The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced USAi, an artificial intelligence tool that allows federal agencies to "experiment with and adopt" AI strategies at a fast pace.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is co-founding Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface startup positioned to compete directly with Elon Musk’s Neuralink. According to The Financial Times, the company plans to raise $250 million at an $850 million valuation, with a large portion of its funding expected from OpenAI’s ventures arm.
Igor Babuschkin, co-founder of Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI, announced Wednesday that he is leaving the company to start his own venture capital firm, Babuschkin Ventures. The new firm will focus on AI safety research and funding startups that aim to “advance humanity and unlock the mysteries of our universe.”
A new University of Amsterdam study has found that AI chatbots, when placed in a stripped-down social media environment, naturally self-organize into echo chambers based on pre-assigned political affiliations — even without algorithms or ads influencing their behavior.
Elon Musk has accused Apple of anticompetitive behavior, claiming the tech giant is deliberately boosting OpenAI’s ChatGPT app rankings over his own AI platform, Grok, in the iPhone App Store. In a pinned post on X late Monday, Musk questioned whether Apple was “playing politics” by refusing to highlight his products in the App Store’s top charts. Musk announced plans to file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple over the issue.
In an effort to tackle overwhelming constituent messaging, British MP Mark Sewards has unveiled “AI Mark,” a chatbot designed to emulate his voice and Yorkshire accent when responding to public inquiries. Sewards launched the tool after receiving more than 6,000 messages within his first three months in office, suggesting constituents give it a try to help manage communication.
A federal judge has struck down California’s law banning AI-generated political parody videos, ruling in favor of Elon Musk’s platform X, the Babylon Bee, and video-sharing site Rumble. The plaintiffs argued the law infringed on free speech, and U.S. District Judge John Mendez agreed, citing federal protections for online platforms.
Google announced that it has entered into two utility agreements to reduce the energy usage of its AI data centers when there is a greater demand for electricity.
A London academic won a $5,700 refund and apology from Airbnb after a host allegedly used AI-generated images to accuse her of causing $16,000 in damage to a New York rental. Initially siding with the host, Airbnb reversed course only after media scrutiny revealed discrepancies in the photos.
