News — 2026-04-13

Developers from London have unveiled Pixel Societies, a proof‑of‑concept platform that uses customized large‑language‑model agents to mimic a person’s speech, interests and mannerisms in virtual interactions. The system, built during a University College London hackathon, lets users create digital twins that converse with other agents to surface potential colleagues, friends or romantic partners. While still experimental, the team hopes the technology could streamline the early stages of relationship building by running countless high‑fidelity simulations in minutes. Read more

A former programmer’s impassioned address to the Ravenna, Ohio, city council has gone viral after he warned that a proposed AI data center would drain local water supplies, surge power demand and deliver few jobs despite generous tax breaks. The clip, which has amassed tens of thousands of likes on Reddit, spotlights growing community resistance to AI infrastructure and forces officials to weigh environmental costs against promised economic benefits. Read more

Anthropic has added its Claude AI assistant to Microsoft Word, rolling it out in beta for Teams and Enterprise customers. The integration promises document‑level assistance such as instant citations, formatting‑preserving edits, and a tracked‑changes mode that fits naturally into review workflows. Claude can also pull data from open Excel files and respond to comment threads, aiming to streamline work for lawyers, finance teams and other document‑heavy users. The move follows Anthropic's recent expansions into Excel and PowerPoint, signaling a broader push to embed its AI across the Microsoft Office suite. Read more

College instructors say AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are turning inboxes into a parade of generic, soulless papers. The writing often repeats prompt keywords, includes factual errors, and lacks the personal voice students usually display. Faculty are adopting detection software and new grading tactics to spot the "Wikipedia voice" and protect academic integrity. Read more

College instructors are scrambling to protect coursework from large‑language‑model tools that can complete quizzes and essays with a single prompt. While oral exams and supervised handwritten work remain largely immune, they are impractical for asynchronous online classes that serve students with disabilities, rural learners, and working adults. The dilemma pits academic integrity against the need for flexible, accessible education, forcing schools to rethink assessment design or risk abandoning the very formats that broaden access. Read more

Meta is testing an artificial‑intelligence replica of CEO Mark Zuckerberg to communicate with staff, part of a broader push to embed AI characters across the company. The digital twin, built from the executive’s images and voice, will appear in internal tools that let employees experiment with AI‑driven workflow assistants. The effort follows Meta’s earlier rollout of celebrity‑styled chatbots and a new AI Studio that lets creators build their own virtual personas. While the project aims to boost productivity, it also raises questions about privacy and the future of work at the social‑media giant. Read more

Microsoft is piloting OpenClaw‑inspired AI agents inside its Copilot suite, aiming to give the productivity assistant an always‑on, autonomous mode. Corporate vice president Omar Shahine confirmed the company is exploring the technology for enterprise use, with prototypes that could monitor Outlook, suggest daily tasks and operate within role‑specific limits. The trial is slated to be demonstrated at the Build conference starting June 2, after a report by The Information on April 13. Microsoft says the approach could address security concerns while recapturing customers lost to rival AI services. Read more

Microsoft is testing a new AI agent that mimics the open‑source OpenClaw tool but runs within its Microsoft 365 Copilot suite. The company says the feature, aimed at enterprise customers, will offer tighter security controls and operate continuously to handle multistep tasks. While the agent could run on local hardware, Microsoft has not confirmed its deployment model. The firm plans to showcase the technology at its Build conference in June, following a series of recent Copilot‑related launches. Read more

A new Stanford University study released Monday shows a widening divide between artificial‑intelligence specialists and the American public. While a majority of experts remain optimistic about AI’s impact on jobs, healthcare and the economy, most citizens express anxiety and doubt, especially about employment prospects and energy costs. The report, which draws on recent Gallup and Pew Research data, highlights generational differences, low trust in government regulation, and a surge in negative sentiment toward AI across the United States. Read more

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell called senior executives from the nation’s largest banks to a closed‑door meeting this week, urging them to pilot Anthropic’s newly unveiled Mythos model for spotting security flaws. JPMorgan Chase is the first bank granted access, while Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are already testing the system. Anthropic says the model is not a dedicated cybersecurity tool but its ability to uncover vulnerabilities has drawn both interest and skepticism, especially as the company fights a Trump administration lawsuit over a DoD supply‑chain risk designation. Read more