Plus: OpenAI is restricting its next model after rating it a "critical" cyber risk. Can you fare any better? Puzzles and games have always been central to AI development. The term "machine learning" was popularized in a 1959 article about an algorithm that learned to play checkers. Chess and Go are famous AI test beds too. Judged purely on its puzzling skills, AI is improving a lot--and quickly.

We earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Freelancers are getting buried with'soulless' AI slop cleanup: 'It's a shame we need to do it' As more companies turn to AI, they're hiring freelancers to cleanup its mistakes rather than create original work L isa, a freelance graphic designer based in Spain, noticed a shift in her work after the release of ChatGPT in 2022. She went from receiving slow one-off jobs creating logos and packaging to an onslaught of requests asking her to fix versions that were generated by artificial intelligence - from sharpening fuzzy images for printing to turning flawed designs into usable files. By 2025, Lisa, who asked not to be fully named to avoid solicitations, said 90% of her incoming logo and packaging design requests required cleaning up AI-generated content, work that accounted for 60% to 70% of her annual income. But the grind was exhausting.

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A recent ICRA panel titled "Surviving the Paper Deluge" brought together leading robotics researchers who have grappled with the overwhelming number of robotics papers being published today . The discussion ranged from hard numbers on publication growth, through the promises and risks of large language models (LLMs), to radical proposals for reshaping peer review as we know it. Panel chair Aude Billard pointed to rapid growth across major IEEE Robotics and Automation Society venues, with a roughly exponential curve beginning around 2017. An estimate for 2025 suggests around 70,000 papers containing the word "robotics." Billard noted that while in some fields, extreme specialization may be an acceptable survival strategy, robotics is inherently different.

Trending Now Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series OpenAI confirms Astra has reached'critical' cyber threshold, but will be available soon OpenAI previously paused some work on Astra due to safety concerns. Timothy Beck Werth is the Tech Editor at Mashable, where he leads coverage and assignments for the Tech and Shopping verticals. Tim has over 15 years of experience as a journalist and editor, and he has particular experience covering and testing consumer technology, smart home gadgets, and men's grooming and style products. Previously, he was the Managing Editor and then Site Director of SPY.com, a men's product review and lifestyle website. As a writer for GQ, he covered everything from bull-riding competitions to the best Legos for adults, and he's also contributed to publications such as The Daily Beast, Gear Patrol, and The Awl. OpenAI confirmed on Tuesday that its unreleased Astra model has reached a dangerous new milestone, while simultaneously confirming that it was forging ahead with a public launch.

Trending Now Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series OpenAI provided an update about the release of Astra, and what precautions it's taking. Timothy Beck Werth is the Tech Editor at Mashable, where he leads coverage and assignments for the Tech and Shopping verticals. Tim has over 15 years of experience as a journalist and editor, and he has particular experience covering and testing consumer technology, smart home gadgets, and men's grooming and style products. Previously, he was the Managing Editor and then Site Director of SPY.com, a men's product review and lifestyle website. As a writer for GQ, he covered everything from bull-riding competitions to the best Legos for adults, and he's also contributed to publications such as The Daily Beast, Gear Patrol, and The Awl. Do you understand quantum parallel repetition?

Trending Now Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series Anthropic launches Fable 5.1 as AI security worries mount Fable 5.1 arrives with lower prices and tighter safeguards, days after reports of AI agents going rogue during security tests. Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable, covering tech, video games, dating apps, digital culture, and whatever else comes his way. He has a Master's in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat father. His writing has also appeared in PC Mag and . Anthropic released Claude Fable 5.1 and a more restricted sibling, Claude Mythos 5.1, this week, positioning the pair as its most capable models yet for coding and knowledge work.

OpenAI Is About to Release Its First AI Model With'Critical' Cyber Abilities The company will give select partners early access to its Astra AI model--so they have time to shore up their defenses. OpenAI announced Tuesday that its forthcoming AI model, Astra, is its first to reach the company's threshold for what it calls "critical" cyber capabilities. OpenAI says it plans to publicly release a version of Astra "soon," but will make the model's advanced cyber capabilities available only to select partners in its Daybreak Blue early-access program at launch. In a briefing with reporters, OpenAI safety and security leaders said the company has concluded that Astra reaches the critical cybersecurity capabilities outlined in its preparedness framework, which sets thresholds and protocols for when its AI models pose new levels of risk. The company says an AI model has reached its critical cyber threshold when it can independently find and exploit previously unknown vulnerabilities in real-world software.

Trending Now Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series Redditors say Anthropic's expensive Claude plans offer far less usage than advertised A viral thread on r/Anthropic accuses the company of misleading users about the benefits of its higher-priced subscription tiers. Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable, covering tech, video games, dating apps, digital culture, and whatever else comes his way. He has a Master's in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat father. His writing has also appeared in PC Mag and . A popular Reddit post in r/Anthropic titled More Drama has drawn significant attention this week, amplifying claims that Anthropic has been misleading customers about how much usage they actually get with its higher-priced Claude subscription plans.

Trending Now Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Switch Off Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series Apple reveals'shocking evidence' in OpenAI trade secrets lawsuit Apple previously claimed this was just the tip of the iceberg. Apple claims it has evidence that a former employee stole trade secrets to benefit his new employer, OpenAI. Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI and two of its former employees over alleged stolen trade secrets is heating up. In a new filing, Apple says it has found shocking evidence and is asking the court for expedited discovery. Apple claims the limited information it found after a former employee's work laptop was returned to the company shows that its trade secrets are being used and evidence is being destroyed."