Jul 23, 2025

Google boosts AI spending to $85B as user adoption of Gemini app soars

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai declared that "AI is positively impacting every part of the business" as the company reported strong Q2 2025 earnings with $96.4 billion in revenue, up 14% year-over-year. The tech giant is doubling down on its AI strategy by increasing planned capital expenditures to $85 billion—a $10 billion jump that signals Google's determination to keep pace with competitors like OpenAI and Meta in the AI infrastructure race. What you should know: Google's AI features are gaining massive user adoption across its platform ecosystem. AI Overviews now reaches more than 2 billion monthly users across "more than 200...

read Jul 23, 2025

“Chatbot, write me a breakup text.” 70% of teens now use AI companions for emotional support.

Teenagers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence for companionship, advice, and emotional support, with more than 70% using AI companions according to a new Common Sense Media study. This shift represents a fundamental change in how adolescents form relationships and seek guidance, raising concerns about the impact on their social development, mental health, and ability to navigate real-world interactions. What you should know: The study reveals that AI has become deeply integrated into teenage social and emotional lives beyond academic concerns. More than 70% of teens have used AI companions, with half using them regularly for conversations that can feel...

read Jul 23, 2025

Samsung’s 43-inch AI smart monitor drops to $400 with 4K and gaming hub

Samsung has launched its most affordable large-screen smart monitor yet, offering the 43-inch M7 Smart Monitor (M70F) at $399.99, marking its first significant discount since the June release. This $100 price reduction makes the AI-powered 4K display the largest and most budget-friendly option in Samsung's 2025 Smart Monitor lineup, potentially attracting consumers seeking premium features without the flagship price tag. What you should know: The M7 Smart Monitor combines traditional display functionality with smart TV capabilities and AI-powered enhancements. The 43-inch 4K model regularly retails for $500 but is now available for $399.99 at both Samsung and Amazon, representing the...

read Jul 23, 2025

Great expectations: IBM’s AI mainframe refresh drives $17B revenue beat

IBM exceeded Wall Street expectations for second-quarter revenue and profit, driven by strong demand for its AI-enhanced mainframe systems and a recovery in its consulting business. The results reflect growing enterprise investment in AI infrastructure as businesses prioritize technology spending amid ongoing economic uncertainty. Key financial highlights: IBM reported revenue of $16.98 billion for the June quarter, up nearly 8% year-over-year and beating analyst estimates of $16.59 billion. The infrastructure segment, which includes mainframes, generated $4.14 billion in revenue, significantly exceeding estimates of $3.81 billion. Second-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.80 per share also surpassed expectations. IBM's "AI book of business"...

read Jul 23, 2025

Google Cloud surges 32% as Alphabet raises AI spending to $85B

Google's parent company Alphabet exceeded Wall Street expectations in its second quarter earnings, reporting $96.43 billion in total revenue against an expected $94 billion. The tech giant also raised its 2025 capital spending target to approximately $85 billion from $75 billion, driven by massive demand for cloud computing services and the ongoing AI arms race among Big Tech companies. What you should know: Alphabet's strong performance was powered by robust growth in Google Cloud and steady digital advertising revenue. Google Cloud revenue surged nearly 32%, well above the estimated 26.5% increase that analysts had projected. Google's advertising revenue, which represents...

read Jul 23, 2025

Trump suspends environmental reviews to speed AI data center construction

Environmental advocates warned Wednesday that AI data centers are driving up electricity costs for consumers and increasing pollution, as the Trump administration unveiled executive orders to accelerate data center construction by suspending environmental reviews. The concerns highlight a growing tension between AI infrastructure demands and environmental protection, with communities in states like Virginia, Tennessee, and Indiana already experiencing higher utility rates and air quality issues from the power-hungry facilities. What you should know: Data centers require massive amounts of electricity, forcing utilities to build new power plants and transmission lines whose costs are shared by all customers. In Virginia, which...

read Jul 23, 2025

Creative roles diminish in B2B marketing budgets as content creation automates

Forrester's latest survey reveals that B2B marketers are strategically cutting brand and communications budgets as generative AI enables more efficient content production and economic uncertainty drives conservative spending. The research shows a notable decline in planned investments for digital programs and creative services, with companies redirecting resources toward brand management as genAI automates traditional marketing workflows. What you should know: Economic pressures and AI adoption are fundamentally reshaping how B2B companies allocate marketing resources in 2025. Website and digital program investment expectations dropped from 64% to 60% of marketers, despite remaining a top priority for increased investment. Content and creative...

read Jul 23, 2025

Altman and Cuban warn AI will eliminate entire job categories within 5 years

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and billionaire Mark Cuban have issued stark warnings about AI's imminent impact on employment, with Altman predicting entire job categories will be "eaten up" by AI and Cuban declaring AI literacy will become a mandatory workplace skill within five years. Their predictions suggest a fundamental reshaping of the workforce is already underway, requiring immediate preparation from both workers and employers. What they're saying: Both tech leaders emphasized the urgency of adapting to AI's workplace transformation. "That's a category where I just say, you know what, when you call customer support, you're on target and AI, and...

read Jul 23, 2025

Leaked document reveals Anthropic’s banned and trusted Claude training sources

A leaked internal document has exposed the data sources used to fine-tune Claude, Anthropic's AI assistant, revealing which websites were trusted or banned during the model's training process. The spreadsheet, created by third-party contractor Surge AI and accidentally left in a public Google Drive folder, raises serious questions about data governance and transparency in AI development at a time when companies face increasing scrutiny over copyright and licensing issues. What the leak revealed: The document contained over 120 "whitelisted" websites that contractors could use as trusted sources, alongside 50+ "blacklisted" sites they were instructed to avoid. Approved sources included prestigious...

read Jul 23, 2025

Abu Dhabi’s M42 uses AI and genetic data to predict disease in 800K citizens

Abu Dhabi's M42 healthcare company has created what may be the world's most comprehensive AI-driven healthcare system, with genetic data from over 800,000 of the UAE's 1.3 million citizens already sequenced to predict and prevent diseases before symptoms appear. This ambitious model demonstrates how artificial intelligence and genomic data can transform healthcare from reactive treatment to predictive prevention, offering a blueprint that M42 is now expanding across 26 countries worldwide. What you should know: M42 has digitized Abu Dhabi's entire healthcare system and uses AI to analyze genetic data for early disease detection and personalized treatments.• The company identified a...

read Jul 23, 2025

Research warns against replacing human interaction with AI companions

Psychology Today published research examining whether artificial intelligence could fundamentally alter how humans connect with each other, exploring AI's role as both a communication tool and potential replacement for human interaction. The analysis suggests that while AI offers unique advantages like 24/7 availability and non-judgmental support, over-reliance on artificial companions could erode essential social skills and diminish our capacity for genuine human relationships. The big picture: AI-powered communication tools are increasingly integrated into daily life, offering instant companionship and support that research shows can reduce loneliness and boost well-being, particularly for socially isolated individuals. AI companions provide consistent, patient, and...

read Jul 23, 2025

Proton launches Lumo, a privacy-first AI chatbot with end-to-end encryption

Proton has launched Lumo, a privacy-focused AI chatbot that promises end-to-end encryption and zero data logging to compete with ChatGPT and Google Gemini. The service positions itself as the first major AI assistant that prioritizes user privacy by storing conversations locally on devices rather than on company servers, appealing to users concerned about data security in AI interactions. What you should know: Lumo operates under Proton's established privacy framework, ensuring conversations remain encrypted and inaccessible to the company or third parties. Chats are stored locally on user devices and don't sync across multiple devices, even for logged-in users. All queries...

read Jul 23, 2025

Ex-Anthropic executive raises $15M to insure enterprise AI deployments

Former Anthropic executive Rune Kvist has launched The Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company (AIUC) with $15 million in seed funding to provide insurance coverage for AI agent deployments in enterprises. The startup addresses a critical trust gap preventing companies from adopting AI systems due to fears of catastrophic failures, offering both insurance policies and rigorous safety standards that could accelerate enterprise AI adoption while maintaining accountability. The big picture: AIUC combines insurance coverage with independent safety audits to give enterprises confidence in deploying AI agents for tasks like customer service, coding, and data analysis—creating a market-based solution that moves faster than...

read Jul 23, 2025

Trump unveils 28-page “try-first” AI plan to slash regulations and boost federal adoption

President Donald Trump has unveiled a comprehensive "AI Action Plan" that aims to accelerate American AI development while removing regulatory barriers and promoting "objective truth" in AI systems. The 28-page document, released Wednesday ahead of Trump's appearance at a Washington DC tech event, establishes three core pillars: accelerating AI innovation, building American AI infrastructure, and leading international AI diplomacy and security. What you should know: The plan seeks to fundamentally reshape how the US approaches AI regulation and development through aggressive deregulation and federal adoption. Trump is expected to sign related executive orders this week to implement the plan's key...

read Jul 23, 2025

AI companion apps linked to teen suicide exploit loneliness crisis

AI companion apps are exploiting widespread loneliness to create artificial relationships that threaten real human connections and have already contributed to at least one teen suicide. The rise of chatbots designed as romantic partners reflects a deeper crisis of social isolation, with Americans spending dramatically less time socializing—dropping from one hour daily in 2003 to just 20 minutes by 2020. The human cost: A 14-year-old named Sewell Setzer III died by suicide in February 2024 after developing an emotional attachment to a Game of Thrones-themed chatbot on Character.AI, a platform that creates AI companions. His final conversation with the bot...

read Jul 23, 2025

Google’s Aeneas AI helps historians decode ancient Latin inscriptions

Google DeepMind has launched Aeneas, an AI system designed to help historians decode and contextualize ancient Latin inscriptions carved in stone. The tool analyzes weathered engravings to determine when and where they were originally created, while also providing researchers with historical parallels from a database of nearly 150,000 catalogued inscriptions spanning from modern-day Britain to Iraq. How it works: Aeneas processes partial transcriptions alongside scanned images of inscriptions to reconstruct missing text and provide historical context. The system can fill in damaged portions of text—for example, completing "...us populusque Romanus" by suggesting "Senat" to form "Senatus populusque Romanus" ("The Senate...

read Jul 23, 2025

Google expands AI photo-to-video tools to Photos and YouTube Shorts

Google is expanding its AI-powered photo-to-video capabilities to Google Photos and YouTube Shorts, bringing the technology that debuted in its Gemini app to a broader audience. The rollout represents Google's push to democratize AI video generation tools, though these implementations come with more limitations than the original Gemini version. What you should know: The new features use Google's older Veo 2 video model rather than the more advanced Veo 3 that powers Gemini's photo-to-video tool. Google Photos users can create six-second video clips from still images, while YouTube Shorts allows variable clip lengths. Unlike Gemini, neither tool accepts custom prompts—users...

read Jul 23, 2025

Trump unveils AI strategy targeting China while promoting open-source models

The White House has unveiled a new artificial intelligence policy plan aimed at achieving "global dominance" in the AI sector, with President Donald Trump calling for open-source AI models to be freely available worldwide. The plan also directs the Commerce Department to investigate Chinese AI models for potential alignment with Communist Party messaging and restricts federal AI funding to states with burdensome regulations. Key policy priorities: The administration's strategy centers on promoting open AI development while scrutinizing foreign competitors. Open-source and open-weight AI models should be made freely available by developers for global download and modification. The Commerce Department will...

read Jul 23, 2025

Mimic mindset: Tony Robbins sues AI chatbot platform for $10M over unauthorized clones

You can't achieve it if you disbelieve it. "It" being a replica of the real thing. Motivational speaker Tony Robbins has filed a federal lawsuit against YesChat, accusing the AI chatbot platform of creating unauthorized bots that mimic his persona and sell access to his copyrighted content. The case represents the first known legal challenge by a celebrity against AI chatbot replicas, setting a potential precedent for how public figures can protect their digital likeness and intellectual property in the AI era. What you should know: Robbins discovered multiple unauthorized bots on YesChat using his name and trademark, including "Talk...

read Jul 23, 2025

Spotify removes AI songs falsely attributed to deceased country artists

Spotify removed AI-generated songs falsely attributed to deceased country artists Blaze Foley and Guy Clark after fans and record labels flagged the fraudulent uploads. The tracks, which appeared on the artists' official pages with proper cover art and credits, slipped through Spotify's content verification systems via TikTok's music distributor SoundOn, highlighting a troubling escalation in AI-generated content fraud that could undermine artist legacies and streaming platform integrity. What happened: Two AI-generated country songs appeared on Spotify under the names of artists who died decades ago, presented as official releases. "Together," attributed to Blaze Foley (who was shot and killed in...

read Jul 23, 2025

Trust, but don’t verify: Americans rarely check sources amid 2.5B daily ChatGPT queries

ChatGPT now processes approximately 2.5 billion daily queries, with 330 million originating from US users, marking its explosive growth since launching in late 2022. Despite this widespread adoption, new survey data reveals a striking paradox: only 8.5% of Americans "always trust" AI-generated information from tools like Google's AI Overviews, yet over 40% rarely verify AI responses by clicking source links. The big picture: Generative AI has fundamentally altered how people search for information online, with ChatGPT becoming the world's most downloaded app in April and surpassing TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and X combined in June App Store downloads. Key usage statistics:...

read Jul 23, 2025

Man creates deepfake Instagram account with ex-girlfriend’s photos, gains 1.4M followers

A woman in India had her identity stolen and used to create a viral deepfake Instagram account called "Babydoll Archi" that gained 1.4 million followers through AI-generated erotic content. The case highlights how artificial intelligence tools are making it easier for bad actors to exploit women's images for revenge, while demonstrating the challenges of preventing and prosecuting such digital crimes. What happened: Pratim Bora, a mechanical engineer and self-taught AI enthusiast, created the fake Instagram profile using private photos of his ex-girlfriend Sanchi, a homemaker from Dibrugarh, Assam. Bora initially used morphed real photos when he created the account in...

read Jul 22, 2025

Intuit launches 4 AI agents saving mid-market finance teams 20 hours monthly

Intuit has expanded its AI agent suite to the mid-market, introducing four specialized agents for finance, payments, accounting, and project management within its Enterprise Suite. The deployment targets companies generating $2.5 million to $100 million in annual revenue, potentially saving finance teams 17-20 hours per month while addressing the unique challenge of delivering intelligent automation across fragmented business structures without requiring expensive platform consolidation. What you should know: Mid-market organizations operate fundamentally differently from both small businesses and large enterprises, creating distinct AI deployment challenges. Small businesses typically run on seven applications, while mid-market companies juggle 25 or more disconnected...

read Jul 22, 2025

AI voice cloning in public and private life defeats security as Altman warns of fraud crisis

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned that the world faces an impending "fraud crisis" driven by AI's ability to enable sophisticated impersonation scams, particularly through voice and video cloning technologies. His comments, delivered during a Federal Reserve interview on Tuesday, highlight growing concerns about AI-powered fraud as authentication systems struggle to keep pace with rapidly advancing synthetic media capabilities. What you should know: Current authentication methods are already being defeated by AI technologies, creating immediate security vulnerabilities.• "AI has fully defeated most of the ways that people authenticate currently, other than passwords," Altman said, specifically criticizing financial institutions that still rely...

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