Anthropic Files to Go Public, a Faster and Cheaper OpenAI Model, and New Wins Against Cancer

OpenAI's GPT-6.1 Terra: an AI that uses your computer, faster and for less

OpenAI says GPT-6.1 Terra finishes computer tasks more than three times faster on average than its larger GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol models, and its price to developers is half that of the GPT-5.6 Terra model it replaces. It is rolling out in ChatGPT and in Codex, OpenAI's coding tool, for paying users. 9to5Mac reports that on OpenAI's own test, its rate of wrong answers on quick settings fell from 53.6% to 16.7%.

Disclosure: Singularity Nightly is drafted with help from Anthropic's Claude, an OpenAI competitor. We cover every lab the same way.

Starship's booster fires all 33 engines ahead of Flight 15

At Starbase, Texas, SpaceX ran a full-length test firing of Super Heavy BoosterThe first and largest stage of a rocket, which gives the push for liftoff. SpaceX and others now land their boosters and fly them again. In the Glossary 22, about 15 seconds with all 33 Raptor 3 engines, on Sunday, Space.com reports. The ship that will ride on top still needs its own engine test. Flight 15 is targeted for November; SpaceX plans to try catching both the booster and the ship. These are company targets, and Starship dates often move.

A small airplane lands on a Manhattan helipad

Electra flew its two-seat hybrid-electricAn aircraft or vehicle that uses both a fuel engine and electric motors with batteries. It burns less fuel and makes less noise than one that runs on fuel alone. In the Glossary demonstrator in and out of the 62-foot square pad at the Downtown Manhattan Skyport on Monday, the company says, calling it the first landing there by a fixed-wing airplane that does not take off straight up. It needs about 150 feet to take off or land. Its 9-passenger version is aimed at commercial service from 2030, AIN reports.

FDA approves a two-drug combination for advanced prostate cancer

The FDA approved Pfizer's talazoparib (Talzenna) together with enzalutamide (Xtandi) for men whose prostate cancer has spread but still responds to hormone therapy, and whose tumors carry certain gene changes found by an approved test. In the trial of 599 men, those on the combination had their cancer held in check for so long that the middle point was not yet reached, against 45.8 months with enzalutamide alone. Survival data are still coming.

It capped a weekend at ESMO, Europe's largest cancer meeting, where several new drugs helped patients with lung and endometrial cancer live months longer (see the Ticker).

A German company shows cheaper interceptors for fast attack drones

Helsing unveiled two AI-guided interceptorsA missile or drone built to catch and destroy an incoming threat, such as an attack drone, in the air. In the Glossary meant to stop Russia's fast Geran drones for under $100,000 a shot: a jet-powered model at about 700 km/h with a 20 km range, and a rocket-powered one near 3,000 km/h, Defense News reports. They are still in testing, with readiness expected in the second half of 2027.

A light that tells you a car is driving itself

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed rules for cyan (blue-green) marker lights on self-driving cars. The lights would be optional, but any car that has them would need four to eight, seen from the front, sides and rear, burning steady when the car is driving itself. The same proposal updates lighting rules for cars built with no steering wheel or pedals, so turn signal and headlight switch rules written for a human driver no longer block them. Comments are due Nov. 25.

Hong Kong lets the public trade tokenized funds around the clock

Hong Kong's securities regulator approved the first secondary trading of two tokenized money market fundsA fund that holds very safe, short-term loans such as Treasury bills and aims to keep each share at a steady value. People use it like a savings account that pays interest. In the Glossary from ChinaAMC on a licensed trading platform, open to everyday investors 24 hours a day, every day, The Standard reports. The regulator says more products may follow.

Self-driving excavators raise $600 million

Bedrock Robotics raised $600 million at a $4.1 billion valuation. Its self-driving excavators began paid work on construction sites in August, and new contracts cover 8 states, including Georgia.