Maxwell Zeff

San Francisco

Senior Writer at TechCrunch

Senior AI Reporter @TechCrunch | Formerly @Gizmodo, @markets, @nbc | Send anonymous tips on Signal @ mzeff.88

Articles

Anthropic says most AI models, not just Claude, will resort to blackmail

1 week ago | techcrunch.com | Maxwell Zeff

Several weeks after Anthropic released research claiming that its Claude Opus 4 AI model resorted to blackmailing engineers who tried to turn the model off in controlled test scenarios, the company is out with new research suggesting the problem is more widespread among leading AI models. On Friday, Anthropic published new safety research testing 16 leading AI models from OpenAI, Google, xAI, DeepSeek, and Meta.
Anthropic says most AI models, not just Claude, will resort to blackmail

1 week ago | flipboard.com | Maxwell Zeff

Meta Poaches the CEO of a $32 Billion AI Startup — After Trying to Buy the Company and Being Told NoMeta is reportedly offering up to nine figures in compensation for AI researchers, amounting to $100 million signing bonuses and even higher overall pay. Meta is taking an aggressive approach to hiring new members of its Superintelligence lab, the group tasked with developing AI that is more …
Character.AI taps Meta's former VP of business products as CEO

1 week ago | techcrunch.com | Maxwell Zeff

Character.AI, the Google-backed AI chatbot provider with tens of millions of monthly active users, announced on Friday that Karandeep Anand, the former VP of Business Products at Meta, is joining the company as CEO. Previously a board adviser to Character.AI, Anand is stepping into the CEO role at a pivotal moment for the chatbot provider, as the company tries to simultaneously grow its platform while combatting child safety concerns.
After trying to buy Ilya Sutskever’s $32B AI startup, Meta looks to hire its CEO

1 week ago | technewstube.com | Maxwell Zeff

Tech News Tube is a real time news feed of the latest technology news headlines.Follow all of the top tech sites in one place, on the web or your mobile device.
Midjourney launches its first AI video generation model, V1

1 week ago | techcrunch.com | Maxwell Zeff

Midjourney, one of the most popular AI image generation startups, announced on Wednesday the launch of its much-anticipated AI video generation model, V1. V1 is an image-to-video model, in which users can upload an image — or take an image generated by one of Midjourney’s other models — and V1 will produce a set of four five-second videos based on it. Much like Midjourney’s image models, V1 is only available through Discord, and it’s only available on the web at launch.
Midjourney launches its first AI video generation model, V1

1 week ago | flipboard.com | Maxwell Zeff

18 hours agoIf you were hoping Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro models would shake up their physical screen sizes, you can extra-officially temper your expectations. But that doesn’t mean the 2026 lineup won’t bring significant shifts in how the front of the iPhone looks. Here’s what may be coming. A new leak from Digital …
OpenAI drops Scale AI as a data provider following Meta deal

1 week ago | techcrunch.com | Maxwell Zeff

OpenAI is phasing out its work with Scale AI and cutting ties with the data provider following Meta’s deal with the startup, an OpenAI spokesperson told Bloomberg on Wednesday. Sarah Friar, the chief financial officer of OpenAI, previously suggested the company would continue its work with Scale AI. Now, it appears OpenAI has changed its tone.
OpenAI found features in AI models that correspond to different 'personas'

1 week ago | techcrunch.com | Maxwell Zeff

OpenAI researchers say they’ve discovered hidden features inside AI models that correspond to misaligned “personas,” according to new research published by the company on Wednesday. By looking at an AI model’s internal representations — the numbers that dictate how an AI model responds, which often seem completely incoherent to humans — OpenAI researchers were able to find patterns that lit up when a model misbehaved.
Seed to Series C: What VCs actually want from AI startups

1 week ago | share.google | Theresa Loconsolo |Rebecca Bellan |Kirsten Korosec |Maxwell Zeff

AI investments hit $110 billion in 2024, and the funding landscape in 2025 is more competitive than ever. For early-stage startups, that means more money in the market, but also more pressure to stand out. At TechCrunch Sessions: AI, Rebecca Bellan sat down with three experienced investors: Jill Chase, partner at CapitalG; Kanu Gulati, partner at Khosla Ventures; and Sara Ittelson, partner at Accel.
Sam Altman says Meta tried and failed to poach OpenAI's talent with $100M offers

1 week ago | techcrunch.com | Maxwell Zeff

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been on something of a hiring spree lately, trying to staff up Meta’s new superintelligence team with top-tier AI researchers from competing labs. To work on a team led by former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang and at a desk physically near Zuckerberg, Meta has reportedly offered employees from OpenAI and Google DeepMind compensation packages worth upwards of $100 million.