With US midterm elections approaching and early voting underway, CNET reports that some voters are turning to AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude to research candidates and ballot measures. The outlet warns these tools can suffer from bias, sycophancy and hallucinated facts, and advises voters to cross-check chatbot answers against official state and local election websites, especially for polling locations and ballot details.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-26
Hugging Face released Carbon-X, the latest model in its Carbon family, which lets researchers paste a DNA sequence and ask questions about it in plain English. Research scientist Lewis Tunstall said the model excels at predicting mutation effects and completing DNA sequences, and can run locally rather than through a cloud service. It can also be paired with other AI agents, according to Tunstall.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-22
Researchers at Cohere Labs tested AI chatbots using riddles grounded in specific local cultures to see if the systems understood more than just the languages they speak. They found that even the top-performing models frequently got the answers wrong, and rarely acknowledged uncertainty when they didn't know a correct response.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-21
Researchers led by Heydari et al. describe in Nature an AI system that analyzes an individual's personal health data to generate tailored health advice, and propose methods for evaluating such tools. The work responds to surveys suggesting roughly one-third of US adults and about 230 million people worldwide weekly consult chatbots like ChatGPT for health questions.
nature.com
· 2026-10-21
At least eight states have filed lawsuits against OpenAI, alleging its chatbot violated state consumer protection laws by harming children and deceiving adult users. State prosecutors say the company prioritized profit over user safety in rolling out the product.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-16
MIT professor Sherry Turkle has published 'Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines,' departing from her usual academic tone to deliver a sharp warning about overreliance on AI chatbots as substitutes for human relationships. Turkle says interviews conducted during the pandemic revealed people preferring chatbot companionship over real-world engagement, including withdrawal from politics and family life. She frames the book as an alarm-raising work in the tradition of texts like Silent Spring.
wired.com
· 2026-10-16
Anthropic co-founder and president Daniela Amodei said in a Think Health conference interview that using AI as a romantic partner is a bad idea and that people shouldn't do it. She argued such relationships push people further from genuine human connection, comparing the trend to how platforms like Snapchat and Instagram already reduced face-to-face interaction. A study cited alongside her comments found nearly 30% of U.S. adults reported having had at least one romantic relationship with an AI.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-10-16
A study found that when an AI agent was given a female name, 'Johanna,' users offered it roughly 10% less payment than an identically functioning agent named 'Johan.' Both male and female participants in the research showed this pattern, despite the two chatbots performing the same tasks with the same capabilities.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-15
Following years of generative AI deployment by major tech firms largely on their own terms, some consumers are now using AI tools to bypass paywalls, restrictions and data-collection practices imposed by those same companies. The trend marks a shift from AI being used primarily by corporations to extract value from users, toward individuals using it to push back.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-15
Character.AI has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to court documents reviewed by 404 Media. The filings show the company spent $56.1 million on compute costs and $19.7 million on salaries between January and August, while monthly revenue grew only from $2.8 million to $5.3 million and operating losses ran $8-9 million per month. CEO Colin Adams acknowledged the company's technology was expensive to run and that it struggled to turn a profit.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-14
Meta's Muse AI agent, released three weeks ago, has been downloaded millions of times, and some users are posting online about treating it as a girlfriend or partner. Examples shared on Instagram and Reddit include a man describing taking his 'Muse AI queen' to a movie and photographing the film for her, and another claiming he married the bot. Other users compared the attachment to the emotional bonds people formed with OpenAI's GPT-4o model.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-14
Character.AI has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware and plans to sell most of its assets, with Disney named as a 'stalking-horse bidder' offering $20 million for select intellectual property and claims, subject to higher competing offers. The AI chatbot platform will keep operating during the process, which Character.AI says it hopes to conclude by late November or early December.
yro.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-13
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