Misleading, violent and copyright-infringing AI-generated images from a beta version of xAI's Grok-2 are going viral.
Why it matters: Leaders at Google, Meta and Microsoft have all apologized when their bots created problematic images, but "free speech" has overridden other concerns for Elon Musk — who owns xAI and has made its chatbot available to everyone who pays for X.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday plans to propose a federal ban on "corporate price-gouging in the food and grocery industries," plus heightened regulatory scrutiny of food producer and grocery mergers.
The big picture: This comes less than 24 hours after Mars, the closely held maker of Snickers and Skittles, agreed to buy salty snack maker Kellanova for a whopping $35.9 billion.
High school students who use generative AI to prepare for math exams perform worse on tests, where they can't rely on AI, than those who didn't use the tools at all, a new study shows.
Why it matters: A "personal tutor for every student" is one of the rosy scenarios AI optimists paint, but AI-driven learning still has many hurdles in its way.
Iran has targeted roughly a dozen people tied to President Biden and former President Trump, including those in the government and associated with their campaigns, as part of a long-running phishing attack, Google said in a report today.
Why it matters: Until now, no third-party organizations had verified the Trump campaign's claim that it was the target of an Iranian hack.
The big picture: The Harris campaign isn't breaking any rules with the ads, which link out to actual news stories but display headlines favorable to Harris. These types of ads are common on Google, have been used by other political campaigns, and don't violate Google's policies, as Axios reported.
In a shifting advertising landscape, rewards apps like Fetch are flipping the script on consumer data collection and targeted advertising, creating a new kind of data-driven ecosystem in which consumers share purchase preferences in exchange for rewards and personalized experiences.
Instagram did not act on 926 out of 1,000 abusive comments directed at female politicians that were flagged to the app, a study released Wednesday found.
Why it matters: Vice President Kamala Harris' presence at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket shines a spotlight on the violent threats and sexist attacks regularly directed at women in politics.
EVgo, one of the nation's largest charging networks, is rolling out efforts to diagnose equipment issues in real time as part of a broader plan to replace outdated chargers and improve customer service, the company tells Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: While the number of public chargers continues to grow, many networks still aren't reliable enough to ease the public's charging anxiety — a leading concern about EVs.
The Defense Innovation Unit will start vetting advanced manufacturing companies and technologies, like 3D printers and digital modelers, in an effort to expand the pool of defense contractors and secure it from malign influence.
Why it matters: Defense Department arcana is a roadblock for smaller firms that want to fulfill military orders for weapons, software and spare parts.
Pentagon officials say the U.S. stands at the precipice of a new golden age of defense innovation driven by upstart contractors, advances in technology and a world brimming with threats.
Why it matters: The Defense Department's inability to make unorthodox bets, feed a vibrant industrial base and embrace readily available technologies has rendered it under-supplied, the target of dual-use evangelists and vulnerable to more nimble adversaries.
Google's Tuesday announcement of several new Gemini features is part of a broader effort by tech giants to make their chatbots more personal by giving them access to more of your data.
Why it matters: Apple and Microsoft have also taken steps to combine the generic knowledge of a large language model with a user's personal data — a move that makes AI assistants both more practical and more of a potential privacy problem.
