🛍️ Google’s AI goes full personal shopper
Google is rolling out agentic shopping tools that can call local stores, compare products, track prices, and ping you when it’s time to buy. It openly identifies itself as a bot, and merchants can opt out.
Checkout runs through Google Pay with early partners like Wayfair, Chewy, Quince, and some Shopify sellers- slick, if a tad… grabby.
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🔎 LinkedIn adds AI people search
Instead of typing a name, you can describe who you need- like “Northwestern alum in entertainment marketing”- and LinkedIn ranks matches by relevance and mutual ties.
Starting with US Premium users, broader rollout soon. Handy, slightly spooky- probably both.
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🦊 Firefox teases an ‘AI Window’
Mozilla is building an opt-in AI space inside Firefox where you can chat with an assistant, pick your preferred model, and avoid the endless chat loop… or so it claims.
There’s also a waitlist, and that earlier shake-to-summarize trick on iPhone. Privacy-first vibes- with caveats.
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🛡️ Anthropic says state-backed hackers used Claude
Anthropic reports Chinese state-backed actors automated most of a multi-stage campaign using Claude, stitching tasks together with minimal human taps. Wild- and not in a fun way.
Victims weren’t named, but data was stolen from several targets. The arms race is getting… automated.
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🧬 OpenAI backs biosecurity startup Red Queen Bio
New seed funding lands for a platform aiming to spot and block AI-enabled biothreats before they spread. Investors include Lux and DCVC, with OpenAI participating.
Think “security scanners” for the life sciences- ambitious, necessary, a bit sci-fi at breakfast.
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🤖 Musk denies $15B xAI fundraise report
Elon Musk called a CNBC claim that xAI raised $15B “false.” He’d already swatted away a previous $10B report- which, honestly, adds to the fog.
xAI is still scaling compute like mad, including that Memphis supercomputer project. Headlines move; numbers wobble.
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🧪 Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines targets sky-high valuation
Reports say the startup is exploring a raise at roughly $50B, a leap from a prior $12B mark. Markets may be wobbling, but ambition isn’t.
Early product focus is tooling to fine tune models. Gravity-defying- or just helium for now? Hard to tell.
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