Research & Development news

• Apple’s Much-Anticipated Siri Upgrade Is Almost Here

  08-01-2026 15:21 via eweek.com
  After years of promises and delays, Apple’s long-awaited Siri upgrade is finally getting close. The company’s next major AI push for its voice assistant is now expected to arrive later this year, with multiple reports pointing to a spring launch tied to iOS 26.4. Industry watchers say this update could mark the most significant change to Siri since its debut over a decade ago. According to reporting from 9to5Mac, Apple is widely expected to ship the new Siri alongside iOS 2
  
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• AI Is Quietly Propping Up the Global Economy, IMF Says

  20-01-2026 18:04 via eweek.com
  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) just delivered an unexpected signal: the global economy may be stronger than feared in 2026.In its latest outlook, the IMF raised its growth forecast, pointing to sustained investment in artificial intelligence even as trade tensions and tariff risks continue to hover over the global economy. The message is cautiously optimistic… but narrowly so.A small revision with global implicationsThe IMF now forecasts global growth of 3.3% in 2026, a 0.2 percent
  
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• OpenAI Sets 2026 Timeline for Its First-Ever Hardware Reveal

  20-01-2026 17:23 via eweek.com
  The long-rumored collaboration between the creators of ChatGPT and the design genius behind the iPhone is moving out of the shadows and onto the calendar.OpenAI says it’s on track to unveil its first-ever device in the second half of 2026. The confirmation came from Chris Lehane, the company’s chief global affairs officer, speaking at Axios House Davos.Lehane said OpenAI is “looking at something in the latter part [of 2026],” while stressing that the timing is still not s
  
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• Anthropic Roll Outs Global AI Training Program for Teachers

  20-01-2026 16:39 via eweek.com
  Anthropic has partnered with Teach For All to roll out a global AI training initiative.
  This is designed to help educators in 63 countries build practical AI fluency and create classroom-ready tools using Claude. The collaboration, delivered through the AI Literacy & Creator Collective (LCC), is expected to reach more than 100,000 teachers and alumni across Teach For All’s network, which serves more than 1.5 million students worldwide.
  The initiative arrives at a moment when schools an
  
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• Why Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Think AI Is Bad for Storytelling

  20-01-2026 15:51 via eweek.com
  Hollywood’s most famous Boston duo isn’t buying the idea that AI can replace real storytelling.Ben Affleck and Matt Damon sat down with Joe Rogan this past week to promote their new Netflix thriller, “The Rip,” but the conversation quickly shifted to the future of creativity. The long-time friends offered a blunt, surprisingly deep look at how artificial intelligence and streaming algorithms are trying — and often failing — to replace the human touch in m
  
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• Alibaba-Backed Moonshot AI Valuation Jumps to $4.8B

  20-01-2026 14:30 via eweek.com
  Alibaba-backed Moonshot AI has added $500 million to its valuation in just weeks, lifting the Chinese AI startup to about $4.8 billion as demand around its Kimi models continues to build inside China’s fast-moving AI market.The jump follows Moonshot’s most recent funding round late last year and comes as interest in domestic AI companies intensifies, with investors focusing on Chinese-built models as alternatives to Western chatbots that remain unavailable in mainland China, CNBC rep
  
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• Unbox Robotics Raises $28M for Warehouse Automation

  20-01-2026 12:26 via eweek.com
  Indian firm Unbox Robotics has raised $28 million in funding for its plans in warehouse automation.
  The round includes a mix of primary and secondary capital and was led by ICICI Ventures and Info Edge’s Redstart Labs, with participation from US-based F-Prime, 3one4 Capital, Navam Capital, Force Ventures, and other existing investors.
  This signals a maturing phase for the Pune-based startup, where long-term team retention and reward structures are increasingly becoming part of late-stage d
  
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• UBTech’s Humanoid Robots Step Into Airbus Factories in Global Manufacturing Push

  20-01-2026 10:42 via eweek.com
  Chinese robotics company UBTech is taking one of its biggest steps yet toward globalising humanoid robots, partnering with European aviation giant Airbus to deploy its Walker S2 robots in aircraft manufacturing. The deal puts UBTech’s Walker S2 robots into one of the world’s most complex and tightly regulated industrial environments, and highlights China’s accelerating push to lead the next phase of industrial automation.Under the agreement, Airbus has purchased UBTech&rsq
  
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• Anthropic Uncovers AI Personality Crisis as Models Secretly Switch Identities

  20-01-2026 09:31 via eweek.com
  AI chatbots are experiencing dramatic personality shifts that could fundamentally change how we interact with AI.
  Research published by Anthropic reveals that large language models possess a hidden “Assistant Axis” that controls their helpful behavior—and when it breaks down, the results can be interesting.
  Most AI models naturally adopt a helpful assistant identity through their training process, according to Anthropic. But this seemingly stable persona masks a complex interna
  
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• MND Diagnosis Leads UK Councillor to AI Voice Solution

  20-01-2026 08:36 via eweek.com
  There can be plenty of negative stories around AI, such as ‘slop’ and job cuts, but here’s a positive example.
  A UK councillor who struggles to speak after developing motor neurone disease (MND) is using AI technology to communicate using his own pre-recorded voice.
  Nick Varley was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disorder in November 2024 after beginning to have difficulty speaking. Now, through new AI voice-cloning technology, Varley is able to speak with a digital versio
  
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• Emergent Launches Vibe Coding Platform After $23M Raise

  20-01-2026 08:36 via eweek.com
  When a funding round has interest from Google and Thinking Machines, you may be thinking it’s a firm that has good vibes.
  Emergent has raised $23 million in Series A funding as it moves to expand a platform designed to make software creation accessible to people without technical backgrounds.
  The round was led by Lightspeed, with participation from YC, Together, Prosus, and a slate of prominent AI angel investors. Among those named were Jeff Dean (Google), Devendra Chaplot (Thinking Machin
  
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• What Is AI Slop and Why It’s Taking Over the Internet

  19-01-2026 21:28 via eweek.com
  AI can now write blog posts, generate images, narrate videos, and publish at a remarkable speed. That’s how the internet ended up with AI-written travel guides that say nothing useful, bizarre YouTube videos about cats with soap-opera plotlines, and social media posts that sound informative but offer little substance. This flood of low-quality content has a name: AI slop. The term has gained popularity as generative AI tools make content creation faster, cheaper, and easier to scale.
  
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• OpenAI Will Test Ads in ChatGPT’s Free and Go Tiers

  19-01-2026 17:59 via eweek.com
  Someone needs more money as ads are coming to ChatGPT. OpenAI will begin testing advertising in ChatGPT’s Free and Go tiers in the US, opening the door to a new revenue model inside its most widely used product.In its announcement, OpenAI said the tests will roll out within weeks, with ads clearly labeled and displayed separately from responses as the company experiments with bringing advertising into ChatGPT.What ‘separate and labeled’ looks like in practiceOpenAI said ad
  
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• Grok AI Still Operational in Indonesia and Malaysia Despite Ban

  19-01-2026 16:40 via eweek.com
  Despite a nationwide ban, Grok AI is still running in Indonesia and Malaysia, aided by domain name system (DNS) tweaks and virtual private networks (VPNs).Following reports that Grok generated nonconsensual sexual images of women and children, governments in both Malaysia and Indonesia swiftly moved to ban the controversial AI platform. Malaysia first implemented a widespread restriction on Jan. 11, with Indonesia quickly following suit. The nations maintained that the AI tool would remain
  
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• OpenAI’s Revenue Climbs Past $20B as Compute Expansion Powers Rapid Growth

  19-01-2026 15:22 via eweek.com
  OpenAI is no longer just a research lab with a clever chatbot. It has officially entered its “infrastructure era,” fueled by a massive $20 billion revenue surge and enough computing power to light up a small country.In a weekend update, OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar revealed that the company’s annualized revenue has skyrocketed past $20 billion in 2025. To put that in perspective, the company was making $2 billion just two years ago.But this growth isn’t
  
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• Columbia Engineering Teaches Robot to Learn Human Lip Movements

  19-01-2026 13:05 via eweek.com
  Robots have learned to walk, gesture, and talk, but their faces have always lagged behind. Now, a new robot has taken a major step past stiff, unnatural expressions by learning how to move its lips in sync with speech.The advance targets one of the most stubborn problems in humanoid robotics: facial movement that looks convincing in real conversation, not just in demos. Researchers say even small gains in lip realism can dramatically change how people perceive and respond to a robot.Crossing the
  
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• Sequoia Joins Mega AI Investment in Anthropic

  19-01-2026 12:54 via eweek.com
  Sequoia Capital is preparing to write its first cheque to Anthropic, stepping into one of Silicon Valley’s biggest AI deals yet as the race to back frontier models intensifies.The talks reflect how quickly the biggest AI companies are attracting ever-larger sums from deep-pocketed investors.Sequoia Capital is targeting a major investment in Anthropic, the fast-growing AI company behind the Claude chatbot, according to the Financial Times (FT). The move, which was in talks earlier, would ma
  
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• Bandcamp Bans AI Music

  19-01-2026 10:50 via eweek.com
  Bandcamp just shut the door on all AI-generated music, taking a definite stance in favor of human creativity.In a Jan. 13 Reddit post, the company formalized the prohibition, citing its commitment to human-made art. The announcement drew mixed reactions from artists and fans, though many supported the decision as a long-overdue move.The ban establishes Bandcamp as the first major music-distribution company to prohibit AI content, a move that clearly separates it from competitors like Spotify and
  
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• Google Brings AI Videomaker ‘Flow’ to All Workspace Users

  19-01-2026 10:09 via eweek.com
  Google is expanding the reach of its AI filmmaking tool, Flow, by bringing it directly into Google Workspace. The company announced via Google Workspace Updates that Flow is now available as an additional Google service for Workspace customers, opening the door for businesses, schools, and teams to create high-definition videos using simple text prompts.Flow was previously limited to Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers. With this update, Google is positioning AI video creation as a pract
  
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• KI unterstütztUnternehmenswachstum

  17-01-2026 00:17 via eweek.com
  Die Digitalisierung bringt eine Vielzahl von Vorteilen mit sich: Sie ermöglicht hybride Arbeitsmodelle, gestaltet Abläufe flexibler und erlaubt einen schnellen Austausch zwischen Teams — egal, wo sie sich befinden.Technologien wie künstliche Intelligenz können dabei unterstützen, dass Mitarbeitende ihre Arbeit effizienter erledigen. Gleichzeitig entlastet KI aber auch IT-Teams, indem sie Probleme behebt, bevor diese den Arbeitsablauf beeinträchtigt. Doch KI be
  
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• Die Zukunft der Arbeit beruht auf Partnerschaft, nicht nur Rechenleistung

  16-01-2026 18:58 via eweek.com
  Es ist Linas erster Tag als Consultant bei einem mittelständischen Unternehmen in Hamburg. Sie meldet sich auf Ihrem HP EliteBook X G2i an und eine Begrüßungsmeldung erscheint: „Beginnen wir mit der Einrichtung.“ Innerhalb weniger Minuten hat der KI-PC ihren Arbeitsplatz automatisch konfiguriert. Lina ist sich nicht sicher, wo sie anfangen soll, und ist daher erleichtert, zusammengefasste Onboarding-Materialien von verschiedenen Quellen sowie die wichtigsten Rich
  
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• 5 Simple Ways to Spot AI-Generated Images

  16-01-2026 18:12 via eweek.com
  A couple of years ago, spotting an AI-generated image was almost a game. You didn’t need sharp eyes; just count the fingers, or recall that bizarre AI clip of Will Smith eating spaghetti.The results were fascinating, funny… and very obviously fake.Today, that’s no longer the case. AI image generators have gotten dramatically better, turning out photos that can look realistic enough to pass at a quick glance… and sometimes even longer.The good news: AI still isn’t
  
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• OpenAI Quietly Rolls Out ChatGPT Translate to Take on Google

  16-01-2026 17:03 via eweek.com
  OpenAI has made a quiet but notable move in the language wars. Without a press release or big announcement, the company has launched ChatGPT Translate, a standalone translation website aimed squarely at Google Translate. And it’s already live.At first glance, ChatGPT Translate looks very familiar. The page features two large text boxes side by side, along with dropdown menus to select the source and target languages. Paste in text, pick your languages, and a translation appears within seco
  
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• Microsoft’s New Education Push: Free AI Tools, Training, and Premium Software for Schools

  16-01-2026 16:11 via eweek.com
  Microsoft is making a fresh push into education, rolling out free AI tools, training, and premium software for teachers and students as schools worldwide grapple with how to use AI responsibly in the classroom.The software giant on Jan. 15 announced a broad set of education-focused AI programs and tools under a new initiative called Microsoft Elevate for Educators. The move brings together free professional development for teachers, AI-powered classroom tools, and limited-time access to premium
  
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• Tony Robbins Just Cloned Himself Into an AI App

  16-01-2026 15:24 via eweek.com
  What if an AI becomes your personal life coach? Tony Robbins just made it possible with his AI-powered coaching app.Available on iOS and Android, the new application uses decades of the coach’s data to deliver voice-driven coaching sessions that mirror Robbins’s exact voice, energy, and strategy. His goal is to serve millions simultaneously. The AI overcomes the limitations of one-on-one coaching, enabling Robbins to democratize access to his high-level expertise.The signal is clear:
  
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• AI Video Startup Higgsfield Hits the Highs With $1.3B Valuation

  16-01-2026 15:14 via eweek.com
  AI video and image generator startup Higgsfield is proving popular.
  Higgsfield has announced an $80 million Series A extension with participation from Accel, AI Capital Partners (Alpha Intelligence Capital’s US-based fund), and Menlo Ventures and others, bringing total Series A funding to more than $130 million and valuing the company at more than $1.3 billion.
  The startup has climbed from startup launch to a $200 million annual run rate faster than anyone thought possible. Most companies
  
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• US, Taiwan Sign $250B AI Chip Deal

  16-01-2026 13:58 via eweek.com
  The U.S. and Taiwan have struck a technology trade agreement that promises to bring Taiwan’s semiconductor empire to American soil.
  Taiwan has pledged at least $250 billion in direct U.S. investments for semiconductor, energy, and AI production. In exchange, the U.S. slashed tariffs on Taiwanese goods from 20% to 15%, putting Taiwan on par with Japan and South Korea. The deal is a clever one as it directly addresses America’s technological vulnerability.
  America’s semiconductor
  
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• AI Startup Replit Launches ‘Vibe Coding’ Feature for Building Mobile Apps

  16-01-2026 12:10 via eweek.com
  Replit has unveiled its Mobile Apps feature, allowing creators to build and publish Apple device applications using nothing but plain English descriptions.
  This capability promises to transform ideas into working apps within minutes and get them to the App Store in days.
  This breakthrough represents a leap forward in accessible AI development, with Replit trying to position itself at the forefront of the “vibe coding” movement. The platform now enables small business owners and creat
  
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• Thinking Machines Lab Loses Key Leaders as They Return to OpenAI

  16-01-2026 10:01 via eweek.com
  Thinking Machines Lab—the startup launched by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati—is hemorrhaging key leadership as co-founders abandon ship to return to their former employer.
  Two co-founders, Barret Zoph and Luke Metz, are heading back to OpenAI, alongside Sam Schoenholz, another former OpenAI staffer who had joined the startup.
  This reversal comes just six months after the company secured a record-breaking $2 billion funding round that valued the startup at $12 billion. The timing could
  
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• Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab Loses Key Leaders as They Return to OpenAI

  16-01-2026 10:01 via eweek.com
  Thinking Machines Lab — the startup launched by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati — is hemorrhaging key leadership as co-founders abandon ship to return to their former employer.
  Two co-founders, Barret Zoph and Luke Metz, are heading back to OpenAI, alongside Sam Schoenholz, another former OpenAI staffer who had joined the startup.
  This reversal comes just six months after the company secured a record-breaking $2 billion funding round that valued the startup at $12 billion. The timing c
  
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