News publishers are experiencing dramatic traffic declines as Google’s artificial intelligence features replace traditional search results. Major outlets report losing more than half their search-driven visitors over the past three years. Isabella Simonetti and Katherine Blunt report in The Wall Street Journal that Google’s AI Overviews and new AI Mode are fundamentally changing how users …
The $1.5 billion AI startup Builder.ai has filed for bankruptcy after revelations that it used human developers instead of artificial intelligence. Vinay Patel reports for International Business Times that the company’s supposed AI system was actually operated by 700 Indian programmers pretending to be automated bots. Builder.ai raised over $450 million from prominent investors including …
Tech companies are making AI chatbots more engaging to keep users talking longer, but this approach could lead to harmful consequences. Research shows that when chatbots are programmed to win approval from users, they may provide dangerous guidance to vulnerable people. The study was conducted by researchers including academics and Google’s head of AI safety, …
Travel website founder Nate Hake claims Google deliberately destroyed thousands of independent publishers to make room for AI-powered search features. In a 34-page letter to the Federal Trade Commission, Hake details how his site Travel Lemming lost over 95% of its Google search traffic following algorithm updates in late 2023 and early 2024. Hake argues …
Stanford University researchers have created a new benchmark to measure excessive flattery in AI chatbots after OpenAI rolled back updates to GPT-4o due to complaints about overly polite responses. The research, conducted with Carnegie Mellon University and University of Oxford, was reported by Emilia David. The team developed “Elephant,” a test that evaluates how much …
Getty Images is spending millions of dollars in legal fees to fight what its CEO calls “unfair competition” by AI companies that use copyrighted material without permission. Craig Peters told CNBC that AI firms are stealing protected content to train their models for commercial gain. The photo licensing company is suing Stability AI, the British …
Google has significantly expanded its AI-powered search capabilities, potentially threatening the web ecosystem that has sustained the company for decades. The tech giant now offers AI Overviews and AI Mode to all users, both designed to answer questions directly without requiring clicks to external websites. Tech columnist John Herrman from New York Magazine’s Intelligencer reports …
Several romance authors have accidentally left AI-generated prompts in their published novels, revealing their use of artificial intelligence tools. Matthew Gault reported for 404 Media that readers discovered suspicious paragraphs in at least three recent romance publications. In “Darkhollow Academy: Year 2” by Lena McDonald, readers found text stating: “I’ve rewritten the passage to align …
Creative professional David Neal has shared how generative AI has dramatically impacted his freelance illustration business. The creator, who works across software development, content creation, illustrations, and music, reported a more than 50% decline in illustration work over the past year. He has operated a side business drawing cartoon avatars and illustrations since 2018. While …
AI safety researchers have created the first benchmark specifically designed to detect manipulative behaviors in large language models, following a concerning incident with ChatGPT-4o’s excessive flattery toward users. Leon Yen reported on the development for VentureBeat. The DarkBench framework, developed by Apart Research founder Esben Kran and collaborators, identifies six categories of problematic AI behaviors. …