Claude subscribers must soon pay usage-based fees to access Anthropic's best consumer AI model--a sign that the golden era of AI subscriptions is ending. AI model developers have long offered consumers a simple deal: Use our technology for free through an online chatbot, or pay a monthly subscription to receive more usage, premium features, and advanced models. Anthropic is about to make that bargain a lot more complicated. Starting on July 12 at 11:59PM PT, subscribers to Anthropic's $20, $100, and $200-a-month plans will need to pay additional usage-based fees to access Claude Fable 5, the consumer version of the company's highly capable Mythos 5 AI model . This appears to be the first time a frontier AI lab has gated a consumer AI model behind usage-based billing.

Experiments in using AI to build AI show that the future doesn't just belong to the frontier labs. These days, the frontier AI labs are all racing to build self-improving models . Some believe it's the surest route to superintelligence --as AI improves itself in a mind-melting loop, the thinking goes, it will eventually surpass human comprehension (and perhaps even control). That's all well and good, but I have a newsletter to produce. I wondered if recursive self-improvement might also be useful for me.

PCWorld reports that OpenAI is rolling out GPT-Live, a new full-duplex voice mode for ChatGPT that enables simultaneous listening and talking. This upgrade eliminates the awkward turn-based conversations of previous AI voice assistants while conducting web searches during conversation. GPT-Live is available to all ChatGPT users including free accounts, promising more natural and fluid AI voice interactions. AI voice modes are so bad that I typically don't bother. Up to now, the voice modes for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini have had to take turns as they listen and talk, making for herky-jerky conversations with lengthy diatribes punctuated by abrupt interruptions.

ChatGPT's new voice mode will slow down if you tell it to ChatGPT's new voice mode will slow down if you tell it to It will also acknowledge you as you speak. OpenAI is releasing two new voice models today called GPT-Live-1 and GPT-Live-1 mini the company says bring major enhancements to ChatGPT's voice functionality. You may recall the company launched Advanced Voice Mode in the summer of 2024 . On release, the feature was impressive and felt like a major upgrade over legacy voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, but over time its limitations began to feel more pronounced. Specifically, Advanced Voice Mode employed what OpenAI describes as a turn-based voice model, which functions exactly like it sounds.

'What if it's the mess in therapy that is its most prized possession?' 'What if it's the mess in therapy that is its most prized possession?' My patients use ChatGPT for therapy. "Chat told me I should break up with him." I instructed my face to remain therapist-neutral, but I must have smirked. The truth is, I was annoyed. We had been discussing the viability of this relationship for weeks, and in an instant AI had brought the answer.

Verity Harding tells WIRED that the US government's nationalistic attitude toward AI is evidence that a worst-case scenario is taking shape. Reports of an artificial intelligence arms race are everywhere-- even in this very publication . But what if that framing is fundamentally dangerous? Between 2016 and 2020, Harding spent her days briefing politicians across the globe, from Barack Obama to Emmanuel Macron, on advances in AI. As the head of global public policy at Google DeepMind, Harding was responsible for mapping out ethical conundrums and potential risks.

China's DeepSeek developing its own AI chip, sources say DeepSeek is designing its own chip for inference, the stage of artificial intelligence computing in which a trained model generates responses for users, sources said. Chinese startup DeepSeek is developing its own artificial intelligence chip, according to three people familiar with the matter, a push that could reduce its reliance on Nvidia and Huawei chips, which it has depended on to train and run its globally popular models. The chip is designed for inference -- the stage of AI computing in which a trained model generates responses for users -- rather than for training new models, the sources said. If successful, DeepSeek's expansion into semiconductor development would mark a major strategic shift for a company widely hailed in China as the country's AI champion, potentially adding to challenges faced by Chinese tech giant Huawei. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

As part of Meta's Muse Image model rollout, Instagram users with public accounts need to opt out to block AI generations of their content. Meta launched its inaugural AI image model from the Meta Superintelligence Labs on Tuesday, its effort to compete with the likes of OpenAI's GPT Images 2.0 and Google's Nano Banana 2 in the AI image generation race. The new model, called Muse Image, rolled out with deep integrations woven into the Instagram app. As part of this update, public Instagram profiles are now automatically opted into being fodder for generative AI remixes. All someone has to do is tag your account's profile in a prompt--if it's public--and they can use Meta AI to generate an image using your likeness.

OpenAI's Chief Futurist Is Leaving the Company Joshua Achiam spent nearly nine years at OpenAI researching AI safety and made a memorable appearance in the trial. OpenAI's chief futurist, Joshua Achiam, notified colleagues on Tuesday that he is leaving the company later this month after nearly nine years, WIRED has learned. Achiam, who previously led a team tasked with upholding the organization's nonprofit mission, told OpenAI staff that his departure was not motivated by any specific reason, but was something he's been thinking about for a while. "The world is in on the secret now and it feels possible to work on the mission from outside the walls of a frontier lab," Achiam said in a note to staff obtained by WIRED. "I believe we can get to a world of peace, unprecedented prosperity, and unimaginable possibilities, social and scientific. Whatever I do next, I will continue to work with you on making this vision real."

The Canadian province of British Columbia is preparing to sue OpenAI, alleging the US company failed to alert police after its staff internally flagged violent ChatGPT conversations linked to the person responsible for February's Tumbler Ridge mass shooting . Attorney General Niki Sharma announced Tuesday that the province has hired legal teams in British Columbia and California to "explore all legal avenues to hold OpenAI and its decision-makers accountable for its documented failure to notify law enforcement regarding explicit, flagged threats made by the perpetrator on the company's ChatGPT platform." The move stems from the February 10 attack in the remote mountain community of Tumbler Ridge, where authorities say 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed their mother and half-brother before going to the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire. Five children between the ages of 11 and 13 and one educator were killed at the school. Twenty-seven other people were wounded before Van Rootselaar died from what police described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.