NerdNews

Researchers found that LLMs like GPT-3.5-Turbo and GPT-4 can generate malware, but it's not operationally reliable. The malware failed to bypass detection tools and had limited success in test scenarios. While LLM-generated malware is improving, it's still not ready for autonomous attacks.

Google introduces Gemini 3, a large multimodal model for consumer and enterprise experiences, with capabilities in text, code, and rich media understanding, and improved performance in long-horizon reasoning tasks.

Google has launched Nano Banana Pro, a new image-generation model with improved reasoning and instruction following. It's available in the Gemini app and can create more accurate images with legible text and make precise edits to existing images. The model also includes AI image detection and SynthID watermarks to identify AI-generated content.

Major music labels have settled lawsuits and struck deals with AI startups, indicating a shift towards embracing AI-generated music. Klay, an AI music company, has inked deals with all three major labels to launch a remix platform, allowing users to remix existing songs in different styles.

Google has released an AI image detector in its Gemini app and website, allowing users to upload images and determine if they were created or modified using AI. The detector uses SynthID watermarks, but has limitations and can be tricked by bad input data. Google also released Nano Banana Pro, an upgraded image generation engine.

Engineers Kieran Klaassen and Nityesh Agarwal discuss how they use AI-assisted coding tools like Claude Code to transform their workflow, allowing them to ship six features, five bug fixes, and three infrastructure updates in one week. They built a prompt that writes prompts, creating a custom command in Claude Code that transforms a rough feature idea into a fleshed-out GitHub issue.

Google DeepMind has hired Aaron Saunders, the former CTO of Boston Dynamics, to help develop its robotics technology. The company aims to create an operating system for robots, similar to Android for smartphones. DeepMind's CEO, Demis Hassabis, envisions a future where robots can be controlled by AI, and the company is working towards making this a reality.

Google has released Jetpack Navigation 3, a library that redesigns notification handling in Android apps, giving full control over the back stack and integrating with Jetpack Compose's state management. It allows for modularized and customizable navigation, with a single source of truth and seamless integration with other Jetpack components.

Perplexity's Comet browser is now available on Android, featuring a built-in AI assistant that can answer questions about web content and generate summaries. The app includes voice mode and will soon support syncing browsing history and bookmarks across devices.

Google has rolled out its Gemini AI assistant to Android Auto users, allowing for a 'truly conversational' voice assistant to help with directions, messages, and errands. Users can activate Gemini by saying 'Hey Google' or pressing the mic button on their car screen.

Sunday Robotics has developed a home robot called Memo that can perform tasks like making coffee, clearing tables, and loading the dishwasher. The robot uses a novel training method that involves remote workers wearing gloves to collect data. Memo is set to be released to beta testers next year and could potentially revolutionize household chores.

Onepot AI, a company that aims to make chemical drug creation easier, has raised $13 million in funding. The company uses AI to help synthesize small molecules, which are the building blocks of drugs. This process can be time-consuming and expensive, but Onepot AI's technology aims to speed it up and reduce costs. The company's founders, Daniil Boiko and Andrei Tyrin, came together to create Onepot after realizing that the best ideas in drug discovery were often blocked by synthesis issues.

Perplexity's AI browser Comet is now available on Android, offering AI-powered search, ad blocking, and voice mode. The browser can research and shop on behalf of the user and summarize searches across all tabs. Perplexity plans to add new features, including a conversational agent and password manager, in the coming weeks.

Google's Nano Banana Pro model improves image generation with higher resolutions, accurate text rendering, and web-searching capabilities, available across various Google AI tools and APIs.

Waymo is expanding its robotaxi service to Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Tampa, with manual driving starting soon and commercial launches to follow. The company already operates in several US cities and plans to launch in more, including Dallas, Denver, and Washington, D.C. in 2026.

Google has linked Android's Quick Share to Apple's AirDrop, allowing users to share files between the two operating systems. The feature is currently only available on Google's Pixel 10 smartphone and relies on loose permissions. Google claims to have securely implemented the feature using Rust, but security experts have raised concerns about the potential for mischief.

Researchers uncovered a multi-year ATM fraud campaign by the UNC2891 threat group, which used money mules, cloned cards, and malware to steal funds from ATMs. The group operated a robust network, including a rootkit to bypass PIN verification and backdoors for persistent access.

Microsoft is overhauling Windows into an agentic OS with AI capabilities, but users are pushing back due to concerns over functionality and control. The company aims to make Windows more autonomous, but this shift may alienate some users who prefer a more traditional operating system experience.

Google exposes BadAudio malware used by China-linked APT24 hackers in a three-year espionage campaign. The malware is heavily obfuscated and uses DLL search order hijacking to evade detection. APT24 compromised over 20 public websites and used spearphishing and supply-chain attacks to deliver the malware.

Point One Navigation, a startup backed by Khosla Ventures, has developed precise location technology that can track drones, trucks, and robotaxis inch by inch. The company's technology uses a combination of augmented global navigation satellite system (GNSS), computer vision, and sensor fusion to determine location within 1 centimeter in the best conditions. Point One has raised $35 million in a Series C round and plans to use the funding to build out its technology, including its Polaris RTK Network, which provides centimeter-level accuracy even in sparsely populated areas.