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 Personal Assistant Systems


Viral AI personal assistant seen as step change – but experts warn of risks

The Guardian

One OpenClaw user said he recently allowed the bot to delete 75,000 of his old emails. One OpenClaw user said he recently allowed the bot to delete 75,000 of his old emails. OpenClaw is billed as'the AI that actually does things' and needs almost no input to potentially wreak havoc A new viral AI personal assistant will handle your email inbox, trade away your entire stock portfolio and text your wife "good morning" and "goodnight" on your behalf. OpenClaw, formerly known as Moltbot, and before that known as Clawdbot (until the AI firm Anthropic requested it rebrand due to similarities with its own product Claude), bills itself as "the AI that actually does things": a personal assistant that takes instructions via messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Telegram. Developed last November, it now has nearly 600,000 downloads and has gone viral among a niche ecosystem of the AI obsessed who say it represents a step change in the capabilities of AI agents, or even an "AGI moment" - that is, a revelation of generally intelligent AI. "It only does exactly what you tell it to do and exactly what you give it access to," said Ben Yorke, who works with the AI vibe trading platform Starchild and recently allowed the bot to delete, he claims, 75,000 of his old emails while he was in the shower.


Starbucks bets on robots to brew a turnaround in customers

BBC News

Americans pulling into a Starbucks drive thru might think they are being served by a friendly staff member. But at some locations, the voice listening to the order is actually an AI robot. Behind the counter inside the store, baristas can lean on a virtual personal assistant to recall recipes or manage schedules. In the back of the shop, a scanning tool has taken on the painstaking process of counting the inventory, relieving staff of one of retail's most tedious chores, in a bid to fix the out-of-stock gaps that have frustrated the firm. The new technology is part of the hundreds of millions of dollars the 55-year-old coffee giant has been investing as it tries to win back customers after several years of struggling sales.


'Melania' buried with low critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, scores 99% with verified audience

FOX News

Melania Trump documentary sparks controversy with stark divide on Rotten Tomatoes as critics panned the documentary as "propaganda" despite it scoring 99% with the "verified audience."


Host arrested for using dating app to lure women to club in Tokyo

The Japan Times

Police have arrested a 27-year-old male host on suspicion of violating the amusement business law by using a dating app to solicit female customers to a host club in Tokyo. The arrest marked the first crackdown in the country on cases involving soliciting customers to restaurants and pubs through dating apps, according to the capital's Metropolitan Police Department. The suspect, Takuto Takeoka, remained silent during questioning, people familiar with the investigation said. Takeoka allegedly contacted two women, ages 27 and 28, through a matching app between May and July last year while posing as an information technology industry professional. He then promised them romantic relationships, later disclosed his job and urged them to come to his host club, where male companions entertain women, in the Kabukicho district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.


Give Your Problems (and Passwords) to Moltbot, Then Watch It Go

WIRED

A viral new virtual assistant formerly known as Clawdbot is complex and brings security risks--but some early adopters say it feels like the future. Dan Peguine, a tech entrepreneur and marketing consultant based in Lisbon, lets a precocious, lobster-themed AI assistant called Moltbot run much of his life. Peguine, a self-professed early adopter and trendspotter, discovered Moltbot several weeks ago--back then it was Clawdbot--after discussing a vibe-coding side project with friends on WhatsApp. He installed it on his computer, connected it to numerous apps and online accounts, including Google Apps, and was astonished by how capable it was. "I tried it, got interested, then got really obsessed," Peguine says.


Recommending Composite Items Using Multi-Level Preference Information: A Joint Interaction Modeling Approach

arXiv.org Machine Learning

Recommender systems have become ubiquitous across a wide range of fields, such as ecommerce, media consumption (including movies, books, music, news, etc.), social networks, finance, and many others, due to their effectiveness in identifying relevant items or content among numerous choices [1, 2]. Traditionally, recommender systems, largely based on collaborative filtering techniques, have focused on recommending individual (or "atomic") items, such as movies or books, by understanding users' preferences for these individual items. However, in certain application domains, recommending "composite" items (i.e., combinations of atomic items) represents a very important capability. For illustration, consider a clothing/fashion recommender system, where we want to recommend "outfits" - combinations of tops (t-shirts, shirts, sweaters) and bottoms (pants, skirts, shorts) - to users. In such a case, multiple fashion items in a recommended outfit ideally have to match both functionally and stylistically, which may require domain expertise (e.g., on things like style compatibility) beyond individual preferences. Another key challenge for such recommender systems is that a given user's personal preference for a composite item may not directly translate to the user's personal preferences for the underlying atomic items and vice versa.


Amazon's super-cute Echo Pop Kids speaker is now 40% off

PCWorld

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Amazon's super-cute Echo Pop Kids speaker is now 40% off The Anthro Pup, Unicorn, Disney Princesses, and Marvel's Avengers models are all on sale for $30 on Amazon. These might be the absolute cutest version of the Amazon Echo Pop Kids! You can now get the Anthro Pup and Unicorn models (as well as the older models) for just $30 each on Amazon, which is a hefty 40% discount and a cost-effective way to introduce your kids to Alexa. The blue Anthro Pup model features a pup wearing headphones and glasses while the pink Unicorn features a well, a poppy unicorn.


Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026: Everything we think the company will unveil

Engadget

Apple could unveil Gemini-powered Siri in Feb. What to expect when you're expecting the Samsung Galaxy S26 in February. Samsung's 2025 was filled with new foldables, an ultra-thin new form factor and the launch of Google's XR platform . After making some announcements at CES 2026, the company is expected to host its first Galaxy Unpacked of the year in February to introduce the Galaxy S26 lineup. Engadget will be covering Galaxy Unpacked live, and we'll most likely have hands-on coverage of Samsung's new smartphones soon after they're announced.


The EU tells Google to give external AI assistants the same access to Android as Gemini has

Engadget

Apple could unveil Gemini-powered Siri in Feb. The company will also have to hand some search engine data to rivals. The European Commission has started proceedings to ensure Google complies with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in certain ways. Specifically, the European Union's executive arm has told Google to grant third-party AI services the same level of access to Android that Gemini has. The aim is to ensure that third-party providers have an equal opportunity to innovate and compete in the rapidly evolving AI landscape on smart mobile devices, the Commission said in a statement .


California will investigate TikTok's alleged censorship of anti-Trump posts

Engadget

Apple could unveil Gemini-powered Siri in Feb. California will investigate TikTok's alleged censorship of anti-Trump posts Users also complained about being unable to upload ICE-related videos, but TikTok is blaming issues on a power outage. California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that his office is investigating whether TikTok is truly censoring content critical of Trump, days after ByteDance finalized a deal to spin off its business in the US. Newsom made the announcement in response to a post on X, claiming that you can no longer send messages in the app with the word "Epstein" in it. Newsom's office, in a separate post, said it was able to independently confirm instances wherein TikTok suppressed content critical of President Donald Trump.