News

Google Brings AI-Powered Flashcards and Chat to NotebookLM Mobile App

Google has upgraded its NotebookLM mobile app with AI-driven flashcards, quizzes, and an enhanced chat experience. Previously limited to desktop, these study tools now let users create customized flashcards and quizzes from uploaded sources on the go. The update also improves the Gemini-powered conversation feature, providing a longer context window and better memory on mobile devices. Users can selectively choose which sources the AI draws from, giving greater control when working with multiple documents. The changes aim to make NotebookLM a more flexible, portable hub for processing notes, PDFs, transcripts, and other text‑based materials.

OpenAI's Sora Android App Surpasses iOS Downloads and Rolls Out New Features

OpenAI's AI‑video app Sora has seen a surge in popularity on Android, with the first‑day download count far exceeding its iOS launch. The rapid adoption follows the removal of invite‑code restrictions and an expansion to more countries. Alongside the download spike, OpenAI is adding new creation tools such as expanded cameo options, basic video editing, and storyboarding for Pro users, while also updating its payment structure to offer on‑demand video generations. These moves signal OpenAI's push to broaden Sora's appeal beyond casual creators toward professional users.

Laude Institute Launches First Slingshots AI Grants Cohort

The Laude Institute announced its inaugural Slingshots grant program, providing funding, compute power, and product support to 15 AI research projects focused on evaluation. The cohort includes initiatives such as the Terminal Bench coding benchmark, an updated ARC-AGI project, Formula Code from Caltech and UT Austin, and Columbia's BizBench. SWE‑Bench co‑founder John Boda Yang leads the new CodeClash competition framework. Recipients are expected to deliver tangible outcomes like startups or open‑source codebases, while the institute warns against benchmarks becoming overly company‑specific.

AI Image Generators Still Struggle with Faces, Logos, and Complex Scenes

AI image‑generation tools have made impressive strides, but they continue to falter on several fronts. Reviewers note recurring problems with realistic human faces, trademarked logos, and dense compositions. While services such as Dall‑E 3, Midjourney, and Google’s Gemini‑powered Pixel tools can produce striking visuals, they often misrender expressions, miss brand details, or produce nonsensical overlapping elements. Users are advised to simplify prompts, adjust adjectives, and use post‑generation editing tools to correct errors. The ongoing challenges highlight both the rapid progress and the current limits of AI‑driven visual creation.

Google Finance Adds AI Features Powered by Prediction Market Data

Google is expanding its Finance service with AI-driven capabilities that draw on crowdsourced prediction data from Kalshi and Polymarket. The new features let users ask finance‑related questions, such as future GDP growth, and receive answers that incorporate the latest market probabilities. The rollout begins in India and will reach U.S. users within the next few weeks, with early access available through Google Labs. Google emphasizes that the predictions are not guaranteed to be accurate, noting that only a small share of crypto wallets on Polymarket show profits.

OpenAI CFO Clarifies Government Backstop Comments Amid Executive Responses

OpenAI’s chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, sparked controversy after suggesting the company could benefit from a U.S. government backstop on its data‑center financing. She later walked back the remarks, stating OpenAI is not seeking such a guarantee. The clarification prompted reactions from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who reiterated the firm’s stance against taxpayer bailouts, and AI industry figure David Sacks, who emphasized that the government has no plans to rescue AI firms. The exchange highlighted the tension between massive infrastructure spending and financing strategies in the fast‑growing AI sector.

Meta Expands AI-Generated Short-Form Video Feed Vibes to Europe

Meta announced the European rollout of Vibes, its short‑form video feed that showcases AI‑generated videos within the Meta AI app. The feature lets users create, remix, and share AI‑crafted clips, and cross‑post them to Instagram and Facebook Stories and Reels. The launch follows a U.S. debut six weeks earlier and arrives as OpenAI introduced its own AI video platform, Sora, while other social networks grapple with the surge of low‑quality AI content.

NotebookLM can now test your knowledge with flashcards and quizzes

Subtle Computing's Voice Isolation Technology Boosts AI Speech Accuracy in Noisy Environments

California startup Subtle Computing has developed a compact, low‑latency voice‑isolation model that dramatically improves speech recognition for AI applications in noisy settings. By tailoring models to specific device acoustics and preserving user voice characteristics, the company claims an order‑of‑magnitude performance gain over generic solutions. The technology runs on devices with just a few megabytes of memory and 100 ms latency, and it has earned a spot in Qualcomm’s voice and music extension program. Backed by $6 million in seed funding, Subtle Computing is positioning itself as a key enabler for consumer, automotive, and hardware partners seeking reliable voice AI experiences.

ChatGPT Glossary: 60 AI Terms Everyone Should Know

A comprehensive glossary presents sixty essential artificial‑intelligence terms, from foundational concepts like artificial intelligence and machine learning to specialized notions such as diffusion models, sycophancy, and paperclip maximizer. Each entry offers clear definitions, contextual examples, and links to related technologies, helping readers navigate the rapidly expanding AI landscape and understand the terminology shaping modern digital tools.

Apple to Pay Google $1 Billion Annually for Custom Gemini AI Model for Siri

Apple has agreed to partner with Google to develop a custom Gemini AI model that will power the next generation of its Siri virtual assistant. The deal, valued at about $1 billion per year, will see the model run on Apple’s private cloud for complex tasks while Apple’s own models remain on devices for privacy‑focused functions. Apple considered Anthropic as an alternative but found Google’s offering cheaper. The arrangement reflects Apple’s strategy to accelerate AI capabilities without building a large model in‑house, while maintaining a close financial relationship with Google.

Google Finance Adds Gemini-Powered Deep Search and Prediction Market Features

Google Finance is receiving a major AI upgrade with the introduction of a Gemini‑powered Deep Search tool that delivers fully cited, comprehensive answers and a research plan for users. The service will also incorporate prediction‑market data from Kalshi and Polymarket, letting traders query future market events and see crowd‑sourced probabilities. The Deep Search feature will roll out in the United States in the coming weeks, with early‑access options via Google Labs and higher usage limits for Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers. An Indian rollout will launch later, offering English and Hindi support but without the new Deep Search capability.