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Welcome to AI Decoded, Fast Companys weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. Im Mark Sullivan, a senior writer at Fast Company, covering emerging tech, AI, and tech policy. This week, Im focusing on Big AIs biggest sales pitchthe quest for AGIand the idea that the industry should focus on more modest and achievable tasks for AI. I also look at Databrickss new $4 billion-plus funding raise, and at Googles new Gemini 3 Flash model. Sign up to receive this newsletter every week via email here. And if you have comments on this issue and/or ideas for future ones, drop me a line at sullivan@fastcompany.com, and follow me on X (formerly Twitter) @thesullivan. Yann LeCun calls BS on artificial general intelligence Big AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic like to talk about their bold quest for AGI, or artificial general intelligence. The definition of that grail has proved to be somewhat flexible, but in general it refers to AI systems that are as smart as human beings at a wide array of tasks. AI companies have used this quest narrative to win investment, fascinate the tech press, and charm policymakers. Now one of AIs most important pioneers, Turing Award winner Yann LeCun, is calling the whole concept into question. LeCun, outgoing Metas chief AI scientist, argues that even human beings arent really generalists. Theyre good at some physical tasks, and very good at social interactions, but can easily be defeated at chess by a computer and cant perform math as fast and accurately as a calculator can. There are tasks where many other animals are better than we are, LeCun said on a recent Information Bottleneck webcast. We think of ourselves as being general, but its simply an illusion because all of the problems that we can apprehend are the ones that we can think ofand vice versa, LeCun said. So were general in all of the problems that we can imagine, but theres a lot of problems that we cannot imagine. And there are lots of mathematical arguments for this. So this concept of general intelligence is complete BS. Lots of people in AI and neuroscience disagree with LeCun. Just because humans arent the best at all tasks, or tasks we cant imagine, it doesnt mean were not generalistsespecially in comparison to machine savants like calculators, they argue. I dont know whos right, but LeCun is making a broader point. He believes that AI labs should focus on specific real-world things that AI can dothings that create value or reduce suffering, perhapsand bring those solutions to market. LeCun says the transformer-based large language models of today are useful enough to be applied in some valuable ways, but also believes they arent likely to achieve the general or human-level intelligence needed to do high-value work tasks now reserved for human brains. In order to navigate real-world complexity like humans do, the AI would need a much-higher-bandwidth training regimen than just words, images, and computer code, LeCun argues, and a different architecture to structure all the data. Notably, The Financial Times reports that LeCun is raising $585 million at a $3-billion valuation for a new AI startup that will look to build world modelsAI systems capable of learning from images, video, and spatial data, rather than only from text and large language models. Databricks pulls in another $4B+, evaluation rises to $134 billion Data and AI company Databricks raised more than $4 billion in a new Series L funding round led by Insight Partners, Fidelity, and J.P. Morgan Asset Management, with Andreessen Horowitz, BlackRock, and Blackstone kicking in. The companys valuation rose to $134 billion with the new round. The valuation reflects Databrickss positioning within the booming market for AI cloud services. For years the companys primary offering was secure cloud storage for sensitive enterprise data, including data owned by companies in regulated industries such as healthcare and finance. Over the past five years, Databricks has gone deep on developing the AI side of its business. Its value proposition is allowing customers to run their data through powerful AI models hosted within the same secure cloud. More recently, the company has set up a secure platform for developing and deploying autonomous agents that can, for example, assemble complex business intelligence reports based on diverse datasets stored in the Databricks cloud. The company also enables customers to run their data through third-party models from OpenAI and Anthropic, among others, hosting those models natively within the secure cloud. Now Databricks says both its data-warehousing business and its AI business each have revenue run rates of more than $1 billion. The company reported a revenue run rate of $4.8 billion during the third quarter of 2025, representing growth of about 55% from the same period in 2024. Almost exactly a year ago, Databricks raised a massive $10 billion funding round, one of the largest ever for an AI company, and achieved a $62 billion valuation. (The valuation moved up to $100 billion when the company raised a $1 billion round in August.) The San Francisco-based company says itll use the new capital to develop new AI-driven applications, fund future acquisitions, support R&D, and pay employees (most likely including expensive AI research talent). With hundreds of customers each contributing more than $1 million in annual revenue, and a high customer retention rate, Databricks is considered a strong IPO candidate. The company may be waiting for the optimal market conditions in which to file. Google releases a Gemini 3 model, Flash, for the rest of us Now even people who cant afford a monthly subscription can enjoy the magic of Google DeepMinds new Gemini 3 model. Google released the first Gemini 3 model, Pro, in November, but it was available only to paid subscribers. Its new Gemini 3 Flash variant is now the default in the Gemini app, and is available globally in Google Searchs AI Mode. Flash is said to be three times faster at responding than Gemini 2.5 Pro, and almost as good at reasoning as the Gemini 3 Pro model. Flash is designed to be cost-effective, making it a great option for developers and businesses, according to Google. The new model shows some impressive marks on PhD-level reasoning and knowledge benchmarks such as GPQA Diamond (90.4%) and Humanitys Last Exam (33.7% without tools). Those scores come close to those of larger models including Gemini 3 Pro and OpenAIs GPT-5.2. Flash also achieved the highest score of any model81.2%on the MMMU Pro benchmark, which measures the ability to understand and reason over a mx of text and visual data. When processing at the highest thinking level, Gemini 3 Flash can modulate how much it thinks, Google says. For more complex questions itll spend more time processing the data it collects in its memory to get to an answer. But it also uses 30% fewer tokens (on average) than Gemini 2.5 Pro to complete simpler, everyday tasks. Researchers at Big AI labs have been working hard to make AI models store the (often voluminous) contextual data they collect in memory more efficiently, and use it more effectively. More AI coverage from Fast Company: Every AI founder thinks they want a mega investing round. Trust me, you dont 5 predictions for AIs growing role in the media in 2026 DOGE leader at Treasury is looking to buy thousands of ChatGPT licenses Who should pay for the power grids race to keep up with data centers? 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The Trump administration has announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, drawing an angry response from China.The State Department announced the sales late Wednesday during a nationally televised address by President Donald Trump, who made scant mention of foreign policy issues and did not speak about China or Taiwan at all. U.S.-Chinese tensions have ebbed and flowed during Trump’s second term, largely over trade and tariffs but also over China’s increasing aggressiveness toward Taiwan, which Beijing has said must reunify with the mainland.If approved by Congress, it would be the largest-ever U.S. weapons package to Taiwan, exceeding the total amount of $8.4 billion in U.S. arms sales to Taiwan during the Biden administration.The eight arms sales agreements announced Wednesday cover 82 high-mobility artillery rocket systems, or HIMARS, and 420 Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS similar to what the U.S. had been providing Ukraine during the Biden administration to defend itself from Russia worth more than $4 billion. They also include 60 self-propelled howitzer systems and related equipment worth more than $4 billion and drones valued at more than $1 billion.Other sales in the package include military software valued at more than $1 billion, Javelin and TOW missiles worth more than $700 million, helicopter spare parts worth $96 million and refurbishment kits for Harpoon missiles worth $91 million.The eight sales agreements amount to $11.15 billion, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry.The State Department said the sales serve “U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.”“The proposed sale(s) will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region,” the statements said.China’s Foreign Ministry attacked the move, saying it would violate diplomatic agreements between China and the U.S.; gravely harm China’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity; and undermine regional stability.“The ‘Taiwan independence’ forces on the island seek independence through force and resist reunification through force, squandering the hard-earned money of the people to purchase weapons at the cost of turning Taiwan into a powder keg,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun.“This cannot save the doomed fate of ‘Taiwan independence’ but will only accelerate the push of the Taiwan Strait toward a dangerous situation of military confrontation and war. The U.S. support for ‘Taiwan Independence’ through arms will only end up backfiring. Using Taiwan to contain China will not succeed,” he added.Under federal law, the U.S. is obligated to assist Taiwan with its self-defense, a point that has become increasingly contentious with China, which has vowed to take Taiwan by force, if necessary.Taiwan’s Defense Ministry in a statement Thursday expressed gratitude to the U.S. over the arms sale, which it said would help Taiwan maintain “sufficient self-defense capabilities” and bring strong deterrent capabilities. Taiwan’s bolstering of its defense “is the foundation for maintaining regional peace and stability,” the ministry said.Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung similarly thanked the U.S. for its “long-term support for regional security and Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” which he said are key for deterring a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the body of water separating Taiwan from China’s mainland.The arms sale comes as Taiwan’s government has pledged to raise defense spending to 3.3% of the island’s gross domestic product next year and to reach 5% by 2030. The boost came after Trump and the Pentagon requested that Taiwan spend as much as 10% of its GDP on its defense, a percentage well above what the U.S. or any of its major allies spend on defense. The demand has faced pushback from Taiwan’s opposition KMT party and some of its population.Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te last month announced a special $40 billion budget for arms purchases, including to build an air defense system with high-level detection and interception capabilities called Taiwan Dome. The budget will be allocated over eight years, from 2026 to 2033.The U.S. boost in military assistance to Taiwan was previewed in legislation adopted by Congress that Trump is expected to sign shortly.Last week, the Chinese embassy in Washington denounced the legislation, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, saying it unfairly targeted China as an aggressor. The U.S. Senate passed the bill Wednesday. Mistreanu reported from Beijing. AP video journalists Olivia Zhang in Beijing and Johnson Lai in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report. Matthew Lee and Simina Mistreanu, Associated Press
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A new hotspot just opened in New Yorkand its in terminal 5 of John F. Kennedy International Airport. BlueHouse, a 9,000-square-foot space exclusively available to select JetBlue Airways customers, welcomed its first guests at 5 a.m. this morning as the airlines first foray into the pitched battle for lucrative premium fliers. Designed by Gensler, BlueHouse is a smorgasbord of New Yorks iconic and eclectic design heritage. From the Art Deco elevator indicator to black-and-white deli tile on the floor and the Grand Central Terminal-inspired ceiling mural, the space screams Big Apple while staying true to JetBlues quirky and, well, blue heritage. [Photo: JetBlue] Its unquestionably a hip New York experience, said Marty St. George, president of JetBlue, on a recent pre-opening tour of BlueHouse. His favorite feature is the 45 pieces of art that fill the space from artists around the city and three of the airlines crewmembers, as it calls its staff, including a bespoke piece from New Yorker illustrator Matt Reuter. [Photo: JetBlue] JetBlue goes premium BlueHouse is part of the larger premiumization trend sweeping air travel. Everyone from JetBlue to egalitarian stalwart Southwest Airlines and even discounter Spirit Airlines are unveiling more upscale offerings for their planes and at airports. The aim is two-fold: strengthen loyalty among top tier customers and wring more money from everyone all in the hope of improving their bottom lines. JetBlues effort, dubbed JetForward, includes BlueHouse locations at JFK and, in 2026, Boston Logan International Airport. Its also introducing domestic first class on its fleet of Airbus planes, a new partnership with United Airlines, and changes to its TrueBlue loyalty program aimed to make customers even more loyal to the airline. [Photo: JetBlue] The lounge is also an effort to counter JetBlues nemesis at JFK and Boston: Delta Air Lines. While St. George did not name the carrier, keeping JetBlues customers from leaving the fold and, maybe, wooing some widget fliers away from Delta is top of mind. Our number one goal was to not repeat the mistakes our competitor made with lounges, he said. Delta is known for overcrowded lounges and, at times, long waits to access its Sky Clubs. [Photo: JetBlue] Access to BlueHouse is, for now, limited to only JetBlues most loyal frequent fliers, transatlantic Mint business class passengers, and holders of its premium credit card, which has an annual fee of $499. Delta has also upped its lounge game with the exclusive Delta One Lounges, the first of which opened at JFK in mid-2024. It now has four locations, including in Boston, Los Angeles, and Seattle. [Photo: JetBlue] Inside BlueHouse Travelers enter through a foyer that can best be described as a quintessential New York apartment lobby: a Just Ask desk in the place of a doormans desk in front of a set of mailboxes (inside are keepsakes for visitors, just ask for a key), a stairway to the second level lined with art, an elevator with a Deco indicator and a blue tunnel leading to the lounge area of the lounge. Elsewhere across the lounges two floors, books curated by the Strand bookstore match JetBlues white-and-blue color palette line bookshelves and ledges. Bespoke wallpaper by Brooklyns Flavor Paper decorates the restrooms. And craft cocktails by Please Dont Tell in the East Village are served at the bar.
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