Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

NEW YORK (AP) — Coco Gauff wishes she weren’t trying out a new service motion in what she called “the high-stress situation” of the U.S. Open.She would have loved to have more time to collaborate with serving guru Gavin MacMillan than the six days they were able to spend together before needing to test out the changes in front of thousands of fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium and millions more watching on TV around the world.That, though, is the way things went. And, Gauff figures, better late than never. So there the No. 3-ranked player was at Flushing Meadows on…

London-based Artificial Societies, which was part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2025 batch, has secured $5.35 million in seed funding.The startup, which launched in 2024, has developed a platform that generates AI personas that help companies test how their product, marketing, branding, and other content might be perceived. “We primarily use AI agents that chat with each other, mimicking how real humans influence each other,” cofounder and CEO James He told Business Insider. “We try to capture that artificial society, and how it will respond to any input. It can be a marketing message or a product proposition, and we produce…

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars acquired wide receiver Tim Patrick from Detroit on Wednesday in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick in 2026.The Jaguars said the trade would become final if Patrick passes a physical. Jacksonville waived receiver Austin Trammell to make room for Patrick on its 53-man roster.The 31-year-old Patrick missed all of 2022 and 2023 while dealing with injuries, first a torn knee ligament and then a torn Achilles tendon. But he bounced back last season and played 16 games for the Lions, finishing with 33 receptions for 394 yards and three touchdowns.The 6-foot-5 veteran is…

The NCAA is weighing a rule that would require incoming Division I athletes to disclose name, image and likeness (NIL) deals from high school or junior college to the NIL Go clearinghouse established under the $2.8 billion House settlement.Athletes would report all non-institutional deals dating to the first day of their junior year. Junior college transfers would report deals from the date of initial enrollment at a two-year college. All reporting of previous deals would be due to the College Sports Commission upon enrollment.NIL compensation at the high school level has rapidly expanded in recent years. At least 40 states…

New York City health officials are investigating a community cluster of Legionnaires’ disease in Central Harlem as the number of cases in the outbreak reached 113, the city’s health department announced.The New York City Health Department said it is investigating a community cluster of Legionnaires’ disease across five ZIP codes in Central Harlem. Since the outbreak began on July 25, the city health department has reported 113 cases of the disease in the neighborhood. As of Aug. 26, seven people diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease were hospitalized.Meanwhile, the New York City Health Department was evaluating the Parkchester Condominiums in the east Bronx after…

One exec is comparing the business model of companies like OpenAI and Meta AI to Marvel Studios.On an episode of the “a16z Podcast” published on Tuesday, Scale AI’s head of product for enterprise applications, Ben Scharfstein, said his most controversial opinion on AI is that AI foundational companies are more like content studios than software companies.”My hottest take is I think the right way to think about foundation labs is that they’re like movie studios,” he said. “What I mean by that is they invest a ton of money in blockbusters that have a relatively short time span to pay…

Alicia Silverstone says she went vegan for the animals, but ended up reaping benefits for her health.”And I didn’t know that that was going to happen. That was the miracle,” she said.She previously said she was “certain” her diet kept her youthful without Botox or fillers.When Alicia Silverstone went vegan, health wasn’t exactly her goal.During an appearance on Monday’s episode of the “Sibling Revelry” podcast, the actor spoke about the unexpected benefits a plant-based diet had on her body.”When I made these changes, yes, I did it for the animals,” Silverstone told host Oliver Hudson.But what surprised her, she said,…

Crossing paths with dogs, cats and other animals is part of campus life for students at Eckerd College, a liberal arts school in Florida that allows pets to live in dormitories.Sophie Nocera, an Eckerd senior, said she probably knows the names of pets better than her fellow students.“That’s the case for a lot of the students,” said Nocera, who lives on the campus in St. Petersburg with her Border collie, Zuko. “When I’m walking my dog, I often hear, ‘Oh my god, hi, Zuko!’ It’s like I’m not even there.”Some colleges and universities around the country welcome pets in campus…

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Mitch Brown finally had enough as he watched unfolding coverage of yet another case of homophobic abuse in the Australian Football League, and decided it was time to change the narrative.Brown contacted the Daily Aus with a message that the online news site published Wednesday: “I played in the AFL for 10 years for the West Coast Eagles, and I’m a bisexual man.”In almost 130 years of topflight competition in Australia’s homegrown football code, no past or active male player had publicly identified as bisexual or gay.Aussie Rules was a long way behind other types of…

OpenAI is planning new ChatGPT safeguards after a lawsuit blamed the chatbot for a teen suicide.In a blog post, the company outlined several safety changes.The lawsuit alleges ChatGPT “actively helped” a 16-year-old explore suicide methods.OpenAI said Tuesday it’s working on new safeguards for ChatGPT when handling “sensitive situations,” after a family filed a lawsuit blaming the chatbot for their 16-year-old son’s April death by suicide.In a blog post titled “Helping people when they need it most,” the company outlined changes including stronger safeguards in long conversations, better blocking of harmful content, easier access to emergency services, and stronger protections for…