#ai

#ai

Early on Monday, the supply of new cryptocurrency tied to Bittensor-a decentralized network of AI projects-dropped by half. The halving was the first the currency has experienced and came about by design, reflecting how Bittensor shares the same anti-inflationary architecture as Bitcoin. The event also serves a milestone for one of the most novel and ambitious cryptocurrencies to launch in years.

Investors rushed out of the AI trade this past week and piled into materials, industrials, financials and healthcare, representing a sector rotation that could have staying power, according to Wall Street analysts. Oracle stock led the latest AI selloff after the hyperscaler's earnings report and spending guidance renewed fears about excessive capital expenditures. Jeremy Siegel, Wharton professor emeritus and WisdomTree chief economist, told CNBC on Friday that it's hard to be certain about the current stock market rotation because there have been "so many head fakes in the past."

With all this boundless possibility, why is AI focused on replacing screenwriters instead of, say, figuring out a solution to fixing plastic bottles polluting the oceans? "I don't think that's an accident," said Lyonne, 46. "It's about cutting costs." What the co-founder of the media production company Animal Pictures would like to see is people paid for their expertise, work, and creative ideas, and the democratization of filmmaking so more people can engage in a business that has traditionally had sky-high barriers to entry.

As a result, many are wondering what the relationship is between AI's rise and labor's stagnation. While economists like Daron Acemoglu argue that any impact AI has on workers won't be felt for a decade - if it comes at all - tech CEOs are telling a different story: that AI is about to flip our whole world upside down.

Ryan Li has long been steeped in the worlds of both AI and crypto. He started working with AI about ten years ago as an undergrad at UC Berkeley and has since built two crypto startups. That experience has led him to conclude that popular AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity give rise to far too many hallucinations about crypto-and that those errors can cost traders millions, if not billions, of dollars.

Docusign is expanding its AI Centre of Excellence in Dublin, saying it wants to accelerate local AI innovation and fuel growth across the EMEA region. The €4.5 million (£3.9m) investment includes support from Ireland's Foreign Direct Investment Agency (IDA) - a non-commercial, semi-state body promoting foreign direct investment - and was welcomed by minister of enterprise, tourism, and employment, Peter Burke.

The open letter [PDF], sent to members of the US Congress by campaign group Food & Water Watch, complains that the AI-driven wave of datacenter expansion is stoking demand for more energy, which in turn leads to further greenhouse gas emissions, straining water resources, and higher electricity prices for ordinary consumers across the country. Organizations endorsing the letter collectively represent millions of citizens across all 50 US states, the group claims.

We live in a world that worships polish. Perfect photos on Instagram. Seamless podcasts with no awkward pauses. Articles that read like they've passed through a dozen editors. And now, with AI tools that can produce mistake-free writing in seconds, the bar feels even higher. Machines can generate flawless sentences, perfect grammar, and shiny ideas on demand. Meanwhile, I'm over here second-guessing a paragraph, rewriting the same sentence six different ways, and still wondering if "Best" or "Warmly" is the less awkward email sign-off.

There's no question that the explosion of ChatGPT and other AI-powered technology has ushered in a new era of productivity, with some leaders even predicting that a four-day work week is closer than ever before. At the same time, the pressure is only intensifying on workers to maximize every advantage. And some business leaders have set extreme examples. Take Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang. Just last week, he admitted that both he and his two children, who also work for the semiconductor manufacturer, work every day of the week-including holidays.

Rednote is also known as Xiaohongshu, which translates to "Little Red Book." For Chinese tech workers in the Bay Area working at companies like OpenAI and Meta, Rednote has become a sort of home away from home for shopping and food recommendations. And since the launch of ChatGPT, AI-related content on Rednote has exploded. Technology-related content on the app has more than doubled in the past year, and the number of tech-related creators has more than tripled, according to Rednote.

RAAS LAB is at a really exciting inflection point. The opportunity to push the boundaries of relevance using AI, while building scalable creative systems that genuinely drive performance, is hugely compelling. I'm excited to help shape the next phase of the platform's growth.

Yoodli, an AI-powered communication training startup, has reached a valuation of more than $300 million - more than triple its level six months ago - as it builds technology meant to assist people rather than replace them with machines. The valuation increase follows Yoodli's $40 million Series B round, led by WestBridge Capital with participation from Neotribe and Madrona. It comes after a $13.7 million Series A round announced in May, bringing the startup's total funding to nearly $60 million.

"Writing emails now takes a fraction of the time it used to," he said. "I still make picky edits, but it's a lot quicker and better."

Back in 2022, he ran for city council in a small California town. He lost, but the moment forever changed the way he saw the place - and local governments, for that matter. "I was trying to become a better candidate," he recalled to TechCrunch. "I wanted to understand how my city actually worked, what decisions had been made, why, who said what. And I couldn't figure it out. It's a total black box, and almost intentionally opaque."

The increases, which will affect the company's commercial, frontline worker, and government customers, take effect from July 1, 2026, and range from a slight bump to an eye-watering hike. According to Microsoft, the rises (or "updates" in Micro-speak) are driven by expanded security, management, and AI capabilities. Microsoft said, "Organizations face an increasingly complex threat landscape, rising IT demands, and the urgent need for AI-powered transformation. "To help our customers meet these challenges head-on, we're enhancing our Microsoft 365 offerings with additional security and management capabilities empowered by AI."

Julie Bornstein thought it would be a cinch to implement her idea for an AI startup. Her résumé in digital commerce is impeccable: VP of ecommerce at Nordstrom, COO of the startup Stitch Fix, and founder of a personalized shopping platform acquired by Pinterest. Fashion has been her obsession since she was a Syracuse high schooler inhaling spreads in Seventeen and hanging out in local malls. So she felt well-positioned to create a company for customers to discover the perfect garments using AI.

This week's headlines paint a clear picture: AI is becoming the backbone of business strategy. In today's MadTech Daily, we discuss global ad spend set to top USD$1tn in 2026, WPP being demoted from the FTSE 100, and the EU probing Meta's AI use in WhatsApp. Eventbrite is changing hands in a deal worth USD $500m (£378.8m). The acquisition by Bending Spoons underscores the challenges facing the ticketing platform, whose growth has slowed despite strong brand recognition.

Case in point: Palo Alto finalized a $25 billion deal to buy Israeli cybersecurity firm CyberArk in July, giving the Silicon Valley firm access to a leader in the identity security and management space for people, machines and AI agents. The deal highlights how, regardless of how good an AI model is, no one can win the AI race without solid supporting services.

Although Alexi has not yet formally responded to the lawsuit, its founder and CEO Mark Doble told me yesterday afternoon that he denies any wrongdoing and that he believes the lawsuit is based on a misunderstanding of the original licensing agreement that came to light during Clio's recent closing of its purchase of vLex, which had merged with Fastcase in 2023.

The future of newsletters is unified, AI-powered, and multi-channel. Marketers need to move beyond inbox-only strategies to reach their audience and get creative. That means using AI for content creation, CRM-driven personalization, and integrated measurement across email, web, and social. To succeed, focus on segmenting your audience, automating workflows, and tracking engagement with a Smart CRM like HubSpot. Prioritize deliverability, privacy, and accessibility, and choose monetization models that feel natural, not pushy. Start by reviewing your tech stack, updating your measurement dashboards,

Next is the ability to attach files in the new search bar for AI to translate, summarize, or explain. This includes support for PDFs and images. To attach a file, open the Ask AI interface, tap the "+" icon, and select a document or photo from your Android device. You can also click a picture with the device's camera and upload it directly.

AI has soaked up most of the venture capital raised globally and the 20-year-old VC firm also sees AI as a defining technological shift. But it argues crowding into a single, overheated category carries its own risks. India's digital economy provides a counterbalance: an expanding market where AI adoption is rising and opportunities remain more diverse. For Nexus, that balance is rooted in its origins. The Delaware-headquartered firm, with offices in Menlo Park, Mumbai and Bengaluru, has operated as a single fund and an integrated U.S.-India team since its founding in 2006.

China wants more robotics talent. The country's elite universities are preparing to launch a new undergraduate major in "embodied intelligence," an emerging field that combines AI with robotics. Seven universities - including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and Xi'an Jiaotong University - have applied to offer the new major, according to a public notice published in November by China's Ministry of Education.

"Part of what that looks like is not having enough people," said Capasso. "All my people are busy, and they're all working on the core stuff. There may be new things they're not trained on or that are hard to learn. And ultimately that's what leads to risk. It's the opportunity cost to pull someone off something core to work on something new. That's the revenue dilemma. It's asking: How do we expand our possibilities and go places we're not currently going, without disrupting the whole machine?"