Librarians Host 'Avoiding AI' Workshops as Public Pushes Back Against Big Tech

AI news brief: South Philly librarian Charlie Bailey runs a one-hour Avoiding AI workshop where attendees pull out their phones and learn step-by-step how to disable Apple Intelligence and Gemini. The session first covers how AI chatbots and consumer AI tools work, why some people want to use them and why others opt out, then walks through slides showing how to turn off specific AI features across major platforms and devices.

2026-07-25 · 3 min · 485 words · Judy

Midjourney Acquires Astrology App Co-Star

AI news brief: Midjourney, known for AI image and video generation, has acquired social astrology app Co-Star. Deal terms undisclosed. Co-Star has around 4.3M monthly active users, helping users calculate their birth chart and share results with friends inside the app. The app combines AI with human writers to deliver horoscopes and compatibility analysis. This acquisition…

2026-07-25 · 2 min · 405 words · Judy

Bluesky's AI Assistant Attie Expands Into an Open Social Research Tool

AI News Brief: Attie is Bluesky’s AI assistant that lets users customize social feed algorithms without writing code, and it’s now expanding into an open research tool. This week Bluesky added a new feature called Quests to Attie, letting users query information and news spreading across the entire Bluesky social network (nicknamed the Atmosphere), covering not just Bluesky itself but also all apps built on the underlying AT Protocol, with users able to ask Attie to pull trending topic data or help identify the most influential accounts in a specific field or region.

2026-07-25 · 3 min · 569 words · Judy

OpenAI Launches AI-Specific Keyboard: Some Engineers Love It, Others Are Baffled

AI News Brief: OpenAI launched its first hardware product last week — a refined keyboard called Micro, designed to pair with ChatGPT, co-developed with professional keyboard maker Work Louder. The product is essentially a craft-grade peripheral for tech enthusiasts to play with, while general users may find it confusing. OpenAI’s foray into the hardware market hasn’t been smooth: Apple filed a lawsuit weeks ago accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets, and the two sides are expected to engage in a prolonged legal battle. Meanwhile, OpenAI is rumored to be developing another smart home device paired with ChatGPT, reportedly led by a team of former Apple engineers, which has also drawn attention.

2026-07-25 · 3 min · 509 words · Judy

Google Develops Next-Gen AI Chip to Boost Gemini Computing Efficiency

AI News Brief: Alphabet (Google’s parent company) is designing a new server chip for its Gemini model, internally codenamed ‘Frozen v2’. According to a report by The Information citing anonymous sources, this chip is expected to launch in 2028 and could be 6 to 10 times more efficient than Google’s current AI chips, measured by the number of tokens generated per unit of power…

2026-07-21 · 3 min · 572 words · Judy

AI Opens a New Path for Asian Manufacturing: From EVs to Humanoid Robots

AI News Brief: Asian manufacturers like TSMC and Foxconn are integrating AI into EVs and humanoid robots to counter the rapid expansion of Chinese competitors. Jun Seki, Foxconn’s EV business strategy chief, stated at Nikkei Global Digital Summit 2026 that as autonomous driving technology matures, EVs will become the market focus, and AI is the key technology for boosting self-driving capability. Attendees broadly agreed that autonomous driving and robotics can create new advantages for Asian manufacturers under the off-China supply chain trend — using tech differentiation to counter low-price expansion by Chinese players in EVs and robotics. The original summary is brief, only highlighting Foxconn executive remarks and the off-China supply chain strategic context, without specific technical specs, timelines, or numbers. See the original link for details. Overall, the report reflects Japanese and Asian tech media’s focus on the AI+hardware route: using AI to enhance EV self-driving and humanoid robot practicality is seen as an important strategic direction for Asian manufacturers to seek differentiation and supply chain autonomy under Chinese competitive pressure.

2026-07-21 · 2 min · 424 words · Judy

Trump's Latest AI Czar Has Already Resigned

AI News Brief: Chris Fall has resigned as director of the US Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), confirmed by the agency to multiple media outlets though no reason was given. Fall took the position just three months ago, succeeding Collin Burns who left after less than a week — reportedly due to his prior work at Anthropic while the Trump administration was feuding with the company. Before them, CAISI was led by venture capitalist David Sacks as White House AI and crypto policy chief until his March departure. Fall previously served as DOE Office of Science director (first Trump term) and acting ARPA-E director. CAISI sits under NIST and handles AI model technical standards, testing methods, and cybersecurity risk assessment, but was not the lead agency in the June Commerce export-control dispute over Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable models. This month the White House signed an executive order creating the Gold Eagle AI safety oversight plan, which notably excluded CAISI. Meanwhile, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis called for an independent industry standards body modeled after FINRA to regulate frontier AI — exactly what CAISI was created to do. Fall’s resignation comes as China’s Moonshot released Kimi, whose performance approaches frontier-level models, reigniting debate over whether the US should ban Chinese open-source models.

2026-07-21 · 3 min · 616 words · Judy

China's Moonshot AI Plans Hong Kong IPO as Kimi K3 Shocks Silicon Valley

AI News Brief: Moonshot AI is preparing for an IPO in Hong Kong, potentially within six months, according to two sources who spoke with Nikkei Asia. The company’s valuation and revenue continue to surge. Meanwhile, on July 17 at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Moonshot AI unveiled its latest Kimi K3 AI model and ran a booth to promote it, drawing significant attention from attendees. The market focus is whether this Chinese startup could trigger another ‘DeepSeek moment’ for the AI industry — delivering a relatively breakthrough in technology or business performance that once again shakes up the competitive landscape in Silicon Valley and the global AI industry. The report did not disclose specific valuation figures, revenue scale, or IPO fundraising amounts, noting only that the information came from insiders and remains unconfirmed by the company.

2026-07-21 · 2 min · 406 words · Judy

Five US Tech Giants' Hidden Debt Surges to $1.65 Trillion Amid Opaque AI Funding Structures

AI News Brief: An investigation by Japan’s Nikkei reveals that hidden off-balance-sheet debt at five US tech giants has ballooned eightfold in roughly four years to an estimated $1.65 trillion, exceeding their reported liabilities and making it harder for investors to gauge their true risk. The report shows these hidden debts stem mainly from data center lease agreements and GPU supply contracts…

2026-07-21 · 3 min · 436 words · Judy

Japan Plans Global Standards Push to Boost Influence Amid AI Chip Lag

AI News Brief: The Japanese government plans to create a new senior position dedicated to coordinating domestic tech capabilities toward international standards, aiming to help Japanese companies in AI, semiconductors, and related fields expand into global markets. The idea was raised by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at a growth strategy meeting in June, reflecting Tokyo’s awareness that Japan has fallen behind in setting international standards for key technologies like AI chips. By setting up this dedicated coordinator, Japan hopes to pool government and corporate resources, push Japanese technical specs into international standards, and boost Japanese firms’ leverage in global supply chains. The current original summary only covers this initial personnel and policy concept — specific role title, reporting unit, timeline, and which technology areas or standards bodies to prioritize haven’t been disclosed. See the original link for details.

2026-07-21 · 2 min · 415 words · Judy
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