Sep 26, 2025

In the money: Nvidia’s $100B OpenAI bet sparks $12B equity fund surge

U.S. equity funds attracted $12.06 billion in net inflows during the week ending September 24, reversing two consecutive weeks of outflows as investor sentiment improved following Nvidia's announcement of a potential $100 billion investment in OpenAI. The renewed appetite for equities signals growing confidence in AI-driven market opportunities, with large-cap funds leading the charge while bond funds also experienced their strongest weekly performance since February 2021. What you should know: The equity fund turnaround represents a dramatic shift from the previous week's massive $39.91 billion outflow. Large-cap equity funds dominated the inflows with $16.94 billion in net investments, marking the...

read Sep 26, 2025

Former Texas governor Rick Perry’s data center startup eyes $13B IPO amid AI boom

Rick Perry's data center company Fermi America is preparing to go public at a valuation of up to $13 billion, positioning the former Texas governor and Trump energy secretary to earn hundreds of millions from his 3% stake. The company, founded just this year, plans to build the world's largest private electric grid and data center complex in Texas, named after President Trump and powered by nuclear, natural gas, wind, and solar energy. What you should know: Fermi America aims to raise up to $550 million through its IPO, with shares expected to list between $18-$22 on both Nasdaq and...

read Sep 25, 2025

AEO, or Answer Engine Optimization, is the ultimate epistemic bundler

Answer Engine Optimization represents a fundamental shift in how information reaches us—and who controls that information. Unlike traditional search engines that present multiple sources for users to evaluate, AEO systems generate single, authoritative-sounding answers that most people accept without question. This technology transforms the internet from an open marketplace of ideas into a curated reality shaped by whoever can best game the system. The stakes couldn't be higher. Research indicates that roughly 70% of people accept AI-generated information at face value, without verification or cross-referencing. When reality itself becomes optimizable—subject to the same manipulation tactics used in marketing—truth transforms from...

read Sep 25, 2025

Meta launches “Vibes,” a dedicated feed for AI-generated short videos

Meta has launched Vibes, a dedicated feed for AI-generated short-form videos within its Meta AI app and website. The feature allows users to scroll through AI-created content from other users, create their own clips from scratch or adapt existing videos, and share their creations via direct message or cross-post to Instagram and Facebook. What you should know: Vibes represents Meta's latest experiment in AI-generated content creation, building on the existing Meta AI platform that previously made headlines when users accidentally shared private conversations publicly.• Users can browse AI-generated videos created by others or produce their own content using the platform's...

read Sep 25, 2025

iOS 18 uses Apple Intelligence to fix Wallet’s broken order tracking

iOS 18 has transformed Apple Wallet's long-struggling order tracking feature by leveraging Apple Intelligence to automatically extract purchase details from confirmation emails. This AI-powered enhancement finally delivers on the original promise of creating a centralized hub for all online purchases, addressing years of limited merchant adoption that had rendered the feature largely useless for most users. What you should know: Apple Wallet's order tracking feature, introduced in iOS 16, has been significantly underutilized due to poor merchant support until now. The feature required individual merchants to integrate with Apple's system, which few bothered to do despite being available for years....

read Sep 25, 2025

“Ready to (give me an) order?” Georgia startup deploys service robots at Mexican restaurant

Alpharetta-based To Do Robotics is deploying service robots at El Porton Mexican Restaurant in Roswell, where the machines guide diners to tables and deliver meals directly from the kitchen. The technology represents founder Marianela Naninga's effort to bring automated hospitality solutions she first encountered in Seoul to American restaurants, hotels, and healthcare facilities. What you should know: The robots handle specific restaurant tasks while working alongside human servers rather than replacing them.• Servers load food into compartments on the robots, which are programmed to navigate directly to designated tables.• The machines can store table locations in their memory and operate...

read Sep 25, 2025

Nvidia open-sources Audio2Face AI tool for realistic 3D avatar animations

Nvidia has open-sourced Audio2Face, its AI-powered tool that generates realistic facial animations for 3D avatars based on audio input. The move allows developers worldwide to integrate the technology into games and applications, potentially accelerating the development of more lifelike digital characters across the entertainment and tech industries. What you should know: Audio2Face analyzes acoustic features in voice recordings to automatically generate facial expressions and lip movements for 3D characters. The tool can create animations for both pre-scripted content and real-time livestreams, offering flexibility for different use cases. Developers gain access to the underlying models, software development kits, and training frameworks...

read Sep 25, 2025

Judge approves $1.5B Anthropic settlement over copyrighted books

A federal judge has approved a $1.5 billion settlement between AI company Anthropic and authors who accused the company of illegally using nearly half a million copyrighted books to train its Claude chatbot. The settlement will pay authors and publishers approximately $3,000 per book covered by the agreement, marking a significant legal precedent for AI companies' use of copyrighted material in training data. What you should know: U.S. District Judge William Alsup approved the settlement in San Francisco federal court after addressing concerns about fair distribution and author notification.• The settlement covers existing books but does not apply to future...

read Sep 25, 2025

MIT study shows AI models behave like swayable voters during elections

A groundbreaking study from MIT and Stanford researchers tracked 11 major AI language models—including GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini—throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, revealing that these systems behaved more like swayable voters than neutral information sources. The findings expose how AI models can shift their responses based on real-world events, demographic prompts, and public narratives, raising significant concerns about their reliability and potential influence on democratic processes. What you should know: The study conducted over 12,000 structured queries between July and November 2024, marking the first rigorous examination of how AI models behave during a live democratic event. Models demonstrated measurable...

read Sep 25, 2025

Southern Baptists release AI ministry guide for churches

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) has released a comprehensive guide titled "The Work of Our Hands: Christian Ministry in the Age of Artificial Intelligence," addressing how churches should navigate AI's growing influence across work, life, and relationships. Written by RaShan Frost, the ERLC's director of research, this resource builds on Southern Baptists' pioneering work in AI ethics and provides both theological frameworks and practical ministry applications for congregations grappling with artificial intelligence. Why this matters: As AI becomes increasingly integrated into daily life—from reasoning and decision-making to communications and learning—religious communities need guidance on how these technologies align...

read Sep 25, 2025

What do you have for me today? ChatGPT delivers personalized morning briefings to Pro users

OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Pulse, a new mobile feature that delivers personalized daily updates to Pro subscribers based on their chat history and connected apps. The preview feature represents OpenAI's latest push toward proactive AI assistance, with the AI model conducting overnight research to surface relevant information each morning rather than waiting for users to initiate conversations. How it works: ChatGPT Pulse analyzes user chat history, preferences, and optional Gmail and Google Calendar connections each night to generate morning updates. Users receive visual "cards" containing topic summaries that can be expanded for detail, covering areas like project follow-ups, dinner suggestions,...

read Sep 25, 2025

Insight for the twilight: Inspiren raises $100M to expand AI-powered senior care platform

Inspiren has raised $100 million in Series B funding led by Insight Partners, a global software investor, to expand its AI-powered senior living platform nationwide. The investment accelerates the company's mission to address critical challenges in senior care, including rising acuity levels, staffing shortages, and increasing demands from residents and families through a unified ecosystem that integrates safety monitoring, care planning, and emergency response. What you should know: Inspiren has built the senior living industry's first complete AI-powered ecosystem, launched in March 2025, that unifies multiple care functions into a single platform. The company's total funding now reaches $155 million,...

read Sep 25, 2025

The best AI becomes invisible infrastructure, according to Grammarly’s CEO

Grammarly CEO Shishir Mehrotra argues that artificial intelligence becomes invisible infrastructure once it works effectively, with AI agents already embedded throughout digital systems without being recognized as such. This perspective reframes the AI conversation from futuristic speculation to present-day reality, suggesting that successful AI integration happens when technology seamlessly blends into existing workflows rather than announcing itself as revolutionary innovation. What you should know: AI agents are already operating across countless systems, but we've stopped calling them AI once they become reliable infrastructure. Traffic systems that adjust timing based on car detection, Grammarly's real-time writing assistance, and spam filters all...

read Sep 25, 2025

AI-powered fraud apps surge 300% on iOS, even worse on Android

A new study reveals a dramatic surge in fraudulent mobile apps powered by artificial intelligence, with iOS seeing a 300% increase and Android experiencing a 600% spike in fake applications during 2025. The research from DV Fraud Lab, a digital fraud detection company, highlights how AI tools are enabling cybercriminals to create more convincing fraudulent apps that can bypass traditional app store security measures, targeting both unsuspecting users and advertisers. What you should know: DV Fraud Lab's research shows fraudulent apps are using two primary attack vectors to exploit mobile ecosystems. Fake versions of popular apps like Facebook attempt to...

read Sep 25, 2025

Pennsylvania state rep seeks ban on AI primary teachers following pro-AI charter school rejection

Pennsylvania State Rep. Nikki Rivera has introduced legislation to ban charter schools from using artificial intelligence as the primary instructor, requiring certified human teachers instead. The bill follows the state Department of Education's rejection of Unbound Academy's charter application, which proposed AI-driven instruction with human "guides," highlighting growing concerns about AI replacing traditional teaching methods. What you should know: Rivera's proposed legislation would deny AI-powered charter and cyber charter applications as a safeguard against unproven instructional practices. The bill aims to prevent taxpayer dollars from being redirected "from those manipulating the law for their own profit at the expense of...

read Sep 25, 2025

AI translations threaten Wikipedia’s vulnerable language editions

AI-generated machine translations have flooded Wikipedia's smaller language editions with error-riddled content, creating a dangerous feedback loop as AI models train on these flawed pages. The problem is particularly acute for vulnerable languages with few native speakers, where up to 60% of Wikipedia articles are now uncorrected machine translations that could accelerate language extinction rather than preserve these cultural treasures. The scale of the problem: Machine-translated content has overwhelmed Wikipedia editions in hundreds of lesser-known languages, with devastating accuracy issues. Volunteers working on four African languages estimate that between 40% and 60% of articles in their Wikipedia editions are uncorrected...

read Sep 25, 2025

Swiss startup Corintis raises $24M to cool AI chips from within

Corintis, a Swiss startup developing advanced liquid chip-cooling technology, has raised $24 million in Series A funding and added Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to its board. The investment reflects growing demand for better heat management solutions as AI chips consume unprecedented amounts of power, with Microsoft testing showing Corintis's system is up to three times more efficient than standard cooling methods. What you should know: Corintis channels liquid directly through tiny channels etched inside chips rather than just cooling the surface, addressing critical overheating issues in AI hardware. The company was valued at around $400 million after the funding round,...

read Sep 25, 2025

Robosen debuts retrofuturistic, programmable Disney character robots

Robosen Robotics has unveiled a collection of programmable Disney and Pixar character robots that bridge the gap between childhood nostalgia and cutting-edge technology. The company, a leader in consumer robotics with 15 years of development experience, is launching what it calls the world's first modular smart toy platform—essentially transforming beloved animated characters into interactive, programmable companions. Available for pre-order starting September 25, the collection features characters from Toy Story and WALL-E, each equipped with precision engineering that enables authentic movements, character voices, and programmable behaviors. This represents a significant evolution from traditional action figures, offering users the ability to create...

read Sep 25, 2025

6-year-old Indian prodigy displays prowess in coding, robotics and more

A 6-year-old Indian prodigy named AgniV has captured the internet's attention with his advanced skills in coding, robotics, and quantum physics discussions. The young boy, dubbed "India's smartest kid," has amassed a million social media followers and recently shared his ambitious dreams of becoming an astronaut and F1 racer in a podcast with Ranveer Allahbadia, a popular Indian podcaster. What makes him unique: AgniV demonstrates technical abilities far beyond his age, confidently discussing complex programming concepts and scientific principles. He codes in Scratch (a visual programming language designed for children) and can program Arduino electronic boards to control lights, sensors,...

read Sep 25, 2025

Legal experts slam Bluebook’s new AI citation rule as confusing

The 22nd edition of The Bluebook, released in May, introduces Rule 18.3 for citing AI-generated content, but legal experts are calling the new citation standard fundamentally flawed and confusing. The Bluebook acts a foundational guide for the legal profession, offering best practices. Critics argue the new rule treats AI as a citable authority rather than a research tool, creating more confusion than clarity for legal professionals navigating AI citations. What the rule requires: Authors must save screenshots of AI output as PDFs when citing generative AI content like ChatGPT conversations or Google search results. The rule has three sections covering...

read Sep 25, 2025

California-based singer slams AI-generated Mississippi star’s $3M record deal

Oakland R&B singer Kehlani has publicly criticized the AI-generated artist Xania Monet, who recently secured a $3 million record deal with Hallwood Media after achieving top-five R&B chart success. The controversy highlights growing tensions between human musicians and artificial intelligence in the music industry, as artists grapple with AI's ability to create complete songs and compete for traditional recording contracts. What you should know: Xania Monet is an entirely AI-generated R&B artist created by Mississippi writer Talisha Jones, who feeds lyrics into AI systems to produce both the music and visual appearance. Monet has garnered more than 674,000 monthly listeners...

read Sep 25, 2025

Senators probe Big Tech over H-1B hiring amid US layoffs

Senators Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin are demanding answers from Amazon, Meta, Apple, Google, and Microsoft over allegations that these companies laid off American workers while simultaneously hiring thousands of foreign H-1B visa holders at potentially lower wages. The bipartisan inquiry comes as President Trump has imposed a new $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications, fundamentally reshaping how tech companies access foreign talent. What you should know: Amazon faces the heaviest scrutiny for allegedly blaming AI adoption for massive layoffs while hiring over 10,000 H-1B workers. Amazon sponsored the most H-1B visas in 2024 at 14,000, compared to Microsoft and...

read Sep 25, 2025

Tesla faces $51M suit after California factory robot injures technician

A Tesla robotics technician has filed a $51 million lawsuit against the automaker and robotics supplier FANUC America, alleging a malfunctioning robot struck him unconscious at the Fremont factory in July 2023. Peter Hinterdobler claims the incident has already cost him over $1 million in medical expenses, with an additional $6 million expected for ongoing treatment, highlighting growing concerns about workplace safety protocols in automated manufacturing environments. What happened: Hinterdobler was helping an engineer disassemble a robot on July 22, 2023, when the machine's arm "suddenly and without warning released with great force," according to the federal complaint filed in...

read Sep 25, 2025

Shatner dismisses hospital rumors at 94, warns fans about AI misinformation

William Shatner took to Instagram on Thursday to dispel reports of a medical emergency, posting a photo with the caption "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated!" The 94-year-old "Star Trek" icon's public reassurance comes after TMZ reported he was hospitalized Wednesday due to blood sugar issues, highlighting ongoing concerns about misinformation in entertainment reporting. What happened: Shatner was reportedly rushed to a Los Angeles hospital Wednesday afternoon after experiencing blood sugar problems at his home. His agent Harry Gold confirmed to TMZ that the actor was transported as a precautionary measure and discharged the same day after monitoring....

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