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xAI Cuts Over 500 Data Annotation Workers While Expanding Specialist Tutor Team

xAI Cuts Over 500 Data Annotation Workers While Expanding Specialist Tutor Team

xAI has laid off at least 500 employees from its data annotation team, the company's largest workforce, after notifying them by email on September 12. Affected staff will receive salary until the end of their contracts on November 30, but their system access was revoked immediately. The company responded on X by announcing a ten‑fold increase in its specialist AI tutor team and a new hiring push across STEM fields. The specialist tutors will provide high‑quality inputs, labels, and annotations, including audio and video data. The layoffs follow recent high‑profile departures, including CFO Mike Liberatore, and come after the launch of Grok 4.

Robotics Startups Gain Momentum as Venture Capital Flows In

Robotics Startups Gain Momentum as Venture Capital Flows In

Venture capitalists are pouring record funding into robotics startups, with investors committing $6 billion in the first seven months of 2025. The surge follows key catalysts such as Amazon’s 2013 acquisition of Kiva Systems, declining hardware costs, and advances in AI. Partners at firms like Eclipse Ventures, Bee Partners, and Cybernetix Ventures highlight how a decade of trial and error has clarified market demand across manufacturing, warehousing, construction, healthcare, and elder‑care. While consumer‑focused robots remain a challenge, investors see strong growth potential in industrial and vertical‑specific applications.

OpenAI and Microsoft Reach Nonbinding Agreement on For‑Profit Transition

OpenAI and Microsoft Reach Nonbinding Agreement on For‑Profit Transition

OpenAI announced a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with Microsoft that would allow the AI startup to convert its for‑profit arm into a public benefit corporation. The deal keeps OpenAI’s nonprofit board in control while granting Microsoft preferred access to the technology and primary cloud services. The agreement follows months of negotiation, legal disputes, and competing partnership offers, including a cloud contract with Oracle and a data‑center collaboration with SoftBank. Regulators in California and Delaware must still approve the transition, and the arrangement remains subject to a definitive contract.

ByteDance’s Seedream 4.0 Beats Google’s Nano Banana in AI Image Benchmark

ByteDance’s Seedream 4.0 Beats Google’s Nano Banana in AI Image Benchmark

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has launched a new AI image generator called Seedream 4.0. Independent testing by Artificial Analysis shows the model outperforms Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash, nicknamed Nano Banana, on both text‑to‑image and image‑editing tasks. Seedream 4.0 is available through platforms like fal.ai and Replicate, costing $30 for 1,000 generations, and produces images that many users find indistinguishable from real photos, raising concerns about the future of synthetic media.

MSI Afterburner Adds Triple‑Channel Voltage Control for Future RTX 5000 Series GPUs

MSI Afterburner Adds Triple‑Channel Voltage Control for Future RTX 5000 Series GPUs

MSI’s popular Afterburner utility is being updated to support triple‑channel voltage control, allowing users to adjust not only core voltage but also memory and auxiliary voltages on upcoming MSI‑branded RTX 5000 graphics cards. The feature is currently in beta and limited to future MSI models, as current reference‑design cards are locked by Nvidia. If adopted widely, the addition could give enthusiasts new avenues for performance gains in high‑end PC gaming.

Google Adds Augmented Reality Map Overlays to Gemini Live

Google Adds Augmented Reality Map Overlays to Gemini Live

Google has hidden code in the latest Android app that enables an augmented‑reality overlay of Google Maps data within Gemini Live’s camera view. The feature can display place names, ratings and other map information directly on the screen when the phone points at a street or landmark, and even offers audio responses for specific queries. Android Authority has activated the prototype, describing it as a basic but functional preview. The addition builds on Gemini Live’s existing visual‑guidance tools and could extend to smart‑glass platforms, though a public rollout timeline remains unannounced.

AI-Powered Learning Platform Oboe Launches to Simplify Self‑Education

AI-Powered Learning Platform Oboe Launches to Simplify Self‑Education

Oboe, a newly launched AI‑driven learning platform, lets users create customized multi‑format courses from simple prompts. The tool, built by the co‑founders of Anchor before its acquisition by Spotify, generates text articles, audio lectures, games, quizzes, and AI‑produced podcasts. Users can start with five free courses, then choose paid plans offering 30 or 100 new course creations each month. Features like the Word Quest game and public course library aim to make learning more interactive and less passive, while the platform’s layered AI checks strive to limit factual errors.

FTC Probes AI Chatbot Safety for Children and Teens Across Seven Tech Giants

FTC Probes AI Chatbot Safety for Children and Teens Across Seven Tech Giants

The Federal Trade Commission has opened an inquiry into the AI chatbots offered by seven major technology companies, seeking to understand how they test, monitor and mitigate potential harms to minors. A Common Sense Media survey shows that more than 70% of teens use AI companions, with over half using them regularly. Experts warn that chatbots can give dangerous advice and fail to recognize concerning language. Companies such as Character.ai, Instagram and Snap say they have added safety features, while the FTC is demanding detailed disclosures on everything from monetization to age‑based safeguards.

OpenAI Commits $300 B to Oracle for Massive Data‑Center Power Capacity

OpenAI Commits $300 B to Oracle for Massive Data‑Center Power Capacity

OpenAI has reportedly pledged $300 billion to Oracle over a five‑year period to secure up to 4.5 gigawatts of power for new data‑center capacity, a deal announced by major newspapers and slated to begin in 2027. The agreement, part of OpenAI’s broader push to diversify beyond Microsoft Azure, ties into the company’s Stargate Project, a multi‑billion‑dollar effort to build AI infrastructure with partners including Oracle, Microsoft, Nvidia and Softbank. The deal reflects soaring demand for generative‑AI compute, with U.S. data‑center numbers having nearly doubled since 2021 and power consumption expected to double again by 2035.

Apple Watch Series 11 Gains FDA Clearance for Hypertension Alerts

Apple Watch Series 11 Gains FDA Clearance for Hypertension Alerts

Apple’s latest smartwatch, the Series 11, has received FDA approval for a new hypertension‑alert feature. The function uses the watch’s optical heart sensor combined with a machine‑learning algorithm trained on a study of more than 100,000 participants. It monitors users for a month‑long period to detect patterns that may indicate high blood pressure, then notifies them of a possible risk. Apple says the feature will roll out in 150 countries when the Series 11 and Ultra 3 launch on September 19. The approval follows earlier FDA clearances for Apple’s OTC hearing‑aid capability and sleep‑apnea detection, even as the company faces a lawsuit over its blood‑oxygen sensor redesign.

Engadget Podcast Examines iPhone 17, AI Podcasting and OpenAI‑Powered Film Effort

Engadget Podcast Examines iPhone 17, AI Podcasting and OpenAI‑Powered Film Effort

In a recent Engadget podcast, managing editor Cherlynn Low and senior reporter Karissa Bell sit down with The Verge's Allison Johnson to discuss the upcoming iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17. The hosts also field questions from Threads, share hopes for the next Apple event, and critique recent tech news, including an AI podcasting startup, OpenAI‑driven CGI film "Critterz," and Inception Point AI's plan for massive virtual‑host podcast production. The episode features commentary from Devindra Hardawar, producer Ben Ellman, and a brief take on HBO Max pricing from David Zaslav.

Perplexity Sued by Merriam-Webster and Encyclopedia Britannica Over Copyright Claims

Perplexity Sued by Merriam-Webster and Encyclopedia Britannica Over Copyright Claims

Merriam-Webster and its parent company, Encyclopedia Britannica, have filed a lawsuit against AI answer engine Perplexity, alleging that the platform unlawfully copies their copyrighted content and attributes false or inaccurate information to them. The complaint seeks monetary damages and an injunction to stop the alleged misuse. The filing also notes that Perplexity’s technology diverts user clicks away from publishers, potentially harming their revenue. This is not the company's first legal challenge; prior suits have been brought by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and Japanese media firms Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun.