NerdNews

Google's AI co-scientist system, built with Gemini 2.0, assists scientists in generating hypotheses and research proposals, accelerating scientific discoveries. It's a multi-agent system that mirrors the scientific method, with agents working together to produce high-quality research ideas. The system has shown promise in biomedical applications but requires further refinement.

Google has announced Gemini Robotics, a model designed for real-life robots with articulate hands, and Gemini Robots-ER, a vision-language model with advanced spatial understanding. These AI models will be used to power robots, enabling them to perform tasks and navigate their environment. Google is partnering with companies like Apptronik to build the next generation of humanoid robots.

OpenAI has released a new Responses API that allows developers to build AI agents capable of searching the web, digging through files, and performing tasks on a computer. The API comes with a web search tool, a computer-use feature, and a tool to search through large volumes of documents. OpenAI has also announced the Agents SDK, which helps developers orchestrate the workflow of AI agents.

DeepMind's Gemini Robotics AI model enables robots to perform complex tasks like folding origami and closing Ziploc bags, with improved generality, interactivity, and dexterity. The model is being used to build the next generation of humanoid robots and is available to trusted testers.

The AI training market is dominated by Nvidia, but the inference market is still up for grabs. Companies like AMD, Cerebras, and SambaNova are challenging Nvidia's dominance with their own AI accelerators. The inference market is expected to grow as AI models become more complex and require faster processing. Nvidia is preparing for this shift with its latest generation of GPUs, but other companies are also investing heavily in AI infrastructure.

The Medusa ransomware operation has impacted over 300 organizations in critical infrastructure sectors in the US. CISA, FBI, and MS-ISAC issued a joint advisory warning of the attacks and providing mitigation measures, including patching vulnerabilities, segmenting networks, and filtering network traffic.

A new Android spyware named 'KoSpy' linked to North Korean threat actors has been discovered on Google Play and third-party app store APKPure. The spyware, attributed to the APT37 threat group, can intercept SMS and call logs, track GPS location, and capture photos and videos. Five malicious apps have been identified and removed from Google Play, but users must manually uninstall them to avoid infection.

Google's Gemini Robotics AI model enables robots to understand and interact with the physical world, performing tasks like origami folding and packing snacks into bags. The model demonstrates strong generalization, allowing it to perform novel tasks without specific training. Google has partnered with Apptronik to build the next generation of humanoid robots using Gemini 2.0.

Nvidia's GTC 2025 conference starts Monday, expecting announcements on AI, GPUs, and more. CEO Jensen Huang will give a keynote on AI and computing technologies. New GPU releases, including Blackwell Ultra and Rubin, are anticipated.

Google DeepMind has announced new AI models called Gemini Robotics, designed to enable real-world machines to interact with objects, navigate environments, and more. The models were trained to generalize behavior across different robotics hardware and can connect items robots can 'see' with actions they might take. A slimmed-down model, Gemini Robotics-ER, has been released for researchers to train their own models, along with a benchmark called Asimov for gauging risks with AI-powered robots.

ServiceNow's Yokohama release introduces AI-powered agents to automate tasks such as employee onboarding, security protocols, and customer service. The update also includes an AI Agent Orchestrator and AI Agent Studio for creating and managing agents. Additionally, it features a service observability tool that uses AI to analyze data and identify problems faster.

Nvidia's GTC 2025 conference will feature a keynote from CEO Jensen Huang, which can be livestreamed on Nvidia.com and YouTube. The conference will cover topics such as AI, enterprise, and transportation, with sessions on efficient large language model customization, generative AI for core banking, and demos of datasets for specialized domains.

Pentera, a cybersecurity startup, has raised $60 million in Series D funding at a valuation of over $1 billion. The company provides automated security validation through simulated network attacks to train security teams. The funding will be used for M&A and product development. Pentera's platform uses AI to identify vulnerabilities and provides suggestions for fixes, making it a leader in the security validation space.

Ditto, a company that provides edge data synchronization, has raised $82 million in a Series B round of funding. The company's platform allows for peer-to-peer data synchronization between edge devices and the cloud, reducing latency and optimizing bandwidth requirements. Ditto's solution is particularly useful for industries that require real-time data processing, such as airlines and autonomous vehicles.

Salesforce plans to invest $1 billion in Singapore over the next five years to boost the adoption of its AI agent development platform, Agentforce. The company aims to help alleviate Singapore's labor issues and augment the country's workforce and enterprises by creating 'digital workforces' that combine humans with autonomous AI agents.

The article discusses the difficulties of extracting data from PDFs, a problem that affects many industries. Traditional OCR methods are limited, but new AI-based approaches, such as large language models, are being developed to improve data extraction. However, these models also introduce new problems, such as hallucinations and instruction following. The article highlights the current state of PDF data extraction and the potential solutions being explored.

Microsoft has patched a zero-day vulnerability in the Windows Win32 Kernel Subsystem that has been exploited in attacks since March 2023. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-24983, allows attackers with low privileges to gain SYSTEM privileges without requiring user interaction. The patch was released during this month's Patch Tuesday, and federal agencies have been ordered to secure their systems by April 1st.

Chinese nation-state espionage actors have deployed backdoor malware on Juniper Networks' Junos OS routers. The malware, attributed to the UNC3886 group, was used to gain long-term access to victim systems. The affected routers were running end-of-life hardware and software, and the attackers used a technique called process injection to overcome the Junos OS' protection subsystem. Organizations are urged to upgrade their Juniper devices to the latest images and implement robust security measures to prevent similar attacks.

The general manager of a US power utility, Nick Lawler, shares his experience of being hacked by China's Volt Typhoon. The hackers gained access through a buggy FortiGate 300D firewall and were detected by OT cybersecurity company Dragos. The incident highlights the threat of state-sponsored cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.

Elea AI is an AI startup that aims to boost productivity in healthcare by targeting pathology labs' legacy systems. The company has developed a cloud-based software that uses speech-to-text transcription and other forms of automation to streamline the workflow of lab staff. Elea's system has been able to cut the time it takes to produce reports by half, and the company plans to expand its services to other healthcare departments.