Meta is in talks to make a multi-billion dollar investment in Scale AI, according to a report from Bloomberg. If the deal goes through, it could exceed $10 billion — not only becoming Meta’s largest external AI investment to date but also ranking among the biggest funding rounds ever for a private company. Scale AI, led by CEO Alexandr Wang, provides data labeling services that power the training of AI models for major players like Microsoft and OpenAI. Data labeling — a critical step in building accurate AI systems — is largely performed by contractors. Recently, the U.S. Department of…
Author: Intern
Lawyers in the UK are being put on notice: relying blindly on artificial intelligence for legal research could have serious consequences. In a recent ruling from the High Court of England and Wales, Judge Victoria Sharp emphasized that legal professionals must take stronger precautions to avoid the misuse of AI in their work. Judge Sharp, addressing two recent cases in her decision, stressed that generative AI tools like ChatGPT “are not capable of conducting reliable legal research.” “These tools can generate responses that sound coherent and convincing — but those responses may be entirely wrong,” she wrote. “They may confidently…
Just one day after unveiling new AI models aimed at U.S. national security applications, AI startup Anthropic has appointed national security expert Richard Fontaine to its long-term benefit trust — a move that signals the company’s growing focus on the intersection of AI and global security. Anthropic’s long-term benefit trust is an unusual governance structure that the company says prioritizes safety and ethical oversight over pure profit. The trust also holds significant power — including the ability to elect certain members of Anthropic’s board of directors. Fontaine joins a group of high-profile trustees that already includes Zachary Robinson (CEO, Centre…
When 25-year-old Kian Sadeghi launched Nucleus Genomics in 2021, the startup had a clear mission: help patients understand their genetic risk for certain diseases. But in the years since, it has steadily courted controversy with products that go well beyond traditional health insights — even claiming to correlate genetics with complex traits like IQ. This week, the debate surrounding Nucleus reached fever pitch. On Wednesday, the company announced a new offering called Nucleus Embryo with a bold tweet: See tweet → Nucleus says this tool can test IVF embryos for far more than disease risk. In addition to screening for…
Defense tech startup Anduril is on a roll — and it just raised a staggering $2.5 billion in fresh funding, doubling its valuation to $30.5 billion. The round was led by Founders Fund, which poured in $1 billion — its largest investment to date. Existing investors eagerly joined in, and according to an Anduril spokesperson, the round was a hot ticket — over 8x oversubscribed. In other words, many more investors wanted a piece of Anduril than the company was willing to sell. Business Is Booming Founded by tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, Anduril builds autonomous weapons and advanced software to…
Apple’s biggest annual event — WWDC 2025 — is here, kicking off this Monday at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET). After last year’s AI-heavy announcements, expectations are sky-high. Will Apple deliver? We’re about to find out. iOS Is Getting Its Biggest Design Overhaul in Over a Decade Remember the shock when Apple switched to the flat, colorful design of iOS 7 back in 2013? Brace yourself — another big redesign is reportedly on the way. This time, Apple is rumored to be pulling design inspiration from visionOS, the operating system behind its Apple Vision Pro headset. That could mean…
At London’s SXSW conference, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski opened up about a surprising shift in his company’s approach to customer service—and the personal moment that sparked it. “My wife taught me something,” he told the audience. “Two things can be true at the same time.” He was responding to recent headlines: Klarna, known for automating tasks with AI to replace the equivalent of 700 jobs, is now hiring humans again—for a very specific reason. Why Klarna is Rehiring Humans—But Selectively Klarna, which had around 5,500 employees two years ago, now operates with roughly 3,000. Thanks to AI agents, the company…
In a bold move that could reshape the ongoing conversation around AI and data ownership, Reddit has filed a lawsuit against AI startup Anthropic, accusing it of using Reddit’s data to train its AI models — without any licensing agreement in place. The lawsuit, filed in a Northern California court on Wednesday, claims Anthropic scraped and used Reddit content commercially in violation of the platform’s user agreement. Reddit is seeking compensation and calling for accountability in what it frames as a blatant disregard for its rules and community. “We will not tolerate profit-seeking entities like Anthropic commercially exploiting Reddit content…
Once thought to belong in myths—or HBO’s Game of Thrones—dire wolves are now very real, and they’re howling. Turner, like many, once believed dire wolves were fictional. “Were you a fan of Game of Thrones?” she asked Lamm. “I was,” he replied. “But back then, I never thought I’d be part of something that actually brings dragons—or dire wolves—into reality.” Romulus, Remus, and the Rise of Real Wolves Lamm shared that the first dire wolf pups, Romulus and Remus, began howling by the time they were just three weeks old, triggered by everything from human voices to owl hoots. Now…
Last week, Chinese AI startup DeepSeek rolled out an updated version of its reasoning model, R1-0528—and it’s already making waves for its strong performance in math and coding tasks. But the bigger buzz? Whispers in the AI world suggest DeepSeek may have trained the model using outputs from Google’s Gemini. Although DeepSeek has stayed tight-lipped about its training data, independent AI researchers are raising eyebrows. One of them is Sam Paech, a Melbourne-based developer who designs emotional intelligence tests for AI. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Paech shared what he calls “evidence” that R1-0528 closely mirrors Gemini 2.5…
The wave of big data company acquisitions keeps rolling, and this Monday, cloud data giant Snowflake announced plans to acquire Crunchy Data, a specialist in Postgres databases. While the official deal terms remain under wraps, sources estimate the purchase to be around $250 million. Why This Matters Crunchy Data, a 13-year-old company, is a trusted partner for developers working with PostgreSQL — a popular open-source, object-relational database system loved for its power and flexibility. Crunchy Data’s clients include heavyweights like UPS, SAS, and even government agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. For Snowflake, this acquisition is a…
Imagine chatting with your favorite AI character and now, not just talking, but watching them come alive in videos you create. That’s the exciting new leap Character.AI has taken this week, rolling out some cool features that let users generate videos of their AI characters and share them in a brand-new social feed. What’s New? It sounds like a dream for fans of AI role-play and storytelling — and a whole new way to express creativity. But There’s a Dark Side However, with great power comes great responsibility. Character.AI has had its share of trouble before. There have been heartbreaking…
As the global demand for semiconductors skyrockets, a U.K. startup believes the answer to faster, more energy-efficient chips might be found beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Cardiff-based Space Forge just raised a $30 million Series A (roughly £22.6 million), with bold plans to manufacture advanced semiconductor materials in space — where microgravity and extreme conditions make it possible to grow near-perfect crystals. The startup’s vision? Use space-grown materials to power everything from 5G towers to quantum computing systems. CEO Joshua Western explains that this isn’t science fiction — it’s backed by decades of research. “We’re standing on the shoulders of about 50…
A fresh update from the Pew Research Center shows a noticeable trend: many prominent left-leaning influencers are joining Bluesky, the newer social platform that’s been gaining attention. But despite the move, most of them are still sticking with X (formerly Twitter). Pew looked at 500 major influencers — each with over 100,000 followers and a focus on news and current events. As of February and March 2025, about 43% of them had created a Bluesky account. Interestingly, more than half of those accounts were made after the 2024 U.S. election. The shift is especially strong on the political left. According…
In a dramatic policy shift, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced it will claw back $3.7 billion in clean energy and manufacturing grants awarded during the Biden administration a move that is sending shockwaves through the industry. The reversal affects 24 projects, including high-profile efforts by major corporations like Exxon Mobil and Kraft Heinz, as well as promising startups like Skyven Technologies, Sublime Systems, and Brimstone Energy. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, appointed by President Trump, said the decision was part of the administration’s “due diligence” and cited a May 15 memorandum that suggests the DOE may use its audit authority…