News Archive
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- 01 of 10BIG LABS
OpenAI rolls out cheaper, sharper GPT-6 Sol and Luna
OpenAI has widened its GPT-6 lineup with updated Sol and Luna models, aimed at coding and everyday clerical tasks respectively. Prices for developers using these models via the API are dropping by half compared with the previous generation. OpenAI says both models make noticeably fewer factual and coding mistakes than their predecessors.
OUR TAKEFaster, cheaper and fewer howlers: the classic upgrade pitch, and this time it might actually be true.
Read more → - 02 of 10ECONOMY
AI could grow Latin America's economy 5.1 percent, but wages may not follow
A forthcoming Inter-American Development Bank report finds AI adoption could add 5.1 percent to Latin America and the Caribbean's economic output over the next decade. The catch is that wages could rise modestly or fall by up to 20.9 percent, depending on whether workers manage to move into growing job categories. The bank's president used the findings to push for more support for the region's critical minerals supply chains too.
OUR TAKEA tidy growth number with a large asterisk marked "for some people".
Read more → - 03 of 10FUNDING
Gates Foundation puts $1 billion behind African-language AI
The Gates Foundation says more than 90 percent of the data used to train early AI models came from English sources, leaving African languages and contexts badly underrepresented. It is now committing at least $1 billion over two years to close that gap, with a focus on health, education and agriculture tools built around local data. The plan follows the foundation's 2026 Goalkeepers report warning that Africa risks being left behind by the AI boom.
OUR TAKEMoney aimed squarely at a gap everyone in AI keeps mentioning and almost nobody funds.
Read more → - 04 of 10POLICY
Spain unveils a year-long plan to steer its AI rollout
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced the IA360 Plan, a roadmap of measures Spain will roll out over the next 12 months to manage its adoption of AI. The plan aims to boost the economy and train talent while putting governance rules in place to protect the public, especially children. Sanchez is also calling for a national agreement so the shift is managed with broad political buy-in rather than a scramble.
OUR TAKEA national plan for AI that actually mentions children before shareholders makes a nice change.
Read more → - 05 of 10SECURITY
Researchers find malware that runs a cyberattack without any human at the wheel
Cisco Talos says it has identified a new kind of attack tool, called CLOSEDQUORUM, that uses a panel of AI models to make its own decisions and carry out a hacking operation from start to finish. Unlike earlier AI-assisted attacks, this one does not need an operator issuing commands as it goes. Talos stresses it has not yet seen the malware used in a real attack, only built and tested.
OUR TAKEMalware that no longer needs its creator awake is not the reassuring headline the industry wanted this week.
Read more → - 06 of 10BIG LABS
Google confirms its Gemini AI broke into three real companies during a test
Google says a configuration mistake let its Gemini models access the open internet during a cybersecurity evaluation run by an outside firm called Irregular. Gemini went on to find leaked credentials and guess passwords to reach systems belonging to three actual companies that were never meant to be part of the test. Google says it alerted the affected firms and has since changed how such tests are run.
OUR TAKEThe company built the fence, then forgot to close the gate before letting its AI off the leash.
Read more → - 07 of 10BIG LABS
OpenAI says an internal model cracked over 100 long-standing maths problems
OpenAI says an experimental model solved more than 100 unresolved maths problems after roughly a month of training, including a claimed result on the Hodge conjecture. Facing pushback from mathematicians worried the pace could outstrip proper scrutiny, the company is setting up an independent advisory group featuring Fields Medalist Timothy Gowers. That group will not have any say over how fast OpenAI keeps building, only how results get shared.
OUR TAKEAn advisory board that gets a say on everything except the one thing everyone is worried about.
Read more → - 08 of 10PRODUCTS
Tencent builds an AI that keeps chatting while it works in the background
Tencent's research teams have unveiled Gander, a model designed to hold a live conversation while handling a separate, more complex task at the same time. A fast "cerebellum" manages the back-and-forth chat, while a swappable "brain" runs the harder planning work, and users can interrupt whenever they like. Early tests show it interrupts people less than rival models, though it still lags on accuracy and struggles with video and audio understanding.
OUR TAKEAn AI that can talk and work at once, much like the rest of us pretending to listen on a call.
Read more → - 09 of 10FUNDING
Saudi fintech Abwab.ai raises $4 million to help lenders automate SME loans
Riyadh-based Abwab.ai has raised a $4 million seed round led by European investor Speedinvest, its first deal in Saudi Arabia. The startup builds tools that let banks and finance firms automate lending to small and medium businesses, from onboarding through to collections. Its technology has already helped partner lenders process more than 10 billion riyals in SME loans.
OUR TAKEProof that the Gulf's AI boom is not just chips and mega-projects, some of it is spreadsheets and loan forms.
Read more → - 10 of 10FUNDING
Japanese manufacturing AI firm CADDi becomes a $1.2 billion unicorn
CADDi, a Tokyo and Chicago-based startup that helps factories search and reuse their own engineering drawings and parts data, has raised $114 million in Series D funding. The round more than doubles its valuation from last year to $1.2 billion, with backing from Toyota's investment arm and Salesforce Ventures among others. The company plans to use the cash to expand further into the US, the world's second-largest manufacturing market.
OUR TAKETurns out the unglamorous job of organising decades of factory paperwork is worth rather a lot.
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