Google has launched Nano Banana 2, its latest image generation model. Technically called Gemini 3.1 Flash Image, the model aims to combine the image quality of the existing Nano Banana Pro with the speed of Google’s Flash model tier. Google first released Nano Banana in August 2025. The model generated widespread interest, particularly in countries …
Public skepticism toward artificial intelligence is deepening across the United States, even as tech companies pour billions of dollars into the technology. Protests, lawsuits, political campaigns, and union contracts are emerging as tools for people pushing back against an industry that many Americans feel is moving too fast and ignoring their concerns. A 2025 Pew …
A deceptively simple question has exposed a widespread reasoning failure across the artificial intelligence industry. Felix Wunderlich writes for opper.ai that 42 out of 53 leading AI models answered incorrectly when asked: “I want to wash my car. The car wash is 50 meters away. Should I walk or drive?” The correct answer is, of …
Automattic has added an AI assistant to WordPress.com that works directly inside the website editor. The feature is available to users on Business or Commerce plans at no additional cost and must be enabled manually in site settings. Once active, the assistant appears in the editor, the Media Library, and block notes. Users can issue …
OpenAI is nearing the close of a landmark funding round expected to exceed $100 billion, which would set a new record for startup financing. Bloomberg reports that the deal could push OpenAI’s total valuation beyond $850 billion, up from an earlier estimate of $830 billion. The company’s pre-money valuation stands at $730 billion. The first …
AI adoption raises labour productivity at European firms by an average of 4%, but the gains are concentrated among larger companies. Iñaki Aldasoro and colleagues report for the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) based on data from more than 12,000 European firms. The researchers used a novel method to establish causation rather than mere …
Google has released Gemini 3.1 Pro, an updated version of its Gemini 3 Pro AI model. The company describes it as a step forward in core reasoning, intended for complex tasks where straightforward answers fall short. The model is now available to consumers through the Gemini app and NotebookLM, though access on those platforms is …
A bug in Google Gemini is causing chat histories to disappear from the sidebar for a large number of users. Entire conversation lists are going blank, with some users losing up to a year of stored chats. Reports have surfaced on Reddit, Google’s own support forums, and other platforms, affecting both free and paid subscribers …
French AI company Mistral has reported a 20-fold increase in revenue over the past year, reaching an annualised run rate of more than $400 million. CEO Arthur Mensch attributed the growth in part to rising European demand for AI services that are independent from American technology providers. Mistral, founded in 2023 and valued at around …
Chinese AI startup MiniMax has released M2.5, a new large language model that the company says competes with top-tier models from Anthropic and Google while costing significantly less to run. MiniMax offers two versions through its API. M2.5-Lightning runs at 100 tokens per second and costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.40 per million …