The ai models & agents stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 workers, a sign that AI is changing how many people big companies plan to employ.
Read more: Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 workers as AI reshapes its staffMastercard says AI shopping agents should pay with a secure stand-in for your own card, so your rewards and spending controls could carry over.
Read more: Mastercard Wants AI Shopping Helpers to Pay With Your Real CardA Charles Schwab executive says AI agents will pay off most by improving customer service, not by cutting costs. Customers may soon expect the same from every business.
Read more: Schwab Exec Says AI's Big Payoff Is Better Customer Service, Not SavingsMastercard's CEO says AI shopping agents are already adding transactions and he expects more this holiday season, but many merchants are not ready to be found.
Read more: Mastercard expects AI shopping agents to drive more purchases this holiday seasonGoogle's Gemini Notebook now offers hundreds of free textbooks that students can turn into study guides, quizzes and flashcards, with answers that point back to the page.
Read more: Google now lets students add free textbooks to its Gemini study toolGoogle's Gemini app can now create, preview and edit PDFs, Docs, Sheets and slides inside the chat, so you can fix a file without leaving it.
Read more: Gemini can now build and edit your documents inside the chatUBS says staff use more than 12,700 personal AI agents, a sign that banks are moving AI into daily work that can touch your accounts and advice.
Read more: UBS staff now use more than 12,700 personal AI helpers at workBank of America emailed customers to keep banking passwords away from AI agents, as other big banks restrict the tools too. Here is why and what to do.
Read more: Bank of America tells customers not to give AI agents their passwordsResearchers showed a booby-trapped file in the Downloads folder can make an AI coding helper leak private logins, so what lands on your computer matters.
Read more: Hidden instructions in a downloaded file can trick AI coding helpersBloomberg Intelligence says AI is shifting from writing text to taking action, which could change what businesses buy and where investors put money.
Read more: AI is moving from answering questions to doing the work itselfSome startups now run with about ten AI agents for every human employee. Here is what that looks like and what it means for owners and staff.
Read more: Some startups now have ten times more AI workers than peopleJoko, an AI shopping app, wants to be where you start every search. To do that, it asks you to link your bank account and browser, so the privacy trade-off matters.
Read more: AI shopping assistants could become the new place shopping startsFake ChatGPT and Claude apps on GitHub hide a crypto miner beside a real installer, and they rank high in Google. Windows users who search and download are at risk.
Read more: Fake ChatGPT and Claude apps on GitHub hide a crypto-mining virusMeta, OpenAI and Anthropic are racing to sell AI agents that do tasks for you, and the newest versions are meant for people who are not tech experts.
Read more: AI helpers that do tasks for you are now built for everyday peopleThe New York Times is testing an AI helper in its Cooking app that rewrites recipes on request, and some subscribers are upset they cannot turn it off.
Read more: NYT Cooking app tests AI that rewrites recipes for youAnthropic's Claude Duet agent is in preview for US Pro and Max users, and it shares your plan's limits, so trying it could leave less room for regular chats.
Read more: Anthropic's new Claude Duet agent opens to US Max users first, Pro nextA study of four AI tools found 8.2% of answers on local issues contradicted official data, even when the chatbots read government sources. Midterms are close.
Read more: AI chatbots got about 1 in 12 local election answers wrongThe Justice Department is examining Nvidia's $12.93 billion Hugging Face deal, which could matter to any business that depends on AI tools and chips.
Read more: US regulators examine Nvidia's $12.93 billion Hugging Face purchaseZoho Analytics now lets you ask for reports in plain English, and six AI agents build them. A 15-day free trial needs no credit card.
Read more: Zoho Analytics adds AI helpers that build reports for youSecurity firm Keep Aware says AI agents already work inside signed-in browsers in three ways, and your apps may not be able to tell the agent from you.
Read more: AI helpers can now use your web browser while logged in as youAnthropic added shared budgets, usage reports and employee surveys to Claude Enterprise, giving businesses new ways to cap AI costs and spot waste.
Read more: Claude Enterprise adds shared AI budgets, usage reports and surveysBluesky is blocking links to a site hosting leaked Homeland Security staff records, while a government takedown notice knocked a search tool offline.
Read more: Bluesky blocks links to leaked list of Homeland Security staffCarvana reported $8 billion in quarterly revenue, and its CEO says AI shopping helpers are now part of the plan. Sellers online should take note.
Read more: Carvana sales jump 42% to $8 billion as it preps for AI car shoppingPalantir's CTO says the tech industry spends too little effort getting AI used inside companies, and that firms focused on sales adopt it more successfully.
Read more: Palantir's tech chief says businesses are not using AI enough
