Oct 17, 2025

DOE fusion roadmap targets 2030s commercial deployment as AI drives $9B investment

The Department of Energy has released a new roadmap targeting commercial-scale fusion power deployment by the mid-2030s, though the plan lacks specific funding commitments and relies on scientific breakthroughs that have eluded researchers for decades. The strategy emphasizes public-private partnerships and positions AI as both a research tool and motivation for developing fusion energy to meet data centers' growing electricity demands. The big picture: The DOE's roadmap aims to "deliver the public infrastructure that supports the fusion private sector scale up in the 2030s," but acknowledges it cannot commit to specific funding levels and remains subject to Congressional appropriations. Why...

read Oct 17, 2025

Tying it all together: Credo’s purple cables power the $4B AI data center boom

Credo, a Silicon Valley semiconductor company specializing in data center cables and chips, has seen its stock price more than double this year to $143.61, following a 245% surge in 2024. The company's signature purple cables, which cost between $300-$500 each, have become essential infrastructure for AI data centers, positioning Credo to capitalize on the trillion-dollar AI infrastructure expansion as hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Elon Musk's xAI rapidly build out massive computing facilities. What you should know: Credo's active electrical cables (AECs) are becoming indispensable for connecting the massive GPU clusters required for AI training and inference. The company...

read Oct 17, 2025

Vatican launches Latin American AI network for human development

The Vatican hosted a two-day conference bringing together 50 global experts to explore how artificial intelligence can advance peace, social justice, and human development. The event launched the Latin American AI Network for Integral Human Development and established principles for ethical AI governance that prioritize human dignity over technological advancement. What you should know: The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the Vatican's research body for social issues, organized the "Digital Rerum Novarum" conference on October 16-17, combining academic research with practical AI applications. Participants included leading experts from MIT, Microsoft, Columbia University, the UN, and major European institutions. The conference...

read Oct 17, 2025

Swiss AI startup raises €114M to train robots using gaming data

Swiss AI startup General Intuition has raised €114 million in one of 2025's largest seed funding rounds, led by Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst with participation from Raine. The New York and Geneva-based company, spun off from Dutch video platform Medal, plans to bridge gaming data with real-world applications in robotics and drones, leveraging over 2 billion annual gameplay clips to train AI agents for both virtual and physical environments. What you should know: General Intuition emerged from Medal's extensive gaming content library, which processes nearly 1 billion video uploads annually from 10 million monthly active users. The startup uses...

read Oct 17, 2025

AI-generated content hits 55% of new articles but growth stalls

AI-generated content now accounts for over half of all newly published articles on the internet, according to a new report from Graphite, an SEO research firm. However, the surge appears to be plateauing as content creators discover that AI-written articles perform poorly in search rankings, suggesting the digital landscape may be self-correcting against automated content. What you should know: The proportion of AI-generated articles peaked at 55% in January 2025 but has since stabilized rather than continuing to grow exponentially. AI content slightly overtook human-written articles between November 2024 and March 2025, marking a significant shift in online publishing. The...

read Oct 17, 2025

Nvidia’s $4B venture strategy creates broad AI ecosystem lock-in

Nvidia is leveraging a multi-billion-dollar venture capital strategy through its NVentures arm to cement its dominance in the AI ecosystem, participating in 21 deals in 2025 alone compared to just one in 2022. This aggressive investment approach creates a symbiotic network where Nvidia's financial backing directly fuels demand for its GPUs and CUDA software platform, ensuring the company remains central to AI development as the industry expands. The big picture: Nvidia's venture capital strategy operates as "ecosystem engineering," strategically targeting three core areas to maintain its technological moat. Cloud-Scale AI Infrastructure investments back startups that rent, optimize, or virtualize Nvidia...

read Oct 17, 2025

AI advances faster than corporations can possibly adapt, executives warn

Executives at Semafor's World Economy Summit highlighted a growing disconnect between AI's rapid technological advancement and corporate America's ability to adapt organizationally. While AI is enabling breakthrough innovations like Formula 1 teams using digital twins instead of physical testing, legacy companies are struggling to rewire decades-old business processes quickly enough to keep pace with the technology. What you should know: AI is delivering on ambitious promises faster than many anticipated, creating practical solutions that were impossible just years ago. Sassine Ghazi, CEO of Synopsys, a chip design software company, pointed to Formula 1 as an example where teams now create...

read Oct 17, 2025

Cartwheel’s Yogi robot targets home companionship as Tesla’s factory bots stall

Cartwheel Robotics has unveiled Yogi, a humanoid robot designed for home companionship and light household tasks, marking a shift from factory-focused robotics to personal home assistance. Unlike Tesla's industrial Optimus robot, Yogi emphasizes emotional connection and human-like interaction, potentially positioning home robotics as a more viable market than manufacturing automation. What you should know: Yogi represents a fundamentally different approach to humanoid robotics, prioritizing safety and emotional intelligence over industrial performance. The robot will be built using medical-grade silicone and protective soft materials, making it safe for close human interaction. Features include precision-engineered high-torque actuators with overload protection and a...

read Oct 17, 2025

Kentucky distillery takes its shot at AI, uses 1,500 sensors to automate bourbon production

Whiskey House, a new Kentucky distillery founded by bourbon industry veterans David Mandell and John Hargrove, has launched as a fully automated, technology-driven contract distilling operation amid widespread turmoil in the American whiskey market. The facility represents a dramatic departure from traditional whiskey-making methods, using advanced sensors, real-time analytics, and predictive control systems to address quality inconsistencies that plague the industry while serving the growing demand from non-distiller producer brands. The big picture: The American whiskey industry is experiencing significant upheaval, with major brands seeing declining sales and several companies filing for bankruptcy, yet Whiskey House sees opportunity in the...

read Oct 17, 2025

Merriam-Webster releases first print dictionary in 20 years to combat AI misinformation

Merriam-Webster has published the 12th edition of its Collegiate Dictionary, the first update in more than 20 years, positioning the physical book as a trustworthy alternative to AI-generated content. The release comes as a direct response to growing concerns about AI hallucinations and misinformation, with the company marketing the dictionary as "actual intelligence" versus artificial intelligence that "never hallucinates" and requires no electricity. The big picture: This marks a surprising return to print publishing in an industry that went digital-first decades ago, with the move serving as both a marketing statement against AI and a nostalgic appeal to traditional authority....

read Oct 17, 2025

Uber’s gig within gig allows drivers to make money labeling AI data

Uber has launched a pilot program in the US that allows its drivers to complete data labeling tasks during downtime, expanding on a similar initiative already running in India. The move positions Uber to become a major player in the AI training data market by leveraging its global workforce of drivers and delivery workers to help enterprises scale their artificial intelligence efforts. What you should know: Uber's AI Solutions division is testing a program where select US drivers and couriers complete digital tasks like recording speech samples, submitting multilingual documents, and uploading images. The pilot builds on a successful program...

read Oct 17, 2025

Louisiana forms 30-member committee to bring AI into K-12 classrooms, minus Chinese tech

Louisiana has formed a nearly 30-member committee to develop recommendations for implementing artificial intelligence in K-12 classrooms across the state. The initiative comes as education leaders grapple with AI's rapid integration into daily life while addressing concerns about student privacy, data security, and the technology's unproven impact on learning outcomes. What you should know: The committee includes state education board members, department officials, and national AI experts who will spend the next few months creating an implementation framework. Louisiana Tech University president Jim Henderson will lead the team, which must present recommendations at the state board of education's March 10...

read Oct 17, 2025

Facebook’s AI scans your camera roll to suggest photo collages and edits

Facebook has launched an AI-powered feature in North America that scans users' phone camera rolls to suggest photo collages and AI-enhanced edits. The opt-in tool represents Meta's latest push into automated content creation, while potentially expanding the company's AI training data collection through user-generated media. How it works: The feature analyzes users' photo libraries to identify "hidden gems" and create shareable content suggestions.• After obtaining permission, it scans camera roll photos and suggests AI-generated collages, vacation recaps, graduation party compilations, or enhanced versions of existing photos.• Suggestions appear privately in Stories and Feed until users choose to share them publicly.•...

read Oct 17, 2025

“Adapt to AI or lose”: GOP uses deepfake video of Chuck Schumer in new attack ad

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has released an attack ad featuring a deepfake video of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, marking a new escalation in the use of AI-generated content for political campaigns. The synthetic video shows an artificial version of Schumer robotically repeating "every day gets better for us" in reference to the ongoing government shutdown, despite the quote being from a real interview where Schumer was discussing Democratic strategy. What you should know: The deepfake represents the GOP's latest venture into AI-generated political content, following similar moves by Donald Trump. The video was posted to the Senate Republicans'...

read Oct 17, 2025

New York school district launches LEGO robotics program for grades 4-6

The Floral Park-Bellerose School District has launched a new LEGO robotics curriculum in its Discovery Lab sessions, introducing students in grades 4-6 to hands-on coding and engineering experiences. The program represents a growing trend of elementary schools integrating robotics education to develop critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving skills among younger students. What you should know: Sixth graders at John Lewis Childs School participated in their inaugural LEGO robotics lesson on October 6, working in pairs to build and program robotic creations. Students used LEGO Education SPIKE Essential app and kits to construct and code an arctic ride featuring a programmable...

read Oct 17, 2025

Get Rich with AI Tryin’: 50 Cent embraces tech to reimagine his music

50 Cent has publicly embraced artificial intelligence technology for reimagining his music, posting AI-generated versions of his tracks like "21 Questions" and "God Gave Me Style" as old-school R&B songs. The hip-hop mogul's endorsement signals a pragmatic approach to AI adoption in entertainment, suggesting artists should work with the technology rather than resist its inevitable progression. What he's saying: 50 Cent expressed enthusiasm about AI's potential to expand his audience reach and praised the quality of AI-generated vocals. "Look, if it will reach someone that I missed, someone who couldn't hear what I was trying to say to them in...

read Oct 17, 2025

Man’s worst friend: Skyborne launches AI-powered CODiaQ robot dog with lethal weapons

Skyborne Technologies has launched CODiaQ (Controller-Operated Direct-Action Quadruped), a four-legged robotic weapons system equipped with AI-assisted target recognition and lethal capabilities. The system represents a significant development in autonomous warfare technology, combining mobility with direct-fire weapons and modular payloads for military operations. What you should know: CODiaQ integrates artificial intelligence with lethal weapons on a mobile quadruped platform designed for battlefield deployment. The system combines AI-assisted target recognition with CHAOS 12GA and HAVOC 40mm modular payloads for precise remote direct-fire and ballistic breaching operations. A single operator can control the quadruped remotely, though it's designed to operate autonomously for warfighters...

read Oct 17, 2025

Asus launches first GB10 Superchip desktop at $4.1K while Dell’s remains unavailable

Asus has launched the Ascent GX10, becoming the first company to bring Nvidia's GB10 Superchip to market in a compact AI desktop form factor, beating Dell's similar but unavailable Pro Max GB10 to retail availability. The $4,100 system delivers up to one petaflop of computing power in a package small enough for individual workstations, bringing data center-level AI capabilities to researchers and developers who previously needed access to large server clusters. What you should know: The Ascent GX10 is currently available for immediate purchase while competing systems remain in pre-order status. Asus's system can be ordered now from Viperatech for...

read Oct 17, 2025

OpenAI’s support bot hallucinates non-existent ChatGPT bug reporting features

OpenAI's automated customer support bot has been caught hallucinating features that don't exist in the ChatGPT app, including falsely claiming users can report bugs directly within the application. The incident highlights significant gaps in AI-powered customer service and raises questions about the reliability of companies using their own AI tools for user support. What you should know: A ZDNET investigation revealed that OpenAI's support bot consistently provided incorrect information about ChatGPT's functionality when asked about reporting a bug. The bot repeatedly suggested users could "report this bug directly from within the ChatGPT app (usually under Account or Support > Report...

read Oct 17, 2025

Line in the sand: “Dune” actress calls for AI body scan protections amid digital likeness fears

Olivia Williams is calling for "nudity rider"-type protections for AI body scans, arguing that actors need the same level of control over their digital likenesses as they have over intimate scenes. The Dune: Prophecy star says performers are regularly pressured into body scans on set with minimal guarantees about how the data will be used, potentially allowing studios to train AI models on their physical appearances and eventually replace human actors. What you should know: Williams and other actors report being "ambushed" into body scans during filming, with contracts containing vague clauses that grant studios sweeping rights over performers' likenesses....

read Oct 17, 2025

Google DeepMind partners with fusion startup to power AI data centers

Google DeepMind has partnered with fusion startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems to apply artificial intelligence expertise toward developing practical fusion power, the companies announced Thursday. This collaboration represents the latest effort by major tech companies to secure clean energy sources for their power-hungry data centers, as the AI boom drives unprecedented electricity demand. The big picture: Tech giants are placing significant bets on fusion energy as a solution to their growing power needs, with Google, Nvidia, and Microsoft all investing in Commonwealth Fusion Systems. Google has made two capital investments in CFS and secured access to 200MW of power from the...

read Oct 17, 2025

Microsoft report: Russia, China ramp up AI-powered cyberattacks on US

Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea have dramatically escalated their use of artificial intelligence to conduct cyberattacks and spread disinformation targeting the United States, according to Microsoft's latest digital threats report. The tech giant identified more than 200 instances in July 2025 of foreign adversaries using AI to create or amplify fake content online—a figure that has doubled since 2024 and increased tenfold since 2023, marking a pivotal shift in how America's rivals are weaponizing cutting-edge technology against U.S. interests. What you should know: AI has fundamentally transformed how state-backed hackers and influence operations target the United States, enabling unprecedented...

read Oct 17, 2025

AI data centers projected to comprise 12% of US electricity consumption by 2028

Rising electricity costs across America are increasingly linked to the artificial intelligence boom, as data centers powering AI tools strain the power grid and drive up consumer bills. The average price of electricity has jumped 13% since 2022, with data centers projected to consume up to 12% of US electricity by 2028—nearly triple their 2023 usage—creating unprecedented demand that utilities struggle to meet. What you should know: Individual consumers are feeling the impact of AI's massive power requirements in their monthly electricity bills. Kentucky nurse Lindsey Martin saw her bill spike from around $150 two to three years ago to...

read Oct 17, 2025

AI and robots go to White Castle in new Ohio prototype restaurant

White Castle has unveiled its "Castle of Tomorrow" prototype restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, featuring AI-powered drive-thru assistance, robotic fry stations, and redesigned dining spaces that blend automation with hospitality. The 104-year-old burger chain's tech-forward approach reflects a broader industry shift toward balancing digital efficiency with enhanced on-premise experiences as consumer spending returns to in-restaurant dining. What you should know: The new prototype incorporates several cutting-edge technologies designed to improve both customer experience and operational efficiency. The restaurant features Julia, an AI-powered drive-thru voice assistant named after a long-time team member, and the latest generation of Flippy, a robotic fry station...

read