NVIDIA Buys Hugging Face, Claude Proves Fermat Theorem

AI

Claude Formalizes Fermat’s Last Theorem in Lean

Anthropic’s Claude worked largely autonomously over 11 days via the Prove2Me platform to produce the first end-to-end, machine-checked proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem in the Lean programming language. The run generated 13 million lines of Lean code and proved 30,300 theorems.

Several dozen agents ran in parallel, consuming roughly 6 billion output tokens. This is not new mathematics. Fermat’s Last Theorem was proved by Andrew Wiles in 1994. What Claude did was formalize that proof so a proof assistant can check every step from axioms to conclusion.

Prove2Me was developed by Anthropic researcher Tianyi Peng’s group at Columbia University. The 11-day wall-clock time reflects massive parallelism rather than a single sustained agent effort.

NVIDIA Acquires Hugging Face for $12.93 Billion

NVIDIA agreed to acquire open-source AI platform Hugging Face for $12.93 billion, making it the company’s largest acquisition ever. Of the total, $11.9 billion goes to Hugging Face shareholders and $1 billion in equity is earmarked for retaining employees who join NVIDIA.

Hugging Face hosts more than 3 million models and 500,000 datasets used by over 18 million developers. NVIDIA committed to keeping the platform open, allowing other silicon vendors to continue supporting their hardware on the platform. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

By securing the central hub of the open-source AI ecosystem, NVIDIA extends its influence beyond GPU hardware into the full AI development workflow. The open-source community is watching closely to see whether platform neutrality holds.

ChatGPT Ads Hits $1 Billion Annualized Revenue in Under 200 Days

OpenAI’s ChatGPT advertising business reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate in less than 200 days after launch. The self-serve ad platform now operates in more than 40 countries.

OpenAI is targeting $2.5 billion in advertising revenue for 2026. Tens of thousands of advertisers across India, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa now buy placements through Ads Manager.

The company’s total annualized revenue run rate has surpassed $40 billion, roughly double what it was at the end of 2025. What started as a subscription-first business is rapidly diversifying its revenue with advertising.

Big Tech

Apple CEO Transition: John Ternus Takes the Helm

John Ternus became Apple CEO on September 1, succeeding Tim Cook, who moved to the role of Executive Chairman after 15 years as CEO. Ternus is 51 years old and has spent 25 years at Apple since joining in 2001.

As Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, Ternus oversaw every physical product Apple ships: iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods. Under Cook, Apple’s market capitalization reached $4.6 trillion.

Ternus inherits the only large technology company without a frontier AI model of its own. How he navigates the AI era will be the defining question of his tenure.

Samsung Announces Record Shareholder Returns of 90-110 Trillion Won

Samsung Electronics announced shareholder returns of approximately 90 to 110 trillion won ($65-80 billion) for 2026. This is roughly five times the previous record of 20.3 trillion won set in 2020.

The plan starts with approximately 30 trillion won in cash dividends in the third quarter of 2026. The remaining returns, including share buybacks and cancellations, will be finalized in January 2027 after full-year results are confirmed.

Cumulative shareholder returns from 2024 through 2026 are expected to reach 120 to 140 trillion won. The record payout reflects strong performance driven by the semiconductor business.

Startups

Ultrahuman Raises $70M Led by Qualcomm Ventures

Bengaluru-based Ultrahuman raised $70 million from Qualcomm Ventures, Labcorp, and others, valuing the company at $365 million. The round comprises $65 million in equity and $5 million in debt, roughly tripling its 2023 valuation of $120 million.

Known primarily for its smart ring, Ultrahuman plans to evolve into a platform where rings can run software directly and power AI interactions. Annual revenue run rate stands at $140 million, up about 45% year over year, with a target of $200 million by January 2027.

Qualcomm’s involvement signals a broader shift toward wearable devices becoming standalone computing platforms rather than passive sensors.

Conversed.ai Raises Growth Funding for European Expansion

Amsterdam-based Conversed.ai secured a growth funding round from Dutch technology investors to expand its enterprise AI orchestration platform across Europe. The amount was not disclosed.

The company’s AI Agent Optimization Studio turns standalone chatbots into production-grade digital assistants integrated with CRM, ERP, and electronic health record systems. The funding will go toward European market expansion and scaling engineering teams.

Conversed.ai targets heavily regulated verticals such as healthcare and financial services, where compliance requirements make AI agent orchestration particularly challenging.

Open Source

LibreOffice 26.8 Ships Without AI Features

LibreOffice 26.8 launched on August 26 with a Writer Paragraph Composer, improved bidirectional text tools, better CJK document handling, and enhanced OOXML compatibility. It supports 120 languages across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

The Document Foundation deliberately excluded generative AI features, calling it “a deliberate position, not an accident.” The goal is to keep documents local and reduce privacy risks.

While most office suites race to integrate AI capabilities, LibreOffice offers an alternative that prioritizes user privacy and data sovereignty.

Ladybird: A New Independent Browser Engine After a Decade

Ladybird is a web browser built from scratch with no Chromium, WebKit, or Gecko lineage. It is developed by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by Andreas Kling and Chris Wanstrath, with eight full-time engineers and community contributors.

The project is targeting a first alpha release for Linux and macOS in 2026. Recent additions include an inline PDF viewer, browsing history, HTTP caching, and CSS anchor positioning. The codebase is gradually adopting Rust alongside C++.

Funded entirely through donations with no search deals, data collection, or advertising, Ladybird represents a rare attempt to restore diversity to the browser engine landscape after more than a decade without a genuinely new entrant.

Gaming

SteamDB Acquired by Nexus Mods Owner Chosen

SteamDB has been acquired by Chosen, the growth acquisition firm that also owns Nexus Mods. Founder Pavel “xPaw” Djundik said the project started as a hobby in 2013 but eventually required full-time effort, leading to burnout.

SteamDB draws 140 million views per month. It will remain a separate website, and existing features will stay free. However, Nexus Mods confirmed that additional paid features will be introduced on the platform.

With SteamDB now under its umbrella alongside Nexus Mods, Chosen is assembling a significant portfolio of gaming community infrastructure.

Frontier Developments Partners with Disney on New Game

Frontier Developments announced a collaboration with Disney to develop a new game drawing on Disney’s intellectual property. Frontier, the studio behind Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo, and Jurassic World Evolution, is a leader in the creative management simulation genre.

Frontier will fully fund, develop, and publish the game itself. No title, genre, platform, or release window has been announced. The studio previously worked with Disney on Disneyland Adventures in 2011 alongside Microsoft Studios.

The combination of Disney IP recognition and Frontier’s CMS expertise has generated significant industry anticipation.

BlizzCon 2026 Set for September 12-13

BlizzCon 2026 will take place September 12-13 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California. The 16th BlizzCon will feature developer updates for World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo.

The opening ceremony will include major announcements, alongside Overwatch and Hearthstone esports tournaments. Free online streaming will be available via YouTube, Twitch, and Battle.net.

Cosplay competitions, the Darkmoon Faire, and the March of the Murlocs round out the on-site activities. Some announcements are being held back for reveals during the opening ceremony itself.

References

Formalizing Fermat’s Last Theorem in Lean — Anthropic
NVIDIA to Acquire Hugging Face — NVIDIA Blog
Hugging Face approached Nvidia’s Huang weeks ahead of acquisition — CNBC
Expanding Access to AI with ChatGPT Ads — OpenAI
ChatGPT Surpasses $1 Billion in Annualized Ads Revenue — Adweek
Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman, John Ternus to become Apple CEO — Apple Newsroom
Who is John Ternus, the incoming Apple CEO? — TechCrunch
Samsung Announces Record Shareholder Returns — Samsung Newsroom
Qualcomm backs Ultrahuman in $70M round — TechCrunch
Ultrahuman Raises $70M to Expand Multimodal Health Intelligence Platform — HLTH
Conversed.ai Raises Growth Funding — FinSMEs
Dutch investors back Conversed.ai’s push into regulated AI markets — Dealroom
LibreOffice 26.8 Release Notes — The Document Foundation
LibreOffice 26.8 Launches with Writer Paragraph Composer and No AI Features — gHacks
Ladybird Browser — Ladybird Browser Initiative
Exploring Ladybird, the Non-Chromium Browser Project — OpenReplay
Nexus Mods acquires the popular community site SteamDB — GamingOnLinux
Nexus Mods Acquires SteamDB, Features to Remain Free for Now — TechPowerUp
Frontier Announces Collaboration with Disney for New Video Game — Frontier Developments
Frontier Developments to Develop and Publish New Game Based on Disney IP — Gaming.net
BlizzCon 2026 — Blizzard Entertainment
BlizzCon 2026 Schedule and In-Game Rewards Revealed — Wowhead