Research & Development news

• SoftBank Completes $40B OpenAI Deal After Months of Buildup

  30-12-2025 19:40 via eweek.com
  SoftBank has finally written the check. A $40 billion gamble is now fully funded.
  SoftBank Group has completed its previously announced roughly $40 billion investment in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, fulfilling the largest private tech funding commitment in history.
  As reported by CNBC, the Japanese investment powerhouse confirmed that the final transaction — estimated at $22 billion to $22.5 billion — was transferred last week, after earlier installments of $8 billion and $10 billio
  
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• Best AI Tools to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

  30-12-2025 18:32 via eweek.com
  Every New Year starts with a fresh set of goals. Maybe you’re finally sticking to a workout routine, staying consistent with learning something new, or building better daily habits. But then life happens — schedules get busy, motivation fades, and well-intentioned resolutions slide off track.Thankfully, there are AI tools that can help you stick to your 2026 resolutions. These tools won’t promise an overnight transformation, but they can help make habits easier to manage, keep
  
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• China Unveils ‘Electronic Skin’ That Gives Robots Human-Like Reflexes

  30-12-2025 18:11 via eweek.com
  Humanoid robots are moving past simple metal and gears to something much more sensitive.In a major leap for embodied intelligence, researchers in China have developed a “neuromorphic” electronic skin (NRE-skin) that allows robots to experience touch, detect injury, and even react to pain through reflexive movements, mimicking the way the human nervous system protects the body.While most current robotic skins are limited to basic pressure sensing using complex, bulky wiring, this new
  
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• ChatGPT Just Became an App Store. Here’s What You Need to Know

  30-12-2025 17:49 via eweek.com
  Developers can now submit apps to be hosted inside ChatGPT that extend conversations with real functionality. These aren’t your ma or pa’s GPTs… these are real applications for ordering groceries, building slide decks, booking apartments, all without leaving the chat.Here’s the setup: OpenAI launched the Apps SDK earlier this year at DevDay. Now they’ve opened the floodgates for app submissions and introduced an app directory where users can browse and search for p
  
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• Sam Altman: ‘Stressful’ OpenAI Job Pays $555,000 Annually

  30-12-2025 17:36 via eweek.com
  Generative AI has become powerful enough to create a brand-new kind of problem… and OpenAI is willing to pay handsomely for someone brave enough to deal with it.That role is OpenAI’s new “head of preparedness,” a job that comes with enormous responsibility, immediate pressure, and a reported annual salary of $555,000. CEO Sam Altman framed the position as a mission-critical effort to empower cybersecurity defenders while preventing attackers from weaponizing the same cut
  
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• 10 Clever Tips to Get Better Answers From ChatGPT

  30-12-2025 16:49 via eweek.com
  ChatGPT can feel either incredibly smart or oddly unhelpful.The difference, it turns out, often comes down to how people use it. As more workers, students, and creators lean on AI tools every day, experts are sharing practical ways to get sharper, more useful answers from the chatbot without any technical skills.I have curated some of the most user-friendly ChatGPT tips making the rounds right now, along with simple examples you can try.1. Give ChatGPT a job before you give it a taskOne of the f
  
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• Meta Acquires AI Startup Manus in $2B Deal, Plans Integration Across Facebook, WhatsApp

  30-12-2025 16:36 via eweek.com
  Meta Platforms has officially announced the acquisition of Manus, a high-flying startup known for building autonomous AI agents that don’t just chat, but actually get work done. This acquisition marks a major pivot for Meta, moving from its focus on open-source Llama models to snapping up a product that is already a proven moneymaker. Manus reportedly hit an annual recurring revenue of over $100 million just eight months after its launch.In its announcement, Meta described Manus as &l
  
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