How much of AI is now being built by AI? This week we look at Claude finding a possible new gene editing tool, Anthropic's leaked IPO filing showing 12x revenue growth but a $42 billion net loss, internal numbers showing Claude now leads 26% of Anthropic’s R&D, and Zuck’s plan to put its Muse AI agent on your keychain.

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Claude discovered a possible CRISPR-like gene editing tool

The trend: Claude agents searching a DNA database found a previously unknown enzyme system in bacteria-infecting viruses, marked by a stretch of repeating DNA that looks like CRISPR the gene editing tool.

The details: The first result from Anthropic’s new life sciences lab was “mostly, though not entirely” Claude’s, with 950 agents searching to find the enzyme in already existing records. The system may be a new kind of gene editor, which can cut, copy or paste DNA. The agent that found it wrote “that's a CRISPR-like … repeat array?!” when spotting the pattern.

Why it matters: The system’s function is still unknown, but the work suggests fast jumps in model capabilities like we’ve seen in mathematics are coming to different fields. Dario Amodei described it as “work I would have been proud to do as a PhD student.”

Anthropic's IPO prospectus leaks

The trend: Anthropic’s IPO prospectus was leaked to Reuters, and it shows revenue growing 1,088% YoY to $4.6 billion, but operating loss grew to $8 billion from $3 billion, leading to a net loss of $42 billion.

The details: Ahead of a planned $2 trillion IPO, which will likely be pushed to after November US midterm elections, the leaked prospectus highlights risks around increasingly autonomous AI systems, including security concerns and potential misuse by bad actors. It also shows that just two customers accounted for 24% of revenue in 2025, with neither signed to long-term contracts.

Why it matters: Anthropic’s IPO will give public markets their first pure-play way to invest in frontier AI labs. The sky-high valuation reflects their vision of AI transforming the global economy, but the prospectus admits that AI could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.”

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Claude leading 26% of Anthropic’s R&D work

Anthropic published internal measurements that show Claude is now leading 26% of model research and development work. Fully autonomous ‘AL5’ work is still at 0%, but ‘AL4,’ where the model completes a task end-to-end with human supervision has grown from less than 1% in February to 26% in August, with more than 90% of the company’s R&D at “collaborates or above”, where AI works under human direction. Around 30,000 agents are doing R&D work at any one time, with about 6% of compute going to safety work. Anthropic recently called for a slowdown over recursive self-improvement, and now we’re being given an idea of how much progress they’re making internally.

Meta wants you to bring Muse with you everywhere

Meta announced a range of upgrades for its popular Muse AI agent, with the standout being Charm, a palm-sized device for talking to the agent on the go. Zuckerberg revealed Charm on stage, with shipping planned for December, calling it “by far the fastest way to talk to your Muse.” This could be Meta’s iPod moment, with Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang’s X account and open letter on Muse going viral in the days following the announcement. Making a consumer-friendly AI agent could instantly propel Meta to the forefront of the market.

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Thanks for reading!

Henry

Data Trends

Claude found a new gene editing tool 🧬