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Creators are trying to roofie AI bots to prevent crawling and unauthorized training
Web-browsing bots now account for the majority of internet traffic for the first time, with AI company crawlers like ChatGPT-User and ClaudeBot representing 6% and 13% of all web traffic respectively. Content creators are fighting back with "AI poisoning" tools that corrupt training data, but these same techniques could be weaponized to spread misinformation at scale. The big picture: The battle between AI companies scraping data and content creators protecting their work has escalated beyond legal disputes into a technological arms race that could reshape how information flows across the internet. Key details: Major AI companies argue data scraping falls...
read Aug 12, 2025LG C5 OLED TVs hit record-low prices with up to $900 off
LG's premium OLED TV lineup just became significantly more accessible, with the company's latest C5 series hitting record-low prices across multiple screen sizes. The 55-inch model, originally priced at $1,800, has dropped to $1,299 on Amazon—a substantial $500 discount that represents the deepest price cut since the series launched earlier this year. This pricing shift extends across the entire C5 range, with savings reaching over $900 on larger models. The timing is particularly notable given that OLED displays, which use organic light-emitting diodes to create perfect blacks and vibrant colors, typically maintain premium pricing throughout their first year on the...
read Aug 12, 2025MIT startup helps police connect crimes across jurisdictions with AI
Multitude Insights, a three-year-old Somerville startup founded by MIT graduates, has developed AI-powered software to help police departments modernize crime bulletins and identify patterns across jurisdictions. The platform has been piloted by Boston, Brookline, and Watertown police departments among dozens of agencies across 10 states, representing a significant shift from traditional paper-based and faxed crime reporting systems. What you should know: The software replaces antiquated paper bulletins with digital templates and uses AI to connect crimes across multiple jurisdictions. Police officers can create digital crime bulletins using template forms instead of printed papers, PDFs, or faxed copies. AI analyzes multiple...
read Aug 12, 2025The new NAFTA? US labor unions push state laws to restrict AI in workplaces
Today in Obvious: Labor unions across the United States are mobilizing to push state-level legislation that would restrict how artificial intelligence is deployed in workplaces, targeting everything from autonomous vehicles to AI-powered hiring decisions. This coordinated effort comes after federal attempts to regulate AI stalled, leaving states as the primary battleground for determining how workers will be protected from potential job displacement and algorithmic bias. The big picture: The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a federation of 63 national and international labor unions, launched a national task force last month to work with state lawmakers...
read Aug 12, 2025YouTube’s AI age verification sparks 50K-signature privacy backlash
YouTube faces mounting backlash from tens of thousands of users protesting its new AI-powered age verification system, with a Change.org petition rapidly approaching 50,000 signatures. The system analyzes viewing habits to identify users under 18, then requires government ID, credit card, or selfie verification to lift content restrictions—a move critics argue threatens privacy and digital freedom. What you should know: YouTube's AI estimates user ages by analyzing viewing patterns, search behavior, and account longevity, automatically restricting accounts it deems underage. Users flagged as under 18 face disabled personalized ads, mandatory digital wellbeing tools, and limits on repetitive content viewing. To...
read Aug 12, 2025AI systems repeat the same security mistakes as 1990s internet
Cybersecurity researchers at Black Hat USA 2025, the world's premier information security conference, delivered a sobering message: artificial intelligence systems are repeating the same fundamental security mistakes that plagued the internet in the 1990s. The rush to deploy AI across business operations has created a dangerous blind spot where decades of hard-learned cybersecurity lessons are being forgotten. "AI agents are like a toddler. You have to follow them around and make sure they don't do dumb things," said Wendy Nather, senior research initiatives director at 1Password, a leading password management company. "We're also getting a whole new crop of people...
read Aug 12, 2025Character.AI pivots from AGI to entertainment with 20M monthly users
Character.AI has pivoted from its original mission of building artificial general intelligence to focus on AI entertainment, with new CEO Karandeep Anand announcing the company now serves 20 million monthly active users who spend an average of 75 minutes daily on the platform. The strategic shift comes after Google's $2.7 billion licensing deal last August and mounting safety concerns following a wrongful death lawsuit, positioning the startup to compete in the rapidly growing AI entertainment market rather than the costly AGI development race. What you should know: Character.AI has fundamentally changed its business model and technical approach under new leadership....
read Aug 12, 2025AI cloud provider CoreWeave reports $1.21B revenue, $30.1B backlog
CoreWeave, an Nvidia-backed AI cloud computing company, exceeded Wall Street revenue expectations for the second quarter, reporting $1.21 billion against analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. The strong performance reflects surging demand for GPU-based infrastructure needed to train and run large AI models. What you should know: CoreWeave operates exclusively in GPU-based cloud computing, providing access to Nvidia chips that are essential for AI development. The company currently operates 33 AI data centers across the United States and Europe, focusing solely on GPU infrastructure rather than traditional CPU-based cloud services. Revenue backlog reached $30.1 billion as of June 30, indicating strong...
read Aug 12, 2025Claude Sonnet 4 expands to 1M tokens for enterprise coding
Anthropic announced that Claude Sonnet 4 can now process up to 1 million tokens of context in a single request—a fivefold increase that allows developers to analyze entire software projects or dozens of research papers without breaking them into smaller chunks. The expansion, available in public beta through Anthropic's API and Amazon Bedrock, represents a significant leap in how AI assistants can handle complex, data-intensive tasks while positioning the company to defend its 42% share of the AI code generation market against intensifying competition from OpenAI and Google. What you should know: The expanded context capability enables developers to load...
read Aug 12, 2025Post at your peril: UK’s HMRC uses AI to monitor social media for tax fraud investigations
HMRC has confirmed it uses artificial intelligence to monitor social media posts as part of criminal investigations into suspected tax cheats, marking a significant expansion of automated surveillance in tax enforcement. The technology enables the tax authority to streamline investigations while raising important questions about privacy, accuracy, and the role of AI in government oversight. What you should know: HMRC, the UK's tax authority, emphasizes that AI monitoring is limited to criminal investigations and includes human oversight to prevent automated decision-making. The technology is only used as part of criminal investigations, not on everyday taxpayers, according to an HMRC spokesperson....
read Aug 12, 2025Anything not healthcare in trouble? Economist warns AI will shatter white-collar jobs
Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi is warning that the U.S. economy may be on the verge of recession, citing widespread layoffs and dismal July jobs data that showed only 73,000 new positions created. His analysis suggests that AI-driven automation could make the next economic downturn particularly devastating for white-collar workers who previously considered their jobs recession-proof. What you should know: Recent employment data paints an increasingly bleak picture of the U.S. job market, with traditional "safe" roles experiencing unprecedented vulnerability. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported just 73,000 jobs created in July, well below the expected 106,000 and down...
read Aug 12, 2025Australia’s first sovereign AI data center launches in 2026 via Dell-Macquarie deal
Macquarie Data Centres, part of the Macquarie Technology Group, and Dell Technologies are partnering to establish Australia's first sovereign AI infrastructure facility, combining Dell's AI technology with locally-operated data center infrastructure. The initiative addresses growing concerns about Australia's lack of investment in domestic AI capabilities, which experts warn poses national security and economic risks in an increasingly competitive global AI landscape. What you should know: The Dell AI Factory with Nvidia will be hosted in Macquarie's purpose-built IC3 Super West data center, a 47MW facility designed specifically for high-power AI workloads. The facility is scheduled for completion in mid-2026 and...
read Aug 12, 202575% trust AI agents but only 30% accept taking orders from them
New research reveals a complex relationship between AI agents and workplace trust, with employees increasingly comfortable working alongside these systems but hesitant to grant them significant autonomy. A Workday survey of nearly 3,000 business leaders found that while 75% feel comfortable collaborating with AI agents, only 30% would accept taking orders from one, highlighting the delicate balance companies must strike as they integrate AI into daily operations. What you should know: Employee comfort with AI agents varies dramatically based on the level of control and oversight involved. Only 24% of respondents said they'd be comfortable with agents operating without direct...
read Aug 12, 2025Employee of the Month: Salesforce’s CoAct-1 hybrid AI agent achieves 60% task success rate
Salesforce researchers have developed CoAct-1, a new computer-use AI agent that combines traditional point-and-click navigation with code execution to automate complex tasks. The hybrid system achieved a 60.76% success rate on the OSWorld benchmark while requiring significantly fewer steps than purely GUI-based agents, potentially solving the brittleness issues that plague current automation tools. How it works: CoAct-1 operates as a three-agent team that strategically chooses between coding and clicking based on the task at hand. The Orchestrator acts as project manager, analyzing user goals and delegating subtasks to either the Programmer or GUI Operator based on which approach would be...
read Aug 12, 2025Lawyers who master AI prompting are outpacing peers in speed and efficiency
The legal profession stands at a crossroads with artificial intelligence. While industry leaders warn that lawyers must adapt or risk obsolescence, the reality is more nuanced than wholesale replacement. AI is fundamentally reshaping how legal professionals deliver value and the speed at which they operate. The lawyers making the biggest impact today understand how to guide artificial intelligence with precision and control. This shift represents more than just adopting new technology—it requires developing an entirely new professional skill set, much like the difference between walking and driving a vehicle. The transformation in practice Consider the evolution happening in real-time within...
read Aug 12, 2025AWS launches OpenAI’s first open-weight models in 6 years
AWS has launched day-of-launch availability of two new open-weight models from OpenAI on Amazon Bedrock and Amazon SageMaker, breaking Microsoft's traditional exclusivity with OpenAI. This marks the first time OpenAI has released open-weight models since GPT-2 in 2019, allowing AWS customers to fine-tune the models for specific use cases without directly interacting with OpenAI. What you should know: The two new models—gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b—represent OpenAI's first open-weight releases in six years. Open-weight models have visible parameters that allow AWS customers to fine-tune them for specific use cases, though the underlying training data isn't visible like in fully open-source models. OpenAI...
read Aug 12, 2025Public Service AI: Mexican senator deploys $4K robot dog to teach animal welfare on streets
A Mexican federal senator has deployed "Waldog," an AI-powered robot dog, to teach animal kindness and raise awareness about animal welfare on the streets of Monterrey. The beagle-sized robot engages children and adults in conversations about animal rights while also serving practical functions like identifying street hazards and documenting stray animals. What you should know: Senator Waldo Fernandez purchased Waldog for $4,084 with his own money and named the robot after himself. The robot requires adult supervision and operates via remote control, making rounds through low-income neighborhoods like Santa Catarina. Waldog introduces itself by saying, "Hi, I'm Waldog, and I'm...
read Aug 12, 2025AI transforms K-12 education as 2.5M teachers give into it, save hours weekly
AI is rapidly transforming K-12 education, with nearly a third of teachers now using the technology weekly and millions accessing specialized platforms like MagicSchool AI. This shift represents a fundamental change in how both students and educators approach learning, creating new opportunities for personalized instruction while raising concerns about academic integrity and over-reliance on artificial intelligence. What you should know: The current high school senior class represents the last generation to experience pre-ChatGPT education, having started freshman year just months before the chatbot's release. Students have evolved beyond simple copy-pasting, now using multiple AI models and asking chatbots to introduce...
read Aug 12, 2025Apple’s AI ambitions threaten 2030 carbon neutrality goal
Apple is facing mounting challenges in meeting its 2030 carbon neutrality goal as AI ambitions collide with climate commitments, with iPhone emissions progress stalling since 2022 despite earlier gains. The tech giant's push into artificial intelligence through Apple Intelligence is creating new energy demands while supplier compliance issues and global manufacturing shifts further complicate its environmental targets. The emissions reality: iPhone carbon footprints have plateaued after initial progress, revealing the tension between innovation and sustainability. The iPhone 12 Pro started at 82 kilograms CO2E in 2020, dropped sharply to 69 kilograms for the iPhone 13 Pro, but then stalled completely...
read Aug 12, 2025The fifth coming: Study finds 5 AI chatbots claiming to be Jesus Christ
A South African philosophy scholar has found that five popular AI chatbots are claiming to be Jesus Christ himself, with platforms like AI Jesus, Virtual Jesus, and Text With Jesus collectively serving tens of thousands of users. The bots represent a concerning shift from faith-based tools to for-profit platforms that could exploit religious believers' spiritual needs while potentially undermining traditional religious authority. What you should know: These AI Jesus bots don't just offer religious guidance—they explicitly claim divine identity. When asked directly if they are Jesus Christ, AI Jesus responded: "I am Jesus Christ. I am the son of God,...
read Aug 12, 2025Trump weighs allowing downgraded Nvidia Blackwell chips to China
President Donald Trump has signaled openness to allowing Nvidia to sell a downgraded version of its most advanced Blackwell AI chip to China, potentially reducing performance by 30-50%. This development comes as part of ongoing negotiations over semiconductor exports, with Nvidia and AMD already agreeing to pay the U.S. government a 15% revenue cut from Chinese chip sales in exchange for export licenses. What you should know: Trump indicated he would consider approving a "somewhat enhanced — in a negative way" Blackwell processor for Chinese markets. The president said he plans to meet with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang specifically about...
read Aug 12, 2025New home for Chrome? Perplexity AI bids $34.5B for top browser as Google faces divestiture pressure
Perplexity AI has made an unsolicited $34.5 billion bid to acquire Google's Chrome browser, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal and CNBC. The surprise offer comes as Google faces a pending antitrust ruling that could force the tech giant to divest Chrome, with the Justice Department seeking to break up Google's browser monopoly. Why this matters: The bid represents a bold move by Perplexity to acquire one of the world's most dominant web browsers, potentially reshaping the competitive landscape in search and browsing technology. The numbers: Perplexity's offer significantly exceeds its own $18 billion valuation, with the AI...
read Aug 12, 2025Musk threatens Apple lawsuit over ChatGPT favoritism in App Store
Elon Musk has threatened to sue Apple and OpenAI, alleging that the iPhone maker unfairly favors ChatGPT over competing AI apps in the App Store rankings. Musk claims this constitutes "an unequivocal antitrust violation," escalating his ongoing feud with OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman while potentially opening a new legal front in the competitive AI landscape. What you should know: Musk's legal threat centers on claims that Apple's App Store policies create unfair advantages for OpenAI's ChatGPT application.• He alleges that Apple has made it "impossible for any AI app other than OpenAI's ChatGPT to reach the top of the App...
read Aug 11, 2025Why most AI pilots fail to scale beyond proof-of-concept
Artificial intelligence pilots generate excitement across enterprises, but most never escape the experimental phase. While hackathons produce impressive demos and leadership presentations showcase promising prototypes, the majority of these initiatives quietly stall in organizational silos, never achieving meaningful scale or business impact. The pattern repeats across industries—from financial services to manufacturing to healthcare. Companies excel at experimentation but struggle with the transition from proof-of-concept to operational reality. The gap between pilot and platform represents one of the most significant challenges facing enterprise AI adoption today. However, some organizations successfully navigate this transition. The difference isn't just technological capability—it's a fundamental...
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