When he was 19 years old, Brendan Foody started Mercor with two of his high school friends as a way for his other friends, who also had startups, to hire software engineers overseas. It launched in 2023 as essentially a staffing agency, albeit a highly automated one. Language models reviewed resumes and did the interviewing. […]
Grok’s track record is spotty at best. But even by the very low standards of xAI, its failure in the aftermath of the tragic mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Australia is shocking. The AI chatbot has repeatedly misidentified 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, the man who heroically disarmed one of the shooters, and claimed the […]
Here’s a thought: what if the next-generation Siri is awesome? Not just awesome for setting timers and dictating text messages (though that would be nice), but so awesome and fun to talk to that people actually start falling in love with their iPhones. We may not be prepared for what happens next. On this episode […]
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on smartphones and digital imagery – real or otherwise – follow Allison Johnson. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Remember the early days of […]
Improvements to roads, bridges, and other infrastructure could take a hit as data center construction accelerates.
A group of more than 150 parents sent a letter on Friday to New York governor Kathy Hochul, urging her to sign the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act, a buzzy bill that would require developers of large AI models – like Meta, OpenAI, Deepseek, and Google – to create safety plans and follow […]
Women ran an experiment to see if LinkedIn’s new algo was being sexist and thought they proved it. But there’s more complexity involved, experts say.
Google Translate’s latest update brings live speech translations, originally available only on the Pixel Buds, to any headphones you want, with support for over 70 languages. It’s rolling out today in beta and just requires a compatible Android phone with the Translate app (unlike Apple’s similar feature, which requires AirPods). It’s one of a few […]
Trump signed an AI executive order targeting state laws and promising one national rulebook. Critics warn it could trigger court battles and prolong uncertainty for startups while Congress debates federal rules.
