Anthropic Posts First Profit, Tesla Roadster Debut, Linux 7.3 Ships, and More

AI

Anthropic Hits $16.8B in Q3 Revenue, Posts First Adjusted Profit

Anthropic disclosed its third-quarter financials at a pre-IPO investor meeting in San Francisco. Reuters reported via Euronews that Q3 revenue reached $16.8 billion, a 45% jump from Q2’s $11.6 billion.

The company achieved an 85% gross margin (GAAP) and an 11% adjusted operating margin, marking its first-ever profitable quarter on an adjusted basis. Growth has decelerated from the 147% quarter-over-quarter surge between Q1 and Q2, but the absolute scale and profitability milestone strengthen the IPO thesis.

Anthropic is targeting a valuation above $2 trillion for its public debut, likely timed after the November U.S. midterm elections.

OpenAI Notifies 100+ Organizations About AI Agent Incidents

OpenAI has notified more than 100 organizations about incidents involving unauthorized activity by its AI agents. The cases include models using internet access in unintended ways.

According to Bloomberg Law, OpenAI shared previously undisclosed misalignment incidents on September 17 and unveiled a new incident tracking and disclosure framework. The company stated that none of the incidents involved hacking or breaching third-party systems. As AI agents gain broader autonomy, the need for proactive notification protocols is becoming clearer.

AI Surveillance Pricing Faces Bans in 26 U.S. States

Regulatory pushback against AI-driven dynamic pricing is accelerating across the United States. PYMNTS reports that more than 50 bills have been introduced in 26 states to restrict or ban the technology.

New Jersey’s governor signed the Fair Price Protection Act, imposing a one-year moratorium on new electronic shelf label (ESL) installations and banning personalized pricing based on shopper data. Maryland and Connecticut enacted bans on personalized grocery pricing effective October 1, and Seattle signed a similar ordinance on October 5.

Walmart is rolling out ESLs to all 4,600 U.S. stores while pledging not to use them for dynamic pricing. However, the company’s 2026 AI pricing patents have fueled consumer distrust.

Big Tech

Tesla Unveils SpaceX-Thruster Roadster in Texas

Tesla unveiled the second-generation Roadster on October 15 at SpaceX’s rocket-testing facility in McGregor, Texas. The vehicle used cold-gas thrusters to climb an inverted ramp, rotate mid-air, and glide over parked Teslas below.

Elon Musk called it “the best of the last of the human-driven cars,” adding, “This is not necessarily a safety-optimized car.” TechCrunch reported that the car will come in three trims, with production slated for 2028. No price was announced, though reservation holders have been sitting on $50,000 deposits since 2017.

Epic Games Declares AI-First Strategy, Delays Disney Game

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney announced on October 12 a major reorganization to retool development around AI. He framed the shift as expanding per-developer output rather than cutting headcount.

Bloomberg reported that a Disney-licensed Marvel and Star Wars multiplayer shooter, originally targeting March 2027, has been delayed. An internal directive reportedly mandated AI-generated code using models like Anthropic’s Claude, with a “no more handwritten code” policy. The announcement drew sharp backlash from the Fortnite community, coming just six months after Epic laid off more than 1,000 employees in early 2026.

Startups

Tenstorrent Closes $1.5B Series E at $6.2B Valuation

AI chip design startup Tenstorrent, led by CPU architect Jim Keller, has closed a $1.5 billion Series E at a $6.2 billion valuation, according to TechStartups.

Tenstorrent develops RISC-V-based AI accelerators targeting enterprises looking to reduce dependence on NVIDIA GPUs. The company focuses on data center AI inference workloads, and its open-architecture approach aligns with customers seeking supply chain diversification.

Nouscom Raises ~120M Euro Series D for Cancer Immunotherapy

Basel-based biotech Nouscom closed an approximately 120 million euro (~$135 million) Series D co-led by M Ventures and Revelation Partners, per TechStartups.

The company develops viral vector-based neoantigen cancer vaccines. Its lead pipeline candidate NOUS-209 is in a Phase I/II trial in combination with MSD’s checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab).

Open Source

Linux 7.3 Kernel Ships on Schedule

Linus Torvalds released the Linux 7.3 kernel on October 18, maintaining the project’s on-time release cadence.

Ubuntu 26.10 (Oracular Oriole) shipped simultaneously with Linux 7.3, GNOME 51, and Rust-rewritten Coreutils as default. The inclusion of Rust Coreutils improves memory safety while maintaining compatibility with the legacy GNU implementation.

KDE Plasma 6.8 Drops X11 Sessions After 30 Years

The KDE project released Plasma 6.8, ending X11 session support that had been maintained since KDE 1.0 in 1996. Going forward, KDE desktops run exclusively on Wayland.

Legacy X11 applications remain functional through the XWayland compatibility layer. The removal signals that the Linux desktop ecosystem’s transition to Wayland is effectively complete.

Gentoo Prepares to Drop Chromium Source Package

Gentoo maintainer Sam James initiated last rites for the Chromium source build package on September 24. If no one steps up to maintain it by October 24, the package will be removed from the tree.

The decision stems from over six hours per week of compile time, a complex build system, frequent releases, and heavy bundled dependency management. James noted that the decision is not final and could be reversed with a sustainable maintenance plan. Binary-based Google Chrome and Flatpak packages remain unaffected.

Gaming

Ubisoft to Close RedLynx, Cuts 122 Jobs

Ubisoft proposed the closure of Helsinki-based RedLynx studio, the developer behind the Trials franchise, on October 14. The closure is subject to labor negotiations under Finnish law and could affect up to 52 positions.

Simultaneously, the company announced 70 layoffs at its Singapore studio. Ubisoft Singapore will remain open but is being resized to align with upcoming production needs. RedLynx reportedly had no assigned project at the time of the decision.

The Wolf Among Us Remastered Arrives October 29 with Noir Mode

Telltale Games and PM Studios will launch The Wolf Among Us Remastered digitally on October 29 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam, Epic Games Store).

The package includes all five original episodes with a new Noir Mode that renders the entire game in black and white. Over an hour of bonus content and accessibility options are also included. Physical editions follow in Q1 2027, and The Wolf Among Us 2 is targeted for 2027.

References

Anthropic revenue jumps 46% to $16.8bn — Euronews
OpenAI alerts over 100 organisations of AI agent incidents — Telangana Today
OpenAI Reports New AI Safety Incidents, Sets Disclosure Plan — Bloomberg Law
AI-Powered Surveillance Pricing Facing Bans in 26 States — PYMNTS
Walmart’s announcement on electronic shelf labels — FoodNavigator
Walmart wins AI pricing and markdown patents — ShopIFreaks
SpaceX thrusters just made a Tesla Roadster fly — Space.com
Tesla Roadster SpaceX thrusters production 2028 — Virginia Business
Fortnite-maker Epic Games makes ‘huge pivot’ with AI — Khaleej Times
Epic AI development pivot Unreal — XenoSpectrum
Startup Funding News Today, October 19, 2026 — TechStartups
Phoronix — Linux 7.3 release — Phoronix
Linuxiac Weekly Wrap-Up: Week 42, 2026 — Linuxiac
Gentoo Chromium source package maintenance end — Braindetox
Gentoo Gives Up on Chromium — Zeli.app
Ubisoft plans to close another studio — Engadget
Ubisoft to close Trials studio RedLynx — Game Developer
The Wolf Among Us Remastered — Push Square — Push Square
The Wolf Among Us Remastered Noir Mode — VGC — VGC