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- 😳 Who Built This Secret AI Model?
😳 Who Built This Secret AI Model?
A mystery AI just revealed its maker, OpenAI can now rewrite decades-old banking code, and the US banned DeepSeek from government computers.
Rahul G. Iyer
October 20, 2026
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Hello There!
MiniMax just admitted it was behind Space Bunny, the anonymous AI model developers had been quietly testing, which means the week's biggest mystery was hiding in plain sight. OpenAI's newest models can now migrate COBOL with up to 97.9% accuracy, which means the code your bank has been afraid to touch since the 1980s may finally retire. And the US just banned DeepSeek from government computers, which means AI tools now need a passport check before they get a login.
In today’s AI Pulse
🐰 Secret Model Revealed – MiniMax unmasks Space Bunny as M3.1 Flash.
🏦 OpenAI Modernizes Banking – COBOL migration hits 97.9% accuracy.
🚨 America Bans DeepSeek – Removed from federal agency systems.
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🧠The Pulse
Chinese AI company MiniMax has launched M3.1 Flash and confirmed that Space Bunny, the mysterious anonymous model developers had been testing, was an early version of it. MiniMax says the new model runs nearly three times faster and cuts agentic task costs by 70% compared with its predecessor.
📌The Download
Space Bunny unmasked – MiniMax confirmed its anonymous Space Bunny model was an early M3.1 Flash, and says it processed more than 200 trillion tokens before the reveal.
Faster and cheaper – The company claims nearly three times faster online inference, everyday output above 200 tokens per second and 70% lower costs on agentic tasks versus its predecessor.
Priced to undercut – API pricing starts at $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.60 per million output tokens, with open model weights promised later.
Built for agents – MiniMax targets coding, computer use, multistep agent work and cybersecurity, though its benchmark claims still need independent testing.
💡What This Means for You
Capable AI is getting dramatically cheaper, and the frontier is no longer only US labs. That widens your options for automating repetitive knowledge work. Before switching tools for a lower price, test them on your real tasks and check where your data is processed and stored.
🧠The Pulse
OpenAI says its newest models have become dramatically better at old, low-resource programming languages such as COBOL, Fortran and Visual Basic. In its COBOL migration tests, GPT-6.1 Sol reached 86.6% accuracy at low effort, versus just 5.4% for GPT-5.6 Sol, and 97.9% at high effort.
📌The Download
Old code, new skills – OpenAI's October 19 research covers 20 languages, including COBOL, Fortran and Visual Basic, which still run critical banking, government and scientific systems.
A huge jump in one generation – On its new MultiLangBench, where models build a SQLite-compatible database engine, GPT-6 Astra averaged an 87.4% test pass rate versus 26.8% for GPT-5.6 Sol.
COBOL migration gets real – GPT-6.1 Sol converted COBOL with 86.6% accuracy at low reasoning effort and an estimated 39% lower cost, rising to 97.9% at high effort.
Humans still sign off – OpenAI released MultiLangBench on GitHub but stresses that applying migrations to production software still requires expert review and testing.
💡What This Means for You
Decades-old systems nobody wants to touch may finally get modernized. If your organization runs legacy software, AI can help document hidden business rules and map processes before any migration. Treat the output like any change: verify it, test it and keep experienced people accountable for sign-off.
🧠The Pulse
The US Department of Homeland Security has ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products, and third-party services built on the Chinese AI model, from their IT systems. Agencies are also barred from buying them. DHS warns DeepSeek use could transfer sensitive government data to China.
📌The Download
Removal ordered – In a notice published October 19, DHS ordered civilian agencies to strip DeepSeek products and third-party services that use the model from government IT systems.
No new purchases – Civilian agencies are also barred from acquiring DeepSeek products or any third-party services developed using DeepSeek.
Data risk cited – DHS says the models pose multiple threat vectors and could send sensitive data to China when used by government employees or vendors.
Vendors in scope – Because the order covers third-party services built on DeepSeek, suppliers selling AI tools to government may need to show which models sit under the hood.
💡What This Means for You
Where an AI model comes from now matters as much as what it can do. Before plugging an unfamiliar AI tool into your work, check your organization's approved list and data rules. A free or cheap model can carry compliance and security costs nobody budgeted for.
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Scientists Built a Walking Humanoid Around a Cheap Phone: UCLA researchers unveiled PhoneBot, an open-source humanoid that uses a $50 to $80 Android phone as its eyes and brain. The 1.8 kg robot costs about $400 in hardware and learned to walk through reinforcement learning in simulation.
This Humanoid Walked 348 Miles Without Stopping: Figure founder Brett Adcock says a Figure 03 humanoid logged 348 miles and 1.2 million steps over nine straight days on a treadmill, a stress test designed to surface hardware failures before real-world deployment.
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That’s it for today’s AI Pulse!We’d love your feedback, what did you think of today’s issue? Your thoughts help us shape better, sharper updates every week. |
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