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Friday roundup: Anthropic's co-founders seek control before the IPO, Google readies Gemini 4 and Erebor eyes Syria
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September 25, 2026 Friday Roundup This week’s biggest stories, in one read This week, the AI race was about who holds power. Anthropic’s co-founders moved to lock in control ahead of the IPO, Google said Gemini 4 is coming sooner than expected, and the top AI labs pressed ahead with a safety body they would run themselves. In finance, Palmer Luckey’s Erebor Bank eyed a new frontier market, and investors kept asking when AI spending will pay off. Before it’s everywhere, it’s in The Information. Subscribe for $299 and save 25% on your first year. Key highlights: Anthropic is asking shareholders to give its seven co-founders collective voting control, modeled on Palantir, ahead of its IPO. Google DeepMind’s new chief says Gemini 4 could arrive well before year-end as Google tries to catch up to Anthropic and OpenAI. Palmer Luckey’s Erebor Bank wants to help reconnect Syria to the global financial system. Finance IPO power plays, risky bets and AI’s ROI question Exclusive Anthropic Seeks Palantir-Style Voting Control for Seven Co-Founders Ahead of IPO By Cory Weinberg, Valida Pau and Julia Hornstein Exclusive Luckey’s Erebor Bank Plots Syria Expansion By Michael Roddan Opinion Why America’s AI Dream Is Failing to Launch By Ryan Cunningham and Kristy Loke Exclusive One of Tether’s Bank Partners Caught Up in Assets Seizure By Yueqi Yang and Michael Roddan Applied AI Businesses Still Don’t See AI Returns, Consulting Exec Says By Laura Bratton and Kevin McLaughlin The Information Finance Are GPU Loans Safe From Rising Rates? By Meredith Mazzilli Tech & AI Gemini 4, rival bots and AI’s self-regulation push Exclusive Google Nears Release of Flagship Gemini 4 AI Model By Laura Bratton Exclusive Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures Visit China as Country’s AI Prowess Rises By Julia Hornstein, Jing Yang, Juro Osawa and Rocket Drew AI Agenda OpenAI Develops Features to Counter Grok Bot, Mulls Response to Meta’s Muse By Amir Efrati and Stephanie Palazzolo Exclusive Google, OpenAI and Anthropic AI Safety Group Takes Shape By Leo Schwartz and Stephanie Palazzolo Subscribe to The Information to get only the news you need to know directly to your inbox, giving you a competitive edge. Save 25% on your first year and enjoy unlimited access. Subscribe New from The Information Pro AI Inflection Index Flagging emergent terms and investable themes. 77 core AI trends tracked across 10,000 articles, newsletters, and briefings. Gain access to AI Index, 60+ org charts, proprietary databases, exclusive newsletters, subscriber-only events, and more by subscribing to The Information Pro. Sign Up for Our Newsletter Every Monday (subscribers only) AI Infrastructure By Ann Davis Vaughan Stay ahead of the AI infrastructure wars. Ann Davis Vaughan covers how tech titans are disrupting the energy sector and becoming accidental industrial giants to compete on the AI model battlefield. Sign up Our reporting is now easier to access wherever you are with the new The Information app. Get alerts when exclusive stories break, then read, watch, listen or use Deep Research to understand the bigger picture. Available on the App Store and Google Play. Follow us Download our app Explore Our Newsletters Subscribe to The Information Sent to you@example.com | Manage your preferences or unsubscribe | Help The Information · 251 Rhode Island Street, Suite 107, San Francisco, CA 94103