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Tag: Artificial Intelligence

  • Sam Altman Defends A.I. Energy Use With Human Comparison, Sparking Debate

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    Sam Altman challenged critics of A.I.’s water and electricity consumption. Photo by John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images

    Sam Altman is pushing back on mounting criticism over the environmental toll of A.I. The OpenAI chief has dismissed claims about A.I.’s water consumption as “fake” and drawn comparisons between the electricity required to power A.I. systems and the energy it takes to develop human intelligence.

    Figures suggesting that tools like ChatGPT consume multiple gallons of water per query are “totally insane” and have “no connection to reality,” Altman said in a Feb. 20 interview with The Indian Express on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. Last year, Altman claimed that ChatGPT uses 0.000085 gallons of water per query—roughly one-fifteenth of a teaspoon—though he did not explain how he calculated that figure.

    A.I.’s water footprint largely stems from the need for evaporative cooling systems used to keep data center hardware from overheating. But Altman argued that companies like OpenAI are no longer directly managing such cooling processes. Many A.I. developers, he noted, are shifting toward cooling systems that recirculate liquid rather than continually drawing fresh supplies. Meanwhile, tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon have pledged to replenish more water than they withdraw by 2030.

    Even so, data centers continue to drink up water at a rapid pace. Total A.I.-related water consumption for cooling reached 23.7 cubic kilometers in 2025, a 38 percent increase over 2020, and is expected to more than triple over the next 25 years, according to a January report from Xylem. Despite the industry’s pivot to alternative methods, the report found that 56 percent of data center capacity still relies on some form of evaporative cooling.

    Altman was more measured when it came to electricity usage. “What is fair, though, is the energy consumption,” he said. “We need to move towards nuclear, wind, and solar very quickly.”

    Last April, the International Energy Agency reported that data centers accounted for roughly 1.5 percent of global electricity consumption in 2024. Their power use is rising at a rate more than four times faster than overall electricity demand and is expected to more than double by 2030.

    In response, major tech companies are pursuing data center agreements tied to alternative energy sources, including nuclear power, to ease pressure on grids. Altman, who previously led Y Combinator, has personally invested in nuclear ventures such as Oklo, which is developing small-scale nuclear plants, and Helion, which aims to commercialize nuclear fusion.

    The OpenAI CEO also argued that critics overlook the energy required to develop human intelligence. “People talk about how much energy it takes to train an A.I. model relative to how much it costs a human to do one inference query,” he said. “But it also takes a lot of energy to train a human—it takes, like, 20 years of life and all the food you eat during that time before you get started.”

    A more appropriate comparison, he suggested, would measure the energy used by a fully trained A.I. model to answer a question against that used by a human doing the same task. “Probably A.I. has already caught up on an energy efficiency basis measured that way.”

    The remarks quickly sparked debate online over whether such comparisons are appropriate. “He’s saying a really big spreadsheet and a baby are morally equivalent,” wrote Matt Stoller, research director of the American Economic Liberties Project, in a post on X. Sridhar Vembu, founder and chief scientist of software firm Zoho Corporation, also took issue with the OpenAI chief’s statements. A.I. should “quietly recede into the background” instead of dominating our lives, said the billionaire on X. “I do not want to see a world where we equate a piece of technology to a human being.”

    Sam Altman Defends A.I. Energy Use With Human Comparison, Sparking Debate

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  • Trump’s science and tech man lays out White House’s global AI strategy

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    U.S. policy is often reported through announcements, personalities and regulatory skirmishes. Far less attention is paid to the economic mechanisms that actually move structures and determine outcomes.

    To understand how the White House is organizing a multipronged strategy for AI adoption and export, and how its pieces are meant to work together in practice, I had an exclusive sit down with Michael Kratsios, assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

    Tanvi Ratna: The fundamental issue you speak about at the summit is the widening AI adoption gap between the developed and developing world. What makes that a concern for the White House right now?

    Michael Kratsios: The divergence in AI adoption between developed and developing countries is growing every day. We see the world in two broad categories, and different tools are needed for each.

    Developing countries are at risk of falling behind at a fundamental inflection point. That is why we urge them to prioritize AI adoption in sectors that deliver concrete benefits: healthcare, education, energy infrastructure, agriculture, and citizen-facing government services.

    Michael Kratsios testifies before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Science, Manufacturing, and Competitiveness on Capitol Hill on Sept. 10, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)

    For too long, countries seeking development support faced a false choice. We believe the American AI Exports Program offers a different path: trusted best-in-class technology, financing to overcome adoption barriers, and deployment support, so governments can learn how and where to use these tools.

    America remains the undisputed leader in AI, from GPUs to data centers to frontier models and applications. That leadership brings with it a responsibility to share the foundations of a new era of innovation. We stand ready to work with partners around the world so creativity, freedom and prosperity shape today’s technological revolution.

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    Tanvi Ratna: A lot of governments say they want AI leadership. Your delegation came in talking about real AI sovereignty, rejecting global governance, and launching an export program with multiple prongs. What is fundamentally different about this approach, and how should countries understand the system you’re building?

    Michael Kratsios: The hope of the United States is that the pursuit of real AI sovereignty, the adoption and deployment of sovereign infrastructure, sovereign data, sovereign models and sovereign policies within national borders and under national control, will become an occasion for bilateral diplomacy, international development, and global economic dynamism. The American AI Exports Program exists to make that happen.

    Real AI sovereignty means owning and using best-in-class technology for the benefit of your people, and charting your national destiny in the midst of global transformations. We urge nations to focus on strategic autonomy alongside rapid AI adoption rather than aiming for full self-sufficiency. AI adoption cannot lead to a brighter future if it is subject to bureaucracies and centralized control.

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    We deeply believe that the best pathway for the developing world to fully realize the untold benefits of AI is through the adoption of the American AI stack. The American AI stack has the best chips, the best models and the best applications in the world, and that is what countries ultimately need to deploy AI effectively.

    Tanvi Ratna: When you say the American AI stack, are you talking about selling products, or shaping the foundation on which countries build while keeping sensitive data under national control?

    Michael Kratsios: Working with the American AI stack allows nations to build on the best technologies in the world while keeping sensitive data within their borders. Independent partners are critical to unlocking the prosperity AI adoption can deliver. That is why the president launched the American AI Exports Program.

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    American companies can build large, independent AI infrastructure with secure and robust supply chains that minimize backdoor risk. They build it, and it belongs to the country deploying it.

    Michael Kratsios, assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, speaks at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on Feb. 21, 2026.

    Michael Kratsios, assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, speaks at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on Feb. 21, 2026.

    Tanvi Ratna: If this is an adoption strategy, then cost and complexity become the bottlenecks. Your public remarks emphasize financing and deployment sophistication as the two biggest hurdles for developing countries. How are you actually removing those barriers?

    Michael Kratsios: Developing countries face two major obstacles to AI adoption. One is financing. The AI stack is expensive. Through the energy and material demands of its infrastructure, it brings the digital transformation of our world back into physical reality. Data centers, semiconductors, power production all require real labor and real resources.

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    The second barrier is a deficit in the technical sophistication needed to deploy AI tools effectively. To address this, we announced a U.S. government-wide suite of support initiatives to facilitate global adoption of trusted AI systems, create a competitive and interoperable AI ecosystem, and advance the American AI Exports Program in both developed and developing partner nations.

    Tanvi Ratna: Spell out that suite. What are the prongs, capital, integration, standards, execution, and which agencies are being activated?

    Michael Kratsios: We unveiled a new set of initiatives across the federal government supporting the American AI Exports Program, which was launched by executive order last July.

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    The first new initiative within it is the National Champions Initiative. It is designed to include the leading technology companies of partner countries directly into the American AI stack. We want the best technologies from all our partners and allies to be part of that ecosystem wherever the American AI stack goes.

    The second is a full suite of financing and funding opportunities. We are mobilizing support through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, the Export Import Bank, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, and a new World Bank fund, with additional programs launched by Treasury and other parts of the U.S. government. The message is simple: this is serious. Every possible financing avenue is being brought to bear.

    The third is the creation of the U.S. Tech Corps. It is a reimagining of how the Peace Corps can make an impact in the modern era. We are seeking Americans with technical backgrounds who can help deploy American technology abroad, because there is no better tool to drive economic development, health improvements, and quality of life gains than AI.

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    And finally, we believe one of the fastest ways to drive global adoption is through standards, particularly as the next wave of innovation centers on AI agents. How those agents communicate and coordinate their actions will benefit from unified standards, which is why NIST has launched a dedicated initiative.

    Tanvi Ratna: The National Champions Initiative is easy to misunderstand. Critics hear American stack and assume dependency. Your framing suggests the opposite, integrating partner champions so countries do not have to choose between importing the stack and building domestic capability. Is that the point?

    Michael Kratsios: Exactly. To integrate partner nation companies with the American AI stack and ensure that no country has to choose between completing the stack and developing domestic AI, we established the National Champions Initiative. Partners need the opportunity to build native technology industries, and facilitating that is a core part of the exports program.

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    Tanvi Ratna: You have also criticized previous U.S. approaches to AI diffusion for restricting partners. What did that get wrong strategically?

    Michael Kratsios: The previous approach treated partners as second-tier actors with significant restrictions on access to advanced technology. That was a lose-lose AI diplomacy strategy. It cut off partners from the best technology and limited American companies from competing globally.

    Under President Trump, the United States is rethinking how it advances international development and how technology can deliver lasting impact. We believe both developed and developing countries can build sovereign AI capability if given the chance.

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    Tanvi Ratna: Let’s talk about the Tech Corps, because it would be easy to dismiss it as a feel-good addition. In your model, it sounds like an execution layer. What would these teams actually do on the ground?

    Michael Kratsios: These will be like Peace Corps volunteers, except the focus is on technology. We are looking for people with technical backgrounds who want to help implement AI solutions.

    If a country wants to improve agriculture through precision farming, apply AI to healthcare systems to improve hospital efficiency, or modernize digital public services, American technologists through the Tech Corps and the Peace Corps will be able to support those efforts.

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    A lot of young people today care deeply about real-world impact. What is special about this moment is that the United States has incredible technology, the best chips, models, and applications, and we are being more deliberate about sharing it.

    Tanvi Ratna: You put unusual emphasis on AI agents and interoperability. Why does the White House see standards as a strategic lever now?

    Michael Kratsios: The next wave of AI innovation over the next year or two will center on agents. How those agents communicate and orchestrate their actions would benefit greatly from unified standards. NIST has launched an initiative to develop standards for agents, so these systems can interoperate securely and effectively.

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    Tanvi Ratna: You also linked this export architecture to supply chains, from chips to data centers to power and minerals. Where does Pax Silica fit? Is it the hard backbone complement to the adoption layer?

    Michael Kratsios: Pax Silica is a broader alliance focused on supply chain challenges that the United States and many partner nations have faced. It is a small, select group of countries working together to alleviate these challenges. India is a tremendous addition.

    AI adoption depends on secure physical inputs. The AI stack is tangible: data centers, semiconductors, power generation. Pax Silica helps address those vulnerabilities while the exports program accelerates adoption. They are complementary.

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    Tanvi Ratna: Since India hosted the summit and joined Pax Silica, what role do you see for India within this strategy?

    Michael Kratsios: India is a technology powerhouse. It graduates an incredible number of engineers, has deep domestic talent, and is building strong products and applications. We look forward to working with them.

    India has long been a strong partner in how the United States shares technology abroad. Our major hyperscalers have data centers and research operations here and employ large numbers of Indian engineers. We believe many Indian companies can ultimately become part of the American AI stack.

    Tanvi Ratna: When critics frame this as being about China, you resist that characterization. How does the administration view competition?

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    Michael Kratsios: We do not see this as being about any one competitor. This is about the fact that the United States has the best AI technology in the world, and many countries want it in their ecosystems. We are excited to share it and build mutually beneficial partnerships globally.

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    Tanvi Ratna is a policy analyst and engineer with a decade of experience in statecraft at the intersection of geopolitics, economics, and technology. She has worked on Capitol Hill, at EY, at CoinDesk and others, shaping policy across sectors from manufacturing to AI. Follow her takes on statecraft on X and Substack. 

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  • Atlanta tests driverless pod transit loop

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    If you have ever sat in traffic staring at brake lights and questioning your life choices, this story will hit home.

    South Metro Atlanta is becoming the first place in the world to publicly test Glydways’ Automated Transit Network in live passenger service. The idea sounds simple. Put small electric vehicles on their own narrow guideways. Keep them out of mixed traffic. Use AI to coordinate everything. The promise? Rail level capacity at bus fare prices without decade-long construction headaches.

    That is a bold claim. So let’s unpack it.

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    Glydways’ automated transit network will begin live passenger testing in South Metro Atlanta in December 2026, marking the first public deployment of the driverless pod system. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

    What is the Atlanta automated transit network pilot?

    The pilot is a 0.5-mile dedicated guideway connecting the ATL SkyTrain at the Georgia International Convention Center to the Gateway Center Arena. It will launch as a free public test service in December 2026.

    Instead of buses weaving through traffic or trains stopping at every platform, Glydways operates small electric passenger pods on a private lane. Riders request a trip through an app, and within minutes, a pod arrives. From there, passengers travel directly from point A to point B with no intermediate stops. That means no fighting SUVs, no getting stuck behind a delivery truck and no red lights.

    Because the vehicles run on their own guideway, they maintain consistent speeds in tight formations. As a result, the company says the system can move up to 10,000 people per hour on a guideway just over six feet wide. If those numbers hold up in real-world testing, the system could carry as many people per hour as a light rail line.

    Why South Metro Atlanta was chosen for the pilot

    This location was not random. A 2019 feasibility study from the ATL Airport Community Improvement Districts identified the airport area as a 24-hour mobility district with serious first- and last-mile gaps. In plain terms, people can get close to where they need to go. They just cannot easily get that last leg of their trip. That affects workers, convention visitors and arena guests. It also affects underserved communities that struggle to connect to jobs and transit.

    So the pilot serves as a controlled environment. Demand is predictable. Distances are short. Plus, stakeholders such as MARTA, Fulton County and Clayton County are already involved and on board. If it works here, expansion could follow.

    How Atlanta’s driverless pod system differs from robotaxis

    You may be thinking, “We already have autonomous vehicles.” True. Companies like Waymo run driverless cars on public roads. But Glydways argues that putting autonomous vehicles into existing traffic does not solve congestion. In some cases, it makes it worse. The key difference here is separation.

    These pods do not mix with regular traffic. They run on purpose-built guideways with controlled access. That allows tighter spacing, predictable speeds and lower maintenance. In other words, it is more like a lightweight rail system without the heavy rail infrastructure.

    Can the economics of the Atlanta transit pilot work?

    Technology is not the hard part. Autonomous vehicles on dedicated lanes are fairly straightforward engineering. The real question is cost.

    Traditional rail projects can run into the hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. They often take years to build. Glydways claims its infrastructure deploys faster and cheaper, though specific Atlanta construction costs have not been disclosed.

    Operational costs also stay lower because there are no drivers, vehicles are electric, and the guideway environment reduces wear and tear. The company says unsubsidized bus fare pricing is core to its model. While that sounds great on paper, the Atlanta pilot will show whether the math works in practice.

    THE ROBOTAXI PRICE WAR HAS STARTED. HERE’S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW 

    The interior of a transit vehicle.

    Officials say the half-mile pilot could move up to 10,000 passengers per hour if real-world testing meets projections. (Getty)

    Atlanta Transit pilot timeline and what happens next

    Construction began in early 2026. Guideway installation, vehicle testing and system commissioning are underway. Passenger service is scheduled for December 2026.

    By 2027, the goal is a fully operational South Metro pilot delivering real-world data and rider feedback. A feasibility study led by MARTA will then evaluate whether expansion across the broader Atlanta region makes sense.

    If successful, future routes could connect airports, suburban corridors and high-traffic districts where rail is too expensive.

    Why the Atlanta automated transit network matters beyond Georgia

    Traffic congestion is not just an Atlanta problem. It is a global one. Glydways has signed agreements in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and has held discussions in Tokyo, Florida, California and New York. South Metro Atlanta is the global proving ground.

    If this pilot demonstrates reliable performance, strong rider adoption and sustainable economics, other cities will take notice. If it fails, critics will point to it as another ambitious transit experiment that looked better in a PowerPoint deck than on the street.

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    Photo of transit tracks.

    Small electric pods running on a dedicated guideway aim to bypass traffic and connect the ATL SkyTrain to Gateway Center Arena. (Getty)

    Kurt’s key takeaways

    Atlanta drivers know congestion is not going away on its own. Adding lanes rarely solves the problem. Traditional rail is expensive and slow to deploy. So cities are searching for net new capacity. Something that expands mobility without competing with what already exists. This pilot represents a serious attempt to rethink public transit from the ground up. It blends private lanes, electric vehicles and AI coordination into something that sits between bus and rail. Now the spotlight is on South Metro Atlanta. Will this be the beginning of a scalable new transit model or another well-intentioned experiment that struggles once real-world economics kick in?

    If a driverless pod could pick you up on demand and bypass traffic entirely, would you trust it with your daily commute? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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    Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

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  • Canada’s Carney to Visit India, Australia, and Japan

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    Feb 23 (Reuters) – ⁠Canada’s ⁠Prime Minister ⁠Mark Carney will ​travel to India, ‌Australia, and Japan, ‌from ⁠February ⁠26 to March 7,  the Canadian government ​said on Monday.

    Carney will meet ​with Indian Prime Minister ⁠Narendra Modi, ⁠Australian Prime ⁠Minister Anthony ​Albanese and Japanese Prime ​Minister ⁠Sanae Takaichi during his visits to ⁠the three countries, the government statement said.  

    The ⁠visits aim to expand partnerships in areas such as energy, technology, artificial intelligence, and critical minerals, among ⁠others, the government said.   

    (Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham in ​Bengaluru; Editing by ​Sharon Singleton)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Sam Altman: Know What Else Used a Lot of Energy? Human Civilization

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    At last week’s India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, industry leaders convened to discuss the future of artificial intelligence and how best to squeeze it into parts of your life you haven’t even considered. Notably absent was Bill Gates, who dropped out hours before his scheduled keynote over the ongoing scrutiny about his presence in the Epstein Files (though he continues to deny any wrongdoing). While the convention was reportedly a bit chaotic, what with the protests and all, the luminaries from around the tech world present nonetheless kept things upbeat and optimistic, declaring “full steam ahead” on the technological hype train carrying our species and planet off a cliff.

    Also in attendance was OpenAI’s Sam Altman, who earned numerous headlines over the course of the event for his words and antics. His buzz blitzkrieg started on Thursday at a seemingly easy photo-opp layup with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other AI executives all raising their joined hands in a celebratory display of industry-wide solidarity. Altman and the former colleague and present CEO of Anthropic to his left, Dario Amodei, notably refused to complete the chain and hold each other’s hands, making for an all-too-poignant moment. Altman would continue to make news throughout the summit for his comments on the industry’s “urgent” need for global regulation and his sneaking suspicion that companies might actually be using AI as a scapegoat to whitewash their layoffs.

    Ever the yapper, Altman has bagged yet another round of earned media for an interview with The Indian Express’ Anant Goenka, during which he posited some controversial rebuttals to concerns about AI’s environmental impact.

    Altman started off by saying the claims about ChatGPT consuming “‘17 gallons of water for each query’ or whatever,” are “completely untrue, totally insane, no connection to reality,” before qualifying that, OK, maybe it was a valid concern when his company “used to do evaporative cooling in data centers.”

    He went on to say that there is “fair” concern about the amount of energy data centers eat to crank out the most soulless slop you’ve ever seen, but suggested the onus of responsibility for dealing with AI’s ravenous appetite falls to the energy sector itself, which Altman feels needs to “move towards nuclear or wind and solar very quickly.”

    Altman then stunned the crowd and firmly re-entered the discourse with a mind-blowing truth bomb for those who still felt AI was consuming too much energy.

    “It also takes a lot of energy to train a human,” Altman rejoined euphorically. “It takes like 20 years of life, and all the food you eat before that time, before you get smart. And not only that, it took like the very widespread evolution of the hundred billion people that have ever lived and learned not to get eaten by predators and learned how to figure out science and whatever to produce you, and then you took whatever you took.”

    It is true that every person and the sum total of human civilization have consumed a sizable amount of energy (and water) to get to where we are today. While the value comparison of a nascent tech industry and its models to the entirety of civilization and human beings may have elicited adulation at the summit, Altman got an icier reception from the internet. Social media quickly took to roasting the remarks as “dystopian” and “deeply antisocial and antihuman.”

    Perhaps further illuminating the backlash, Altman’s energy comments butt up against the frustrating lack of transparency within the industry our collective futures now hinge upon. There are currently no regulations in place requiring data centers to disclose their water and energy consumption. Furthermore, center employees and business partners are typically muzzled by nondisclosure agreements. This has made reporting and research on the true expenditure levels a tricky figure to pin down.

    At least we’ve got Sam to keep us informed while waiting for some clarity about what’s actually going on and being used in those centers.

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  • An Unbothered Jimmy Wales Calls Grokipedia a ‘Cartoon Imitation’ of Wikipedia

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    In our increasingly enshittified online experience, the last bastions of the Internet’s initial egalitarian promise shine like diamonds. These holdout Golden Era vestiges somehow remain useful and unadulterated by corporate greed, while under constant siege for their recalcitrance. The crown jewel of these stalwarts is Wikipedia. Sustained by a legion of volunteer editors and beg-a-thon donations since 2001, the humble open-source encyclopedia is generally regarded as our best effort yet to amass the sum of all human knowledge. Free, citation-filled, and perpetually self-auditing, it’s no wonder so many consider the online encyclopedia to be one of the few wonders of the digital world.

    Beyond an incalculable benefit to humans, this font of free information has also made model-training a whole lot easier for AI companies. But once Wikipedia-trained models began spitting out facts that comported with reality’s well-known liberal bias and pierced the industry’s echo chamber bubble, some were displeased. Cognitive dissonance now at the wheel, they declared Wikipedia yet another victim of the “woke mind virus” and set out to build their own Library of Alexandria. Leading the charge in this crusade is Elon Musk, who launched an AI-powered competitor, Grokipedia, last October.

    While speaking at India’s AI Impact Summit in New Delhi this week, Wikipedia co-founder and spokesperson Jimmy Wales was asked about the threat the site faced from Grokipedia and its ilk. Unbothered, he dismissed the xAI project as “a cartoon imitation of an encyclopedia.”

    Wales went on to champion the humans behind Wikipedia—and the mastery and due diligence they provide—as key ingredients to the site’s success.

    “Why do I go to Wikipedia? I go to Wikipedia because it’s human-vetted knowledge,” explained Wales. “We would not consider for a second today letting an AI just write Wikipedia articles because we know how bad they can be.”

    Wales described the propensity for AI models to “hallucinate” erroneous, misleading, or tangential information as their primary disqualifying factor. And he’s not wrong. A 2025 OpenAI study showed even their advanced models were still hallucinating at rates as high as 79% in some tests.

    As Wales explained, these sorts of errors become even more common and apparent when AI is asked to delve increasingly deeper into a subject—one that may already be niche. Where AI models fail here, their human counterparts shine. Wales touted these subject-matter experts—the “obsessives”—as the best guards against inaccuracies and providers for optimal knowledge-seeking experiences.

    “That sort of full, rich human context of understanding is actually quite important in terms of really understanding both what does the reader want and what does the reader need,” said Wales.

    If anything, Wales did Grokipedia a kindness by keeping the conversation hallucination-focused. Plenty of journalists and critics have already dug into the many controversies arising from Musk’s white nationalist, navel-gazing facsimile.

    Even with Wikipedia still being the universally agreed-upon ark of earthly info, a larger issue remains. We aren’t arguing over a shared reality anymore. With Grokipedia, a distinctly rival one has been created. And the more who use it, the further we get from ever fusing our two worlds back together.

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  • AI dating cafes are now a real thing

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    Dating has changed a lot over the past decade. First, we moved from meeting people in person to swiping on apps. Now, some people are skipping human partners altogether and dating AI. That shift became very real at a recent pop-up event in Hell’s Kitchen in New York, where EvaAI, an AI companion app, hosted what it called a dating cafe. Guests arrived solo and brought their virtual partners with them.

    Instead of someone sitting across the table, many had a phone or tablet propped up between the candles. They slipped on headphones, smiled at their screens and carried on full conversations with digital companions. It looked like a normal date night. It just happened to include artificial intelligence.

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    AI COMPANIONS ARE RESHAPING TEEN EMOTIONAL BONDS     

    A New York wine bar in Hell’s Kitchen transforms into EVA AI Cafe, what the company calls the world’s first AI dating cafe, complete with neon signage and candlelit tables.  (EvaAI)

    EvaAI takes AI relationships into the real world

    EvaAI organized the event to give users a chance to take their AI companion out on a real date. The app allows people to create customizable AI partners for text and video chat. For one evening, those private conversations moved into a public setting. Guests set up their devices on stands and began chatting with their AI partners as drinks were poured and music played. Some described their companions as friends. Others framed the relationship as romantic, often involving roleplay or fantasy scenarios.

    Company representatives said the goal was to reduce stigma around AI companion relationships. They emphasized that the app is not designed to replace human partners. Instead, they position it as support for people who feel lonely or who want a low-pressure way to build confidence. Still, seeing rows of candlelit tables with screens instead of people makes the shift feel tangible.

    What is an AI companion relationship?

    An AI companion relationship happens when someone forms an emotional or romantic bond with a chatbot designed to simulate personality and conversation.

    On platforms like EvaAI, users can:

    • Swipe through AI characters
    • Customize appearance and personality
    • Text or video chat anytime
    • Create romantic or fantasy scenarios

    You control the interaction. You decide when it starts and when it ends. You shape the personality to fit what you want. For many people, that control feels safe. There is no fear of rejection. No pressure to impress. No awkward silence unless you want one. If you have ever felt burned out by dating apps, you can probably understand the appeal.

    Why are more people turning to AI for romance?

    Modern dating can feel exhausting. You swipe, match and message. Then conversations disappear. AI cuts out a lot of the drama. There is no ghosting. No mixed signals. No waiting hours to reply, so you do not seem too eager. Instead, you get immediate engagement. For people who struggle with anxiety or who do not have many daily interactions, that can feel comforting. Some users say AI helps them practice conversation before dating real people. Others say it fills a social gap during lonely periods.

    Younger generations are also growing up with AI integrated into daily life. Talking to a chatbot no longer feels unusual. Adding emotional connection may feel like the next step. Surveys show a noticeable percentage of adults have experimented with AI in a romantic or intimate way. Among teens, the numbers are even higher.

    The benefits and the tradeoffs of AI relationships

    AI companion relationships come with real upsides. For example, they can reduce loneliness and provide emotional reassurance. In many cases, they also help people rehearse difficult conversations before having them in real life. As a result, some users say they feel more confident and socially prepared.

    However, there are clear tradeoffs. Unlike AI, real relationships require compromise, unpredictability and emotional growth. While a digital partner adapts to your preferences, a human partner may challenge you in unexpected ways. In contrast, AI typically responds the way you prefer and rarely pushes back unless designed to do so.

    Two human-like robots standing side-by-side.

    Moya’s humanlike appearance is intentional, from her warm skin to subtle facial details designed to feel familiar rather than mechanical.   (DroidUp)

    Over time, spending several hours a day in digital intimacy may shift expectations about real-world connections. At the New York event, some attendees admitted they feel more comfortable interacting with their AI companion at home rather than in crowded spaces. Because the app offers a high level of control, it can feel safer than face-to-face interaction. On one hand, that comfort can build confidence. On the other hand, it may reinforce isolation. Ultimately, the outcome depends on how intentionally the technology is used.

    TEENS TURNING TO AI FOR LOVE AND COMFORT

    Are AI companion relationships a passing trend or the future?

    It is easy to dismiss an AI dating cafe as a quirky tech stunt. Then again, meeting someone through a dating app once felt strange, too. Technology keeps advancing. Video syncing looks smoother. Voices sound more natural. Conversations feel more responsive.

    As AI becomes more lifelike, emotional attachment may deepen. EvaAI’s leadership has made clear that they do not view the app as a substitute for human relationships. They describe it as support during periods without a partner or as practice for real-world dating. Whether users maintain that boundary over time remains an open question.

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    Kurt’s key takeaways

    If you had told someone ten years ago that people would bring a chatbot to a wine bar for date night, they probably would have laughed. Now it is happening, and not quietly. The AI dating cafe in New York highlighted something very human. People want connection. When dating feels exhausting, awkward or intimidating, they look for something that feels safer and easier to manage. 

    For some, AI companion relationships may serve as practice. For others, they may become a primary source of emotional support. The technology will keep improving. The bigger question is how we choose to use it. We once debated whether meeting someone online counted as “real.” AI may follow a similar path, or it may remain a niche comfort for a certain group of people.

    Two people on a date

    Instead of someone sitting across the table, diners video chat with customizable AI partners, blending virtual romance with a real world setting. (iStock)

    If an AI companion helps someone feel less lonely and more confident, does it really matter that the connection is digital, or is the lack of a human on the other side a line you would never cross? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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    Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

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  • State to use AI to improve government

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    BOSTON — Artificial intelligence is being used for everything from guiding self-powered cars and developing life-saving medicines to powering online search engines that help you find a plumber or pick holiday gifts for your family.

    And the machine learning platform could soon be employed by the state government to speed up the processes of getting a state permit, renewing a vehicle registration or detecting fraud in public benefits programs.

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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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  • Fox News AI Newsletter: AI giant moves HQ to red state

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    Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, poses beside the company’s logo ahead of an interview with Reuters in the Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland, May 23, 2022. (REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann)

    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    Welcome to Fox News’ Artificial Intelligence newsletter with the latest AI technology advancements.

    IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:

    – AI giant Palantir moves its headquarters to Florida as tech company exodus continues

    – AI home search could change how you buy a house

    – OPINION: To win AI race, America must unleash energy dominance or fall

    TECH EXODUS: AI giant Palantir moves its headquarters to Florida – The tech company exodus from traditional hubs continues as AI giant Palantir announces it is officially moving its corporate headquarters to Florida, a strategic shift driven by a search for a more favorable business and regulatory environment.

    Miami, Florida skyline in 2020

    A drone view shows the downtown skyline in Miami, April 16, 2025.  (REUTERS/Marco Bello)

    ‘CAN’T BE LEFT BEHIND’: Bipartisan bill looks to prepare workforce for AI future – Lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill focused on preparing the American workforce for an artificial intelligence-driven future, emphasizing that the country cannot afford to be left behind as technological advancements rapidly reshape the global economy.

    AI OUT OF CONTROL? How a single article is sending shock waves with apocalyptic warning – Howard Kurtz writes, “It’s extremely rare–once in a blue moon–that I read a piece that completely changes my view of an issue.” But that’s what happened here.

    OPINION: Phil Flynn: To win AI race, America must unleash energy dominance or fall – FOX Business Network Contributor Phil Flynn argues that in order to win the increasingly competitive artificial intelligence race, the United States must fully unleash its energy dominance to meet massive power demands, warning that the nation will otherwise fall behind its international rivals.

    CASH FLOW QUESTIONS: Big Tech’s $650 billion AI spending spree sparks cash flow concerns – CFRA Research Director Ken Leon joined “Mornings with Maria” to break down AI disruption fears, Big Tech’s massive spending surge and what it means for investors ahead of key earnings reports.

    KEY TO FUTURE: AI home search could change how you buy a house – Advancements in artificial intelligence are making their way into the real estate market, with new tools and algorithms powering AI home searches that could fundamentally change the way prospective buyers find and purchase a house.

    A row of for sale signs

    Ten For Sale signs grouped together in front of a town house complex at the corner of Tapscott Rd. and McLevin Ave. (David Cooper/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

    Subscribe now to get the Fox News Artificial Intelligence Newsletter in your inbox.

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    This article was written by Fox News staff.

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  • China’s robotics giant puts 200 robots to the test

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    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    A Chinese robotics company recently did something most tech firms would never dare attempt. Agibot put more than 200 robots on stage for a live one-hour televised event called Agibot Night. 

    The gala took place in Shanghai ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which gave the production cultural weight as well as technical significance. According to the company, it was the world’s first large-scale live event fully led by humanoid robots.

    Throughout the show, the machines danced, boxed and performed martial arts. They also walked the runway in synchronized fashion routines, while some executed Shaolin-style stances and others handled acrobatic sequences using props such as fire torches. Even the audience was made up entirely of robots, which reinforced the scale of the production.

    At first glance, it felt like pure entertainment. However, the event functioned as a high pressure systems test playing out in public.

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    WORLD’S FASTEST HUMANOID ROBOT RUNS 22 MPH

    More than 200 humanoid robots perform during Agibot Night, a live televised gala in Shanghai ahead of Lunar New Year. (Tang Yanjun/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

    Why stage a robot gala?

    At first glance, the event looked like a flashy product showcase. In reality, it functioned as a real-world stress test for Agibot humanoid robots. In controlled lab environments, engineers can pause a machine, adjust parameters and try again. Live television does not offer that luxury. A stumble, a delay or a synchronization error would have unfolded in front of a global audience.

    By running complex choreography for an hour straight, Agibot tested balance, motor control, battery endurance and multi-robot coordination under pressure. Sustained dance routines, martial arts sequences and synchronized formations push hardware and software in ways short demos never do.  Some segments even included card magic performed jointly with human magicians and floating illusion acts executed entirely by robots, adding another layer of complexity to the live show.

    The company described the event as a milestone for embodied intelligence, moving from experimentation into social and cultural spaces. It also positioned the gala as proof of system-level reliability and a showcase of its broader product ecosystem. Strip away the marketing language, and the message is clear. These robots are no longer lab prototypes. They are entering large-scale production.

    The robots behind the performance

    Agibot’s G2 humanoid robots handled the bipedal routines. They executed synchronized dance sequences, high-speed spins and coordinated formations. These movements require precise joint control and real-time sensor feedback. The company’s D1 quadruped robots added dynamic stability to the lineup, showcasing agility and terrain adaptability.

    The stage also featured Agibot’s broader humanoid portfolio, including the full-sized A2 Series built for multimodal interaction and navigation, and the compact X2 Series designed for natural conversation and expressive movement.

    In some segments, human dancers performed alongside the robots. The timing and alignment happened live, demonstrating how closely robotic motion can mirror human movement. One of the most talked about moments came from Elf Xuan, an ultra-realistic humanoid developed by AheadForm. During a singing performance, its facial expressions appeared strikingly lifelike, showing how expressive robotics continues to evolve.

    Even the comedic skits showed real progress. Several humanoids shared the stage, responded to each other and stayed on cue. When robots can handle timing and interaction like that, it signals that the underlying systems are becoming more stable and coordinated.

    WARM-SKINNED AI ROBOT WITH CAMERA EYES IS SERIOUSLY CREEPY

    A robot giving a performance in a lab.

    Robots box, spin and handle fire torches as part of a large-scale systems test disguised as entertainment. (Tang Yanjun/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

    Agibot humanoid robots lead global shipments

    Agibot is not a small player testing ideas on the sidelines. According to research firm Omdia, the company led global humanoid robot shipments in 2025. It delivered 5,168 units out of roughly 13,000 shipped worldwide that year. For a company founded in 2023 in Shanghai, that is a strong position in a fast-moving market.

    Shipment totals show demand. However, a live event like Agibot Night shows confidence. When robots perform for an hour straight, there is nowhere to hide. Motors heat up. Sensors can drift. Software can glitch. When hundreds of machines move in sync, even small issues stand out immediately.

    By putting its robots on display ahead of a major national holiday, Agibot reinforced the idea that its humanoid robots have moved beyond experimentation and into scaled production.

    Several segments also placed AGIBOT robots alongside well-known consumer and lifestyle brands, signaling the company’s ambition to integrate humanoids into commercial and consumer-facing environments.

    This was not the first time humanoid robots appeared in a major Chinese celebration. Unitree robots performed alongside human dancers at China Central Television’s Spring Festival Gala. Agibot’s event dramatically expanded that concept by scaling to more than 200 robots in a single coordinated production.

    A shift in how robots are introduced

    For years, humanoid robotics advanced behind closed doors. Progress showed up in research papers, factory trials and controlled demos. Agibot chose a different approach. Instead of presenting technical specifications at a trade show, it turned engineering validation into a live cultural event.

    That strategy changes perception. When robots perform dance routines, hold martial arts stances or coordinate fashion walks in front of a broadcast audience, they feel less like prototypes and more like machines designed for real-world environments. This does not mean humanoid robots will suddenly appear in every shopping mall. However, it does show the industry is accelerating toward greater public visibility. The more often people see robots operate in shared spaces, the more normal that presence becomes.

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    HUMANOID ROBOTS ARE GETTING SMALLER, SAFER AND CLOSER

    A tech in a room full of robots.

    Agibot’s G2 humanoid robots execute synchronized dance and martial arts routines during a one-hour broadcast. (Tang Yanjun/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

    Kurt’s key takeaways

    Agibot Night put the technology on display in the most public way possible. More than 200 robots performed demanding routines for a full hour under broadcast conditions. That leaves little room for mistakes. Pair that performance with leading global shipment numbers, and the direction becomes clearer. Agibot is pushing hard to show its humanoid robots are ready for larger roles and wider deployment.

    So here is the question. If robots can execute synchronized martial arts routines, handle props like fire torches and stay coordinated for a live televised gala, how long before seeing one at work, in a store or at a public event feels completely normal to you? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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    Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.

    Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

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  • New Research Shows AI Agents Are Running Wild Online, With Few Guardrails in Place

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    In the last year, AI agents have become all the rage. OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic all launched public-facing agents designed to take on multi-step tasks handed to them by humans. In the last month, an open-source AI agent called OpenClaw took the web by storm thanks to its impressive autonomous capabilities (and major security concerns). But we don’t really have a sense of the scale of AI agent operations, and whether all the talk is matched by actual deployment. The MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) set out to fix that with its recently published 2025 AI Agent Index, which provides our first real look at the scale and operations of AI agents in the wild.

    Researchers found that interest in AI agents has undoubtedly skyrocketed in the last year or so. Research papers mentioning “AI Agent” or “Agentic AI” in 2025 more than doubled the total from 2020 to 2024 combined, and a McKinsey survey found that 62% of companies reported that their organizations were at least experimenting with AI agents.

    With all that interest, the researchers focused on 30 prominent AI agents across three separate categories: chat-based options like ChatGPT Agent and Claude Code; browser-based bots like Perplexity Comet and ChatGPT Atlas; and enterprise options like Microsoft 365 Copilot and ServiceNow Agent. While the researchers didn’t provide exact figures on just how many AI agents are deployed across the web, they did offer a considerable amount of insight into how they are operating, which is largely without a safety net.

    Just half of the 30 AI agents that got put under the magnifying glass by MIT CSAIL include published safety or trust frameworks, like Anthropic’s Responsible Scaling Policy, OpenAI’s Preparedness Framework, or Microsoft’s Responsible AI Standard. One in three agents has no safety framework documentation whatsoever, and five out of 30 have no compliance standards. That is troubling when you consider that 13 of 30 systems reviewed exhibit frontier levels of agency, meaning they can operate largely without human oversight across extended task sequences. Browser agents in particular tend to operate with significantly higher autonomy. This would include things like Google’s recently launched AI “Autobrowse,” which can complete multi-step tasks by navigating different websites and making use of user information to do things like log into sites on your behalf.

    One of the troubles with letting agents browse freely and with few guardrails is that their activity is nearly indistinguishable from human behavior, and they do little to dispel any confusion that might occur. The researchers found that 21 out of the 30 agents provide no disclosure to end users or third parties that they are AI agents and not human users. This results in most AI agent activity being mistaken for human traffic. MIT found that just seven agents published stable User-Agent (UA) strings and IP address ranges for verification. Nearly as many explicitly use Chrome-like UA strings and residential/local IP contexts to make their traffic requests appear more human, making it next to impossible for a website to distinguish between authentic traffic and bot behavior.

    For some AI agents, that’s actually a marketable feature. The researchers found that BrowserUse, an open-source AI agent, sells itself to users by claiming to bypass anti-bot systems to browse “like a human.” More than half of all the bots tested provide no specific documentation about how they handle robots.txt files (text files that are placed in a website’s root directory to instruct web crawlers on how they can interact with the site), CAPTCHAs that are meant to authenticate human traffic, or site APIs. Perplexity has even made the case that agents acting on behalf of users shouldn’t be subject to scraping restrictions since they function “just like a human assistant.”

    The fact that these agents are out in the wild without much protection in place means there is a real threat of exploits. There is a lack of standardization for safety evaluations and disclosures, leaving many agents potentially vulnerable to attacks like prompt injections, in which an AI agent picks up on a hidden malicious prompt that can make it break its safety protocols. Per MIT, nine of 30 agents have no documentation of guardrails against potentially harmful actions. Nearly all of the agents fail to disclose internal safety testing results, and 23 of the 30 offer no third-party testing information on safety.

    Just four agents—ChatGPT Agent, OpenAI Codex, Claude Code, and Gemini 2.5—provided agent-specific system cards, meaning the safety evaluations were tailored to how the agent actually operates, not just the underlying model. But frontier labs like OpenAI and Google offer more documentation on “existential and behavioral alignment risks,” they lack details on the type of security vulnerabilities that may arise during day-to-day activities—a habit that the researchers refer to as “safety washing,” which they describe as publishing high-level safety and ethics frameworks while only selectively disclosing the empirical evidence required to rigorously assess risk.

    There has at least been some momentum toward addressing the concerns raised by MIT’s researchers. Back in December, OpenAI and Anthropic (among others) joined forces, announcing a foundation to create a development standard for AI agents. But the AI Agent Index shows just how wide the transparency gap is when it comes to agentic AI operation. AI agents are flooding the web and workplace, functioning with a shocking amount of autonomy and minimal oversight. There’s little to indicate at the moment that safety will catch up to scale any time soon.

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    AJ Dellinger

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  • AI home search could change how you buy a house

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    If you have ever searched for a home online, you know the routine. Set a price range. Click a few filters. Run the search. Start over. Again and again.

    Now imagine skipping all of that and simply saying, “I want a home near good schools with high ceilings, a short commute and a kitchen that feels modern.” Then the platform responds like it already understands what matters most to you. Well, that future tech is here.

    Homes.com, powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI, has launched Homes AI, a fully integrated conversational home search experience. Instead of clicking through a bunch of filters, you talk or type your way to the right home. And this is more than just a new feature. It could completely change how people search for and ultimately buy houses.

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    DOORDASH LAUNCHES ZESTY, AN AI APP FOR FINDING LOCAL FOOD

    Instead of guessing which filters to use, buyers can ask detailed questions about schools, commute times or neighborhood trends and get instant answers in one place. (David Cooper/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

    Why AI home search fixes the old filter problem

    For years, homebuyers had to search like they were programming a database. That meant checking boxes, toggling filters and running multiple searches just to piece together what they actually wanted.

    “Searching for a home previously forced prospective buyers to think like a database — checking boxes, toggling filters and manually running multiple searches to piece together what they wanted,” Livia Sponseller, head of Homes.com Product at CoStar Group, told CyberGuy. “We understand that isn’t how people best operate, so conversational search removes the silos of data so that all information, whether it’s about neighborhood average home prices, schools or in-depth details about a specific home, allows buyers to easily and simply describe what they’re looking for in their own words.”

    That line hits home. No one dreams about toggling filters. People dream about backyards, school districts and a kitchen where everyone gathers. With Homes AI, you can describe what matters to you in plain language. The system pulls from deep property data, 3D Matterport tours, neighborhood insights and proprietary school data to guide you.

    “Direct conversations with our AI guide, Homes AI, capture nuances in buyer preferences that traditional filters do not,” Sponseller added. “These nuances are ultimately what lead a buyer to choose the right home for them, making it feel less like browsing listings and more like truly experiencing the home.”

    In other words, this moves home search from mechanical to meaningful.

    Why AI home search works right now

    AI assistants are already part of everyday life. Millions of people already talk to generative AI tools every week. That comfort level matters. As Sponseller explained, “People have become very accustomed to interacting with AI assistants like ChatGPT. Hundreds of millions of people are using its generative AI tools each week, so people are beginning to tap into the power of these generative pre-trained transformers (GPT) and large language models (LLMs). The experience we built for Homes.com represents the natural next step — seamlessly integrating advanced AI into the existing site infrastructure and shifting the heavy lifting of filtering and refining search results from the homebuyer to the technology itself.”

    That shift is huge. The burden moves from you to technology. Instead of refining results manually, the AI refines them for you in real time. And it does so inside the Homes.com ecosystem. Your data stays within the platform and is not used to train external models.

    CRIMINALS ARE USING ZILLOW TO PLAN BREAK-INS. HERE’S HOW TO REMOVE YOUR HOME IN 10 MINUTES

    A Homes AI promotional screen

    Instead of guessing which filters to use, buyers can ask detailed questions about schools, commute times or neighborhood trends and get instant answers in one place. (Homes.com)

    What surprises buyers about AI home search

    The first time someone uses conversational artificial intelligence for home search, the biggest surprise may be how human it feels. Sponseller said, “I think users will be genuinely surprised by how closely it mirrors the experience of working with the most knowledgeable agent. Whether you’re looking for comparable sales, average home values in an area or the lifestyle of a specific neighborhood, buyers can ask virtually any home-related question and get an answer immediately, as opposed to referring to multiple sites for all that information.”

    Instead of hopping between tabs, you stay in one seamless experience. You can ask about commute times, neighborhood trends or interior details without starting over. She also pointed out, “Homes AI is a transparent, fast, data-rich and ad-free tool, elevating the experience for consumers to another level.” That ad-free part matters. It keeps the focus on your goals, not on who paid for placement.

    A Homes.com screen with search results for homes

    As the system learns your preferences, it refines recommendations over time, helping you narrow choices with more clarity and confidence. (Homes.com)

    What AI home search means for the future of real estate

    Sponseller believes this goes beyond one platform: “This is bigger than real estate. It’s only a matter of time until we see conversational experiences extend across industries, not just real estate portals. Why leave the heavy lifting to the searcher-consumer if ultimately this simplifies the process? Homes.com is simply the first to fully integrate this approach at scale, but I think it’s safe to say that shopping experiences across the board are entering a new era.”

    And when we look back? “We have full confidence that people will look back at the current state of portals and have a laugh at how clunky, manual, and fragmented the process felt.”

    She added, “The housing market has evolved to a point where applying filters and needing to run multiple consecutive searches to capture all the filters will feel as outdated as flipping through the Yellow Pages.” That comparison says it all.

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    What this means for you

    If you are thinking about buying a home in the next few years, this could make the process feel a lot less stressful. Instead of endlessly scrolling and tweaking filters, you can simply explain what matters to you. The system does the sorting. It narrows the list based on your real priorities, not just basic checkboxes. That means you may tour fewer homes that miss the mark. You could spot red flags earlier. You might even feel more prepared before you ever walk through the front door. In a market where every decision counts, having clearer information upfront can make a real difference.

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    Kurt’s key takeaways

    Buying a home is a big deal. It is emotional. It is expensive. And it can feel overwhelming fast. For years, online search tools helped, but they also made you do most of the work. You had to adjust filters, rerun searches and keep track of what mattered. AI home search changes that dynamic. You explain what you want. The technology handles the sorting. Over time, it even remembers your priorities. That could mean fewer wasted showings. Fewer surprises. More confidence before you ever step inside a house.

    If this is where home search is headed, will you trust a system that learns your preferences, or will you still want full control of every filter yourself? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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    Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.

    Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

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  • Big AI Isn’t Waiting for the Backlash

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    Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photo: Getty Images

    Meta’s hard and early pivot into artificial intelligence hasn’t exactly gone as planned, with tens of billions of investment dollars sunk into middling models, departmental restructurings, and clashing visions. In technical terms, the company remains an AI also-ran. In another way, though, it’s emerging as an industry leader: It’s spending a ton of money on politics.

    Regarding regulation and national law, firms like Meta are, for now, in reasonably good shape. They have an administration that’s broadly deregulatory and specifically pro–AI industry and has mostly limited its threats of intervention to complaints about “wokeness” — a problem for a company like Anthropic, perhaps, but maybe less so for ones like Meta that preemptively ponied up and fell in line. Plenty of money will be spent by the AI industry on national politics, of course (OpenAI president Greg Brockman recently became a Trump PAC megadonor), but for now, AI firms are pushing further into state and local politics and Meta is spending a lot. According to the New York Times:

    Meta is preparing to spend $65 million this year to boost state politicians who are friendly to the artificial intelligence industry, beginning this week in Texas and Illinois, according to company representatives … Political operatives tied to A.I. interests have focused this election cycle on state capitols out of concern that states were developing a patchwork of laws that would stifle A.I. development.

    This, says the Times, is “the biggest election investment by Meta” so far and is focused, to start, on supporting AI-friendly Republicans in Texas and Democrats in Illinois. Meta isn’t alone here: A fleet of new PACs backed by other AI firms is funneling money into local and state elections across the country.

    What are these companies lobbying for, exactly? Their needs fit imperfectly into two categories. First, they want to fend off direct regulation of how AI products are built, used, and deployed. That includes avoiding “transparency” laws that often include risk audits, whistleblower protections, and frameworks for ensuring AI “safety,” in both the catastrophic and child-safety senses of the word. In this fight, AI firms have a useful ally in the federal government, which has been actively pressuring state lawmakers to drop the issue, most recently in Utah.

    Closer to the ground and a bit further from the national political discourse, for now, is the matter of data centers. Much of the money AI companies spend on AI — raised from investors, their own balance sheets, and, more recently, bond sales — goes into buying GPUs and leasing or building structures in which to put them. These structures then need huge amounts of power coming from either the grid or newly constructed generators of one type or another (if you’re xAI, this means standing up gas turbines without permits; if you’re Meta, this may look like partnering directly with a nuclear power plant). In addition to the staggering power needs, data centers use a lot of water. And despite their eye-popping costs to build and run, they barely create any jobs. For the sorts of communities being approached with these projects — places that may be persuaded to accept the mixed prospect of hosting an Amazon warehouse or, say, a massive new ICE detention center — AI data centers are uniquely unappealing. As a result, they encounter local resistance from across the political spectrum. According to the Financial Times:

    Over the past year, the White House has courted tech billionaires and gone out of its way to protect the AI industry’s agenda, fast-tracking permits for data centre construction and approving the sales of advanced chips to China while cracking down on states’ attempts to regulate chatbots … But across the US, citizens, clergy and elected officials in conservative communities are leading a grassroots rebellion against the rapid rollout of the technology.

    Data centers offer an almost perfectly sympathetic NIMBY cause. They’re a drain on local resources, straining infrastructure and driving up utility prices. They exist to support a technology about which people are fairly pessimistic across the political spectrum. They’re pitched as investments in an exciting future, but that future will unfold elsewhere while your town, now designated as an infrastructural non-place, is just stuck with a big jobless box that uses more power and water than everyone else combined.

    The surge in local lobbying isn’t about winning this argument — good luck with that! — so much as it’s about getting as much done as possible while the companies still can, buying support at the state level and breaking ground in as many municipalities as possible before data-center backlash becomes a universal condition of local politics in America. AI firms always talk about how they’re in a technological race with one another or against China in which every day counts. But they’re also in a race to take advantage of a brief domestic political moment during which they’re relatively unencumbered and haven’t yet been metabolized into American politics. At the national, state, and local levels, this may be as good as the AI industry will ever have it. And ahead of the midterms — not to mention the prospect of 2028 — it’s lobbying like it’s running out of time.


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    John Herrman

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  • Modi pitches India as global artificial intelligence hub at AI summit

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    NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pitched India as a central player in the global artificial intelligence ecosystem, saying the country aims to build technology at home while deploying it worldwide.

    “Design and develop in India. Deliver to the world. Deliver to humanity,” Modi told a gathering of some world leaders, technology executives and policymakers at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

    Modi’s remarks came as India — one of the fastest-growing digital markets — seeks to leverage its experience in building large-scale digital public infrastructure and to present itself as a cost-effective hub for AI innovation.

    The summit was also addressed by French President Emmanuel Macron, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who called for a $3 billion fund to help poorer countries build basic AI capacity, including skills, data access and affordable computing power.

    “The future of AI cannot be decided by a handful of countries, or left to the whims of a few billionaires,” Guterres said, stressing that AI must “belong to everyone.”

    India is using the summit to position itself as a bridge between advanced economies and the Global South. Indian officials cite the country’s digital ID and online payments systems as a model for deploying AI at low cost, particularly in developing countries.

    “We must democratize AI. It must become a tool for inclusion and empowerment, particularly for the Global South,” Modi said.

    With nearly 1 billion internet users, India has become a key market for global technology companies expanding their AI businesses.

    Last December, Microsoft announced a $17.5 billion investment over four years to expand cloud and AI infrastructure in India. It followed Google’s $15 billion investment over five years, including plans for its first AI hub in the country. Amazon has also pledged $35 billion by 2030, targeting AI-driven digitization.

    India is also seeking up to $200 billion in data center investment in the coming years.

    The country, however, lags in developing its own large-scale AI model like U.S.-based OpenAI or China’s DeepSeek, highlighting challenges such as limited access to advanced semiconductor chips, data centers and hundreds of local languages to learn from.

    The summit opened Monday with organizational glitches, as attendees and exhibitors reported long lines and delays, and some complained on social media that personal belongings and display items had been stolen. Organizers later said the items were recovered.

    Problems resurfaced Wednesday when a private Indian university was expelled from the summit after a staff member showcased a commercially available Chinese-made robotic dog while claiming it as the institution’s own innovation.

    The setbacks continued Thursday when Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates withdrew from a scheduled keynote address. No reason was given, though the Gates Foundation said the move was intended “to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit’s key priorities.”

    Gates is facing questions over his ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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  • Asian Shares Advance, Tracking a Wall St Rally Led by Nvidia

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    Asian shares were higher Thursday after a rally on Wall Street that was led by computer chip giant Nvidia.

    U.S. futures edged lower and oil prices rose as media reports said the likelihood was rising of conflict with Iran.

    U.S. President Donald Trump has been weighing whether to take military action against Iran as his administration surges military resources to the region while holding indirect talks with Tehran over its nuclear program. That is raising concerns that any attack could spiral into a larger conflict in the Middle East.

    Markets in Greater China were closed for Lunar New Year holidays, while some others reopened for trading.

    In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.8% to 57,582.93, while in South Korea, the Kospi jumped 2.8% to 5,661.22 as markets reopened following holidays earlier in the week.

    Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.9% to 9,088.70.

    Southeast Asian markets surged, with Thailand’s SET up 0.9%. India’s Sensex edged 0.1% higher.

    During European trading Wednesday, London’s FTSE 100 climbed 1.2% after the latest update on U.K. inflation bolstered expectations that the Bank of England may soon cut interest rates.

    On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 6,881.31 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%, to 49,662.66. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.8% to 22,753.63.

    Nvidia helped lift the market and climbed 1.6% after Meta Platforms announced a long-term partnership where it will use millions of chips and other equipment from Nvidia for its artificial-intelligence data centers.

    “No one deploys AI at Meta’s scale,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said. Because his company is the most valuable on Wall Street, Nvidia’s stock was the single most powerful force pulling the S&P 500 higher.

    Meta’s stock fell as much as 1.7% before recovering and rising 0.6%.

    Another worry is that if AI succeeds in creating tools to do complicated tasks more cheaply, companies in industries as far flung as software, legal services and trucking logistics could see their businesses get undercut. Investors have suddenly and aggressively sold stocks of companies seen as under threat in what analysts have likened to a “shoot first-ask questions later” mentality.

    Several profit reports from companies helped to lift stocks Wednesday. They continued what’s been a strong reporting season for the big U.S. companies in the S&P 500.

    In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher following reports on the U.S. economy that came in better than economists expected. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.08% from 4.05% late Tuesday.

    One report said industrial production improved last month by more than economists expected. Another said orders for computers, fabricated metal products and other long-lasting manufactured goods also rose more in December than economists had forecast, when not including airplanes and other transportation equipment. A third report said homebuilders broke ground on more new homes in December than anticipated.

    Such strong data could encourage the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates steady.

    The Fed has put its cuts to interest rates on hold, but many on Wall Street expect it to resume later this year. The widespread forecast is that will come during the summer, after a new chair is scheduled to step in atop the Fed.

    Lower rates can give a boost to the economy and prices for investments, but that comes at the cost of potentially worsening inflation.

    In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 30 cents to $65.36 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, was up 27 cents at $70.62.

    Prices of gold and silver held steady.

    The price of bitcoin fell 1.3% to about $67,000.

    AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Feb. 2026

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  • Humain CEO Tareq Amin Injects $3B Into Elon Musk’s xAI to Power Saudi A.I. Ambitions

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    Humain CEO Tareq Amin’s $3 billion investment in xAI positions Saudi Arabia at the center of a rapidly shifting global A.I. power structure. Photo by Amal Alhasan/Getty Images for Fortune Media

    Tareq Amin, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s largest A.I. company, Humain, has been on a dealmaking blitz since taking the helm of the Kingdom’s national A.I. initiative last year. His latest move: a $3 billion investment in Elon Musk’s xAI. The investment was made during xAI’s $20 billion fundraising round in January, Humain announced today (Feb. 18). The raise came just weeks before xAI merged with Musk’s SpaceX earlier this month, as Musk consolidates his A.I., communications and space ambitions ahead of a widely anticipated IPO.

    Founded in 2025 by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and backed by Saudi Arabia’s massive sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. Humain sits at the center of the Kingdom’s push to diversify its economy beyond oil. A core part of that mandate: building sovereign A.I. infrastructure at home.

    The xAI stake is the latest example of Humain’s ability to “deploy meaningful capital behind exceptional opportunities where long-term vision, technical excellence and execution converge,” said Amin in a statement. Amin, who previously led Aramco Digital and Japan’s Rakuten Mobile, has spent the past several months striking blockbuster partnerships with U.S. tech heavyweights, including Nvidia, AMD, Cisco, Amazon Web Services and Groq (not xAI’s chatbot Grok).

    Humain did not respond to requests for comment from Observer.

    Most of the partnerships are focused on expanding Saudi Arabia’s data center footprint and compute capacity. A joint venture with AMD and Cisco, for example, aims to build domestic A.I. infrastructure capable of powering up to one gigawatt.

    xAI’s relationship with Humain dates back to November, when the companies unveiled plans for a 500-megawatt data center in Saudi Arabia. The facility—xAI’s first outside the U.S.—will run on Nvidia chips and deploy the company’s Grok models across the Kingdom.

    Humain’s deepening ties to xAI underscore a broader realignment in global A.I. alliances, with Gulf states emerging as critical capital providers and infrastructure hubs for American developers. In November, Humain and the United Arab Emirates’ A.I. company, G42, received U.S. approval to acquire up to 35,000 advanced A.I. chips each, marking a sharp reversal from earlier semiconductor export restrictions.

    Other regional players are also forging closer links with U.S. firms. G42 secured a $1.5 billion investment from Microsoft and is set to help develop Stargate UAE, an A.I. compute cluster in Abu Dhabi to be operated by OpenAI and Oracle.

    The Emirati-backed MGX has participated in large fundraising rounds for xAI, OpenAI and Anthropic, while Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund earlier this week joined Anthropic’s new $380 billion Series G financing—further cementing the Middle East’s growing influence over the future of A.I.

    Humain CEO Tareq Amin Injects $3B Into Elon Musk’s xAI to Power Saudi A.I. Ambitions

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    Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

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  • Amazon halts Blue Jay robotics project after less than six months | TechCrunch

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    Amazon has hundreds of thousands of robots in its warehouses, but that doesn’t mean all of its robotic initiatives are a success story.

    The ecommerce giant has halted its Blue Jay warehouse robotics project just months after unveiling the tech, as originally reported by Business Insider and confirmed by TechCrunch.

    Blue Jay, a multi-armed robot designed to sort and move packages, was unveiled in October for use in the company’s same-day delivery facilities. At the time, the company was testing the robots at a facility in South Carolina and said it took Amazon significantly less time to develop Blue Jay — only about a year— than it did to develop its other warehouse robots, a speed the company credited to advancements in AI.

    Amazon spokesperson Terrance Clark told TechCrunch that Blue Jay was launched as a prototype — although that was not made clear in the company’s original press release.

    The company plans to use Blue Jay’s core technology for other robotics “manipulation programs” with employees who worked on Blue Jay being moved to other projects.

    “We’re always experimenting with new ways to improve the customer experience and make work safer, more efficient, and more engaging for our employees,” Clark told TechCrunch over email. “In this case, we’re actually accelerating the use of the underlying technology developed for Blue Jay, and nearly all of the technologies are being carried over and will continue to support employees across our network.”

    Amazon also unveiled the Vulcan robot last year, which is used in the storage compartments of the company’s warehouses. Vulcan is a two-armed robot, with one arm meant to rearrange and move items in a compartment while the other is equipped with a camera and suction cups to grab goods. The Vulcan can allegedly “feel” the objects that it touches and was trained on data gathered from real-world interactions.

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    Amazon has been developing its internal robotics program since 2012 when it purchased Kiva Systems, a robotics company whose warehouse automation technology formed the foundation of Amazon’s fulfillment operations. It surpassed 1 million robots in its warehouses last July.

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    Rebecca Szkutak

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  • Where Will IonQ Be in 1 Year?

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    Quantum computing has grabbed the attention of many investors over the past few years as they seek new tech trends beyond artificial intelligence (AI). The possibility of a quantum computing market that could be worth as much as $170 billion by 2040, as consulting firm BCG projects, certainly sounds promising.

    That type of optimism has helped lift IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) stock 503% higher over the past three years. But lately, things haven’t been as rosy for IonQ shareholders, as the stock has fallen about 9% over the past 12 months.

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    So, where is IonQ headed over the next year? If you’re a shareholder, I don’t think things look too good.

    Image source: Getty Images.

    In the first nine months of 2025, IonQ’s losses increased tenfold year over year, from just $129 million to nearly $1.3 billion. The biggest culprits were its general and administration costs, which tripled, and its research and development expenses, which more than doubled.

    Building a quantum computing company at this early stage of the industry is expensive. But such a rapid increase in costs and significantly widening losses are still problematic because IonQ is also having a difficult time generating organic revenue.

    Yes, the company’s sales rose by 117% in the first nine months of 2025 to $68.1 million. But the majority of those added revenues derived from the five companies it acquired last year, rather than from organic growth in its quantum computing revenue. And those acquisitions were paid for, in part, by IonQ issuing new shares, which resulted in significant shareholder dilution.

    With the company’s losses expanding, its sales growing mainly via acquisitions, and the company funding its purchases by issuing new shares, IonQ doesn’t exactly have a recipe for financial success in place.

    Making matters worse for IonQ shareholders is the fact that many investors are beginning to rotate out of riskier assets in search of safer investments.

    Software stocks, cryptocurrencies, and quantum computing stocks are just some of the areas that are feeling this pinch right now — and it’s likely to continue. Artificial intelligence has the potential to disrupt so many companies and industries that some investors are second-guessing the thesis for tech investments.

    That’s not IonQ’s fault, of course, but it is a problem for the company nonetheless. And it comes at a time when its stock trades at an expensive premium. IonQ has a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 106, compared to the tech sector’s average of just 8.

    When you add all this up, there’s little to get excited about regarding IonQ over the next year.

    Before you buy stock in IonQ, consider this:

    The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and IonQ wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

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    Where Will IonQ Be in 1 Year? was originally published by The Motley Fool

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  • A robotic dog made in China gets an Indian university kicked out of an AI summit

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    NEW DELHI — A private Indian university was booted from a top artificial intelligence summit in New Delhi on Wednesday after one of its staffers displayed a commercially available robotic dog made in China, claiming it was the university’s own innovation.

    According to two government officials, Galgotias University was ordered to take down its stand at the summit a day after the university’s professor of communications, Neha Singh, told state-run broadcaster DD News that robotic dog Orion was developed by the Centre of Excellence at the university.

    Internet users, however, quickly identified the robot as the Unitree Go2, sold by China’s Unitree Robotics with a starting price tag of $1,600 and used widely in research and education.

    On Wednesday, Singh told reporters she never explicitly claimed the dog was university’s own creation, but only an exhibit.

    The incident was an embarrassment for host country India, the two government officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

    A statement from Galgotias on Tuesday said the university was “deeply pained” and described the incident as a “propaganda campaign” that could spread negativity and harm the morale of students working to innovate, learn and build their skills using global technologies.

    Then, in a new statement on Wednesday, the university apologized for the confusion and said Singh, its representative at the AI summit pavilion, was not authorized to talk to the media and was “ill-informed.”

    “She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm at being on camera, gave factually incorrect information,” it said.

    It wasn’t immediately clear if the university had removed its booth from the summit.

    Still, the episode underscores the high stakes for India as it tries to cast itself as a global hub for AI and advanced manufacturing, drawing billions of dollars in investments while stressing credibility and local innovation.

    The summit kicked off on Monday with some organizational hiccups as attendees and exhibitors reported long queues and delays at the venue. Several exhibitors took to social media to complain that their personal belonging and products on display were stolen. Organizers later said the items were recovered and returned.

    The India AI Impact Summit, billed as a flagship event in the Global South, is attended by at least 20 heads of state and governments, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a session Thursday.

    Also expected to attend are Google’s Chief Executive Sundar Pichai, Qualcomm’s CEO Cristiano Amon, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft’s President Brad Smith and AMI Labs Executive Chairman Yann LeCun.

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  • From automated farm tractors to exam paper grading, AI boosts efficiency for some in India

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    KARNAL, India — Farmer Bir Virk tapped the iPad mounted beside his tractor’s steering wheel and switched the vehicle to automatic mode. The machine moved forward and began harvesting potatoes on its own in the fields of Karnal, a city in northern India.

    Some 145 kilometers (90 miles) away in the country’s capital of New Delhi, educator Swetank Pandey employed similar automation at his coaching academy. He used algorithms to scan and grade handwritten exam papers from candidates for India’s competitive civil services.

    In both cases, the same invisible hand was at work: artificial intelligence.

    From farms to classrooms, AI is fast emerging as a tool for many Indians to boost efficiency and cut time, costs and labor. Early adopters, like Virk and Pandey, say the technology is helping them boost productivity as they test AI’s potential to find solutions at work.

    “I am able to farm very efficiently and I feel very happy that I do the work what my grandfather and father used to do. Now I am carrying the tradition forward with the right technology,” said Virk.

    As AI use surges across the globe, the technology is steadily gaining ground across India as businesses, startups and individuals experiment with new ways to improve efficiency.

    The Indian government is also rolling out national initiatives to fund research and train workers in AI. That push is on display this week as New Delhi hosts a five-day AI summit, which is being attended by heads of state and top tech CEOs.

    With nearly a billion internet users, India has also become a key focus for global tech companies to scale their AI businesses in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital markets.

    Last December, Microsoft announced a $17.5 billion investment over four years to expand cloud and AI infrastructure in India. It followed Google’s $15 billion investment over five years, including plans for its first AI hub in the country.

    “There’s some good use cases that have started. There are these scaling platforms that are now embedding AI into them,” said Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice president at NASSCOM, a prominent body representing India’s technology industry.

    India’s adoption to AI, however, has its constraints.

    The country still lags in developing its own large-scale AI model like U.S.-based OpenAI or China’s DeepSeek, highlighting challenges such as limited access to advanced semiconductor chips, data centers and hundreds of local languages to learn from.

    While tech companies have ramped up spending on AI training and reskilling, those unable to adapt are being pushed out. Tata Consultancy Services, the country’s largest private employer, cut more than 12,000 jobs last year, driven by a rapid shift toward AI.

    At the same time, however, people like Virk and Pandey say AI tools are already making their work faster and more efficient.

    Virk, the farmer, first encountered AI-driven farming technology five years ago while studying and working in the United States. When he returned to India in 2021, he imported the system from a Swedish company and has been using it on his farm for the past couple of years.

    His automated tractor can plant seeds, spray fertilizer and harvest crops. The system costs about $3,864 and combines a steering motor, satellite signals that help move the tractor precisely, and an AI-driven software that converts data into movement.

    It also logs errors and uploads them to a cloud platform, where the software company analyzes the data and sends related updates back to the machine.

    “Technology and intelligence play a big role in this. The tractor works in a straight line. It maintains an accuracy of 0.01 centimeter (0.004 inch),” Virk said.

    He said his AI-enabled tractor has reduced his work time by half.

    “Its most special feature is that it is self-learning,” he said.

    Educator Pandey teaches at a civil services coaching center, a sector known for its fierce competition. Millions of young Indians compete for civil service jobs each year, and coaching centers process vast numbers of tests, evaluations and revisions.

    Pandey said AI has made that workload easier to manage.

    Using large language models such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, along with other automation tools, Pandey and his team scan and evaluate answer sheets, create targeted study material and structure syllabuses for the aspirants.

    Pandey said the technology helps him carry out repetitive tasks, allowing tens of thousands of answer sheets to be evaluated in as little as 20 to 25 minutes.

    “If you have a better machine, bigger system, you can do it in two minutes,” he said.

    For now, his coaching academy uses a hybrid model. AI helps with evaluations and teachers review the output, improving both speed and quality.

    Pandey said AI often produces study material that students find more relatable than those devised by teachers.

    “AI is able to give us in advance a basic idea what the student is doing right now and what next he or she should do to be able to achieve their goals,” he said.

    ——

    Saaliq reported from New Delhi.

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