Research & Development news

• Giant Robot Gladiators Fight in a Detroit Church — and the Show Keeps Selling Out

  16-03-2026 17:55 via eweek.com
  On an unassuming stretch of 7 Mile Road, sandwiched between industrial lots and fast-food joints, nine-foot-tall metal warriors are shooting explosive projectiles at each other inside a church. And people are paying good money to watch.Since its debut last summer, this live spectacle, dubbed Robowar, has been packing the house on a regular basis.The venue might raise some eyebrows: Global Empowerment Ministries, a church founded by entrepreneur Art Cartwright, has transformed part of its sp
  
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• Want a Six-Figure Tech Job in 2026? These 6 AI Courses Could Strengthen Your Resume

  16-03-2026 17:43 via eweek.com
  In today’s fierce job market, any extra help to refine your resume can go a long way. AI skills are becoming increasingly important for standing out among the competition and landing higher-paying roles. This type of knowledge is what sets mid-level workers apart from higher-income professionals.Fortunately, there are plenty of courses accessible online that you can take to build your skillset when it comes to AI knowledge. And don’t underestimate how helpful these courses can be for
  
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• Meta Boosts Creator Protection on Facebook

  16-03-2026 17:05 via eweek.com
  Meta is making creator protection a much bigger part of its Facebook push. The company says it is rolling out stronger tools to help creators spot impersonators, flag suspicious accounts faster, and take action with less friction.It is also tightening the rules on reposted content and placing more weight on original work.The problem was already too big to ignoreMeta is putting numbers on the scale of the problem.The company says it removed more than 20 million accounts impersonating large conten
  
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• Meta May Cut Up to 20% of Staff as AI Investments Accelerate

  16-03-2026 15:29 via eweek.com
  Meta Platforms may be preparing another major round of layoffs as it pours billions into artificial intelligence.Reports from Reuters and CNBC say the company is considering workforce cuts that could affect 20% or more of employees, though the plans have not been finalized, and Meta has not confirmed any layoffs.The reported discussions highlight how companies in the tech sector are investing heavily in AI infrastructure while also exploring ways to run projects with smaller teams.For Meta, the
  
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• Elon Musk Rebuilding xAI Amid High Employee Turnover, Founder Departures

  16-03-2026 15:10 via eweek.com
  Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI is being “rebuilt from the foundations up,” with major job cuts expected across the board.There has been growing frustration inside the company over its poor performance in coding tasks compared to Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex. Its chatbot Grok has also failed to catch on with users in the same way as ChatGPT and Google Gemini.The poor performance was reportedly raised by Musk at a recent town hall meetin
  
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• Over $2B in AI Funding Hit in a Single News Cycle — Here’s Where the Money Went

  16-03-2026 14:24 via eweek.com
  If you want to know where AI is heading, don’t read the research papers. Read the term sheets.This past week, over $2 billion in AI funding and valuations landed in one news cycle (and it wasn’t from OpenAI or Anthropic; shocking!). Three patterns jump out.Pattern 1: The ‘boring’ verticals are getting the biggest checks
  Rox AI hit a $1.2 billion valuation for autonomous sales agents that plug into your CRM and deploy AI workers to monitor accounts, research prospects, and
  
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