AI

After the initial hype, the often-imitated OpenClaw is continuing to push new updates, releasing version 2.0 and promising a cleanup that touched every area of the bot’s framework with simplified installs, setup, and a rebuilt browser app.

Google is pitching its AI tools as a way to streamline production and visual effects, but the effort faces pushback from union workers and creators concerned about copyright, job displacement, and artistic control.

Data center developers typically have to apply for permits to install generators that create local air pollution. The DataOne facility in New Jersey is the latest project accused of violating federal law by running on gas-fired generators without approval.

You can also now personalize a temporary chat with existing memories, custom instructions, and plugins. OpenAI notes that temporary chats “don’t create new memories, and stay out of your sidebar unless you choose to save them.”

An open letter signed by over 100 companies and organizations calls for a “global surge in cyber defense,” saying “AI-enabled cyber attacks will become far more widespread and sophisticated:”

The feature is rolling out in the US in the coming weeks and will support bookings at Expedia, Booking.com, Hilton, Hotels.com, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, Priceline, and others.

Nvidia, which recently debuted “compute as an asset class” and definitely is not doing circular financing, is reportedly buying Hugging Face for almost $13 billion, according to The Information, which cites a single anonymous source. Almost an hour earlier, Business Insider reported that the two companies were in talks but had not yet reached a deal, also citing a single anonymous source.

That’s on top of the 1 million Nvidia GPUs it was already planning to add, before demand “exceeded” expectations. The two companies doubled down on their partnership as Nvidia announced record revenue yet again, and Amazon says it’s planning to bring Nvidia’s Vera CPUs to AWS.

The latest trailer for Netflix’s Willy Wonka-inspired reality competition show features a lot more voiceover from an AI-generated clone of Gene Wilder. The AI of it all was already ridiculous, but it’s even weirder to hear how much the AI voice sounds like Wilder doing an impression of RuPaul explaining Drag Race challenges.

In a broad-ranging feature from Time on OpenAI, the company reveals it has been testing a new kind of sponsored ad. Clicking through an ad with “sponsored agents” would bring you into “an AI experience presented by a brand.”

Arduino and Qualcomm have opened preorders for the Ventuno Q, an edge AI board designed to run agentic AI locally. Powered by a Qualcomm Dragonwing IQ8 processor offering up to 40 TOPS alongside a dedicated real-time microcontroller, it allows smart devices and robots to process vision, speech, and sensor data completely offline.

ChatGPT’s AI agent that’s designed to get things done can now sign in to websites to do things like book a DMV appointment, cancel a reservation, or fill out a job application without OpenAI ever seeing your login credentials.

The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg report that Chris Malone, a “key executive” leading OpenAI’s massive build-out plans, left the company last week. The WSJ reports that Malone, who held similar roles at Meta and Google before joining OpenAI in early 2025, had previously reported directly to OpenAI president and cofounder Greg Brockman, but that changed earlier this year amid other reshuffling.

Proposals for new gas-fired power capacity tied to data centers nearly doubled in the first half of 2026, according to a Global Energy Monitor report. Nearly a third of that new capacity would come online in Texas, more than in any other state or country.

Anthropic has added memory to Cowork, and it’s the same one Claude’s chatbot already uses, making it easier to pick up tasks without re-explaining important information. Memory is on by default, but won’t save sensitive topics like health or beliefs unless you manually enable that setting.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Anthropic is “likely to tell investors its potential revenue opportunities are above $30 trillion” — topping SpaceX’s fever dream of a mere $28.5 trillion. It would be funny only if we were talking about Monopoly money.

Unlike the computer-controlling AI tool Perplexity launched earlier this year, the Portable Computer feature runs AI models fully locally and will ask for permission if it needs to access the cloud “for more advanced research and reasoning.” It will be available on Nvidia’s DGX Spark first, before rolling out to PCs with compatible Nvidia RTX GPUs.

Along with a financial research agent, Google says its new AI legal tool can help law firms draft legal briefs, manage upcoming regulations, and verify citations — something that’s become a big problem as more lawyers adopt AI.

After an AI-produced song reached number four on two separate charts in July, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has now updated its Code of Practice to require that songs made with generative AI tools are “substantially human made.” ARIA admits it can only detect AI usage if “you tell us,” however.

A Russian drone fitted with an Nvidia chip and guided entirely by AI killed three Ukrainian civilians in July, according to the New York Times. Though AI is already a standard feature of modern warfare, with both sides of this conflict having experimented with battlefield automation, it could mark the first time AI both guided a drone and selected a target.

Alibaba’s Wan3.0 AI video model is now generally available, which the company says is capable of generating 30 second clips based on text, image, video, and audio inputs — including web pages, PDFs, and slide decks. This might be yet another AI model with copyright concerns given its promotion of at least one video featuring Tom Cruise.