An Australian radio network created a fake Asian presenter using AI, borrowing the voice and photo of their finance employee to host a daily hip-hop show. The deception lasted months before anyone noticed.
Good Morning from San Francisco, Baidu unleashed chaos in China's AI market. The search giant slashed prices on
US universities face a potential brain drain as German institutions report a surge in applications from American scientists. Trump's policies targeting academia have pushed three-quarters of US researchers to consider leaving - and Germany sees an opportunity.
Good Morning from San Francisco,
Baidu unleashed chaos in China's AI market. The search giant slashed prices on its new multimodal models by up to 80%, mocking text-only AI as yesterday's news. Yet they still depend on rival DeepSeek's text models - talk about mixed signals.
Meanwhile, American scientists flee to German universities as Trump's policies bite. At Munich's Technical University, US applications have tripled. Three-quarters of US researchers now eye the exit, while German universities offer the full package: funding, labs, freedom.
Two superpowers, two different crises. In China, AI companies wage price wars. In America, academics pack their bags.
Stay curious,
Marcus Schuler
Baidu just fired a shot at its AI rivals. The search giant unveiled two new models that process text, audio, images, and video - while claiming text-only systems are becoming irrelevant.
CEO Robin Li pulled no punches at Friday's developer conference. "The market for text models is shrinking," he said, launching Ernie 4.5 Turbo and X1 Turbo at rock-bottom prices. The 4.5 Turbo costs 80% less than before, while X1 Turbo sells for half its original price.
Baidu backed its talk with hardware: 30,000 new AI chips, an automated task platform called Xinxiang, and AI avatars for merchant livestreams. Investors liked what they heard - the stock jumped 4%.
But here's the twist. Despite downplaying text-only AI, Baidu still uses rival DeepSeek's text models in key products. This move came after Baidu dropped subscription fees for its own chatbot, outgunned by free offerings from competitors.
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Prompt:
AI Image Prompt: A serene, biomechanical cathedral
chamber bathed in soft bioluminescent amber and violet light. In the center stands Sister Avi: a six-limbed, feminine hybrid of human and insectoid grace, her body sheathed in glistening violet carapace with translucent enzyme sacs nestled along her ribs. Her face is featureless, serene, exuding peace and divine detachment. Antennae arc like crowns from her scalp, twitching with reverence. Around her, the Beatific Swarm hovers like dust motes in sunlight. The ambient light catches the slick textures of her form, casting gentle shadows that enhance the dreamlike, sacred stillness of her rebirth.
Perplexity AI struck its first smartphone deal. The search startup will integrate its technology into Motorola's new Razr phones alongside Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, and Meta.
"Search shouldn't be about endless links and ads," said Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas at Wednesday's New York launch. "Your phone is now an answer machine, personal assistant and research agent."
Every Razr buyer gets three months of Perplexity Pro with Deep Research features. The partnership follows OpenAI's recent Apple deal, which lets Siri tap ChatGPT for complex questions.
This move skips the specialized AI gadget trend, after devices like Humane's AI Pin flopped. Instead, Perplexity aims to make AI search a daily habit by building it directly into phones people already use.
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OpenAI has squeezed its web-scouring research tool into a leaner package, rolling out a "lightweight" version to ChatGPT users that trades verbose responses for wider availability. While the new tool runs on OpenAI's o4-mini model - a slimmed-down version of its heftier sibling - it promises to maintain the depth users expect, just with fewer words to wade through.
Three major European research funders have frozen joint projects with China since 2021, citing concerns over the country's murky data protection rules that could trap scientists in legal quicksand. While China requires approval to share any "important data" overseas, it hasn't bothered to define what that actually means - leaving European scientists wondering if sharing a spreadsheet might land them in hot water.
Scientists just sent quantum-encrypted messages across Germany's commercial telecom lines without fancy cooling equipment - a first for the field. Using a clever trick called quantum entanglement, Toshiba Europe's team moved secure data over 250km of regular fiber optic cables, showing that next-gen encryption might be closer to reality than we thought.
Apple aims to build all US-bound iPhones in India by 2026, marking a decisive shift away from China as Trump's trade war reshapes tech manufacturing. The tech giant needs to double its Indian production to hit this target - a massive undertaking that would end China's two-decade reign as Apple's iPhone powerhouse.
Ziff Davis, owner of Mashable and PCMag, hit OpenAI with a lawsuit claiming the AI company stole content from its 45 media sites to train ChatGPT. OpenAI fired back that its use of published content falls under "fair use," but Ziff Davis wants hundreds of millions in damages.
Netflix now offers simplified subtitles that show just the spoken words, dropping audio cues like "[phone buzzing]" from its usual closed captions. The new feature starts with Netflix originals in English - beginning with You Season 5 - while half of US viewers now watch their shows with some form of subtitles on.
Adobe just added AI image generators from OpenAI and Google to its Firefly app, expanding beyond its own tech. While Adobe's homegrown AI promises legal safety for commercial work, users can now tap rival models for brainstorming - though they'll pay for this creative freedom using Adobe's credit system.
Nous Research just scored $50 million from crypto investor Paradigm to build AI models using distributed computing power on the Solana blockchain. The startup plans to reward users who share their spare computing capacity, marking one of the first serious attempts to merge AI training with blockchain technology.
American scientists are fleeing to German universities. The Technical University of Munich reports a spike in US applications as Trump's policies target academia.
Three out of four US researchers now consider leaving the country. Trump's administration cut research funding, restricted speech, and demanded surveillance of student activities. The pressure hits hardest in climate science, health research, and social sciences.
German universities see a chance to gain talent. Applications to TUM's visiting professor program tripled, with one-third coming from US researchers. Every successful candidate gets funding and lab space.
But German academic leaders urge caution. While some welcome the influx, others worry about damaging ties with US institutions. "We need solidarity with our American partners, not poaching," says Walter Rosenthal, head of Germany's university association.
Why this matters:
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GPT‑4o + KlingAI 3D logos are going viral.
Animate your logo into trading cards with 2 prompts.
Credit: KlingAI 3d
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Good Morning from San Francisco, While Apple keeps polishing its promises, Perplexity just crashed the voice AI party 🎭. Their revamped
Good Morning from San Francisco, ☀️ Tech giants just can't catch a break in Europe. The EU slapped Apple
Good Morning from San Francisco, Social media is breaking our teens. Half now say it hurts their generation - up
☀️ Good Morning from San Francisco, China's first robot marathon turned into a comedy of mechanical mishaps. The star
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