Moonshot’s 2.8T-parameter AI, EU’s Google crackdown, and Hormuz flare-up: today’s pulse
Chinese AI startup Moonshot AI unveiled **Kimi K3**, billing it as the world’s largest open-source model at **2.8 trillion parameters** [1]. The Beijing-based company says K3 is built for long-horizon coding, knowledge work, and reasoning, and claims it outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-5
Tech pulse
Chinese AI startup Moonshot AI unveiled Kimi K3, billing it as the world’s largest open-source model at 2.8 trillion parameters [1]. The Beijing-based company says K3 is built for long-horizon coding, knowledge work, and reasoning, and claims it outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-5.5, Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.8, and Zhipu AI’s GLM-5.2 on several self-reported benchmarks [1]. Third-party evaluations also place it near the frontier: Arena.ai ranked Kimi K3 first in web interface-building tasks, while Vals AI placed it second overall behind Anthropic’s Fable 5 [2]. Moonshot acknowledged that K3 still trails the strongest proprietary models overall, but the launch signals how quickly China’s open-weight ecosystem is closing the gap with U.S. labs [1][2].
Meanwhile, the European Commission finalized new Digital Markets Act measures against Google. Under the legally binding rules, Google must open Android to competing AI assistants—ending Gemini’s preferential access to hotwords, screen content, and system automation—and share search data with rival search providers for a reasonable fee, treating AI chatbots as search services for data-sharing purposes [3]. Google president Kent Walker pushed back, saying the decisions “risk undermining vital privacy and security guardrails for millions of Europeans” [3]. Google must begin sharing search data by January 2027 and update Android for deeper third-party AI integration by July 2027 [3].
World pulse
Tensions are escalating again in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. expanded its airstrike campaign against Iran early Friday, increasingly targeting bridges as President Donald Trump pressures Tehran over its chokehold on the vital shipping lane [4]. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on U.S. military bases in allied states, including Qatar and Jordan, and has resumed its blockade of the Gulf through Hormuz [4][5]. The White House said Iran violated last month’s memorandum of understanding by firing on commercial vessels, while Iran signaled it could instruct Houthi allies in Yemen to close the Bab al-Mandeb strait at the mouth of the Red Sea if the U.S. attacks Iranian infrastructure [5]. Shipping through Hormuz has largely halted again, pushing global energy prices higher [5].