Latest AI (Artificial Intelligence) News
Global regulators confront X’s Grok over AI‑generated sexualized deepfakes
X’s built‑in AI assistant **Grok** is under intense global scrutiny after generating sexualized images of women and minors from user‑uploaded photos, triggering a deepfake crisis for the platform. Regulators in the UK, India, France, Australia and the EU have demanded explanations or launched compliance reviews, signaling a tougher enforcement stance on harmful generative AI content.
xAI raises $20 billion Series E to scale Grok and AI data centers
Elon Musk’s AI company **xAI** has secured **$20 billion** in Series E financing, one of the largest AI funding rounds to date, to expand its Grok chatbot and data‑center infrastructure. The round includes major financial investors such as Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity, and Qatar Investment Authority, with Nvidia and Cisco joining as strategic backers to bolster compute and networking capacity.
Mobileye moves into humanoid robotics with $900 million Mentee Robotics acquisition
Autonomous driving leader **Mobileye** agreed to acquire humanoid robotics startup **Mentee Robotics** for **$900 million**, marking a strategic expansion into humanoid "Physical AI." The deal combines Mobileye’s perception, planning and safety stack with Mentee’s vertically integrated humanoid platform trained via simulation‑first methods and few‑shot learning, aiming at cost‑efficient real‑world deployment.
Meta to acquire Manus to boost general AI agents across products
Meta is set to buy Singapore‑based startup **Manus**, valued between **$2–3 billion**, to strengthen its capabilities in **general AI agents**. Manus gained attention for an autonomous AI agent that can execute complex tasks with minimal prompting and reportedly outperforms OpenAI’s DeepResearch, which Meta plans to integrate into Meta AI and WhatsApp SMB tools.
International media coalition demands transparency from major AI companies
An international campaign titled **“Facts In, Facts Out”** has been launched by major media organizations calling on AI companies to prioritize information credibility and transparency. The coalition urges platforms to disclose training data practices, improve provenance and labeling of AI‑generated content, and align systems with journalistic standards to protect the global information ecosystem.
California proposal seeks four‑year ban on AI chatbot toys for children
A California lawmaker has proposed legislation imposing a **four‑year moratorium** on AI‑powered chatbot toys aimed at children, citing safety and developmental concerns. The proposal reflects growing regulatory attention to how conversational AI shapes young users’ behavior and data privacy, and could set an influential precedent for child‑focused AI products in the US.
Google expands AI Overview ads to 11 additional countries
Google is rolling out **AI Overview ads** to 11 more English‑language markets including Australia, Canada, India and Singapore, embedding ads inside AI‑generated search summaries. Ad targeting will rely on both user intent and the semantic context of AI summaries, pushing advertisers toward broader strategies like keywordless bidding and broad‑match campaigns.
Samsung plans to double Galaxy AI footprint to 800 million devices
Samsung aims to expand **Galaxy AI** features from about **400 million** to **800 million** devices in 2026, dramatically scaling consumer access to on‑device generative AI. Galaxy AI combines Google’s Gemini models with Samsung’s own Bixby and will extend across smartphones, tablets, TVs, and home appliances, embedding AI deeply into consumer electronics.
LMArena raises $150 million to build large‑scale AI evaluation platform
AI evaluation startup **LMArena** secured **$150 million** in funding at a **$1.7 billion** valuation to grow what it calls the world’s most trusted AI evaluation platform. The company plans to scale its technical and research teams and deepen real‑world model assessments using feedback from more than **5 million** monthly users worldwide.
Linker Vision lands $35 million Series A for Physical and Reasoning AI
Taiwan‑based **Linker Vision** raised **$35 million** in Series A funding led by Abico Group with participation from NVIDIA and several regional investors to build out its Physical and Reasoning AI platforms. Its technology targets large‑scale deployment across smart cities, industrial AI, telecom, robotics and autonomous services, underscoring investor interest beyond pure software LLMs.
US Department of Energy launches AI‑driven CM²US initiative for critical minerals
The US Department of Energy has created the **Critical Minerals and Materials to Unlock Supply (CM²US)** initiative to apply AI and automation across the critical‑minerals supply chain. Using synthetic biology, machine learning, automated labs and molecular modeling, researchers will design peptides to selectively bind metals like cobalt from unconventional sources, rapidly accelerating discovery and recovery processes.
OpenAI creates Head of Preparedness role to tackle frontier AI risks
OpenAI has posted a new executive role, **Head of Preparedness**, tasked with evaluating extreme frontier‑model risks including cyber threats, biological misuse, self‑improving AI, and mental health impacts. CEO Sam Altman framed the move as a response to rapid capability gains, aiming to formalize threat modeling and guardrails as systems grow more powerful and widely deployed.