The AsOf Brief · the week to
Five things that changed in the week to
The AsOf Brief for the week to leads with five changes: Salesforce acquired Cresta; OpenAI released Pando; Google investment is now $17 billion; IBM launched IBM Quantum System Two; Cisco announced a partnership with OpenAI.
Salesforce acquired Cresta
- What happened
- On , Salesforce acquired Cresta. 1 source on record.
- Why it matters
- Salesforce's announcement says it has signed an agreement to buy Cresta, a company that makes voice agents for customer service, so the deal is agreed but not yet described as closed. If it goes through, the voice that answers a customer call could sit directly on top of the world's most widely used customer-records software, with your account history in front of it while you talk.
- Takeaway
- Watch for Salesforce saying the Cresta deal has closed, then notice whether support calls with companies you use start being answered by a voice agent that already knows your history - that is when this reaches you.
OpenAI released Pando
- What happened
- On , OpenAI released Pando. 1 source on record.
- Why it matters
- Git is the tool programmers use to track changes to code, and OpenAI's post says it built Pando, a Git-compatible backend, to handle the scale of development its Codex coding agent makes possible. It is presented as OpenAI's own engineering work rather than a product launch, but it shows AI coding is creating enough activity to need new developer infrastructure.
- Takeaway
- Check whether OpenAI offers Pando to outside developers or adds it to Codex in the coming months - that decides whether this stays an engineering blog post or becomes a product.
Google investment is now $17 billion
- What happened
- On , Google investment is now $17 billion. 1 source on record.
- Why it matters
- Google is putting a long-term $17 billion into its first Wyoming data center, naming energy companies Tallgrass Energy, Black Hills Energy and AEP as partners alongside developer Related Digital. That so many power partners are named shows electricity supply is central to the project, and how that power is provided will matter to people nearby.
- Takeaway
- Follow Wyoming's utility rate filings and local news on how this site gets its power - the electricity bill is where a data center shows up for neighbors.
IBM launched IBM Quantum System Two
- What happened
- On , IBM launched IBM Quantum System Two. 1 source on record.
- Why it matters
- IBM says a Quantum System Two, which it calls its most advanced quantum computer, is now running in Chicago at a University of Chicago lab and is set to be part of the state's planned quantum park once that site is finished. A working machine in a university setting puts it close to researchers in the region; it does not mean quantum computers are solving everyday problems yet.
- Takeaway
- Watch for the first research results that University of Chicago teams publish using this machine - real output, not the unveiling, is the milestone that counts.
Cisco announced a partnership with OpenAI
- What happened
- On , Cisco announced a partnership with OpenAI. 2 sources on record.
- Why it matters
- Cisco and OpenAI published the same write-up on Cisco combining its network intelligence with OpenAI's models to build more adaptive security defenses. It reads more like a customer story than a product launch, so this week it is mainly a signal of where corporate security tools are heading.
- Takeaway
- Watch for Cisco saying whether the OpenAI-powered defenses it describes come to the security products it sells to other companies - that is when this would reach workplaces beyond Cisco.
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