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From August 15 to 17, Beijing will host the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Sports Games at its iconic Olympic venues, the Bird’s Nest and the Ice Ribbon. Robots will sprint, tumble, and kick their way through 11 human-inspired events, including track and field, gymnastics, and football. On the surface, it reads like a high-production state-sponsored tech propaganda – which it almost certainly is. Still, I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt. Continue Reading →
NBC is bringing back Jim Fagan (the iconic voice of NBA on NBC). Literally. With the blessing of his family, NBC Sports will use an AI-generated version of Fagan’s voice to narrate promos and title sequences when the network resumes NBA coverage this fall. Continue Reading →
Pinterest has added a new AI-powered feature to its visual search engine. Now, when a user taps on an image, Pinterest will suggest words to describe what they’re seeing. Tap a chair and get “mid-century,” “woven,” “Japandi.” The AI guides discovery, teaches vocabulary, and sharpens consumer intent – which all sounds very useful. Continue Reading →
Microsoft is officially going passwordless by default. On the surface, it’s a welcome step toward a safer, simpler future. Passkeys — supported by Apple, Google, and Microsoft under the FIDO Alliance banner — promise to eliminate the phishing risks, credential leaks, and attack vectors that passwords have always invited. But there’s a catch. Continue Reading →
Grok 3.5
The real world is complicated, chaotic, and decidedly NSFW. Foundational AI models, however, are trained to pretend otherwise. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and other major players meticulously sanitize their training data, scrubbing out adult content, extremist ideology, politically sensitive topics, and anything that might trigger regulatory scrutiny or brand risk. The result is a cohort of safe, predictable, and polished assistants that play well with risk management frameworks and emerging compliance regimes. Continue Reading →
Google is moving its experimental AI Mode out of the lab and into the real world. Beginning in the coming weeks, a small percentage of U.S. users will see a new AI Mode tab. Instead of a list of links, AI Mode delivers a conversational answer generated from Google’s index, effectively turning Search into a Gemini‑powered chatbot. Continue Reading →
Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal just rewrote online checkout. Within 24 hours, all three networks launched agent-ready platforms that let autonomous AI systems shop, decide, and pay for us. Mastercard: Agent Pay. Tokenized card credentials slip directly into AI workflows. Verified software agents can authenticate, choose the best payment method, and close a sale, whether it is Continue Reading →
Sam Altman (@sama) says that OpenAI has rolled back a recent update to ChatGPT that turned the model into a relentlessly obsequious people-pleaser. The behavior, described by users as "overly verbose, excessively agreeable, and kind of creepy," triggered backlash and memes. In short, ChatGPT went from helpful to "ass-kissing weirdo" – as one headline so delicately put it. Continue Reading →

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