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ElevenLabs launches AI music generator with full commercial rights
ElevenLabs has launched an AI music generator that offers full commercial rights to users, allowing generated music to be used in YouTube videos, movies, and advertising without licensing restrictions. The move positions the AI voice company to expand beyond its core offering into the less-crowded generative music space, where commercial usage rights could provide a significant competitive advantage. What you should know: The tool operates through simple text prompts, similar to chatbots or image generators, where users can request specific musical styles and themes. Users can input prompts like "create an early 2000s pop song with lyrics about a romantic...
read Aug 6, 2025Open up and say AI: Elon Musk to open source Grok 2 chatbot next week
Elon Musk announced that his artificial intelligence startup xAI will open source its Grok 2 chatbot next week. This move represents a significant shift toward transparency in AI development, potentially giving developers and researchers broader access to one of the more prominent large language models in the competitive AI landscape. What you should know: The announcement was made by Musk on Wednesday, with the open-sourcing scheduled for the following week.• Grok 2 is xAI's flagship chatbot, competing with models from OpenAI, Google, and other major AI companies.• Open sourcing the model would make its code and potentially its training data...
read Aug 6, 2025Illinois becomes first state to regulate AI mental health with $10K fines
Illinois has enacted the Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act, the first state law specifically regulating AI use in mental health services, signed into law on August 1, 2025. The legislation creates strict requirements for both AI companies whose systems provide mental health advice and therapists who integrate AI into their practices, establishing penalties of up to $10,000 per violation and signaling the start of broader regulatory action across other states and potentially at the federal level. What you should know: The law targets two primary groups with different restrictions and requirements. AI makers cannot allow their systems to...
read Aug 6, 20252 LA residents charged with illegally exporting $10M in AI chips to China
Two Los Angeles County residents face federal charges for allegedly illegally exporting tens of millions of dollars' worth of artificial intelligence microchips to China over nearly three years. The case highlights ongoing U.S. efforts to prevent sensitive AI technology from reaching China amid growing geopolitical tensions over semiconductor exports. What you should know: Chuan Geng, 28, of Pasadena, and Shiwei Yang, 28, of El Monte, were arrested Saturday for allegedly violating federal export controls through their company ALX Solutions Inc. Both are Chinese nationals, with Geng holding lawful permanent resident status and Yang having overstayed her visa. They operated an...
read Aug 6, 2025Universities can now access Claude for Education through AWS Marketplace
Anthropic's Claude for Education is now available through AWS Marketplace, providing universities with a streamlined way to access the AI assistant through their existing Amazon Web Services accounts. This new distribution pathway simplifies procurement and billing for educational institutions while maintaining all the features designed specifically for academic use. What you should know: The AWS Marketplace listing doesn't introduce new functionality but creates a more accessible acquisition path for universities already using AWS infrastructure. Institutions can leverage their established AWS agreements and manage subscriptions centrally through AWS's consolidated billing and procurement processes. This differs from Claude access through Amazon Bedrock,...
read Aug 5, 2025Rose-Hulman launches computer science major with AI and cybersecurity tracks
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, a private engineering school in Indiana, has launched a redesigned computer science major featuring specialized tracks in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and data science. The restructured program offers two distinct pathways—one focused on industry-ready software development and another emphasizing research and theory—allowing students to tailor their education around emerging technologies and high-demand career fields. What you should know: The new unified computer science major replaces Rose-Hulman's previous program structure with a more flexible approach that addresses current industry needs. Students can choose between a Developer pathway for real-world software development and industry careers, or a Researcher pathway...
read Aug 5, 2025Microsoft’s AI prototype reverse engineers malware with 90% accuracy
Microsoft has developed Project Ire, an AI prototype that can autonomously reverse engineer malware without human assistance, automating one of cybersecurity's most challenging tasks. The system achieved 90% accuracy in identifying malicious Windows driver files with only a 2% false-positive rate, demonstrating clear potential for deployment alongside expert security teams. What you should know: Project Ire represents a significant advancement in automated malware detection, capable of analyzing software files with no prior information about their origin or purpose. The AI successfully detected sophisticated threats including Windows-based rootkits and malware designed to disable antivirus software by identifying their key behavioral patterns....
read Aug 5, 2025Match Group beats earnings with $50M AI strategy to win back Gen Z
Match Group posted second-quarter revenue of $864 million, beating Wall Street expectations of $853.6 million, driven by strong performance at Hinge and new CEO Spencer Rascoff's strategic overhaul. The Tinder-parent company is betting heavily on artificial intelligence features to attract Gen Z users and revitalize growth in a sluggish online dating market, with plans to reinvest $50 million in AI-powered initiatives during the second half of 2025. Why it matters: Match Group's AI-first strategy is showing early results despite broader industry headwinds affecting user growth. The company reported a 5% decline in paying users to 14.1 million, reflecting challenges across...
read Aug 5, 2025Super Micro shares plunge 15% as AI server, infrastructure demand cools
Super Micro Computer shares plunged 15% in extended trading Tuesday after the server maker reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that fell short of Wall Street expectations and issued disappointing guidance for the current quarter. The results underscore the company's slowing growth trajectory as the initial surge in AI infrastructure demand begins to normalize. Key financial results: Super Micro missed analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter ending June 30. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 41 cents versus the expected 44 cents. Revenue reached $5.76 billion, below the $5.89 billion consensus estimate. Revenue still...
read Aug 5, 2025Job alert: Kyber AI document platform seeking Enterprise Account Executive
Kyber, a Y Combinator-backed AI document platform for enterprises, is hiring an Enterprise Account Executive to scale its sales operations in the insurance industry. The company has achieved remarkable growth over the past nine months, increasing revenue by more than 20x while securing multiple six and seven-figure contracts through word-of-mouth referrals alone. What you should know: Kyber's AI-native solution transforms regulatory document workflows, delivering significant efficiency gains for insurance companies. The platform enables insurance claims organizations to consolidate 80% of their templates, spend 65% less time drafting documents, and compress overall communication cycle times by 5x. Companies like Branch Insurance...
read Aug 5, 2025ASUS and NVIDIA unveil desktop AI supercomputers with 784GB memory
ASUS and NVIDIA have unveiled a new class of AI desktop supercomputers featuring the NVIDIA Grace Blackwell superchips, including the ASUS ExpertCenter Pro ET900N G3 desktop and the ultra-compact ASUS Ascent GX10 mini-PC. These systems address the "last mile" challenge in AI computing by delivering data center-level performance in desktop form factors, with the ExpertCenter Pro offering up to 784GB of GPU memory and the palm-sized Ascent GX10 providing up to 1,000 AI TOPS of processing power. The big picture: Traditional consumer graphics cards like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 with 32GB of VRAM can handle smaller AI models, but...
read Aug 5, 2025Amazon plans ads for $20/month Alexa+ as AI losses mount
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has revealed plans to potentially introduce advertisements to Alexa+, the company's premium AI assistant service, during the company's recent earnings call. The move represents Amazon's latest attempt to monetize its struggling voice assistant platform, which has reportedly cost the company billions of dollars over the years while falling behind competitors like Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT. What you should know: Alexa+ is Amazon's enhanced conversational AI assistant launched in February, designed to compete with advanced AI chatbots through improved memory and natural conversation capabilities. The service costs $19.99 per month for non-Prime members, while Prime subscribers...
read Aug 5, 2025Meta’s AI cuts concrete carbon by 35% while boosting strength 43% faster
Meta and ready-mix supplier Amrize have deployed an AI-optimized concrete recipe at Meta's Minnesota data center that reaches 4,000-psi strength 43% faster while cutting embodied carbon by 35%. The breakthrough demonstrates how Bayesian optimization can solve concrete's carbon paradox—delivering both speed and sustainability for the trillion-dollar data center construction boom. How it works: The collaboration used Meta's open-source Ax and BoTorch frameworks combined with University of Illinois research to create a "bespoke" mixture design. Researchers fed hundreds of thousands of historic cylinder tests, aggregate gradations, and supplementary material chemistries into a Bayesian optimization engine that treated strength, shrinkage resistance, and...
read Aug 5, 2025Tesla co-founder uses recycled EV batteries to power AI data centers
JB Straubel, Tesla's co-founder and former chief technology officer, is pioneering a new approach to powering AI data centers using recycled electric vehicle batteries through his company Redwood Materials. This innovative solution addresses the skyrocketing energy demands of artificial intelligence infrastructure while extending the useful life of EV batteries that still retain significant storage capacity. What you should know: Straubel founded Redwood Materials in 2017 with the original mission of creating a closed-loop battery recycling system for electric vehicles. The company has now expanded its focus to repurpose used EV batteries for grid-scale energy storage applications. These "second-life" batteries still...
read Aug 5, 2025NSF invests $100M in AI-powered cloud labs for scientific research
The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a new funding opportunity that will invest up to $100 million to create a network of "programmable cloud laboratories" nationwide. These AI-enabled facilities will allow researchers to remotely access cutting-edge technology to automate scientific discovery and innovation, directly implementing a priority from the White House AI Action Plan. What you should know: The NSF PCL Test Bed initiative will establish artificial intelligence-enabled laboratories that can be remotely accessed to run custom, user-programmed AI workflows. The program will be led by NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP) and is subject to future...
read Aug 5, 2025AMD beats revenue but stock drops 3% on $800M China export impact
AMD reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings despite beating revenue estimates, with adjusted earnings per share of 48 cents versus the expected 49 cents, while revenue reached $7.69 billion against expectations of $7.42 billion. The chipmaker's stock dropped about 3% in extended trading as the company continues battling U.S. export controls that cost it $800 million in the quarter. Major AI customers like Meta and OpenAI are increasingly turning to AMD as an alternative to Nvidia's dominant graphics processing unit (GPU) offerings. Key financial results: AMD's mixed quarterly performance reflects both growth opportunities and regulatory headwinds in the AI chip market. Net...
read Aug 5, 2025AI is displacing young workers and creating overall tech hiring slowdown, claims economist
Goldman Sachs economist Joseph Briggs reports that artificial intelligence is already beginning to impact the U.S. labor market, with young tech workers experiencing the earliest signs of displacement. The data suggests that while most companies haven't yet deployed AI in production at scale, the technology sector has already begun pulling back on hiring, particularly affecting workers between 20 and 30 years old whose jobs are most susceptible to automation. What you should know: Tech sector employment has broken from its 20-year linear growth pattern, with hiring falling below trend over the past three years. Unemployment rates among tech workers aged...
read Aug 5, 2025Perplexity pushes back, calls Cloudflare’s AI crawler claims “embarrassing errors”
Perplexity has fired back at Cloudflare's accusations that the AI company uses stealth crawlers to bypass website restrictions, calling the claims "embarrassing errors" and questioning Cloudflare's technical competence. The dispute escalates a growing battle over AI companies' data collection practices, with Perplexity accusing Cloudflare, a content delivery network provider, of fundamental misunderstandings about how modern AI assistants operate. The original accusations: Cloudflare claimed Perplexity was disguising its web crawlers as regular Chrome browsers to scrape content from sites that had explicitly blocked its official bots through robots.txt files and firewall rules.• The CDN company said it observed Perplexity rotating through...
read Aug 5, 2025Google’s Genie 3 takes users to new dimensions with interactive 3D worlds from text prompts
Google's DeepMind has unveiled Genie 3, an AI model that can generate interactive 3D worlds from simple text prompts, allowing users to navigate environments with mouse and keyboard controls. This represents a significant leap toward AI-generated video games, with the technology capable of maintaining visual consistency for several minutes while responding to user actions and real-time prompt modifications. Key improvements over Genie 2: The latest version delivers substantial upgrades from its December predecessor, which was limited to 360p resolution and 10-20 second interactions. Genie 3 now operates at 720p resolution with extended interaction periods lasting several minutes. Users can perform...
read Aug 5, 2025Grok launches AI video generator with controversial adult content mode
Elon Musk's Grok app has launched "Grok Imagine," an AI image and video generator that includes a controversial "Spicy" mode for creating adult content. The feature allows users to generate 15-second AI videos and images from text prompts, marking another step in Musk's push to differentiate his AI platform with fewer content restrictions than competitors. What you should know: Grok Imagine is currently available on mobile devices and generates content remarkably quickly, providing multiple results for each prompt. Users can create AI images from text descriptions or upload existing images to convert into short video clips. The tool offers four...
read Aug 5, 2025Former CNN anchor’s AI interview with Parkland victim sparks outrage
Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta faced widespread backlash for conducting what he called a "one of a kind interview" with an AI avatar of Joaquin Oliver, a 17-year-old victim of the 2018 Parkland school shooting. The controversial segment, which aired on Monday and was created by Oliver's parents to send a "powerful message on gun violence," instead sparked outrage over its tone-deaf use of AI technology to recreate a deceased shooting victim. What happened: Acosta interviewed an AI recreation of Oliver, one of 17 people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Miami, asking the avatar what had happened...
read Aug 5, 2025Google’s golden look-look book: Gemini now creates illustrated children’s storybooks on demand
Google has launched "Storybook," a new feature within its Gemini AI chatbot that generates illustrated children's stories on demand. Users can describe a story idea and receive a 10-page narrative complete with text that Gemini reads aloud and accompanying AI-generated illustrations, marking Google's latest push into creative AI applications for families. How it works: The Storybook feature creates customized stories based on simple text prompts, offering several personalization options. Users can specify art styles including claymation, anime, comics, and other visual approaches to match their preferences. The tool accepts uploaded photos and images as reference material, allowing parents to create...
read Aug 5, 2025AI-generated TikTok scams steal crypto from over 10K victims
Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a sophisticated scam campaign where threat actors use AI-generated videos to impersonate TikTok Shop sellers, tricking users into depositing cryptocurrency and downloading malware. CTM360, a cybersecurity firm, identified over 10,000 phishing URLs and 5,000 malicious app download sites in what they describe as a "widespread, ongoing, malicious campaign" that exploits user trust in TikTok's brand recognition. What you should know: Scammers are creating fake TikTok Shop profiles complete with AI-generated content to appear legitimate while distributing malware called SparkKitty. The campaign uses replicas of TikTok Shop profiles with AI-generated videos to convince users they're interacting with...
read Aug 5, 2025Orange partners with OpenAI to bring AI models to 2,000+ African languages
Orange plans to use OpenAI's latest open-weight AI models to work with African languages, expanding beyond its current use of OpenAI's Whisper speech model. This initiative addresses a significant gap in AI accessibility, as the benefits of AI models have largely bypassed Africa's 2,000+ languages due to data scarcity and limited computational resources. What you should know: Orange, a French mobile operator serving 18 African countries, signed a deal with OpenAI last year to access pre-release AI models and fine-tune large language models for translating regional African languages. The company started working with African languages this year using OpenAI's Whisper...
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