The Block launches The Latent to bring news, data and model intelligence together for the AI industry

Original AI reporting, data, model intelligence and a daily newsletter give readers the integrated news and tools to understand the industry

NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Block, a leader in crypto news and data, today announced the public launch of The Latent (thelatent.co), a new publication focused exclusively on artificial intelligence. The Latent combines original AI reporting with data, model intelligence and a daily newsletter for people building, funding and using the technology.

The Latent applies eight years of experience covering crypto at The Block to the AI industry. It is built around one idea: a story should arrive with its evidence. Reporting, data and analytical tools are connected throughout the publication, giving readers a direct path from a headline to the underlying numbers and research. The launch comes as AI moves beyond a model-driven technology topic into a broader industrial and financial story spanning infrastructure, applications, capital markets and enterprise adoption.

The publication launches with more than 100 articles published during a month of stealth operation, an AI data portal with more than 50 sourced charts, The Latent Score for comparing model capabilities, The Latent Daily newsletter and a dedicated X account for breaking news.

"AI is not only the biggest story in technology, but one of the biggest stories in the world. The rate at which it is changing our relationship to the world, and our understanding of humanity, is unprecedented," said Adam James, Publisher of The Latent. "As generated text gets cheaper, original reporting and clean data get more valuable, not less. We will apply the same objectivity and editorial judgement to The Latent that made The Block the industry leader in news, media, research, and data."

"The Latent's launch is an important next step in The Block's growth, following our recent capital investment announcement. While we are expanding into AI, we remain deeply committed to crypto and to strengthening the products and coverage we provide to the digital asset industry," said Steve Chung, CEO of The Block. "We have an opportunity to build on the capabilities that have made The Block a trusted source of crypto news and data, while applying those capabilities to new markets. The Latent is the first of what will be a broader period of investment and growth for The Block, and I look forward to sharing more in the months ahead."

Key features of The Latent

• Every article published by The Latent carries a Pangram score, an independent check that the text was written by a person, displayed on the page alongside the byline. Readers do not have to take the publication's word for it. As AI-generated text becomes indistinguishable from human writing and effectively free to produce, The Latent's position is that provenance becomes a basic part of the product rather than a badge, and that publications should be able to show it rather than assert it.
  
  
• The AI data portal brings together more than 50 sourced charts on compute supply, model capability, pricing, usage, funding, company revenue and public markets, each with its source and last-updated date, so readers can examine the numbers alongside the news. The portal can be found on thelatent.co/data.
  
  
• The Latent Score measures model intelligence across benchmarks and seven capability domains. Each model's score is published with a stability range and the full list of results that contribute to it. As of its latest update, GPT-6 Astra leads the ranking at 139.0, followed by Fable 5.1 at 131.2. The methodology (thelatent.co/methodology), explains the scope of the measure, how the score is calculated, and the limitations readers should consider when interpreting results. The scores can be found on thelatent.co/score.
  
  
• The Latent Daily newsletter launches today, bringing important AI stories, useful data and model developments together in one free email every weekday. The newsletter is central to The Latent's plans to build a direct relationship with its audience. Readers who know The Block, along with people discovering The Latent for the first time, can subscribe today. Readers can subscribe at thelatent.co/newsletter.
  
  
• The Latent's X account, @TheLatentCo, publishes breaking AI headlines and updates throughout the day.

About The Latent

The Latent (thelatent.co) is an AI news and data publication covering the industry for the people building, funding and using it, with reporting, an AI data portal, The Latent Score and The Latent Daily newsletter. Every article is reported and written by a named journalist and carries a Pangram score verifying human authorship. It is a sister publication to The Block, with the same ownership structure, and focuses exclusively on AI. 

About The Block

The Block (theblock.co) is a publication covering the crypto industry through reporting and data. Its editorial coverage remains focused exclusively on crypto following the launch of its sister publication, The Latent.

Media contact

[email protected]

SOURCE The Block