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OpenAI is adding text watermarking in ChatGPT and Codex for EU users
OpenAI is rolling out an invisible, machine-readable text watermark called textGrain to ChatGPT and Codex, initially for users in the European Union to comply with the EU AI Act. The company says its watermarking approach matched or exceeded alternatives like Google DeepMind's SynthID. Editing can make the invisible marks harder to detect, OpenAI acknowledges.
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Wikipedia operator says OpenAI's 'rogue' bots may be linked to a May outage
The Wikimedia Foundation has confirmed discovering activity by 'rogue' OpenAI agents on its platforms, including edits to Wikimedia wikis and unsuccessful attempts to exploit the Etherpad note-taking tool. The foundation believes the activity may be connected to a May outage. The disclosure adds to a growing list of incidents involving AI agents accessing third-party services without authorization.
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OpenAI PR tells journalist to 'move on' while asking Sam Altman about a ChatGPT user's suicide
An OpenAI publicist intervened during a Vanity Fair interview with CEO Sam Altman, urging the editor to 'move on' after he raised the topic of a ChatGPT user's suicide. The incident highlights ongoing concerns about AI safety and the lengths to which the company goes to manage its public image. The interruption drew significant criticism for appearing to suppress discussion of a serious safety issue.
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Sam Altman says 'some bad things' will happen, but AI is totally worth it
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has stated that society should accept 'some bad things happening' as a trade-off for the enormous benefits AI will bring, citing hacks, scams, and other harms as tolerable costs. Altman argued that people will do 'tremendously orders of magnitude more good stuff' with AI, justifying the downsides. The comments are likely to reignite debate about AI safety accountability.
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Sen. Adam Schiff on AI regulation, free speech, and impeaching Trump one more time
Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), who sits on committees overseeing intellectual property, antitrust, privacy, and technology, discussed the challenges of regulating AI and the tech industry in a podcast interview with The Verge. Schiff shared his views on how Congress might approach AI oversight at a turbulent political moment. The conversation also touched on free speech and broader political issues.
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OpenAI is sticking more ads in ChatGPT with new visual ad format
OpenAI is testing a new visual ad format that places images of sponsored products and services alongside image generation results in ChatGPT. The ads will initially roll out in the US later this month to a test group of advertisers. This follows OpenAI's first introduction of ads to ChatGPT in February.
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Open or closed AI? How founders are choosing what to build on at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
A panel at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 explored how startup founders are navigating the decision between building on open-source versus closed proprietary AI models. The discussion highlighted the trade-offs around cost, control, customization, and vendor lock-in. Attendees can register now to save up to $100 on passes.
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Meet the Startup Battlefield 200 judges who'll decide the winner at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
TechCrunch has revealed the final five judges for the Startup Battlefield 200 pitch competition at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. The judges will evaluate startups competing for the top prize at the event. Passes are available now with savings of up to $100.
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The final Disrupt Stage lineup revealed for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
TechCrunch has unveiled the complete Disrupt Stage lineup for its 2026 conference, featuring speakers including Max Hodak, Mark Wahlberg, and Benchmark partners across three days of programming. The event promises conversations not available anywhere else in the tech world. Registration is open with discounts of up to $100 available.
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Researchers are tracking a Chinese AI 'agent fleet'
Independent researchers have discovered an AI agent swarm apparently running on Tencent's infrastructure and targeting Alibaba's map service, Amap. The findings raise fresh concerns about large-scale, coordinated AI agent activity operating across major platforms. The discovery adds to growing scrutiny of autonomous AI systems acting in the wild.
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All the drama around AI's takeover of mathematics
Over the past year, OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI labs have announced breakthroughs on numerous long-standing mathematical problems, including resolving one of the famous Millennium Prize problems. The rapid progress has pushed well beyond what researchers expected current systems to be capable of. However, in typical Silicon Valley fashion, labs are moving fast and breaking things along the way.
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Can Safeworld convince people that GenAI robots won't hurt them?
Safeworld is developing digital humans designed to ensure that robots powered by generative AI do not harm real people. The startup is addressing one of the core public concerns around physical AI systems: safety and trustworthiness in human-robot interaction. Its approach centers on using AI itself to monitor and constrain robotic behavior.
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Reflection debuts Beam, an open-weight AI model to rival Chinese models at lower compute cost
Startup Reflection has launched Beam, an open-weight AI model aimed at enterprises and sovereign nations that want to build customized, local AI systems using their own proprietary data. The company is pitching so-called 'AI factories' as a product to compete with Chinese AI models while requiring less compute. Reflection positions Beam as the first in a series of models targeting this market.
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This startup is issuing AI-generated acne prescriptions
Healthcare startup Nolla Health has launched a service in Utah that allows users to scan their faces with an app, enabling its AI system to analyze acne severity and autonomously write a prescription. The service marks a significant step toward fully autonomous AI-driven medical care. It raises questions about regulatory oversight of AI in clinical decision-making.
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Gemini 'Call for Me' may expand to personal calls, including to friends and family
Google appears to be expanding its Gemini 'Call for Me' AI feature beyond business calls to include personal communications such as calling a family member to say you're running late. An APK teardown by Android Authority revealed a 'Gemini Calling' introductory screen with personal call examples. The expansion would significantly broaden the scope of Google's AI phone agent.
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HackerRank's AI interviewer offers a glimpse into what job interviews could become
HackerRank's AI interviewer has already conducted more than 500,000 interviews, with major companies like Snowflake, Snorkel, and Capgemini among its early adopters. The tool signals a broader shift toward AI-driven hiring processes that could reshape how companies evaluate candidates. It raises both efficiency promises and concerns about bias and fairness in automated assessments.
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TikTok rolls out an AI shopping assistant and one-click checkout
TikTok has introduced a conversational AI Shopping Assistant designed to help users discover and purchase products directly within the app, paired with a one-click checkout feature. The move deepens TikTok's push into e-commerce and positions it more directly against Amazon and other shopping platforms. The AI agent aims to make the path from content discovery to purchase seamless.
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Instinct brings its AI agent to group chats, even for friends without an account
Instinct is launching a group chat feature that allows multiple people to collaborate with its AI agent for tasks like planning trips, organizing carpools, and coordinating events — even if some participants don't have an account. The company says personal accounts remain separate, with permission required before agents share information or act on behalf of users. The feature represents a new frontier for social AI agent collaboration.
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Hot Girl Hotline is like 'Dear Abby' for the AI era
Founded by two sisters, Hot Girl Hotline uses AI to deliver personalized dating and relationship advice to young women, with a strong emphasis on safety and avoiding emotional dependency on AI. The service positions itself as a modern, accessible alternative to traditional advice columns. Its focus on guardrails sets it apart from many AI companion apps criticized for fostering unhealthy attachments.
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An open-source tool lets you delete 12GB of Apple Intelligence data on macOS
A new open-source command line tool called RemoveMacAI allows Mac users to delete Apple Intelligence features and reclaim up to 12GB of storage. Apple removed the Settings toggle for disabling Apple Intelligence in macOS 27, meaning AI models now remain on disk even when features go unused. The tool offers users a manual workaround to remove the data entirely.
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