The ai models & agents stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
Shopify, Otto Group and others report big savings and sales gains from AI tools, including cheaper AI answers and warehouse changes tested in simulation first.
Read more: European retailers use AI to cut costs and test stores virtuallyNVIDIA's open Earth-2 weather models are being used by AXA, TotalEnergies and others for sharper local forecasts. Here is what that could mean for business and risk.
Read more: European firms use free AI weather models to forecast storms and sunChatGPT's microphone on Android and iPhone now handles more than 70 languages, including mixed ones, so multilingual users can talk without changing settings first.
Read more: ChatGPT voice typing now handles 70+ languages, even mixed onesOracle unveiled four AI tools for staffing, hiring, pay and payroll checks. They could cut admin work for small teams, but people still approve key decisions.
Read more: Oracle launches AI helpers that handle hiring, pay and staffing tasksTesla says hands-off driving for owners could arrive around Q2 next year, but only inside the small areas where its Robotaxi service already runs.
Read more: Tesla's self-driving may work only in conditions it handles wellGoogle CEO Sundar Pichai says AI agents now handle his daily catch-up, a sign that routine information work is being handed to software, with limits.
Read more: Google's CEO says a team of AI helpers now assists him at workGoogle says each AI agent it runs for Gemini gets its own walled-off computer, and the tools to control agent access and cost are expanding.
Read more: Google unveils a safer, separate computer for each AI agent it runsClaude Duet, a new Android assistant, says it can sort your to-do list and take on your workload. Check what it can see before you hand over your tasks.
Read more: Claude Duet is a new Android assistant that sorts your to-do listA Reddit user asked Claude to clean up an Android TV that was really a locked Samsung TV. The AI used a phone camera to finish the job in about 11 hours.
Read more: Someone had AI clean up their Samsung TV by letting it watch through a phone cameraDeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, raised about $15 billion, which could mean more choice and lower prices for the AI tools businesses and families use.
Read more: Chinese AI startup DeepSeek raises $15 billion to take on US rivalsMeta says it wants billions of people using Muse AI helpers, and then wants those helpers working together, even as privacy complaints and costs pile up.
Read more: Meta wants billions of AI helpers talking to each otherAnthropic's new Claude Duet app can shop for your business and keep working while you are away, but it asks before it pays, sends, signs or deletes.
Read more: Anthropic's Claude Duet can now buy business supplies for youMicrosoft says a China-aligned hacking group used an AI agent to automate attacks on hundreds of organizations. Any business could be a target, so basics matter.
Read more: Microsoft says Chinese state-linked hackers used an AI agent to attackAt Money20/20, finance firms said the best money tools hide their crypto plumbing, and AI shopping agents will work within limits that buyers can approve.
Read more: Money apps are hiding the crypto and letting you set limits for AI shoppersOpenAI told California's governor it backs tougher AI rules, including shutdown controls and yearly audits. The outcome could affect the AI tools many people use.
Read more: OpenAI asks California to make AI rules tougherGoogle Keep now has a Gemini sparkle button that turns a short request into a tickable checklist, but it needs a Google AI plan or a supported Pixel phone.
Read more: Google Keep's Gemini Button Builds Your Checklists in SecondsBlackstone's AI chief says rising borrowing costs are rattling markets, but he does not see a 2008-style crisis from the debt behind AI data centers.
Read more: Blackstone says worries about AI data center debt are overblownINMO's new GO3 smart glasses put a display in front of your eyes, work with Gemini, and add a physical cover for the camera lens.
Read more: New INMO GO3 smart glasses add a built-in display and GeminiA Texas report says new AI data centers could push power plant soot and smog pollution back to levels from the 2000s, depending on how they get their electricity.
Read more: AI data centers could push Texas air pollution back to 2000s levelsTesla released clips of its driverless taxi avoiding Waymo and Avride cars. The footage is hand-picked, so it says little about how safe the service really is.
Read more: Tesla shows video of its robotaxi dodging crashes with Waymo and Avride carsA new review tests ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini on scam texts, but no independent lab has scored them, so treat any AI verdict as a second opinion.
Read more: People are pasting suspicious texts into AI chatbots to check themMeta will create a new class of shares to pay for AI, acquisitions and staff pay, while its Muse AI app faces privacy questions.
Read more: Meta will sell a new kind of stock to pay for its AI spendingMeta says its Muse AI app has over 10 million users, and many let it shop for them. Here is what that means for your bank link and your data.
Read more: Meta's Muse AI app passes 10 million users, and many use it to shopOpenAI says companies that offer its AI to their own customers must follow the same safeguards, so the rules should not change from app to app.
Read more: OpenAI explains how partners must follow the same safety rules
