Google has released Nano Banana 2.1, an image generation and editing model that replaces Nano Banana 2 and cuts prices by roughly half. Matthias Bastian reports for The Decoder that the new model is based on Gemini 3.6 Flash and is rolling out across Google’s consumer and business AI products. Google says Nano Banana 2.1 …
Meta’s AI agent Muse is facing reports of security flaws and unexpected access to personal data shortly after its launch. Karl Bode writes for Techdirt that the product’s early issues raise questions about Meta’s claims that privacy and security were central to its development. Muse is designed to carry out everyday tasks, including booking restaurants, …
OpenAI plans to add invisible watermarks to eligible ChatGPT and Codex text outputs for users in the European Union, while offering the feature as an opt-in setting to API customers worldwide. OpenAI announces in an official blog post that the rollout is intended to help meet transparency requirements under the EU AI Act. The law …
Mistral has opened a public preview of Mistral Large 4, its largest model so far and a major addition to the market for open-weight AI systems. The company says it will release the model weights later this month, allowing organizations to run and adapt the system on their own infrastructure. The French AI company describes …
Apple plans to add stricter controls to Full Disk Access on macOS, a permission that can give apps access to files, messages, email, and browsing history. Sarah Perez reports for TechCrunch that Apple sees growing risks as AI agents become more capable and autonomous. Full Disk Access was originally intended to help backup software work …
Google plans to restrict access to several Gemini models for free users and subscribers to its AI Plus plan, beginning October 9. Abner Li reports for 9to5Google that people using the Gemini app without a paid Google AI plan will only be able to use Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite. They will lose access to Gemini 3.6 …
AWS has released Strands Decider 2B, a free open-source model designed to help AI agents make quick, limited decisions before they use tools or take actions. Carl Franzen reports for VentureBeat that the model is part of Strands Labs, AWS’s experimental project for agent development. Unlike a general chatbot, Strands Decider 2B does not write …
Microsoft has launched MAI-Transcribe-2-Streaming, a speech-to-text model designed to produce live transcripts with very low delay. Microsoft AI announces the models in an official blog post, alongside the new text-to-speech systems MAI-Voice-2.1 and MAI-Voice-2.1-Flash. The company says MAI-Transcribe-2-Streaming supports 60 languages and can continuously identify the language being spoken. Instead of waiting until a speaker …
Anthropic is advising Claude users to give its Opus 5.5 model clearer goals, then allow it to work with less frequent intervention. The company’s guidance focuses on long tasks, reviewing results, handling documents and images, and avoiding prompt habits that may no longer be useful. Addy Osmani writes for Anthropic that Opus 5.5 is designed …
OpenAI says it will begin testing visual advertising in ChatGPT image generation later this month, starting with users in the United States. Mayank Parmar reports for BleepingComputer that the test will involve an initial group of advertisers and introduce ads built around images, products, and services. The company says the ads could show product inspiration, …