Which parts of research is AI speeding up?

Google rolls out 15-second video generation

2026-11-06 · New

Google released Gemini Omni 1.2 Flash for developers through the Gemini API and for businesses through Google Cloud. Google Vids supports 15-second clips, while the Gemini app rollout starts with Ultra subscribers.

Production teams can keep longer actions inside a single clip. Google still lists fast sports action, abrupt script changes and complex physics as areas for improvement.

Google

METR estimates how fast Anthropic improves on defined tasks

2026-11-05 · Past 72 hours

After reviewing internal training metrics and interviewing staff, METR estimated that Anthropic was improving model capabilities on well-defined tasks about twice as fast as in its historical comparison period. The researchers considered rates near 1.3 or 3 times plausible.

The comparison concerns the rate of capability gains. Forecasting an entire research cycle also requires evidence about hard-to-score work and constraints on staff and compute.

METR

Where researchers use Claude in practice

2026-11-05 · Past 72 hours

Anthropic analyzed about 207,000 research sessions on Claude and Claude Code. Data analysis accounted for roughly a third of Claude sessions and nearly half on Claude Code. Idea generation and data collection were less common.

Labs can use these patterns to choose workflows for a trial. Session shares measure usage; local timing and reproducibility checks are needed to measure benefit.

Anthropic

Gemini Omni · Google

1.2 Flash · 2026-11-06 · stable

Generally available with 15-second video. See AI companies for rollout details.

Google

Checked 2026-11-06T04:42:31.168739+00:00

Codex CLI · OpenAI

0.168.0-alpha.3 · 2026-11-05 · alpha

The prerelease tag lists no feature-level changes.

OpenAI · Codex CLI

Checked 2026-11-06T04:42:31.168739+00:00

Astera ramps its 320-lane fabric switch

2026-11-03 · Seven-day watch

Astera Labs reported volume production of its 320-lane Scorpio X-Series fabric switch. Scorpio became its largest product family by revenue. Company-wide quarterly revenue reached $584.9 million.

Volume production is a firmer indication of adoption than a design win. Total company revenue includes other products and does not establish Scorpio unit shipments.

Astera Labs

Pixel combines a wheeled robot, teleoperation and whole-body control

2026-11-03 · Seven-day watch

A preprint describes Pixel, a wheeled humanoid with compliant grippers and a training pipeline that uses both human and robot demonstrations. The authors demonstrate manipulation involving navigation, active perception and whole-body coordination.

Labs can use the design to study how data-collection interfaces affect the whole system. Factory use would require site-specific cycle times, intervention rates and reliability measurements.

arXiv · Pixel

AWS makes cited web answers available in Northern Virginia

2026-11-06 · New

AWS made Web Answer generally available on Bedrock AgentCore in US East (Northern Virginia). One tool call returns a synthesized answer with citations. Builders can restrict domains and publication dates, and AWS charges per call.

Teams can offload part of their retrieval workflow. Time-sensitive applications still need to check whether citations support each answer and assess regional requirements.

AWS

China’s standard for model-data platforms takes effect

2026-11-01 · Seven-day watch

Industry standard YD/T 7114—2026, approved by China’s industry ministry, was issued July 15 and took effect November 1. It addresses ingestion, processing, management, delivery and security for large-model data platforms and applies to providers, operators and users.

Buyers can request evidence for each platform function. The previously covered embodied-AI standard addressed dataset quality; this document addresses the platform that handles the data.

YD/T 7114—2026

Qualcomm reports an 8% revenue decline and reiterates its data-center target

2026-11-04 · Past 72 hours

Qualcomm reported $10.322 billion in GAAP revenue for the quarter ended September 27, down 8% year over year. Management reiterated a $5 billion fiscal 2027 data-center revenue target and projected more than 60% growth in non-handset revenue.

Future segment disclosures can show how far diversification has progressed. The $5 billion figure is a management target whose realization depends on sales and delivery.

Qualcomm · SEC