Ai Artificial Intelligence Archive

Richard LawlerNov 4

Meta bought an AI coding startup.

First, xAI spent $60 billion on Cursor, and now Meta picked up Conductor for an undisclosed amount, as reported previously by Axios, as they all compete with the likes of Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex.

Conductor’s product is built to let software engineers manage multiple agents at once, and says it will wind down its existing setup:

Conductor Cloud goes read-only on November 13 and shuts down on November 20.
Local Conductor keeps getting new models and critical bug fixes until early 2027.

17 better ways Elon Musk could have wasted $446 million

Election 2026

17 better ways Elon Musk could have wasted $446 million

Elizabeth LopattoNov 4

Gemini for Home now plugs into AT&T’s smart security system

Emma RothNov 4

Jay PetersNov 4

Apple is reportedly lowering AI usage budgets.

The company dropped daily caps from $300 to $200 for engineers and is planning additional reductions, Bloomberg reports.

Apple Cuts Internal AI Usage Budgets in Move to Reduce Spending

[Bloomberg]

Jay PetersNov 4

Anthropic tweaks how Claude Code handles requests about making games.

After clamping down on AI video game clones amid the bigger influx of reverse-engineered games, the company is adjusting its approach to try and discourage straight-up copies:

We’d added a short rule to the Opus 5.5 prompt to steer Claude away from recreating specific existing games, but it was also kicking in when you referenced one just to describe the mechanics you wanted.
We’ve updated that rule in 2.1.317. You can name a game to describe what you want and Claude should now build an original game in that genre. If you ask for a copy of the original, it’ll offer to build something similar instead.

Terrence O'BrienNov 4

Axon is being sued over its AI license plate reading cameras.

LA recently decided to move forward with installing hundreds of Axon’s ALPRs after it cut ties with the scandal-plagued Flock. Now Axon is facing a class action suit, suggesting people’s problem is less with Flock specifically and more with the AI-powered surveillance state in general. According to Reuters:

The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco by law firms Hausfeld and Gibbs Mura, alleges Axon ⁠has failed to comply with a California privacy provision by not disclosing how it collects, uses and shares plate data gathered through its camera systems. “Axon has created a mass-surveillance infrastructure that is practically impossible to avoid,” the lawsuit said.

Nothing teases a screen-free AI device ahead of launch next month

Stevie BonifieldNov 4

ChatGPT will now make you animated GIFs

Emma RothNov 4

Optimizer

My therapist thinks I should chuck the Amazon Bee Frontier out a window

Filtering conversations and memories through AI is a reality-bending lesson in why intelligence can’t replace wisdom.

Victoria SongNov 4

Jay PetersNov 4

This week in the big AI data center buildout.

AI data center projects are continuing to pop up across the US, with frequent opposition from locals concerned about their impact. Here are a few recent articles about the projects:

Bloomberg: AI Data Center Boom Set for Upheaval After US Election Rout
The Guardian: How a small Wisconsin city scuttled a secretive $1.6bn datacenter project
The Hill: San Diego delays data center after residents — including Lord Farquaad, Elmo — address City Council
The Salt Lake Tribune: After data center controversy, the Box Elder County Commission will get two new members

Terrence O'BrienNov 4

Watch two humanoid robots put in a full 8-hour shift at a factory.

Xiaomi posted a time-lapse video on X of two of its humanoid robots working a full shift at a sorting station in an auto factory. Not sure why, but something about losing a job to a humanoid robot seems much more dystopian than losing it to a giant industrial machine.

Data centers lost the midterms

In ballot measures and exit polls, voters across the country rejected unrestrained development.

Lauren FeinerNov 4

Uber only fulfilled 4 rides from AI agents last quarter

Andrew J. HawkinsNov 4

Emma RothNov 4

OpenAI is acquiring software startup Pierre Computer Company.

OpenAI has already integrated tools from Pierre — the startup behind the AI-focused repository Code Storage — into its AI coding platform, Codex. The acquisition will help Codex “connect the code a company ships with the decisions its people make,” OpenAI says.

OpenAI to acquire Pierre Computer Company, Inc.

[OpenAI]