Chinese companies led AI agent innovation this week. Alibaba's new Qwen2 model helps startups create cheap AI helpers that work in many languages. Rival DeepSeek from China launched DeepSeek-VL, boasting better image-and-text understanding to compete with OpenAI's GPT models.

Meta announced plans to put Agentic AI in "hundreds of millions" of businesses globally, letting companies automate customer service and office tasks. This follows their $65 billion AI investment plan from January.

OpenAI made waves with a $40 billion funding round, led by Japan's SoftBank. The ChatGPT maker plans new AI models and a Texas data center. Some critics worry such huge investments could push out smaller startups.

Chinese startup Butterfly Effect demoed Manus AI, claiming it outperforms OpenAI's tools at complex tasks like resume screening. Early testers praised its skills but reported glitches and endless error loops.

In business AI, AvidXchange launched accounting agents that automatically process bills and manage approvals. Voice tech advanced through Groq and PlayAI's partnership for Arabic language AI, while Krisp now lets Indian workers sound American on calls.

Storage company MinIO introduced new MCP server tech helping AI agents access business data through simple chat. Startups like Ideogram offered free upgraded tools for creating realistic AI images, making advanced tech more accessible.

Despite progress, concerns grew about AI safety and data privacy. Some countries banned Chinese AI tools over security fears, while researchers warned about AI systems potentially causing harm as they get smarter.