Machine Learning Research
Open Source Wins by David Cox: David Cox, VP for AI Models at IBM Research, on the need for open development in AI
My hope is that open AI continues to flourish and ultimately wins.
Responsible AI
Business
Disney Teams Up With OpenAI: OpenAI’s Sora video generator will include Disney characters, with fan videos on Disney+
Disney, the entertainment conglomerate that owns Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm and its own animated classics from 101 Dalmatians to Zootopia, licensed OpenAI to use its characters in generated videos.
Machine Learning Research
Toward Steering LLM Personality: Persona Vectors allow model builders to identify and edit out sycophancy, hallucinations, and more
Large language models can develop character traits like cheerfulness or sycophancy during fine-tuning. Researchers developed a method to identify, monitor, and control such traits.
Business
Record Labels Back AI-Music Startup: Klay Image emerges from relative obscurity to announce deals with Sony, Warner, and Universal
A music-generation newcomer emerged from stealth mode with licenses to train generative AI models on music controlled by the world’s biggest recording companies.
Machine Learning Research
Anthropic Cyberattack Report Sparks Controversy: Security researchers question whether coding agents allow unprecedented automated attacks
Independent cybersecurity researchers pushed back on a report by Anthropic that claimed hackers had used its Claude Code agentic coding system to perpetrate an unprecedented automated cyberattack.
Machine Learning Research
The Year AI Went Industrial: The State of AI Report 2025 says AI’s barriers aren’t technological but social and material
A year-in-review report heralds the dawn of AI’s industrial era.
Tech & Society
Toward Safer (and Sexier) Chatbots: Inside Character AI and OpenAI’s policy changes to protect younger and vulnerable Users
Chatbot providers, facing criticism for engaging troubled users in conversations that deepen their distress, are updating their services to provide wholesome interactions to younger users while allowing adults to pursue erotic conversations.
Machine Learning Research
Masking Private Data in Training Sets: Google researchers released VaultGemma, an open-weights model redacting personal information
Large language models often memorize details in their training data, including private information that may appear only once, like a person’s name, address, or phone number. Researchers built the first open-weights language model that’s guaranteed not to remember such facts.
Business
OpenAI Reorganizes For Profit: ChatGPT’s maker completed restructuring, freeing it to go public, make deals with new partners
OpenAI completed its transition from nonprofit to for-profit in a feat of legal engineering that took an army of lawyers, investment bankers, and two state attorneys general 18 months to negotiate.
Tech & Society
Autonomous Systems Wage War: Drones are redefining warfare. What if humans lose control?
Drones are becoming the deadliest weapons in today’s war zones, and they’re not just following orders. Should AI decide who lives or dies?
Business
The AI Boom Is Bound to Bust: What if big investments in AI models, data centers, and hot startups don't pay off?
Leading AI companies are spending mountains of cash in hopes that the technology will deliver outsize profits before investors lose patience. Are exuberant bets on big returns grounded in the quicksand of wishful thinking?
Tech & Society
Chatbots Lead Users Into Rabbit Holes: When paranoia, delusions, and other signs of mental illness meet AI
Conversations with chatbots are loosening users’ grips on reality, fueling the sorts of delusions that can trigger episodes of severe mental illness. Are AI models driving us insane?