On Thursday, Windsurf, a startup that develops popular AI tools for software engineers, announced the launch of its first family of AI software engineering models, or SWE-1 for short. The startup says it trained its new family of AI models — SWE-1, SWE-1-lite, and SWE-1-mini — to be optimized for the “entire software engineering process,” […]
Sam Altman’s goal for ChatGPT to remember ‘your whole life’ is both exciting and disturbing
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman laid out a big vision for the future of ChatGPT at an AI event hosted by VC firm Sequoia earlier this month. When asked by one attendee about how ChatGPT can become more personalized, Altman replied that he eventually wants the model to document and remember everything in a person’s life. […]
xAI blames Grok’s obsession with white genocide on an ‘unauthorized modification’
xAI blamed an “unauthorized modification” for a bug in its AI-powered Grok chatbot that caused Grok to repeatedly refer to “white genocide in South Africa” when invoked in certain contexts on X. On Wednesday, Grok began replying to dozens of posts on X with information about white genocide in South Africa, even in response to […]
YouTube viewers will start seeing ads after ‘peak’ moments in videos
Imagine you’re watching a highly anticipated video from your favorite YouTube creator — perhaps the moment a famous couple finally gets engaged — when an ad pops up immediately after the clip. This is part of YouTube’s new ad format called “Peak Points.” The company revealed the new ad format during its Upfront presentation on […]
YouTube targets TV dollars with NFL deal, bingeable ‘shows’ from creators
YouTube announced a range of initiatives designed to attract more TV ad dollars to its platform at Brandcast, its annual Upfront event for advertisers. Notably, the Google-owned video service is expanding its relationship with the NFL and plans to exclusively stream the NFL’s first Friday game of the 2025-2026 season. It’s also preparing to pilot […]
YouTube introduces an interactive product feed for shoppable TV ads
YouTube made its pitch to advertisers on Wednesday, accompanied by a flashy performance from Lady Gaga and special appearances from popular YouTubers like Brittany Broski and MrBeast. During its Upfront presentation, YouTube executives introduced new ad formats coming to the platform, including an enhanced shoppable connected TV (CTV) offering that includes a new interactive product […]
Billionaire founder of Luminar replaced as CEO following ethics inquiry
Austin Russell, who became a billionaire after his lidar startup Luminar went public, appears to be out as CEO, according to the company’s board. Luminar’s board announced Wednesday — the same day of its first-quarter earnings report — it had replaced Russell and appointed Paul Ricci to the role. Ricci is the former chairman and […]
Harvey reportedly in discussions to raise $250M at $5B valuation
Harvey AI is in discussions to raise more than $250 million in a funding round led by Kleiner Perkins and Coatue that would value it at $5 billion, Reuters reported
New York-focused VC Work-Bench has raised a fresh $160M
Work-Bench, whose portfolio includes unicorns Spring Health and Socure, just raised a $160 million Fund IV to quadruple down on backing companies in New York City. The firm announced the raise in a blog post on Monday, saying the latest fund will support seed-stage founders building enterprise software. Checks will range from $2 million to […]
xAI’s promised safety report is MIA
Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, has missed a self-imposed deadline to publish a finalized AI safety framework, as noted by watchdog group The Midas Project. xAI isn’t exactly known for its strong commitments to AI safety as it’s commonly understood. A recent report found that the company’s AI chatbot, Grok, would undress photos of women when […]