Author: GT

AI’s growing dominance in the world, whether it be reshaping industries’ workflows or influencing investor portfolios, is redefining how society and economies evolve. Of course, the hype and buzz around AI has been and is hard to ignore, but the question is, does this hype often overshadow the real challenges and limitations of AI?According to a new Day Trading report, the excitement around the AI bubble points to signs of overvaluation reminiscent of the dot-com era. While some areas of AI are genuinely transformative, it’s not all boom or bust, but somewhere in the middle.Dan Buckley, Chief Analyst at DayTrading.com,…

China is focusing on large language models in the artificial intelligence space.Blackdovfx | Istock | Getty ImagesChinese semiconductor firm Cambricon posted record profit in the first half of the year underscoring how local challengers to Nvidia are gaining traction as Beijing looks to boost its domestic industry.Cambricon is among a plethora of companies in China that are vying to be an alternative to American giant Nvidia when it comes to providing the chips required to train and run artificial intelligence applications and models.In the first half of the year, Cambricon said revenue surged more than 4,000% year-on-year to 2.88 billion…

Anthropic is launching a research preview of a browser-based AI agent powered by its Claude AI models, the company announced on Tuesday. The agent, Claude for Chrome, is rolling out to a group of 1,000 subscribers on Anthropic’s Max plan, which costs between $100 and $200 per month. The company is also opening a waitlist for other interested users. By adding an extension to Chrome, select users can now chat with Claude in a sidecar window that maintains context of everything happening in their browser. Users can also give the Claude agent permission to take actions in their browser and…

Protesters stormed Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters on Monday and made it into president Brad Smith’s office in Building 34, forcing a temporary lockdown. The “No Azure for Apartheid” group livestreamed their sit-in on Twitch, hoisting banners, chanting ‘Brad Smith, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide!’ and posting a mock legal summons charging Smith with “crimes against humanity.” Microsoft did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment earlier in the day, but a few hours after the occupation, Smith held a hastily called press conference beside his desk to address the extraordinary events. Of the seven people involved, he said, just two…

Alphabet’s life sciences arm Verily laid off staff and eliminated its entire devices program Monday. CEO Stephen Gillett announced the “difficult decision” to wind down the program in a staff memo, according to Business Insider. “Over the years, Verily has built a legacy in developing world-class, innovative medical devices,” Gillett wrote, noting that the “path forward requires difficult decisions” as Verily refocuses on AI and data infrastructure. The move continues Alphabet’s aggressive efforts to invest in AI while cutting costs elsewhere. The company has conducted multiple rounds of layoffs in recent years, including cuts to its HR and cloud units…

Assort Health, a startup that uses AI to automate patient communication for specialty healthcare practices, has raised about $50 million in a Series B round at a valuation of $750 million, according to three sources familiar with the deal. The latest round, which comes just four months after the company raised its $22 million Series A, was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, these sources said. The company’s AI voice agents are designed to take over high-volume, repetitive tasks like scheduling, cancellations, and frequently asked questions normally managed by front desk staff, allowing human staff to focus on more complex or…

SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket lifted off on its tenth test flight Tuesday evening, hitting two long sought milestones and putting an end to a string of failures. The 403-foot vehicle lifted off from Starbase, SpaceX’s launch facility and recently incorporated city, at 7:30 pm ET after two scrubs earlier in this week. The rocket ascended on 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines before separating around three minutes after liftoff. On descent, the Super Heavy booster tested out a new maneuver: intentionally shutting down the engines used for landing and transitioning to backup engines. The test will help engineers understand how the Booster…

Eyebot, a startup offering a 90-second vision test kiosk that delivers doctor-verified glasses prescriptions, has secured $20 million in Series A funding. The Boston-based startup, founded in 2021, streamlines how people access vision care by eliminating traditional obstacles, such as appointment delays, limited accessibility, complex insurance requirements, and cost. Its kiosks, already found in malls, universities, retail stores, pharmacies, grocery chains, schools, and airports, deliver a free, 90-second vision test. According to the company, each test generates a prescription that is then reviewed and approved by licensed eye doctors, ensuring fast, convenient, and reliable prescriptions. The new funding, which brings Eyebot’s…

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A cyberattack caused Nevada’s state offices to close for two days this week and rendered some state websites and phone lines unavailable, the governor’s office said Tuesday. Agencies will announce when their counters will reopen for in-person services, according to the technology office of Gov. Joe Lombardo, whose website was among those disabled. The state identified the attack Sunday and said authorities are investigating. Officials were unable to release technical details to protect internal systems during the investigation, the memo said. There is no evidence that personal information was compromised, it added. Emergency services remained available.…

Google is upgrading its Gemini chatbot with a new AI image model that gives users finer control over editing photos, a step meant to catch up with OpenAI’s popular image tools and draw users from ChatGPT. The update, called Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, rolls out starting Tuesday to all users in the Gemini app, as well as to developers via the Gemini API, Google AI Studio, and Vertex AI platforms. Gemini’s new AI image model is designed to make more precise edits to images — based on natural language requests from users — while preserving the consistency of faces, animals,…