Research & Development news

• Tailwind Labs Lays Off Engineers, Citing the ‘Brutal Impact’ of AI

  09-01-2026 20:03 via eweek.com
  Even as more developers than ever use Tailwind CSS, the company behind it is shrinking fast… and AI is to blame.Tailwind Labs, the company behind the widely used Tailwind CSS framework, has cut about 75% of its engineering team, a move that has sent shockwaves through the developer community.The layoffs come at a difficult moment: Tailwind CSS is more popular than ever, yet the business that maintains it is struggling to stay afloat.Founder and CEO Adam Wathan confirmed the job cuts publi
  
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• Amazon Introduces Dashboard to Track Employee Attendance, Productivity

  09-01-2026 17:44 via eweek.com
  Amazon is stepping up its return-to-office enforcement with a dashboard that shows managers which employees are barely spending time on site. It’s a quiet but pointed effort toward tighter control over in-person work and how productivity is measured.An internal document accessed by Business Insider says the tool gives managers direct visibility into attendance patterns across Amazon’s corporate workforce.How a simple swipe becomes a performance signalAmazon’s dashboard pulls ev
  
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• Watch: China’s Unitree H2 Robot Delivers 360-Degree Kick to Watermelon

  09-01-2026 17:01 via eweek.com
  A spinning kick, a clean hit, and a shattered watermelon. That brief moment has turned China’s humanoid robot into a global talking point.Chinese robotics firm Unitree has released new training footage of its latest humanoid robot, the H2, showing just how far its movement and balance capabilities have come. The video, uploaded to the company’s official YouTube channel on Jan. 4, highlights the robot performing a series of demanding martial arts-style moves.The standout moment comes
  
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• NRF 2026: SAP Embeds AI Across Retail Operations

  09-01-2026 15:29 via eweek.com
  SAP will unveil AI-enhanced retail innovations designed to embed AI directly into the core systems that run modern retail businesses.
  Think of this like a trailer to a movie. But you’ll get to see the entire plot, rather than a teaser. The German multinational software company will actually use NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show, which runs Jan. 11-13 in New York City, to make the announcements.
  Anyway, SAP says as retailers contend with volatile demand, fragmented channels, and rising cust
  
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• Elon Musk: Tesla’s Optimus Robot Will Outperform Human Surgeons Sooner Than You Think

  09-01-2026 14:49 via eweek.com
  Tesla’s boss, Elon Musk, has made a bold claim: Tesla could deliver a robot surgeon that surpasses human surgeons within three years.The Tesla CEO made this aggressive prediction in a recent Moonshot podcast interview, arguing that the Optimus robots will soon offer superior alternatives to human doctors. According to the interview, published on Jan. 6, Musk claimed that the persistent shortage of great surgeons, the time required to train them, and the simple fact that humans make mistake
  
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• Allianz Allies With Anthropic For AI-Fueled Insurance

  09-01-2026 14:40 via eweek.com
  US-based AI company Anthropic has bagged itself a juicy deal with a new ally.
  Insurance firm Allianz has announced a global partnership with Anthropic aimed at accelerating the adoption of “responsible AI” across Allianz’s worldwide operations.
  The partnership will initially focus on three large-scale projects within the Allianz Group. Together, they are intended to improve employee productivity, speed up core operations such as claims handling, and introduce new safeguards to
  
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• This Industrial Humanoid Robot Just Hit a Major Milestone This Month

  09-01-2026 14:29 via eweek.com
  Seven months. That’s all it took for a new humanoid robot to go from idea to live factory work. And this week at CES, it’s already picking parts like a seasoned worker.UK-based robotics startup Humanoid is showcasing its HMND 01 Alpha robot at CES 2026, marking a major moment for humanoid robots designed for real industrial jobs rather than research labs or demos.Humanoid says HMND 01 Alpha was built in just seven months, a development timeline that stands out in an industry where hu
  
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• Grok Restricts Image Generation After Backlash Over Explicit AI Imagery

  09-01-2026 13:14 via eweek.com
  Grok has switched off its image creation and editing functions for most users following an international outcry over the tool’s misuse to generate sexually explicit and violent imagery.
  The AI tool was developed by Elon Musk’s xAI and integrated into the social media platform X.
  The decision comes amid mounting political and regulatory pressure, particularly in the UK, where senior ministers have warned that X could face heavy fines or even be blocked if it fails to curb the spread o
  
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• MiniMax Stock Explodes 100% in Hong Kong AI IPO Debut

  09-01-2026 12:05 via eweek.com
  Chinese AI startup MiniMax Group has delivered a spectacular trading debut, with shares soaring as much as 100% above their offering price in Hong Kong.
  The Shanghai-based company launched at HK$165 per share and reached peaks of HK$330, valuing the firm at approximately $13 billion. Retail investors went wild for the stock, oversubscribing shares by more than 1,159 times in what can only be described as pure market mania.
  This explosive performance signals massive investor appetite for Chinese
  
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• Microsoft Brings Checkout to Copilot, Shrinking the Path to Purchase

  09-01-2026 12:05 via eweek.com
  Microsoft is turning Copilot from a shopping assistant into a checkout counter. The company has unveiled Copilot Checkout, letting users complete purchases inside Copilot chats without redirects.The feature allows buying to happen inside the conversation itself, rather than sending shoppers off to external sites. Microsoft says merchants still handle the transaction, even as checkout moves into Copilot.No handoffs, no broken momentumCopilot Checkout is built to keep momentum at the moment a shop
  
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• OpenAI Acquires AI Coaching Team Convogo

  09-01-2026 09:20 via eweek.com
  OpenAI is acquiring the team behind Convogo, an executive coaching AI tool, in a move that signals a shift toward personalized AI leadership development.
  This latest acquisition comes as the company, founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and others, continues its expansion beyond chatbots into specialized business applications.
  OpenAI has built its reputation on generative AI technologies like the GPT series and ChatGPT, but now they’re making another bet that AI-powered executive coac
  
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