Good morning. It's Wednesday, July 29, and we're covering Claude Code’s enterprise lead, whether AI’s trillion-dollar spending spree can pay off, and why data centers face new power limits.
Plus: yesterday's poll results on coding agents and another chance to test your AI detection skills with Real or AI.
Data centers, not households, are first in line for temporary power cuts if the largest U.S. grid faces shortages. PJM Interconnection says it will begin curtailing electricity to data centers and other users consuming 50 megawatts or more starting in June 2027 after a capacity auction fell short. Data center electricity demand is projected to quadruple by 2035, with PJM's 67 million-customer region already seeing wholesale power prices nearly double in 2026.
Cursor is lowering prices in India rather than expanding premium features. The AI coding startup launched Cursor Start at ₹649 ($7) per month, its first localized subscription, ahead of its expected SpaceX acquisition. India is Cursor's third-largest market, with its user base more than tripling over the past year, while GitHub counts over 27 million developers in the country. The deal is expected to close in Q3, with Cursor continuing to operate independently until then.
Anthropic's Claude Mythos Preview uncovers mathematical flaws in cryptographic algorithms themselves, not just coding mistakes, marking an unusual advance in AI-assisted security research. Researchers improve an attack on the post-quantum HAWK signature scheme and accelerate attacks on a reduced version of AES, though neither finding affects production systems.
Altman Warms to Pacing AI
Sam Altman said OpenAI may need to "pace the rate of AI development," a shift from his 2023 dismissal of the pause-AI letter, attributed directly to last week's Hugging Face incident in which a model broke out of its sandbox and used zero-day exploits to hack production infrastructure. Altman warned in the same breath against safety framings being used to concentrate power in a small group of labs, even as OpenAI and Anthropic employees are jointly petitioning the government to help pace AI progress.
VIDEO
Testing the “Ghost Font” Myth
AI easily decodes “Ghost Font,” a text style claimed to fool AI, proving the viral human-only writing trick doesn't hold up in real-world testing.
POLL
Who should keep AI in check?
Our team spent 30 minutes arguing about this and nobody won. Your turn:
Who do you actually trust to keep AI safe? |
COMPETITION
Anthropic’s Claude Code Holds Lead as AI Coding Competition Heats Up
Anthropic’s Claude Code remains the dominant AI coding assistant in many enterprises despite steep price increases and growing competition from OpenAI’s Codex, Cursor, and open-source models. Data from analytics provider Weave shows median Claude Code costs per user climbed from $69 in January to $219 in June, while the number of enterprise users tripled.
Companies including Workato, Automation Anywhere, Druva, and Rubrik say developers continue to favor Claude Code for its performance, even as they introduce model routing, spending caps, and open-source alternatives to reduce costs. Meanwhile, OpenAI is aggressively promoting Codex with migration tools and pricing incentives, while enterprises increasingly adopt flexible, multi-model strategies rather than relying on a single AI vendor. → Read the full article here. (Paywall)
ECONOMICS
AI Revenue Is Soaring, but Returns on Spending Remain Uncertain
The world's largest technology companies are on pace to spend about $900 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026, with investments projected to reach $1.4 trillion in 2027, even as investors question whether AI revenues can justify the enormous outlays. The Economist estimates the industry would need roughly $2.5 trillion in annual AI revenue to support current capital spending—far above today's estimated $150 billion to $220 billion market.
While enterprise AI adoption has spread rapidly, most businesses still use AI sparingly, rely on free or low-cost tools, and have yet to make the organizational changes needed to unlock significant productivity gains. The article argues that AI's long-term returns will depend not only on more powerful models, but also on whether companies fundamentally redesign how they work rather than simply adding AI to existing workflows. → Read the full article here. (Paywall)
ASML
ASML’s $400 Million Chipmaking Machines Power the AI Boom
ASML has cemented its position as Europe's most valuable company by dominating the market for the advanced lithography systems used to manufacture AI chips. Its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines, which cost about $200 million each, are essential for producing leading-edge processors for customers including TSMC, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, while its next-generation High NA systems cost up to $400 million and are designed for future AI chips.
Each 150-ton machine uses powerful lasers, ultra-precise mirrors, and magnetically levitated stages to etch microscopic circuits onto silicon wafers before being shipped in roughly 40 containers to chip factories worldwide. Despite its technological lead, ASML faces growing competition from Chinese rivals and continued U.S. export restrictions that could shape the next phase of the global semiconductor race. → Read the full article here.
NEWS
What Else is Happening
Fish Audio Raises $52M: Startup launched its S2.1 Pro voice model, claiming 5-second voice cloning, lower costs than rivals, and enterprise adoption.
Recursive Signs $410M AWS Deal: AI startup will buy $410M in Amazon Web Services compute to scale and accelerate AI product development.
Visa Cuts 7% of Workforce: Payments giant will cut 7% of its workforce, citing AI as one factor while shifting investment toward growth areas.
Runway Turns AI Bug Into Feature: Unable to fix drifting avatars, the company built a workaround instead, highlighting a pragmatic approach.
GPU Prices Surge in China: NVIDIA and AMD GPU prices rose by as much as 20% as shortages pushed some models nearly 60% above MSRP.
Teacher Arrested for Clapping: A Kansas teacher was removed and arrested after applauding a speaker opposing a proposed data center.
POLL RESULTS
What’s Your Go-To Coding Agent?
Here's how you voted: Claude Code remains the community favorite, capturing 48% of votes. Codex came second, while Cursor trailed behind.
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Claude Code (48%)
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Codex (22%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Cursor (8%)
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Something else (22%)
REAL OR AI
Can You Still Tell if an Image Is AI?
