Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA
A recent Instagram ad from outdoor retailer REI Co-op drew backlash after some users noticed that the bike in the image seemed to have a unique feature: two sets of handlebars.”REI using AI slop now. So much for caring about the environment,” read a Reddit post over the weekend about the ad that received hundreds of upvotes.Turns out the image was the result of AI adjustments, with REI pointing to an AI tool from Meta, Instagram’s parent company.”Meta auto-enrolled us in an AI personalization tool that produced an inaccurate and inappropriate alteration of a vendor-provided image in some of our ads,”…
By Keith Petersen, head of market data and access services, North America, Cboe Global MarketsThe retail brokerage firms growing fastest today are not winning on lower commissions or by focusing solely on driving volume in equities and ETFs. They are the ones quietly rebuilding the foundation underneath those apps. This includes the data, derivatives access, and index infrastructure that allows them to bring new products to market and scale efficiently as retail behavior shifts.The evolution of retail trading has created a need to rethink the infrastructure that powers retail brokerages. Here are three structural shifts that are reshaping how the…
Facebook announced on Wednesday that it’s reimagining its Creator Studio tool as a stand-alone AI companion app designed to help creators grow their audiences on the social network. By giving creators access to this AI companion app, Meta is looking to keep creators active on Facebook as it competes for their attention against rivals like TikTok and YouTube. The company also likely hopes that the app will eliminate the need for creators to turn to third-party tools like ChatGPT when brainstorming content ideas and analyzing performance. The new app, which is currently being tested with select creators, will have Facebook’s…
Agility Robotics, the humanoid robotics startup that spun out of Oregon State University in 2015, plans to go public through a merger with special purpose acquisition company Churchill Capital Corp XI in a deal that values the company at roughly $2.5 billion. The transaction is expected to generate more than $620 million in proceeds, including about $200 million from a group of new and existing institutional investors, the company said. Agility is best known for Digit, a bipedal robot that is being used across nine customer sites, including with Schaeffler, GXO, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, and Mercado Libre. The company…
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas would make Bible stories required reading for more than 5 million public school students under a proposal that has reignited debate over widening efforts in the U.S. to put more religion in classrooms.A final vote by the Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education on whether to approve the plan is set for Friday. Last year, Texas became the largest state to require every classroom to display the Ten Commandments.The proposal has drawn fierce opposition. Critics argue the changes violate the constitutional separation of church and state, inflate the role of Christianity in the nation’s history…
Leo Garcia is serious about getting his drivers home on time.As a regional load manager for Walmart, Garcia is responsible for hundreds of semi-trailers hauling merchandise through the Chicago area.He also knows what it’s like to be in the driver’s seat, having spent more than five years there before landing in his desk job.”Being on the road for five days is difficult,” he told Business Insider. “You miss your wife, you miss your kids. We have to do our utmost best to get our drivers home.”He’s using artificial intelligence to make that journey a little smoother for his team.Garcia said…
Figma on Wednesday showed off an update that adds a new code layer, support for motion and shaders, and the ability to create custom plug-ins for various tasks using AI. The design platform has been working on bringing code integration into its tool for a while. Last year, it unveiled an AI prompt-based prototyping tool, Figma Make, and has since launched integrations with Claude Code and Codex to improve the hand-off between coding and design. The company is now adding code layers directly to the collaborative canvas, helping teams clone repositories and extract flows from code to design layers for…
On Wednesday, OpenAI unveiled its first custom-built inference processor, designed and manufactured in collaboration with Broadcom. Named Jalapeño, the new processor was designed specifically for the unique needs of OpenAI’s inference systems. OpenAI’s own AI models assisted in the development of the chip, the company said. While the chip is still being tested, OpenAI says early results show significantly better performance-per-watt than current state-of-the-art alternatives. The partnership was officially announced in October, but OpenAI’s chip plans have long been rumored as a way to reduce the company’s dependence on Nvidia’s GPUs. Google and Amazon have both built custom chips to…
You have just 3 days left to save up to $190 on your pass to TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 before Early Bird rates end on June 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Founders don’t scale alone. The fastest-growing startups learn from peers facing similar challenges, gain insights from operators who have done it before, and build relationships with investors who can help fuel their next stage of growth. On November 4 in Boston, more than 1,000 founders and investors will come together for a full day of tactical learning, candid conversations, and meaningful networking designed to help startups grow faster. Whether you’re raising capital, scaling revenue, hiring key talent, or planning your next major milestone,…
Imagine you’re 3 years old. You’ve gorged yourself on an afternoon snack of expensive berries, and you have no idea what the Strait of Hormuz is. Life is good. Your mom or dad needs to take a bathroom break and hands you their phone to watch some videos while strange sounds and smells happen behind the closed door.You watch a cartoon of a young boy with the Cocomelon phenotype face playing with several colored balloons and a red toy truck that looks suspiciously like Lightning McQueen from “Cars.”Something’s slightly off, but it’s not totally clear what — could it be…