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British-Irish Council summit explores AI’s role in public administration
Political leaders from Jersey and Guernsey joined counterparts from across the British Isles at the 43rd British-Irish Council summit in Newcastle, Northern Ireland, to discuss artificial intelligence's role in public administration. The gathering brought together senior officials from the UK, Ireland, and Crown dependencies to explore both the opportunities and challenges of integrating AI into government operations. What you should know: The summit focused specifically on how AI could transform public administration across the British Isles region.• Jersey Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham and Guernsey's Policy and Resources President Lyndon Trott represented the Channel Islands at the Newcastle meeting.• Other attendees...
read Jun 16, 20258 best AI PNG generators transform business visual content creation
Businesses today face constant pressure to create visual content quickly and cost-effectively. Marketing campaigns need custom graphics, presentations require professional imagery, and social media demands a steady stream of visual assets. Traditional design workflows—hiring freelancers, purchasing stock photos, or learning complex software—often create bottlenecks that slow down projects and inflate budgets. Artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed this landscape. AI-powered PNG generators can now create professional-quality transparent images in seconds, transforming simple text descriptions into polished visuals ready for immediate use. These tools eliminate the traditional barriers between having an idea and seeing it realized as a finished graphic. PNG files,...
read Jun 16, 2025ByteDance’s free AI tool Pippit transforms photos into talking videos
Social media's latest viral sensation isn't a dance or a meme—it's artificial intelligence creating talking baby podcasts. This unexpected trend showcases the growing influence of AI-powered video creation tools that are transforming how businesses and creators produce content at scale. At the center of this phenomenon is Pippit, a free AI video generator developed by CapCut, ByteDance's video editing platform. While ByteDance is best known for owning TikTok, CapCut has emerged as a major player in the content creation space, and Pippit represents the company's push into AI-generated video content. The tool allows users to transform static images into dynamic...
read Jun 16, 2025Builder.ai built real AI tech before collapse, ex-engineers confirm
A viral claim that Builder.ai "faked AI with 700 engineers" following the startup's bankruptcy has been debunked by former employees who confirm the company actually built legitimate AI systems. The misinformation originated from an unverified social media post and was amplified across major publications, potentially damaging the career prospects of engineers who worked on genuine AI technology. What actually happened: Builder.ai developed Natasha, a legitimate AI-powered code generation platform that used large language models like GPT and Claude to automate software development tasks. A team of approximately 15 engineers built the core AI system, with the broader AI team reaching...
read Jun 16, 2025Y Combinator’s spring cohort features 70 agentic startups. Here are the 10 most intriguing.
Y Combinator's inaugural spring cohort delivered exactly what Silicon Valley was hoping for: a surge of AI agent startups ready to transform how businesses operate. The legendary startup accelerator, which has launched companies like Stripe, Airbnb, and DoorDash, made its priorities clear when it issued a call earlier this year for founders building "agentic" AI—software systems that can think, reason, and perform complex tasks autonomously without constant human oversight. The response was overwhelming. Of the 144 companies selected for YC's spring 2025 batch, 70 focus on building AI agents, according to the accelerator's startup directory. This represents nearly half of...
read Jun 16, 2025Apple’s AI reasoning study sparks fierce debate over flawed testing methods
Apple's machine-learning research team ignited a fierce debate in the AI community with "The Illusion of Thinking," a 53-page paper arguing that reasoning AI models like OpenAI's "o" series and Google's Gemini don't actually "think" but merely perform sophisticated pattern matching. The controversy deepened when a rebuttal paper co-authored by Claude Opus 4 challenged Apple's methodology, suggesting the observed failures stemmed from experimental flaws rather than fundamental reasoning limitations. What you should know: Apple's study tested leading reasoning models on classic cognitive puzzles and found their performance collapsed as complexity increased. Researchers used four benchmark problems—Tower of Hanoi, Blocks World,...
read Jun 16, 2025Survey: Only 25% of AI users pay for premium, forcing chatbots toward ads
Advertising is coming to AI chatbots because most users refuse to pay for premium features, according to a new Bloomberg Intelligence survey of 1,000 respondents. Only 25% of generative AI users have paid subscriptions, with most willing to spend just $20 monthly for enhanced capabilities like advanced search and content generation. This reluctance to pay is forcing AI companies to pivot toward advertising-based revenue models, fundamentally reshaping how these platforms will monetize their massive user bases. The stark economics: OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, exemplifies the challenge facing AI companies trying to monetize through subscriptions alone. Despite having over 600...
read Jun 13, 2025Google tests AI audio overviews directly in mobile search results
Google has rolled out a test feature that integrates AI-generated Audio Overviews directly into mobile search results, allowing users to generate podcast-style discussions about their queries. The experiment, available through Google Labs, expands the company's audio AI capabilities beyond existing tools like NotebookLM and Gemini, bringing conversational AI content directly to the search experience. How it works: Users can generate AI-powered audio discussions for certain search queries through a new button that appears on the first page of mobile search results. When searching for topics like "How do noise cancellation headphones work?", a "Generate Audio Overview" button appears beneath the...
read Jun 13, 2025New bill offers AI developers lawsuit protection in exchange for greater transparency
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has introduced the Responsible Innovation and Safe Expertise Act of 2025 (RISE), the first standalone bill offering AI developers conditional legal immunity from civil lawsuits in exchange for comprehensive transparency requirements. The legislation would require companies to publicly disclose training data, evaluation methods, and system specifications while maintaining traditional liability standards for professionals using AI tools in their practice. What you should know: RISE creates a "safe harbor" provision that shields AI developers from civil suits only when they meet strict disclosure requirements. Developers must publish detailed model cards containing training data, evaluation methods, performance metrics,...
read Jun 13, 2025Booking.com measures AI’s 16% productivity boost across 3,000 developers
Booking.com attracts over 500 million monthly visitors and processes more than a billion annual bookings, cementing its position as a dominant force in online travel. However, maintaining this market leadership in an increasingly competitive landscape requires more than just scale—it demands rapid software innovation and delivery capabilities. The Amsterdam-based travel giant is betting heavily on artificial intelligence to accelerate its 3,000-person engineering organization. Rather than simply adopting AI tools and hoping for the best, Booking.com has developed a sophisticated measurement framework to quantify exactly how generative AI impacts developer productivity, satisfaction, and code quality. "We're very excited about GenAI because...
read Jun 13, 2025Big Read: 10 essential AI courses for HR professionals in 2025
Artificial intelligence has moved from boardroom buzzword to daily reality for human resources professionals. Companies worldwide are integrating AI into recruitment, performance management, and employee development at an unprecedented pace. According to Gartner, 38% of HR leaders are now piloting, planning, or have already implemented generative AI solutions—a dramatic jump from just 19% in June 2023. This shift isn't just about keeping up with trends. AI tools can automate time-consuming administrative tasks, reduce hiring bias, and provide data-driven insights that transform how organizations manage their workforce. However, many HR professionals feel overwhelmed by the technical complexity and struggle to identify...
read Jun 13, 2025Tech giants spend $421B on data company mixing and merging as AI race intensifies
Data infrastructure companies have become the hottest targets in tech M&A as legacy firms like Meta, Salesforce, and ServiceNow scramble to compete in the AI race. AI software deals now account for 75% of tech M&A value this year, with generative AI spending expected to reach $644 billion in 2025—up 76.4% from 2024. The big picture: Tech deals represent one of the few bright spots in an otherwise sluggish M&A market, accounting for $421 billion of the $1.67 trillion in global deals announced in the first five months of the year. This represents about 25% of total M&A activity, up...
read Jun 13, 2025Seven Stars launches $40M fund for early-stage AI startups
Seven Stars, a venture capital firm, has launched its debut $40 million AI fund, marking the firm's entry into artificial intelligence venture investing. The fund will target early-stage AI startups developing applications across both consumer and enterprise technology sectors, positioning Seven Stars to capitalize on the growing demand for AI innovation funding. What you should know: The new fund represents Seven Stars' strategic pivot into one of the most competitive and rapidly growing sectors in venture capital. The $40 million fund will focus specifically on early-stage AI companies, targeting startups in their initial funding rounds. Investment scope covers both consumer-facing...
read Jun 13, 2025Shutterstock’s AI tool removes photo backgrounds in seconds for small businesses
Visual content drives modern business success, yet many small business owners struggle with creating professional-looking images. Whether you're showcasing products on an e-commerce platform, crafting social media campaigns, or developing marketing materials, removing cluttered backgrounds can transform amateur photos into polished, professional assets. Shutterstock's Background Removal Tool addresses this challenge by leveraging artificial intelligence to automatically isolate subjects from their backgrounds. This browser-based solution requires no design expertise or expensive software subscriptions, making professional image editing accessible to entrepreneurs and marketers who need results without the learning curve. The tool's significance extends beyond simple convenience. In today's visually-driven marketplace, clean...
read Jun 13, 2025OpenAI maintains Scale AI partnership despite Meta’s $14.8B investment
OpenAI will continue collaborating with Scale AI despite Meta's $14.8 billion investment for a 49% stake in the data labeling startup. The partnership underscores how major AI companies are prioritizing ecosystem collaboration over exclusivity, even as competitive dynamics intensify through strategic acquisitions. What you should know: Scale AI provides the massive datasets of labeled and curated training data that power sophisticated AI models like ChatGPT. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, agreed to acquire a 49% stake in Scale AI for $14.8 billion on Friday, marking one of the largest AI startup investments to date. OpenAI CFO Sarah...
read Jun 13, 2025Meta AI’s confusing share button exposes private chats to public feed
Meta's standalone AI chatbot app contains a privacy trap that's catching users off guard: a confusing sharing feature that accidentally broadcasts private conversations to a public feed visible to all app users. The issue stems from Meta AI's poorly designed interface, which makes it surprisingly easy to publish sensitive chats without realizing the consequences. The Meta AI app, which launched in April as a direct competitor to ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, includes an unexpected social component called the Discover feed. Unlike other AI assistants that keep conversations private by default, Meta AI encourages users to share their interactions publicly—but the...
read Jun 13, 2025POVs from the other side: Google DeepMind and Aronofsky’s AI film visualizes the impossible
Darren Aronofsky has unveiled "Ancestra," the first short film from his new partnership with Google DeepMind to create generative AI-powered cinema. The 8-minute film, directed by Eliza McNitt and premiering at the Tribeca Festival, uses AI to visualize previously impossible narratives, including sequences inside a woman's womb inspired by McNitt's own life-threatening birth complications. What you should know: "Ancestra" represents a groundbreaking fusion of traditional filmmaking and generative AI technology, involving over 200 artists and technologists. McNitt trained AI models on her own baby pictures and family photos taken by her late father to generate a newborn infant whose story...
read Jun 13, 2025Humans Wanted: New chatbot platform Yupp pays users up to $50 monthly for AI feedback
Yupp, a new chatbot platform, has launched offering users up to $50 per month for evaluating AI model responses through side-by-side comparisons. The platform monetizes human feedback by selling this valuable data to AI companies seeking to improve their models, creating a direct revenue stream from what was previously free labor in the AI training process. How it works: Yupp displays responses from two different AI models side-by-side for every user query, then pays users to choose their preferred answer and explain why. The platform routes prompts to pairs of models selected from over 500 options, including products from OpenAI,...
read Jun 13, 2025Musk’s xAI runs 35 gas turbines without air permits for a year in regulatory loophole
Elon Musk's xAI data center in Memphis has been operating 35 methane gas turbines without federal air permits for nearly a year under a "temporary" exemption that allows up to 364 days of operation annually. The facility has drawn criticism for running without pollution controls that could reduce harmful emissions by 78%, with thermal imaging revealing more turbines active than city officials claimed. What you should know: The xAI facility exploits a regulatory loophole that exempts temporary sources from standard environmental permitting requirements. The 35 turbines emit NOx (nitrogen oxides, a harmful air pollutant) and other hazardous substances including formaldehyde...
read Jun 13, 2025Chile launches Latam-GPT to address Latin America’s AI blind spots
Chile-backed Latam-GPT, a regionally-focused AI model, plans to make its public debut in September after completing initial trials. The project aims to address gaps in AI representation for Latin America, where existing models often provide incomplete or stereotypical information about the region, while positioning Latin American countries as active participants rather than passive consumers in the global AI race. What you should know: Latam-GPT is being developed by Chile's National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA), a government-funded research center, with backing from multiple Latin American governments and institutions. At least 37 entities—including government agencies, universities, the Organization of American States,...
read Jun 13, 2025Why you can’t legally prevent becoming an AI ghost after death
As artificial intelligence capabilities expand, a new digital dilemma is emerging: AI-powered tools can now create realistic digital replicas of deceased individuals using their photos, videos, messages, and social media posts. These "AI ghosts"—chatbots, voice simulators, and even video representations trained on a person's digital footprint—are becoming increasingly sophisticated and accessible to anyone with basic technical skills. The technology raises profound questions about consent, privacy, and the rights of the deceased. While some families find comfort in these digital memorials, others view them as disturbing violations of their loved ones' memory. This tension has sparked a complex legal and ethical...
read Jun 13, 2025Benvenuto a bordo: Italian newspaper adds ChatGPT as permanent editorial team member
Italian newspaper Il Foglio has integrated ChatGPT as a permanent editorial contributor, running a month-long experiment with daily AI-written inserts before committing to regular AI-generated content. Editor Claudio Cerasa treats the chatbot as a colleague rather than a replacement tool, positioning the publication at the forefront of transparent AI adoption in journalism while other outlets struggle with undisclosed AI usage and fabrication scandals. The big picture: Il Foglio's approach demonstrates how news organizations can harness AI transparently rather than hiding its use, contrasting sharply with recent disasters like American papers publishing AI-generated content filled with fake sources and fabricated information....
read Jun 13, 2025AI safety researcher at LessWrong ponders, “When should humans quit the field?”
A researcher on the AI safety forum LessWrong is questioning when humans should abandon technical AI safety careers as AI systems become capable of conducting their own safety research. The post explores whether continued human training in alignment research makes sense if AI will soon outpace human capabilities in this field, potentially rendering human expertise obsolete within months or years. The central premise: The author assumes it's possible to create "SafeAlignmentSolver-1.0"—an AI system that can safely and effectively conduct alignment research at a scale that makes human efforts redundant. Key considerations for career decisions: Several factors should influence whether aspiring...
read Jun 13, 2025DC airports cut wait times 20% with homegrown AI system “Queue Hub”
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has deployed Queue Hub, a custom AI-powered intelligence platform that uses machine learning and computer vision to optimize operations at Dulles and Reagan airports. The homegrown system, which earned MWAA a 2025 CIO 100 Award, has reduced security wait times by 15% and customs wait times by 20% while helping manage over 50 million passengers annually. What you should know: Queue Hub represents a comprehensive approach to airport operations management, built entirely in-house rather than using commercial solutions. The platform integrates machine learning algorithms (software that learns patterns from data), open-source object detection (technology that...
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