AI News from August 18, 2026

NVIDIA’s ALCHEMI Toolkit connects AI coding agents with GPU-accelerated materials simulation, while benchmarks show validation remains essential.

AWS says Axonius used Bedrock AgentCore to isolate AI agents by customer, linking tenant identity, tool access, cost tracking, and operations.

Etched has raised $700 million at a $21 billion valuation after Jane Street deployed its AI hardware, intensifying the race for inference capacity.

Asana says OpenAI Codex replaced an outdated testing system in two weeks for about $12,000, compressing work estimated at five years.

South Korea’s national AI model project moves forward with LG AI Research, SK Telecom and Upstage after Motif is eliminated, reshaping the field.

Wispr raised $280 million at a $2 billion valuation, funding new meeting tools and speech models as competition intensifies in AI dictation.

Relay is shutting down its AI workflow automation service as founder Jacob Bank and some staff move to Google Chrome, reshaping AI agent plans.