Author: Art Ryan

Perplexity AI revises its TikTok U.S. merger plan, offering a bold proposal that includes U.S. government ownership, to balance investor interests and address national security concerns. In Short Perplexity AI has made some big changes to its merger proposal for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance. In its updated plan, Perplexity AI has suggested a deal where the U.S. government could end up owning 50 per cent of the new company, combining Perplexity AI and TikTok U.S. As reported by CNBC, this ownership would only happen after the new company goes public. The new entity, which is being called NewCo, would bring…

The launch of DeepSeek R1 has sparked diverse reactions across the tech world. As a new AI model from China, it challenges existing giants and raises questions about future AI dynamics. A Chinese startup called DeepSeek has launched a new AI model. It has drawn significant attention from the tech community because it seems to be direct competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the model that made generative AI a household name. The emergence of this new company has also highlighted how Chinese AI companies are finding innovative ways to overcome challenges like US chip export sanctions. DeepSeek R1’s performance has sparked conversations about the global AI…

In Reid Hoffman’s new book Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right With Our AI Future, the LinkedIn co-founder makes the case that AI can extend human agency — giving us more knowledge, better jobs, and improved lives — rather than reducing it. That doesn’t mean he’s ignoring the technology’s potential downsides. In fact, Hoffman (who wrote the book with Greg Beato) describes his outlook on AI, and on technology more generally, as one focused on “smart risk taking” rather than blind optimism. “Everyone, generally speaking, focuses way too much on what could go wrong, and insufficiently on what could go right,” Hoffman…

Tesla’s (TSLA) eye-watering post-election rally may soon resume. The stock, which has rocketed a staggering 65% since Nov. 5, has taken a breather in recent weeks, as worry over slowing demand trends and a rollback of pro-EV policies raised fears of near-term financial performance. Tesla shares fell 4% during President Trump’s first week back in office, contributing to a one-month decline of 12%. Despite the recent dip, many analysts remain confident in the company heading into its critical fourth quarter earnings report. Rather than focusing on Tesla’s first annual sales decline in over a decade, they’re becoming increasingly optimistic about Tesla’s AI potential. Analysts…

The UK government is set to consult on a scheme that allows AI firms to use existing musical works to train their models. Paul McCartney has said that AI could “rip off” future generations of musicians, the BBC reports. McCartney is one of two surviving members of The Beatles, who sold over 1 billion records and were one of the most popular musical groups of all time. “You get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don’t own it,” he said on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. “They don’t have anything to do with it. And anyone…

Business Tech News – Mark Zuckerberg says AI will be doing the work of mid-level engineers this year – and he’s not the only big tech exec predicting the end of the profession. In a recent interview with Joe Rogan, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that AI will replace mid-level engineers by 2025. He believes AI can take over coding tasks, allowing human engineers to focus on higher-level problem-solving and creativity. Other tech giants like Google have also started integrating AI in coding processes. While initially costly, companies hope the transition to AI-generated code will become more efficient over time. This shift…

Agentic AI agents drive $16 billion market in six months, transforming crypto interactions. Artificial intelligence and blockchain technology have converged to create Web3-based AI Agents—sophisticated models powered by advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs). These agents are transforming digital interactions. Their ability to act semi-autonomously represents a significant leap from simpler automated systems, driving the explosive growth of a tokenized AI agent market exceeding $16 billion in just six months. What is Agentic AI? Agentic AI describes AI agents capable of independent action without constant human direction. Unlike their predecessors limited to routine tasks, today’s LLM-powered agents can reason and…

The cryptocurrency world is gradually shaping, with projects that offer applications demanding real-world relevance at the forefront. Ozak AI is an excellent example of a forward-thinking project that integrates artificial intelligence with blockchain technology for enormous value creation. Due to its unique attributes, it has grabbed investors’ attention with a successful presale and it certainly has bold growth estimates. With this, let’s examine why investing in Ozak AI could be your golden ticket to financial success by 2025. Next Generation Altcoin with Real-World Use Cases Ozak AI is not particularly much different from other cryptocurrencies and does not derive value purely from…

The greatest challenges facing universities and educators in using generative AI for student assessment are the sheer speed at which the higher education sector is evolving and an exponential increase in the capabilities of AI tools, a University World News-ABET webinar heard this week. “I don’t recommend individual AI tools because they change so quickly and the capabilities move so fast,” said panellist Dr Nigel Francis, winner of prestigious awards for teaching excellence and digital education lead for the school of biosciences at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom. “So using AI in assessment is really about playing around with offerings…

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, closed its stock above US$200 for the first time on a split-adjusted basis on Jan. 24, ending at US$200.21. This marks a 1.1% gain for the day and a 6% rise year-to-date, surpassing the Nasdaq’s 3.3% growth. The performance of Alphabet’s stock reflect optimism about its advancements in AI, despite competition from OpenAI and regulatory hurdles. Analyst remain confident in Alphabet’s AI leadership, citing progress in initiatives like Project Astra, Project Mariner, and the Gemini 2.0 language model launched in 2024. In Q3 2024, Alphabet reported a 15% revenue increase year-over-year, with total sales of US$88.3…

Last year was a busy time for lawmakers and lobbyists concerned about AI — most notably in California, where Gavin Newsom signed 18 new AI laws while also vetoing high-profile AI legislation. And 2025 could see just as much activity, especially on the state level, according to Mark Weatherford. Weatherford has, in his words, seen the “sausage making of policy and legislation” at both the state and federal levels; he’s served as Chief Information Security Officer for the states of California and Colorado, as well as Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity under President Barack Obama. Weatherford said that in recent years, he has held different job…

Leading companies across diverse industries, including electronics, IT infrastructure, surveillance, renewable energy, robotics, and cybersecurity, are heavily investing in AI and machine learning to leverage the technology for widescale innovation. In turn, companies are able to reduce operational costs, tackle workforce challenges, and transform client experiences. For instance, in the IT infrastructure space, AI spending is expected to jump to $509.1 billion in 2027 from $175.9 billion in 2023, according to the IDC. The spending on AI platforms is expected to rise as they become increasingly important for business’s digital operations. “Harnessing machine learning can be transformational, but for it…

A veteran Apple executive steps into AI to elevate Siri and spearhead Apple’s next-gen machine learning efforts.In a strategic move to bolster its artificial intelligence (AI) and Siri development, Apple has reassigned long-time executive Kim Vorrath to its AI and machine learning division. Vorrath, who has been with Apple for 36 years and recently oversaw the software rollout for the Vision Pro, will now serve as a top deputy to Apple’s AI chief John Giannandrea, according to Bloomberg. This leadership shift signals Apple’s commitment to intensifying its focus on AI, an area where it lags behind competitors like OpenAI and…

A new AI agent has emerged from the parent company of TikTok to take control of your computer and perform complex workflows. Much like Anthropic’s Computer Use, ByteDance’s new UI-TARS understands graphical user interfaces (GUIs), applies reasoning and takes autonomous, step-by-step action. Trained on roughly 50B tokens and offered in 7B- and 72B-parameter versions, the PC/MacOS agents achieves state-of-the-art (SOTA) performance on 10-plus GUI benchmarks across performance, perception, grounding and overall agent capabilities, consistently beating out OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Claude and Google’s Gemini. “Through iterative training and reflection tuning, UI-TARS continuously learns from its mistakes and adapts to unforeseen situations with minimal human…

Character AI, a platform that lets users engage in roleplay with AI chatbots, has filed a motion to dismiss a case brought against it by the parent of a teen who committed suicide, allegedly after becoming hooked on the company’s technology. In October, Megan Garcia filed a lawsuit against Character AI in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, over the death of her son, Sewell Setzer III. According to Garcia, her 14-year-old son developed an emotional attachment to a chatbot on Character AI, “Dany,” which he texted constantly — to the point where he began to pull away…

The massive $100 billion Stargate joint venture will reportedly be powered, at least in part, by solar and batteries. The renewable power installations will be built by SoftBank-backed SB Energy, according to a report from Bloomberg, though they’re unlikely to be the venture’s sole source of energy. Stargate is a partnership between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank Group, which promises to build a slew of new data centers to drive artificial intelligence applications. The growth in cloud computing and AI in recent years has sent developers and tech companies scurrying to secure power. The U.S. Department of Energy expects that data centers could…

Companies that want to build AI voice into their products are rushing to work with ElevenLabs, the startup that develops synthetic voice technology like voice cloning and dubbing tools. Now ElevenLabs is turning up the volume on its business with a huge Series C raise, just a year after a sizable Series B. The New York startup has closed a Series C of $250 million at a valuation between $3 billion and $3.3 billion, multiple sources tell TechCrunch. The round is being led by ICONIQ Growth, several people said. Andreessen Horowitz, one of the lead investors in the company’s $80 million…

OpenAI has unveiled Operator, its first semi-autonomous AI agent, which is designed to “operate” a web browser much like a person would, on their behalf. The agent uses the cursor to point and click, types on its own, browses the web and performs actions on various websites, such as booking restaurant reservations through OpenTable and assembling orders on Instacart and DoorDash. That’s instead of being confined to the ChatGPT interface or OpenAI’s application programming interface (API). “This product is the beginning of our step into agents,” said CEO and cofounder Sam Altman in a demo livestreamed on the company’s YouTube Channel…

As of a few days ago, only the nerdiest of nerds (I say this as one) had ever heard of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI subsidiary of the equally evocatively named High-Flyer Capital Management, a quantitative analysis (or quant) firm that initially launched in 2015. Yet within the last few days, it’s been arguably the most discussed company in Silicon Valley. That’s largely thanks to the release of DeepSeek-R1, a new large language model (LLM) that performs “reasoning” similar to OpenAI’s current best-available model o1 — taking multiple seconds or minutes to answer hard questions and solve complex problems as it reflects on its own…

An advanced deep-learning model that automates X-ray analysis for faster and more accurate assessments could transform spinal health diagnostics. Capable of handling even complex cases, the research promises to help doctors save time, reduce diagnostic errors, and improve treatment plans for patients with spinal conditions like scoliosis and kyphosis. “Although spinopelvic alignment analysis offers promising insights, current research relies on relatively small patient cohorts. Automated annotation could enable the analysis of larger cohorts, leading to a better understanding and clearer identification of existing trends. AI-based approaches can complement human raters for better consistency in assessments,” said study co-author Moritz Jokeit,…