Chips, Tags and Oversight

By the Orchestra editors · 4 min read

TL;DR

OpenAI reveals Jalapeño, its first custom inference chip built with Broadcom
Anthropic's Claude Tag embeds an always-on AI teammate in Slack
Australia's federal AI review committee draws fire for having zero independent experts
Trump's quantum executive order puts pressure on Australia's PsiQuantum ambitions

AI · Worldwide

OpenAI launches its first custom chip

OpenAI unveiled Jalapeño, an inference-focused ASIC designed with Broadcom to power ChatGPT and Codex workloads. It's a clear signal that the biggest model providers are moving to reduce their dependence on Nvidia for serving traffic at scale.

Claude Tag brings an always-on AI colleague to Slack

Anthropic's new Claude Tag feature sits across Slack channels, remembers conversations and taps company data to automate tasks. It's a strategic land-grab for enterprise context that should be useful for any team already deep in Slack workflows.

Companies start rationing AI tokens

After an initial free-for-all, firms are clamping down on employees burning through API budgets on trivial tasks. The shift from "tokenmaxxing" to token rationing is a sign that AI cost management is becoming a real operational discipline.

Australian Tech

Federal AI review committee has no independent experts

The new committee set up to review high-risk government AI projects met for the first time this week, but it's staffed entirely by public servants. Critics say it amounts to the government marking its own homework, raising questions about informed oversight and public trust.

Trump quantum order challenges Australia's ambitions

A sweeping US executive order on quantum computing could accelerate American breakthroughs and undercut Australia's bid to build the world's first useful quantum computer, putting extra pressure on PsiQuantum's Moreton Bay project.