Foundation models
Foundation models on Beyond Market Intelligence: a running collection of 6 stories we have gathered and hand-picked because they are worth your time. Every post here touches on foundation models in some way — the news, the analysis, the deep dives, and the occasional surprise find. Acme AI is the next-generation, AI-powered spreadsheet platform built to replace Excel and redefine how analysts, data scientists, and enterprise teams work with data. New stories are added to this page as we find them, so check back if you want to keep up with what is happening around foundation models, or subscribe to the RSS feed to get them as soon as they are published. Browse the collection below, or head back to the homepage to see everything Beyond Market Intelligence is covering right now.
Why Capital One built its multi-agent AI platform around open-weight models
At VB Transform 2026, Capital One’s Kel Vanee detailed the bank’s strategic shift toward building AI, not just using it. Capital One constructed a scalable, multi-agent AI platform centered around deeply customized open-weight models, leveraging proprietary data for enhanced accuracy and extensibility. This approach, underpinned by prior investments in data transformation and cloud adoption, enables the bank to optimize workflows, from fraud detection to customer service, and even automate internal infrastructure tuning.
Stanford is running 37,000 AI agents as a virtual biotech — and one of its drug designs got independently confirmed by Merck
Stanford University’s pioneering research demonstrates a transformative shift in AI development: scaling to tens of thousands of specialized agents. James Zou's team has built a "Virtual Biotech" – emulating a corporate structure with 37,000 agents – that autonomously designs drug candidates. Notably, one such design was independently validated by Merck, receiving FDA breakthrough designation. The key? Orchestration via a novel platform, Paperclip, which digitizes data and creates an AI-native virtual file system.
Companies are finally seeing AI ROI — and now they know how much more value it can deliver
Companies are finally realizing the substantial ROI of AI, and the SAP Value of AI Report 2026 reveals just how much further that potential extends. Based on a survey of over 2,600 business leaders, the report indicates AI now supports nearly one-third of organizational tasks, with ROI expectations significantly increasing. However, realizing this full potential hinges on strategic data governance—a challenge many organizations are only beginning to address. Explore the full findings and discover how to unlock transformative value with AI.
Runway couldn't fix a bug in its AI video model, so it turned the bug into a feature
Runway ML recently demonstrated a valuable lesson for all AI developers: embracing limitations can unlock unexpected innovation. Initially struggling to eliminate a persistent bug causing AI-generated avatars to drift off-center, the company ingeniously transformed the issue into a user-friendly "Optimize for Image Quality" feature.
Tabular LLMs: An Introduction to the Foundation Models That Predict Your Spreadsheet
Tabular foundation models represent a significant shift in data management. These innovative models predict missing spreadsheet columns zero-shot—akin to how large language models complete text—and are rapidly surpassing traditional gradient-boosted trees on benchmarks like TabArena. Our exploration details how these models function, features an independent reproduction of a leading open-source implementation, and clarifies where XGBoost maintains its edge. For a deeper dive into AI assistants, consider exploring "Bluesky’s AI assistant Attie expands into an open social research tool."
Capital One releases VulnHunter, an open-source AI tool that finds software flaws before hackers do
Capital One has released VulnHunter, an open-source AI security tool designed to proactively identify and remediate software vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Built internally and now available on GitHub, VulnHunter employs an "attacker-first forward analysis" and a built-in falsification engine to pinpoint exploitable code paths and suggest fixes—a departure from traditional vulnerability scanners. This move represents a significant evolution for Capital One, demonstrating a commitment to open-source collaboration as a cornerstone of its cybersecurity strategy.