Tags: technology news

Meta has notified roughly 8,000 employees—about 10 percent of its workforce—that their positions are being eliminated. The layoffs, announced in a memo circulated in May, are framed as a move to run the company more efficiently and to offset the massive capital outlays tied to its new artificial‑intelligence initiatives. The cuts follow reports in March that Meta was preparing to shed up to 20 percent of its staff, and come as the firm projects $115‑$135 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, nearly double last year’s spend. Weiterlesen

Google announced that its next‑generation Gemini 3.5 Flash model will power AI‑driven search agents, letting users create mini‑apps for tasks like itinerary planning directly from the search bar. The feature, slated for a summer rollout, will let users customize, share, and revisit generated dashboards, signaling a shift away from traditional blue‑link results toward more interactive, AI‑generated experiences. Weiterlesen

During testimony in Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman described the Tesla founder’s former management style as a “chainsaw” that damaged the lab’s culture. Altman said Musk’s 2018 departure boosted staff morale, allowing researchers to work without constant performance pressure. The trial, now in its third week, also highlights Musk’s claim that OpenAI abandoned its original humanitarian mission and that he was misled into funding the venture. Weiterlesen

Amazon Ring chose AI voice platform Vapi from a pool of more than 40 vendors to handle all inbound calls, a move that spurred a $50 million Series B round and pushed the startup’s valuation to roughly $500 million. The deal, led by Peak XV Partners and backed by Microsoft’s M12, Kleiner Perkins and Bessemer, marks a milestone for Vapi, whose technology now powers millions of daily calls for Ring and a roster of other enterprise customers. Weiterlesen

Perplexity has opened its Personal Computer AI agent to every Mac user, offering a desktop assistant that can search local files, operate native apps, browse the web and tap into more than 400 tools without constant supervision. Users launch a task, the system works autonomously, and only intervenes when a decision requires approval. The app, which runs best on a Mac mini, is downloadable directly from Perplexity’s website and is not yet listed on the App Store. Weiterlesen

Perplexity has opened its Personal Computer AI assistant to every macOS user, moving beyond the $200‑per‑month Max plan that previously limited access. The new macOS app lets users run everyday queries, manage attachments, and dictate text, while still tying usage to the credit limits of Pro and Max subscriptions. By integrating models like Gemini, Nano Banana and ChatGPT, the assistant handles tasks across local files, other apps, the web and Perplexity’s servers, positioning the company against competitors such as Claude and Apple’s upcoming AI‑enhanced Siri. Weiterlesen

OpenAI announced on Tuesday that its latest foundation model, GPT‑5.5 Instant, will replace GPT‑5.3 Instant as the default engine behind ChatGPT. The upgrade targets reduced hallucinations in high‑risk domains such as law, medicine and finance while preserving the low‑latency performance users expect. GPT‑5.5 also scores higher on math and multimodal reasoning benchmarks, and introduces a context‑management feature that lets the model reference past chats, files and Gmail. The changes roll out to Plus and Pro users on the web now, with broader availability slated for mobile and other plans in the coming weeks. Weiterlesen

OpenAI’s new ChatGPT Images 2.0 is sparking a wave of online posts that blend childhood photos with present‑day portraits. Users upload two images, give the model precise spatial cues, and get ultra‑realistic, black‑and‑white composites that place their younger and older selves in the same scene—a birthday cake, a library table, or other settings. The trend highlights how detailed prompts can coax the AI into studio‑like lighting, consistent textures, and storytelling composition, while still exposing occasional glitches in hands or expressions. Weiterlesen

OpenAI announced that its upcoming GPT-5.5 model performed on par with the heavily promoted Mythos Preview in recent cybersecurity evaluations. CEO Sam Altman criticized the hype surrounding Mythos, calling it fear‑based marketing, while reiterating that the new model will initially be available only to a select group of critical cyber defenders. The company’s Trusted Access for Cyber pilot, launched in February, continues to serve as the gateway for researchers and enterprises to test frontier models under strict safeguards. Weiterlesen

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on the company’s first‑quarter earnings call that its Superintelligence team is developing AI agents designed to help users achieve personal goals and assist businesses in reaching customers. Built on the recently unveiled Muse Spark model, the agents aim to be more approachable and easier to set up than existing tools such as OpenClaw. While no launch date was given, Zuckerberg emphasized a focus on polish, accessibility and a ready‑made infrastructure that could even be handed to a non‑technical user. Weiterlesen

OpenAI released the source code for its Codex command‑line interface last week, revealing a 3,500‑word system prompt for the newly unveiled GPT‑5.5. Among routine instructions, the prompt explicitly forbids the model from talking about goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons or any other creature unless the user’s query makes it directly relevant. The restriction appears twice in the document and is absent from prompts for earlier models, suggesting OpenAI is responding to a spike in off‑topic references to such beings. OpenAI staff say the rule is a technical safeguard, not a marketing stunt. Weiterlesen

A group of Discord community members accessed Anthropic’s tightly guarded Mythos Preview AI model after exploiting a breach at AI‑training startup Mercur and leveraging existing permissions from a contracting role. The researchers used the model only to create simple websites, avoiding detection, but their actions expose gaps in Anthropic’s access controls and raise concerns about the security of advanced AI tools. Weiterlesen

Anthropic announced that its Claude AI chatbot can now connect to a suite of consumer‑focused services, including AllTrails, Spotify, Instacart and Uber. The new integrations let users plan hikes, play music, order groceries and book rides without leaving the chat. Anthropic says the move shifts Claude’s capabilities from primarily professional and educational tasks to everyday personal use, with more apps slated for future addition. Weiterlesen

Anthropic announced Thursday that its Claude AI assistant now supports more than 200 third‑party connectors, adding a slate of consumer‑focused services such as Instacart, Spotify, Uber and TripAdvisor. The new integrations let users retrieve data and trigger actions directly from chat, while the system automatically suggests the most relevant connector based on conversation context. Anthropic says the feature remains ad‑free, that user data won’t be used to train models, and that users must confirm any major transaction before it completes. Weiterlesen

OpenAI announced a major upgrade to its ChatGPT image generator, unveiling ChatGPT Images 2.0 in a livestream briefing. The new model introduces a reasoning phase that lets the system parse complex prompts before creating visuals, resulting in more accurate text rendering, consistent styles and better layout control. By treating prompts as instructions rather than suggestions, the update narrows the gap with rival Google Gemini and promises fewer retries for users seeking polished graphics. CEO Sam Altman hailed the leap as a shift comparable to moving from GPT‑3 to GPT‑5 in a single step. Weiterlesen

Perplexity announced today that its new Personal Computer AI assistant is now available for Mac users. The tool builds on the company's multi‑model orchestration technology first shown in Perplexity Computer and joins the ranks of Anthropic's Claude Cowork and OpenAI's Codex. Personal Computer can read and act on to‑do lists, organize files, interact with apps like Notes and Messages, and be controlled by voice or a smartphone. The rollout begins with Max subscribers, with broader access slated for wait‑list members. Weiterlesen

Anthropic experienced two consecutive incidents in which internal files were unintentionally exposed. The first leak, reported last week, made nearly 3,000 internal documents public, including a draft blog post about an unreleased model. The latest incident occurred when the company released version 2.1.88 of its Claude Code package, accidentally bundling roughly 2,000 source code files and over 512,000 lines of code. Anthropic labeled the events as human‑error packaging issues rather than security breaches. The leaks have drawn attention from competitors and developers, especially as OpenAI recently halted its Sora video‑generation product amid rising competition from Claude Code. Weiterlesen

Anthropic inadvertently released the full source code for its Claude Code command‑line interface when a recent npm package included a source‑map file. The leak made nearly 2,000 TypeScript files and over half a million lines of code publicly available. Security researcher Chaofan Shou highlighted the issue, and the code quickly spread across GitHub. Anthropic confirmed the error was a packaging mistake, not a breach of customer data, and said it is implementing safeguards to prevent recurrence. Developers have begun dissecting the code to understand Claude Code’s architecture. Weiterlesen

Anthropic has introduced Claude Marketplace, an enterprise‑focused e‑commerce platform that lets organizations purchase third‑party AI tools and services using their existing Claude commitments. The marketplace is currently in limited preview with six launch partners—Snowflake, GitLab, Harvey AI, Rogo, Replit, and Lovable Labs—and offers a single‑billing view to simplify AI spend. Anthropic does not take a commission on transactions, and customers can redirect unused Claude credits to avoid waste. A waitlist is open for additional partners as the catalog expands. Weiterlesen

OpenAI announced that the planned adult mode for ChatGPT has been delayed beyond its original December launch window. The company says engineers are focusing on higher‑priority upgrades such as intelligence improvements, personality tweaks and a more proactive response style. The adult mode, intended for verified users over 18, will be released at an unspecified future date. The delay comes as OpenAI faces criticism over a new contract with the U.S. military, employee resignations, and a noticeable dip in user engagement. Weiterlesen