Two recent studies paint a concerning picture of how artificial intelligence tools are changing the way people think, reason, and express themselves. Taken together, the research suggests that widespread AI use is not only reducing users’ critical engagement with information, but may also be narrowing the diversity of human thought on a broader scale. Researchers …
Anthropic’s AI assistant Claude is attracting paying subscribers at record rates. Julie Bort reports for TechCrunch that new paid sign-ups surged between January and February, with returning users also hitting record numbers in that period. A spokesperson for Anthropic confirmed that paid subscriptions have more than doubled this year. The findings come from an analysis …
Small online publishers are suffering the steepest decline in search-driven web traffic as artificial intelligence transforms how people find information online. Axios reports that small publishers, defined as those receiving between 1,000 and 10,000 daily page views, have lost 60% of their referral traffic from traditional search engines over the past two years. Medium-sized publishers …
ChatGPT remains the dominant consumer AI product globally, but competitors are gaining ground fast. Olivia Moore writes for Andreessen Horowitz that ChatGPT now reaches 900 million weekly active users, up by 500 million over the past year, meaning more than 10 percent of the global population uses the tool every week. Despite that lead, Google’s …
A new study warns that intensive use of AI tools is causing a distinct form of mental exhaustion among workers, separate from traditional burnout. Researchers at Boston Consulting Group report findings from a survey of 1,488 full-time U.S.-based workers across industries, roles, and seniority levels. The study identifies a phenomenon the researchers call “AI brain …
Google’s AI Overviews are dramatically reducing organic search traffic in Germany, with health and parenting websites hit hardest. Johannes Beus reports for Sistrix, an SEO analytics platform, based on an analysis of more than 100 million keywords. AI Overviews are AI-generated answer boxes that appear directly on Google’s search results pages. Instead of linking to …
Ten of the most widely read technology publications on the internet have collectively lost 65 million monthly visitors from Google search. Yuval Halevi reports for Growtika, tracking organic search data from February 2024 to January 2026 across sites including CNET, Wired, The Verge, TechRadar, and six others. At their combined peak, these ten publications attracted …
OpenAI has closed a $110 billion funding round, valuing the company at $730 billion. Amazon contributed $50 billion, Nvidia $30 billion, and SoftBank $30 billion. Additional investors are expected to join. The round is the largest private financing in history, surpassing OpenAI’s own $40 billion round from the previous year. Amazon’s $50 billion commitment begins …
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 …
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 …