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Frontier Labs

Dec 19–Dec 23, 2025 (past 4 days, as of Tue Dec 23, 2025)

Projects that have been stopped (reported in-scope)

  • No clear “project stopped / canceled / wound down” decisions by major frontier-model organizations (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta, xAI) surfaced in high-signal reporting during Dec 19–23, 2025 based on the sources returned by the searches above.
    • What did appear in-scope instead were: (a) a major acquisition tied to AI datacenter power buildout, and (b) leadership/talent moves at Meta (details below).

Notable hires (and leadership/talent decisions)

  • Meta: Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun is preparing to leave Meta (by end of 2025) to launch “Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI) Labs,” with Alexandre LeBrun (Nabla founder) as CEO
    • Decision / move: LeCun’s departure from Meta (and spin-out formation) with a plan to build “world models” aimed at understanding the physical world (robotics/transportation-relevant). (reuters.com)
    • Talent element: AMI Labs is hiring LeBrun as CEO (LeCun as executive chair, per reporting/confirmation). (techcrunch.com)
    • Meta relationship: Reporting indicates Meta will not invest but expects a strategic partnership to access/commercialize AMI Labs technology. (ft.com)
    • Capital markets signal (not a “hire,” but relevant context): The venture is reportedly discussing raising ~€500m at ~€3bn valuation (early-stage / not finalized). (reuters.com)
  • Meta: continued recruiting push (reported)
    • In an internal Q&A context reported by WSJ, Meta’s chief AI officer Alexandr Wang discussed new model efforts; the report also states Meta has conducted a major recruitment push, including “over 20 researchers from OpenAI.” (No full list of names in the excerpted reporting.) (wsj.com)

Acquisitions (focus, approach, competitive advantages, unique details)

  • Alphabet (Google) to acquire Intersect Power for $4.75B (announced Dec 22, 2025) — acquisition is explicitly framed around powering AI/datacenter growth
    • Decision: Alphabet announced it will acquire Intersect Power for $4.75B (cash + assumed debt). (reuters.com)
    • Acquired company focus (what it does):
      • Intersect is described as a clean energy / data-center energy developer building power infrastructure aligned with datacenter needs. (reuters.com)
    • Approach (how it operates):
      • Emphasis on developing renewable power + energy infrastructure and (per Reuters) exploring industrial parks co-locating datacenters with clean-energy plants. (reuters.com)
      • Reuters also notes a “Quantum” energy storage system being built next to a Google datacenter in Texas (mentioned as remaining with Intersect’s existing investors). (reuters.com)
    • Competitive advantages / “why this target”:
      • Scale/pipeline: Reuters reports Intersect brings $15B in assets operational or under construction and projects expected to generate 10.8 GW by 2028 (positioning it as a large, ready pipeline in a tight power market). (reuters.com)
      • Strategic control over a bottleneck: The deal is a vertical move into power sourcing/development, a core constraint for frontier-model training/inference expansion. (Inference based on Alphabet’s stated AI power needs and the nature of the asset.) (reuters.com)
    • Unique deal structure / details to note:
      • Reuters: Alphabet’s acquisition includes Intersect’s energy and datacenter projects in development/under construction, while some operational assets in Texas and California remain separate with existing investors. (reuters.com)
      • AP: Intersect is expected to continue operating independently after close; close targeted for first half of next year. (apnews.com)
https://www.reuters.com/technology/alphabet-buy-data-center-infrastructure-firm-intersect-475-billion-deal-2025-12-22/
https://apnews.com/article/e1eda1fb34b345e4e92ee0010be59f71
https://www.ft.com/content/1fefa00c-408f-4b46-a54e-44b95fc21630

https://www.reuters.com/business/metas-yann-lecun-targets-35-billion-valuation-new-ai-startup-ft-reports-2025-12-18/
https://www.ft.com/content/d88729c0-c44f-4530-b888-bafa29ee0446
https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/19/yann-lecun-confirms-his-new-world-model-startup-reportedly-seeks-5b-valuation/

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta-developing-new-ai-image-and-video-model-code-named-mango-16e785c7
Published on December 23, 2025