NerdNews

OpenAI's valuation has reached $500 billion, surpassing Toyota's market cap. Despite concerns about debt and leverage, investors remain optimistic about AI's potential, with Oracle predicting a $455 billion spending pipeline from AI datacenter customers.

OpenAI's Sora 2 is a new AI-generated video social network that combines the addictive nature of large language models like ChatGPT with the endless scroll of mindless vertical videos, raising concerns about copyright infringement, deepfakes, and the potential harm to society.

OpenAI has acquired Roi, an AI-powered personal investing app, which could lead to customized financial advice in ChatGPT. The acquisition hints at OpenAI's future plans for a proactive assistant, building on its recent purchases of AI hardware and product testing startups.

OpenAI and Jony Ive are working on a screen-less AI device, but they're struggling with technical issues like personality, privacy, and computing infrastructure, which may delay the launch.

Oracle has patched a critical E-Business Suite zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-61882) that allows unauthenticated remote code execution. The flaw is being exploited by the Clop ransomware gang in data theft attacks. Oracle has released an emergency update to address the issue, which affects Oracle E-Business Suite versions 12.2.3-12.2.14.

Google has released Jules Tools, a command line interface for its Jules asynchronous coding agent, allowing developers to interact with Jules directly from the terminal. Jules uses Google's Gemini model to scour code repos, fix bugs, and write tests, and Jules Tools makes it more programmable and customizable.

A study by Andreessen Horowitz found that startups are heavily investing in AI, with 60% of the top 50 AI-native application layer companies using horizontal AI platforms. In contrast, big companies are taking a more cautious approach to AI adoption. The study suggests that startups are using AI to assist human employees rather than replace them, but there are concerns about the potential bubble in the AI market.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs Global Institute say AI training is hitting its limits due to a lack of high-quality data, but enterprise data may be the last hope. The quality of AI outputs is highly dependent on the quality of the data used, and developers may be resorting to synthetic data or training models on existing AI outputs, which can lead to model collapse.

Despite Tesla's success with over-the-air updates, traditional automakers struggle to match its pace and functionality. This is due to their complex software systems, fear of change, and slow adoption of new technologies. As a result, car software updates are often slow, inefficient, and limited in their capabilities.

California's new AI safety law, SB 53, requires large AI labs to be transparent about their safety and security protocols. The law aims to prevent catastrophic risks, such as cyberattacks on critical infrastructure or the development of bio-weapons. Despite opposition from some tech companies, the law is seen as a step towards regulating AI while still allowing for innovation.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple is prioritizing the development of smart glasses, similar to Meta's Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, over its Vision Pro headset. The company is reportedly working on two pairs of smart glasses, one with a display and one without, with the goal of releasing them ahead of schedule. This move suggests that Apple is recognizing the potential of smart glasses and attempting to catch up with Meta's lead in the field.

Apple is putting its Vision Pro VR glasses overhaul on hold to focus on developing AI smart glasses, with plans to release two models, one as soon as next year and another with a display to compete with Meta's smart glasses.

Microsoft is reportedly testing an ad-supported version of Xbox Cloud Gaming, which could be available for free with a limited game library and time-based restrictions. The service may launch in beta soon, offering 1080p streaming quality and access to select games, including Xbox Retro Classics and Free Play Days titles.

Toyota is committing $1.5 billion to focus on and invest in the life cycle of startups. The company has created a strategic investment subsidiary and a growth-stage venture arm to achieve this goal.

Google is defending its ad tech business in a trial, arguing that breaking up the company would be complex and potentially harmful to publishers. The DOJ is seeking to force Google to sell its AdX exchange and open source part of its DoubleClick for Publishers ad server.

The US government shutdown will severely deplete federal cybersecurity capabilities, with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) set to lose around 65% of its workforce. This reduction in staff will increase the risk of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure and federal agencies, and may also impact the ability of US businesses and local authorities to receive timely notifications and recommendations from CISA and NIST.

Rodney Brooks, iRobot's founder, advises people to stay at least 10 feet away from walking robots due to safety concerns. He believes that current humanoid robots are not safe for humans to be near and that their development is being hindered by a lack of touch sensing and overly reliance on vision-only approaches.

Get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more, for a one-time payment of $39.97, saving $180.02 off the MSRP of $219.99.

Two Amazon Prime Air drones crashed into a construction crane in Arizona, prompting an investigation by the FAA and NTSB. The drones were returning to a warehouse when they collided with the crane, catching fire and sustaining substantial damage. Amazon has paused and resumed drone deliveries in the area, citing safety as its top priority.

This article reviews the best VPNs for protecting yourself online, including Proton VPN, Windscribe, and Surfshark. It discusses their features, pricing, and performance, as well as the importance of VPNs for security and privacy in today's digital age.