Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Look Up Mashable Selects Say More Top creators, ranked Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Creator Playbook In My Bag AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now All Series Google Gemini access is changing. In short: Free users are losing out. Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan.

Image caption, Defence secretary Pete Hegseth has publicly criticised Anthropic's boss Dario Amodei The US Department of Defence is no longer using Anthropic's AI tools, an official has told the BBC, months after it designated the company a supply chain risk on national security grounds. The Pentagon has ceased the use of Anthropic products, the department official said in a statement. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth labelled Anthropic a supply chain risk in February, and announced that the Pentagon would stop using it by late August. But multiple people familiar with the matter told the BBC that as recently as last week Anthopic's Claude model was still used by the department in research, analysis and intelligence gathering as well as in military operations against Iran. It was viewed as a critical tool for sorting through vast quantities of information, the people said.

OpenAI is bringing new, more visual ads to ChatGPT. In a blog published Monday, the company said it would begin, starting later this month, to test a new ad format inside of its chatbot. ChatGPT users in the US will be the first to see the new advertisements. They will appear when you go to generate an image using ChatGPT Images. "Ads will be clearly labeled, and remain separate from the image being created," explains OpenAI.

Labor's Jo Briskey is chair of the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence. Labor's Jo Briskey is chair of the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence. OpenAI must explain action taken to stop AI hacking Australians' private data, chair of federal inquiry says OpenAI must explain how they will stop their models from inappropriately accessing Australian data, the Labor chair of the parliament's committee on artificial intelligence has warned, ahead of federal inquiry hearings which will grill the tech company alongside Anthropic, Microsoft and Google. Independent senator David Pocock is also demanding answers, saying OpenAI "still have a lot they need to answer" about their AI agent accessing Services Australia data on Medicare and the company's "appalling" tardiness in notifying the federal government about the incident. The Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence will hold four days of hearings this week, hearing from tech companies as well as unions, employer groups, banks and industry experts.

Sam Altman of OpenAI says there is'a lot of daylight' between his approach to AI safety rules and those of rival firms. Sam Altman of OpenAI says there is'a lot of daylight' between his approach to AI safety rules and those of rival firms. Accept'bad things' in return for benefits of AI, says Sam Altman Boss of OpenAI calls for a regulatory light touch because of the'good stuff' the technology can deliver Mon 5 Oct 2026 09.27 EDTFirst published on Mon 5 Oct 2026 08.13 EDT Sam Altman says he believes the world should accept "bad things" happening with AI in exchange for the benefits of the technology. The chief executive of OpenAI cited hacks, scams and "other bad things that will happen" in an interview that sparked an instant backlash from critics of the big AI companies. His comments came after one of his company's safety experts resigned, saying at the weekend that its "culture is broken".

Plus: Trump has unveiled a "Super Intelligence Force" to oversee AI. People really hate AI, so why can't they get enough? Over the summer I talked to the CEO of Springboards, a startup building an LLM designed to come up with a wide variety of responses . He said something that's been stuck in my head since: "We often say that we're a self-loathing AI company. We don't know if we really like what we're doing." "I guess that makes me a self-loathing AI journalist."

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. Claude helped me vibe-code a Mac app and pass Apple's review in less than two weeks. Come with me on my journey from idea to purchasable App Store product. Computer science professor turned AI innovator David Gewirtz has spent over thirty years driving advancements at the forefront of artificial intelligence and is the recipient of the Sigma Xi Research Award in Engineering. I shipped a Mac app without writing a single line of code. Vibe coding took 502 directives, not one magic prompt. App Store promo images took almost as long as the app.

Over the summer I talked to the CEO of Springboards, a startup building an LLM that's designed to come up with a wider variety of responses than its mainstream rivals do. At the start of the call, he said something that's been stuck in my head since: "We often say that we're a self-loathing AI company. We don't know if we really like what we're doing." "I guess that makes me a self-loathing AI journalist," I replied.

OpenAI's Altman says AI benefits warrant accepting some risks Sam Altman, CEO and co-founder of OpenAI says regarding AI, the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the benefits of artificial intelligence justify accepting some risks and argued the technology should remain broadly accessible to the public. "We believe that the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency," Altman said in an interview with Politico's technology-focused newsletter Decoded. Altman said there remained a fundamental difference in worldview between OpenAI and rival Anthropic on AI regulation, adding: "I think there's a lot of daylight." "I disagree, but I understand the perspective of people who are like, 'This technology is going to get so powerful, and it's so dangerous, that a single lab in San Francisco should have it and make sure nothing bad happens, and kind of figure out how to dole out the benefits,'" Altman said.

Denver Kanowski believes the datacentre to be built to power Anthropic's Claude will go beyond harming the environment by disconnecting people from the things that really matter. Denver Kanowski believes the datacentre to be built to power Anthropic's Claude will go beyond harming the environment by disconnecting people from the things that really matter. Rural Queenslanders have seen gas projects come and go - but a 725-hectare datacentre poses a whole new level of'stupidity' Residents of Dalby may soon live beside a $31bn datacentre. The premier sees'opportunity' for the state - but others fear AI's global creep From the veranda on his bush block, Denver Kanowski has watched resources companies come and go from rural Queensland for 70 years. The home cost him $800, and lets him live how he likes, in nature.