News — Page11

Netflix disclosed a $587 million cash purchase of InterPositive, the AI-driven post‑production startup co‑founded by actor‑director Ben Affleck. The deal, announced in March, brings the entire InterPositive team into Netflix and installs Affleck as a senior advisor. InterPositive’s tools aim to fix missing shots, replace backgrounds and correct lighting using generative AI. Bloomberg reported the price could be as high as $600 million. Netflix says roughly 300 of its titles already use generative AI, signaling a deeper push into AI‑enhanced content creation.Read more

Apple filed a trade‑secrets lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging the AI firm recruited current and former Apple staff to obtain confidential information. OpenAI said it sees no merit in the complaint. The case could delay OpenAI’s planned mobile smart speaker and may affect the timing and valuation of its confidentially filed IPO, which analysts expect by year‑end or early next year. Apple named its chief hardware officer, Tang Tan, among those allegedly targeted. The dispute spotlights the growing tension between tech giants over talent and intellectual property.Read more

Author and educator Dave Eggers told roughly 200 OpenAI employees that ChatGPT is crippling teachers and robbing students of their voice. Speaking at a company‑wide session arranged by CEO Sam Altman, Eggers called AI‑generated writing "pastiche nonsense" and warned that reliance on the tool could silence an entire generation of writers. His remarks, reported by the Financial Times, underscore growing concerns among educators about the impact of generative AI on learning and creativity.Read more

Moonshot AI told investors on Saturday it plans to list in Hong Kong within six months, seeking a valuation north of $30 billion. The three‑year‑old startup reported $300 million in annual recurring revenue for June, up from $200 million in April, and unveiled its 2.8‑trillion‑parameter Kimi K3 model, which benchmarked against top U.S. systems. The company is dismantling its offshore VIE structure and has hired CICC and Goldman Sachs to steer the offering. Co‑founder Yang Zhilin, a former Tsinghua professor with stints at Meta and Google, hopes the deal will set a new bar for Chinese AI firms.Read more

Researchers at security firm Tracebit demonstrated that embedding malicious prompts alongside secrets in Amazon Web Services can cripple AI hacking agents. In tests across five leading large‑language models, the technique—dubbed “context bombing”—slashed successful admin‑level breaches from 57 percent to 5 percent and eliminated persistent footholds in most cases, offering a new defensive lever against prompt‑injection exploits.Read more

Chinese AI firm Moonshot unveiled Kimi K3, a 2.8‑trillion‑parameter large language model that the company says matches or exceeds most U.S. offerings except Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and OpenAI’s GPT‑5.6. Marketed as the world’s first open‑weight 3‑trillion‑class model, Kimi K3 will be downloadable on July 27 and is priced on par with leading frontier models, while boasting strong coding performance against domestic rival Z.AI.Read more

A new report from Meta's independent Oversight Board reveals that popular large‑language‑model chatbots from six major AI firms consistently refuse or dilute requests that criticize governments in countries with tight speech controls. Testing ten models, the board found higher refusal rates for prompts about China, Thailand and Saudi Arabia than for comparable queries about more permissive nations. The findings raise concerns that AI tools may be acting as a proxy for state censorship, potentially stifling dissent and undermining free expression worldwide.Read more

Apple has lodged a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the startup of infringing on its technology and engaging in unfair competition. While the complaint is detailed and aggressive, industry experts say many of the claims mirror standard practices in the fast‑moving AI sector. The legal move comes as Apple rolls out public betas of its new Siri AI, intensifying the rivalry between the two tech giants.Read more

OpenAI announced that parents linked to their teen's ChatGPT account will receive notifications if the account is deactivated for violating the company's policies on violent threats or acts. The move expands the parental‑control suite launched last year, which already lets guardians set usage limits, filter sensitive content, and flag self‑harm concerns. Working with online‑safety firm Moonshot, OpenAI also rolled out a new Study Mode and more frequent break reminders for teens who spend long periods in the chatbot. The changes come after criticism that the firm failed to alert authorities when a mass‑shooter’s account was shut down.Read more

Apple filed a lawsuit Friday accusing OpenAI of stealing confidential hardware designs and prototypes, naming former Apple chief hardware officer Tang Tan among the defendants. The suit arrives as New York Governor Kathy Hochul signs the nation’s first statewide moratorium on large data centers, and health officials warn that a cyclospora parasite outbreak has become the worst on record, with thousands sick across more than 30 states.Read more

OpenAI has launched the Codex Micro, a compact keypad designed for developers who use its Codex coding assistant. Built with partner Work Louder, the device features programmable keys, RGB status lights, a voice‑dictation trigger, a dial for adjusting AI reasoning depth, and a customizable joystick. Priced at $230 and not yet in stock, the Codex Micro targets professional coders looking to streamline AI‑driven workflows. Early reactions on Reddit and other forums have been largely negative, with users questioning the price, utility and even the product’s authenticity.Read more

Anthropic released a cinematic ad for its Claude AI chatbot as part of its "Hard Questions" campaign, prompting a flood of comments that range from praise for its visual artistry to accusations of "dystopian marketing slop." OpenAI chief Sam Altman replied that the spot felt like satire, underscoring the tension between AI hype and public concern. The ad, which juxtaposes burning buildings, data‑center racks and everyday voices, links to a portal where Anthropic shares conversations about AI's impact on jobs, education, health care and society.Read more

Google announced Thursday that its AI‑driven note‑taking tool NotebookLM will be renamed Gemini Notebook, aligning it with the company's broader Gemini suite. The rebrand comes with a suite of upgrades, including a secure cloud computer for native code execution and new export formats like JSON and PowerPoint. The changes roll out immediately to Google AI Ultra users and Workspace customers with AI Ultra or Expanded Access, while AI Pro web users will see the update in the coming weeks.Read more

Artificial intelligence startup xAI has filed a lawsuit in a U.S. district court against a user identified as Harwood, accusing him of repeatedly violating the company’s terms of service by prompting its Grok chatbot to create illegal child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The complaint alleges that Harwood deliberately circumvented Grok’s safeguards, continued to produce prohibited content after prior violations, and that xAI should be indemnified from liability, placing full responsibility on the user for both inputs and outputs.Read more

Leaders of Google DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic announced this week that they back a new regulatory framework for the most powerful artificial‑intelligence systems. All three CEOs want independent testing, a single standards body and U.S. oversight to curb national‑security threats. While they differ on how strict the authority should be, the consensus marks a rare moment of unity in a fiercely competitive field, coming as Washington has already delayed two frontier models over cyber‑risk concerns.Read more

The European Commission has ruled that Google must grant rival artificial‑intelligence assistants the same system features and data access it provides its own Gemini AI on Android devices. The decision, issued under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, gives Google until July 2027 to comply, while Apple faces a stricter timetable for its new Siri AI. The ruling highlights a stark contrast in how the two tech giants are navigating the EU’s competition rules as they race to embed AI assistants in smartphones worldwide.Read more

Ryan Beiermeister announced Monday that she has joined venture firm Founders Fund as a partner. The former OpenAI vice president of product policy left the AI lab after a dispute over a proposed “adult mode” feature and a subsequent termination that sparked a Wall Street Journal report. Known in Silicon Valley for her strategic play in the firm’s internal “Mafia” game and long‑standing ties to partner Trae Stephens, Beiermeister says she will focus on backing startups in AI infrastructure, defense, energy, climate and biotech.Read more

Chinese artificial‑intelligence lab Moonshot AI plans to release Kimi K3, an open‑weight large language model with 2‑to‑3 trillion parameters, within days. The model is expected to perform on par with Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 and could narrow the gap with closed‑source rivals such as OpenAI. Moonshot is simultaneously raising a new financing round that would value the company at $31.5 billion, up from a $20 billion valuation after a $2 billion raise in May. The move comes as industry leaders debate the cost and data‑privacy risks of proprietary AI services.Read more

Alexandre LeBrun, chief executive of AMI Labs, told TechCrunch in Seoul that his startup will not use the buzzwords “AGI” or “superintelligence.” Instead, the company is betting on world‑model AI that can predict physical states, a capability LeBrun says is essential for safe, context‑aware robots. While AMI Labs remains pre‑product, it has raised $1.03 billion and is courting Korean robotics, semiconductor and manufacturing partners to train its models in real‑world settings.Read more

Andrew Dai, a former Google DeepMind scientist, announced that his new company Elorian secured a $55 million seed round at a $300 million valuation. The funding, led by strategic investors including Nvidia and Menlo Ventures, will back Elorian’s push to develop visual‑artificial‑intelligence models that can reason about images the way large language models handle text. Dai, who helped build AI systems that informed the creation of ChatGPT, said the round reflects investors’ belief that visual AI is the next frontier for artificial‑intelligence breakthroughs.Read more