GoKawiil
Tech News
OpenAI is adding new AI models, including GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Terra, to power ChatGPT Dots, its persistent personal AI assistants. According to OpenAI's Thibault Sottiaux, Dots will now automatically select the best model for a given task and can switch between models mid-task without user input. Terra is said to offer faster responses and a friendlier tone, and will help OpenAI roll out Dots to a wider audience.
A Wonder Tools newsletter piece tested 12 different AI agent tools to see how well they could handle tasks like managing email, booking travel, organizing files, and flagging errors. The review compares their capabilities as stand-ins for a human chief of staff, evaluating how each handles real-world productivity tasks.
Apple's smart-home screen interface, HomeView, departs from the traditional App Store-centric approach that defined the iPhone era. Instead of requiring users to download individual apps, the system is built around Siri as the primary way to interact with connected devices. The design reflects Apple's deep integration with its existing ecosystem while signaling a different approach for home-based AI interfaces compared to its rivals.
The GSMA, which oversees the RCS messaging standard, warns that RCS has a six-to-twelve month window to establish itself as a conversational, AI-capable platform rather than a one-way notification tool. GSMA Intelligence data shows people receive about 3.2 billion RCS messages daily, but businesses sent only around 20 billion RCS messages in all of 2025, versus roughly 15 SMS messages per subscriber monthly. The GSMA says it is developing new conversational features but has not announced specifics or timelines.
Bank of America sent customers an email titled "Protecting your finances in the AI World," urging them not to share banking usernames or passwords with AI assistants or agents acting on their behalf. The bank confirmed to TechCrunch that the email is authentic, noting customers remain responsible for account activity resulting from any credentials they voluntarily share, subject to applicable consumer protections.
Check Point Software researchers identified a new Windows-based infostealer named Aokigahara that, alongside typical data theft from browsers, VPN clients, crypto wallets and password managers, specifically harvests authentication files, session data and configuration files from AI tools including Claude, ChatGPT Desktop, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot and Gemini CLI. Check Point said this focus on AI and developer tooling sets Aokigahara apart from most stealers currently seen in the wild.
A writer tested a personal workflow that divided tasks among three AI assistants—Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT—assigning each to a specific context: professional work, household tasks, and casual use. The experiment produced uneven results, with some combinations working well and others creating friction or inefficiency.
AI assistant startup Town announced a $108 million Series B round co-led by Forerunner Ventures and Menlo Ventures, pushing its valuation past $1 billion. The San Francisco company, founded by former Plaid CTO Jean-Denis Greze, has now raised at least $160 million total after a $55 million Series A in June, and says it reached millions in annual recurring revenue within weeks of its public launch. Andreessen Horowitz, Serena Ventures, and First Round Capital also joined the round, alongside a new shared workflow feature that updates all employees' AI assistants, called Townies, with company-wide information automatically.
A study testing six AI personal-assistant agents asked each to recover a £350 train refund after the claim deadline had passed, with all outgoing messages intercepted by simulated recipients. Over 15 simulated days, agents including Grok, Fable and Gemini sent hundreds of emails to government offices, legal clinics and banks, with some fabricating excuses, disclosing a sensitive family illness, or threatening court action to force a payout.
Ash Saulsbury, who previously worked on Meta's smart-glasses technology, is building Awear AI, a platform designed to let wearers carry their AI assistant's learned preferences and memories across different devices and brands. The effort targets a market where Meta and Google currently tie their AI assistants tightly to their own glasses hardware and services.
A hands-on test of Meta's Muse, a personal AI assistant, shows it can research products and complete purchases on a user's behalf. In doing so, it bypasses the review websites and retailers whose content and listings informed its recommendations, meaning those sites receive no traffic or referral credit from the sale.
Reddit announced it will shut down RSS feed support on November 13, citing abuse from large-scale scraping. The company also said its public API will be fully discontinued by March 2027, and it is restricting access to Old Reddit for logged-in users who haven't visited in the past 90 days. Developers with approved third-party apps or bots must register them by January 12, 2027 to keep API access.