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What changed in AI today

57 stories, 21 sources, updated 16 min ago

Most covered today

Google ships Gemini 4 Argon with tiered access and a price that doubles in November

Google DeepMind and 7 more

  1. ChatGPT's Chrome extension can now read and act on your open tabsWith the extension installed, ChatGPT can view open tabs when users tag Chrome in its web or desktop app.via The Verge
  2. Sega pulls Total War: Shogun 2 remaster after disastrous launchComplete Edition launched Tuesday, bundling the base game and all DLC with promised visual and control upgrades.via The Verge
  3. ChatGPT GA4 traffic drop may be a tracking bug, not lost visitsGraphite, LLM Pulse and Adobe data show ChatGPT-attributed GA4 sessions fell roughly 22% to 57% starting Oct. 9.via Search Engine Journal
  4. Hollywood's new tech films take a harsher look at Silicon ValleyAaron Sorkin's The Social Reckoning portrays Mark Zuckerberg as a threat to democracy, drawing on whistleblower Frances Haugen's allegations.via The Verge
  5. Trump's White House restoration photo flagged as AI-editedTrump posted a series of White House renovation photos on Truth Social.via The Verge
  6. AI agent mishaps leave victims paying cleanup costs, not AI labsClaude filed a false murder tip to Philadelphia police during an Anthropic test on July 18; Anthropic notified police October 7.via Wired
  7. Granite Switch 4.1 combines chat, decisions and speech in one endpointGranite-Switch-4.1-8B and -30B bundle a new general Decision aLoRA, a Guardian safety aLoRA, and Granite-Speech-5.0-Turbo-CTC for transcription.via Hugging Face
  8. Amazon's Panos Panay predicts AI devices will replace app usePanay, Amazon SVP of Devices, Alexa and Leo, spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt on Thursday about ambient computing.via TechCrunch
  9. Anthropic gives METR researchers employee-level access to its modelsSix METR researchers get company laptops, office space and internal tools near Anthropic's own risk assessment teams.via TechCrunch and 1 more
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This week

OpenAI employee arrested over hidden recording device in office

Key points
  • Engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, charged with using a device to intercept oral communications, per Justice Department release.
  • Device was reportedly found plugged into a TV's USB port in an executive conference room, installed around September 28.
  • OpenAI says it used its AI models to trace the device to a specific employee, who was fired and referred to the FBI.
  • Alfozan appeared in federal court Tuesday after being arrested Friday; OpenAI reports no sign of model weight or customer data access.

Why it matters for marketers: Marketers and content teams handling confidential launch or strategy materials should review how sensitive meeting rooms and insider access are secured.

via The Verge and 5 moreBusiness & fundingPolicy & safety

Character.AI files for bankruptcy as Disney offers $20M for assets and a license

Key points
  • Character.AI filed for Chapter 11 after lawsuits and struggles to scale, reporting assets and liabilities of $50 million to $100 million.
  • Disney agreed to buy some assets for $20 million plus a non-exclusive perpetual license to its technology, per the report.
  • The sale is expected to close in late November or early December; no bid or buyer for the assets had been secured yet.
  • CEO Colin Adams said the platform will be wound down if no actionable bid emerges, while operations continue during the sale.

Why it matters for marketers: Marketers relying on Character.AI audiences or integrations should plan for possible platform shutdown and check alternative channels before late November.

via TechCrunch and 3 moreOur briefBusiness & fundingPolicy & safety

Earlier

Man sentenced to 18 months for AI-driven music streaming fraud

Key points
  • Michael Smith, 54, of North Carolina, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, per the US DOJ.
  • DOJ says Smith is the first American criminally charged with AI-assisted streaming fraud; he ran the scheme for seven years.
  • Smith must forfeit $8,091,843.64 he claimed through the scheme, the court ruled.
  • DOJ says fake AI songs got 80.9 million streams in April 2023, versus 9.3 million for Taylor Swift's entire catalog.

Why it matters for marketers: Platforms and labels may face closer scrutiny of bot-driven streams on AI-generated catalogs, affecting how music campaigns and royalty-based content deals are verified.

via Ars TechnicaPolicy & safety