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Zoom Unveils Cross‑App AI Companion, Custom Notes, and Photorealistic Avatars at Zoomtopia

Zoom Unveils Cross‑App AI Companion, Custom Notes, and Photorealistic Avatars at Zoomtopia

Zoom announced a suite of new AI‑driven features at its Zoomtopia event, including an upgraded AI Companion that works across meeting platforms, a custom note‑taking tool that lets users add their own notes and have AI expand them, AI‑powered scheduling that finds optimal meeting times, and photorealistic avatars that mimic user actions. The updates also add cross‑platform search, proactive meeting recommendations, and a new web interface that highlights AI capabilities. These enhancements aim to keep Zoom competitive with specialized meeting‑productivity startups and broader productivity suites.

Top Laptop Deals Across Major Brands Offer Performance and Value

Top Laptop Deals Across Major Brands Offer Performance and Value

A roundup of current laptop promotions highlights strong options from Apple, Microsoft, ASUS, Lenovo, Razer, and HP. Consumers can find devices ranging from the M1‑chip MacBook Air to ARM‑based Surface laptops, high‑refresh‑rate gaming machines, and innovative dual‑screen models. Prices vary, with discounts on popular configurations that balance performance, battery life, and unique features such as OLED displays or multi‑screen versatility. The deals cater to a wide audience, from students seeking reliable daily tools to gamers and creators needing powerful graphics and high‑resolution screens.

Americans Prefer AI to Stay Out of Their Personal Lives

Americans Prefer AI to Stay Out of Their Personal Lives

A recent study shows that a majority of U.S. adults are uneasy about artificial intelligence influencing their personal decisions. While people are comfortable with AI handling large‑scale data tasks like weather forecasting and medical research, they overwhelmingly reject its role in dating, matchmaking, religious guidance, and other intimate areas. Concerns center on AI’s potential to erode creativity, relationships, and the spread of misinformation, with many respondents feeling they have little control over its use.

American Sweatshop Examines the Human Cost of Content Moderation

American Sweatshop Examines the Human Cost of Content Moderation

Director Uta Briesewitz’s new film American Sweatshop follows seasoned moderator Daisy Moriarty as she confronts the psychological toll of reviewing graphic online content. The drama, inspired by the documentary The Cleaners, highlights how exposure to disturbing material can lead to depression, PTSD, and other mental‑health challenges. Briesewitz emphasizes that the film focuses on the human impact rather than the graphic footage itself, using visual techniques such as reflections in Daisy’s eyes. The movie underscores the limits of AI in moderation and aims to spark uncomfortable conversations about the suffering required to keep the internet functional.

Starling Home Hub Discontinued Amid Rising Costs and Tariff Pressures

Starling Home Hub Discontinued Amid Rising Costs and Tariff Pressures

Starling has announced it can no longer produce its Starling Home Hub, citing rapidly rising business costs and U.S. tariffs on essential components. The hub, launched in 2019 as a $99 bridge that enabled Google Nest devices to operate within Apple Home and with Siri, has been praised for its reliability and ease of use. Existing owners will continue to receive support and updates, but the product’s removal leaves a gap for users seeking a simple solution to integrate Nest thermostats and cameras into Apple’s ecosystem. Alternatives now rely on Matter‑enabled Nest thermostats, while camera support remains pending.

Zoom to Roll Out Photorealistic AI Avatars for Meetings

Zoom to Roll Out Photorealistic AI Avatars for Meetings

Zoom announced that its upcoming feature will let users generate photorealistic AI avatars from a single photo, enabling a polished virtual presence in video meetings. The avatars can be dressed in various professional outfits and will track the user's movements in real time. Zoom plans to launch the capability for Workplace users in December, accompanied by safeguards such as live camera authentication and on‑screen notices to indicate avatar use. The rollout also includes real‑time voice translation across multiple languages and enhancements to Zoom’s AI assistant.

Amazon Launches AI Chatbot to Help Sellers Create Ads

Amazon Launches AI Chatbot to Help Sellers Create Ads

Amazon has introduced a new AI chatbot that lets sellers generate advertising concepts with simple text prompts. The tool draws on a seller’s brand guidelines, product pages and other store details to produce static or video ads, including taglines, images, scripts, music, voiceovers and storyboards. Designed to cut time and cost, the chatbot runs in beta on Amazon’s Nova AI model and Anthropic’s Claude. Ads created with the service can appear across Amazon’s marketplace and properties such as Prime Video, Kindle and Twitch. The rollout also adds agentic features to Amazon’s seller assistant, enabling inventory monitoring and policy checks.

Social Robots Reduce Reading Anxiety in Children, Study Finds

Social Robots Reduce Reading Anxiety in Children, Study Finds

A collaborative study by researchers at the University of Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago, and University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that children ages eight to eleven experience less anxiety when reading aloud to a social robot than to a human adult. Physiological measures such as voice steadiness, heart rate, and facial temperature indicated calmer responses during robot-assisted reading. Comprehension scores remained consistent across conditions, suggesting that the robot’s calming effect does not compromise learning. The findings point to a potential role for social robots as emotional buffers in classroom settings.

Zoom Unveils AI Companion 3.0 with Meeting‑Skip Suggestions and New Productivity Features

Zoom Unveils AI Companion 3.0 with Meeting‑Skip Suggestions and New Productivity Features

Zoom announced a major upgrade to its AI Companion, now called AI Companion 3.0. The new version adds agentic capabilities that let the AI propose ways to reduce meeting load, including recommending meetings to skip or making invitees optional. Additional features include AI‑generated meeting notes, slide‑to‑video conversion, live translation, and the ability for businesses to create custom AI agents for a fee. The updates aim to help users free up focus time while still requiring final user approval before any calendar changes are made.

Google Teams Up with StopNCII to Strengthen Revenge Porn Defenses

Google Teams Up with StopNCII to Strengthen Revenge Porn Defenses

Google announced a partnership with the UK nonprofit StopNCII to expand its defenses against non‑consensual intimate imagery (NCII), commonly known as revenge porn. The collaboration will see Google incorporate StopNCII's hash‑based system, allowing user‑generated digital fingerprints to block unwanted intimate content from appearing in search results. The service protects privacy by never uploading the original image, and it works alongside other platforms already partnered with StopNCII. While the system is not a complete solution, it marks a significant step for Google in reducing the burden on victims of NCII.

Google Discover Expands to Include Social Media Posts and YouTube Shorts

Google Discover Expands to Include Social Media Posts and YouTube Shorts

Google is adding new content types to its Discover feed, bringing in social media posts from platforms such as Instagram and X, as well as YouTube Shorts. The company says users asked for a mix of articles, videos, and social posts, and the update will roll out in the coming weeks. Alongside the expanded feed, Discover now lets users follow creators or publishers, preview content, and customize what appears in their personalized stream, mirroring recent changes to Google Search.

Apple Unveils Updated Watch Lineup Including Series 11, SE 3, and Ultra 3

Apple Unveils Updated Watch Lineup Including Series 11, SE 3, and Ultra 3

Apple introduced three refreshed smartwatch models—Series 11, SE 3, and Ultra 3—at its latest event. The Series 11 adds a tougher screen, longer battery life and new health alerts, while the SE 3 brings fast charging and a lower price point. The Ultra 3, aimed at outdoor enthusiasts, offers a larger, brighter display, deeper water resistance and satellite connectivity. All three run watchOS 26 and retain Apple’s suite of fitness and health sensors, with pricing ranging from entry‑level to premium tiers.