Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

Google Labs, the tech giant’s team devoted to experimental product design, has launched a new AI-fueled app for iOS and Android that will quite literally animate your life. Behold, Dreambeans. Why is it called that? We’ll get to that later. First, what is it? Gozde Oznur, the product lead behind the new app, told TechCrunch that the idea is to use data culled from across your various Google services to generate a curated list of AI-illustrated “stories.” These stories come in a variety of different shapes and forms, although — in general — they seem to be lifestyle suggestions. Oznur…

After Microsoft released findings from its latest employee surveys, some workers took to an internal message board to question the results, according to comments viewed by Business Insider.These employees wondered whether the surveyed had been watered-down, especially when it comes to issues around compensation at the software giant.For years, one question in particular served as a barometer for employee sentiment. It asked whether employees felt they were getting a “good deal at Microsoft (i.e. there is a reasonable balance between what I contribute to Microsoft and what I get in return).”In previous years, after low and declining responses to this…

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said it’s hard to describe what it feels like to use the company’s closely-guarded AI hardware device.”It feels very natural, but it feels very lovable,” Friar said during a live interview at the “All-In Podcast” team’s Liquity Summit in California.When the co-hosts of the “All-In” podcast pressed her on whether Jony Ive-led device is an earpiece, she joked about the legendary iPhone designer’s potential response.”If I tell you it’s an earpiece, Jony will come and steal my teenage son,” Friar said. “I might give him to him.”Friar described a visceral reaction to using the device.”What Johnny…

Kevin O’Leary’s company says it was caught off guard by a Utah lawmaker’s demand to dramatically shrink its proposed AI data center campus.On Monday, Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams said he sent a letter to the celebrity investor calling for a 75% reduction in the proposed data center campus.Adams — who also chairs the Military Installation Development Authority, which gave the project an initial approval in April — wrote that he wants the Box Elder County data center to be reduced from 40,000 acres to about 10,000 acres. He also said he wanted stronger commitments on water, conservation, environmental…

OpenAI’s employees are spending tokens on tokens on tokens. And yet it’s someone outside the company who is spending the most.The AI lab’s employees are known for their high AI spending. Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw, once spent $1.3 million worth of tokens in a month.During a Tuesday enterprise event, CEO Sam Altman talked about the company’s highest token spender.Six and a half years ago, OpenAI’s top token burner went through 100,000 a month, Altman said. That was “very likely the token leader in the world,” he said.”Today, 6.5 years later, that is about the per capita average in…

The gobs of money tech giants are pouring into the AI trade coud amount to roughly the economic value of some of the world’s top economies over the coming few years. Goldman Sachs updated its estimates for hyperscaler capex from full-year 2025 through 2030 on Tuesday. Spending from just four tech giants — Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet — is on track to hit a combined $5.3 trillion by the end of 2030.That amount is larger than the GDPs of Japan, United Kingdom, India, and France, among more than 200 other countries, according to data from the International Monetary Fund.…

In what may be one of the more questionable uses of AI to date, Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will display AI-generated images of products within its shopping app based on users’ search queries. That’s right — a retailer where people shop for real-world products thinks that displaying fake photos will “help” consumers better find what they’re looking for. Enough already. Here’s how Amazon says in a blog post that the feature will work. Customers may have something in mind but don’t know the right term to describe it in a way that returns useful results. (The examples Amazon…

Customer support and service are among the hottest sectors in voice AI right now. But building a product that sounds human and responds without noticeable delay turns out to be much harder in some markets than others — and most of the major players weren’t built with Africa and the Middle East in mind. AethexAI, a startup founded last year to close that gap, has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding led by 4DX Ventures, with participation from Enza Capital, Dorm Room Fund, Mojo Ventures, and Stanford GSB 26 Fund. Individual investors include Stanford faculty, telecom executives, and AI researchers…

The U.K. has just imposed legal guardrails on Google’s AI search onslaught. On Wednesday, Google announced compliance with the U.K.’s regulatory requirements, which state that the tech giant must offer publishers a way to opt out of being aggregated into AI search. To opt out, publishers will be able to use a new toggle in Google’s Search Console, a free service that allows website owners to manage their web presence in Google’s search results. Once opted out, the publisher’s site will not be shown in Google’s generative AI Search features, like AI Overviews, AI Mode, or AI Overviews in Discover.…

For years, WhatsApp has been a communication layer for businesses of all sizes around the world. Meta is now infusing AI into that layer in a bid to turn WhatsApp into a viable piece of workflow software for small and medium businesses. The company on Wednesday said it is making its customer support AI bot, now known as Meta Business Agent, available globally within WhatsApp. The launch comes as Meta has spent nearly two years testing AI agents in WhatsApp Business for customer support in countries like India and Mexico. Image Credits: MetaImage Credits:Meta Meta said the AI agent can…