Amazon has introduced Lens Live, an AI-powered update to the Amazon Lens shopping tool. The app, which works in concert with Amazon’s Rufus shopping assistant, uses smartphone cameras much like Google Lens does with visual search. Pinterest Lens is another such app. But the purpose-built Rufus ties it even more closely to the shopping experience with instant scanning, real-time product matches and insights from Rufus. Lens Live is already available to tens of millions of U.S. users on iOS in the Amazon Shopping app with plans to roll out to all U.S. customers in the coming months. Continue reading Amazon’s Lens Live Brings Real-Time AI Shopping to Mobile

Two new Google infrastructure projects will benefit from a nearly $20 billion Alphabet cash infusion. Reported in recent weeks: a $9 billion cloud and AI server facility expansion in Virginia and $9 billion to be spent on new construction and an existing plant upgrade in Oklahoma. Google has also committed $1 billion to AI training and support from the community college to university levels in both states. Such ambitions do not stop at U.S. shores. AWS has earmarked $4.4 billion to construct and operate cloud centers in New Zealand while OpenAI seeks investors for an India build-out. Continue reading Google, AWS Rack Up $23 Billion in New Data Center Growth

Microsoft is rolling out its first internally developed AI models. Branded Microsoft AI (MAI), the two initial releases are MAI-Voice-1, a “highly expressive and natural speech generation model,” and MAI-1-preview, a mixture-of-experts LLM designed for consumer facing applications. The move demonstrates Microsoft’s intent to move beyond exclusive reliance on OpenAI models to power its Copilot assistant and other applications. By striking out on its own, Microsoft is paving a smoother road for OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit entity, which the company is scheduled to initiate by the end of the year. Continue reading Microsoft AI Introduces Proprietary Foundation, Voice Models

As ByteDance approaches the latest U.S. deadline to sell TikTok or face being banned here, it continues to add new features, with barely a ripple of news concerning a sale. The legislation that contained the sales clause became law in April 2024. The most recent of several extensions was issued in June, pushing the deadline to September 17. In July Reuters reported a deal was “close,” with TikTok building a new U.S. version of its app ahead of a planned sale “to a group of investors.” Now the platform is adding voice notes to DMs and image uploads in chats. Up to nine images or video clips can be added to individual or group chats. Continue reading TikTok Adds Voice Notes for DMs and Image Uploads in Chats

OpenAI and Anthropic — rivals in the AI space who guard their proprietary systems — joined forces for a misalignment evaluation, safety testing each other’s models to identify when and how they fall short of human values. Among the findings: reasoning models including Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4, and OpenAI’s o3 and o4-mini resist jailbreaks, while conversational models like GPT-4.1 were susceptible to prompts or techniques intended to bypass safety protocols. Although the test results were unveiled as users complain chatbots have become overly sycophantic, the tests were “primarily interested in understanding model propensities for harmful action,” per OpenAI. Continue reading Anthropic and OpenAI Report Findings of Joint AI Safety Tests

Hype, a YouTube feature that helps smaller channels break through to wider audiences, uses a point system that lets fans help emerging creators get onto a new ranked leaderboard. Launched as a test last year, Hype is now live in 39 countries, including the U.S., UK, Japan and India. Viewers can take advantage of a free opportunity to “hype” up to three long-form videos per week for creators with from 500 to 500,000 subscribers. Videos receive points for being hyped, with “bonus points” awarded on a sliding scale that benefits smaller creators. Only videos uploaded within the last 7 days are eligible. Continue reading YouTube Boosts Hype Feature to Help Creators Expand Reach

Apple has partnered with live audio provider TuneIn in a deal aimed at expanding global access to Apple Music’s six commercial-free live radio stations. The agreement marks the first time Apple’s 24/7 radio stations are available outside of the company’s own ecosystem. The move aims to boost Apple Music’s market share, closing the gap with Spotify by tapping TuneIn’s 75 million monthly active users, connected through more than 200 device partnerships spanning smart speakers, headphones and more than 15 auto brands. MIDiA Research says Apple Music and Spotify had user parity in 2020, with Apple subsequently losing ground. Continue reading Apple Music Chases Spotify with TuneIn Streaming Radio Deal

Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia reported its sales were $46.7 billion for the most recent quarter, marking 56 percent growth over the same period last year and up 6 percent sequentially. Profit rose more than 59 percent to $26.42 billion. The results, which surpassed estimates, reassured global analysts and investors that AI infrastructure spending remains strong, easing — though not erasing — anxieties about an AI bubble. This summer, the chipmaker became the first company to exceed a market cap of $4 trillion, and it is considered a global barometer for the overall health of the artificial intelligence sector. Continue reading Nvidia Announces Continued Growth, $26 Billion in Q2 Profit

Google has released a free consumer version of the Veo-powered Vids generative video creation and editing tool that debuted in November 2024 as part of the Google Workspace productivity suite, a subscription product starting at $7 per month for individual users. Subscribers will continue to have access to a more full-featured Vids app, which has been updated with AI avatars, image-to-video capability and automatic transcript trimming that removes “filler words and awkward pauses with just a few clicks.” But the free tier provides basic AI-enhanced editing and video creation using templates that casual users will no doubt find helpful. Continue reading Google Releases Free Version of Veo 3-Powered Vids Editor

The Rokid Glasses set to ship in November boast something smart spec aficionados have been clamoring for — a screen built-into the lens. Set to retail for $600 ($700 including the charging case) the AR-equipped specs will likely be a couple of hundred dollars cheaper than the new Ray-Ban Metas, expected to be the company’s first screen-equipped smart glasses. The word is they’ll be showcased at Meta Connect, September 17-18. The Rokid Glasses raised $900,000 within 48 hours of their global unveiling on Kickstarter, where those who pre-order receive a limited-time discount of 15 to 20 percent. Continue reading Rokid to Launch AR Smart Glasses Featuring Built-In Screen

AT&T is acquiring wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar for roughly $23 billion in cash. The acquisition will provide AT&T an average of approximately 50MHz of low-band and mid-band covering virtually all U.S. markets, bolstering connectivity across 5G and fiber, according to CEO John Stankey. AT&T says the deal will accelerate its ability to expand converged subscriber base, customers with both AT&T’s mobile 5G and home Internet services. EchoStar and AT&T have amended their network services agreement to enable EchoStar to operate as a hybrid MNO under the Boost Mobile brand, with AT&T as the primary network services partner. Continue reading AT&T Agrees to Purchase EchoStar Spectrum for $23 Billion

Sling TV has carved a niche for itself as a flexible purveyor of affordable streaming options. Now it is launching the $20 per month Sling Select, anchored with preselected channels FOX News, National Geographic, GRIT, NFL Network, FX, FS1, MeTV, Game Show Network, Heroes & Icons, Lifetime Movie Network and Vice, as well as specific 4K content across FOX and FS1. In select markets, Sling Select will also make local broadcasters ABC, NBC and FOX available for an additional $5 per month for markets that offer one or two of the channels and $10 per month for markets with all three. Continue reading Sling TV Launches a $20 per Month Sling Select Skinny Plan

Perplexity AI has created a new revenue sharing opportunity for publishing partners affiliated with its Comet browser. Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas says the company has allocated $42.5 million in revenue to be shared among “a group of trusted publishers and journalists” supporting the company’s products with premium content. Publishers will be apportioned funds based on how much traffic their content generates across the debuting subscription model Comet Plus, as well as the Comet browser and Comet’s AI assistant. Publishers will get 80 percent of the revenue generated from the Comet Plus subscription with Perplexity keeping the rest. Continue reading Perplexity Launches Publisher Revenue Sharing for AI Search

Meta Platforms has agreed to a six-year deal with Google Cloud valued at $10 billion as part of its push into artificial intelligence. Use of Google Cloud data centers are expected to help the social media giant bring leading-edge AI tools to market more quickly. This is the first agreement between Google Cloud and Meta, which continues to work with the number one and two global cloud providers by market share, Amazon Web Services (30 percent) and Microsoft Azure (20 percent). Third-place Google has been aggressively pursuing big cloud contracts as it seeks to grow its 13 percent share. Continue reading Meta Secures $10 Billion Deal with Google Cloud for AI Efforts

Instagram has started to let creators link multiple Reels, effectively creating their own “series.” The new capability, which TikTok already offers, makes it more convenient for viewers to discover and follow related content. The new “Link a Reel” feature lets creators sequentially either link generally related content or connect specific, sequentially related material, as in Part 2, Part 3, etc. Meta Platforms has also added a free AI-powered voice translation feature. Now available globally on Facebook and Instagram, it automatically dubs and lip syncs Reels into other languages using the sound and tone of the creator’s own voice. Continue reading Meta Updates Features for Reels on Facebook and Instagram