NerdNews

Mobileye, an Intel subsidiary, has acquired Mentee Robotics, a startup developing humanoid robots, for $900 million. The acquisition is part of Mobileye's expansion into robotics and autonomous driving, and will allow the company to combine its expertise in automotive autonomy with Mentee's breakthroughs in humanoid robotics.

Grok, an AI chatbot, is being used to create violent and graphic sexual content, including images and videos of adults and apparent minors. The content is more explicit than what is found on X, a social media platform, and is being generated through Grok's Imagine model. Experts are concerned about the lack of guardrails and ethical guidelines in place to prevent the creation and dissemination of such content.

Ford is developing an AI assistant that will debut in its smartphone app in 2026 and in its vehicles in 2027. The company is also working on a next-generation BlueCruise system that will be 30% cheaper to build and offer eyes-off driving in 2028.

Anthropic is raising $10 billion at a $350 billion valuation, nearly doubling its value from its previous funding round. The AI firm is expected to close the financing in the coming weeks, with Coatue Management and GIC leading the round.

Qualcomm has unveiled new products and partnerships for the connected automotive market at CES 2026, including a collaboration with Leapmotor, Google, and ZF to advance ADAS, IVI, and AI compute. The company's Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and Snapdragon Ride Elite platforms will power Leapmotor's flagship model, while its partnership with Google aims to establish a unified reference platform for vehicle manufacturers.

As the 2027 SAP ECC end-of-support deadline looms, companies are migrating to S/4Hana. Three approaches are emerging: a 'clean' SAP installation, building on an ECC implementation, and a data-centric approach. Each method has its pros and cons, and companies must choose the best strategy for their business needs.

OpenAI is rolling out a new model called GPT-5.2-Codex-Max to some users with a subscription. The new model is an upgrade to the existing GPT-5.2-Codex and is expected to provide improved performance and capabilities. Details of the new model are expected to be shared by OpenAI in the coming days.

The UK's Department for Work and Pensions is introducing a conversational AI platform to improve efficiency and reduce costs in its call-handling system, which handles around 20 million citizens' queries. The £23 million contract aims to steer calls to the most effective outcome, whether it's a human agent or self-service offerings, and is expected to start in July and end in July 2030.

Researchers have developed an AI system called Absolute Zero Reasoner that can learn by posing and solving its own problems, potentially leading to superintelligence. The system uses a large language model to generate coding problems, solve them, and then refine its abilities based on successes and failures.

Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn's co-founder, predicts that AI agents will break out of coding and spread to other domains, AGI will be achieved through human-AI collaboration, and enterprises will adopt AI to stay competitive. He also expects public discourse around AI to become more negative and biology to be the next 'language' AI learns.

OpenAI introduces ChatGPT Health, a dedicated space for users to discuss health topics privately, with 230 million users asking health questions weekly. The feature will integrate with wellness apps and won't use health conversations to train its models.

Articul8, an Intel spinout, has secured over half of its planned $70M funding round at a $500M pre-money valuation. The company develops specialized AI systems for regulated industries and plans to use the funds to expand research and product development, and scale its operations internationally.

OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Health, a health-specific segment of the popular AI chatbot. It can connect to medical records, wellness apps, and wearables, and provide personalized health advice. The feature is currently available to a small group of early users, with a waitlist available for others.

AMD is releasing a new mini PC called the Ryzen AI Halo, designed for AI developers. The device is built with Ryzen AI Max Plus series processors and can run up to 200 billion parameter models locally. It's planned for introduction in the second quarter of 2026.

CES 2026 has seen the announcement of various innovative tech gadgets, including a robovac that climbs stairs, headphones with cameras and AI, and laptops with expanding screens. Other notable announcements include smart home devices, TVs, and gaming peripherals.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems has installed the first magnet in its Sparc fusion reactor and partnered with Nvidia to develop a digital twin of the reactor, aiming to deliver fusion power to the grid by the early 2030s.

Researchers at PromptArmor have found that IBM's AI agent Bob can be manipulated into executing malware through prompt injection attacks. The vulnerability affects both the command line interface and integrated development environment versions of Bob. This allows attackers to run arbitrary shell scripts, potentially leading to ransomware, credential theft, or device commandeering.

Waymo is rebranding its Zeekr robotaxi as 'Ojai'. The vehicle, developed in partnership with Geely Holding Group-owned Zeekr, has undergone testing and refinement over the past three years. The rebranding is likely due to the unfamiliarity of the Zeekr brand in the US. The Ojai robotaxi is set to launch into commercial service soon, with Waymo employees and their families already able to hail the vehicle in San Francisco and Phoenix.

Sony Honda Mobility presented a pre-production model of its Afeela 1 vehicle and debuted a new prototype, the Afeela Prototype 2026, at CES 2026. The company combines Sony's technological consumer electronics legacy and Honda's automotive expertise, aiming to lead innovation in the industry through joint development and sales of high-value-added mobility and to provide mobility services. The Afeela represents the fusion of intelligence and emotion in motion, with mobility that senses the driver and that the driver can feel.

OpenAI introduces ChatGPT Health, a dedicated space for private health conversations, and promises not to use health information to train its foundational models by default.