as industry infrastructure.
Source: Andrew.ooo
30. Tesla Chip+FSD+Optimus Forms Physical AI Closed Loop
Tesla's AI5 chip (2nm/Samsung foundry) + FSD end-to-end network (9 billion miles of data) + Optimus robot + Dojo supercomputer constitute a complete physical AI closed loop. With full-stack self-development from chips to algorithms to hardware, it is currently the only company simultaneously covering autonomous driving and humanoid robots.
Source: IDN Times / Comprehensive
📊 Industry Signals
31. DeepSeek Raising 50 Billion Yuan at $74 Billion Valuation; Plans STAR Market IPO
DeepSeek is seeking a new round of financing up to 50 billion yuan, with a valuation of approximately 500 billion yuan (~$74 billion), a 11% premium over June's 450 billion yuan in just two months. The company is negotiating an IPO with the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market, planning to file before year-end. Founder Liang Wenfeng self-invested 20 billion yuan in June, Tencent invested 10 billion yuan, and CATL invested 5 billion yuan.
Source: Cryptopolitan
32. Apple Intelligence Approved in China; Alibaba + Baidu Provide Local AI Services
The Cyberspace Administration of China announced that Apple Intelligence has officially completed filing and is approved to operate in China. Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen provides AI models for iPhone/iPad/Mac/Vision Pro, while Baidu supports features like Visual Intelligence. The approval took over two years. In Q2, Apple's shipments in China grew 24.4% year-over-year.
Source: Cryptopolitan / Haibao News
33. Chinese Open-Source AI Models Account for 61% of Global Token Traffic
As of May 2026, Chinese open-weight models accounted for 61% of global token consumption on OpenRouter (the largest neutral LLM router), with four of the top five most-used models coming from China. Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen series has surpassed 1 billion cumulative downloads on Hugging Face, exceeding Meta's Llama.
Source: Pomegra.io
34. Seven Smartphone Edge-Side AI Models Pass China Filing for First Time
The Cyberspace Administration of China published the first batch of smartphone edge-side generative AI filings: Apple Intelligence, Huawei Xiaoyi, OPPO AndesGPT, vivo Blue Heart, Xiaomi HyperOS AI, Samsung Galaxy AI, and Nubia Doubao. Edge-side AI has formally entered the "licensed operation" phase.
Source: Haibao News / WAIC
35. Humanoid Robot Industry Differentiation: West Competes on Performance, China on Cost
The current humanoid robot market is diverging along two paths: Western manufacturers (Boston Dynamics, Figure, Agility) focus on mobility and enterprise integration, while Chinese manufacturers (Unitree G1 ~$16K, UBTECH, XPeng Iron) focus on mass-production industrial pricing. WAIC 2026 showcased 208 embodied intelligence terminals and 300+ humanoid robots.
Source: Andrew.ooo / Haibao News
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