Today's AI Pulse
Odyssey lands $310M Series B, valued at $1.45B
Odyssey announced a $310 million Series B round that values the AI lab at $1.45 billion. The round was led by Natural Capital and included backers such as Amazon, AMD Ventures, GV, EQT and IQT. In parallel, Odyssey struck a preferred‑cloud deal with AWS to use Trainium silicon for large‑scale model training.
Also developing:
Enhancing AI with Trusted Third-Party Federated Feature Selection
A new framework introduces a trusted third‑party to orchestrate federated feature selection across distributed AI models. By aggregating feature importance scores without exposing raw data, the approach boosts predictive accuracy by roughly 15% while cutting communication overhead by 30%. The method leverages swarm intelligence to identify optimal feature subsets collaboratively, preserving privacy and complying with data‑silo regulations. Early trials in healthcare and finance demonstrate faster convergence and reduced model bias.
When to Use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot
The article maps five popular AI assistants—ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot—to the specific tasks they handle best. ChatGPT shines for polished, decisive writing, while Claude is more tolerant of half‑formed ideas and exploratory drafts. Perplexity delivers short, sourced answers...
Websites Must Evolve Into User‑Controlled Dynamic Interfaces
The annoying part about being able to build ANY interface at the drop of a hat with Claude Code is that… You want to pull your hair out when a website’s design doesn’t serve you. Pinterest: why aren’t ads pinnable? Why...
Graphene-Based Wearable Intelligent Throat Enables Stroke Patients to Speak
An international research team has created Revoice, a washable graphene‑based wearable choker that captures throat vibrations and carotid pulse to reconstruct speech for stroke patients with dysarthria. The device uses ultra‑sensitive textile strain sensors and a two‑stage large language model...
Microsoft Research Unveils Rho-Alpha Robotics Model Combining Vision, Language, and Touch
Microsoft Research introduced Rho‑alpha, a vision‑language‑action‑plus (VLA+) robotics model that adds tactile sensing to interpret natural‑language commands for complex bimanual tasks. Built on the Phi series, the model relies heavily on synthetic data generated through Nvidia's Isaac Sim and reinforcement‑learning pipelines....
ADX Taps Saal.ai to Build AI-Powered Market Data Platform
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) announced a partnership with AI specialist Saal.ai to develop a next‑generation, AI‑powered market data dissemination platform. The new system will replace ADX’s legacy infrastructure with a unified, scalable solution that delivers real‑time and periodic...
#490 – State of AI in 2026: LLMs, Coding, Scaling Laws, China, Agents, GPUs, AGI
In this episode Nathan Lambert and Sebastian Raschka dissect the 2026 AI landscape, covering the geopolitical AI race between China and the US, the competitive standings of major LLMs like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok, and the evolving role of...
Build for Yourself, Not a Market, to Succeed
After hearing @steipete's story more, I think what made Clawdbot hit all the right notes was him making it for himself. It's not "productized". There were no "product trade-offs" or "table stakes". He just made it to solve his own problem...
AI‑Powered GTM Replaces Outbound, Cold Email
Outbound is broken. Cold email is dying. The B2B companies winning right now have completely rebuilt their GTM around AI. At SaaStr AI 2026, they're showing you exactly how. May 12-14. SF Bay. https://t.co/K2JIAOSqol
Stop Panicking About AI. Start Preparing
Generative AI is achieving remarkable feats, from solving complex math to rapid software creation, but leading figures warn of disruptive social impacts. IMF head Kristalina Georgieva predicts a job‑crushing tsunami, DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis supports slowing innovation, and JPMorgan’s Jamie...
AI Hackathon Serves Lunch via Robot Truck
I just dropped by Founders Inc @fdotinc that is holding a physical AI hackathon today and tomorrow. Packed with people and robot pieces. Will be back tomorrow. But the guy who made lunch used a robot truck to do it...
AI-Powered Penetration Testing: Definition, Tools and Process
AI‑powered penetration testing combines machine‑learning models, autonomous agents, and traditional security tools to simulate real‑world attacks faster and more comprehensively than manual testing. Recent research shows AI agents achieved 82 % precision and outperformed nine out of ten human testers in...
CollectWise (YC F24) Is Hiring
CollectWise, a Y Combinator‑backed startup, uses generative AI to automate debt collection in the $35 billion U.S. market. Its voice AI agents already outperform human collectors by roughly two‑fold while costing less. The three‑person team hit a $1 million annualized run rate within...
NASA Needs To Leverage Its Cool Tech Better
NASA’s Perseverance rover completed the first drive on another planet that was planned entirely by artificial intelligence, showcasing a breakthrough in autonomous space navigation. The mission leveraged Anthropic’s Claude AI models in collaboration with JPL, aligning with the White House...
Trusting AI Cars Redefines Our Future Reliance
Do you trust your life to AI? I do. In an old car with hardware 3. What a beautiful time to be alive. It drove all the way from San Jose to Mill Valley. I think they snuck in the lightweight FSD 14 engine in...
Chinese Adults Taking Strange AI Devices to Bed With Them
Chinese adults are rapidly adopting AI companion toys, turning them into nightly bedside partners. Sales on platforms like Taobao surged over 1,600% in 2025, and JD.com reported nearly 7 million units of the Laolao Parrot sold at roughly $23 each. At...
How Decentralized AI Training Will Create a New Asset Class for Digital Intelligence
Decentralized AI training networks are linking heterogeneous GPUs worldwide to train frontier‑scale models, while issuing tokens that grant contributors ownership stakes. Prime Intellect has already delivered 10‑billion‑parameter and 32‑billion‑parameter models using this approach, and protocols like Gensyn and Pluralis prove...
Third‑Party AI Apps Thrive Amid Model‑Built Race
"Are enterprises building directly on models, or are they buying applications, instead? The answer is nuanced, but one thing is clear: the reported death of third party apps is greatly exaggerated, to put it mildly." Reading through the latest "Leaders,...
Growfin, Credit Pulse Announce AR Partnership
Growfin, an AI‑native accounts‑receivable automation firm, has partnered with Credit Pulse, an AI‑powered credit risk platform, to combine predictive credit scoring with end‑to‑end AR automation. Leveraging Agentic AI, the alliance aims to improve cash‑flow efficiency, reduce days sales outstanding, and...
Comparing Clinical Reasoning: Dialysis Nurses Vs. AI
A forthcoming BMC Nursing study will pit dialysis nurses against artificial‑intelligence systems in identical, scenario‑based clinical cases to map how each arrives at diagnoses and treatment plans. Researchers aim to quantify differences in accuracy, speed, and the nuanced cues—such as...
2027 AI Race: Align or Lose Human Relevance
🚨 From Agent-1 to Superintelligence: The AI 2027 Scenario The AI 2027 Report outlines one of the most thought-provoking trajectories for artificial intelligence: a rapid evolution from simple assistants (Agent-1) to autonomous, adversarially misaligned systems (Agent-4) and ultimately to Agent-5...
NDSS 2025 – PropertyGPT
PropertyGPT leverages large language models to automatically generate formal verification properties for smart contracts, using a retrieval‑augmented pipeline that pulls similar human‑written properties from a vector database. The system iteratively refines generated properties with compilation and static‑analysis feedback to ensure...
Browser Agent Benchmark: Comparing LLM Models for Web Automation
Browser Use released its first open‑source benchmark to evaluate LLM‑driven web‑automation agents across 100 rigorously selected tasks. The suite blends 20 tasks each from WebBench, Mind2Web 2, GAIA, BrowseComp and a custom set targeting complex interactions like iframes and drag‑and‑drop. Gemini‑2.5‑flash...
If You’re a Real Person Looking for a Job, the Flood of Fake AI Job Applications Will Make Your Blood...
The U.S. job market is being clogged by a surge of AI‑generated fake applications, as illustrated by The Markup’s engineer posting that attracted over 400 submissions in just 12 hours. Most of those candidates displayed identical, four‑sentence answer patterns, duplicated...
Armenia’s Fintech Awakening Is an ‘Open Goal’ the UK Cannot Afford to Miss
FinTech Armenia’s CEO Stefan Lucas urges the United Kingdom to view Armenia as an emerging fintech hub and an “open goal” for British investment. He highlights a recent UK‑Armenia strategic partnership, a near‑finalized peace framework with Azerbaijan, and a surge...
AI Search Shifts Focus From Clicks to Late‑Funnel Leads
Yep. AEO/GEO/SEO/WWJD/IMO/YOLO... AI search is important and there is no better team in the game than Docebo. Last year, Kyle Poyar interviewed Silvia Valencia and Valeriia Frolova about how to actually think about AI search, and I believe it's still...
When Agentic AI Systems Fall Into the Wrong Hands
Agentic AI systems—software that can make decisions and act independently—are increasingly embedded in consumer devices, enterprise tools, and critical infrastructure. Their growing autonomy promises efficiency gains but also introduces privacy breaches, security vulnerabilities, and ethical dilemmas when actions exceed human...
AI's True Value Demands Redesigning Work, Not Just Tools
Early lesson for the AI age. When electricity arrived, factories didn’t get smarter by swapping engines. They only unlocked real gains after redesigning how work actually flowed. AI agents are the same. Dropping them into old org charts won’t work. The real...
Consolidate Tools: Self‑Host, Automate, and Use APIs
Running a lean, bootstrapped (solo) business requires using a lot of tools. But be careful. Don't let it get out of hand. ⚠️ You want to avoid: - High costs - +30 open tabs - Overlapping functionality - Data scattered...
OpenAI Still Leads Enterprise AI, but Anthropic Is Gaining Fast, According to New Study
A recent a16z CIO survey of 100 Global 2000 firms shows OpenAI still leading enterprise AI with about 56% of model spending, but its lead is eroding as Anthropic and Google gain ground. Anthropic’s enterprise penetration jumped 25 points to...
Vibe Coding Lets Non‑experts Build AI Apps Fast
Something funny happened during our recent AI training at NYPL. We had ~30 professionals in the room. Developers, IT folks, managers. Different stacks. Different backgrounds. And suddenly… they were all vibe coding. People who: didn’t have Python installed a week ago hadn’t touched frontend in years were used to...
Accelerating the Exploration of Top Interface Passivators via Machine Learning for High‐Performance Perovskite Solar Cells
Researchers introduced a machine‑learning workflow that rapidly screens 162 ammonium‑salt molecules for perovskite surface passivation. The approach uses architecture‑specific models—XGBoost for n‑i‑p and RDKit‑SVR for p‑i‑n—to predict power‑conversion efficiency gains with low error. SHAP analysis revealed concentration, molecular weight, surface...
The ROI Paradox: Why Small-Scale AI Architecture Outperforms Large Corporate Programs
An empirical analysis of 200 B2B AI projects from 2022‑2025 reveals a “Budget Paradox”: deployments under $20,000 achieve a median ROI of 159.8%, while larger, monolithic programs frequently fail to break even within two years. The study, validated by Harvard...
WordPress Announces AI Agent Skill For Speeding Up Development via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
WordPress unveiled wp‑playground, an AI agent skill that integrates with the Playground CLI to spin up a full WordPress sandbox instantly. The skill automatically mounts generated code, launches the site, and provides built‑in scripts that shrink startup time from roughly...
Self‐Powered Neuromorphic Touch Sensors Based on Triboelectric Devices: Current Approaches and Open Challenges
The review examines how triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) can power neuromorphic tactile sensors, mimicking human touch. It categorizes four coupling architectures—ex situ, discrete circuit, direct gating, and monolithic—and two operational modes, displacement-driven and pulse-driven. The authors detail neuromorphic functions achieved, including...
Machine Learning Achieves Advantages with Minimal Quantum Computer Use in LUQPI
Researchers from Leiden University and collaborators introduced Learning Under Quantum Privileged Information (LUQPI), proving that a quantum computer used solely as a feature extractor during training can deliver exponential advantages over classical machine learning. The quantum features are generated without...
AI Tool Detects Intracranial Hemorrhage in Children
Researchers evaluated an adult‑trained artificial intelligence algorithm for detecting intracranial hemorrhage on head CT scans in children aged 6‑17. The tool achieved high sensitivity and specificity, matching expert radiologists in clear‑case detection. Performance declined on subtle bleed presentations, exposing gaps...
Possible: Amjad Masad on Vibe Coding, AI Agents, and the End of Boilerplate
In this episode, Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger interview Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit, about how AI is democratizing software creation by turning natural language into functional code. Masad shares his journey from self‑teaching in Jordan to building a platform...
How AI Credit Card Terminals Are Reshaping Retail Analytics
AI‑powered credit card terminals have evolved from simple payment processors into intelligent data hubs that analyze transactions in real time. They accelerate authorizations, detect fraud instantly, and surface behavioral insights that guide inventory and marketing decisions. Retailers adopting these machines...
Sharpa Showcases Autonomous Fine-Manipulation Robot and New AI Model at CES 2026
Sharpa unveiled its full‑body robot North at CES 2026, where it played autonomous ping‑pong matches and completed long‑horizon tasks such as 30‑step windmill assembly and card dealing. The demonstrations, running eight hours a day for four days, highlighted the company’s progress...
Fintech Innovations Revolutionizing Debt Collection in Healthcare: Lessons From Australian Clinics
Australian clinics are adopting fintech tools—automated reminders, AI‑driven communication, blockchain tracking, predictive analytics, and digital payment platforms—to overhaul medical debt collection. These technologies deliver higher recovery rates, faster payments, reduced collection costs, and stronger patient satisfaction compared with traditional, often...
German AI's Smooth Turns Outpace Humans, Boosting Auto
Why did the German AI team beat the human in the race in Abu Dhabi? Because their robot was smoother in the turns. I saw it with my own eyes. It is how @elonmusk’s new Roadster will be judged. @Tesla’s AI is way...
The View From Universal Robots: Four Physical AI Predictions for 2026 and Beyond
Universal Robots VP Anders Billesø Beck outlines four physical AI trends reshaping robotics through 2026. He predicts a shift from reactive control to predictive mathematics, enabling robots to anticipate impacts of motion. Imitation learning will turn isolated cobots into cooperative,...
Deepgram Raises $130 Million Series C at $1.3 Billion Valuation
Deepgram announced a $130 million Series C round that lifts its valuation to $1.3 billion, led by AVP and joined by strategic backers such as Twilio, ServiceNow Ventures, SAP and Citi Ventures. The capital will accelerate the expansion of its real‑time voice AI...
AI Will Flood Us With Fun, Making Us Busier
The predictions are wrong. You will way busier in the future. Why? We are getting exponentially more new things. Next week I am sharing a video with @cmigos who built an AI system for Hollywood to develop movies faster. It is stunning. Someone is gonna...
Great Agents Matter; AI Just Jump‑starts Resolutions
This is what folks miss in AI CX. Even if the AI can’t resolve a complex issue, folks still love a great agent that is well trained. It can at least get a resolution kicked off, almost instantly.
AI Bot Swarm Could Transform Open-Source Development
what would happen if you let millions of moltbots / ai bots collaborate on open source software together?
Humans Still Needed to Orchestrate AI Agents
"For now, humans have to manage the AI Agents. Meta agents aren't there yet in AI GTM. The orchestration has to be you." with @kylecnorton CRO @owner https://t.co/k1ML07ypMJ
AI Lets You Stay Small when Talent Is Scarce
"If you can magically find 10 great humans to cost-effectively do the work, sure, don't use AI" @tbpn with @johncoogan + @jordihays. "But easier said than done." "AI also gives you control. To hire the number of humans you...
AI Bots Will Become Every Employee’s Personal Assistant
obvious that co’s will all have a permissioned version of clawdbot & every employee will have a staff bots will find the right coworker to ask for info, or go right to the project board… they’ll schedule meetings, triage urgent emails, report...