270 stories
With the Apple Messages plugin, ChatGPT on Mac can “Search messages, catch up on conversations, draft and send replies,” OpenAI says. Here’s a video showing how it works. [Media: https://twitter.com/ChatGPT/status/2090499359641329950]
Throughout the past few months of changes at OpenAI, one person has quietly amassed more power and authority: Greg Brockman, its president and cofounder.
Humanoid robot makers are earning much of their revenue selling bots to government-backed training centers, which then sell training data back to the industry, the FT reports. It’s AI circularity all over again, stoking fresh humanoid bubble fears as Unitree soars in its stock market debut despite the US foreign robot ban. [Link: Who is really buying China’s humanoid robots? | https://www.ft.com/content/26735a23-315f-47ef-8cf2-6c6ea9713998?syn-25a6b1a6=1 | Financial Times]
The acquisition will combine Stripe’s payments platform with OpenRouter, which connects developers to a range of AI models while aggregating the costs of using each one. Stripe hasn’t disclosed the terms of the deal, but The New York Times reports that it’s purchasing the startup for $7.5 billion. [Link: Stripe Buys A.I. Start-Up OpenRouter for $7.5 Billion | https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/19/business/stripe-openrouter-ai.html?partner=slack&smid=sl-share | The New York Times]
Liquid Death, a marketing company that occasionally sells water, enlisted Jason Kelce to sing a song about sending your pee to help cool data centers. (It’s an obvious stunt: don’t send your pee to strangers.) Ironically, everyone in the video probably needs to consult a doctor about dehydration. [Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9OhekhlZ9Y]
OpenAI is improving its research environments, monitoring, and alignment techniques to beef up security after its AI accidentally hacked Hugging Face.
The new AI Ads tracking data set for ChatGPT and Google’s AI Mode and AI Overviews pulls insights from anonymized web usage data provided by a panel of Similarweb users, instead of relying on synthetic prompts. Similarweb reports that 26 percent of ChatGPT responses and nearly 30 percent of ad-eligible Google AI Mode queries include a sponsored ad. [Link: Similarweb Unlocks the Black Box of AI Ad Placements Across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode | https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260818652197/en/Similarweb-Unlocks-the-Black-Box-of-AI-Ad-Placements-Across-ChatGPT-Google-AI-Overviews-and-AI-Mode | Business Wire]
The newly-announced Gemini 3.7 Flash is rolling out today as an option for AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers. The updated model is better at following instructions and “understanding your intent, so you get even more helpful responses,” says Search VP of product Robby Stein. [Image: https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/HPs49Vya4AAzKLw.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all]
Is the shakeup at Google DeepMind a strategy or a crisis?
Anthropic updated its Chrome extension so using the side panel bot now saves chats to your history, where you can continue them outside in the browser in Claude’s desktop, web, or mobile apps. The Cowork version is available today for Max and Team users, and coming to Pro users “over the coming weeks.” [Image: https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-12-at-5.04.31-PM.png?quality=90&strip=all]
AI data center projects are continuing to pop up across the US, with frequent opposition from locals concerned about their impact. Here are a few recent articles about the projects: * Atlanta News First: Lovejoy data center proposal withdrawn after community pushback * FlagerLive.com: Flagler County Echoes Surging Backlash Against Data Centers with One-Year Construction Ban * MLive.com: Data-center developer sues Oakland County city * Ohio Capital Journal: All candidates for Ohio governor have now called for restrictions on data center boom * Spectrum News 1: Community opposition grows as Louisville weighs data center code changes
After initially being tested by “select creators,” Creator Studio is now available for iOS users in the US and Canada. The original Creator Studio page manager experience was shut down in 2023, but Meta describes this revived version as an “AI-powered companion app” that helps creators to grow and engage with their audience. [Link: How creators are using Creator Studio to experiment and grow | https://creators.facebook.com/blog/how-creators-use-facebook-creator-studio | How creators are using Creator Studio to experiment and grow]
Amazon’s order emails no longer show what specific items a customer has purchased. The vague emails are likely partially related to the fight for data in the agentic AI era.
A new study published in the journal Science used genome language models to produce viruses we’ve never seen before in nature. The resulting bacteriophages pose no threat to humans. The research simultaneously raises hope for medical advances, while stoking fear that AI could enable the creation of new diseases and biological weapons. [Link: This A.I. Just Created Viruses Not Found in Nature | https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/science/ai-viruses-bacteria-arc.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3VA.u8aT.vCeLPF02XbEp&smid=nytcore-ios-share | The New York Times]
OpenAI has asked a federal judge to toss out Apple’s lawsuit accusing the ChatGPT maker of stealing trade secrets, describing the allegations as “meritless.”
A bunch of supposedly smart people gave money to a first-time hedge fund adviser on the strength of his essay about AI. It didn’t go well!
As Meta pours billions into AI infrastructure and agents, Zuckerberg is working to convince investors that the payoff will be worth the price.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed that the company is working on an AI “super app” that will combine Copilot’s capabilities.
