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Tech News
Pangram, an AI-detection service, has released a new integration for Gmail that scans incoming messages and flags those it believes were written by artificial intelligence. The tool aims to help users quickly identify AI-generated 'slop' mixed in with genuine human correspondence.
Google DeepMind has created the DeepMind Institute, led by managing editor Shane Legg alongside directors Demis Hassabis and James Manyika, to host differing perspectives on artificial general intelligence from within Google and the wider research community. Its first release includes four essays addressing economic disruption from AGI, keeping AI reasoning interpretable, principles for human flourishing, and how to evaluate frontier models. Notably, Hassabis proposes a U.S.-based standards body to assess advanced AI systems, starting with voluntary reviews before release.
Scry is a new search-over-the-web service built for AI agents, exposed through the Model Context Protocol as well as a direct HTTP API. Developers connect tools like Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor to a single MCP endpoint, authenticate via OAuth or an API key, and query a rolling crawl of high-information web pages using a SQL-like interface. The service also introduces congestion-based pricing tied to usage load.
A Nevada Transportation Authority permit that had restricted Amazon-owned Zoox to just 100 robotaxis will lapse this month, according to confirmation from an NTA official and a Zoox spokesperson. The move allows Zoox to expand its Las Vegas fleet without the previous regulatory ceiling, though the company has not disclosed how many vehicles it plans to add.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named eight new members to the 16-seat US Preventive Services Task Force, the federal panel that grades preventive care services like cancer screenings and statins on an A-to-D scale that determines insurance coverage. The appointments come after Kennedy spent over a year sidelining the panel, canceling meetings and firing two of its leaders earlier this year. Several new appointees share ideological alignment with Kennedy and the Trump administration, including critics of COVID-19 vaccines and gender-affirming care, plus a non-physician health economist.
Meta AI has released Muse, a personified AI agent app for iPhone, with a companion Mac app added nine days later and web access at muse.ai. Users can customize the agent's name and avatar, and while the app is free with weekly usage limits, paying subscribers get expanded access. The Mac version can work across apps, files, calendar, notes, and messages, with user-controlled permissions.
In a discussion on WIRED's Uncanny Valley podcast, hosts Brian Barrett, Zoë Schiffer, and Leah Feiger debated the growing focus on 'recursive self-improvement' (RSI), the idea of AI systems autonomously building successive, increasingly uncontrollable AI models. Schiffer argued that RSI appears to be replacing AGI as the industry's go-to buzzword once AGI began to seem less achievable, serving more as a marketing and geopolitical narrative than a rigorous technical concern.
The FAA plans to roll out SMART, a cloud-based AI platform built by Air Space Intelligence, to help air traffic controllers manage workflows and flight routing amid an ongoing staffing shortage. The system analyzes airline schedules, weather, airport capacity and airspace conditions to predict traffic flows and flag potential conflicts before they happen, at a cost of $875 million over 12 years, starting in the Washington, D.C. area before wider rollout.
Oskar Flodstrom, a 23-year-old Los Angeles artist who skipped college to pursue creative work, transformed a free acrylic base found on Facebook Marketplace into a pill-bottle-shaped side table. The design went viral on social media, leading to a partnership with the brand NO LOGO and roughly $150,000 in sales within two weeks.
Code strings found in version 17.59.17.sa.arm64 of the Google app reveal a feature called 'Ephemeral Video Mode' tied to Gemini's internal codename Robin. The strings describe enabling an ephemeral mode specifically for video input during Gemini Live sessions, suggesting Google is testing a way to keep certain video interactions from being saved.
Waymo announced plans to bring its autonomous ride-hailing service to Singapore, with vehicles arriving within months to begin mapping and safety-driver testing in 2027 ahead of a public launch in 2028. The company must first pass safety assessments from Singapore's Land Transport Authority and its CETRAN testing center before carrying passengers, and it has already set up a local entity and joined the city-state's autonomous vehicle steering committee.
Apple's macOS 27 Golden Gate update skips a visual overhaul for Photos but packs in a new Tools pane with Apple Intelligence features, including an upgraded Clean Up tool, a generative Extend tool for expanding images, and a Spatial Reframing option that builds a 3D scene model to shift camera perspective. iCloud Shared Albums also gain full-resolution sharing across all photo and video formats and now let Android and Windows users contribute via iCloud.com.