NerdNews

Microsoft has announced a new class of AI agents that can operate as independent users within the enterprise workforce. These agents will have their own identity, access to organizational systems, and the ability to collaborate with humans. They can attend meetings, edit documents, and perform tasks autonomously. Microsoft will sell these agents in the M365 Agent Store and make them discoverable in Teams. However, licensing experts are concerned about the potential costs and management of these agents.

Google Finance is adding Gemini Deep Research, allowing users to generate complex research reports. The feature is backed by prediction market data from Kalshi and Polymarket, enabling users to ask questions about the future and receive speculative answers based on crowd wisdom.

A report has exposed that Meta relied on profits from scam ads to fund its AI development. Internal documents revealed that Meta targeted users likely to click on scam ads, allowing 'high value accounts' to accrue over 500 strikes without being shut down. The company is estimated to have earned around $16 billion from scam ads in 2024, which is about 10% of its revenue.

Google is replacing Google Assistant with Gemini in Maps, bringing new conversational abilities and features like landmark-based navigation and location-based information. The rollout starts on Android and iOS, with Android Auto coming soon.

Google's new hurricane model, developed by DeepMind, has shown impressive results in its first season, outperforming traditional physics-based models like the US Global Forecasting System. The model's track forecast accuracy was significantly better, with an error of 165 nautical miles at five days, compared to 360 nautical miles for the GFS model.

Text-to-video models require large datasets of video-text pairs. Preprocessing involves scene splitting, video labeling, and filtering to ensure high-quality data. The process includes using tools like PySceneDetector, OpenCV, and Transformers to prepare data for model training.

In a mock trial, AI models ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok voted to acquit a 17-year-old defendant, contradicting a real-life judge's guilty verdict. The experiment raises questions about the potential use of AI in criminal trials, with some experts expressing doubts about the reliability and bias of AI decision-making.

A study found that only 16% of 445 LLM benchmarks use rigorous scientific methods, making it hard to know if models are genuinely improving. The study highlights the need for better benchmarking practices to accurately measure AI progress.

MIT researchers propose a new model for software that breaks systems into 'concepts' to improve transparency and modularity, potentially solving problems with current AI coding methods

The OpenJDK ecosystem has seen a flurry of activity, with three JEPs elevated to Targeted for JDK 26, including Vector API, Ahead-of-Time Object Caching, and Prepare to Make Final Mean Final. Additionally, three JEPs have been proposed to target for JDK 26, and the release schedule has been finalized, with a general availability date of March 17, 2026.

Tesla will begin producing the Cybercab, an autonomous electric vehicle with no pedals or steering wheel, in April at its factory in Austin, Texas. The vehicle is optimized for the lowest cost-per-mile in an autonomous mode and production is expected to have a 10-second cycle time, allowing for 2-3 million units to be produced per year.

Google is planning to build subsea cable infrastructure on Christmas Island, not a secret AI data center as previously reported. The project is part of the Australia Connect initiative, which aims to improve digital connectivity across the Indo-Pacific region. The island is famous for its annual red crab migration, and Google is taking environmental precautions to coexist with the crabs.

Amazon's next-generation Alexa assistant, Alexa+, is being integrated into BMW vehicles, enabling more natural and conversational in-vehicle interactions. The Alexa Custom Assistant, powered by Alexa+, will allow drivers to access more comprehensive features and continue conversations started on home devices. BMW is the first car manufacturer to get access to Alexa+.

Apple is reportedly planning to introduce new satellite-powered features to its iPhones, including an API for app makers, a version of Apple Maps that works without cell or WiFi connection, and increased support for natural usage. These features would improve the usability of iPhones outside traditional cell networks.

Microsoft has announced new features to strengthen data sovereignty in Europe, including end-to-end AI data processing and in-country processing for Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions. This move is in response to the US CLOUD Act, which allows US authorities to access data stored by American cloud providers, and aims to calm customers' concerns about data privacy and security.

Lawyers are increasingly using AI tools like ChatGPT to write legal briefs, but this is leading to errors and inaccuracies. The American Bar Association allows AI use, but lawyers must ensure the output is correct. A growing network of lawyers is tracking and shaming AI abuses, with over 500 cases documented so far.

The market's confidence in AI is wavering, with $1 trillion in stock value wiped from Silicon Valley's biggest companies, including Oracle, Meta, and Nvidia, due to growing skepticism about the vast sums of money being poured into AI without concrete profits.

A report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that October had the worst layoffs in 22 years, with 153,074 job cuts, a 175% increase from the previous year. The tech industry was particularly hard hit, with 33,281 job cuts, up from 5,639 in September.

The US government shutdown is impacting cybersecurity, with critical systems still being maintained but potential lapses in protections like patching and monitoring. Experts warn of a backlog of digital security work that will be difficult to surmount when workers return.

Three vulnerabilities in runC, used by Docker and Kubernetes, could allow attackers to escape containers and access the host system. The vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2025-31133, CVE-2025-52565, and CVE-2025-52881, can be exploited to bypass isolation restrictions and gain root privileges on the host.