Author: precious

The next battleground for AI-powered chatbots is dominating classrooms and determining which chatbot gets to be used or not. Microsoft and Google are both racing to integrate their AI technologies into schools worldwide, each betting that early adoption among students and teachers will secure loyalty for decades to come. Both tech giants have rolled out AI-powered features across their education platforms in recent months. Microsoft’s Copilot is now integrated into Teams for Education, offering students real-time assistance with research, writing feedback, and personalized tutoring. Google has also countered with AI capabilities in Classroom and Workspace for Education, including automated grading…

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis confirmed this week that the company has no plans to introduce advertising in its Gemini chatbot, marking a sharp contrast with competitor OpenAI’s recent decision to test ads in ChatGPT. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Hassabis made it clear that Google’s AI assistant will remain ad-free while OpenAI moves forward with sponsored content for millions of users. A Direct Challenge to OpenAI’s Strategy The announcement comes at a critical moment in the AI industry, where companies are grappling with enormous infrastructure costs on AI while trying to maintain user trust. OpenAI revealed…

Elon Musk is demanding between $79 billion and $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, escalating a legal battle that claims the artificial intelligence company abandoned its nonprofit roots through its recent high-profile restructuring to a for-profit entity. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, agreeing that there was “plenty of evidence” at a hearing, concluded for a jury to consider the claims brought forward by Musk and his lawyers. Musk’s Legal Argument and the Damages Calculation The figure comes from expert witness C. Paul Wazzan, a financial economist whose analysis combines both Musk’s initial financial contributions…

Cybercriminals recently launched a sophisticated phishing operation last week, posing as LastPass to trick users into surrendering their master passwords. The campaign, which was detected on January 19, 2026, aimed at exploiting the password manager’s trusted brand by sending urgent emails about fake infrastructure maintenance. However, LastPass quickly sounded the alarm and confirmed the campaign targeted customers with deceptive messages that demanded immediate vault backups arriving with alarming subject lines like “LastPass Infrastructure Update: Secure Your Vault Now” or “Protect Your Passwords: Backup Your Vault (24-Hour Window).” The Scale of Risk The threat is significant because LastPass vaults contain sensitive…

Language learning platform Preply has raised $150 million in a Series D funding round, reaching a $1.2 billion valuation and securing its place as the latest EdTech unicorn. Led by WestCap, the round includes participation from returning investors like Horizon Capital Horizon Capital, Hoxton Ventures, Owl Ventures and Techstars Berlin, with new investors like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and Goldman Sachs International acting as sole placement agent in the transaction. This funding comes as investors reassess the role of AI in personalized learning and marks a significant milestone for the 14-year-old platform that easily connects learners…

OpenAI recently revealed its Community plan for its Stargate project, committing to cover all additional electricity costs for the project’s massive data centers so local communities face no added burden from AI’s growing power needs. This community plan specifically targets concerns over the rapid development of data centers as it ensures that the $500 billion project doesn’t burden residents with higher utility costs as it builds AI infrastructure across multiple states. The ChatGPT-maker outlined a framework where each data center site will receive its own customized community plan based on local input and specific regional concerns. Depending on the location’s…

OpenAI has brought together several engineering, product, and research teams over the past two months to overhaul its audio models, preparing for what could be the company’s most ambitious hardware push yet. The move comes as CEO Sam Altman has publicly declared that the company is seriously aiming to build artificial general intelligence (AGI), a system that can perform any intellectual task a human can. The ChatGPT-maker expects to release a new advanced audio model in early 2027, likely by the end of the first quarter, featuring capabilities that current voice AI systems simply can’t match. This model will reportedly…

Array Labs has closed a $20 million Series A funding round to expand its constellation of space-based radar satellites, bringing advanced monitoring capabilities to commercial and government customers.  The round was led by Catapult Ventures, with participation from Washington Harbour Partners, Kompas VC, as well as new and existing backers including Y Combinator, Maiora Ventures, Animal Capital, SuperOrganism, Aera VC,Gaingels, Hexagon, Cultivation Capital, and Clearance Ventures. The investment brings Array’s total funding to $35 million since completing the Y Combinator accelerator program, following a $5 million seed round in 2022 and a $10 million round in 2024. The company is…

Meta has acquired Manus, a fast-rising AI startup based in Singapore with Chinese founders, in a deal valued at more than $2 billion. Finalized in late December 2025, the deal will bring Manus’ advanced AI agent technology under Meta’s AI umbrella to supercharge its push into developing Agentic AI, which are systems that act autonomously on complex tasks. Manus’ CEO Xiao Hong will report directly to Meta’s COO Javier Olivan, while the startup’s operations will continue from Singapore. What Manus Brings to the Meta’s Table Manus has built a reputation for creating AI agents that can navigate multiple software platforms…

Google has announced it will fully discontinue its Dark Web Report feature by February 2026, pulling the plug on a service that once promised to alert users when their personal information appeared in illicit online marketplaces. The decision comes after increasing complaints on the tool’s effectiveness and growing questions about whether the tech giant was actually delivering meaningful security protection or simply repackaging existing threat intelligence. The dark web report service, which was initially launched as part of Google One’s premium subscription tier in 2023, was designed to scan hidden corners of the internet for compromised credentials, Social Security numbers,…