Inside Cohere’s $20 Billion Sovereignty Bet, With Co-Founder Nick Frosst
Earlier this summer, Cohere co-founder Nick Frosst talked to Observer about why sovereign A.I. matters after Anthropic’s June shutdown. On Wednesday, Cohere signed a merger with Aleph Alpha that values the combined company at $20 billion.
La Sponda, From the Daniel’s Miami Team, Chases Pasta Perfection on Biscayne Bay
Thomas Angelo and Danny Ganem bring La Sponda to Biscayne Bay with regional Italian dishes, handmade pasta, wagyu and a deep wine list.
Toronto’s Fall Cultural Calendar Foregrounds Ruin, Rebirth and Rupture
Fall programming across the city spans not only TIFF and a biennial but also Melissa Auf der Maur’s unfiltered ’90s tour photography, a scaled-down survey of Impressionist masterworks and a sound installation built from 600 brass bells.
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What’s Next for British Art?
British art is having a moment, but British Art Fair co-founder and director Gay Hutson cautions that before we celebrate too loudly, it’s worth considering whether we are looking for art’s next stars in the right places.
Toronto Biennial Curator Allison Glenn On Creating Connections and What Happens When Things Fall Apart
For the 2026 edition, 30 artists and collectives will explore the idea of rupture as a generative force, expanding the exhibition beyond Toronto via waterways, public spaces and cross-border collaborations.
In London, a New Wave of Greek Restaurants Goes Beyond the Taverna
Rather than simply chasing a trend, these chefs and restaurateurs are making a broader case for Greek cuisine through refined, regionally specific and occasionally experimental cooking.
Beyond the Front Row: What Fashion Month Reveals About Traceability
Fashion Month is increasingly putting the systems behind fashion on display. The Footwear Collective’s Dr. Yuly Fuentes-Medel examines how traceability, material transparency and collaboration across fragmented supply chains are becoming part of the industry’s broader story.
Where to Stay During London Fashion Week, From Mayfair Classics to Soho Scene-Stealers
From Claridge’s and The Twenty Two to Broadwick Soho and At Sloane, these are the hotels that keep you close to the shows, the parties and the post-runway damage.
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Gloria Steinem Taught Us How to Walk Forward Without Her
Entrepreneur Stacey Boyd, who knew and collaborated with Gloria Steinem, reflects on the organizing principles behind Steinem’s extraordinary life and legacy. Boyd considers what Steinem’s leadership can teach business leaders and philanthropists about listening and building the infrastructure for movements to outlast any one person.
The University of Toronto’s Alumni Are Everywhere in the A.I. Boom
Geoffrey Hinton’s research ecosystem helped turn the University of Toronto into a breeding ground for the founders and technologies driving today’s A.I. race.
Google DeepMind’s 3 Founders Are Now Shaping A.I. From Very Different Posts
Hassabis Once united by DeepMind’s AGI mission, Demis Hassabis, Mustafa Suleyman and Shane Legg are now pursuing distinctly different futures for A.I.
Meta’s Muse Wants to Become the Interface for Your Digital Life
Meta has the distribution to make its new personal A.I. agent Muse ubiquitous. The harder question, argues A.I. strategy and enterprise-wide adoption expert René Bohnsack, is whether consumers will trust it with access to their digital lives.
The Gold Sitting in American Jewelry Drawers Is an Untapped Asset
Jewelry is still treated primarily as a possession rather than a financial asset, despite the significant value of the gold sitting in American homes. Unvault’s Nidhi Singhvi argues that better information can give owners greater control over an asset that has long existed outside traditional systems of wealth measurement.
Art
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This Gloucester Exhibition Looks at David Hockney Through the Eyes of a Friend
Curated by Bing McGilvray, “Hockney Reproduction(s)” at Manship Artists Residency explores the artist’s six-decade engagement with technology and graphic reproduction.
We Loved a Serial Columnist: New York Toasts 30 Years of Candace Bushnell’s Original SATC
Thirty years after Sex and the City first ran, Candace Bushnell returned to Observer’s pages to explain why the column was never about sex at all.
Collector Dick Hedreen Has Sold Artworks Before, But This Time the Proceeds Will Build a Museum
Proceeds from upcoming auctions at Sotheby’s, expected to exceed $90 million, will fund a new museum at Seattle University to house his major 350-work gift.
The de Young’s New Egypt Show Draws From Two of the Past Century’s Biggest Discoveries
Most of the 130 objects on view in “Treasures of the Pharaohs” are on loan from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, selected by former director Tarek al-Awadi before the show’s earlier debut in Rome.
In Arles, Photography and Art Ease the Transition from Summer into Fall
While Arles tends to be buzziest in July and August, the autumn season is a quieter, crowd-free time to explore a town packing a great artistic punch.
Lifestyle
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The 2026 Toyota GR Supra MkV Final Edition Is a Perfect Eulogy on Wheels
In its last incarnation, the GR Supra is that most wonderful of cars: a vehicle that exists for no other reason than to celebrate the joys of driving.
Eugene Remm’s Cafe Charmant Brings a Worldlier Brasserie to the West Village
At Cafe Charmant, chef Jake Tyler Brodsky takes brasserie cuisine around the world.
The World’s Only White-Gold Cartier Cheich Heads to Auction in Hong Kong
Created as a special commission in 2010, the one-of-a-kind watch leads a sale with an extensive selection of rare Cartier designs.
The Essentials With Chef Eyal Shani: Turtles, Tomatoes and Tuscany
The chef behind Malka and Miznon on his pet turtles, favorite sushi, indispensable olive oil and very specific approach to a good life.
How Fashion Week Became an Economy of Attention
University of Nebraska Omaha’s Jane Liu, Ph.D. examines the economics of Fashion Week, unpacking how the runway has become an investment in attention, cultural relevance and future demand rather than simply a vehicle for selling clothes.
Interviews
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Genesis Belanger’s Classically Inspired Public Art Is a Commentary on Modern-Day Unease
“Heads or Tails” transforms City Hall Park into a psychologically charged tableau where fractured bodies, scavenging birds and artificial trees reflect the instability of contemporary public life.
Seoul’s ParkSeoBo Museum Is More Than a Temple to Its Namesake
Director Sam Seung-ho says the institution will be a platform for younger, emerging artists rather than a static tribute to the late Dansaekhwa master.
Scott W Mason Sketches Fashion’s Biggest Moments
His client list reads like a roster of fashion royalty: Gucci, Dior, Rabanne and Louis Vuitton among them.
How Gayane Umerova Is Shepherding Uzbekistan’s Cultural Transformation
As the country pours resources into museums, biennials, residencies and international cultural diplomacy, she is focused on ensuring that those investments translate into the development of a self-sustaining, globally visible cultural ecosystem.
Tom Sachs Recreated Chanel’s Paris Flagship Out of Plywood and Paint in Chinatown
Walking through the installation with Observer, the artist cited Duchamp, Sol LeWitt and On Kawara as touchstones, while insisting his attachment to the physical act of making keeps him from veering too far into conceptualism.
Power Lists
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Observer’s 2026 A.I. Power Index: Who Controls the Capital Flow in A.I
Power in artificial intelligence no longer moves through the channels everyone learned to watch.
Observer New Media Power List: Call for Submissions
Nominations are open for Observer’s 2026 New Media Power List
The 50 Most Powerful PR Firms of 2026
This year’s honorees are emblematic of a notable shift in public relations from responsive publicity to proactive leadership in the moments that matter most.
Wall-to-Wall Cultural Capital: Inside Observer’s Art Power Index Party
Under the dim lights of the Lower East Side’s Maison Nur, art world luminaries gathered to celebrate Observer’s Art Power Index—and each other. From the impassioned speeches to the sharp tailoring and Damien Hirst over the bar, the evening embodied our legacy of chronicling power with style.
2025 Nightlife & Dining Power Index
Humanity is still the most vital ingredient in hospitality, and that isn’t changing anytime soon.
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MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives Is Experientially Compelling But Curatorially Thin
The museum struggles to present a coherent narrative of human culture, but its architecture succeeds in offering a new kind of public space in a megacity like Tokyo.
The Restaurants, Bars and Clubs to See and Be Seen During London Fashion Week
The new openings, revived institutions and discreet members’ clubs that anchor the city’s unofficial Fashion Week itinerary.
Screening at Venice: May el-Toukhy’s ‘Woman Unknown’
The only film by a solo woman director in this year’s Venice competition, it shoulders the burden of representing a feminine point of view, whether it wants to or not.
Director Florian Zeller Says Casting a Real Couple Brought ‘Bunker’ Closer to Truth
One of the sexiest married couples in acting brought cinematic catnip to the Venice Film Festival: a movie about marital discord.
Hollywood’s Biggest Film Festival Bets, From Flops to $500M Hits
Studios spend millions chasing festival breakouts. These acquisitions show how unpredictable a path from standing ovation to profit can be.
Honey Deuce and the Making of a U.S. Open Tradition
Grey Goose’s Aleco Azqueta explores what separates a successful event sponsorship from a brand becoming part of an event’s rituals and cultural memory. Azqueta examines how the Honey Deuce’s distinctive identity, consistency and fan participation transformed a cocktail into a tradition.
How the U.S. Open Turned a Cocktail Into Cultural Shorthand
The Wall Street Hotel’s Valeria Gonzalez examines what the Honey Deuce’s rise at the U.S. Open reveals about the making of an event drink. Gonzalez explores how how hospitality can extend an event far beyond its official footprint.
Chanel CEO Leena Nair on Keeping Luxury Human in the A.I. Era
Chanel CEO Leena Nair says human connection, craftsmanship and people-first leadership will matter more as A.I. reshapes luxury.
25 Years Later, 9/11’s Artifacts Still Call for a Different Level of Curatorial Care
Aaron Noble of the New York State Museum described a post-attack scene in which recovery crews and the institution’s staff developed a cooperative relationship, with workers setting aside materials that might be of interest to the museum, serving as de facto curators on the ground.
Screening at Venice: Halkawt Mustafa’s ‘No Paradise If You Are Killed By a Woman’
It’s one of the most immaculately designed war films you’re likely to see this year, with an enveloping use of environment and atmosphere. But when it comes to filling that space with dynamic drama, sadly, it misses its mark.
Sales at Tokyo Gendai Reflect an Evolving Market Surprisingly Resistant to Trend-Chasing
A new generation of Japanese collectors, often guided by curiosity rather than long-term investment thinking, is beginning to reshape who buys and why.
Screening at Venice: Nicolas Pariser’s ‘One Minute to Midnight’
Its self-reflexivity reveals a riveting feminist tome about the winds of cultural change and the difficulty of de-centering yourself from your own story.