AI News Daily | Google Gemma 4 Open Release, OpenAI Buys TBPN, Waymo Hits 500K

Google Releases Gemma 4, Its Most Capable Open Model, Under Apache 2.0
Google DeepMind has released Gemma 4, built on the same technology as Gemini 3, in four sizes: E2B, E4B, 26B MoE, and 31B Dense. The 31B model ranks #3 among open models on the Arena AI leaderboard, outperforming models 20x its size. The shift to Apache 2.0 license grants full commercial freedom. With 400M+ downloads and 100K+ variants since the first generation, the Gemmaverse continues to grow.

Microsoft Launches 3 New MAI Models on Azure Foundry
Microsoft unveiled three in-house AI models: MAI-Transcribe-1 (speech-to-text with industry-best 3.8% WER across 25 languages, beating Whisper and Gemini), MAI-Voice-1 (generates 60 seconds of natural speech in under 1 second), and MAI-Image-2 (top-3 on Arena.ai). Developed by Mustafa Suleyman’s superintelligence team, these models advance Microsoft’s “AI self-sufficiency” strategy.

OpenAI Acquires Tech Talk Show TBPN — First Media Acquisition by an AI Company
OpenAI has acquired TBPN (Technology Business Programming Network), the popular daily tech show hosted by John Coogan and Jordi Hays on YouTube and X. The show, described as “Sports Center for tech,” features CEOs like Zuckerberg and Nadella and is on track for $30M+ revenue this year. While OpenAI promises editorial independence, the acquisition raises questions about media objectivity ahead of OpenAI’s IPO.

Waymo Hits 500,000 Paid Robotaxi Rides Per Week — 10x Growth in 2 Years
Alphabet’s Waymo now completes 500K paid robotaxi rides weekly across 10 US cities, up 10x from 50K just two years ago. The company expanded from 3 to 10 cities by launching in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando simultaneously in February 2026. Co-CEO Dolgov noted: “8 years to reach 4 cities, then 4 new markets in a single day.” Waymo targets 1M weekly rides by year-end.

California Signs First-of-Its-Kind AI Protection Executive Order
Governor Newsom signed Executive Order N-5-26, requiring AI companies seeking state contracts to demonstrate safeguards against illegal content, bias, and civil rights violations. The order also directs the first-ever nationwide recommendations for AI-generated content watermarking. As the Trump administration rolls back federal AI protections, California is setting its own standards as the world’s 4th largest economy.