Jul 30, 2025

Retail replication: Nestlé builds 4,000 AI digital twins for 30% faster marketing content

NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Accenture Song are collaborating with Nestlé to deploy AI-powered digital twins for large-scale marketing content creation, using virtual 3D replicas of products to generate personalized campaigns without constant reshooting. This partnership positions Nestlé at the forefront of retail's digital transformation, where AI marketing revenue is projected to reach $47 billion this year and brands using digital twins report 30% faster content production cycles. What you should know: Nestlé has built a library of 4,000 3D digital products and plans to convert 10,000 products into digital twins within two years. More than 250 Nestlé global digital specialists are...

read Jul 30, 2025

YouTube’s AI will now detect teen users and apply safety protections

YouTube is implementing AI-powered age verification to automatically identify teen users and apply age-appropriate protections across its platform. The machine learning system will analyze account signals including longevity, search patterns, and viewing habits to determine whether users are over or under 18, then automatically enable safeguards like disabling personalized ads and limiting repetitive content recommendations. What you should know: YouTube's AI age verification system represents a shift from manual age reporting to automated detection based on user behavior patterns. The AI will interpret "a variety of signals" including account age, types of videos searched, and viewing categories to make age...

read Jul 30, 2025

Club Med’s WhatsApp AI cuts response times by 3.5 hours

Club Med's Global Chief Data and AI Officer, Siddhartha Chatterjee, has detailed the company's comprehensive conversational AI strategy in a new Forrester interview, revealing how the travel operator achieved 30% full automation of customer interactions within three months of launching its WhatsApp-based AI assistant. The initiative demonstrates how enterprises can successfully scale AI-powered customer service across multiple markets while maintaining high satisfaction rates and operational efficiency. What you should know: Club Med's conversational AI journey began with a bold WhatsApp integration in Brazil, where nearly 80% of customers use the platform for business inquiries. The company achieved 30% full automation...

read Jul 30, 2025

Amazon backs Fable’s AI platform that turns text into TV episodes

Amazon has invested in Fable, a San Francisco AI startup launching Showrunner, which the company bills as the "Netflix of AI" for creating user-directed TV episodes through text prompts. The platform allows users to generate animated scenes or full episodes either from scratch or within existing story worlds, representing Amazon's bet on interactive AI entertainment as a new medium rather than just a cost-cutting tool. What you should know: Showrunner launches publicly this week after months in closed alpha testing with 10,000 users, initially free but eventually charging creators $10-$20 monthly for credits to generate hundreds of TV scenes. Users...

read Jul 30, 2025

Ok, alright, fine: Google signs EU’s AI code of practice after initial opposition

Google has confirmed it will sign the European Union's AI Code of Practice, a voluntary framework it previously opposed as too restrictive. The decision positions Google to influence AI regulation implementation while competitors like Meta refuse to participate, potentially giving Google strategic advantages in navigating Europe's evolving AI legal landscape. The big picture: Google's reversal reflects a calculated shift from resistance to engagement, as the company seeks to shape rather than simply comply with EU AI regulations. The tech giant initially opposed the code for being too harsh but now believes its input has helped create a framework that could...

read Jul 30, 2025

Zuckerberg says superintelligence is “now in sight” as Meta poaches top AI talent

Mark Zuckerberg announced that developing superintelligence is "now in sight" and outlined Meta's vision for "personal superintelligence" that empowers individuals rather than automating jobs. The statement comes after Meta's aggressive recruitment spree that has poached top AI researchers from OpenAI, Google, and Apple with multi-hundred million-dollar pay packages, positioning the company to compete directly with OpenAI's vision of AI replacing human work. What you should know: Zuckerberg's vision directly challenges OpenAI's approach to artificial general intelligence, which focuses on "highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work." Meta believes superintelligence should be "a tool for personal empowerment"...

read Jul 30, 2025

Delaware creates first state AI policy for government employees

Delaware's Department of Technology and Information has released its Enterprise Policy on Generative Artificial Intelligence, establishing the first comprehensive guidelines for state employees using AI tools like ChatGPT. The policy addresses growing employee demand for AI assistance while protecting sensitive government data, distinguishing between prohibited public AI tools and approved enterprise solutions that integrate with state security systems. What you should know: The policy creates clear boundaries for when and how Delaware state workers can use generative AI tools in their official duties. Public AI tools like ChatGPT are prohibited for use with confidential data, while enterprise GenAI tools require...

read Jul 30, 2025

Euro voice actors have a Eurovision for regulation as AI threatens $4.3B industry

European voice actors are mobilizing against artificial intelligence as the technology threatens to disrupt the $4.3 billion dubbing industry, with industry associations calling for EU regulation to protect jobs and artistic rights. The pushback comes as streaming giants like Netflix experiment with AI dubbing solutions while the global dubbing market is projected to reach $7.6 billion by 2033. What you should know: Voice actors across Europe are demanding legislative protection as AI dubbing technology becomes more sophisticated and cost-effective. Boris Rehlinger, the French voice of Ben Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix, leads the TouchePasMaVF initiative to protect human-created dubbing from AI...

read Jul 30, 2025

Italy probes Meta for pre-installing WhatsApp AI assistant without consent

Italy's antitrust authority has launched an investigation into Meta Platforms over allegations that the company abused its dominant position by pre-installing its AI assistant on WhatsApp without user consent. The probe centers on whether Meta violated European Union competition rules by integrating Meta AI into WhatsApp's interface, potentially steering users unfairly toward its services and harming competitors. What you should know: The investigation focuses on Meta's decision to embed its AI chatbot directly into WhatsApp's core functionality since March 2024. Meta AI has been integrated into WhatsApp's search bar, providing chatbot-style responses and virtual assistant functions to users. Italian regulators...

read Jul 30, 2025

Microsoft study reveals which jobs AI threatens most—and which stay safe

Microsoft researchers have analyzed 200,000 real-world conversations between users and AI chatbots to determine which jobs face the highest—and lowest—risk of automation. The findings reveal a clear divide: white-collar knowledge work faces significant disruption, while manual labor jobs remain largely protected. This comprehensive study, based on anonymized conversations from Microsoft Bing Copilot (the company's AI-powered search assistant), offers the most detailed picture yet of how artificial intelligence is actually being used in workplace scenarios. Rather than relying on theoretical assessments, the research team examined genuine user interactions to understand where AI demonstrates practical utility versus where it falls short. The...

read Jul 29, 2025

California launches first AI policy academy for state lawmakers

The California Council on Science and Technology has launched the CCST Legislative Academy on AI, an educational program designed to help state lawmakers and their staff navigate AI policy decisions. The initiative comes as California grapples with over 50 AI-related bills in the 2025 legislative session alone, highlighting the urgent need for informed policymaking in this rapidly evolving field. What you should know: The academy represents California's first comprehensive effort to educate legislators specifically about artificial intelligence and its policy implications. The program is open exclusively to Legislature members and staff at no cost, with initial programming launching this fall....

read Jul 29, 2025

Newsweek honors 3 AI companies that boost human creativity

Newsweek has announced the winners of its AI Impact Awards 2025 in Arts & Media, recognizing three companies that use artificial intelligence to enhance rather than replace human creativity. The awards highlight how AI is being deployed across PR, publishing, and filmmaking to increase efficiency, democratize access, and amplify creative output while preserving the essential human elements that drive these industries. What you should know: All three winners emphasize that AI serves as a powerful tool to augment human creativity rather than eliminate it. Interdependence, a PR and strategic communications firm, uses AI for trend identification in PR campaigns, Spines...

read Jul 29, 2025

Arcee.ai releases AFM-4.5B enterprise AI model for free commercial use

Arcee.ai has opened up its AFM-4.5B enterprise AI model for limited free use, posting the weights on Hugging Face and allowing companies with less than $1.75 million in annual revenue to use it without charge under a custom license. The 4.5-billion-parameter model addresses key enterprise pain points around cost, customizability, and regulatory compliance while being trained exclusively on "clean, rigorously filtered data" to avoid intellectual property violations. What you should know: AFM-4.5B represents Arcee's attempt to bridge the gap between expensive proprietary models and open-weight alternatives that carry licensing risks. The model was developed after discussions with over 150 organizations,...

read Jul 29, 2025

Trump reconsiders China AI chip export controls amid bipartisan pushback

The Trump administration is reconsidering its tough stance on China technology export controls, potentially scrapping plans to replace a Biden-era AI export rule that restricts US chip technology from flowing to China and Russia. This shift reflects conflicting priorities as Trump seeks leverage in trade negotiations while maintaining his reputation as tough on China, drawing bipartisan criticism from lawmakers who argue the moves could strengthen Beijing's AI capabilities. What you should know: The administration has already approved sales of certain Nvidia semiconductors to China and is debating whether to abandon the AI diffusion rule entirely. Two industry sources told Semafor...

read Jul 29, 2025

Sparsely populated Wyoming’s planned 10-gigawatt AI data center would double state’s power use

Cheyenne, Wyoming officials announced plans for a massive AI data center that would consume more electricity than all of the state's homes combined, with initial power demands of 1.8 gigawatts scaling to 10 gigawatts at full capacity. The project, a joint venture between energy infrastructure company Tallgrass and AI data center developer Crusoe, would fundamentally transform Wyoming from a net energy exporter to a major consumer, requiring dedicated power generation to meet its unprecedented electricity demands. The scale is staggering: The initial 1.8-gigawatt phase alone would consume 15.8 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually—more than five times the electricity used by every household...

read Jul 29, 2025

Positron raises $51.6M to challenge Nvidia with 5x more efficient AI chips

Positron, a private AI chip startup, has raised $51.6 million in Series A funding to challenge Nvidia's dominance in AI inference chips with its Atlas hardware platform. The company claims its specialized inference accelerators deliver 2x to 5x better performance per watt and dollar compared to Nvidia's solutions, targeting enterprises seeking more efficient AI deployment without requiring liquid cooling or extreme power densities. What you should know: Positron's Atlas chip is already shipping and in production just 15 months after the company's founding, with confirmed deployments at major enterprises including Cloudflare, a security and cloud content networking provider, and across...

read Jul 29, 2025

Juggalos slam Insane Clown Posse for using AI over community artists when they can afford to do otherwise

Insane Clown Posse has sparked backlash from their devoted fanbase, known as juggalos, after releasing an AI-generated teaser video for their upcoming album "The Naught." The controversy highlights growing tensions within music communities as artists increasingly turn to artificial intelligence for content creation, potentially alienating fans who value authentic artistic expression and want to support human creators within their communities. What happened: Eagle-eyed juggalos identified telltale signs of AI generation in ICP's album teaser, including garbled text frames and an hourglass with sand falling through what appears to be AI-generated imagery. The video also features a grandfather clock filled with...

read Jul 29, 2025

Survey: 60% of Americans use AI for search while workplace adoption lags and companionship use low

A comprehensive survey from the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reveals that American AI adoption follows predictable patterns—with a notable generation gap that could reshape how businesses think about workplace technology integration. The polling data, based on responses from 1,437 adults surveyed in July, shows that while 60% of Americans use artificial intelligence to search for information, workplace adoption remains surprisingly limited. Only about 4 in 10 Americans report using AI for work tasks, suggesting that despite years of industry hype about productivity-boosting AI assistants, most professionals haven't yet integrated these tools into their daily routines....

read Jul 29, 2025

Malaysia builds $2.36B green-powered AI infrastructure with Nvidia

Malaysia has partnered with Nvidia and YTL Power International in a RM10 billion ($2.36 billion) initiative to establish green-powered AI infrastructure and develop the nation's own sovereign large language model. The collaboration positions Malaysia as a strategic AI hub in Southeast Asia while advancing the country's digital sovereignty ambitions through sustainable technology deployment. What you should know: The partnership will create AI data centers powered entirely by renewable energy sources and deploy Nvidia's high-performance GPU technology across Malaysia. Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz confirmed the initiative includes developing Malaysia's own sovereign LLM to strengthen...

read Jul 29, 2025

Bell Canada partners with Cohere for sovereign AI solutions

Bell Canada, the country's largest telecommunications provider, has formed a strategic partnership with Cohere, a Toronto-based enterprise AI company, to deliver sovereign artificial intelligence solutions specifically designed for Canadian government and business clients. This collaboration addresses growing concerns about data security and regulatory compliance by ensuring that sensitive information remains within Canadian borders while accessing cutting-edge AI capabilities. The partnership represents a significant development in Canada's AI infrastructure landscape, combining Bell's extensive telecommunications network with Cohere's advanced language models to create what the companies describe as a "full-stack" AI platform. Unlike cloud-based AI services that may store data internationally, this...

read Jul 29, 2025

Boston Dynamics founder opens mall robotics exhibit to combat Terminator-like AI fears

Marc Raibert, the 75-year-old founder of Boston Dynamics, has opened a pop-up robotics exhibit at CambridgeSide mall in Cambridge, allowing visitors to interact with robots including the company's famous Spot robot. The free exhibit, which ran through August 15, represents Raibert's effort to counter negative Hollywood stereotypes about robots while showcasing work from his new Hyundai-funded research institute focused on integrating generative AI with robotics. What you should know: Raibert now leads the Robotics and AI Institute in Kendall Square, which opened in 2022 with 260 employees working on advanced robotics challenges. The institute is developing an "ultra mobile vehicle"...

read Jul 29, 2025

Meta offers $1B+ packages to poach AI talent from Murati’s startup

Meta has approached more than a dozen employees at Mira Murati's AI startup Thinking Machines Lab with recruitment offers, including one worth more than $1 billion over multiple years. The aggressive recruiting campaign reflects CEO Mark Zuckerberg's push to build his new Meta Superintelligence Labs by poaching talent from competitors, though none of the targeted researchers have accepted the offers yet. The big picture: Meta is deploying unprecedented compensation packages to compete for AI talent, with most offers ranging between $200-500 million over four years and first-year guarantees of $50-100 million for some candidates. How the recruitment works: Zuckerberg personally...

read Jul 29, 2025

NiCE acquires German AI firm Cognigy for $955M in record European deal

NiCE has acquired German conversational AI company Cognigy for $955 million, marking the largest acquisition of a European AI company to date. The deal represents a significant milestone for Europe's AI sector and demonstrates investor confidence in enterprise AI solutions, particularly as venture capital investment in European AI continues to surge. What you should know: Cognigy specializes in agentic AI that delivers human-like customer service across more than 100 languages and communication channels. The company's AI agents can understand, adapt, and act in real time, serving major clients including Mercedes-Benz, Nestlé, DHL, and Lufthansa Group. NiCE, an AI-powered customer experience...

read Jul 29, 2025

Trump eases water rules for AI data centers after tech lobbying push

The Trump administration has announced AI policy recommendations that include loosening Clean Water Act permitting for data centers, mirroring specific requests made earlier this year by Meta and the Data Center Coalition (DCC), a lobbying group representing tech giants like Google and Amazon Web Services. These environmental rollbacks are embedded within Trump's broader AI Action Plan, which aims to streamline regulatory processes that tech companies argue slow down critical infrastructure development. What you should know: The proposed changes target Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, which governs how projects impact federally protected waters during construction. Current 404 permits for...

read