AI tutors are quietly changing how kids in the US study, and the leading apps are from China

Evan, a high school sophomore from Houston, was stuck on a calculus problem. He pulled up Answer AI on his iPhone, snapped a photo of the problem from his Advanced Placement math textbook, and ran it through the homework app. Within a few seconds, Answer AI had generated an answer alongside a step-

Women in AI: Chinasa T. Okolo researches AI’s impact on the Global South

To give AI-focused women academics and others their well-deserved — and overdue — time in the spotlight, technewss has been publishing a series of interviews focused on remarkable women who've contributed to the AI revolution. We're publishing these pieces throughout the year

$6M fine for robocaller who used AI to clone Biden’s voice

The FCC has proposed a $6 million fine for the scammer who used voice-cloning tech to impersonate President Biden in a series of illegal robocalls during a New Hampshire primary election. It’s more about robocalls than AI, but the agency is clearly positioning this as a warning to other would

Arc Search’s new Call Arc feature lets you ask questions by ‘making a phone call’

Arc Search, the new app from The Browser Company, is introducing a way for users to get quick answers on the go using their voice. The AI-powered feature, Call Arc, works by essentially getting users to place a quick phone call to get answers to queries.  While Arc Search already offers Voice

Meta's new AI council is composed entirely of white men

Meta on Wednesday announced the creation of an AI advisory council with only white men on it. What else would we expect? Women and people of color have been speaking out for decades about being ignored and excluded from the world of artificial intelligence despite them being qualified and playing a

FCC proposes all AI-generated content in political ads must be disclosed

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has floated a requirement that AI-generated content be disclosed in political ads — but not banned. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel made the official proposal Wednesday that the FCC investigate and seek comment on such a rule. (The agency already ruled

Truecaller partners with Microsoft to let its AI respond to calls in your own voice

AI has already started replacing voice agents’ jobs. Now, companies are exploring ways to replace the existing computer-generated voice models with synthetic versions of human voices. Truecaller, the widely known caller ID service, is the latest to take this approach with its announcement tha

TikTok turns to generative AI to boost its ads business

TikTok is the latest tech company to incorporate generative AI into its ads business, as the company announced on Tuesday that it's launching a new “TikTok Symphony” AI suite for brands. The tools will help marketers write scripts, produce videos and enhance current assets. The sui

Praktika raises $35.5M to use AI avatars to make learning languages feel more natural

Most apps that help you learn languages have features where you select options or swipe away wrong answer cards — you’re more or less interacting with a machine. Language-learning app Praktika is adopting a different approach: It lets you create personalized AI-powered avatars to replicate

In Seoul summit, heads of states and companies commit to AI safety

Government officials and AI industry executives agreed on Tuesday to apply elementary safety measures in the fast-moving field and establish an international safety research network. Nearly six months after the inaugural global summit on AI safety at Bletchley Park in England, Britain and South Ko

UK data protection watchdog ends privacy probe of Snap’s GenAI chatbot, but warns industry

The U.K.’s data protection watchdog has closed an almost year-long investigation of Snap’s AI chatbot, My AI — saying it’s satisfied the social media firm has addressed concerns about risks to children’s privacy. At the same time, the Information Commissioner’s O

EU Council gives final nod to risk-based rulebook for AI

It’s a wrap: European Union lawmakers have given the final approval to set up the bloc’s flagship, risk-based regulations for artificial intelligence. In a press release confirming the approval of the EU AI Act, the Council of the European Union said the law is “ground-breaking&#

ChatGPT’s mobile app revenue saw its biggest spike yet following GPT-4o launch

Consumer demand for the latest AI technology is heating up. The launch of OpenAI’s latest flagship model, GPT-4o, has now driven the company’s biggest-ever spike in revenue on mobile, despite the model being freely available on the web. GPT-4o, which launched May 13, can handle text, sp

UK opens office in San Francisco to tackle AI risk

Ahead of the AI safety summit kicking off in Seoul, South Korea later this week, its co-host, the United Kingdom, is expanding its own efforts in the field. The AI Safety Institute, a U.K. body set up in November 2023 with the ambitious goal of assessing and addressing risks in AI platforms, has sa