Echoing throughout New York Tech Week this year were conversations from business leaders about AI’s ROI, as companies begin cutting back on token spending. CEOs are trying to prove to their boards that the cost is worthwhile during a time of “massive over-investment” industry-wide, IBM Vice Chairman Gary Cohn said ...
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AI customer service is not ready for prime timeAI customer service is not ready for prime time
Voice capabilities are the future of AI, but customer service is still proving a difficult test case. That’s not because the voices don’t work, but because the broader experience often doesn’t. I went to an ElevenLabs pop-up in New York, where a robot powered by the company’s voice models took ...
DR Congo growth drives mobile infrastructure spendingDR Congo growth drives mobile infrastructure spending
The News Two telecom tower companies are committing more than $200 million to DR Congo, betting that rising data use and growing demand from the mining sector will transform one of Africa’s largest underdeveloped telecom markets. The investment comes as African internet data consumption is projected to quadruple over the ...
Zelenskyy proposes face-to-face peace talks with PutinZelenskyy proposes face-to-face peace talks with Putin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed face-to-face talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a combative letter that comes as Kyiv strikes ever deeper into enemy territory and Moscow’s offensive stalls. Zelenskyy said the starting point for any negotiations would be “the front line today,” rejecting a prior proposal that would ...
Chinese leader Xi Jinping plans North Korea visitChinese leader Xi Jinping plans North Korea visit
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit North Korea next week, aiming to court the pariah state’s dictator Kim Jong-un, who has been strengthening ties with Moscow while tightening his own grip on power. In the seven years since Xi’s last trip, Pyongyang has sent troops and weapons to Russia for ...
Anthropic calls for AI development slowdown to ensure safetyAnthropic calls for AI development slowdown to ensure safety
Anthropic called for a slowdown in global AI development, saying that its models were increasingly capable of autonomously designing and developing their own successors. Claude now writes 80% of Anthropic’s code, the firm said, and proposes research directions and solves open-ended problems. AI safety thinkers have long warned of “recursive ...
Immigration funding passes Senate, surveillance bill blockedImmigration funding passes Senate, surveillance bill blocked
Senate Republicans passed their $70 billion funding bill for Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies shortly before the sun rose on Friday, with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski the lone Republican in opposition. The 52-47 vote sent the bill to the House for consideration and ended a long, convoluted saga in the Senate ...
Chip stocks fall after extended rallyChip stocks fall after extended rally
US chip stocks tumbled on Thursday as fresh doubts surfaced over the sustainability of the AI spending boom. The selloff, which hit firms like Broadcom and Micron Technology, comes after a historic rally for semiconductor stocks. “We’re due for a rest,” one strategist said, adding that markets are often “two ...
DeepSeek nears $7B haul in first raiseDeepSeek nears $7B haul in first raise
Chinese AI phenom DeepSeek is closing in on a $7.4 billion funding round, at around a $52 billion valuation, in one of the country’s largest startup raises. Tech giant Tencent and battery pioneer CATL are reportedly among the investors in the maiden fundraise, along with a state-backed AI investment fund. ...
Data center energy challenges mountData center energy challenges mount
Ballooning electricity demand from AI data centers in the US is pushing companies and regulators to consider unorthodox — and aggressive — solutions. Federal officials have suggested breaking up the country’s largest electric grid operator over rising power bills and its failure to keep pace with demand; one regulator said ...