Chinese startup Moonshot AI unveils Kimi K3, taking 4th place globally
Chinese startup Moonshot AI has unveiled its Kimi K3 AI model, which immediately took 4th place in the global Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index ranking among 563 language models. It is the world’s largest open AI model, with 2.8 trillion parameters, and according to analysts, it has come closer than ever to matching the capabilities of leading Anthropic and OpenAI models. The model supports text, image, and video processing and costs almost half as much as Claude Opus 4.8.
Russia and India strengthen cooperation within BRICS
Following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow on July 8-9, both sides confirmed that BRICS and the SCO remain key formats for cooperation between the two countries.
Economically, the focus is on further de-dollarization: 70% of Russian-Indian trade turnover is already conducted in national currencies. The countries are also developing cooperation on national payment cards and the North-South transport corridor, and plan to increase mutual trade to $100 billion by 2030.
BRICS points its telescopes: hunting for cosmic flares
Brazil, China, and South Africa have signed a memorandum establishing the GOTTA-BRICS Pathfinder Network, an international observation network for studying short-lived cosmic phenomena such as stellar flares and other dynamic processes in space. Coordination on the Brazilian side is led by the National Astronomical Laboratory at the Pico dos Dias Observatory, while China and South Africa are represented by the Xinglong and Lenghu observatories and the South African Astronomical Observatory, respectively. The project involves developing technologies for managing distributed telescope networks, including real-time AI, and will serve as a preparatory stage for the larger BITDN project.
India successfully launches its first private rocket into space
Skyroot Aerospace successfully launched the Vikram-1 rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota — the first privately built orbital rocket to launch from Indian soil. The mission, named Aagaman, marks an important milestone for India’s growing private space sector, coming 46 years after the first successful launch of the SLV-3 satellite. The launch’s success could make Skyroot the first Indian private company to place a payload into orbit.
The Global South unites around AI: a new organization born in Shanghai
29 countries have signed an agreement establishing the World AI Cooperation Organization, an intergovernmental body intended to promote international cooperation and global governance in AI. Founding countries include Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Cuba, Brazil, and Venezuela, along with 10 African and 12 Asian nations; the organization’s headquarters will be in Shanghai. The signing ceremony took place in the presence of UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The initiative was first proposed by Beijing a year earlier, though no country had formally committed to participation until now.
