Stanford study outlines dangers of asking AI chatbots for personal advice
While there’s been plenty of debate about AI sycophancy, a new study by Stanford computer scientists attempts to measure how harmful that tendency might be.
AI
Suno leans into customization with v5.5
Suno just released one of its biggest updates yet with v5.5 of its AI music model. Where previous updates focused mostly on improving fidelity and creating more natural vocals, v5.5 is about giving users more control. It includes three new features: Voices, My Taste, and Custom Models. In the release notes, Suno says that Voices […]
Elon Musk’s last co-founder reportedly leaves xAI
All but two of Musk’s 11 xAI co-founders departed before this week.
Anthropic’s Claude popularity with paying consumers is skyrocketing
Estimates for total Claude consumer users are all over the map (we’ve seen figures ranging from 18 million to 30 million). Anthropic hasn’t disclosed this data, but a spokesperson did tell TechCrunch that Claude paid subscriptions have more than doubled this year.
TikTok’s policy for AI ads isn’t working
I’ve been struggling to tell whether the ads appearing in my TikTok feeds have been made with generative AI tools. As someone who spends a great deal of time scrutinizing images and videos for the usual “tells” that something was synthetically generated, some of the promotions I’ve seen have definitely sparked suspicion. For several weeks, […]
Why OpenAI killed Sora
On Tuesday morning, everything was business as usual at OpenAI. By the end of the day, the company had announced that it would scrap its video-generation app, Sora, and reverse plans for video generation inside ChatGPT; it would wind down a $1 billion Disney deal; it would shuffle the role of a high-level executive; and […]
Why SoftBank’s new $40B loan points to a 2026 OpenAI IPO
Wall Street giants JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are extending a 12-month, unsecured loan to the Japanese conglomerate.
Memory chip giant SK hynix could help end ‘RAMmageddon’ with blockbuster US IPO
SK hynix’s potential U.S. listing could raise $10-$14 billion to help it build more capacity, encourage others to follow, and end the ‘RAMmageddon’ memory shortage.
The latest in data centers, AI, and energy
Massive new data centers are the physical foundation for tech companies’ hopes and dreams for AI. But the rush to expand warehouses full of energy-hungry servers has also kicked up fights across the world over their impact on power grids, utility bills, nearby communities, and the environment. From audacious plans to launch data centers into […]
OpenAI shuts down Sora while Meta gets shut out in court
When an 82-year-old Kentucky woman was offered $26 million from an AI company that wanted to build a data center on her land, she said no. Sure, that same company can try to rezone 2,000 acres nearby anyway, but as AI infrastructure stretches further into the real world, the real world is starting to push back. That tension is everywhere […]