New Models, Old Secrets

By the Orchestra editors · 4 min read

TL;DR

Anthropic drops Claude Fable 5.2 and Mythos 5.2 with top benchmark scores and open physics solves
Meta ships Muse Ember, a cheap lightweight model purpose-built for agent grunt work
Diraq, one of Australia's top quantum startups, redomiciles to Delaware months after getting $20M from the NRF
RBA says AI hasn't moved the productivity needle yet but flags financial stability risks

AI · Models & Products

Anthropic launches Claude Fable 5.2 and Mythos 5.2

Anthropic's latest models improve on coding, reasoning and vision over the 5.1 generation. Fable 5.2 hit 65 on Artificial Analysis (the highest score recorded), solved two open theoretical physics problems, and writes over 90% of merged changes in Anthropic's own codebase. Both models ship in a free tier and a verified-org tier ahead of the company's IPO.

Meta releases Muse Ember for cheap agent workloads

Muse Ember is Meta's smallest model, optimised for repetitive agent tasks like tool calls, routing and data extraction at 10 cents per million input tokens. Meta claims it delivers more intelligence per dollar than Haiku 5.5 or GPT-6 Luna, though it trails on actual coding.

Google ships four TPU 8 variants in a single year

Google expanded the TPU 8 family with two new chips: the 8tx for confidential computing (data stays encrypted during processing) and the 8i Max that doubles compute by pairing two dies on one package. Nearly 100 external customers are now running on TPU 8, positioning it as a real Nvidia GPU alternative.

Australian Tech

Quantum startup Diraq redomiciles to the US

Months after pocketing $20 million from the National Reconstruction Fund, Sydney-founded quantum firm Diraq has shifted its tax domicile to Delaware. The move reignites debate about whether Australia can retain the deep-tech companies it seeds with public money.

RBA: AI yet to lift productivity or trigger job losses

RBA Assistant Governor Sarah Hunter told a UBS conference that evidence of AI boosting productivity or causing widespread displacement remains limited, but warned the technology could pose growing risks to financial stability.

Google warns online safety bill could lock under-18s out of Gmail

Google has told regulators that the draft Australian internet safety legislation could inadvertently cut off minors from core services like Gmail, arguing the bill risks overreach beyond its intended social-media targets.