Author: GT

Students applying to college know they can’t — or at least shouldn’t — use AI chatbots to write their essays and personal statements. So it might come as a surprise that some schools are now using artificial intelligence to read them.AI tools are now being incorporated into how student applications are screened and analyzed, admissions directors say. It can be a delicate topic, and not all colleges are eager to talk about it, but higher education is among the many industries where artificial intelligence is rapidly taking on tasks once reserved for humans.In some cases, schools are quietly slipping AI…

The AI boom is proving to be a windfall for construction workers building the massive data centers that power it all. According to The Wall Street Journal, workers moving into data-center construction are seeing pay jumps of 25% to 30% compared to their previous jobs — and in some cases, much more. Among them is DeMond Chambliss, who traded his small drywall business in Columbus, Ohio, for a supervisor role overseeing 200 workers at a data center site. He now makes over $100,000 annually. “I pinch myself going to work every day,” the 51-year-old tells the Journal. In Oregon, electrical…

BANGKOK (AP) — Behind the hoopla over the promise of artificial intelligence lay difficult realities, including how such technology might affect people already disadvantaged in a data-driven world.A new report by the United Nations Development Program notes most of the gains from AI are likely to be reaped by wealthy nations unless steps are taken to use its power to help close gaps in access to basic needs, as well as such advanced know-how.The report released Tuesday likens the situation to the “Great Divergence” of the industrial revolution, when many Western countries saw rapid modernization while others fell behind.Questions over…

Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, or MKBHD, announced on Monday that his phone wallpaper app Panels is shutting down. Fans had high hopes for Brownlee’s foray into app development, given his reputation as an eagle-eyed tech reviewer who has amassed more than 20 million followers on YouTube. He’s so influential that some blamed his commentary on Humane AI and Fisker for those companies’ eventual failures. (We think the real issue is that you shouldn’t raise $230 million if you have no product.) Yet from the time Brownlee launched Panels in September 2024, the app struggled to find an audience of its…

Amazon Web Services’ big annual event, re:Invent 2025, is getting into full swing in Las Vegas this week. Last year’s event was largely focused on their AI efforts, including new foundation models, services tackling AI hallucinations, and new security measures. And this year is likely to follow suit, based on what Amazon has announced so far and the lineup of speakers and programming that you can explore in more detail below. The event formally kicks off tomorrow, December 2, at 9 a.m. PT. You can expect editorial coverage of the keynotes, interviews with AWS execs, and a roundup of news…

Nvidia announced new infrastructure and AI models on Monday as it works to build the backbone technology for physical AI, including robots and autonomous vehicles that can perceive and interact with the real world. The semiconductor giant announced Alpamayo-R1, an open reasoning vision language model for autonomous driving research at the NeurIPS AI conference in San Diego, California. The company claims this is the first vision language action model focused on autonomous driving. Visual language models can process both text and images together, allowing vehicles to “see” their surroundings and make decisions based on what they perceive. This new model…

When JPMorgan Asset Management reported that AI spending accounted for two-thirds of US GDP growth in the first half of 2025, it wasn’t just a statistic – it was a signal.The conversation reached a turning point recently when OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon each acknowledged market froth within days of each other. But here’s what matters for enterprise decision-makers: acknowledging overheated markets isn’t the same as dismissing AI’s enterprise value.Corporate AI investment reached US$252.3 billion in 2024, with private investment climbing 44.5%, according to Stanford University. The question isn’t whether to invest…

Amazon’s AI chatbot, Rufus, saw a surge of adoption on Black Friday, according to new data published over the weekend by market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. In the U.S., Amazon sessions that resulted in a purchase surged 100% on Black Friday compared with the trailing 30 days, while sessions that resulted in a purchase and didn’t include Rufus increased by only 20%. In addition, Amazon saw a 75% day-over-day increase for sessions that included Rufus and resulted in a purchase, compared with just a 35% day-over-day increase for sessions without Rufus that had resulted in a purchase. The firm also…

Nvidia is investing $2 billion into Synopsys, which makes software and components for designing semiconductor chips. The deal deepens their existing partnership at a time when analysts have started to scrutinize increasingly common circular AI-industry deals and warn of a potential bubble. Nvidia said it bought Synopsys shares at $414.79 each as part of a multi-year partnership to integrate Nvidia’s AI hardware and computing capabilities into Synopsys’ electronic design automation (EDA) and simulation software. The deal will help Synopsys transition its platform from CPU-based computing to GPUs, a shift it hopes will speed up chip-design workflows, per a release. The…

Deezer launched “My Deezer Year 2025” on Monday, its annual recap similar to Spotify Wrapped. By releasing early, Deezer beats other streaming music platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, in providing an annual summary of listeners’ favorite songs, artists, albums, and genres for 2025. The feature, called “My Deezer Year,” offers users a detailed overview of their top tracks, top artists, favorite albums, and the amount of time spent listening to their most-played artist and their best track.  This year’s edition introduces a new “romantic comedy” theme for the recap’s visual presentation. According to Deezer, as users explore…