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And then there were two: Of the original 11 co-founders who kickstarted xAI with Elon Musk three years ago, only two remain as the deep learning lab continues a personnel overhaul to compete with Anthropic and OpenAI. That rebuilding, insists Musk, is by design. “xAI was not built right first time a

Lawyer behind AI psychosis cases warns of mass casualty risks

In the lead up to the Tumbler Ridge school shooting in Canada last month, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar spoke to ChatGPT about her feelings of isolation and an increasing obsession with violence, according to court filings. The chatbot allegedly validated Van Rootselaar’s feelings and then helped

Digg lays off staff and shuts down app as company retools

Digg — Kevin Rose’s reboot of his once-popular link-sharing site — is laying off a sizable portion of its staff, the company announced on Friday. The startup is not closing, however, Digg CEO Justin Mezzell said. Instead, Rose will return to work on Digg full-time as the company tries to find its fo

Nyne, founded by a father-son duo, gives AI agents the human context they’re missing

AI agents are expected to soon start making autonomous purchasing and scheduling decisions on behalf of humans. But Michael Fanous, a UC Berkeley computer science graduate and former machine learning engineer at CareRev, argues that these agents are currently missing a critical piece of the puzzle:

Facebook makes it easier for creators to report impersonators

After widespread complaints that Facebook has become an “AI slop hellscape,” Meta on Friday announced new tools to detect impersonation, as well as updated creator guidelines that better define what Facebook considers to be “original content.” Last year, the company announced a crackdown on spammy a

Steven Spielberg says he’s ‘never used AI’ in any of his films

Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg spoke out against the use of AI technology when used in creative endeavors in an interview at the SXSW conference in Austin on Friday. Asked how he viewed AI’s utility as part of the filmmaking process, Spielberg said, “I’ve never used AI on any of my films yet,”

The biggest AI stories of the year (so far)

You can chart a year through product launches, or you can measure it in the greater moments that change the way we look at AI. The AI industry is constantly churning out news, like major acquisitions, indie developer successes, public outcry against sketchy products, and existentially dangerous cont

Travis Kalanick launches a new company called Atoms focused on robotics

Uber founder Travis Kalanick has a new company called Atoms focused on robotics that, according to its website, will operate in the food, mining, and transportation industries. Kalanick is rolling his existing ghost kitchen company, CloudKitchens, into Atoms. It’s not immediately clear how he plans

The wild six weeks for NanoClaw’s creator that led to a deal with Docker

It’s been a whirlwind for NanoClaw creator Gavriel Cohen. About six weeks ago, he introduced NanoClaw on Hacker News as a tiny, open source, secure alternative to the AI agent-building sensation OpenClaw, after he built it in a weekend coding binge. That post went viral. “I sat down on the couch

Spotify will let you edit your Taste Profile to control your recommendations

At the SXSW conference on Friday, Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström announced a new feature, launching in beta, that will allow listeners for the first time to review and edit their Taste Profile, the algorithmically generated model of their music preferences. This Taste Profile is key to Spotify’s r

Apple drops commission rates in China without a fuss

Apple is dropping its commission rate in the App Store in China to 25% from 30% following discussions with the Chinese regulator, the company said Thursday. The new 25% commission will apply to paid apps and in-app purchases, while a lower 12% commission (down from 15%) will be charged for auto-rene

The FBI is investigating malware hidden inside games hosted on Steam

The FBI is investigating a hacker suspected of publishing several video games laced with malware on the popular PC games store Steam, the agency said Friday. In its announcement looking for victims who may have been infected, the FBI listed the following games suspected of being developed by the sa

Peacock expands into AI-driven video, mobile-first live sports, and gaming

Peacock is making a clear bet on two things: AI and mobile-first entertainment. Based on what the streamer previewed at a press event yesterday, Peacock’s mobile app is about to look a whole lot more like a mix of TikTok, a casual gaming hub, and a streaming service. From an AI-powered “Bravoverse”

Motional robotaxis join the Uber app in Vegas two years after major reset

Uber has added another company’s autonomous vehicles to its growing robotaxi network. Hyundai-owned Motional’s self-driving version of the Ioniq 5 is now available to be hailed for rides to and from five areas around the city — with a safety monitor in the car, for now. Starting Friday, the vehicles

Before quantum computing arrives, this startup wants enterprises already running on it

Eighteen months after selling his startup to chipmaker AMD for $665 million, Finnish entrepreneur Peter Sarlin has left his role as CEO of the unit now known as AMD Silo AI. He is now chairman at two new ventures: physical AI lab NestAI, and Qutwo, an AI startup aimed at helping companies prepare fo

Truecaller now lets you hang up on scammers — on behalf of your family

Caller identity platform Truecaller recently launched a new feature that lets one person become an admin of a family group, get alerts about fraud calls received by other members, and even end a call on their behalf if they suspect a family member might get scammed. The company, which has over 450 m

How to watch Jensen Huang’s Nvidia GTC 2026 keynote

Nvidia kicks off its annual GTC developer conference in San Jose, California, next week with CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote scheduled for Monday at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET. GTC — which stands for GPU Technology Conference — is Nvidia’s flagship annual event, where the chipmaker typically uses the spotlig

Sales automation startup Rox AI hits $1.2B valuation, sources say

Rox, a startup developing autonomous AI agents to boost sales productivity, has raised a new funding round valuing the company at $1.2 billion, according to multiple sources. The funding included a lead investment from returning backer General Catalyst, two of the people said. Rox and General Cataly

Channel Surfer lets you watch YouTube like it’s old-school cable TV

There’s a fun new way to watch YouTube: by channel surfing like a boomer with cable TV. This creative idea comes from London-based developer Steven Irby, who has just launched a web app called Channel Surfer, which presents interesting YouTube videos in an interface resembling a retro-looking TV gui

Why Rivian is holding the $45,000 base model R2 until ‘late 2027’

Rivian revealed the specs and pricing details for its pivotal R2 SUV on Thursday, and the company also finally answered a long-burning question: When will customers be able to buy the promised $45,000 base model? That answer is “late 2027,” according to the company’s press materials. And there’s a c

Substack launches a built-in recording studio

Publishing platform Substack is continuing to invest in video content as it launches the Substack Recording Studio, a built-in mechanism for creators to pre-record and publish videos. The studio, which is only available on the desktop, can support solo videos as well as conversations with up to two

Facebook Marketplace now lets Meta AI respond to buyers’ messages

Facebook Marketplace is rolling out new Meta AI features, including one that automatically replies to messages from interested buyers, Facebook announced Thursday. The social network is also using AI to help sellers list items faster and summarize profiles and is giving sellers the option to offer s

Tinder tries to lure people back to online dating with IRL events, virtual speed dating

Tinder held its inaugural product keynote on Thursday, unveiling an ambitious slate of updates designed to reinvigorate its product, bolster safety, and harness AI. This comes on the heels of Match Group’s $50 million investment in product development, announced last August, as the parent company lo

Atlassian follows Block’s footsteps and cuts staff in the name of AI

Australian productivity software company Atlassian held layoffs as the company looks to funnel more money into AI. Atlassian announced it’s cutting 10% of its workforce, around 1,600 people, on March 11. The company said this decision allows it to spend more funds on AI and enterprise sales and to s

Lucid Motors shows off robotaxi concept called ‘Lunar’