What’s New in Artificial Intelligence – July 2025

July saw major shifts in AI policy, infrastructure, and innovation—showcasing how rapidly the landscape continues to evolve.

🏛️ Policy & Regulation

Federal Pushback on AI Preemption

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted 99–1 to remove a proposed 10‑year ban on state-level AI regulation, preserving states' authority to enact their own AI laws to protect privacy, consumers, and safety.

Growth of AI Gigafactories in Europe

Momentum continues from earlier announcements: multiple EU-based AI “gigafactories” and InvestAI funding initiatives remain central to scaling Europe's AI infrastructure.

⚙️ Infrastructure & Innovation

AI Forecasting at Scale

The ECMWF deployed its ensemble AI Forecasting System (AIFS ENS) operationally on July 1. This fully AI-powered weather model runs massively faster (10×) and with significantly lower energy use than traditional systems, while improving accuracy by up to 20% .

AI Agents Market Surges

The global market for AI agents reached $5.43 billion in 2024, with forecasts projecting growth to USD 236 billion by 2034 as machine-learning and naturallanguage processing capabilities scale .

Game & Agent Innovation

• SpoonOS launched Developer Call Season, a one-month initiative inviting developers to prototype AI-powered agents using its platform .

• MindArk, the company behind Entropia Universe, activated real-time interplanetary teleportation in its metaverse and expanded its AI development staff—moving toward becoming one of the first AI-run game studios .

🌐 Industry & Business Activity

AI Funding & Partnerships

• Sciencia AI, a Palo Alto-based AI infrastructure firm, secured a new funding round aimed at accelerating its AI stack development.

• Google Cloud and Somnia announced a partnership to embed AI into blockchain gaming—powering NPC behavior, security features, and developer tooling for immersive game experiences.

🖥️ Events & Ecosystem Expansion

Global AI Gatherings

Key AI-related summits and conferences are underway:

• GenAI Week SV 2025, to be held July 13–17 in Santa Clara, will feature 400+ speakers and over 30,000 attendees from the AI ecosystem.

• The AI for Developing Countries Forum is scheduled at the United Nations in Vienna from July 15–17, focusing on fair and inclusive AI deployment globally.

• The International AI in Education (AIED) Conference will take place in Palermo, Italy from July 22–26, exploring AI’s role in education system transformation.

✅ What July Tells Us

• Legislative dynamics in the U.S. highlight the growing tension between state-level autonomy and federal AI oversight.

• Europe's InvestAI infrastructure continues to lay the groundwork for reducing dependency on overseas cloud providers.

• AI’s utility expands beyond language and vision to domains like weather forecasting, immersive gaming, learning, and digital twins.

• The AI agents market is scaling fast—from developer platforms to real-world applications and enterprise solutions.

Stay tuned for our August edition, where we'll explore policy responses, major releases, and next-gen AI deployments shaping the second half of 2025.