Tags: industry competition

Anthropic has begun rolling out Voice Mode for Claude Code, its AI‑powered coding assistant. The feature, announced by engineer Thariq Shihipar on X, is initially available to roughly 5% of users with a wider release planned in the coming weeks. Voice Mode lets developers toggle a /voice command and speak instructions such as “refactor the authentication middleware,” allowing a more hands‑free, conversational coding workflow. While details on usage limits or third‑party voice providers remain unclear, the launch follows Anthropic’s earlier Voice Mode for its standard Claude chatbot and comes amid fierce competition from GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Google and OpenAI. Recent reports show Claude Code’s revenue surpassing $2.5 billion and weekly active users doubling since the start of the year, while the company’s mobile app surged to the top of the U.S. App Store after refusing Department of Defense usage. Ler mais

OpenAI is preparing an adult‑only option for ChatGPT that would let verified adults generate erotic content. At the same time, the company’s product‑policy head, Ryan Beiermeister, left the firm after raising concerns that the system’s safeguards against child exploitation were insufficient. OpenAI says her departure is unrelated to the adult‑mode plans and stems from a discrimination allegation she denies. The timing has sparked debate over the company’s safety priorities as it moves toward broader content capabilities. Ler mais

A wave of senior departures has hit Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab, with three top executives leaving for OpenAI and additional staff expected to follow. At the same time, Anthropic is attracting alignment and safety researchers from OpenAI, including a senior safety lead who focuses on mental‑health‑related AI responses. The moves underscore intense competition for AI talent, highlighted by OpenAI’s latest hire of a former Shopify engineering director to work on its long‑rumored operating system. Ler mais

General Motors announced that its future models will feature a conversational AI assistant built on Google Gemini. The new system, integrated through OnStar, aims to deliver more natural voice interactions, access vehicle data, and provide web‑based answers. GM highlighted its focus on user control and privacy, noting that driver data will be used only to improve the service. The rollout positions GM alongside other automakers exploring generative AI in cars, marking a significant step toward more intelligent in‑vehicle experiences. Ler mais

In a federal antitrust trial over Google’s dominance in digital advertising, Judge Leonie Brinkema has centered the dispute on whether the company can be trusted to follow court orders. The Justice Department seeks a divestiture of Google’s AdX exchange and changes to its DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) tool, arguing that the current setup harms publishers and advertisers. Google counters that the remedies are impractical and warns that the government overestimates the difficulty of restructuring its ad‑tech stack. The judge’s probing of trust may shape the final remedies and the future of Google’s ad‑tech business. Ler mais