The ai models & agents stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
ChatGPT now chooses which AI model fits your request on its own, so you skip the menu, but you may not see which model answered.
Read more: ChatGPT now picks the right AI brain for each job on its ownMicrosoft says AI agents that work for hours or days need a different computing foundation, and offers three questions to test whether your business is ready.
Read more: Microsoft says AI agents that work for days need new computer systemsCities from Madrid to Malaysia are using AI for traffic, planning and resident questions. Here is what is working and what is still unproven.
Read more: Cities Are Using AI to Run Traffic, Plan Streets and Answer ResidentsVaani AI has launched a self-serve tool for building voice agents that handle mixed-language calls, which could matter to any business that takes customer calls.
Read more: Vaani AI lets any business build a voice agent that speaks many languagesGartner says nine in ten steps in an AI agent's work are routine, and free-to-run models can do them for far less than top-tier AI. Here is what that means.
Read more: Gartner says free-to-run AI models can handle most routine business tasksA creator showed that faint plane noise in a video's audio can be matched to public flight data to find where it was filmed, which matters for anyone posting clips from home.
Read more: Faint airplane noise in a video can reveal where it was filmedNvidia has told cloud companies that renting out its chips that most of their customers must be outside China, which could affect AI computing costs and access.
Read more: Nvidia tells cloud partners most of their customers must be outside ChinaOpenAI introduced LifeVal, a test that scores how well AI helps with everyday tasks like childcare, money and government forms, so claims can be checked.
Read more: OpenAI Launches a Test of How Well AI Handles Everyday Life TasksSouth African insurer Naked now covers cats and dogs, and says early claims were often paid within two days, the fastest in 12 minutes.
Read more: South African insurer Naked now offers pet insurance with fast claimsGoogle's experimental AI app that turns your email, photos and searches into illustrated stories is now in India, but early US downloads have dropped sharply.
Read more: Google's AI story app Dreambeans launches in India with 13 languagesAnthropic's IPO filing says its Claude AI wrote over 90% of its new code in September. Here is what that means for businesses, and what it does not prove.
Read more: Anthropic says its AI wrote over 90% of its new code in SeptemberMeta's Muse and OpenAI's Dots remember past chats and can act on their own, which could change how people research and buy things, and how shops sell.
Read more: Personal AI helpers from Meta and OpenAI are starting to shop for youA voice in an ad, call or audiobook may be AI. ElevenLabs explains how these voices are built and says a copy can start from under two minutes of audio.
Read more: How computers learn to talk like real peopleKPN, the Netherlands' largest phone company, now sells an AI call assistant to small businesses, aiming to cut missed calls without stopping the work.
Read more: Dutch phone company adds an AI assistant to answer small business callsOpenAI is raising what it pays outside researchers who report security flaws, which could mean safer AI tools in the apps you use.
Read more: OpenAI will pay more to outside experts who find security flawsMarvell and Lumentum, both makers of AI data-moving parts, asked Nvidia's CEO before a deal worth nearly $103 billion, Bloomberg reports.
Read more: Nvidia's CEO approved a $103 billion Marvell and Lumentum dealOpenAI has reportedly signed Magnite and PubMatic to sell ChatGPT ad space it has not sold itself, which could mean more ads for users and more options for advertisers.
Read more: OpenAI lines up ad companies to sell space inside ChatGPTPolygraf AI's tools, which screen what staff type into AI chatbots, can now be bought by public agencies through Carahsoft and existing government contracts.
Read more: Government agencies get a new way to buy AI safety toolsA software rep's pitch cited 'end of 2024 goals' in 2026. SaaStr says it shows why outbound email needs a check, and why buyers' AI may screen sloppy pitches.
Read more: A sales email with the wrong year shows why companies are turning to AI agentsSecurity firm Thales warns that AI tools that shop and pay for people create new risks for online stores just as holiday sales and fraud both peak.
Read more: AI shopping helpers create new security risks for stores this holiday seasonWeil Gotshal, a 95-year-old law firm, plans to wind down after top partners left. Lawyers say AI could help firms keep what their stars know, or help stars leave.
Read more: Weil Gotshal is closing after 95 years, and AI wasn't the causeAnthropic bought Mithril Medicine, a one-employee drug startup that used Claude to run its lab work. It hints at how small teams may work with AI.
Read more: Anthropic buys a one-person drug startup run with its AI, ClaudeAmazon Connect Customer has a new block that lets automated flows fetch data or trigger actions in outside apps, with no custom code. Here is what it means.
Read more: Amazon's call center software can now pull data from other appsCiti Hong Kong's 2026 AI survey finds AI is part of daily life, yet many people worry about keeping up and still want humans guiding it.
Read more: Hong Kong shoppers use AI daily but still want a human in charge
