British musicians release silent album to protest AI copyright plans

More than 1,000 British musicians, including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, and Annie Lennox, have released a silent album to protest the UK government’s proposed changes to copyright laws. The album, titled “Is This What We Want?”, features 12 tracks of empty studios and performance spaces, symbolizing the potential impact on artists’ livelihoods if AI companies …

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ChatGPT reaches 400 million weekly users worldwide

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has achieved a significant milestone with 400 million weekly active users, according to the company’s COO Brad Lightcap. As reported by Michael Nuñez in VentureBeat, this growth demonstrates the AI chatbot’s expanding influence in both consumer and business markets. Enterprise adoption has doubled since September 2024, with over two million businesses now using …

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Report: Anthropic about to raise $3.5 billion in new funding round

AI company Anthropic has secured $3.5 billion in new funding at a $61.5 billion valuation, according to Wall Street Journal reporter Berber Jin. The company behind the Claude chatbot initially sought $2 billion but increased the amount during investor talks. The funding round includes participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst, and Bessemer Venture Partners, …

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Chegg sues Google over AI search summaries hurting website traffic

Chegg has filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming that Google’s AI Overviews feature in search results is damaging its business, CNBC reports. The online education company alleges that Google uses Chegg’s proprietary content without compensation and that AI-generated summaries appearing above regular search results are reducing traffic to its website. According to the lawsuit filed …

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Mistral’s AI chatbot reaches one million downloads in two weeks

French AI company Mistral’s chatbot Le Chat has achieved one million downloads within 14 days of its launch. According to reporting by Romain Dillet for TechCrunch, the app quickly became the most downloaded free application on iOS in France. French President Emmanuel Macron publicly endorsed Le Chat over competitors like ChatGPT. The app enters a …

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Spotify partners with ElevenLabs to expand AI audiobook narration

Spotify has expanded its AI audiobook capabilities through a new partnership with ElevenLabs, a leading AI voice technology provider. As reported by Jess Weatherbed for The Verge, the streaming platform will now accept audiobooks created using ElevenLabs’ voice synthesis software. The service supports narration in 29 languages and requires a Pro subscription of $99 monthly …

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Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati launches AI startup focused on human-AI collaboration

Mira Murati, former Chief Technology Officer at OpenAI, has unveiled her new venture, Thinking Machines Lab. The startup aims to develop artificial intelligence systems that prioritize human-AI collaboration rather than focusing solely on autonomous AI development. The company launches with approximately 30 employees, including several former OpenAI colleagues. Key leadership positions are filled by Barret …

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Former OpenAI scientist raises $1 billion for AI safety startup

Ilya Sutskever’s Safe Superintelligence (SSI) is raising over $1 billion at a valuation exceeding $30 billion, Bloomberg’s Kate Clark reports. Greenoaks Capital Partners leads the investment with $500 million. The startup, co-founded by Sutskever after leaving his position as OpenAI’s Chief Scientist, focuses exclusively on developing safe AI systems. SSI’s valuation has increased significantly from …

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New York Times develops AI tool Echo for newsroom use

The New York Times is launching an internal artificial intelligence initiative that includes a new summarization tool called Echo and guidelines for AI use in the newsroom. According to reporting by Max Tani for Semafor, the media company is opening up AI training to its staff and approving several AI tools for editorial and product …

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OpenAI board rejects Musk’s $97.4 billion takeover attempt

OpenAI’s board of directors has unanimously rejected a $97.4 billion takeover bid from Elon Musk and a group of investors. According to reporting by Cade Metz, Mike Isaac, and Jesus Jiménez in The New York Times, board chairman Bret Taylor stated that “OpenAI is not for sale.” The bid targeted the assets of OpenAI’s controlling …

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