A Reddit user known as ActualAerie1011 says they used a custom trainer algorithm alongside Google's recently released fruit fly connectome to play the card game Balatro on its easiest settings. The setup pits the simulated brain against an algorithm that hunts for favorable game seeds, comparing outcomes and reinforcing the brain's decisions through repeated trials. The creator reports a current 20% success rate and says training is ongoing, though no code or detailed methodology has been shared publicly.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-17
Emil Michael, the Department of Defense's chief technology officer, said Wednesday he hopes the Trump administration will not pursue nationalization or partial ownership stakes in artificial intelligence companies. He made the remarks on CNBC's 'Squawk on the Street,' contrasting AI policy with the administration's recent equity moves in firms like Intel and U.S. Steel. Michael also voiced skepticism toward tightening regulatory oversight of AI companies.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-16
Jacopo Attolini, an AI industry worker posting as Atol8, built a bot powered by GPT-6 Astra combined with Python-based numerical tools to play Balatro. He reported the bot has repeatedly beaten the game's toughest difficulty, the Gold Stake Black Deck, and shared a YouTube video explaining its design, though he walked back an initial claim that it does so reliably.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-16
Betaworks, the venture firm led by John Borthwick, was the first investor to fund AI startup Hugging Face and now holds an equity stake estimated at roughly $650 million. Other early backers of the company also saw substantial gains from their initial investments.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-04