Machine learning & AI news

Robotics

Chinese humanoid robots smash human records in 100m sprint and high jump at Beijing robot games

Chinese humanoid robots broke records set by humans, including beating Usain Bolt's 100-meter sprint world record, on the opening day of the Olympics-like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday.

Machine learning & AI

AI agents can build consensus on a scale humans can't

Everyone is familiar with the situation: A larger group of people plans to visit a restaurant together, but it can take time and sometimes a great deal of patience to agree on a time and place to meet. The better the participants ...

Business

AI-generated ads outperform human designers in live campaign, advantage holds 18 months later

The common belief throughout the marketing and advertising world is that generative AI can produce striking visuals, but it struggles to match the performance and brand discipline of skilled human designers. New research ...

Robotics

Robots learn new skills from a single video—in just 29 seconds

To operate reliably in dynamic real-world settings, robots should be able to acquire new skills quickly without undergoing extensive additional training. Most existing robotic systems, however, primarily perform well on the ...

Machine learning & AI

AI helps turn citizen photos into water-level data

For the past 15 years, Christopher Lowry, Ph.D., has led CrowdHydrology, a University at Buffalo citizen-science project that relies on thousands of volunteers to collect water-level observations from streams and other waterways ...

Machine learning & AI

Q&A: Promise and perils of agentic AI

Chatbots and large language models can execute a seemingly countless number of tasks, from writing emails and reports to generating code and analyzing data. However, they still primarily act only in response to user prompts ...

Security

How attackers persuade AI agents to break the rules

Today, most of us interact with AI assistants—reactive bots that wait for human instructions. Yet AI assistants are rapidly being replaced by agentic AI agents that can interact with external tools, browse the web, generate ...

Machine learning & AI

OpenAI says ads are coming to ChatGPT in Europe next week

European users of ChatGPT's free and low-cost artificial intelligence agents will start seeing ads Aug. 24 as its creator, OpenAI, expands its plan to extract more revenue from its models.

Machine learning & AI

China goes rural with data centers in quest to power AI

In China's hilly Guizhou province, a cluster of European-style buildings complete with a clock tower and a multi-arched bridge emits a low, permanent hum—a clue to its unexpected identity as tech giant Huawei's largest data ...

Computer Sciences

New roadmap for evaluating AI morality proposed

Large language models (LLMs) are dealing with an increasing amount of morally sensitive information as people turn to them for medical advice, companionship and therapy. However, they are not exactly known for possessing ...

Machine learning & AI

US AI giants accuse Chinese rivals of mass data theft

US artificial intelligence company Anthropic said Monday it had uncovered campaigns by three Chinese AI firms to illicitly extract capabilities from its Claude chatbot, in what it described as industrial-scale intellectual ...

Machine learning & AI

AI agent invasion has people trying to pick winners

An onslaught of artificial intelligence agents that handle tasks from writing code to dispensing tax advice has the tech world and financial markets scrambling to pick winners and shed losers.

Machine learning & AI

India chases 'DeepSeek moment' with homegrown AI

Fledgling Indian artificial intelligence companies showcased homegrown technologies this week at a major summit in New Delhi, underpinning big dreams of becoming a global AI power.

Machine learning & AI

'Alpha male' AI world shuts out women: Computing prof Hall

Artificial intelligence could change the world but the dearth of women in the booming sector will undermine pledges for inclusive technology, top computer scientist Wendy Hall told AFP on Friday.

Machine learning & AI

UN touts panel for 'human control' of AI at global summit

A UN panel on artificial intelligence will work towards "science-led governance," the global body's chief said on Friday as leaders at a New Delhi summit weighed their message on the future of the booming technology.

Consumer & Gadgets

Most AI bots lack basic safety disclosures, study finds

Many people use AI chatbots to plan meals and write emails, AI-enhanced web browsers to book travel and buy tickets, and workplace AI to generate invoices and performance reports. However, a new study of the "AI agent ecosystem" ...