OpenAI Reverses Course on Searchable ChatGPT Conversations

OpenAI has disabled a feature that allowed users to make their ChatGPT conversations discoverable by search engines. The move comes after reports revealed that private and sensitive user chats were appearing in Google search results. OpenAI’s CISO, Dane Stuckey, called the feature a “short-lived experiment” that created too many risks of accidental sharing. While the feature was opt-in, the incident has sparked significant concern over user privacy and data protection in AI applications.

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Google DeepMind Unveils AlphaEarth AI for Planetary Mapping

Google DeepMind has introduced AlphaEarth Foundations, a new AI model designed to map the Earth’s surface with unprecedented accuracy. Functioning as a “virtual satellite,” the model integrates data from satellite imagery, radar, and climate simulations to create a unified digital map of the planet. It analyzes the world’s land and coastal waters in 10x10 meter squares, enabling precise tracking of environmental changes. Google reports the model has a 24% lower error rate than existing systems.

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UC San Diego AI Tool Reduces Data Needed for Medical Imaging

Researchers at UC San Diego have developed an AI tool named GenSeg that can be trained for medical image segmentation using up to 20 times less expert-labeled data. The system works by learning to generate synthetic, yet realistic, medical images and segmentation masks to augment small training datasets. This breakthrough makes advanced AI diagnostic tools more accessible and affordable, especially for smaller hospitals with limited resources for data annotation.

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Deep Cogito Releases Open-Source AI with Self-Improving Reasoning

Deep Cogito has launched Cogito v2, a family of four new open-source hybrid reasoning AI models, including a powerful 671B Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) model. A key innovation is a technique called Iterated Distillation and Amplification (IDA), which allows the models to learn from their own reasoning processes. This “self-improving” capability helps the models build stronger intuition and solve problems more efficiently.

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Leaked OpenAI Models Hint at Imminent Open-Source Release

Evidence on the HuggingFace platform suggests OpenAI is preparing to release new open-source models. Repositories for “gpt-oss-120b” and “gpt-oss-20b” were briefly visible before being taken down. The “oss” tag is widely interpreted as “Open Source Software.” Leaked files indicate the 120-billion-parameter version is a Mixture of Experts (MoE) model, fueling speculation about an imminent official announcement.

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Tesla Fined $242 Million in Fatal Autopilot Crash

A Florida court has ordered Tesla to pay a $242 million penalty for a 2019 fatal crash where its Autopilot driver-assistance system was found to have malfunctioned. The court determined the system’s failure contributed to the accident, where a Tesla ran a stop sign and crashed, killing one person and severely injuring another. Tesla, which plans to appeal, argues the verdict sets back the development of life-saving technology.

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Chinese Humanoid Robots Showcase Advanced Capabilities

Several Chinese robotics companies have recently demonstrated significant progress in humanoid robot technology.

  • Robotera’s L7 set a new speed record, sprinting at 9 mph.
  • Kepler’s Forerunner K2 “Bumblebee” completed an 8-hour continuous livestream, proving its endurance for industrial tasks.
  • China’s first humanoid robot, Xueba 01, was admitted to a doctoral program at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, highlighting applications in creative fields.

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UK Government Advances Self-Driving Vehicle Rollout

The UK government is pushing forward with its self-driving vehicle strategy, announcing an automated passenger services (APS) scheme to begin in spring 2026. This will permit commercial pilot projects for ride-hailing, shuttles, and buses. The initiative, backed by the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, aims to build a connected and automated mobility (CAM) sector projected to be worth £66 billion annually.

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Generative AI News in Brief

  • Adobe Photoshop: Upgraded with new Firefly-powered AI features, including Generative Upscale and Harmonize.
  • Hailo-10H: The new AI accelerator for edge devices is now commercially available.
  • EU AI Act: Provisions for general-purpose AI models are set to apply starting August 2, 2025.

Hitachi Vantara Brings VSP One Storage to Google Cloud

Hitachi Vantara’s Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) One Software-Defined Storage (SDS) is now available on the Google Cloud Marketplace. This extends VSP One’s unified data plane for structured and unstructured data across on-premises, AWS, and now Google Cloud environments. The platform promises to reduce cloud storage costs by up to 40% through features like advanced data compression and thin provisioning.

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VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 Unifies VMs and Kubernetes

The release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0 introduces enhanced support for managing both modern and traditional applications. A key feature, the vSphere Supervisor, provides a unified API to manage virtual machines (VMs) and Kubernetes clusters side-by-side. This integration aims to simplify infrastructure management as more companies adopt Kubernetes.

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Comp AI Raises $2.6M to Automate Compliance with AI

Compliance automation startup Comp AI has raised $2.6 million in pre-seed funding. The company’s platform uses AI to automate up to 90% of the process for achieving compliance with frameworks like SOC 2, HIPAA, and ISO 27001. The funding will help expand its open-source platform and launch an AI Agent Studio for automating tasks like evidence collection.

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Open-Source News in Brief

  • CISA’s Thorium: The US cybersecurity agency launched Thorium, a new open-source platform for malware analysis.
  • KubeSphere: The company controversially discontinued its free open-source edition, citing license violations by other companies.
  • Anaconda Funding: The popular open-source AI and data science company received a major investment from Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital.

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