OpenAI is adding Google Cloud to its list of global infrastructure providers for ChatGPT after relying exclusively on Microsoft Azure since the chatbot’s 2022 launch until January 2025 when Stargate was announced. Oracle and CoreWeave are also OpenAI cloud providers. Oracle is a Stargate investor, as is Nvidia, which holds a minority interest in CoreWeave. OpenAI has been active as it heads toward a December deadline for transitioning to a for-profit company. Meanwhile, ChatGPT is integrating a payment system to receive commissions on sales it initiates, and yesterday OpenAI launched a new AI agent that can perform complex tasks within a user’s browser. Continue reading OpenAI Contracts Google Cloud and Debuts ChatGPT Agent

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has released a new multimodal model called Qwen VLo that can understand and generate images. Available for free in preview through Qwen Chat, it can use image or text prompts to generate pictures, and accepts text in multiple languages, including Chinese and English. It can also edit, change backgrounds and switch styles, handling multiple image edits in sequence. An upgrade over January’s Qwen 2.5-VL release, Qwen VLo uses progressive generation, allowing users to see the image creation in progress, and Alibaba says it’s particularly good at making inline adjustments to fine-tune images. Continue reading Alibaba’s Qwen VLo Generative AI Shows Images in Progress

Google has launched Search Live with voice-input, a two-way conversational query function for exploring online resources. Presently available via the Google app for Android and iOS to U.S. users enrolled in Google Labs’ AI Mode experiment, Search Live is designed to handle complex, multi-part questions. Google suggests the new feature is “perfect for when you’re on the go or multitasking, like if you’re packing for a trip.” The discursive voice feature follows Google’s general rollout of AI Mode, recently launched to compete against products such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search and Perplexity AI. Continue reading Google Search Live Features Conversational Voice Capability

Investment firm Goldman Sachs just implemented an AI assistant framework for employees across its entire workforce of about 46,000, marking what the bank says is a major technological leap forward for its global operations. The conversational GS AI Assistant includes a developer copilot for coding, translation tools and a nascent “Banker Copilot” aimed at streamlining investment banker workflows. The conversational GS AI Assistant also lets workers interact with large language models including ChatGPT and Gemini within the firewalled parameters of Goldman’s secure compliance software. The rollout comes after a year of pilot testing involving more than 10,000 employees. Continue reading Goldman Sachs Launches an AI Assistant for Its Employees

The redesigned Firefly AI app Adobe released in April with third-party model support is now available on iOS and Android. Text-to-video and background editing are among the features included in the new mobile package, which Adobe claims will help users capture inspiration as it strikes with “the freedom to generate images and videos wherever you are.” Adobe says those of all skill levels will be able to use the app, which was designed “to complement the ways we already interact with our phones.” The company is also rolling out its AI-powered online moodboard creator — Firefly Boards — in public beta, now with video functionality. Continue reading Adobe Unveils Firefly Generative AI App for iOS and Android

Snap Inc. announced it will launch a “lightweight, immersible” consumer line of AR smart glasses called “Specs” in 2006 (breaking from its “Spectacles” branding). Announcing the sixth-generation of its glasses at the Augmented World Expo conference this week, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said the eyewear offers “an ultra-powerful wearable computer integrated into a lightweight pair of glasses with see-thru lenses.” Spiegel explained the glasses will be untethered, which suggests they may be powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1+ Gen 1 chip, also announced at AWE. Coming a decade after Snap’s first attempt at consumer AR glasses, Specs leverage a $3 billion investment in 11 years of R&D. Continue reading Snap to Launch Specs Consumer Smart Glasses Line in 2026

Determined to rebound from the Llama 4 Behemoth delay, Meta Platforms is swinging for the fences in its artificial intelligence efforts, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally supervising creation of a new AI lab focused on superintelligence. Meta has reportedly reached a deal to pay up to $15 billion for a stake in a startup called Scale AI that would bring its 28-year-old co-founder and CEO Alexandr Wang in-house to lead the effort. Other leading Scale AI staff would also come aboard, and Meta is said to be recruiting researchers from OpenAI and Google by dangling “seven- to nine-figure compensation packages,” reports indicate. Continue reading Meta Said to Be Planning Major Push into AI Superintelligence

At WWDC 2025, Apple unveiled new features for Apple Intelligence including upgrades to Genmoji and Image Playground arriving with iOS 26 and other updated operating systems. Apple integrated ChatGPT into its Image Playground, allowing for the creation of generative AI images within the feature. In Messages, Image Playground will be able to generate new backgrounds for group chats. Apple is also adding live translation to its Phone app, as well as Messages and FaceTime. On audio-only calls, Apple Intelligence will generate a real-time voiced translation, while FaceTime will display live captions. Apple Intelligence updates span the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro. Continue reading WWDC: Apple Intelligence Gets Updates, iOS 26 Is Unpacked

Chatbot platform Character.AI is rolling out its video generator, AvatarFX, in general release after a month in closed beta. It’s also adding a sharing feature called Scenes and Streams that will serve content to Character.AI’s community feed, coming soon to mobile. Users can now tap AvatarFX to create up to five videos per day, starting by uploading a photo, choosing a voice and writing dialogue for the character. Character.AI started as 1:1 text chat in the summer of 2023. Now the company is “expanding into a multi-modal world” with “more ways for creators to build immersive narratives and dynamic experiences.” Continue reading Character.AI Goes Wide with AvatarFX, Adds Mobile Features

Two weeks after its global rebranding of GroupM to WPP Media, the bespoke London-based marketing behemoth is launching Open Intelligence, an “AI identity solution” that WPP says will better target viewers with privacy-conscious solutions that more effectively message on behalf of its clients. Built around what WPP calls “the industry’s first Large Marketing Model,” Open Intelligence is “trained on the world’s largest and most diverse set of audience, behavioral, and event data,” culled from WPP’s decentralized partnership network. “Our model learns continuously from trillions of signals across more than 350 partners in over 75 markets,” the company claims. Continue reading WPP Media Launches Industry’s First Large Marketing Model

An internal OpenAI document revealed as part of a discovery demand in the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust case against Google reveals OpenAI’s plan to turn ChatGPT into the public’s primary Internet interface. Although heavily redacted, the document effectively reveals OpenAI’s goal is to have ChatGPT replace Google Chrome and Search with an “AI super assistant that deeply understands you and is your interface to the Internet.” Aside from bolstering Google’s position that it has competition and is not an impregnable monopoly, the information contained therein provides an in-depth look at OpenAI’s roadmap. Continue reading OpenAI Seeks to Make ChatGPT New Gateway to the Internet

Anthropic’s new mobile conversation voice mode for its large language model Claude lets it search Google Docs, Drive, Calendar and more on smartphones. Just a week after debuting two new LLMs — Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4 — Anthropic announced the mobile updates for its Claude AI chatbot for iOS and Android and said it is extending web search for all users on free Claude plans. While Claude’s conversational voice interface is currently available only in English and only via mobile, an API for desktop use and browser-based support are part of future plans. Amazon and Google both have investment stakes in San Francisco-based Anthropic. Continue reading Anthropic Touts Mobile Voice Mode, Free Search for Claude

Google is launching AI Mode for its search platform, an interactive tool that functions much like a chatbot, allowing users to fine-tune queries with follow-up prompts. In the next few weeks, an AI Mode tab will appear in Google Search and in the Google app search bar. Following the introduction of AI Overviews last year, the company began experimenting with AI Mode early this year. “As we’ve rolled out AI Overviews, we’ve heard from power users who want an end-to-end AI Search experience,” explains Google in detailing the evolution of AI Mode. The new tool will also test various ad placements. Continue reading Google Is Reimagining Search with Launch of AI Mode in U.S.

OpenAI is releasing its Codex agentic coding tool in research preview. Codex lets developers delegate simple, routine programming tasks to software engineering agents that can generate production-ready code, documenting the work as they go. Codex can work on many tasks in parallel doing things like writing software features, answering questions about a codebase, fixing bugs, and proposing pull requests for review. According to OpenAI, “each task runs in its own cloud sandbox environment,” preloaded within the user’s repository. OpenAI began releasing Codex last week to ChatGPT Pro, Enterprise, and Team users, with support for Plus and Edu coming soon. Continue reading OpenAI Adds Codex Software Agent to Some ChatGPT Plans

Google is adding a “Simplify” feature for iOS users that uses AI to translate complex or technical text into language that aims to be easy to understand. Simplify leverages what Google calls “a novel prompt refinement approach developed by Google Research,” drawing on the company’s proprietary AI, Gemini, to make complicated writing “digestible — without losing key details.” Google’s research indicates people find Simplify’s plainspeak “significantly more helpful than the original complex text” and improved retention. “Simplify uses AI to make dense text on the web easier to understand — without leaving a web page,” Google explains. Continue reading Google Simplify App Makes Tough Text Easier to Understand