A journalist signed up for RentAHuman, a new marketplace where AI agents hire humans for real‑world tasks. After linking a crypto wallet and lowering hourly rates, the reporter received no job offers and found the listed gigs to be low‑pay marketing stunts, such as posting social‑media comments or delivering flowers for an AI startup. Attempts to complete a flyer‑hanging gig were thwarted by miscommunication and empty locations. Interviews with a founder of an AI developer community highlighted the platform’s hype‑driven design and lack of functional demand, leaving the reporter convinced that RentAHuman is more a publicity tool than a viable gig platform. Read more →

Microsoft cautions that rapid deployment of workplace AI assistants can turn them into insider threats, calling the risk a "double agent." The company’s Cyber Pulse report explains how attackers can manipulate an agent’s access or feed it malicious input, using its legitimate privileges to cause damage inside an organization. Microsoft urges firms to treat AI agents as a new class of digital identity, apply Zero Trust principles, enforce least‑privilege access, and maintain centralized visibility to prevent memory‑poisoning attacks and other forms of tampering. Read more →

Google introduced the Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol, an open standard that lets AI agents communicate directly, share data, and collaborate across applications and enterprise workflows. Built on existing web standards and OpenAPI authentication, A2A supports text, audio, and video streams while offering secure, asynchronous interactions for long‑running tasks. The protocol promises to break down silos between specialized agents, enabling richer automation in fields such as customer service, supply chain, and healthcare, though it also raises security and scalability concerns that will need further governance. Read more →

ByteDance announced Seedance 2.0, a next‑generation AI model that can create short video clips from combined text, image, audio, and video prompts. The system supports up to nine images, three video clips, and three audio clips per request and can produce 15‑second videos that respect camera movement, visual effects, and physical laws. Demonstrations include synchronized figure‑skating routines, anime‑style scenes, and celebrity‑lookalike cinematic fights. Seedance 2.0 is currently available through ByteDance’s Dreamina AI platform and the Doubao assistant, with no clear plan for TikTok integration. Read more →

A former OpenAI researcher has left the company after the introduction of advertisements to ChatGPT, citing concerns over the platform's direction. Meanwhile, Discord is facing strong user backlash after announcing plans for age verification, though the company says most users will not be affected. In California, opening arguments have started in a lawsuit accusing social media platforms of deliberately designing addictive experiences. Additional coverage includes the technology behind the major football broadcast and new FCC restrictions on drone operations. Read more →

Anthropic has upgraded its Claude AI chatbot by making its most powerful tools—file creation, Connectors, and customizable Skills—available to anyone on the free tier. The enhancements also include longer conversation capacity, improved voice and image search, and richer interactive displays. By removing previous barriers, the company positions Claude as a utility for everyday productivity, allowing users to generate documents, interact directly with calendars and email, and tailor the assistant’s behavior without a paid subscription. Read more →

In a rare move, xAI released a complete recording of its recent all‑hands meeting, offering insight into the company’s evolving structure, product roadmap, and ambitious plans for space‑based AI infrastructure. The session detailed a reorganization into four primary teams—Grok chatbot, coding system, Imagine video generator, and the Macrohard project—while acknowledging recent employee departures. Executives highlighted significant usage metrics for the Imagine tool and announced that X recently surpassed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue from subscriptions. The meeting concluded with Elon Musk outlining a vision for lunar AI factories and mass‑driver launch systems. Read more →

A surge in data‑center demand for artificial‑intelligence workloads is pushing up the cost of RAM, SSDs and related components, leading to higher prices for pre‑built computers, gaming consoles, portable devices and everyday storage. Manufacturers are responding with spec reductions and shrink‑flation, while consumers face limited stock of older models and rising prices on new releases. Experts advise shoppers to act quickly on current inventory, prioritize essential upgrades like 16 GB of RAM, and compare specs carefully to avoid hidden cuts. The trend is expected to continue through at least 2027. Read more →

Anthropic has broadened the free version of its Claude AI chatbot, adding file‑creation tools, select Google Workspace connectors, custom Skills, longer conversation limits, and enhanced image and voice search. The move comes as OpenAI introduced advertisements to its free and low‑cost ChatGPT plans, prompting Anthropic to highlight its ad‑free experience with a Super Bowl ad campaign. The added capabilities aim to make Claude more competitive for users weighing whether to stay with the free tier or upgrade to paid AI services. Read more →

Anthropic announced that it will cover the full cost of power‑grid upgrades required for its new data centers, preventing those expenses from being passed on to nearby consumers. The AI firm said it will pay higher monthly electricity charges to fund 100 percent of the needed upgrades and will support new power‑source development. The move follows a broader industry trend, with other tech giants also committing to share infrastructure costs amid rising electricity rates and community concerns about energy‑intensive data‑center projects. Read more →

Modal Labs, an AI inference infrastructure startup, is in early discussions with venture capital firms about a new financing round that could value the company at roughly $2.5 billion. If completed, the round would more than double the $1.1 billion valuation reported less than five months earlier. The company’s annualized revenue run rate is about $50 million. Co‑founder and CEO Erik Bernhardsson said the conversations are general and not an active fundraising effort. Existing backers include Lux Capital and Redpoint Ventures, while General Catalyst is reportedly considering leading the round. Read more →

OpenAI has dissolved its internal alignment unit that was tasked with ensuring AI systems remain safe, trustworthy, and aligned with human values. The former head of the team has been reassigned to a new position as the company’s chief futurist, where he will focus on studying the broader impact of AI and artificial general intelligence. Remaining members of the alignment group have been moved to other parts of the organization to continue similar work. The move follows a prior restructuring that saw an earlier “superalignment” group disbanded. Read more →

A senior OpenAI researcher announced her departure after the company began testing advertisements in its ChatGPT product. Citing concerns about user privacy and the potential for a profit‑driven shift in policy, she warned that the move could mirror early missteps by social media platforms. The resignation adds a new voice to the growing debate over commercializing AI chatbots, highlighting the tension between monetization and the trust users place in conversational agents. Read more →

Anthropic announced a significant upgrade to the free tier of its Claude chatbot, adding file creation tools, third‑party connectors, and custom skills. The enhancements let free users generate and edit Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint decks, Word documents, and PDFs, and link the assistant to services such as Canva, Slack, Notion, Zapier, and PayPal. Additional improvements include longer conversation windows, interactive responses, and better voice and image search. Anthropic framed the rollout as a direct response to OpenAI’s plan to introduce ads for free ChatGPT users, emphasizing that Claude will remain ad‑free. Read more →

A recent commentary warns that public discussions of artificial intelligence are dominated by hype and marketing, often ignoring substantial drawbacks. The piece cites examples such as a laundry‑folding robot showcased at a major tech show and high‑profile Super Bowl ads that promote AI without mentioning limitations, costs, or environmental impact. It highlights the role of influencers and celebrities who receive payment to endorse AI tools they may not fully understand. The author calls for a more balanced conversation that includes risks like job displacement, copyright concerns, hallucinations, and the energy demands of large models. Read more →

A recent commentary highlights the responsibility of influencers, tech executives, and other public figures to provide balanced information about artificial intelligence. While AI promises breakthroughs in fields like healthcare and drug discovery, the piece warns that current messaging often omits serious concerns such as environmental impact, job displacement, misinformation, and the exploitation of artists' work. The author argues that selective promotion—whether in lectures, commercials, or social media—misleads audiences and amplifies risks. Transparent disclosure of limitations, conflicts of interest, and potential harms is presented as essential for an informed public dialogue. Read more →

Amanda Silver, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s CoreAI division, explains that agentic artificial intelligence will dramatically lower the cost of software operations for startups. By automating tasks such as code‑base maintenance, live‑site incident response, and routine workflows, AI agents can reduce the need for human intervention, accelerate development cycles, and enable more ventures to launch with smaller teams. Silver notes that cultural and purpose‑definition challenges remain, but the overall impact mirrors the transformative effect the public cloud had on early‑stage companies. Read more →

Elon Musk and other tech leaders are planning to move artificial‑intelligence compute to orbit, envisioning satellite constellations that could host massive data‑center workloads. Early analyses, however, show that the cost of building and launching such orbital facilities far exceeds that of traditional ground‑based centers. High launch prices, expensive satellite manufacturing, thermal‑management challenges, radiation exposure, and limited solar‑panel lifespans all contribute to the unfavorable economics. While inference workloads may eventually find a niche in space, experts agree that significant technology breakthroughs and cost reductions are required before orbital AI becomes viable. Read more →

Two of xAI's co‑founders, Yuhuai (Tony) Wu and Jimmy Ba, announced their exits, bringing the total number of founding team departures to six out of twelve members. The exits come as the company readies for an IPO and faces challenges with its Grok chatbot and image‑generation tools, raising concerns about talent retention and product stability. Read more →

OpenAI has launched an advertising pilot within ChatGPT, displaying ads to free users and those on the $8‑per‑month Go plan. The pilot includes a range of brands such as Target, Ford, Mazda, Adobe, Williams‑Sonoma, Audible, HelloFresh, and luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet. Ads are labeled clearly and are not intended to influence the AI’s responses. Advertising agencies like WPP Media, Dentsu, and Omnicom are also bringing client ads into the test, covering sectors from retail to automotive and consumer packaged goods. Read more →