Runway Gen-4.5 is rolling out, and the text-to-video model grabbed the No. 1 spot on the Video Arena leaderboard for generative models that don’t simultaneously output sound, beating the non-audio versions of Google’s Veo 3 and OpenAI’s Sora 2 Pro. Offering what Runway AI calls “unprecedented visual fidelity” across cinematic and “highly realistic” outputs, it is also built for creative freedom, providing “precise control over every aspect of generation.” The new model is good at understanding physics, cause and effect through casual reasoning, camera movements and human emotion, claims the New York-based startup. Continue reading Runway Gen-4.5 Video Debuts at No. 1 on Video Arena Chart

DeepSeek-V3.2 is now in release, integrating thinking directly into tool-use for the first time, improving its predecessor DeepSeek-V3.2 Experimental. The model supports tool-use in both thinking and non-thinking modes. China-based DeepSeek began disrupting the U.S. AI market in January with the debut of foundation models that rival those from Google and OpenAI that are available for free. The company released internal benchmark scores indicating its new model can compete with OpenAI’s GPT-5 in reasoning benchmarks and agentic tasks. A variation, DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale, has been released for specialized math and is said to perform comparably to Google’s Gemini 3 Pro. Continue reading DeepSeek Debuts Its V3.2 Reasoning Model in Two Versions

Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Z TriFold, which unfolds twice to present a seamless 10-inch screen suitable for mobile productivity and cinematic viewing. Measuring just 3.9 mm at its thinnest point, it’s a fairly heavy lift for a smartphone at 0.68 pounds (about the same as a can of soup) and measures 6.26 inches high by 2.9 inches wide and a mere half-inch thick when folded. That’s much lighter than a laptop, and provides an extra inch of height and two inches of width to a tablet of that weight, making it a viable option for business travelers. The device is expected to be available in Korea next week, starting at $2,450 for 16GB RAM/512GB storage, followed by launches in additional markets in 2026. Continue reading Samsung’s 2026 Galaxy Z TriFold Screen Opens to 10 Inches

Google has added four new features in Flow, its AI tool for storytelling, that offer more precise control over images and videos. The upgrades include generative imaging with Nano Banana Pro, doodle prompts, an object insertion/removal tool and camera motion. Flow was introduced in May and offers the ability to edit and build scenes using natural language. The improvements aim to make Flow output more polished. “In Flow, you can use images to serve as the characters, subjects and starting points for your clips” with pictures you upload or create in Flow with the new “Images” tab, according to the company. Continue reading Google Adds New Features to Its Flow GenAI Storytelling Tool

Google has signed on to provide collaborative multi-cloud networking with Amazon using its new “AWS Interconnect – multicloud,” now in preview. Amazon says the new collaboration will simplify multi-cloud networking via managed, private, on-demand access to cross-cloud connectivity. The jointly engineered solution leverages Google’s Cross-Cloud Interconnect technology. The idea is “to enable customers to easily build enterprise-grade applications that span both Google Cloud and AWS environments,” Amazon explains, pointing out that the adoption of multi-cloud applications is rapidly accelerating, driven at least in part by the rise in use of AI. Continue reading Amazon and Google Team on High-Speed Multi-Cloud Service

Amazon has added agentic AI capabilities to Amazon Connect, the neural text-to-speech tool that provides AI-powered customer service support and analytics in real time. Connect is capable of neural text-to-speech in more than 30 languages and also delivers automated speech recognition. Leveraging advanced speech models from Nova Sonic, the Connect agents “deliver natural, human-like conversations, responding with the right pace, tone, and understanding across multiple languages and accents,” Amazon says. The company has also integrated third-party automated speech recognition and text-to-speech solutions from Deepgram and ElevenLabs with Connect. Continue reading Amazon Adds Agentic AI to ‘Connect’ Customer Service Tool

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), an agency of the Department of Commerce, announced new guidelines before the holiday weekend meant to clarify when inventions that are developed with the assistance of artificial intelligence can be legally patented. The agency defines generative AI systems to be “analogous to laboratory equipment, computer software, research databases, or any other tool that assists in the inventive process,” explained USPTO Director John Squires. According to the updated guidelines, AI systems “may provide services and generate ideas, but they remain tools used by the human inventor who conceived the claimed invention.” Continue reading Patent Office Updates Guidelines for Inventions Created by AI

Amazon Web Services is marking its entry into the lucrative business of providing the U.S. government with artificial intelligence and high-performance computing services via purpose-built infrastructure for which it has committed up to $50 billion in construction and equipment. The investment “will add nearly 1.3 GW of compute capacity across AWS Top Secret, AWS Secret, and AWS GovCloud (U.S.) across all classification levels,” Amazon says, adding that the commitment “expands access to AWS’s trusted infrastructure” and advances America’s AI leadership and enables U.S. agencies “to accelerate discovery and decision-making.” Continue reading AWS Earmarking $50 Billion for Government AI Infrastructure

Perplexity AI has launched its Comet browser for mobile, taking on Google in the Android ecosystem. Perplexity says it will soon release an iOS app as well. The AI-powered Comet browser debuted in July on a limited basis for Mac and Windows desktops, followed by a wider release in October. The Comet browser uses Perplexity’s AI-powered search engine to answer questions, either typed or posed conversationally, and lets users mention specific tabs or can focus on open tabs. It can also agentically complete tasks. Perplexity hasn’t disclosed Comet usage figures, but says manufacturers are already requesting to include Comet on-device. Continue reading Perplexity’s AI-Powered Comet Browser Now Live on Android

OpenAI is live with a retail companion it calls “shopping research” that helps consumers find viable purchase options based on detailed requirement parameters. Trained on a version of GPT‑5 mini, it can query on a virtually unlimited list of discovery constraints, sourcing only from “reliable retailers.” “Results are organic and based on publicly available retail sites,” OpenAI says, indicating there are no advertiser-boosted entries — not yet, anyway. Available on iOS, Android and the Web for logged-in ChatGPT users on the Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans, OpenAI is making nearly unlimited usage available to all plans through the holidays. Continue reading OpenAI Continues Push into Retail with ‘Shopping Research’

Snapchat is adding community conversations under the header Topic Chats. Aiming to stimulate public discourse on news, events and other trending topics, Snap will be aggregating the threads across the app in the coming weeks for users in the U.S., Canada and New Zealand. Chat shortcuts, search, the Stories page, and Spotlight videos will feature “a big yellow button” that says “Join the Chat” inviting users to the parley. Profiles will stay private to those who a user is not friends with, a feature intended to help avoid unwanted friend requests and direct messages. “This is new for Snapchat, because we’ve primarily focused on supporting private conversations rather than public ones,” Snap notes. Continue reading Snapchat Is Testing Public Conversations with ‘Topic Chats’

TikTok is testing a new tool that aims to help users determine how much AI-generated content they see in their For You feeds. The ByteDance-owned company becomes the first of the giant social media platforms to try putting that control in user hands amidst growing animosity toward “AI slop.” Pinterest added a GenAI user filter in October, while Spotify and Jack Dorsey’s Vine relaunch diVine have implemented system-level filters. TikTok’s AI controls fall within its Manage Topics tool. The platform is also adding more advanced AI labeling technology. Continue reading TikTok Testing User-Controlled Feed Filter for GenAI Content

Amazon Prime is providing viewers with Video Recaps, AI-powered highlight rewinds to bring them quickly up to date on seasonal episodes they may have missed for their favorite shows. Amazon is touting the new feature as a “first-of-its-kind application of generative AI,” thought it does follow the X-Ray Recaps — spoiler free text summaries Amazon AI began providing last year. Prime Video Recaps are now available in beta for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S. It is likely Amazon will eventually extend the Recaps to premium licensed shows, too, if it can work out rights issues. Continue reading Amazon Prime Introduces GenAI ‘Video Recaps’ for TV Series

Google is adding Deep Research to its AI-powered writing and research assistant NotebookLM, adding agentic capabilities that transform it to an autonomous research agent that can find and evaluate information on its own. Previously NotebookLM was limited to retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). Now, led by your questions, Deep Research browses hundreds of websites, refining its search as it learns, generating within minutes an organized, source-grounded report that can be added to your notebook. Google is also adding support for more file types, including photos — allowing you to upload snapshots of notes — Google Sheets and Microsoft Word documents. Continue reading Google Adds Deep Research, New File Types to NotebookLM

Google has new AI search tools designed to help save time and money on travel. The company is expanding access to its bargain-hunting search feature Flight Deals to more than 200 countries following Google Flight’s rollout in the U.S., Canada and India. Google has also turned AI Mode’s Canvas into a natural language itinerary planner: tell it the type of trip you’d like planned, including recommendations of interest, then select the option to “Create Canvas” and it will build a custom itinerary using real-time search data — from flights suggestions to hotels, complete with info from Google Maps, photos and reviews. Continue reading Google Expands AI Tools That Turn Search into a Travel Agent