Technology

Meta Unveils Four New Generations of Custom AI Chips to Reduce Nvidia Reliance Meta has announced a significant expansion of its custom silicon efforts with four new generations of its in-house Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) chips. The new chips—MTIA 300, 400, 450, and 500—are engineered to manage the massive AI workloads for Meta’s services, including ranking, recommendation systems, and generative AI. This strategic move aims to reduce the company’s reliance on external chip suppliers like Nvidia while improving performance and efficiency for its specific needs. The MTIA 300 is already in production, with subsequent generations planned for a rapid six-month release cadence. The more advanced MTIA 450 and 500 models are specifically optimized for generative AI inference and are slated for mass deployment in 2027. ...

Nuro Tests Self-Driving Cars in Tokyo, Marking First International Expansion U.S. self-driving startup Nuro has commenced testing its autonomous vehicles on public roads in Tokyo, representing the company’s first international deployment. The vehicles are currently operating with safety drivers present. This expansion is notable as Nuro claims its system did not require pre-training on local Japanese driving data, a capability it refers to as “zero-shot” autonomy. The company’s technology is designed to learn the fundamental principles of safe driving, allowing it to adapt to new environments like Tokyo’s dense and complex streets, which feature left-side driving and different traffic patterns from the U.S. Backed by investors including Nvidia and Toyota, Nuro has established a local office and deployed a small number of test cars to begin data collection. The company is also partnered with Uber and Lucid Group. ...

Northwestern’s Evolving Robots Showcase ‘Athletic Intelligence’ and Self-Repair Researchers at Northwestern Engineering have pioneered a new class of modular robots, dubbed “legged metamachines,” that exhibit athletic intelligence and can dynamically adapt to their environment. These robots are built from autonomous, LEGO-like modules, allowing for assembly into numerous configurations. A standout feature is their remarkable ability to recover from damage; for example, if a leg breaks, the remaining parts can continue to function and reconfigure for mobility. The designs were optimized using an AI-driven evolutionary algorithm that simulated natural selection to identify the most efficient and versatile body types for movement. According to the researchers, these are the first robots to be evolved within a computer and then successfully deployed in a real-world outdoor environment. ...

India Hosts Inaugural Global AI Impact Summit in New Delhi The India AI Impact Summit 2026 has commenced in New Delhi, marking the first global AI summit to be hosted in the Global South. The five-day event, held at Bharat Mandapam, brings together global leaders, policymakers, technology companies, and researchers to discuss the future of artificial intelligence with a focus on inclusion and responsible development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the expo, which features 600 startups and 13 country pavilions, underscoring India’s ambition to become a global AI hub. The summit is anchored on three foundational pillars: ‘People, Planet and Progress’. The event aims to foster international collaboration and shape a future where AI serves humanity, drives inclusive growth, and promotes sustainable development. ...

AI and CRISPR Identify New Kidney Cancer Drug Targets Researchers in the UK and Korea have developed a new machine learning pipeline to identify novel drug targets for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), a common type of kidney cancer. The innovative framework integrates single-cell RNA sequencing with CRISPR screens and protein network analysis to pinpoint tumor-specific vulnerabilities. This AI-driven approach identified 96 potential drug targets and 39 existing FDA-approved compounds for repurposing. Preclinical tests revealed that several of these drugs, including Ribociclib and Dasatinib, were significantly more effective than current standard treatments across all tested renal cancer cell lines. This research, published in npj Drug Discovery, focuses on targeting the tumor’s intrinsic weaknesses. ...

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. ...

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. ...

Zara’s AI Integration Revolutionizes Retail and Supply Chain Management Fast-fashion giant Zara is embedding artificial intelligence into its core retail workflows to boost efficiency and market responsiveness. By leveraging generative AI, the company can adapt and extend existing product imagery, significantly cutting the time and expense of traditional photoshoots. This fashion technology allows for rapid creation of visual variations tailored to different markets. Beyond creative applications, Zara’s AI strategy extends to crucial operational areas, including demand forecasting, real-time inventory management, and delivering personalized customer experiences. This deep integration of AI is designed to optimize Zara’s entire supply chain, solidifying its leadership in the competitive fashion industry. ...

OpenAI Unveils GPT-5.2, A Powerful AI Model for Professional Workflows OpenAI has officially launched GPT-5.2, its most advanced AI model series yet, engineered to enhance professional workflows and tackle complex, multi-step projects. The new series—comprising GPT-5.2 Instant, Thinking, and Pro—delivers significant improvements in coding, spreadsheet and presentation creation, image perception, and understanding long contexts. According to OpenAI, GPT-5.2 Thinking shows a 30 percent reduction in errors compared to its predecessor, GPT-5.1, making it more reliable for tasks like research, writing, and analysis. The model also demonstrates improved performance in mathematical problem-solving and abstract reasoning benchmarks. The rollout of GPT-5.2 will begin with paid ChatGPT users, with the API now available to all developers, marking a strategic move to solidify OpenAI’s leadership in the competitive enterprise AI landscape. ...

AI Digital Twin Breakthrough: DT-GPT Predicts Patient Health Futures Researchers at the University of Melbourne have developed a groundbreaking AI tool, DT-GPT, that creates virtual digital twins of patients to forecast their individual health paths. The model was trained on three datasets comprising thousands of electronic patient health records for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and non-small cell lung cancer. In testing, DT-GPT outperformed 14 other leading machine learning models in predictive accuracy. This technology could potentially simulate clinical trial outcomes, accelerating drug development and reducing costs. It may also enable medical professionals to anticipate patient health deterioration for earlier intervention and predict adverse medication side effects for more personalized treatment plans. The research has been published in NPJ Digital Medicine. ...