Authors launch legal assault on Microsoft’s AI training
A group of high-profile authors, including Kai Bird, Jia Tolentino, and Daniel Okrent, have accused Microsoft of using nearly 200,000 pirated books to train its Megatron AI model. The lawsuit, filed in New York federal court, seeks statutory damages of up to $150,000 per misused work and represents the latest salvo in the ongoing legal battle between creative professionals and tech companies over copyrighted training materials.
Source: The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/26/microsoft-ai-authors-lawsuit
Anthropic debunks AI companionship hype
New research from Anthropic reveals that people use Claude for emotional support and companionship just 2.9% of the time, with roleplay comprising less than 0.5% of conversations. The study of 4.5 million conversations shows the vast majority of Claude usage relates to work and productivity, particularly content creation, contradicting widespread media narratives about AI chatbot relationships.
Source: TechCrunch
Denmark pioneers deepfake copyright protection
Denmark is introducing groundbreaking legislation that gives people copyright ownership of their own facial features, bodies, and voices. The new law, believed to be the first of its kind in Europe, will allow individuals to demand the removal of AI-generated deepfakes shared without consent and covers “realistic, digitally generated imitations” of artistic performances. Violations could result in compensation for affected parties.
Source: The Guardian
Bernie Sanders champions AI-powered 4-day workweek
Senator Bernie Sanders argues that productivity gains from AI should benefit workers, not just shareholders. Speaking on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Sanders proposed that if AI makes workers more productive, companies should reduce working weeks to 32 hours rather than eliminating jobs. “Technology is gonna work to improve us, not just the people who own the technology and the CEOs of large corporations,” he said.
Source: TechCrunch
Medical AI startup abridge valued at $5.3 billion
AI-powered medical note-taking company Abridge raised $300 million in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, doubling its valuation from $2.75 billion in February. Used in over 150 health systems, the “ambient-listening” technology transcribes doctor-patient conversations to reduce physician burnout, though privacy concerns persist around the sensitive medical data involved.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Federal judge backs Anthropic in copyright battle
Federal Judge William Alsup ruled that Anthropic legally trained its AI models on published books without authors’ permission, marking the first court decision supporting AI companies’ fair use defence. The landmark ruling could set precedent for dozens of similar lawsuits against OpenAI, Meta, Midjourney, and Google, potentially dealing a significant blow to authors, artists, and publishers seeking compensation.
Source: TechCrunch
OpenAI sets sights on self-driving cars
CEO Sam Altman revealed OpenAI is developing technology that “could just do self-driving for standard cars way better than any current approach has worked.” The early-stage project reportedly involves both OpenAI’s Sora video software and its robotics team, though commercialisation remains a distant goal. The move would put OpenAI in direct competition with Tesla, Waymo, and traditional automakers.
Source: The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/business/dealbook/openai-autonomous-vehicles-musk-tesla.html
AI commercials think you’re an idiot
Critics are calling out the “Looney Tunes” approach to AI advertising, where humans are portrayed as helpless. These overwhelmed simpletons need AI to handle basic tasks, such as buying goldfish or remembering simple facts. The commercials suggest a troubling vision where technology doesn’t enhance human capability but replaces any need for thinking, feeling, or problem-solving entirely.
Source: The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/magazine/ai-commercials-ads-loneliness.html
AI’s secret fragrance revolution
The four major fragrance conglomerates – dsm-firmenich, Givaudan, IFF, and Symrise – have quietly integrated AI throughout their production pipelines. Systems like Givaudan’s Carto help perfumers refine formulas, while DSM-Firmenich’s EmotiON claims to produce scents that improve well-being. From luxury fragrances to everyday soaps and cleaning products, AI has already touched most of what the world smells.
Source: The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/691050/perfume-ai
Amazon’s AI data centre empire
Amazon’s Project Rainier represents a new generation of supersized data centres, starting with a 1,200-acre complex in Indiana featuring seven football stadium-sized buildings. The facility will consume 2.2 gigawatts of electricity and millions of gallons of water annually, built specifically for AI startup Anthropic. The complex illustrates the massive infrastructure race underway to support AI development.
Source: The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/24/technology/amazon-ai-data-centers.html
The AI evaluation crisis
AI benchmarks are increasingly meaningless as models “teach to the test” rather than genuinely improve. Popular tests like SuperGLUE have been maxed out at 90%+ accuracy, while data contamination means models may have already seen benchmark questions during training. As OpenAI’s Andrej Karpathy noted, we’re experiencing an “evaluation crisis” where our AI scoreboard no longer reflects what we want to measure.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/24/1119187/fix-ai-evaluation-crisis
Source: MIT Technology Review
Google brings AI search to India
Google introduced its AI mode to users in India, allowing Q&A-style searches for complex, multi-part queries like family activity suggestions. The experimental tool supports follow-up questions and builds on Google’s US testing with premium subscribers. The rollout includes shopping features, voice and image search support, and integrated advertising.
Source: TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/23/google-introduces-ai-mode-to-users-in-india/
The global AI digital divide
Artificial intelligence is creating a new world order, splitting nations between those with computing power for advanced AI development and those without. The US, China, and the EU host over half of the world’s most powerful data centres, while only 32 countries (16% of nations) have large-scale AI facilities. American and Chinese companies operate more than 90% of data centres used by other institutions for AI work.
Source: The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/23/technology/ai-computing-global-divide.html
Fanfiction writers battle AI scraping
The fanfiction community is fighting back against AI companies using their work without permission to train language models. Writers like Nikki call it “theft at its core,” arguing there’s no ethical use of technology built on stolen labour. The battle represents a broader conflict between creative communities and tech companies over data consent and compensation.
Source: The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/688640/fanfiction-ai
OpenAI leaders discuss jobs impact on Hard Fork podcast
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and COO Brad Lightcap appeared on The New York Times’ Hard Fork podcast to discuss AI’s effect on employment, Meta’s talent acquisition strategies, and regulatory concerns. Lightcap acknowledged that AI will inevitably change the job market, stating “every time you get a platform shift, you get the changing job market.” Altman suggested that historically, better tools lead to increased efficiency and richer lives, though concerns persist about AI replacing entry-level positions traditionally filled by young graduates.
Source: The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/technology/hard-fork-sam-altman.html
The case for AI augmentation over replacement
Tim Wu argues that the distinction between AI augmentation and replacement will define our technological future. Writing in The New York Times, Wu warns against “mission drift” where AI systems gradually diverge from their original purpose of enhancing human capability. He advocates for keeping humans “in the loop” to prevent AI training on increasingly AI-generated content, which can lead to “model collapse” and degraded output quality. The key question isn’t whether AI replaces some human work, but whether it enhances our abilities while leaving us in control.
Source: The New York Times
Artist grapples with AI’s creative disruption
Illustrator Christoph Niemann explores two urgent questions about AI and creativity: whether artists can still make a living, and whether AI benefits or harms the creative process. In a candid piece for The New York Times, Niemann questions whether the often frustrating artistic journey—spending weeks chasing concepts that prove flawed—is necessary masochism or valuable process that AI could eliminate. He wrestles with authorship in an age where execution might be algorithmic: “Tools like rulers or erasers don’t diminish my authorship… But what if I contribute just the prompt and the idea?”
Source: The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/23/magazine/ai-art-artists-illustrator.html
Why empathy is key to AI adoption success
Technology leaders must prioritise empathy over tools when implementing AI, argues PagerDuty’s SVP of Engineering Rukmini Reddy. Writing in VentureBeat, Reddy emphasises that AI adoption is “as emotional as it is technical” and requires inclusive organisational change from the start. She advocates for embedding empathy into organisational structure and using metrics to illuminate progress rather than pressure outcomes, arguing that when people feel supported and empowered, “change becomes not only possible, but scalable.”
Source: VentureBeat
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