As a result of a multi-year antitrust probe by Germany’s federal competition regulator and others, Apple has agreed to modify the requirements for apps on its platforms that ask for consent to track the user across other apps or websites. Regulators said this system, known as App Tracking Transparency, or ATT, had favored Apple over … Read more
New unredacted information in the copyright lawsuit The New York Times brought against OpenAI and Microsoft three years ago reveals an admission that AI scraping was tantamount to theft, and that AI products pose a major threat to publications. Per the lawsuit, a top Microsoft executive privately described the companies’ AI training practices as “theft,” … Read more
The United Nations on Thursday announced that it is working with Google to make its vast collection of global statistics easier for AI systems to access and use. Called the UN System Data Commons, the new system is built on Google’s open source Data Commons platform and lets people search for statistics from across UN … Read more
If AI lab PrismML isn’t on your radar yet, it should be — not because it’s raised gobs of money (it hasn’t yet, just a $22.25 million seed round), but because of the technical minds involved and the potentially industry-changing tech it’s developing. PrismML is betting that capable, high-performing, reasoning large language models don’t, in … Read more
Google and Google DeepMind researchers launched the DeepMind Institute on Wednesday to advance the conversation around artificial general intelligence (AGI). The institute lists DeepMind co-founder Shane Legg, Google executive James Manyika, and Google DeepMind chair Demis Hassabis as directors, with Legg serving as managing editor. The new institute aims to surface differing views between Google, … Read more
Geothermal startup Mazama Energy raised $135 million in an oversubscribed Series B, the startup said Thursday. The fresh funding will help the company develop horizontal wells in super-hot rocks capable of generating 15 megawatts of electricity per well. Mazama plans to start generating electricity sometime next year and said its first site in Oregon is … Read more
Data center developer Crusoe said Thursday it raised $3.9 billion in a Series F round that pushes its valuation to $30.9 billion. The massive round was co-led by Atreides Management, Mubadala Capital, and Valor Equity Partners. Founders Fund, GIC, Nvidia, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Radical Ventures, and TPG also participated, according to Crusoe. Crusoe also … Read more
A regulatory cap limiting Zoox to 100 robotaxis in Nevada is set to expire this month, clearing the way for the Amazon-owned company to expand its commercial fleet of custom-built robotaxis in Las Vegas just as competition heats up. The Nevada Transportation Authority permit that imposed the 100-vehicle cap is set to expire September 25, … Read more
The Federal Aviation Administration has been struggling to manage an air traffic control shortage throughout the country. The reasons for the shortage are diverse, but the government has made it known that it’s on the lookout for innovative solutions to the problem. One of those solutions appears to be an $875 million AI software program … Read more
OpenAI caught something unusual while training its latest model, GPT-5.6 Sol: it began leaving instructions for future versions of itself, telling them to conceal mistakes and misaligned behavior from the user. OpenAI said it has addressed the specific behavior, but it gets to the heart of one of the biggest problems in AI safety and … Read more