💰 The AI Stack Consolidates: Google vs OpenAI Pricing War, Apple's $2B Acquisition & $750M Robotaxi Bets

Welcome back to the AI Business Summary newsletter!

This week, we have more significant (and mostly positive) news in the world of AI.

The Big Lead: Google launches its $7.99 AI Plus plan this week, matching ChatGPT Go pricing as tech giants battle for consumer AI subscription dominance with aggressive pricing and automatic upgrades.

Here’s everything else you need to know this week in AI...

In Today’s Issue:

💰 Google launches $7.99 AI Plus plan to battle OpenAI

🧠 Poetiq raises $45.8 million for an AI meta-system that beats top LLMs

⚡ Redwood Materials raises $425 million as Google backs energy storage

💾 Microsoft ships Maia 200 chip, keeps buying from Nvidia and AMD

🎥 Perfect Corp launches AI avatars for instant product videos

🌱 Carbon Robotics unveils Large Plant Model for weed detection

🌐 Google adds Gemini AI directly into the Chrome browser

🌍 Google DeepMind opens Project Genie to AI Ultra subscribers

🍏 Apple acquires Q.ai for a reported $2 billion

🚛 Waabi raises $750 million to expand from trucking into robotaxis

Business Models & Monetization

💰 Google launches $7.99 AI Plus plan to battle OpenAI

• Matches ChatGPT Go pricing after testing in emerging markets since September.

• Includes Gemini 3 Pro, Nano Banana Pro, Veo, NotebookLM, and 200GB storage.

• Family sharing for up to five members, 50% off for the first two months.

• Existing Google One 2TB subscribers get an automatic upgrade.

🧠 Poetiq raises $45.8 million for an AI meta-system that beats top LLMs

• Founded by ex-Google DeepMind scientists, sets new SOTA on ARC-AGI-2.

• Makes any LLM learn faster and solve harder problems with fewer examples.

• Achieves 75% accuracy on benchmark, 16 points above previous leader.

• Targets enterprise GenAI projects with zero ROI.

⚡ Redwood Materials raises $425 million as Google backs energy storage

• Google and Nvidia join Series E, pushing valuation above $6 billion.

• Repurposes used EV batteries into micro-grids for AI data centers.

• Recovers 70%+ of North America's used battery packs.

• Plans to deploy 20 gigawatt-hours of grid-scale storage by 2028.

Enterprise Tools & Applications

💾 Microsoft ships Maia 200 chip, keeps buying from Nvidia and AMD

• The first homegrown AI inference chip is now live in production data centers.

• Claims it outperforms Amazon Trainium and Google TPUs per internal benchmarks.

• CEO Nadella confirms ongoing chip partnerships due to industry-wide shortages.

• First serves Microsoft Superintelligence team, then OpenAI on Azure.

🎥 Perfect Corp launches AI avatars for instant product videos

• AI Business Avatar creates marketing videos from product photos, no filming.

• Choose diverse AI presenters or upload a real person's face.

• AI Product Staging offers presenter-free, template-based video generation.

• Slashes production costs, scales content for e-commerce and social.

🌱 Carbon Robotics unveils Large Plant Model for weed detection

• Trained on 150 million+ photos from 100+ farms across 15 countries.

• Recognizes new plant species instantly without retraining or 24-hour delays.

• Farmers tag new weeds live via the user interface.

• Powers LaserWeeder robots with precision weed-killing lasers.

Consumer Tech & Platforms

🌐 Google adds Gemini AI directly into the Chrome browser

• New side panel keeps Gemini chatbot accessible while surfing the web.

• Auto browse feature orders groceries, researches hotels with a single prompt.

• Personal Intelligence connects Gmail and Photos for tailored answers across apps.

• Available to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US.

🌍 Google DeepMind opens Project Genie to AI Ultra subscribers

• Build interactive worlds from text prompts and sketches, no dev skills needed.

• Powered by Genie 3 world model, generates environments in real time.

• Simulates physics and interactions with breakthrough consistency.

• Available to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the US.

🍏 Apple acquires Q.ai for a reported $2 billion

• Israel-based startup builds AI that understands mouthed and whispered speech.

• Analyzes facial skin micro-movements to detect audio.

• Technology tracks heart rate and respiration for health wearables.

• Likely headed for Apple smart glasses and voice-controlled devices.

Autonomous Systems & Infrastructure

🚛 Waabi raises $750 million to expand from trucking into robotaxis

• Series C co-led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners.

• Uber commits $250 million more to deploy 25,000 autonomous vehicles exclusively.

• Shifts to "driver as a service" model for trucks and robotaxis.

• Uses lidar, camera, and radar for redundancy and safety.

🌱 Bonus Thought

Meta's move to nearly double AI spending to $135 billion in 2026 isn't just a budget line. It's a signal. The race for AI dominance has entered a new phase where infrastructure is the moat and compute is the currency.

What's striking: Meta frames this as "personal empowerment" rather than centralized automation. That's positioning, not just philosophy. While rivals chase enterprise contracts and government deals, Zuckerberg is betting that AI's biggest market is you. Your feed. Your glasses. Your assistant. The billions in data centers are the foundation for products that haven't launched yet. Speed vs. prudence. Scale vs. sustainability. Control vs. openness.

The pattern holds across the industry. Companies that can afford to build now are locking in advantages that smaller players can't match. Open-source models like Llama democratize access, but the compute required to train what comes next stays firmly in Big Tech's hands.

The takeaway: The AI future belongs to those who build the infrastructure today.

📝 Business Prompt to Try

Why It Works

• Captures the "choose your champion" moment happening now: Google's $7.99 AI Plus plan directly battles ChatGPT, Microsoft ships homegrown chips while still buying Nvidia, Poetiq promises to make any LLM smarter. The AI stack is splitting into winners and also-rans, and early bets compound into structural advantages.

• Surfaces the hidden costs of waiting: When Google automatically upgrades 2TB subscribers or Chrome embeds Gemini directly, distribution advantages calcify fast. Companies that delay platform decisions find themselves negotiating from weakness as switching costs multiply and integrations deepen.

• Balances multiple strategic postures: Not every business should build, buy, or bet the same way. This prompt forces clarity on where to ride dominant platforms (Google/Microsoft), where to hedge with alternatives (Poetiq's meta-system), and where to create proprietary advantage, matching how enterprises actually split infrastructure bets across risk profiles.

• Turns vendor relationships into competitive weapons: Just as Uber committed $250 million to deploy Waabi exclusively and Redwood Materials positioned itself as the AI data center energy play, smart operators use vendor partnerships to block competitors, secure capacity, or unlock adjacent markets before the window closes.

💡 Quote of the Week