AI News, Jul 24, 2026: Anthropic releases Claude Opus 5, its newest flagship model

Anthropic releases Opus 5, AI labs make notable acquisitions, and voice assistants get major upgrades.

1. 01
   Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus's new AI lab seeks $100 millionTechCrunch

   Prentis, an AI lab co-founded by Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus, is in talks to raise $100 million.

   Why it matters

   The lab is betting that AI automating routine computer tasks, not just coding, will become the technology's biggest use.
2. 02
   Midjourney acquires astrology app Co-StarThe Verge AI

   Midjourney announced it acquired the personalized astrology app Co-Star.

   Why it matters

   An AI image company is expanding into personal wellness apps, a sign AI labs are diversifying beyond their core products.
3. 03
   Cognition acquires Poke to bring personality to its AI coding agentTechCrunch

   Cognition acquired Poke and plans to bring its conversational style to its coding agent, Devin.

   Why it matters

   The deal signals that how an AI assistant talks and interacts is becoming as important as what it can do.
4. 04
   Meta AI adds tools to plan and complete tasks, not just answer questionsMeta AI

   Meta announced its AI assistant, powered by Muse Spark 1.1, can now build, plan, and follow through on tasks.

   Why it matters

   Meta AI can now handle multi-step tasks for you, moving it closer to a true digital assistant.
5. 05
   Anthropic releases Claude Opus 5, its newest flagship modelThe Verge AI

   Anthropic released Claude Opus 5, saying it comes close to Claude Fable 5's capabilities on coding and reasoning tasks.

   Why it matters

   The model matches Anthropic's top-tier performance at a lower cost, so tools built on Claude get cheaper and more capable.
6. 06
   OpenAI's voice mode arrives on the ChatGPT desktop appTechCrunch

   OpenAI released its ChatGPT voice mode for the desktop app, working with ChatGPT Work and Codex.

   Why it matters

   You can now talk to ChatGPT on your computer and have it complete tasks or control agents, not just on your phone.
7. 07
   Claude's voice mode now runs on Anthropic's most powerful modelsThe Decoder

   Anthropic upgraded Claude's voice mode to run on its Opus and Sonnet models with access to Gmail, Calendar, and Slack.

   Why it matters

   Voice conversations with Claude are now smarter and can send emails or manage your calendar and Slack.