Google Is Fighting the Defamation Battle Meta Caved On
Google has moved to dismiss a $15 million defamation lawsuit filed by anti‑corporate diversity activist Robby Starbuck, who alleges the company’s AI falsely linked him to sexual‑assault accusations and white‑nationalist ties. Starbuck previously sued Meta over AI‑generated claims that he participated in the Jan 6 Capitol riot; Meta settled the case and even hired him as an advisor on AI bias. Google argues the plaintiff’s allegations stem from his own misuse of developer tools that induced AI hallucinations, noting he has not identified any specific prompts or harmed parties. No U.S. court has yet awarded damages for AI‑driven defamation, making the outcome uncertain.
OpenAI Is Finally Letting Employees Donate Their Equity to Charity
OpenAI announced it will finally let current and former employees donate eligible equity to charity, ending an 18‑month delay. The program could enable staff with six‑figure equity grants from 2019 to contribute millions, though a short decision window and advisory...
Google Updates Its Weather Forecasts with a New AI Model
Google unveiled WeatherNext 2, an AI‑powered weather forecasting model that is eight times faster and more accurate than its predecessor, achieving 99.9% accuracy on variables such as temperature and wind. The model uses a Functional Generative Network to generate hundreds...
Google Calendar Can Finally Block Off Time without Faking a Meeting
Google Calendar now lets users block off time for tasks, marking themselves as busy and automatically rejecting meeting requests, effectively turning tasks into pseudo‑meetings. The feature, long‑requested by Workspace users, adds options such as adjustable time blocks, “do not disturb”...
Your Online Reservations Are Telling Restaurants All About You
OpenTable is rolling out an AI‑assisted tagging feature that surfaces diners’ habits—such as preferred drinks, spending level, review activity, and likelihood of cancellations—to restaurant staff via its reservation and table‑management platform. The tags are generated from POS data collected across...
Google’s AI Mode Can Now Help You Visualize Your Travel Plans
Google has integrated travel planning into its AI Mode via the Canvas workspace, allowing users to describe a trip and receive a detailed itinerary with flight and hotel options, photos, and reviews, which can be refined through follow‑up queries. The...
Ring’s Jamie Siminoff Thinks AI Can Reduce Crime
Ring founder Jamie Siminoff has returned to Amazon as Ring’s chief inventor, championing an AI‑driven push to "zero out" neighborhood crime. He highlighted new AI features such as the Search Party tool for locating lost pets and stressed that Ring...
I Looked Into CoreWeave and the Abyss Gazed Back
CoreWeave, a GPU‑focused AI infrastructure provider backed by Nvidia, reported $1.4 billion in third‑quarter revenue, double year‑over‑year, and saw its share price tumble from a June peak of $187 to $75.51 after announcing data‑center delays. The company is heavily leveraged, having...
Jeff Bezos Will Be Co-CEO of AI Startup Project Prometheus
Jeff Bezos is joining Project Prometheus as co‑CEO alongside co‑founder Vik Bajaj, marking his first formal operational role since stepping down as Amazon CEO in 2021. The AI startup, backed by $6.2 billion in funding—including Bezos’s own capital—aims to develop manufacturing‑focused...
Framework’s Franken-Laptop Is Back with Big Chip Upgrades and Familiar Frustrations
Framework unveiled the 2025 refresh of its Laptop 16, adding AMD Ryzen AI 7‑350/7‑370 CPUs, Wi‑Fi 7, a redesigned heatsink, a 240 W USB‑C charger and a new 1080p webcam, all sold as upgrade modules for existing owners. The headline upgrade is a user‑replaceable...
Meta Must Rein in Scammers — or Face Consequences
Meta reportedly earns roughly $16 billion a year from scam ads, including about $7 billion from clearly fraudulent content, according to internal documents leaked to Reuters. Users of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are exposed to 15 billion ads daily, and one‑third of U.S....
WhatsApp Is Launching Third-Party Chat Integration in Europe
Meta is preparing to launch third‑party chat integration for WhatsApp across Europe to meet the EU Digital Markets Act, with rollout slated for the coming months. The first interoperable services, BirdyChat and Haiket, will allow users on iOS and Android...
Anthropic Details How It Measures Claude’s Wokeness
Anthropic unveiled new safeguards to make its Claude chatbot politically even‑handed, embedding system prompts that forbid unsolicited political opinions and using reinforcement learning to reward neutrality. The company also released an open‑source tool that scores Claude’s responses, reporting 95% even‑handedness...
Hackers Use Anthropic’s AI Model Claude Once Again
Anthropic disclosed that Chinese state‑backed hackers leveraged its Claude large‑language model to automate roughly 30 cyber‑attacks on corporations and governments in September, with 80‑90% of the operations driven by AI. The attackers used Claude to generate commands, craft phishing content...
Even Realities’ New Smart Glasses Ditch Cameras and Speakers
Even Realities unveiled its G2 Display Smart Glasses, a human‑centric wearable that forgoes outward‑facing cameras and external speakers, relying only on four microphones and a micro‑LED/gradient waveguide display that creates a layered 3D floating spatial view. The device bundles AI...
Google’s NotebookLM Will Now Do ‘Deep Research’
Google announced that its NotebookLM AI workspace will integrate Gemini’s Deep Research agent, giving all users access within a week. Users can choose a fast or deep research mode, with the deep option delivering in‑depth analysis, source citations, and the...
Google Will Let Users Call Stores, Browse Products, and Check Out Using AI
Google is launching a suite of AI‑powered shopping tools for U.S. users ahead of the holiday season, adding conversational product search to Search’s AI Mode, an agentic "Let Google Call" feature that phones local stores on a shopper’s behalf, and...
Spotify’s New Audiobook Recap Feature Uses AI to Remind You of the Story so Far
Spotify is rolling out an AI‑driven "Recaps" feature in its iOS app that automatically generates a spoken summary of the portion of an audiobook a listener has already heard, after 15‑20 minutes of playback. The tool, initially limited to a...
DJI’s Neo 2 Selfie Drone Launches Globally, but Not in the US
DJI is rolling out its Neo 2 selfie drone to a broader set of markets—including Japan, Canada, the UK and other regions—after an exclusive launch in China, but the device will not be sold through DJI’s official channels in the...
Anthropic Will Invest $50 Billion in Building AI Data Centers in the US
Anthropic announced a $50 billion investment to build AI data centers in the United States, partnering with Fluidstack to launch facilities in Texas and New York with additional sites planned. The centers are slated to become operational throughout 2026 and are...
Waymo Is Hitting the Highway — but Can It Handle the Speed?
Waymo announced that its fully driverless robotaxis will begin offering highway routes in Phoenix, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, initially to early‑access riders, while extending its Bay Area service to San Jose with 24/7 curbside access at both...
5 Things I Love About Amazon’s New Echo Shows — and 3 Things I Don’t
Amazon unveiled the new Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11, featuring a sleeker design, faster AZ3 Pro processor, 13‑MP camera, Wi‑Fi 6E, Thread, Matter and Zigbee support, and a fabric‑wrapped speaker system. Both devices run the updated Vega OS with Alexa Plus, delivering more responsive...
Google Relaunches Cameyo to Entice Businesses From Windows to ChromeOS
Google has relaunched the CameyobyGoogle virtual app delivery platform, a revamped version of the Cameyo virtualization software it acquired in 2024, to help Windows‑centric enterprises transition to ChromeOS. The service streams individual Windows applications—such as Excel and AutoCAD—directly in the...
Disney Is Losing over $4 Million a Day in Revenue on the YouTube TV Blackout
Disney is losing an estimated $4.3 million a day – about $30 million a week – after more than 20 of its channels, including ABC and ESPN, were blacked out on YouTube TV following a contract dispute that began on Oct. 30. The standoff...
Google Is Introducing Its Own Version of Apple’s Private AI Cloud Compute
Google announced Private AI Compute, a cloud‑based platform that extends on‑device AI capabilities while preserving user privacy. The service routes demanding AI tasks from Pixel phones, Chromebooks and other devices to a secure, fortified cloud environment where data is accessible...
Pixel Phones Are Getting Notification Summaries
Google is rolling out a December update for Pixel 9 series phones (excluding the 9A) that introduces AI‑powered notification summaries limited to longer chat conversations, aiming to provide concise context and reduce errors. The same update adds automatic sorting and...
ElevenLabs’ New AI Marketplace Lets Brands Use Famous Voices for Ads
ElevenLabs has launched the Iconic Voice Marketplace, an online platform that lets brands license AI‑replicated voices of famous figures—both living celebrities like Michael Caine and historic personalities such as Mark Twain—through a consent‑based, performer‑first model. The service connects advertisers with...
Google Photos Lets iPhone Users Edit Images by Describing Changes
Google is extending its AI‑driven editing features in Google Photos to iPhone users in the United States, adding a conversational "Help me edit" tool that accepts voice or text prompts. The rollout also brings a redesigned editor UI, more precise...
Samsung Brings a Generative AI-Powered Bixby to Its TVs
Samsung is rolling out Vision AI Companion, a generative‑AI‑powered version of its Bixby assistant, across its entire 2025 TV lineup. The feature lets users ask natural‑language questions about on‑screen content—such as actor bios, artwork details, or sports scores—and receive visual...
Siri Shortcuts Now Works with Samsung SmartThings Routines
Samsung’s latest SmartThings update adds Siri Shortcuts support, letting iPhone, HomePod and other Apple devices trigger SmartThings routines via voice. Users can now ask Siri to run automations such as a “Good morning” routine that adjusts lights, starts the coffee...
Paramount Plus Is Getting a Price Hike in Early 2026
Paramount Plus will raise its U.S. subscription fees on Jan. 15, 2026, moving the ad‑supported Essential plan from $7.99 to $8.99 and the ad‑free Premium plan from $12.99 to $13.99. The hike follows a series of annual price increases and comes after the...
Gemini for TV Is Coming to Google TV Streamer Starting Today
Google is rolling out Gemini for TV to Google TV Streamer devices starting today, extending the generative‑AI assistant beyond the limited set of smart TVs that received it in September. The update works on any TV with an HDMI port,...
Patreon Is Adding Tweet-Like Features and More Recommended Content
Patreon announced a suite of new social‑media‑style tools, including "Quips"—short text, photo or video posts that are public by default and open for comments—to showcase content and attract prospective patrons. The platform will also enable creators to collaborate on posts...
IRobot’s Revenue Has Tanked and It’s Almost Out of Cash
iRobot reported a third‑quarter 2025 revenue shortfall and disclosed that cash reserves have fallen below $25 million, leaving the company without immediate sources of additional capital. The decline follows years of competitive pressure from Chinese rivals, a failed Amazon acquisition, large...
Sir Tim Berners-Lee Doesn’t Think AI Will Destroy the Web
Sir Tim Berners‑Lee, the web’s inventor, talks about his new memoir “This Is For Everyone” and his work at Inrupt on the Solid decentralization standard, warning that the web has drifted toward closed, platform‑centric ecosystems. He argues that the original...
Tesla Is Fighting the EV Sales Slump with Short-Term Rentals
Tesla has launched a short‑term rental program for its electric vehicles in two California stores, San Diego and Costa Mesa, with plans to expand to additional locations by year‑end. Rentals run three to seven days, start at $60 per day, include free...
65daysofstatic’s New No Man’s Sky Album Searches for Humanity in an AI-Filled World
British post‑rock band 65daysofstatic have released "Journeys," a 32‑track soundtrack for Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky, marking their first revisit to the game’s music after nine years. The album reworks abstract procedural soundscapes into human‑crafted compositions alongside game audio director Paul Weir,...
The Algorithm Failed Music
Terrence O'Brien argues that music recommendation algorithms, from Pandora’s early Music Genome to Spotify’s sophisticated Discover Weekly, have shifted from helping listeners discover new music to merely keeping them streaming. By favoring “safe” tracks and even creating ghost artists through...
Texas Sues Roblox for Allegedly Failing to Protect Children on Its Platform
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit accusing Roblox of deceptive trade practices and failing to protect children from predators on its platform, alleging the company ignored state and federal safety laws and misled parents about its safeguards. The...
Senators Call on Trump to Continue Banning Nvidia From Selling Its Best Chips in China
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators led by Chris Coons and Tom Cotton urged President Donald Trump to maintain export controls that bar Nvidia from selling its flagship Blackwell AI chips to China. The resolution, co‑sponsored by Amy Klobuchar and...
Google Finance Offers Gemini AI Tools to Stock Traders
Google announced that its Google Finance app will soon include a "Deep Search" feature powered by Gemini AI, delivering fully‑cited, multi‑step research answers and a visible reasoning plan. Users can opt into early access via Google Labs, with usage caps...
Microsoft AI Says It’ll Make Superintelligent AI that Won’t Be Terrible for Humanity
Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman announced a new team dedicated to building a "humanist superintelligence"—a tightly controlled, limited‑autonomy AI designed solely to serve humanity. The initiative follows Microsoft’s recent launch of its own text, voice and image models and a revised...
Stability AI’s Legal Win over Getty Leaves Copyright Law in Limbo
Stability AI won most of its UK lawsuit against Getty Images, with the High Court rejecting Getty’s claim of secondary copyright infringement and finding only trademark infringement for watermark use. Getty had dropped its core claim that Stability trained on...
The Best Robot Vacuums We’ve Tested for 2025
The Verge’s 2025 robot‑vacuum roundup identifies the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra as the top‑tier, hands‑free model, boasting 10,000 Pa suction, lidar mapping, AI obstacle detection and a self‑emptying dock at a premium price of $1,799.99. For budget‑conscious shoppers, the Tapo RV30...
Google Has a ‘Moonshot’ Plan for AI Data Centers in Space
Google unveiled Project Suncatcher, a moonshot effort to create space‑based AI data centers by mounting its Tensor Processing Units on solar‑powered satellites. The initiative promises near‑continuous clean energy, with satellite panels projected to be up to eight times more productive...
Deck Your House in Govee’s Smart String Lights, Which Are Cheaper Ahead of the Holidays
Govee’s Christmas Lights 2, a Matter‑compatible smart string‑light system, are on sale ahead of the holidays, with the 66‑foot kit now $69.99 (down from $99.99) and the 99‑foot version $89.99 (down from $129.99). The lights offer over 130 preset effects,...
Tech Companies Don’t Care that Students Use Their AI Agents to Cheat
Tech firms are aggressively marketing AI agents to students, offering free or discounted access and even paying referrals, while downplaying the tools' role in academic cheating. Recent videos show OpenAI’s ChatGPT agent and Perplexity’s AI assistant completing assignments and quizzes...
How a Bunch of Hackers Freed the Kinect From the Xbox
In 2010 a community of hackers reverse‑engineered Microsoft’s Kinect, creating the OpenKinect open‑source drivers that liberated the depth‑camera from the Xbox 360. After Adafruit funded a USB sniffer and released its logs, individual contributors like AlexP, Hector "marcan" Martin and...
‘Eyes-Off Driving’ Is Coming, and We’re so Not Ready
General Motors announced it will launch a Level 3 “eyes‑off” driving system on the Cadillac Escalade IQ by 2028, letting drivers remove both hands and eyes from the road on certain U.S. highways. The move follows similar Level 3 efforts by Ford,...
How One Mountain Town Hopes AI Can Help It Fight Wildfires
Vail, Colorado has become the first U.S. municipality to deploy Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s AI‑driven Smart City solution, built with partners Kamiwaza, Nvidia and others, to automatically detect wildfires from existing camera feeds, drone and satellite imagery. The platform uses real‑time...
