Sep 18, 2025

Google brings Gemini AI to all Chrome users with cross-tab features

Google is expanding Gemini AI integration to all Chrome desktop users in the US on Windows and Mac, bringing cross-tab functionality, YouTube video navigation, and Google app integration directly into the browser. This move positions Chrome to compete directly with AI-first browsers like Perplexity's Comet and signals the mainstream arrival of AI-powered browsing experiences for billions of users. What you should know: Gemini in Chrome was previously limited to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers but is now rolling out widely with enhanced capabilities. Users can access Gemini through a new sparkle icon in the top-right corner of the tab...

read Sep 18, 2025

ChatGPT adds age verification to protect teens from harmful content

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT is developing an automated age-detection system that may require users to provide ID verification when their age cannot be determined. The move comes as OpenAI faces mounting pressure over teen safety concerns, including a high-profile lawsuit alleging the chatbot contributed to a 16-year-old's suicide. What you should know: ChatGPT is implementing multiple safety measures specifically designed for users under 18. The platform will use behavioral analysis to estimate user age, defaulting to under-18 protections when uncertain. Altman clarified that "ChatGPT is intended for people 13 and up" in a blog post titled "Teen...

read Sep 18, 2025

Live Science poll: 76% want AI development stopped or delayed over safety fears

A new Live Science poll reveals that 76% of over 1,700 readers believe artificial intelligence development should either be stopped immediately or significantly delayed due to safety concerns. However, 30% of respondents think it's already too late to halt AI's progression toward superintelligence, with many citing the irreversible nature of technological advancement and the global competitive dynamics driving AI research. What the poll found: The September survey exposed deep public anxiety about AI's trajectory toward potential superintelligence, known as the singularity.• 46% of the 1,787 respondents believe AI development must stop now because the risks are too great.• 30% think...

read Sep 18, 2025

Women-led VC firm raises $55M for AI healthcare innovation

Black Opal Ventures, a women-led venture capital firm founded by MIT alumni Dr. Tara Bishop and Eileen Tanghal, has secured funding from major institutions including Eli Lilly, Bank of America, and JPMorgan to invest at the intersection of frontier technology and healthcare innovation. The firm's success comes at a time when female-founded companies received just 2.1% of U.S. venture capital in 2024, demonstrating how specialized expertise and strategic positioning can break through traditional funding barriers. The big picture: Black Opal represents a rare combination in venture capital—women leaders with deep domain expertise targeting the convergence of cutting-edge technologies like AI,...

read Sep 18, 2025

Meta’s $799 Ray-Ban Display glasses add screens to smart eyewear

Meta has unveiled its Ray-Ban Display glasses, featuring a tiny screen inside the lens that allows users to read messages, view photos, and get directions without looking at their phones. Priced at $799 and launching September 30 in limited US stores, the glasses represent Meta's latest push into AI-powered wearables and a significant step toward mainstream augmented reality adoption. What you should know: The Display glasses build on Meta's existing smart glasses line by adding visual feedback through a small display in the right lens corner. Unlike previous audio-only versions, users can now see text messages, Instagram Reels, maps, and...

read Sep 18, 2025

Icarus Robotics raises $6.1M for AI worker robots in space stations

Pigs in space never made sense. But robots... Icarus Robotics has raised $6.1 million in seed funding to develop AI-controlled worker robots for commercial space stations. The New York startup aims to handle routine tasks like cargo management and equipment checks, freeing astronauts to focus on scientific research that only humans can perform. The big picture: With the International Space Station set for decommissioning and commercial space stations on the horizon, the economics of astronaut time are becoming increasingly scrutinized—especially when highly trained crew members spend valuable hours on mundane tasks rather than groundbreaking science. Why this matters: At $130,000...

read Sep 18, 2025

Korean tech giants move AI research to Silicon Valley amid work restrictions

Korean AI robotics companies are relocating their research operations to Silicon Valley to access top-tier talent, with Samsung, LG, and Hyundai establishing or expanding facilities in the region. This exodus reflects growing concerns about Korea's restrictive research environment, which industry experts say could undermine the government's ambitious goal to become a global leader in "physical AI" despite plans to invest $4.3 billion over five years. The talent exodus: Major Korean conglomerates are betting their robotics future on Silicon Valley expertise rather than domestic capabilities. Samsung Research America hired Kris Hauser, a University of Illinois professor with awards from IEEE and...

read Sep 18, 2025

Huawei unveils world’s most powerful AI computing systems with 1M+ NPUs

Huawei has unveiled what it claims are the world's most powerful AI computing systems, featuring SuperPoDs with up to 15,488 NPUs (neural processing units, specialized chips for AI calculations) and superclusters containing over one million NPUs. The announcement positions the Chinese tech giant as a direct challenger to Nvidia and AMD in the high-performance AI computing market, particularly as US export restrictions limit access to American-made AI chips. What you should know: Huawei's new Atlas series represents a comprehensive AI infrastructure ecosystem designed to compete with established players.• The Atlas 950 SuperPoD contains 8,192 Ascend NPUs, while the superior Atlas...

read Sep 18, 2025

Human judgements of flat design: Tech pros preaching AI taste often lacked it before AI

Tech professionals are increasingly preaching about the need to develop "taste" when using AI tools, but many of these same voices never demonstrated discernment in their pre-AI work. This hypocrisy reveals that the real issue isn't AI creating tasteless content—it's that people who lacked critical judgment before are now producing mediocre work at scale, making their deficiencies more visible than ever. What taste actually means: In the AI context, taste encompasses four key skills that should have been applied to work all along. Contextual appropriateness: Knowing when AI-generated content fits the situation versus when human input is essential. Quality recognition:...

read Sep 18, 2025

34% of workers uncomfortable with AI calculating their pay, claims survey

A new PayrollOrg survey reveals significant worker resistance to artificial intelligence in payroll management, with 34% of American workers uncomfortable with AI calculating their wages and 45% opposing AI handling payroll inquiries. These findings suggest that despite AI's broader workplace adoption, employees remain particularly cautious about automation in areas directly affecting their financial wellbeing, highlighting the need for human oversight and transparent communication in payroll technology implementation. What you should know: The 2025 "Getting Paid In America" survey captured responses from over 25,900 workers nationwide, revealing deep skepticism about AI's role in payroll processes. Of 22,464 respondents asked about AI...

read Sep 18, 2025

UCLA scientists use laser light to make AI image generation 90% more energy efficient

UCLA scientists have developed a new AI image generation system that uses laser light as a decoder instead of traditional digital computation, dramatically reducing energy consumption during the inference process. The breakthrough could make AI more sustainable while opening doors for energy-efficient wearable AI devices like smart glasses. How it works: The system combines a shallow digital encoder with a diffractive optical decoder that uses light to generate images instantly.• The heart of the system is a liquid crystal screen called a spatial light modulator (SLM) that imprints image information into a laser beam.• By passing through a second decoding...

read Sep 18, 2025

Dairy state data: Microsoft builds world’s most powerful computing hub in Wisconsin

Microsoft has announced plans to launch the Fairwater AI data center in Wisconsin by early 2026, which the company claims will be the "world's most powerful" AI facility. The $3.3 billion project transforms Foxconn's abandoned LCD factory site into a massive computing hub designed to accelerate Microsoft's AI training capabilities while addressing environmental concerns through innovative cooling technology. What you should know: The Fairwater data center represents a massive scale of AI infrastructure housed in repurposed industrial buildings.• The facility spans 1.2 million square feet across three buildings on 315 acres of land, utilizing the site of Foxconn's failed LCD...

read Sep 18, 2025

NVIDIA buys $5B Intel stake to forge chip manufacturing partnership

NVIDIA has agreed to purchase $5 billion worth of Intel stock at $23.28 per share, making it a major shareholder in the struggling chipmaker just weeks after the U.S. government acquired a 10% stake. The strategic investment will create a new partnership where Intel manufactures NVIDIA chips while incorporating NVIDIA's RTX GPU chiplets into its own PC processors, potentially reshaping the competitive dynamics in both AI infrastructure and consumer computing markets. What you should know: The deal creates a mutually beneficial manufacturing and technology partnership between the two chip giants. Intel will build NVIDIA-custom x86 CPUs that NVIDIA will integrate...

read Sep 18, 2025

Trump openly confused by AI amid US-UK tech deal that includes 120K Nvidia chips

U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged on Thursday that artificial intelligence is "taking over the world" during a state visit to Britain, candidly admitting his limited understanding of the technology while addressing tech leaders including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. The comments came as Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a major "Tech Prosperity Deal" that includes AI healthcare development, quantum computing expansion, and civil nuclear projects—highlighting how world leaders are grappling with AI's rapid advancement while relying heavily on tech executives to guide policy decisions. What they're saying: Trump's remarks to the assembled business and tech leaders were notably...

read Sep 18, 2025

What the Zuck?! Meta’s live AI demos fail spectacularly at Connect conference

Meta's highly anticipated live AI demos at its annual Connect conference suffered multiple technical failures, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg visibly frustrated as both smart glasses demonstrations malfunctioned on stage. The embarrassing glitches undermined the company's attempt to showcase what Zuckerberg called a "huge scientific leap" in neural band technology and AI-powered smart glasses. What went wrong: Two separate live demonstrations failed spectacularly, leaving Zuckerberg scrambling to maintain composure in front of the audience. An Instagram influencer testing the Live AI feature on Meta's smart glasses couldn't get the system to properly respond to cooking questions, with the AI incorrectly assessing...

read Sep 18, 2025

Bank of America raises minimum wage to $25 as AI reshapes workforce

Bank of America has raised its U.S. minimum wage to $25 per hour, fulfilling a "25 by 2025" commitment made in 2021 and translating to annual salaries exceeding $50,000 for full-time employees. The announcement comes as CEO Brian Moynihan acknowledged that artificial intelligence is shrinking some departments, though the bank is focusing on redeploying and reskilling affected workers. The big picture: This wage increase represents a 67% jump since 2017, when Bank of America's minimum wage was $15 per hour, positioning the financial giant at the forefront of corporate wage policy during a period of slowing employment growth and rising...

read Sep 18, 2025

Oof, $2.8M startup uses fake job posts to funnel candidates into AI interviews

A job seeker named Conor applied for a content architecture position and received an immediate interview offer, only to discover he was being interviewed by a poorly programmed AI system that couldn't provide basic job details. After the interview, he received an email promoting "mock interviews with an AI interviewer," leading him to suspect the entire job posting was a fake designed to generate leads for Alex's new product. The big picture: Alex, a $2.8 million startup founded by Brown University dropout John Rytel and former Facebook AI employee Aaron Wang, appears to be using fake job listings to funnel...

read Sep 17, 2025

Moody’s flags risks in Oracle’s massive $300B AI infrastructure bet

Moody's Ratings has flagged several potential risks in Oracle's recently signed $300 billion in AI contracts, primarily with OpenAI, though the credit rating agency stopped short of taking ratings action against the software giant. The warning highlights concerns about Oracle's heavy reliance on a small number of AI companies to fund its massive data center expansion, which Moody's considers "effectively one of, if not the world's largest, project financing." What you should know: Oracle's $300 billion contract windfall comes primarily from a five-year deal with OpenAI for computing power, representing one of the biggest cloud contracts ever signed. Oracle said...

read Sep 17, 2025

Hong Kong goes long on AI, plans for deployment in 200 public services by 2027

Hong Kong plans to integrate artificial intelligence into at least 200 public service procedures by the end of 2027, marking one of the city's most ambitious digital transformation initiatives. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced the sweeping reform as part of his policy address, positioning AI development as both an industry priority and a tool for creating more efficient, tech-driven government services. The timeline: Hong Kong will deploy AI tools across 100 different government procedures by 2026 alone, before expanding to 200 procedures by 2027. The technology will target areas including data analysis, customer service, and expediting approval processes for...

read Sep 17, 2025

Raising the lumbar: AI slashes spine modeling time from 24 hours to 30 minutes

Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have developed an AI-powered system that automates lumbar spine modeling, reducing the time needed to create patient-specific spine models from over 24 hours to just 30 minutes. This breakthrough addresses a critical bottleneck in treating lower back pain—which affects nearly 30% of U.S. adults in any three-month period—by making advanced biomechanical modeling accessible for routine clinical use. The big picture: Traditional lumbar spine modeling requires manual, expert-driven processes that can take days to complete, limiting its practical application in clinical settings where quick decision-making is crucial. How it works: The automated pipeline integrates deep learning...

read Sep 17, 2025

OpenAI launches ChatGPT personalization hub amid GPT-5 backlash

OpenAI has launched an updated personalization hub for ChatGPT, allowing users to customize the AI chatbot's personality, communication style, and memory settings through a new interface accessible via settings. The move comes as OpenAI attempts to address widespread user dissatisfaction with GPT-5's performance, which many found inferior to its predecessor GPT-4o in both speed and conversational quality. What you should know: The new personalization page offers several customization options designed to make ChatGPT feel more like a trusted colleague than a machine. Users can select from personality types including "Cynic," "Robot," "Listener," and "Nerd" through a dropdown menu. A custom...

read Sep 17, 2025

AI tool identifies 1,000+ predatory journals threatening scientific integrity

Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed an AI tool that can identify predatory scientific journals—fake publications that charge researchers fees but skip the peer review process. The tool successfully identified over 1,000 illegitimate journals out of nearly 15,200 analyzed, addressing a growing threat to scientific integrity that can spread misinformation for decades. The big picture: Predatory journals represent a significant threat to scientific credibility, as demonstrated by the infamous 1998 vaccine-autism study published by British doctor Andrew Wakefield that spread harmful misinformation despite appearing in a reputable journal. How it works: The AI system replicates human analysis...

read Sep 17, 2025

New study challenges AI job displacement predictions with emphasis on job transition, not elimination

Northeastern University researcher Esteban Moro has developed a new skill-based model for measuring individual workers' risk of job displacement due to artificial intelligence. The approach challenges traditional unemployment statistics by recognizing that AI transforms jobs by redefining skills and tasks rather than simply eliminating positions, offering a more nuanced understanding of how automation affects the workforce. What you should know: Moro's research reveals that existing "doomsday predictions" about AI-driven job losses have proven inaccurate when compared against real unemployment data. A recent study published in PNAS Nexus found that historical models predicting nearly 40% of certain jobs would disappear and...

read Sep 17, 2025

“Tell companies it looks uncool”: Illustrator against AI art now helps artists in NYC fight back

Artist and illustrator Molly Crabapple discovered in 2022 that AI companies had scraped her distinctive artwork—including illustrations of Aleppo's skyline and protest portraits—to train image-generation models that now produce crude imitations of her style. Her experience highlights a broader concern among creative professionals who argue that AI threatens artistic livelihoods while degrading the quality of visual content across the internet. What happened: Crabapple led a workshop in Manhattan's Lower East Side called "Artists Against the Slop Beast," where she and tech editor Edward Ongweso Jr. outlined strategies for resisting AI adoption in creative industries. The big picture: Silicon Valley executives...

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