Research & Development news

• This $800M Startup Makes ChatGPT 24x Faster

  23-01-2026 19:24 via eweek.com
  Every time ChatGPT takes three seconds to respond instead of 30, there’s probably infrastructure like vLLM working behind the scenes. You’ve been using it without knowing it. And now, the team behind it just became an $800 million company overnight.Here are the detailsToday, Inferact launched with a massive $150 million seed round to commercialize the open-source inference engine that’s already powering AI at Amazon, major cloud providers, and thousands of developers world
  
  Read more

• Microsoft Introduces Maia 200, Its Most Powerful AI Chip Yet

  26-01-2026 20:46 via eweek.com
  Microsoft is betting on a deeper kind of AI control… one most users never see.On Monday, the tech giant introduced Maia 200, its newest custom-built AI workhorse. Designed specifically to handle the heavy lifting of running massive AI models, this chip serves as a direct challenge to the hardware crowns held by Amazon and Google.The Maia 200 is built on a cutting-edge 3-nanometer process and packed with over 140 billion transistors. According to the Microsoft announcement, this translates
  
  Read more

• How an AI Goth Girl Became a Political Meme Machine

  26-01-2026 20:19 via eweek.com
  In the strange churn of social media, trends often appear from nowhere. This month, one of the most unlikely stars is Amelia, a purple-haired, AI-generated British schoolgirl who was never meant to exist outside a classroom but is now flooding timelines with extremist memes.Originally created as part of an anti-extremism project, Amelia has been reshaped online into a nationalist symbol, shared thousands of times a day across platforms like X and Facebook, according to reporting by The Guardian.
  
  Read more

• World Models Just Got Their GPT-2 Moment — Here’s What That Means For You

  26-01-2026 20:12 via eweek.com
  Want to generate interactive video simulations on demand? Or turn a single photo into a fully explorable 3D world? Two APIs just made both possible.First, Odyssey launched Odyssey-2 Pro, a world model that streams real-time, interactive video at 720p/22fps.
  Type “a laughing baby,” and it generates continuous video you can interact with while it’s running.Send “a kitten appears,” and the simulation updates instantly (you like AI cat slop? Now we get interactive cat s
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Apple Tests Internal AI Chatbot to Boost Employee Productivity

  26-01-2026 19:59 via eweek.com
  Apple is still working through its plans to revamp Siri into a more capable AI chatbot this year. Inside the company, however, employees are already using generative AI in their day-to-day work. The tech giant has rolled out an internal chatbot called Enchanté to help staff brainstorm ideas, write and edit content, research topics, and analyze files. The company is also using a second internal tool, Enterprise Assistant, to answer questions about company policies and technical proces
  
  Read more

• Brookings Warns Clerical Work Faces AI Displacement Risk

  26-01-2026 17:02 via eweek.com
  Clerical and administrative roles are expected to be among the hardest hit by AI-driven job displacement, according to a Brookings analysis. While artificial intelligence is forecast to affect millions of US workers, certain roles could be significantly more vulnerable due to a combination of economic and geographic factors.Office clerks, receptionists, and secretaries are among the most at-risk occupations, largely because of their low adaptive capacity. Workers in these roles typically have be
  
  Read more

• OpenAI’s New AI Foundations Course Promises ‘Job-Ready’ Skills and Credential

  26-01-2026 15:54 via eweek.com
  OpenAI is stepping beyond AI tools and into workforce training, launching its first formal certification program built around hands-on courses delivered through ChatGPT. The initiative is OpenAI’s most direct move yet to turn everyday AI use into verified, job-ready skills.The company said the certifications are built around hands-on training inside ChatGPT, where users learn by completing real tasks rather than watching demos. The effort aims to provide workers and educators with a formal
  
  Read more

• Gemini 3 Pro Is Changing How People Search: Here Are 8 Prompts to Try

  26-01-2026 15:31 via eweek.com
  Google Search is no longer just about blue links and quick answers. With Gemini 3 Pro now built directly into Search through AI Mode, Google is quietly reshaping how people plan, learn, and accomplish tasks online.Instead of bouncing between chatbots and browser tabs, users can now ask deeper, more conversational questions and get structured, visual, and context-aware responses, all without leaving Google Search.Gemini 3 Pro, which launched in late 2025, is Google’s most capable consumer-f
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• EU Investigates Musk’s Grok Over Sexual AI Deepfakes

  26-01-2026 14:02 via eweek.com
  European Union regulators have opened a new investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X, focusing on its AI chatbot Grok and claims that it can be used to generate sexualized deepfake images of women and minors.
  The probe, announced today (Jan. 26), follows growing international criticism of the tool and concerns that users can manipulate ordinary photos into explicit content using basic text prompts such as “put her in a bikini” or “remove her clothes.”
  
  Read more

• 7 Google AI Features That Make the Internet Easier to Use

  26-01-2026 12:23 via eweek.com
  Google is steadily changing how people use the internet, not by reinventing search or browsers, but by embedding artificial intelligence into everyday virtual tasks. The company’s growing set of AI-powered features makes it easier for users to find information, create content, and get things done online. Rather than pushing users toward separate AI platforms, Google is integrating these tools directly into familiar apps such as Gmail, Search, Chrome, Maps, and Gemini. These AI-powered
  
  Read more

• Synthesia Secures $200M Funding at $4B Valuation

  26-01-2026 12:22 via eweek.com
  London-based AI video firm Synthesia has closed a $200 million funding round that nearly doubled its valuation to $4 billion.
  Google’s venture arm GV led this latest round, bringing Synthesia’s total funding to over $500 million since launching in 2017.
  The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said in today’s (Jan. 26) announcement: “Synthesia is a UK success story, creating new jobs and opportunities in this country. It shows that by backing innovators
  
  Read more

• YouTube Leads Google AI Overviews Citations for Health Queries

  26-01-2026 09:54 via eweek.com
  A study suggests that Google’s AI has started prioritizing YouTube videos over hospitals, medical journals, and government health agencies.
  Analysis of over 50,000 health searches reveals AI is quietly rewriting the rules of medical information, and the consequences are raising alarm bells across the healthcare industry.
  Findings from SE Ranking show YouTube dominating Google’s AI Overview citations at an unprecedented 4.43% of all references—making it the single most-cited hea
  
  Read more

• AI Is Becoming a Default Job Requirement, Indeed Report Finds

  23-01-2026 17:45 via eweek.com
  AI is rapidly becoming a baseline expectation in hiring, showing up across job listings far beyond engineering and IT. Employers are adding language about artificial intelligence to job postings across industries, from sales and marketing to finance and operations.New research from Indeed’s Hiring Lab shows AI references spreading rapidly across job listings, including roles where the technology is not yet central to the day-to-day work. The trend suggests AI is becoming a default qualific
  
  Read more

• Datensouveränität heute: Sicherheit beginnt am Endpunkt

  23-01-2026 17:28 via eweek.com
  Die Bedrohungslage entwickelt sich weiter in rasantem Tempo. Während Cloud-Dienste und Identity Platforms attraktive Ziele bleiben, konzentrieren sich Angreifer zunehmend auf eine Ebene, die viele Unternehmen noch immer unterschätzen: den Endpunkt. Ausgereifte Phishing-Kampagnen, Firmware-basierte Implants und KI-generierte Exploits verwischen die Grenzen zwischen Nutzerinteraktion und Eindringen – und umgehen klassische Schutzmechanismen dabei häufig.Mit der Verfestigung vo
  
  Read more

• Arbeit neu denken: HP zeigt, dass Unternehmen 85 % der Faktoren beeinflussen, die die Mitarbeiterzufriedenheit prägen

  23-01-2026 16:54 via eweek.com
  An einem regnerischen Montagmorgen im Jahr 2016 sitzt eine Teamleitung in München in einem grell beleuchteten Büro und prüft Tabellen auf einem Desktop-PC. Das Team arbeitet im selben Gebäude – verbunden durch räumliche Nähe statt durch ein gemeinsames Ziel. Meetings finden an physischen Tischen statt, nicht per Videocall. Entscheidungen werden top-down getroffen. Tools sind einheitlich. Und Technologie ist zwar hilfreich, passt sich jedoch nicht an die Bed&uu
  
  Read more

• Google AI Mode Can Now Use Gmail, Photos to Personalize Search Results

  23-01-2026 15:54 via eweek.com
  Google is giving its AI-powered search a memory boost. The company says its AI Mode can now draw on users’ Gmail and Google Photos to deliver answers that feel far more personal.In a blog post published Thursday, Google announced it is expanding a feature called Personal Intelligence to AI Mode in Google Search. The update allows AI Mode to securely connect with Gmail and Google Photos, giving the system more context about a user’s plans, habits, and preferences.“Personal Intel
  
  Read more

• Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs in Talks for Fundraising at $5B Valuation

  23-01-2026 14:44 via eweek.com
  The “godmother of AI” is open to offers she can’t refuse.
  Silicon Valley is preparing for another high-profile AI fundraising, as Fei-Fei Li is reportedly in talks to raise fresh investment that would value her start-up World Labs at $5 billion.
  Sources spoke to Bloomberg about the potential deal. It signals growing investor appetite for AI companies working beyond text and images and into what some see as the next frontier: systems capable of understanding and operating inside
  
  Read more

• Huang: Nvidia Has Dethroned Apple as TSMC’s Top Customer

  23-01-2026 14:34 via eweek.com
  Apple ruled Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s order book for years. That crown has now changed hands.Nvidia has overtaken Apple as the largest customer of TSMC, marking a major shift in the global semiconductor industry. The confirmation came directly from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during a recent podcast appearance, putting an end to speculation about how far AI chip demand has reshaped foundry priorities.Huang made the remark on “A Bit Personal with Jodi Shelton,” a podc
  
  Read more

• Google Invests in Sakana AI to Strengthen Gemini’s Reach in Japan

  23-01-2026 13:08 via eweek.com
  Sakana AI, fresh off its Series B funding round, has announced a new partnership with Google that includes a financial investment from the tech giant.
  The investment amount has not been disclosed, but the move highlights how major global cloud and AI providers are increasingly seeking deeper relationships with fast-moving research labs and startups, especially those positioned to commercialize advanced AI in heavily regulated markets.
  For Sakana AI, the partnership represents both a vote of conf
  
  Read more

• Scarlett Johansson Joins Hollywood Stars in Blasting AI Giants for ‘Theft’

  23-01-2026 10:24 via eweek.com
  Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars have joined forces in what could be the most consequential legal battle against AI companies.
  Scarlett Johansson, Cate Blanchett, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are backing a major campaign targeting AI firms for what they call outright theft of celebrity voices and likenesses.
  They have accused unnamed tech giants of “theft” and called on the companies to pursue “ethical” partnerships when accessing artistic content. The letter represent
  
  Read more

• KI-Agenten und On-Device-Intelligenz definieren den Arbeitsplatz völlig neu

  23-01-2026 09:57 via eweek.com
  Enterprise-KI bedeutete einst, Daten an einen Cloud-Endpunkt zu senden, auf das Ergebnis zu warten und dieses dann in lokale Tools zu integrieren. Doch dieses Muster verändert sich. 43 % aller PC-Lieferungen im Jahr 2025 waren KI-PCs und Prognosen zufolge werden KI-Laptops – d. h. Laptops mit integrierten Neural Processing Units (NPUs) neben Central Processing Units (CPUs) und Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) – im Jahr 2026 die einzige Wahl1 für große Unternehmen sei
  
  Read more

• I-Agenten und On-Device-Intelligenz definieren den Arbeitsplatz völlig neu

  23-01-2026 09:57 via eweek.com
  Enterprise-KI bedeutete einst, Daten an einen Cloud-Endpunkt zu senden, auf das Ergebnis zu warten und dieses dann in lokale Tools zu integrieren. Doch dieses Muster verändert sich. 43 % aller PC-Lieferungen im Jahr 2025 waren KI-PCs und Prognosen zufolge werden KI-Laptops – d. h. Laptops mit integrierten Neural Processing Units (NPUs) neben Central Processing Units (CPUs) und Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) – im Jahr 2026 die einzige Wahl1 für große Unternehmen sei
  
  Read more

• Google Pulls Top Talent From AI Voice Firm Hume AI

  23-01-2026 08:54 via eweek.com
  Google DeepMind has executed a talent heist that reveals its new strategy for emotional AI dominance.
  Hume AI’s CEO Alan Cowen, who holds a PhD in psychology, is joining Google DeepMind alongside several key engineers as part of a major licensing agreement, according to Wired.
  The startup, which has secured $74 million in funding and projects $100 million in revenue for 2026, specializes in technology that detects emotions in users’ voices and creates incredibly realistic voice inter
  
  Read more

• The ‘App’ Era Is Dying — Welcome to the ‘Agent’ Era

  22-01-2026 22:17 via eweek.com
  Allow us to reframe the current moment: for the last 15 years, we’d argue we have lived in the “Read/Write” era of technology. You tap a glass screen, you open an app, you press buttons, and you get a result.But reports from both China and Silicon Valley yesterday confirm that 2026 is the year we switch to what we’re calling the “Instruct/Verify” era: where the primary interaction paradigm is you tell an AI what you want, and it goes and does it for you.This s
  
  Read more

• Elon Musk: Tesla’s Optimus Robot Will Go on Sale in 2027

  22-01-2026 20:09 via eweek.com
  Tesla CEO Elon Musk is tightening the timeline for when you can actually own one of the company’s humanoid robots. Speaking at a panel during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Thursday, Musk announced that public sales for the Optimus robot are slated to begin by the end of 2027.The billionaire noted that the robots are already getting their hands dirty, performing “simple tasks in the factory,” according to a report by Electric Vehicles (EV). Musk expects these m
  
  Read more

• YouTube CEO Says Cutting ‘AI Slop’ Is a 2026 Priority

  22-01-2026 18:47 via eweek.com
  YouTube is taking a sledgehammer to the low-grade AI garbage cluttering up your feed.In his annual look-ahead letter, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan laid out a year of big bets, including AI tools alongside a crackdown on what the internet has nicknamed “AI slop.” This comes after announcing that more than a million channels used its AI creation tools every day last December.The irony of the war on “slop” is that YouTube is actually giving creators more AI tools, not fewer. Later
  
  Read more

• Liza Minnelli, Art Garfunkel Join Artists Co-Creating Songs With ElevenLabs AI Tech

  22-01-2026 16:46 via eweek.com
  What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a Cabaret, old chum, come to the Cabaret.
  And it’s an ‘AI Cabaret’. Liza Minnelli and Art Garfunkel are two of the stars joining ElevenLabs as it pushes further into the music business.
  “The Eleven Album” is a compilation created through a partnership between human musicians and its AI-based model capable of generating “studio-quality compositions.” The album is available to strea
  
  Read more

• Adobe Adds AI Tools to Turn PDFs Into Podcasts, Presentations

  22-01-2026 16:22 via eweek.com
  Adobe is adding more generative AI features to its Acrobat Studio PDF reader and editor to give users more ways to summarize content. Acrobat Studio users will be able to generate audio and visual summaries of PDFs as presentations and podcasts, which can be distributed to other team members or the public. A chat-based editing tool will be available to make adjustments to the summaries.In the Generate Podcast feature, users can feed the AI audio model a variety of PDFs and have it generate
  
  Read more

• ‘ChatGPT for Doctors’ Startup OpenEvidence Secures $12B Valuation

  22-01-2026 15:47 via eweek.com
  OpenEvidence, the Miami-based AI platform that has quickly become the digital right hand for nearly half of American physicians, announced on Wednesday that it has closed a massive $250 million Series D funding round. This latest injection of cash, co-led by Thrive Capital and DST Global, has doubled the company’s valuation from $6 billion to $12 billion in just three months.The startup’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric. Since its first outside capital raise less than a
  
  Read more

• Elon Musk’s xAI Is Testing ‘Employees’ That Aren’t Human

  22-01-2026 15:23 via eweek.com
  At Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI, some “employees” don’t breathe, sleep, or even exist in the real world.Instead, they run on code.The company is quietly testing what it calls “human emulators” — AI systems designed to mimic the behavior of real white-collar workers. According to a former xAI engineer, these AI workers are already operating inside the company, appearing on internal org charts and interacting with staff, sometimes without people realizing th
  
  Read more

Follow @R_and_D_News on Twitter!