AI data centers consume roughly 0.04 percent of all freshwater used in the United States each year. That figure, including both water used inside data centers and water used by power plants to generate their electricity, comes from Andy Masley, writing for his own publication. He argues that fears about AI draining water supplies are …
Pope Leo XIV has released his first encyclical, calling for strict international regulation of artificial intelligence and warning that the technology risks concentrating power in the hands of a few, spreading disinformation, and fueling armed conflict. The 83-page document, titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), was presented at the Vatican today and is addressed to the …
ElevenLabs, the AI voice company valued at $11 billion, is entering the audiobook streaming market in direct competition with Spotify and Audible. Ashley Carman reports for Bloomberg that the startup has licensed 200,000 human-voiced audiobooks from publishers including HarperCollins, Blackstone Publishing, and Vinci Books. The titles will be available through ElevenReader, the company’s existing app …
Runway, the AI video startup behind tools used in Hollywood productions, is betting that the future of artificial intelligence lies not in language but in video and so-called world models. Rebecca Bellan reports for TechCrunch that the company, now valued at $5.3 billion, is pushing into territory that puts it in direct competition with Google …
Alibaba has released Qwen3.7-Max, a proprietary AI model built specifically for autonomous, long-running tasks. The model is available exclusively through Alibaba Cloud’s paid API and is not open source, marking a significant shift from the company’s previous approach. The Qwen Team, Alibaba’s AI research group, says the model completed a continuous 35-hour engineering task entirely …
Spotify has announced two new AI-powered tools aimed at audio creation: a desktop app for generating personal podcasts and an audiobook creation tool built in partnership with voice AI company ElevenLabs. The new desktop app, called Studio by Spotify Labs, lets users generate podcasts based on personal data such as emails, calendar entries, and travel …
Google’s redesigned search experience is experiencing novel problems: users discovered that searching for the word “disregard” and similar terms can return a nearly empty AI-generated response. Russell Brandom reports for TechCrunch that the new interface buries traditional search results far below the fold, replacing them with AI summaries that, in this case, provide no useful …
Artificial intelligence is changing what jobs exist, what they require, and what they pay. New roles are emerging at AI companies and across industries, while researchers and economists debate how fast and how deeply automation will affect employment overall. Business Insider has identified several new or resurgent job categories driven by AI adoption. At the …
The spread of AI-generated content is causing a growing mental burden for ordinary internet users. Jason Koebler writes for 404 Media that the constant need to assess whether content is human or AI-generated is consuming significant cognitive energy and undermining trust across platforms. Koebler describes encountering AI-style writing in unexpected places, including a long-running personal …
Arthur Mensch, CEO of French AI startup Mistral, has issued a stark warning: Europe has roughly two years to build its own artificial intelligence infrastructure before becoming permanently dependent on American technology companies. Business Insider reports on remarks Mensch made at a hearing on digital sovereignty and AI at France’s National Assembly. “It will be …