The Amped Journal

An analysis of payments data from thousands of US businesses by Ramp, the corporate card and spend-management company, found that Anthropic's flagship Fable 5 model captures just 11% of Anthropic-related spend, while older, cheaper models like Opus 4.8 hold the largest share. Fable 5 costs roughly twice as much as some rivals, and many businesses cite a preference for zero data retention and "good enough" performance on routine tasks over paying for the priciest frontier model. The pattern echoes a broader shift: developers increasingly mix cheaper models like Kimi K3 or GLM-5.2 for daily work with pricier models such as GPT-5.6 Sol or Grok 4.6 for harder research and planning. Anthropic's overall revenue still hit a $65 billion run rate in July, per the report.

Researchers from Stanford, the University of Washington, Carnegie Mellon, and the Allen Institute for AI analyzed leading AI models using a 26,000-query real-world dataset called Infinity-Chat and found what they call "mode collapse" - models converging on similar structures and answers that track average human preferences rather than showing diverse perspectives, based on more than 31,000 human annotations. The 2025 paper won a NeurIPS best-paper award. The researchers warn that safety optimization and synthetic-data training loops could be flattening the diversity of AI outputs over time.

Apodex released version 1.1 of its AI model family, built for agentic systems that handle multi-step professional tasks in fields like scientific research and financial analysis. The system runs asynchronous agent teams that work in parallel, maintain persistent task state, and can take human guidance at any point. Its open-source FrontierAgent workbench runs locally on macOS or Linux, alongside a full frontier model available online and a smaller 35-billion-parameter version for local download. On benchmarks it scored 38.5 on APEX-Agents and posted competitive results against larger models.

Ramp launched Router.com, a tool that automatically selects the best AI model for a given task based on cost, speed, and performance through a single API, requiring no account and integrating in two lines of code after three years of internal testing. It's free through 2026, with $26 in credits for new users. The launch landed the same day Stripe announced its acquisition of OpenRouter, intensifying competition between fintech companies chasing corporate AI infrastructure budgets.

Micron Technology launched Micron Research Labs, a new Boise-based hub backed by $10 billion over the next decade to advance memory, compute, and semiconductor technology for AI, uniting outside partners at the site. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said memory chips are core AI infrastructure, part of more than $250 billion in planned US investments the company says will create 90,000 jobs. Memory prices have been climbing sharply on AI-driven demand.

S&P 500 forward earnings-per-share estimates for 2026 have risen roughly 15% since December, a sharp reversal from the typical pattern of estimates drifting lower by midyear. The shift puts earnings growth on track near 25% - one of the strongest non-recessionary stretches in decades - driven by second-quarter profit growth topping 30% at some companies, corporate efficiency gains, and AI-related spending. Some read the unusually strong revisions as a red flag given how far markets have run; others argue the rally rests on real fundamentals, making stocks relatively less expensive even at record levels.

Mundo, a Y Combinator-backed startup, raised a $20 million Series A. The company partners with frontier AI labs to build datasets, evaluations, and research that help AI models better perceive and understand the real world across audio, video, and other emerging modalities.

President Trump has threatened a 50% tariff on Canadian automobiles, auto parts, and steel starting January 1, the AP reported, deepening a trade rift with Canada that already includes a 50% tariff imposed last week on $20 billion of other Canadian goods after trade talks collapsed. Canada has said it will match the tariffs dollar-for-dollar, with its own retaliatory tariffs set to begin September 8.

Atrium Health purchased 65 acres bordered by Military Cutoff and Crooked Pine roads in New Hanover County for $16.4 million, according to a deed recorded August 12, as it pursues state approval to build a 42-bed community hospital near Porters Neck. The triangular site near the Porters Neck Walmart was previously eyed for Hanover Reserve, a proposed 473-unit residential project that never got built. Atrium's proposed hospital is estimated to cost $395 million. Atrium is one of three health systems - alongside Novant Health and UNC Health - seeking state certificate-of-need approval to build hospitals in the Wilmington area, with UNC Health's competing $852 million, 150-bed proposal set for a public hearing this Thursday at 1pm at the Arboretum Education Center on Oleander Drive.

Creative Outdoor Solutions, a Wilmington-based provider of hurricane shutters, motorized screens and retractable awnings, acquired fellow local company Port City Hurricane Shutters in a deal that closed August 1. Terms weren't disclosed. The acquisition gives Creative Outdoor Solutions access to more favorable purchasing arrangements it expects to pass on as better pricing for homeowners across coastal North Carolina. Port City founder Justin Heckler, who has more than 20 years of experience in the hurricane-shutter business, will stay on as a strategic advisor.

Wilmington City Council committed $2 million in gap financing Tuesday to Dawson Lofts II at Jervay, an 86-unit affordable housing project on Dawson Street with rents set between 30% and 80% of area median income. The Wilmington Housing Authority and developer Blue Ridge Cascade are building the project, estimated to cost $28.7 million, on the site of 18 Jervay Place units badly damaged during Hurricane Florence that will be demolished. Developers had initially requested $2.5 million; city staff recommended the lower amount, to be repaid at 1% interest based on cash flow starting in 2029.

UNCW's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship kicks off a new speaker series as part of its Wilmington Innovation Forum on September 3, featuring a UNCW faculty member or community expert plus Q&A; the series running through November will focus on brain health. The center also hosts an Ocean Innovation Conference on September 29 at the Burney Center, open to investors, entrepreneurs, students and citizens, running 8am to 4:30pm with networking and interactive sessions.