#18: The Level Playing Field Is Ending

About this episode

Top Story: OpenAI Built Its Strongest Model Yet. Then Handed the Guest List to Washington — On Friday, June 26, OpenAI announced three new frontier models — Sol, its self-described "strongest model yet," plus Terra for everyday work and Luna as a cheaper option — and in the same breath said most people can't have them yet. The free, downloadable models are catching the paid frontier — fastest they ever have. — On the independent Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, the leading open-weight model (Moonshot's Kimi K2.6) now ranks fourth overall and first among open models, about six points behind the top closed models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google — narrowing, but not matching them, and still clearly behind on the hardest tasks. Most companies deploying AI agents can't yet secure them — and some already got burned. — In a survey of 160+ security leaders, 72% said they're rolling out AI agents but only 29% have comprehensive controls for them, and about 1 in 5 has already had a security incident traced to an agent. Dream — $260M at a $3B valuation, to sell countries "sovereign AI." — Founded by ex-NSO Group CEO Shalev Hulio and former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Dream pitches governments on AI infrastructure they fully own and control rather than rent from foreign providers. NewCore — $66M seed at a $300M valuation, to give AI agents real identities. — Emerging from stealth, the startup (led by Dome9 founder Zohar Alon) treats AI agents as first-class members of the workforce that need managed identities and permissions, the way employees do. Curator's Corner: The Level Playing Field Is Ending

      Curated by Asaf Nakash. Voices by AI. Opinions by human.
      Show notes: https://contextwindowsec.com/episodes/2026-06-29.html