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White House Report: AI Drives 1.3% GDP Increase, Projects 20% Productivity Growth A new White House paper, “Artificial Intelligence and the Great Divergence,” identifies AI as a central pillar of the U.S. economic strategy. The report estimates that artificial intelligence contributed to a 1.3% increase in the U.S. GDP during the first half of 2025. Looking ahead, the paper projects that AI could fuel productivity growth ranging from single digits up to 20% within the next decade. The report also highlights a significant surge in AI-related capital investment, with AI data centers and related infrastructure accounting for nearly a quarter of all U.S. investment in 2025. It suggests that nations leading in AI investment and adoption, particularly the United States, are positioned for accelerated economic growth. Furthermore, the paper links future AI leadership to energy resource control, noting that electricity demand from AI data centers could reach 12% of U.S. consumption by 2028. ...
Alibaba Merges Autonomous Driving Unit with Zelos in $2 Billion Robovan Initiative Alibaba is merging its autonomous vehicle division with Chinese startup Zelos Technology to form a new entity valued at approximately $2 billion. Alibaba’s logistics arm, Cainiao, will integrate its self-driving unit into Zelos, creating a combined company expected to operate as Cainiao Robovan. This new venture will manage a fleet of over 20,000 autonomous delivery vehicles. The strategic move allows Alibaba to invest in Zelos’s expertise in Level-4 autonomous delivery solutions rather than pursuing costly in-house development. Zelos, founded in 2021, provides solutions for e-commerce, postal services, and logistics providers. The merger aims to scale autonomous delivery in China’s competitive logistics market, driven by the growth of e-commerce and rising labor costs. ...
Meta Challenges OpenAI & Google with New Open-Source AI Model In a move to democratize artificial intelligence, Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta will provide full open-source access to a powerful new AI model, directly challenging closed systems from competitors like OpenAI and Google. This initiative aims to increase transparency and foster greater inclusivity in AI research and innovation. The announcement has generated excitement within the global scientific community, as it could reshape AI standards and ethics. The open-source model is expected to be a significant benefit for independent developers, academic institutions, and researchers in underrepresented regions. While promoting collaboration, the move also raises concerns about potential misuse for cyber-attacks and disinformation, highlighting the need for clear regulations. Meta has confirmed that safety tools and responsible-use guidelines will be released alongside the model. ...
University of Kentucky Launches State’s First Bachelor of Science in AI Program The University of Kentucky’s Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering has introduced the first Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence in the Commonwealth. Housed in the Department of Computer Science, the new undergraduate degree program is set to welcome its inaugural class in Fall 2026. This initiative responds to the surging demand for AI and machine learning specialists, an occupation projected to be the third fastest-growing globally between 2025 and 2030. The program is designed to equip students with essential technical skills and a strong ethical foundation to apply AI responsibly across various industries. With this new offering, the University of Kentucky joins a select group of universities nationwide providing a bachelor’s degree specifically in AI. ...
Richtech Robotics & Microsoft Partner to Advance Agentic AI in Real-World Robots Richtech Robotics has announced a collaboration with Microsoft’s AI Co-Innovation Labs to develop and implement agentic artificial intelligence in real-world robotic systems. This joint effort will enhance Richtech’s ADAM robot with adaptive intelligence using Microsoft’s Azure AI. The partnership aims to elevate robots from simple task executors to context-aware, conversational assistants by applying vision, voice, and autonomous reasoning to physical environments. The enhanced ADAM robot will be able to consider factors like time of day, weather, and promotions to better respond to customer needs. It will also use vision-based models to maintain service quality during busy periods and provide operational awareness, such as alerting staff about low inventory levels. ...
January 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal month in technology, with major strides in artificial intelligence, military tech adoption, and the quantum computing industry. This digest covers groundbreaking news, from a study showing Generative AI outperforming human creativity to the U.S. Marine Corps standardizing its official AI platform and a landmark $1.8 billion acquisition set to reshape the quantum landscape. Study Finds Generative AI More Creative Than the Average Human A recent study comparing over 100,000 humans to advanced AI systems like GPT-4 has found that generative AI can now outperform the average person on certain creativity tests. The research, led by the Université de Montréal, focused on divergent thinking and idea generation. While AI models demonstrated strong performance, the study also highlighted that the most creative humans, particularly those in the top 10%, still significantly outperform the best AI systems. The study utilized the Divergent Association Task (DAT) to measure the ability to generate semantically distant ideas. Researchers also found that AI’s creativity could be significantly influenced by adjusting parameters like ’temperature’ and through specific prompting techniques. ...
AI Adoption in US Workplaces Surges, Gallup Poll Finds A recent Gallup Workforce survey reveals a significant increase in the adoption of artificial intelligence among American workers. The poll, which surveyed over 22,000 U.S. workers, found that 12% of employed adults now use AI daily in their jobs. Approximately one-quarter of respondents reported using AI frequently (at least a few times a week), while nearly half of the workers surveyed stated they use AI at least a few times a year. This marks a notable rise from 2023, when just 21% of workers reported using AI at least occasionally, highlighting the rapid integration of generative AI tools like ChatGPT into professional environments. ...
AI Creativity Now Matches Average Humans, But Lags Behind Top Innovators, Study Reveals A landmark study from the Université de Montréal, co-authored by AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio, reveals that leading AI models now match or exceed the average human’s creative abilities in linguistic tasks. Published in Scientific Reports, the research is the largest comparative study of its kind, testing large language models like GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini against 100,000 people. While models like GPT-4 have achieved a significant milestone by reaching average human creativity, the study underscores that the most creative individuals still significantly outperform the most advanced AI systems. ...
Keysight Launches ML Toolkit to Revolutionize Semiconductor PDK Development Keysight Technologies has introduced a new Machine Learning Toolkit aimed at dramatically accelerating the development of Process Design Kits (PDKs) for semiconductors. This toolkit, integrated into the Keysight Device Modeling Software Suite, promises to slash model development and parameter extraction time from weeks down to just hours. As semiconductor complexity grows and design schedules shrink, traditional manual modeling workflows have become a bottleneck. Keysight’s AI and machine learning-driven solution enhances productivity and model quality by reducing the number of parameter extraction steps from over 200 to fewer than 10, enabling global optimization of 80+ model parameters in a single operation. ...
Hanwha Aerospace Unveils Next-Gen Autonomous Fighting Vehicles for 2026-2031 Hanwha Aerospace has detailed its development plans for a new family of heavy autonomous fighting vehicles, with a projected timeline between 2026 and 2031. Announced at the IQPC International Armoured Vehicles conference, the vision focuses on unmanned platforms for manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) operations. This initiative builds on the company’s previous plans to develop an autonomous version of its K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzer. The strategic push towards autonomous military technology is partly a response to demographic challenges in South Korea, including a shrinking military due to a low birthrate. These advanced autonomous systems are designed to provide critical combat mass directly on the front lines. ...