In-depth articles with more detailed investigations, interesting thought pieces, and more.
A detailed analysis challenges the growing concerns about datacenter water consumption by comparing one of the world’s largest AI facilities to fast food restaurants. Nicolas Bontigui writes for SemiAnalysis that Elon Musk’s Colossus 2 datacenter in Memphis consumes approximately 346 million gallons of water annually. This figure equals roughly 2.5 In-N-Out burger restaurants, each using …
Anthropic spent tens of millions of dollars to acquire and physically destroy millions of books for training its Claude AI chatbot. The company cut off book spines and scanned pages in a covert initiative called “Project Panama.” Aaron Schaffer reports for The Washington Post, detailing the operation through more than 4,000 pages of unsealed court …
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan has outlined his vision for 2026, prioritizing the fight against low-quality AI-generated content while simultaneously promoting AI tools for creators. Alex Weprin reports for The Hollywood Reporter. In his annual letter to the YouTube community, Mohan addresses the problem of “AI slop,” referring to low-quality AI-generated content flooding the platform. YouTube …
Employees who already use artificial intelligence at work are using it more frequently, though the total number of users has stopped growing. Andy Kemp reports for Gallup. Daily AI use among U.S. workers increased from 10% to 12% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Frequent use, defined as using AI at least a few times …
A surprisingly simple technique can dramatically improve how well artificial intelligence models answer questions: Researchers at Google have discovered that repeating a question twice in the same prompt boosts accuracy by as much as 76 percent for certain tasks. Carl Franzen reports for VentureBeat that the finding challenges years of increasingly complex methods engineers have …
AI-generated content often feels generic and unreliable, resembling “toys” rather than professional tools. Replit CEO Amjad Masad identifies the core issue: Everything looks the same, from images to code, Taryn Plumb reports for VentureBeat. The problem, known as “slop,” stems from lazy prompting and a lack of individual flavor. Masad believes platforms must expend more …
Artificial Analysis has overhauled how the AI industry measures intelligence, replacing traditional benchmarks with tests that measure whether AI can complete actual work tasks. Michael Nuñez reports for VentureBeat. The independent benchmarking organization removed three widely cited tests from its Intelligence Index, including MMLU-Pro and AIME 2025. The new version 4.0 introduces 10 evaluations focused …
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, believes it will soon be more practical to verify authentic media than to detect AI-generated content. Karissa Bell reports for Engadget that Mosseri expects synthetic imagery to overtake human-made content on social platforms. This shift forces a rethink of how apps identify what is real. Mosseri suggests that the …
More than 20% of videos recommended to new YouTube users consist of low-quality AI-generated content designed solely to generate views and revenue, according to new research. Video-editing company Kapwing surveyed 15,000 of the world’s most popular YouTube channels and identified 278 that contain exclusively “AI slop”, Aisha Down reports for The Guardian. These channels have …
Silicon Valley’s AI enthusiasts are frustrated with public skepticism, but they may be missing the point. While industry insiders celebrate what they see as near-miraculous advances, many ordinary people view AI progress with anxiety or indifference. Sharon Goldman reports for Fortune that the disconnect stems from fundamentally different perspectives. What AI builders frame as thrilling …