Day: July 31, 2026

Google DeepMind unveiled a new model this week that gives humanoid robots finer control over how they interact with objects around them. Promotional videos show a robot doing complicated tasks like tying a trash bag and screwing a small lightbulb, suggesting we’re a step closer to general-purpose robotics — where ...

China’s tech giants are deepening their push into AI for businesses as they look for profitable revenue streams. TikTok owner ByteDance, which boasts the highest annual AI revenue projection among its peers, announced a restructure this week to bring its workplace tool closer to its flagship AI chatbot Doubao, which ...

The Scoop T-Mobile’s US executives have told its controlling shareholder, Deutsche Telekom, that they no longer support a proposed $300 billion merger between the two companies, citing both shareholder and potential regulatory concerns, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of T-Mobile’s non-controlling shareholders — generally large institutional investors ...

The Scoop Last summer, YouTube ran an experiment: It had AI select segments of videos to answer users’ searches, like for the “best beaches in Hawaii,” and stitched them into slideshows. In traditional YouTube searches, viewers would see a simple list of videos based on a wide variety of factors, ...

Americans think robots will start taking people’s jobs in the next five years — but not jobs. That’s the finding of a new nationwide survey, shared exclusively with Semafor, by advisory firm Breakwater Strategy and YouGov. It offers an early snapshot of Americans’ attitudes toward robots in various corners of ...

Pedro Sánchez decries ‘violation of territorial integrity’ as other EU countries criticise Madrid over incident Europe live – latest updates At least 57 people have died trying to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta after as many as 50,000 migrants entered the tiny territory from Morocco in what Spain’s prime ...

The agreement is a ‘great breakthrough’, the president says in response to media questions Trump claims agreement for ‘complete disarmament’ of Hamas in Gaza but support uncertain Saudi Arabia prepares sea and possible land offensive against Houthis Al Jazeera reporter Hani Mahmoud has reported the mood in Gaza this morning ...

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss going into the woods, a “he admit it” moment, and a tofu sandwich. JOSEPH: Thank you to everyone who came to Thursday’s ...

On Thursday, Google introduced a new AI feature into Google Earth which lets anyone fabricate all sorts of misleading or straight up inaccurate satellite imagery, from making it look like a specific place has suffered a drone strike to manifesting a nuclear plant in Iran. Usually, Google Earth is an ...

YouTube banned a wave of ASMR artists this week for violating the platforms’ rules against “sexually gratifying” content, leaving creators confused and angry. Several creators received the same notice from YouTube about their channels being removed on Wednesday and Thursday. “We have reviewed your content and found severe or repeated ...