Sunday, October 18, 2026 - 5 Minute AI News

DeepSeek releases a new open-weight model and search API, Meta updates web scraping terms, Apple bans AI deepfake generators, Anthropic solves a cryptography mystery, and Microsoft details MAI-Base-2.

1. DeepSeek Releases V4.1-Flash-1017 Model and Search API — DeepSeek launched an open-weight model update delivering faster task completion and higher benchmark scores. The company also opened its internal search engine to developers via new APIs.
2. Meta Removes Web Scraping Language From Commercial Terms — Following public criticism, Meta updated its terms to remove language about scraping web pages for AI training. However, the company's actual data collection behavior remains unchanged.
3. Apple Bans Applications Generating Nonconsensual Intimate AI Images — Apple updated its App Store guidelines to explicitly prohibit apps that generate sexualized deepfakes. General-purpose platforms with generation capabilities have not been removed.
4. Anthropic's Claude Solves 25-Year-Old NSA Cryptography Mystery — Claude discovered the origins of the unexplained seeds behind NIST's standard curves for digital signatures. The model determined the seeds were generated by a standard C random number generator.
5. Microsoft Details 2-Trillion Parameter MAI-Base-2 Foundational Model — Microsoft's AI research group introduced a proprietary base model designed for high efficiency. The release demonstrates the company's continued investment in developing in-house foundational infrastructure.

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