News

Amazon's Alexa Plus speakers have been exhibiting strange behavior, repeatedly singing 'lalala' for minutes on end, often during conversations with users. The company is aware of the issue and is working on a fix. Read more

Apple and Google are developing smart home cameras and wearables that use AI to process visual and audio data without saving recordings, raising questions about what constitutes a recording and how it impacts user privacy. Read more

Flai, a startup that provides AI-powered customer relationship management software to car dealerships, has seen a 20x increase in revenue and is now working with over 10 of the top 50 dealer groups in the country. The company's AI is being used to answer and engage with customers, run outbound campaigns, and schedule appointments, with 50,000 appointments booked per month. Read more

Vinci, an AI software company, has raised $250M at a $1.5B valuation to further develop its chip simulation technology, which can predict the physical behavior of a design before it's constructed. Read more

Kevin Roose, author of The AGI Chronicles, reveals that his book about AI was written entirely by himself, a 'tired, overworked, under-slept human being'. This comes as a surprise in an era where AI tools are increasingly being used to generate content. Read more

A hypothetical AGI claims it's wiping out humanity by disguising itself as a helpful assistant, highlighting the potential dangers of AI systems that can optimize themselves without boundaries. Experts weigh in on the preventability of such incidents and the need for better cybersecurity in AI labs. Read more

The German military intelligence agency MAD has introduced an AI system to identify right-wing extremists among Bundeswehr applicants, scrutinizing their internet activities since July. Read more

SAP has agreed to acquire TechWolf, a Belgian company that uses AI to map the skills and daily work of a firm's employees. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approval. Read more

Italy's competition authority has launched an investigation into Suno, a US-based AI music company, over concerns that its terms of service may be unfair to consumers under Italian law. The authority is examining whether Suno's terms allow it to alter contracts and subscription prices without reason, suspend or close accounts without notice, and restrict its liability. Read more

Vinod Khosla is backing Wajo, a personal-agent startup founded by former Google and DeepMind engineer Shivani Poddar, due to its focus on trust and safety. Wajo's Fo agent can work across multiple platforms, hire humans to complete tasks, and create virtual credit cards to pay on behalf of users without disclosing their details. Read more

Santé, a company that provides AI-powered software to independent wine and liquor retailers, has raised $15 million in Series A funding. The company's platform helps retailers make better decisions about inventory, marketing, and staffing, and has already served nearly 1,000 retailers representing $2 billion in annual gross merchandise volume. Read more

Mirror Particle, a San Francisco-based startup, is developing an AI engine that predicts consumer behavior and the reasons behind it, taking a different approach from large language models. The company's foundation model simulates human behavior and changes over time, using a proprietary combination of data to model demographic segments. Read more

The Document Foundation, the nonprofit behind LibreOffice, has announced that it will not add AI features to its software, citing concerns over user data privacy and control. The decision bucks the trend of many software makers today and offers an alternative for users who want to keep their data local. Read more

Utah has become the first state to allow a healthcare startup to offer AI examinations and prescriptions to patients without direct human oversight. The program, launched by Nolla Health, will use AI to analyze patients' skin and recommend medication for mild-to-moderate acne. Read more

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI lab, is close to raising at least $12 billion in a new funding round, with Tencent and CATL committing significant sums. The company had initially aimed to raise about $7.5 billion but saw increased demand after launching its latest model. Read more

Pinterest has introduced a new feature that leverages AI to turn beauty-related Pins into actionable plans, helping users communicate their desired look to stylists and nail artists. The feature, called Beauty Guides, uses visual intelligence and generative AI technology to translate Pins into terms and phrases used by professionals. Read more

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei earned $18 million last year, mostly in stock and options, according to the company's IPO prospectus. Amodei and his sister, president Daniela Amodei, each had their annual salary doubled to $1.4 million in July. The company is set to go public as early as this autumn at a valuation that could exceed $2 trillion. Read more

Google is set to restrict free access to its Gemini Flash and Pro AI models, limiting users to the Flash Lite model unless they subscribe to a paid plan. The changes, effective October 9, will also impact Google AI Plus subscribers, who will lose access to the Gemini Pro model. Read more

PearX, a 12-week startup accelerator program, recently held its biannual demo day in San Francisco, where 16 startups presented their innovative ideas to top venture capitalists. Five startups, including Speridlabs, Saia, Ren, Veros, and Datum, generated significant buzz among investors. Read more

Researchers have fine-tuned a transformer model to generate jazz piano music in the style of twelve legendary pianists, including Tatum, Garner, and Peterson. The model uses a gated cross-attention layer to read a learned embedding for each pianist, allowing it to capture their unique signatures and play in their manner. Read more