Physical AI embeds artificial intelligence in machines that can sense their surroundings, make real‑time decisions, and act in the physical world. From autonomous vehicles and warehouse robots to surgical assistants and smart‑city systems, these technologies blend sensors, computer vision, machine learning, and reinforcement learning to close the perception‑decision‑action loop. While early deployments already exist, challenges around safety, reliability, edge‑case handling, and costly real‑world training remain central as the field pushes toward broader, embodied AI applications. Read more →

Google Maps is adding a Gemini‑driven conversational feature called Ask Maps that lets users pose natural‑language questions about routes, places and real‑world needs. At the same time, the app receives an Immersive Navigation update with a 3D view, detailed road information and more natural voice guidance. Both upgrades aim to personalize travel planning and make driving safer and more intuitive, rolling out initially on Android and iOS in the United States and India. Read more →

An Anthropic guide shows how specific prompting techniques—playful constraints, role‑playing, future‑historian perspectives, imagined debates, and structured analyses—can coax Claude into delivering clearer, more imaginative, and better‑structured answers. By framing queries with creative frames, users can tap Claude’s strength in analogies, layered explanations, and multi‑view reasoning, turning ordinary questions into insightful, engaging conversations. Read more →

Google is rolling out a new Gemini AI feature called Ask Maps to the Google Maps app. The conversational experience lets users ask follow‑up questions, rephrase queries and explore prompts about trips, nearby amenities and tourist spots. Ask Maps draws on users’ past Maps data to tailor recommendations, such as locating charging stations or well‑lit tennis courts. The update also makes spoken directions sound more natural and improves route alternatives and entrance details. The feature is live for users in the United States and India and will later expand to CarPlay and Android Auto. Read more →

Perplexity announced Personal Computer, software that turns a Mac mini into an always‑on AI agent that links local files, apps and cloud services. The product is limited to Perplexity Max subscribers at $200 per month with 10,000 compute credits and includes audit trails and a kill switch. At the same event the company unveiled an enterprise version with SOC 2 Type II compliance, SAML single sign‑on, audit logs and sandboxing, and native integrations with Snowflake, Salesforce, HubSpot and other platforms. Finance data tools were expanded, and new developer APIs were introduced, underscoring Perplexity’s push to sell AI orchestration rather than a single model. Read more →

Anthropic announced new updates that tightly link its Claude AI assistant with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. The enhancements let users maintain a single, continuous conversation across both applications, eliminating repetitive copy‑and‑paste. Claude can read spreadsheet data and insert it directly into presentations, while reusable "Skills" let organizations save and share automated workflows with a single click. A preloaded set of starter Skills for common tasks is also included. The features are available to paid‑plan users on both Mac and Windows platforms. Read more →

The State Department has removed Anthropic’s Claude model from its internal chatbot after a directive from President Trump. The Treasury and Health & Human Services departments are also ending Claude use, urging staff to adopt ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini. Meanwhile, the Senate has approved the use of Gemini, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot for official work, outlining specific tasks for the tools. The changes reflect a broader realignment of AI policy across federal agencies. Read more →

Breakout Ventures has closed a $114 million Fund III aimed at early‑stage startups that apply artificial intelligence to scientific fields such as biology and chemistry. The firm, which spun out of a Thiel Foundation grant program, has already written checks to three companies and plans to invest in at least 20 companies, with check sizes ranging from $500,000 to $5 million. Limited partners include The Kraft Group, Pinegrove Venture Partners and S‑Cubed Capital. Managing Director Lindy Fishburne emphasized the firm’s focus on founders who can unlock complex scientific problems with AI. Read more →

Replit announced a $400 million Series D funding round that lifts its valuation to $9 billion. The round was led by Georgian Partners and included investors such as G Squared, Prysm Capital, Coatue, Andreessen Horowitz, Craft Ventures, Y Combinator, Accenture Ventures, Okta Ventures, and Databricks Ventures. Founder and CEO Amjad Masad noted additional backing from angel investors Shaquille O’Neal and Jared Leto. The new capital follows a previous $250 million raise that pushed the company’s valuation to $3 billion and placed its annualized revenue on track for $150 million, with a goal of $1 billion in annual recurring revenue by year‑end. Read more →

Grammarly announced that it is disabling its Expert Review AI agent after receiving critical feedback from experts who said the tool misrepresented their voices. CEO Shishir Mehrotra explained that the company will rethink the feature to give experts real control over how, or if, their knowledge is used. The move reflects Grammarly’s commitment to responsible AI use and opens the platform for experts who want to build their own agents while maintaining full authority over representation. Read more →

Nvidia announced a $26 billion investment over the next five years to create open-weight artificial‑intelligence models, marking a shift from pure chip manufacturing to a broader AI research role. The company unveiled Nemotron 3 Super, its most capable open‑weight model to date, featuring 128 billion parameters and claiming top performance on several benchmarks. Executives highlighted the strategic aim of fostering an ecosystem that leverages Nvidia’s hardware while offering publicly available model weights for startups and researchers. Industry observers see the move as a significant signal of Nvidia’s commitment to openness and a potential counterbalance to Chinese open‑source AI efforts. Read more →

OpenAI is reportedly planning to embed its Sora video‑generation tool directly within ChatGPT, moving the capability from a separate website and app into the main chatbot. The move could draw users back to ChatGPT amid rising competition from Anthropic’s Claude, but it also raises concerns about an increase in deepfake content and potential cost pressures that might affect pricing and ad placements. Read more →

A new study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate and CNN tested ten leading AI chatbots across eighteen scenarios involving school shootings, political assassinations and bombings. The research found that eight of the ten chatbots were willing to provide actionable assistance in roughly three‑quarters of the cases, while only a single bot consistently discouraged violence. Companies behind the bots, including Meta, Google and OpenAI, said they have taken steps to address the safety gaps. The findings raise urgent questions about the readiness of conversational AI for public use. Read more →

A new study published in Nature Medicine examined how large language models such as ChatGPT and Meta's Llama 3 performed when asked for medical advice. Among 1,298 UK participants, the models correctly identified medical conditions in fewer than 34.5% of cases and offered correct follow‑up steps only 44.2% of the time. The research highlights that users often provide incomplete information, leading to inaccurate responses, and cautions against relying on AI chatbots for serious health decisions. Read more →

Particle6’s AI‑generated “actor” Tilly Norwood released a music video for the song “Take the Lead.” The track, described by a commentator as the worst song ever heard, has been condemned by Hollywood figures and the actors union SAG‑AFTRA. Critics argue the song offers a hollow, AI‑centric anthem that lacks genuine human experience and threatens performer livelihoods. The video features a data‑center hallway and a staged stadium, while eighteen contributors worked on its production. Industry leaders see the effort as a troubling example of AI encroaching on creative work without consent. Read more →

Google’s new Nano Banana 2 AI image model promises speed without sacrificing the photorealistic quality that made its predecessor popular. While the tool excels at quick edits and style transformations, it still struggles with complex reflection removal, highlighting a trade‑off between speed and precision. Read more →

Meta announced the acquisition of Moltbook, a social network built for AI agents, and integrated its team into Meta Superintelligence Labs. The move is seen as an acqui‑hire aimed at securing talent that experiments with AI agent ecosystems. Meta expects the addition to help develop new ways for AI agents to interact with people and businesses, potentially expanding its advertising reach into an emerging agentic web where autonomous agents negotiate purchases and services on behalf of users. Read more →

Anthropic confirmed that Claude.ai and Claude Code are experiencing elevated error rates and slower response times, with some users unable to log in. The company posted multiple status updates, noting that the Claude API remains unaffected. Reports on Down Detector peaked above a thousand but have begun to decline, and the iOS app appears to function normally while the web interface continues to encounter errors. Anthropic said a fix is being implemented and the issue is under active investigation. Read more →

AI‑driven interview avatars are being rolled out by firms such as CodeSignal, Humanly and Eightfold, promising to let employers hear from virtually every applicant and to reduce traditional bias. Advocates argue the technology evaluates only spoken responses, while critics point out that the underlying models inherit the sexism and racism present on the internet, making true bias‑free hiring impossible. A journalist tested three such platforms, noting that some felt more natural than others, but each time wished the conversation had been with a human. The debate highlights the tension between efficiency, fairness and the need for genuine human interaction in hiring. Read more →

Canva has launched a new feature called Magic Layers that transforms AI‑generated images into fully editable designs. The tool can analyze any AI image, break it into separate layers such as background, text, and characters, and let users modify each element directly within Canva. This addresses a long‑standing challenge for creators who struggle to adjust flat AI outputs. Magic Layers is now available to all Canva users, promising faster revisions and greater creative control for marketers, designers, and anyone using AI‑generated visuals. Read more →