During a hearing, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin questioned the Department of Defense’s decision to label AI developer Anthropic a supply‑chain risk, describing it as an apparent attempt to cripple the company after it sought limits on military use of its Claude tool. Anthropic has filed lawsuits alleging illegal retaliation, and the judge is considering a temporary injunction that could pause the designation. The case highlights tensions over AI use in the armed forces, First Amendment concerns, and the Pentagon’s authority to restrict contractors. Read more →

Anthropic is close to securing final court approval for a historic settlement that resolves claims that its Claude AI model was trained on pirated books. Nearly 100,000 authors have filed claims, and the company has agreed to pay a total of $1.5 billion, with $3,000 allocated to each qualifying work. The settlement includes a certification that no pirated content will be used in future Claude releases and a commitment to destroy existing pirated copies. The court is set to consider the final approval motion in late April, marking a significant milestone in AI‑related copyright litigation. Read more →

The city of Baltimore has filed a municipal lawsuit against Elon Musk's xAI, alleging that its AI chatbot Grok and the X social network were marketed without warning about the risk of harmful deepfake images. The complaint cites the platform’s image‑generation tool, which was used to create millions of sexualized images, including thousands involving minors, and argues that this violates Baltimore’s Consumer Protection Ordinance. City officials say the action is intended to protect residents from emerging AI‑related harms and hold technology companies accountable. Read more →

Anthropic has introduced an "auto mode" for its Claude Code AI, allowing the system to automatically execute actions it deems safe while blocking those that appear risky. The feature, now in research preview, adds a safety layer that checks for dangerous behavior and prompt‑injection attacks before any action runs. Auto mode works with Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Opus 4.6 and is recommended for isolated, sandboxed environments. The rollout targets Enterprise and API users and follows Anthropic’s recent releases of Claude Code Review and Dispatch for Cowork, reflecting a broader industry move toward more autonomous coding tools. Read more →

OpenAI announced it will shut down its Sora video‑generation app and API, a move that also ends the high‑profile licensing partnership with Disney. Executives said the decision follows internal discussions about research priorities and resource allocation, noting that Sora required extensive compute power that limited other teams. The company reiterated its focus on core products such as ChatGPT, Codex and the AI browser, while hinting at a forthcoming “superapp” strategy. The announcement caught many employees by surprise and signals a shift away from experimental side projects toward practical adoption. Read more →

OpenAI announced it will de‑prioritize the Instant Checkout feature that let users purchase items directly within ChatGPT. Launched in September, the checkout tool failed to attract significant use, prompting the company to pivot toward enhancing product discovery and detailed consumer information. Merchants can still integrate their own checkout experiences through apps in the chatbot, while OpenAI develops its Agentic Commerce Protocol with Stripe to serve as a centralized hub for product research. Read more →

OpenAI announced a set of open‑source, prompt‑based safety policies aimed at helping developers protect teenage users of AI applications. Developed with Common Sense Media and everyone.ai, the policies target five categories of potential harm, including graphic violence, harmful body ideals, dangerous challenges, romantic or violent role‑play, and age‑restricted goods. The move comes amid multiple lawsuits alleging that ChatGPT contributed to suicides and other harms involving minors, and follows OpenAI’s recent rollout of parental controls and age‑prediction features. The company frames the policies as a baseline safety floor for the broader developer ecosystem. Read more →

OpenAI announced a new set of open‑source prompts designed to help developers build AI applications that are safer for teenagers. The prompts address a range of risky content, including graphic violence, sexual material, harmful body ideals, dangerous challenges, and age‑restricted services. By providing clear, operational safety policies, OpenAI aims to give developers a practical foundation for protecting younger users, while acknowledging that the broader challenges of AI safety remain complex. Read more →

Google Labs introduced Stitch, an AI‑driven design tool that lets users create website and app interfaces through natural‑language prompts. Leveraging Gemini models, Stitch supports text and voice input, offers real‑time design critiques, and allows on‑the‑fly edits such as moving buttons or changing colors. Currently in beta, the platform can generate multi‑page layouts, extract design systems from URLs, and export rules via a markdown file. Early testers reported impressive visual results but noted occasional glitches typical of a beta product. Read more →

BNESIM, a global provider of travel eSIM and digital communications, says artificial intelligence is reshaping its industry by compressing development cycles and enhancing both operational efficiency and customer experience. The company’s CEO Luca Mattei highlights AI’s role in fraud detection, support automation, procurement, and market analysis, while emphasizing a collaborative approach that blends human judgment with machine capabilities. BNESIM’s dedicated AI and automation team works across departments to embed intelligent tools into everyday workflows, aiming for faster, more precise responses to the dynamic needs of travelers, remote professionals, and connected devices. Read more →

Apple is reportedly testing a standalone Siri app, a refreshed interface and an "Ask Siri" button that would make the voice assistant more visible across its devices. The changes, aimed at turning Siri into a full‑featured AI chatbot similar to ChatGPT, are expected to debut with iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 after a preview at WWDC 2024. Apple has not confirmed the details, but the reported overhaul could mark the company's most significant AI push for Siri since its launch more than a decade ago. Read more →

OpenAI announced the shutdown of Sora, its AI-powered social video platform that sought to blend TikTok-style feeds with deepfake technology. Launched as an invite‑only service, the app generated buzz but failed to sustain user interest, leading the company to end the product without providing a timeline or detailed explanation. While the underlying Sora 2 model remains available through ChatGPT, the decision marks the end of OpenAI's experiment with an AI‑first social feed and raises questions about the future of deepfake‑centric applications. Read more →

Google has expanded its Gemini AI assistant into retail by partnering with Gap Inc., allowing users to browse and purchase items from Gap’s brands directly within the chatbot using Google Pay and the Universal Commerce Protocol. At the same time, OpenAI is stepping back from its built-in checkout feature in ChatGPT, focusing instead on improving product displays, side‑by‑side comparisons, and overall relevance. The move reflects a broader trend of retailers and AI developers experimenting with conversational commerce while reassessing what shopping experiences resonate with users. Read more →