News/New Launches
Elon Musk’s xAI raises $10B for GPU expansion and Grok development
Elon Musk's xAI has raised $10 billion through a combination of $5 billion in debt and $5 billion in equity, according to Morgan Stanley. The massive funding round positions xAI to accelerate its AI infrastructure buildout and enhance its Grok chatbot as competition intensifies against OpenAI and other major players in the artificial intelligence space. What you should know: The funding represents one of the largest AI investment rounds, giving xAI significant resources to compete with established players. Morgan Stanley structured the deal with $5 billion raised through secured notes and term loans, while another $5 billion came from strategic...
read Jul 1, 2025Google launches AI Mode search with animated Doodle across platforms
Google has launched a new Doodle promoting AI Mode, its enhanced search experience that uses artificial intelligence to deliver comprehensive results. The promotion appears across Google's homepage, Chrome New Tab pages, and mobile apps, featuring animated graphics that transform Google's logo letters into the company's gradient 'G' icon to symbolize how AI Mode combines and summarizes information. What you should know: The Doodle campaign represents Google's most visible push yet for AI Mode adoption, appearing in multiple formats across its platforms. On the US homepage, both signed-in and logged-out users see a bouncy animation where the Google wordmark letters combine...
read Jul 1, 2025Facebook tests AI access to your camera roll for content suggestions
Facebook is testing a new feature that allows Meta AI to access users' camera rolls to generate content suggestions, even for photos that haven't been uploaded to the platform yet. The feature, currently being tested in the US and Canada, represents a significant expansion of how social media companies can access personal data, potentially raising new privacy concerns as Meta seeks to compete for younger users who have been abandoning the platform. What you should know: Users encountering Facebook's Story feature are being prompted to enable "cloud processing" through a pop-up that grants Meta AI access to their entire camera...
read Jul 1, 2025David’s Bridal pivots from dresses to AI-powered wedding services
David's Bridal has launched Pearl Planner, an AI-powered wedding planning platform that represents the twice-bankrupt retailer's ambitious bet on technology to drive its survival. The beta platform uses knowledge graph architecture and multiple specialized AI models to automate wedding planning tasks, match brides with vendors, and generate personalized recommendations—transforming the 75-year-old company from a traditional dress retailer into a technology-enabled wedding services platform. The big picture: David's Bridal is using AI to fundamentally reinvent its business model, shifting from selling products to creating a platform that connects brides with wedding vendors while generating new revenue streams through subscriptions. The company...
read Jun 27, 2025IAG’s AI system cuts aircraft maintenance planning from weeks to minutes
International Airlines Group (IAG) has developed an in-house AI-powered Engine Optimisation System that dynamically reschedules aircraft engine maintenance by running millions of "what-if" scenarios daily. The system, initially implemented with Aer Lingus and set to roll out across IAG's other airlines by year's end, addresses the complex challenge of balancing regulatory requirements, parts availability, labor constraints, and operational continuity while potentially saving the industry millions in maintenance costs. What you should know: IAG's AI system transforms weeks of manual maintenance planning into minutes of automated optimization, helping airlines avoid costly Aircraft On Ground emergencies and passenger delays. The system was...
read Jun 27, 2025Thailand launches first locally-operated hyperscale cloud platform
Thailand has launched its first hyperscale cloud platform operated entirely by a Thai company, marking a significant milestone in the nation's push for digital sovereignty and technological independence. AIS Business, the enterprise division of Thailand's largest telecommunications company AIS, unveiled AIS Cloud powered by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, designed to keep sensitive data within Thai borders while providing enterprise-grade computing power. This development addresses growing concerns among Thai businesses and government agencies about data security, regulatory compliance, and dependence on foreign cloud infrastructure. Unlike traditional cloud services where data might be processed or stored overseas, hyperscale cloud platforms—massive, highly automated data...
read Jun 27, 2025Google’s Doppl app creates virtual try-on videos from any outfit
Google has launched Doppl, an experimental AI app that creates virtual try-on videos by digitally placing users into outfits found across the web. The app represents a significant expansion of Google's existing virtual try-on capabilities, allowing users to generate animated clips of themselves wearing clothes from any online source rather than just Google Shopping results. How it works: Users upload a full-body photo of themselves along with a screenshot of any outfit they find online to generate AI-powered try-on experiences. The app requires a bright, well-lit photo of the user in a natural pose without a hat, plus any outfit...
read Jun 27, 2025Xiaomi Smart Band 10 launches with AI fitness tracking for $37
Xiaomi has officially launched the Smart Band 10, its latest budget fitness tracker featuring a larger 1.72-inch AMOLED display, AI-powered fitness tracking, and enhanced ecosystem integration. Starting at just 269 RMB (~$37), the device maintains Xiaomi's commitment to affordable wearables while introducing significant upgrades that position it as a serious competitor in the fitness tracking market. What you should know: The Smart Band 10 represents a substantial upgrade over its predecessors with key improvements across display, fitness tracking, and smart features. The device features a 1.72-inch AMOLED display with narrower, symmetrical bezels, 1,500 nits peak brightness, and a 60Hz refresh...
read Jun 26, 2025LinkedIn’s multi-agent AI hiring assistant goes live for recruiters
LinkedIn has deployed a multi-agent AI system for its hiring assistant that actively sources and recruits job candidates through natural language interaction. The platform represents one of the few enterprise-scale AI agent implementations moving beyond demos into production use, offering insights for other companies looking to deploy similar systems at scale. What you should know: LinkedIn's hiring assistant uses a sophisticated multi-agent architecture where specialized AI components collaborate under a supervisor agent's coordination. The supervisor agent orchestrates all tasks and serves as the primary interface with human users, taking input about role qualifications and job requirements. Specialized sourcing agents focus...
read Jun 26, 2025Show me, Xiaomi: Chinese firm’s AI glasses offer features Meta’s Ray-Bans lack
Xiaomi has unveiled AI-powered smart glasses that feature electrochromic dimming technology, allowing users to manually adjust lens darkness by sliding their finger along the frame. While the glasses closely resemble Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses in design and core functionality, this manual dimming feature addresses a key limitation that has made smart glasses less practical for all-day wear across varying lighting conditions. What you should know: The Xiaomi AI glasses offer several hardware upgrades over Meta's current offerings while maintaining a similar price point. They feature a 12MP camera capable of 2K video recording at 30 frames per second, built-in microphones,...
read Jun 26, 2025WhatsApp launches AI message summaries to tackle unread chat overload
WhatsApp users drowning in unread messages now have an AI-powered lifeline. Meta has introduced Message Summaries, a feature that leverages artificial intelligence to distill lengthy group chats and message threads into digestible bullet points, helping users catch up without scrolling through dozens of individual messages. The feature represents Meta's latest effort to weave AI capabilities into everyday communication tools, following a broader industry trend of embedding artificial intelligence into essential productivity applications. Unlike generic AI assistants that require separate apps or interfaces, Message Summaries works directly within WhatsApp's familiar messaging environment. How Message Summaries works Message Summaries appears as a...
read Jun 26, 2025YouTube tests AI-powered search summaries for Premium users
YouTube is bringing an AI Overviews-style feature to its platform, showing AI-powered search result carousels for YouTube Premium members in the US when they search for shopping, travel, or location-based content. The experimental feature represents Google's continued expansion of AI search capabilities across its product ecosystem, potentially changing how users discover and consume video content. What you should know: The AI-powered search results carousel displays a prominent video clip at the top, thumbnail previews of related videos below, and an AI-generated text summary responding to the user's query. Users can tap the main video clip to watch the full content,...
read Jun 26, 2025Google Sheets now uses AI to auto-generate text from your data
Google has launched a new AI function in Sheets that can automatically generate text to fill empty cells in spreadsheets based on existing data. The feature, powered by Google Gemini, allows users to create customized content, summarize information, or categorize data by referencing specific cells within their spreadsheets. How it works: Users highlight cells where they want AI-generated content and enter a formula that tells the AI what to create based on nearby data. The function uses syntax like =AI("Write a formal ad copy for the product. Cater copy to the objective and target audience.", A2:C2) to generate tailored advertisement...
read Jun 26, 2025Simon Squibb launches free AI chatbot for business mentorship
Serial entrepreneur and viral philanthropist Simon Squibb has launched a free AI chatbot app that packages his 30 years of business knowledge into an accessible mobile platform. The app, called "What's your dream?", allows users to receive personalized entrepreneurial advice through text or voice conversations, representing Squibb's effort to scale his mentorship impact beyond his 16 million social media followers. What you should know: The app distills Squibb's entrepreneurial expertise into an AI assistant that provides one-on-one business guidance at no cost. Available on both iOS and Android, the app begins by asking users about their dreams, using examples like...
read Jun 25, 2025WhatsApp launches AI message summaries with privacy-first approach
WhatsApp has officially rolled out Meta AI-powered message summaries for users in the United States, allowing people to get AI-generated recaps of unread messages in any chat. The feature uses what Meta calls "Private Processing technology" to ensure neither Meta nor WhatsApp can access users' messages or the summaries themselves, addressing privacy concerns while offering a practical solution for catching up on busy group chats and conversations. What you should know: The message summary feature is designed to help users quickly catch up on conversations without scrolling through every message. Summaries work for any chat and can condense everything from...
read Jun 25, 2025United uses AI to help passengers navigate tight airport layovers
United Airlines has launched an enhanced ConnectionSaver technology that uses artificial intelligence and real-time mapping to help passengers navigate tight layovers at its hub airports. The system can hold connecting flights at gates longer while providing passengers with turn-by-turn navigation directions through the airport, addressing one of air travel's most stressful scenarios during the peak summer travel season. How it works: The upgraded ConnectionSaver technology combines AI-powered flight management with detailed airport mapping to create a comprehensive connection assistance system. United can use AI and ground teams to hold connecting flights at gates for additional time without delaying the overall...
read Jun 25, 2025MIT uses AI to document warming Gulf of Maine ecosystems
MIT researchers have launched LOBSTgER, an innovative project that combines artificial intelligence with underwater photography to document marine life in the rapidly warming Gulf of Maine. The initiative uses generative AI models trained exclusively on curated underwater photographs to create scientifically accurate imagery that could revolutionize how environmental stories are told and help raise awareness about vulnerable ocean ecosystems. What you should know: LOBSTgER stands for Learning Oceanic Bioecological Systems Through Generative Representations and represents a collaboration between underwater photographer Keith Ellenbogen and MIT mechanical engineering PhD student Andreas Mentzelopoulos. The project focuses on the Gulf of Maine, one of...
read Jun 25, 2025Ring’s AI cameras now describe what they see instead of just detecting motion
Ring has launched Video Descriptions, a beta AI feature that provides detailed text descriptions of what security cameras detect during motion events. The feature aims to reduce false alerts by distinguishing between routine and unusual activity, learning each property's normal patterns to only notify users when something genuinely noteworthy occurs. What you should know: Video Descriptions transforms basic motion alerts into detailed, contextual notifications that explain exactly what cameras are seeing. Instead of generic "motion detected" alerts, users receive specific descriptions like "A person is walking up the steps with a black dog" or "Two people are peering into a...
read Jun 25, 2025Google launches free Gemini CLI tool for developers across platforms
Google has launched Gemini CLI, a free command-line tool that brings its Gemini 2.5 Pro AI model directly to developers' terminals across Mac, Windows, and Linux. The open-source tool provides lightweight access to Google's AI agent with capabilities extending beyond code understanding to include file manipulation, command execution, and troubleshooting, positioning Google to capture developer mindshare in the competitive AI tooling landscape. What you should know: Gemini CLI transforms the traditional command-line experience by integrating AI assistance directly into developers' existing workflows. The tool offers code writing and explanation, debugging assistance, project management, and natural-language documentation queries. Beyond coding tasks,...
read Jun 24, 2025Salesforce unveils Agentforce 3 with unified studio and monitoring tools
Salesforce has released Agentforce 3, the fourth iteration of its AI agent platform since September 2024, introducing Agentforce Studio and Command Center to help enterprises build and monitor AI agents more effectively. The update addresses growing enterprise needs for comprehensive agent lifecycle management as AI agents proliferate across corporate IT systems, with new observability features designed to give companies confidence to deploy agents in customer-facing environments. What you should know: Agentforce Studio consolidates previously scattered agent-building tools into a unified development environment, while Command Center provides real-time monitoring and optimization capabilities. Studio brings together existing tools that were previously located...
read Jun 24, 2025ElevenLabs launches 11ai voice assistant that automates tasks across apps
ElevenLabs has launched 11ai, a voice assistant that can take actions across your digital tools rather than just answer questions. The assistant integrates with Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP) to connect with platforms like Slack, Google Calendar, and Perplexity, allowing users to automate tasks through voice commands while maintaining control over permissions and data access. What you should know: Unlike traditional voice assistants that are limited to answering questions, 11ai can actually execute tasks across your connected apps and services. The assistant is powered by ElevenLabs' library of more than 5,000 voices, and users can clone their own voice if...
read Jun 24, 2025North Carolina school district launches AI pilot with strict privacy controls
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools announced plans to implement artificial intelligence initiatives across dozens of "AI champion schools" starting this fall, while addressing significant privacy and data security concerns. The North Carolina district is developing comprehensive AI policies through community engagement sessions with students, teachers, and parents, positioning itself as a national leader in public school AI adoption. What you should know: CMS will roll out AI programs in select schools to evaluate and shape district-wide policies before broader implementation. The district plans to update K-12 curriculum and staff training programs before releasing detailed policy guidelines in August. Currently, students cannot access AI...
read Jun 24, 2025Can you satisfy my query now? Verizon launches Gemini-powered AI customer service with 90% accuracy
Verizon has launched an AI-powered customer service assistant built on Google's Gemini technology, designed to handle complex customer inquiries through the revamped My Verizon app. The initiative represents a significant shift toward AI-driven customer support while maintaining human oversight, as the telecom giant seeks to streamline service operations and improve customer experience efficiency. What you should know: The new Verizon Assistant can manage a wide range of customer tasks that traditionally required human representatives. Customers can use the AI tool to manage upgrades, add new lines, ask billing questions, and find savings opportunities through the My Verizon app. The system...
read Jun 24, 2025Online training wheels come off as Google DeepMind launches cloudless robot AI
Google DeepMind has released Gemini Robotics On-Device, a new AI model that enables robots to operate completely offline without requiring cloud connectivity. This standalone vision-language-action (VLA) model represents a significant step toward truly autonomous robots that can perform complex tasks like tying shoes or folding shirts while maintaining privacy and reliability in environments with poor internet connectivity. What you should know: The new on-device model eliminates the cloud dependency that limited previous versions of Google's robotics AI. Unlike the hybrid system that required both local and cloud-based processing, this standalone model runs entirely on the robot itself. The model maintains...
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