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Welcome to The AI Report — the #1 AI newsletter for business leaders.
We believe you don’t need to be technical. Just informed.
Inside: real-world use cases and Partner Perspectives you won’t find anywhere else:
• 1. 🚀 Get quantum-ready for real ROI with IBM
• 2. ⚔️ Signal co-founder launches ChatGPT rival
• 3. 🗣️ How AI scaled global voice creation
• 4. 🧠 Turn your AI enthusiasm into marketable skills with Innovating with AI
• 5. ⚡️ US leaders push to fund new power plants
• 6. 💰 Musk seeks up to $134B from OpenAI
Read Time: 5 minutes
TOGETHER WITH IBM
Quantum Readiness: Are You Prepared?
Quantum computing is no longer a distant future—it’s arriving fast. The IBM Institute for Business Value’s latest report reveals five critical realities shaping quantum leadership today.
Organizations that act now can expect up to 53% higher ROI by 2030.
Key insights include:
Readiness matters: Tech alone won’t deliver quantum advantage—organizational capability is key.
Diversify your bets: Hedge against uncertainty with a portfolio approach to use cases.
AI + Quantum = Exponential impact: These technologies amplify each other, not compete.
Talent is the new frontier: Skills gaps will widen as quantum sophistication grows.
Governance is non-negotiable: Responsible computing must be built in from the start.
Latest in AI
Signal co-founder launches ChatGPT rival
🚨 Our Report
Signal co-founder Moxie Marlinspike has launched Confer, a ChatGPT-style assistant designed to keep conversations private by default, using encryption and secure execution so user data is not stored or reused.
🔓 Key Points
Confer is built so conversations cannot be logged, stored, or used for model training, addressing growing concerns that AI assistants collect highly sensitive personal information over time.
Messages are encrypted end-to-end and processed inside a Trusted Execution Environment with remote attestation, allowing users to verify the system has not been tampered with.
Marlinspike says chatbots invite unusually intimate disclosure, warning that combining conversational AI with advertising incentives creates major privacy risks for users who treat models like confidants.
🔐 Relevance
As enterprises and consumers rely more on AI assistants for sensitive tasks, Confer highlights a parallel path that prioritizes privacy over data retention. It raises questions about whether mainstream AI platforms can balance monetization with trust. For regulated industries, privacy-preserving architectures like this may become a baseline expectation rather than a differentiator.
Case Study
How AI scaled global voice creation
Audio AI company ElevenLabs automates speech synthesis workflows; AI handles about 80% generation, humans review outputs, licensing, and deployment globally.
Pattern: AI agents where models generate voices autonomously, creators set constraints, approve samples, and monetize through marketplaces securely globally.
Why it matters: Speed beats perfection in AI product development. Companies that ship quick workarounds while pursuing ideal solutions capture market share competitors lose waiting for breakthroughs.
Metric: As a result, feature delivery timelines dropped from 9+ months to under 3 months, letting ElevenLabs scale from 2 people to 350 while maintaining shipping velocity.
Steal this: Set a 2-week deadline for any AI workflow you're testing. If the "perfect" AI suggestion isn't working, ship a simpler version with human review steps instead of waiting.
TOGETHER WITH INNOVATING WITH AI
‘AI consultants are getting paid $900/hr’ –Fortune
Fortune Magazine interviewed Innovating with AI’s founder to discuss a crazy stat – AI engineers are being deployed as consultants at $900/hr. Why did they interview Rob? Because he’s already trained 1,000+ AI consultants – and IWAI’s exclusive consultant directory has driven Fortune 500 leads to graduates.
Want to learn how to turn your AI enthusiasm into marketable skills, clear services and a serious business? Enrollment in The AI Consultancy Project is opening in 2026 – and you’ll only hear about it if you apply for access now.
AI News Story
US leaders push data centers to fund new power plants
The Trump administration and a bipartisan coalition of governors are pressuring PJM Interconnection, the largest electricity market in the US, to hold an emergency power auction meant to accelerate the construction of power plants.
They're calling for 15-year electricity contracts that would provide revenue for infrastructure buildout and discourage speculative grid connection requests from data center developers.
The push comes as power grids struggle to meet AI-driven electricity demand while Americans face rising rates. PJM operates the grid across 13 states and Virginia's data center hub.
AI News Story
Musk seeks up to $134B from OpenAI
Elon Musk is demanding $79B to $134B in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming the AI company abandoned its nonprofit mission. The figure comes from expert witness C. Paul Wazzan, who said that Musk deserves a hefty portion of OpenAI's $500B valuation based on his $38M seed donation when he co-founded the startup in 2015.
Wazzan's analysis combines Musk's initial contributions with the technical and business contributions he offered to OpenAI's early team, calculating wrongful gains of $65.5B to $109.4B for OpenAI and $13.3B to $25.1B for Microsoft, which owns a 27% stake in the company.
With Musk's personal fortune hovering around $700B, even a $134B payout would represent a modest addition to his wealth, reinforcing OpenAI's characterization of the lawsuit as "ongoing harassment" rather than a legitimate grievance. OpenAI sent a letter to investors this week warning of Musk’s claims as the case begins in April.
Trending AI Tools (sponsored by our tools database)
A curated look at the AI tools quietly transforming how teams work.
Companies to Watch/Raising Now
Early-stage AI startups on our radar, before they’re everywhere.
• Merge Labs
What they do: Non-invasive brain-computer interface that links human thought to digital systems without surgery.
Why it matters: Raised $252M led by OpenAI and Bain Capital to skip implants entirely, tackling Neuralink's biggest adoption barrier while targeting healthcare first.
Stage: Series A
Raising: Closed $252M
Investors: OpenAI, Bain Capital, Gabe Newell
• Replit
What they do: Turns app ideas described in plain language into working iOS and Android apps, published to app stores.
Why it matters: Hit $240M revenue in 2025 with 150K paying customers by making "vibe coding" actually ship products, not just generate code.
Stage: Series C
Raising: $400M at $9B valuation
Investors: Georgian (lead), a16z, Google AI Futures Fund
Know a company we should be watching? Hit reply and let us know.
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Until next time, Martin, Arturo, and Liam.
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