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Category: AI

Explore the latest in Artificial Intelligence at Geek Guy. From deep-dive AI tool reviews to practical tutorials and news, stay ahead of the curve with our expert guides.

Researchers suggest OpenAI trained AI models on paywalled O’Reilly books

OpenAI has been accused by many parties of training its AI on copyrighted content sans permission. Now a new paper by an AI watchdog organization makes the serious accusation that the company increasingly relied on non-public books it didn’t license to train more sophisticated AI models. AI models are essentially complex prediction engines. Trained on…

The AI Fix #44: AI-generated malware, and a stunning AI breakthrough

In episode 44 of The AI Fix, ChatGPT won’t build a crystal meth lab, GPT-4o improves the show’s podcast art, some students manage to screw in a lightbulb, Google releases Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental and nobody notices, and Mark invents a clock for measuring AI time. Graham explains how ChatGPT’s love for Young Adult fiction…

Qualcomm acquires generative AI division of Vietnamese startup VinAI

Qualcomm has acquired the generative AI division of VinAI, an AI research company headquartered in Hanoi, for an undisclosed amount, the companies announced on Monday. The move marks Qualcomm’s continued expansion into the AI tooling sector. VinAI, which was founded by former DeepMind research scientist Hung Bui, develops a range of generative AI technologies, including…

ChatGPT isn’t the only chatbot that’s gaining users

OpenAI’s ChatGPT may be the world’s most popular chatbot app. But rival services are gaining, according to data from analytics firms Similarweb and Sensor Tower. SimilarWeb, which estimates traffic to websites including chatbot web apps, has recorded healthy recent upticks in usage across bots like Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s OpenAI-powered Copilot. Gemini’s web traffic grew…

Lip-Bu Tan says Intel will spin off non-core units

Intel’s new CEO Lip-Bu Tan wasted no time laying out his plans for the semiconductor giant. Speaking at the Intel Vision conference this week, Tan told attendees that the company will spin off assets that aren’t core to its mission, Bloomberg reported. Tan didn’t specify what was classified as core and non-core to the company’s…

Alphabet’s AI drug discovery platform Isomorphic Labs raises $600M from Thrive

Isomorphic Labs, the AI drug discovery platform that was spun out of Google’s DeepMind in 2021, has raised external capital for the first time. The $600 million round was led by Thrive Capital, with participation from GV, and existing investor Google’s parent Alphabet, it said.     The funding will accelerate further development of Isomorphic’s AI…

OpenAI plans to release a new ‘open’ language model in the coming months

OpenAI says that it intends to release its first “open” language model since GPT‑2 “in the coming months.” That’s according to a feedback form the company published on its website Monday. The form, which OpenAI is inviting “developers, researchers, and [members of] the broader community” to fill out, includes questions like “What would you like…

Apple rolls out Priority Notifications as Apple Intelligence expands to EU

Apple Intelligence, the iPhone maker’s suite of AI-powered tools and features, is gaining new features. Most notably, the company on Monday announced that Apple device owners will now be able to take advantage of Priority Notifcations, which allows Apple’s AI to highlight your most time-sensitive notifications in a new format. Other updates are coming to…

OpenAI disables image gen for certain Sora users as capacity challenges continue

OpenAI is still struggling to overcome the capacity issues brought on by the viral image generation feature the company launched last week. On Monday, OpenAI disabled image generation for new users of Sora, the company’s suite of generative AI media tools. “We’re currently experiencing heavy traffic and have temporarily disabled Sora video generation for new…

OpenAI disables video gen for certain Sora users as capacity challenges continue

OpenAI is still struggling to overcome the capacity issues brought on by the viral image generation feature the company launched last week. On Monday, OpenAI disabled video generation for new users of Sora, the company’s suite of generative AI media tools. “We’re currently experiencing heavy traffic and have temporarily disabled Sora video generation for new…

Runway releases an impressive new video-generating AI model

AI startup Runway on Monday released what it claims is one of the highest-fidelity AI-powered video generators yet. Called Gen-4, the model is rolling out to the company’s individual and enterprise customers. Runway claims that it can generate consistent characters, locations, and objects across scenes, maintain “coherent world environments,” and regenerate elements from different perspectives…

ChatGPT: Everything you need to know about the AI-powered chatbot

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm since its launch in November 2022. What started as a tool to supercharge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth with 300 million weekly active users. 2024 was a big year for OpenAI, from its partnership…

Understanding Privacy Changes: eBay’s AI Policy and The Future of Data Privacy

In this episode, host Tom Eston discusses recent privacy changes on eBay related to AI training and the implications for user data. He highlights the hidden opt-out feature for AI data usage and questions the transparency of such policies, especially in regions without strict privacy laws like the United States. The host also explores how…

Perplexity CEO denies having financial issues, says no IPO before 2028

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas recently took to Reddit to address users’ product complaints and reassure them that the company is not under serious financial pressure. Srinivas seemed to be responding, in part, to a user theory that the company is “doing horribly financially” and “making lots of changes to cut costs.” As an example, the…

Sam Altman firing drama detailed in new book excerpt

An excerpt from the upcoming book “The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future” offers new details about why OpenAI’s board briefly fired CEO Sam Altman back in 2023. Written by Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey, the book claims the nonprofit’s board members became increasingly concerned after learning about issues…

A look at Intel Capital before the 34-year-old firm strikes out on its own

When Intel Capital announced its plans to spin out from semiconductor giant Intel in January, it came as a bit of a shock considering the firm has been operating as Intel’s venture investment arm since 1991. In many ways this decision marks the end of an era for what’s considered by some to be the…

OpenAI peels back ChatGPT’s safeguards around image creation

This week, OpenAI launched a new image generator in ChatGPT, which quickly went viral for its ability to create Studio Ghibli-style images. Beyond the pastel illustrations, GPT-4o’s native image generator significantly upgrades ChatGPT’s capabilities, improving picture editing, text rendering, and spatial representation. However, one of the most notable changes OpenAI made this week involves its…

New security requirements adopted by HTTPS certificate industry

Posted by Chrome Root Program, Chrome Security Team The Chrome Root Program launched in 2022 as part of Google’s ongoing commitment to upholding secure and reliable network connections in Chrome. We previously described how the Chrome Root Program keeps users safe, and described how the program is focused on promoting technologies and practices that strengthen…

New security requirements adopted by HTTPS certificate industry

Posted by Chrome Root Program, Chrome Security Team The Chrome Root Program launched in 2022 as part of Google’s ongoing commitment to upholding secure and reliable network connections in Chrome. We previously described how the Chrome Root Program keeps users safe, and described how the program is focused on promoting technologies and practices that strengthen…

Twin’s first AI agent is an invoice-retrieval agent for Qonto customers

When Twin came out of stealth in January 2024, AI agents were more of a theoretical concept than a reality. Today, the Paris-based company is releasing an automation agent in partnership with Qonto, the fintech startup that offers business bank accounts to more than 500,000 customers across Europe. If you want to automate repetitive tasks,…

ChatGPT: Everything you need to know about the AI-powered chatbot

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm since its launch in November 2022. What started as a tool to supercharge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth with 300 million weekly active users. 2024 was a big year for OpenAI, from its partnership…

Smashing Security podcast #410: Unleash the AI bot army against the scammers – now!

A YouTuber has unleashed an innovative AI bot army to disrupt and outwit the world of online scammers, and a New York Times investigation looks into the intricate web of global money laundering. All this and more is discussed in the latest edition of the award-winning “Smashing Security” podcast by computer security veterans Graham Cluley…

OpenAI’s viral Studio Ghibli moment highlights AI copyright concerns

It’s only been a day since ChatGPT’s new AI image generator went live, and social media feeds are already flooded with AI-generated memes in the style of Studio Ghibli, the cult-favorite Japanese animation studio behind blockbuster films such as “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Spirited Away”. In the last 24 hours, we’ve seen AI-generated images representing…

Nvidia is reportedly in talks to acquire Lepton AI

Nvidia is looking to get into the server rental market. The semiconductor giant is reportedly nearing a deal to acquire Lepton AI, a company that rents out servers that are powered by Nvidia’s AI chips, according to The Information. The deal is reportedly worth several hundred million dollars, according to The Information, which cited unnamed…

Has GetReal cracked the code on AI deepfakes? $18M and an impressive client list says yes

The proliferation of scarily realistic deepfakes is one of the more pernicious byproducts of the rise of AI, and falling victim to scams based on these deepfakes is already costing companies millions of dollars — not to mention the implications these could have on national security. A startup that’s built a toolset aimed at governments…

Amazon launches personalized shopping prompts as part of its generative AI push

Amazon continues to infuse AI into its shopping tools to encourage customers to make more purchases. The company announced on Wednesday a new feature called “Interests,” aimed at creating a more personalized and conversational search experience.  With the new feature, customers can enter tailored prompts in the search bar, reflecting their interests, preferences, and even…

Microsoft adds AI-powered deep research tools to Copilot

Microsoft is introducing a “deep research” AI-powered tool in Microsoft 365 Copilot, its AI chatbot app. There’s been a raft of deep research agents launched recently across chatbots, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and xAI’s Grok. Powering them are so-called reasoning AI models, which posses the ability to think through problems and fact-check themselves —…

ChatGPT’s image-generation feature gets an upgrade

During a livestream on Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the first major upgrade to ChatGPT’s image-generation capabilities in over a year. ChatGPT can now leverage the company’s GPT-4o model to natively create and modify images and photos. GPT-4o has long underpinned the AI-powered chatbot platform, but until now, the model has been able to…

The AI Fix #43: I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords!

In episode 43 of The AI Fix, our hosts discover a robot that isn’t terrifying, a newspaper shuns journalists in favour of AI, Graham watches a robot dog learn to stand, an AI computer programmer develops a familiar attitude, and New York tries to stop its humans arming their robots. Graham worries about AI vomit,…

Plural’s platform allows enterprises to manage their Kubernetes clusters in one place

When Sam Weaver was vice president of product management at Unqork, he realized that the company needed a better way to manage its sprawling network of Kubernetes clusters — which are groups of computing nodes. When Unqork couldn’t find anything off the shelf, it assembled a 15-person team to build a Kubernetes management product. Despite…

OpenAI says its AI voice assistant is now better to chat with

OpenAI released updates Monday for Advanced Voice Mode, its AI voice feature that enables real-time conversations in ChatGPT, to make the AI assistant more personable and interrupt users less frequently. Manuka Stratta, an OpenAI post-training researcher, announced the changes in a video posted Monday to the company’s official social media channels. OpenAI’s latest update aims…

Fair-code pioneer n8n raises $60M for AI-powered workflow automation

Developer tooling is changing rapidly with AI. So companies that are making it easier to adopt AI in their workflows are seeing a boom of attention. After a startup called n8n (pronounced “enay-ten”) pivoted its workflow automation platform to become more AI-friendly in 2022, it said it saw its revenues increase 5X, doubling in the…

AI creation platform Arcade expands from jewelry to home goods

Arcade, a generative AI marketplace for designing jewelry, is expanding its offerings to include home goods, starting with rugs. The company on Monday also introduced a new feature called “Match My Room,” which allows users to upload a photo of their room so that their design complements the existing colors and style. Alongside this expansion,…

Step into the spotlight: Apply to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

Calling all tech innovators, startup fanatics, marketing gurus, and emerging VCs — this is your moment! You’ve waited long enough, and now the time has come to step into the spotlight at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, taking place October 27–29 in San Francisco. Share your expertise with over 10,000 eager attendees and make an impact by…

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From Spreadsheets to Solutions: How PlexTrac Enhances Security Workflows

In this special episode of the Shared Security Podcast, join Tom Eston and Dan DeCloss, CTO and founder of PlexTrac, as they discuss the challenges of data overload in vulnerability remediation. Discover how PlexTrac addresses these issues by integrating various data sources, providing customized risk scoring, and enhancing remediation workflows. The episode offers an insightful…

Browser Use, the tool making it easier for AI ‘agents’ to navigate websites, raises $17M

We may not have an agreed-upon definition of AI “agent” yet, but a multitude of startups want to create “agentic” tools to automate various tasks online. One such firm, Browser Use, has attracted a ton of interest from developers and investors thanks to its solution that makes websites more “readable” for AI agents. Browser Use…

Meta has revenue sharing agreements with Llama AI model hosts, filing reveals

In a blog post last July, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that “selling access” to Meta’s openly available Llama AI models “isn’t [Meta’s] business model.” Yet Meta does make at least some money from Llama through revenue-sharing agreements, according to a newly unredacted court filing. The filing, submitted by attorneys for the plaintiffs in the…

DeepSeek: Everything you need to know about the AI chatbot app

DeepSeek has gone viral. Chinese AI lab DeepSeek broke into the mainstream consciousness this week after its chatbot app rose to the top of the Apple App Store charts (and Google Play, as well). DeepSeek’s AI models, which were trained using compute-efficient techniques, have led Wall Street analysts — and technologists — to question whether the U.S. can maintain its…

ChatGPT: Everything you need to know about the AI-powered chatbot

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm since its launch in November 2022. What started as a tool to supercharge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth with 300 million weekly active users. 2024 was a big year for OpenAI, from its partnership…

Wayve CEO shares his key ingredients for scaling autonomous driving tech 

Wayve co-founder and CEO Alex Kendall sees promise in bringing his autonomous vehicle startup’s tech to market. That is, if Wayve sticks to its strategy of ensuring its automated driving software is cheap to run, hardware agnostic, and can be applied to advanced driver assistance systems, robotaxis, and even robotics.  The strategy, which Kendall laid…

Microsoft is exploring a way to credit contributors to AI training data

Microsoft is launching a research project to estimate the influence of specific training examples on the text, images, and other types of media that generative AI models create. That’s per a job listing dating back to December that was recently recirculated on LinkedIn. According to the listing, which seeks a research intern, the project will…

Apple faces lawsuit over Apple Intelligence delays

Apple has been sued in federal court over what plaintiffs allege is false advertising of several Apple Intelligence features. Filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, the suit seeks class-action status and damages on behalf of those who purchased Apple Intelligence-capable iPhones and other devices. Plaintiffs claim that device owners haven’t received the…

A high schooler built a website that lets you challenge AI models to a Minecraft build-off

As conventional AI benchmarking techniques prove inadequate, AI builders are turning to more creative ways to assess the capabilities of generative AI models. For one group of developers, that’s Minecraft, the Microsoft-owned sandbox-building game. The website Minecraft Benchmark (or MC-Bench) was developed collaboratively to pit AI models against each other in head-to-head challenges to respond…

Perplexity is reportedly in talks to raise up to $1B at an $18B valuation

AI-powered search startup Perplexity is said to be in early talks to raise up to $1 billion in a new funding round valuing the startup at $18 billion. Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported on Thursday that Perplexity’s annual recurring revenue has now reached $100 million. Perplexity’s valuation has soared in recent…

AI’s answers on China differ depending on the language, analysis finds

It’s well-established that AI models developed by Chinese AI labs like DeepSeek censor certain politically sensitive topics. A 2023 measure passed by China’s ruling party forbids models from generating content that “damages the unity of the country and social harmony.” According to one study, DeepSeek’s R1 refuses to answer 85% of questions about subjects deemed…

OpenAI upgrades its transcription and voice-generating AI models

OpenAI is bringing new transcription and voice-generating AI models to its API that the company claims improve upon its previous releases. For OpenAI, the models fit into its broader “agentic” vision: building automated systems that can independently accomplish tasks on behalf of users. The definition of “agent” might be in dispute, but OpenAI Head of…

Airbyte launches new connectors to help companies better leverage their data

Open-source data movement company Airbyte is launching additional connectors to help enterprises better utilize their data in the age of AI without compromising data sovereignty. The San Francisco-based startup announced on Thursday that it’s releasing a host of new capabilities designed to enable customers to securely move corporate data without tapping SaaS applications. The new…

Time is ticking! Vote for the TechCrunch Sessions: AI speaker you want to see

TechCrunch Sessions: AI kicks off on June 5 at Zellerbach Hall in UC Berkeley — and you have the power to decide who you want to see lead an impactful breakout session. We have narrowed down the impressive number of speaker applications to six incredible finalists. Now, it’s up to you to choose who you…

Make waves in 2025: Exhibit at TechCrunch events

If you’re reading this, you already know: It’s time to amplify your brand. Get in front of thousands of TechCrunch event attendees, readers, and decision-makers who can take your business further this year by exhibiting at a TechCrunch event. The perks of exhibiting: What’s in it for you Exhibiting doesn’t just elevate your brand —…

Meta AI is finally coming to the EU, but with limitations

Amid an ongoing regulatory battle with European privacy authorities, Meta announced on Thursday that its AI-powered virtual assistant, Meta AI, is finally launching in the European Union. The chatbot-like tool will be rolled out across Meta’s portfolio of social platforms, albeit with a more limited feature set compared to what it offers in its domestic…

ChatGPT hit with privacy complaint over defamatory hallucinations

OpenAI is facing another privacy complaint in Europe over its viral AI chatbot’s tendency to hallucinate false information — and this one might prove tricky for regulators to ignore. Privacy rights advocacy group Noyb is supporting an individual in Norway who was horrified to find ChatGPT returning made-up information that claimed he’d been convicted for…

ClearGrid, armed with a fresh $10M, is developing AI to improve debt collection in MENA

Debt collection in emerging markets often feels outdated, and can be costly — damaging borrower trust. As consumer lending surges and regulators push for fairer practices, legacy collection outfits are struggling to maintain pace. ClearGrid aims to help modernize debt collection — and recovery — with AI. The Dubai-based startup, which is emerging from stealth…