AI News Today

A Microsoft researcher built a working neural network out of goats, bridges, and ice ramps in the Age of Empires II map editor. What looks like a joke is a pointed critique of AI research methods. His analysis of 315 papers found that more than half already assume language models have human-like traits before the experiment even starts. Replace the chat interface with wandering goats, and the math doesn't change, but the feeling that you're talking to someone does. The article Microsoft research

In Shenzhen, workers at IO-AI Tech control humanoid robots using a VR rig reminiscent of Ready Player One.

Amazon, Nvidia, and AMD are putting $310 million into world model startup Odyssey ML, now valued at $1.45 billion. CIA-linked fund IQT and Google chief scientist Jeff Dean are also backing the round. World models are shaping up to be the next big AI bet after pure language models. The article Amazon, Nvidia, and AMD bet $310 million on AI startup building 3D world models appeared first on The Decoder .

Tokenmaxxing was the hottest trend in Silicon Valley earlier this year, with CEOs encouraging employees to push AI usage as far as it would go. Then the bill came due. Uber reportedly blew through its annual AI budget in a few months, some companies cut Claude licenses for parts of their org, and Meta killed its internal leaderboard. This tension between […]

AI models with advanced hacking capabilities will soon be the norm.

Chinese AI lab Zhipu AI releases GLM-5.2 with a stable 1-million-token context under the MIT license. On FrontierSWE, a benchmark for hours-long coding tasks, the open-source model trails Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8 by just one percentage point. On reasoning, it still falls well behind closed-source rivals. The article Zhipu AI's GLM-5.2 closes in on closed-source leaders in coding marathons appeared first on The Decoder .

Trump administration officials tell WIRED that if Anthropic wants to rerelease Fable 5, it will need to ensure the model's guardrails can't be circumvented. Security experts say that can't be done.

Google is betting generative AI can breathe new life into the smart speaker. The company's new $99.99 Google Home Speaker replaces the rigid commands of the Google Assistant era with more conversational Gemini interactions.

Google's new smart speaker is more about Gemini than audio quality.

If physical AI is going to match the accomplishments of LLMs, there's a data problem that needs to be solved.

Researchers from Nvidia, Carnegie Mellon University, and UC Berkeley are using AI coding agents to teach robots dexterous grasping in the real world. A fleet of eight robots hits up to 99 percent success on tricky tasks. The article Nvidia research shows robots that train themselves through AI coding agents appeared first on The Decoder .

OpenAI researchers propose a method for predicting how often a new AI model will make mistakes after release. It could fill gaps left by standard safety testing. The article OpenAI researchers want to predict how often AI models will fail before launch appeared first on The Decoder .

<p>An AI tool is no replacement for a doctor, and regulation is essential. But together, physicians and AI could prove beneficial</p><p>A calf cramp should not be a brush with death. Mine almost was.</p><p>For five days, I had what felt like a stubborn muscle spasm in my left calf. It was tender, swollen and getting worse. I assumed it was a muscle problem and went to my chiropractor, who treated it as a muscle issue.</p><p>Gleb Tsipursky, PhD, serves as the CEO of the future-of-work work consul

Arriving six years after Google’s last smart speaker, the new HomePod-style device was redesigned to play host to Gemini’s chatbot.

Smart mowers are an expensive alternative to old-fashioned yard work, but they’re finally good enough to consider if you’d rather sip an iced tea and watch a robot tame your lawn.

Pinterest has launched 'Ask Pinterest,' an experimental AI-powered shopping app that lets users seek recommendations and inspiration through a conversational interface.

Government ministries are deploying Google Cloud generative AI across municipal agencies to automate council planning operations. Public sector administration handles vast volumes of unstructured data that delay infrastructure development. The UK central government established a target to construct 1.5 million new homes by 2029. Local planning authorities encounter administrative backlogs caused by dense paperwork, delaying […] The post Google Cloud generative AI automates council planning opera

According to an Epoch AI analysis, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Oracle are growing their AI infrastructure spending by about 70 percent a year, while operating cash flow is only rising at 23 percent. If the trend holds, spending could overtake cash flow as early as Q3 2026. Several of these companies are already tapping outside funding. The article Hyperscalers may soon be unable to fund their AI buildout from cash flow alone appeared first on The Decoder .

<p>A character bearing that name appears in a remarkable number of chatbot-generated stories. He could be a messenger from the future – or a warning that generative AI is in danger of ‘model collapse’</p><p>Ever heard of a shadowy figure called Elias Thorne? If you haven’t, try asking an AI chatbot to tell you a story.</p><p>In recent months, <a href="https://danielmay.co.uk/posts/cheap-agents-alumni-shirts-and-elias-thorne/">tech types</a> and researchers have noticed a weird phenomenon: when p

<p>Unsafe AI systems are leading to cyber weapons of mass destruction </p><ul><li><p>Stuart Russell is a computer scientist known for his contributions to AI and a new Guardian US columnist</p></li></ul><p>The AI company Anthropic has been making major headlines recently. Its <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/01/anthropic-ai-ipo">trillion-dollar IPO plan</a> and its <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/24/anthropic-pentagon-lawsuit">blood feud with secreta

Save on iRobot products, including robot vacuums and mops designed to handle pet hair, daily messes, and hands-free cleaning with smart home integration.

<p>Justice department urges judge to throw out suit brought by NAACP over xAI’s methane-gas turbines in Mississippi</p><p>The Trump administration is coming to the defense of Elon Musk in a lawsuit over claims that his artificial intelligence company, xAI, is polluting residential neighborhoods in north Mississippi. The justice department told a federal court late on Monday to throw out the case.</p><p>The lawsuit was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/14/naacp-lawsuit-elon

Move originally planned for Monday would have heavily increased power users' costs.

Microsoft is weighing a fine-tuned version of Deepseek V4 as a cheaper model option for Copilot Cowork. The company is also switching to usage-based billing, since Copilot head Charles Lamanna says flat-rate pricing isn't sustainable. The move fits a broader pattern in the industry. The article Microsoft's Copilot Cowork moves to usage-based billing and may tap DeepSeek appeared first on The Decoder .

A Berlin court has ruled that Google's AI-generated summaries are just a "new search result format" and that Google has no "decisive influence" over the content. A perfume company had sued because AI search displayed its brand names alongside cheaper knockoffs and linked to their websites. The ruling partly contradicts a recent Munich decision that held Google directly liable for false AI responses, though the two cases are quite different. The article Berlin court rules Google's AI Overviews ar

Pentagon also claims 1.5 million personnel are using generative AI tools.

The US government crackdown on Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 hides a glaring truth: AI models with advanced hacking capabilities will soon be the norm.

<p>Move to ChapsVision is to avoid ‘strategic dependencies’, says PM amid concern about reliance on US-controlled tools</p><p>France’s domestic intelligence service is to ditch AI data tools from the US tech company Palantir in favour of a domestic provider in an effort to avoid “strategic dependency”, the prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has said.</p><p>“We must use our own AI models; we cannot accept new strategic dependencies in ‌the digital sphere,” Lecornu posted on social media. “We cann

Separately, neither could compete. Now they hope they can.

Tired of vacuuming? Hand the reins to a robot vacuum.

Audited accounting shows growing revenues being dwarfed by R&D, other expenses.

AI investments by insurers are now expected to generate tangible business value beyond mere efficiency. According to findings in the 2026 Evident AI Index, insurers are now embedding AI technologies into workflows that directly influence underwriting discipline and capital allocation. Christian Preece, Insurance Director at Evident, says: “For years, insurers have competed on AI ambition, […] The post Insurers pivot AI strategy toward core risk underwriting appeared first on AI News .

Just two trading days after its IPO, Elon Musk's SpaceX is buying AI coding startup Anysphere. The deal is meant to help the struggling xAI division catch up with Anthropic and OpenAI. The article SpaceX bets $60 billion on Cursor to catch OpenAI and Anthropic appeared first on The Decoder .

<p>Elon Musk company’s becomes world’s fifth most-valuable firm just days after its IPO following purchase of AI coding startup Cursor</p><p>Elon Musk’s SpaceX has overtaken Amazon as the world’s fifth-most valuable company days after its <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/12/spacex-stock-price-ipo-spcx">stock market debut</a>.</p><p>The jump in value came as it agreed to buy the startup behind the AI-powered coding app Cursor for $60bn (£44bn), in an attempt to capitalise on

Plaud is trying to make a mark in a crowded market full of AI-powered meeting notetakers.

Unlike many of his tech industry peers who have cut thousands of jobs citing the need to restructure to make the most of AI, Robinhood's CEO Vlad Tenev conspicuously made no mention of AI in his note about layoffs.

The service will leverage its Moovit platform to launch in an a US city in 2027.

A new, AI-assisted model of insurance is quietly exploding in disaster-prone areas—and may be coming for FEMA too. Is it the answer to climate change, or a trap?

Devices that monitor seniors for safety are appealing to worried loved ones and underresourced home care agencies.

<p>Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s governor, squares off with state lawmakers over the facilities powering an AI boom</p><p>A controversial haunted house near Philadelphia, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/pennsylvania">Pennsylvania</a>, taps into its <a href="https://www.thebeliever.net/the-haunting-of-pennhurst/">dark history</a> every fall to scare tens of thousands of visitors. In 1968, a local news station <a href="http://www.preservepennhurst.org/default.aspx?pg=26">documented</a>