Welcome back to the Abstract! Here are the studies this week that invaded our brains, thought fast, swapped coffins, and hit the art gallery. First, an ancient viral pandemic that afflicted many of our primate relatives—but somehow missed humans—may help explain how we got so smart (relatively speaking). Then: mammal brains eat crow, an upcycled […]
An Ancient Virus Explains Why the Human Brain Is Special Read Post »
In October 2024, as The New York Times first reported, a mother in Florida named Megan Garcia filed what was then a first-of-its-kind lawsuit accusing the chatbot startup Character.AI of killing her 14-year-old son, Sewell Setzer III. The young user took his life in April 2024 after months of extensive and deeply intimate conversations with
We Investigated Character.AI and Found a Horror Show. Now It’s Bankrupt. Read Post »
Security researchers used AI tools to help uncover years-old vulnerabilities in the PHP web scripting language. Then the AI-assisted attacks began.
The PHP Meltdown Shows How AI Makes Bugs More Exploitable Read Post »
I have written a lot about reasoning models here over the last two years on Ahead of AI, including a recent article on mechanisms to control reasoning effort levels in contemporary LLMs. Reasoning models are still as relevant as ever. In fact, almost all current-generation LLMs today are reasoning models or offer a reasoning mode.
Building Reasoning Models from the Ground Up: A Video Course Read Post »
Unreasonably wealthy AI plutocrats are pouring billions of dollars into US elections. Elon Musk alone has pumped more than $445 million into Republican campaigns ahead of the midterms, after spending a near-equal sum to get president Donald Trump elected in the last election cycle. Leading The Future, a Super PAC backed by OpenAI and Palantir
Meta’s stocks have taken a serious beating lately, with its price shedding more than 13 percent over the past month. That fact isn’t likely to ease pressure in the trillion-dollar megacorp’s board room, as tensions between CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his board of directors reach a boiling point. As the Wall Street Journal phrased it
The AI boom is pitting local residents against corporate giants seeking to power their energy-hungry networks – but one Welsh city is fighting back Dale Johnston opens the gate to his neat suburban garden on the western fringes of Newport in South Wales. There’s a trampoline and a slide on the lawn for his grandchildren,
The datacentre next door: on the frontline of tech’s latest David v Goliath battle Read Post »
Chancellor says government to commit hundreds of millions to develop ‘distinctively British’ approach to AI John Healey has pledged to use Wednesday’s budget to harness the power of artificial intelligence to bolster Britain’s security and prosperity against the risks in the accelerating global technology arms race. As he prepares for his debut budget, the chancellor
John Healey pledges to use budget to harness power of AI to bolster Britain’s security Read Post »
Coforge reported a 53.6% year-on-year increase in consolidated revenue to ₹6,170.8 crore in Q2 FY27, supported by Encora’s full-quarter contribution and the company’s continued focus on AI-led engineering. The IT services company also raised its FY27 EBIT margin guidance to 16%. Revenue increased 11.6% sequentially from ₹5,527.7 crore in Q1 FY27. Profit attributable to shareholders
Coforge Revenue Rises 54% as AI Engineering and Deal Bookings Gain Momentum Read Post »
