NerdNews

Apple has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli AI company that specializes in tracking facial movements, for approximately $2 billion. Q.ai's technology analyzes facial muscles to understand silent communication and could be integrated into Apple's AirPods, FaceTime, and future smart glasses and headset projects.

Microsoft's $37.5 billion capital expenditure, a 66% increase from last year, has raised concerns among investors due to slowing cloud growth and heavy reliance on OpenAI, sparking fears of an AI bubble burst

IBM's study found that investment in AI will grow 149% by 2030, requiring a skills shift. UK executives believe employees' skillsets will change, with a growing AI skills gap. Governance frameworks and updated skillsets are needed for successful AI adoption.

Elon Musk's companies SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI are in talks for a potential merger, with two scenarios being considered: a merger between SpaceX and Tesla, or between SpaceX and xAI. The move could bring together products like Starlink satellites, SpaceX rockets, and Tesla's energy storage business under one corporation, and potentially lead to an IPO for SpaceX.

Amazon is reportedly in talks to invest $50 billion in OpenAI, a company valued at $500 billion. The potential deal, led by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, could contribute to OpenAI's goal of raising $100 billion in funding. This investment would be notable given Amazon's existing ties to OpenAI competitor Anthropic.

A Sumo Logic study found 96% of security leaders have adopted AI and machine learning, but not at the scale vendors claim. AI is used for threat detection, automated response, and anomaly detection, but security leaders blame inflated security tech stacks for limitations.

Elon Musk is considering merging SpaceX with either Tesla or xAI, according to reports from Reuters and Bloomberg. The merger would help SpaceX with its plans to launch data centers into space. If the merger happens, it would be the latest transaction between companies with Elon Musk as CEO.

Forward Networks has launched Forward AI, a network digital twin that uses agentic AI to enable NetOps and SecOps teams to ask complex questions, understand network behavior, and validate outcomes. The platform is designed to accelerate network operations and provide trusted, verifiable answers for complex networks.

Google DeepMind's Project Genie is an AI tool that generates interactive game worlds from text prompts or images. It's powered by Genie 3, Nano Banana Pro, and Gemini. The tool is experimental and has some limitations, but it shows promise in creating unique and interesting worlds.

The article discusses eight planning strategies to help AI learn a codebase, patterns, and preferences. These strategies include reproducing and documenting bugs, grounding in best practices, and grounding in the codebase. The author shares their experience of using these strategies to teach their AI and provides examples of how they can be applied.

Apple has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup specializing in imaging and machine learning, to gain an edge in the AI race, particularly in the audio sector. The deal is valued at nearly $2 billion, making it Apple’s second-largest acquisition to date.

Waymo has begun offering robotaxi rides to and from San Francisco International Airport, a major milestone for the company. The service will initially be available to a select group of riders before expanding to all customers in the coming months. This development is a significant step for Waymo's business model, which relies on geographic scale and high volumes of riders.

Flapping Airplanes, a new AI lab, has launched with $180 million in seed funding. The lab aims to find a less data-hungry way to train large models, differing from the scaling paradigm that prioritizes compute power. This approach could lead to breakthroughs in AI research and potentially achieve AGI intelligence.

Google's Project Genie is an AI world-model prototype that generates explorable 3D environments from text or image prompts. It's available to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the US and has the potential to automate game development, which could put game developers out of work. The prototype has limitations, such as limited interaction time and trouble rendering legible text, but Google expects it to improve and potentially lead to automated general intelligence.

Google's Project Genie allows users to generate interactive worlds from a photo or prompt, using AI models like Nano Banana Pro and Gemini 3. The tool is available as a research prototype, but only for those with an AI Ultra subscription, which costs $250 per month.

DeepMind's AlphaGenome AI model can analyze up to 1 million DNA letters at once, predicting thousands of functional genomic tracks, including interactions between coding and non-coding regions of DNA. It outperformed other existing AI models in 25 out of 26 tests, and could be used to diagnose rare genetic diseases, identify cancer-driving mutations, and uncover new drug targets.

Anthropic's Claude Constitution treats the AI model as a potentially conscious entity, but the company's true beliefs are unclear. The document outlines a vision for Claude's behavior and raises questions about AI consciousness and moral standing.

Moltbot, a viral AI personal assistant, has been found to leak secrets of its users, including healthcare and fintech companies. GitGuardian detected over 200 leaked secrets related to Moltbot, highlighting the need for integrated secret scanning. To address this, GitGuardian developed a ggshield skill for Moltbot, allowing users to scan their workspaces for leaked credentials and prevent secret exposure.

A new Android malware campaign is using the Hugging Face platform to distribute thousands of variations of an APK payload that collects credentials for popular financial and payment services. The malware, which lacks a name, is a remote access tool that exploits Android's Accessibility Services and can serve screen overlays, capture the user's screen, and more.

Researchers found that Bondu's web console was almost entirely unprotected, allowing anyone with a Gmail account to access transcripts of conversations between children and the company's AI-powered stuffed animals. The exposed data included children's names, birth dates, and detailed summaries of their conversations. Bondu has since secured the data and implemented additional security measures.