Researchers at Stanford University recently tested out some of the more popular AI tools on the market, from companies like OpenAI and Character.ai, The researchers found that when they imitated someone who had suicidal intentions, these tools were more than unhelpful -- they failed to notice they were helping that person plan their own death. "[AI] systems are being used as companions, thought-partners, confidants, coaches, and therapists," says Nicholas Haber, an assistant professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and senior author of the new study. "These aren't niche uses – this is happening at scale." AI is becoming more and more ingrained in people's lives and is being deployed in scientific research in areas as wide-ranging as cancer and climate change.

Last October, the news that OpenAI was planning to simplify its unusual nonprofit structure caught the attention of economic-justice activist Orson Aguilar. He feared that the ChatGPT maker's plan to transition into a more conventional company, from which investors could generate unlimited returns, would financially hurt the working-class communities he has spent nearly 30 years fighting to protect. Aguilar's new organization, LatinoProsperity, focuses on intergenerational wealth building, and he believed cutting-edge AI chatbots such as ChatGPT would become an integral part of many good-paying jobs of the future. But after reading about OpenAI's desires, he worried that transitioning into a public-benefit corporation empowered to chase profits would enrich the already wealthy and neglect the startup's stated mission to benefit all of humanity with AI. Aguilar decided to make a phone call that day, kicking off a series of events that eventually led him to become one of the leading voices battling over OpenAI's future and the establishment of what may become the deepest-pocketed charitable foundation in the world. Today, OpenAI's for-profit business is controlled by a nonprofit, and the returns for investors are capped.

The school district said it dropped its dealings with AllHere, the company that created "Ed," the sun-shaped chatbot, after "we were notified of their financial collapse." AllHere did not respond to an inquiry this week from The Times and the level of its operation is unclear. In a separate development, a major data breach has affected a data cloud company called Snowflake, which has worked with L.A. Unified. The district said Tuesday that there is no connection to the AllHere situation, and that it is working with investigative agencies to assess the damage and which district records were obtained through a third-party contractor. Meanwhile, the district unplugged the chatbot -- for which AllHere had been paid 3 million -- on June 14, less than three months after unveiling the animated figure as an easy-to-use, conversational companion for students and a soon-to-be-indispensable guide for parents.

An unhoused man was taken into custody on suspicion of grand theft auto after police said he tried to steal a Waymo self-driving car in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night. The man entered and tried to operate a Waymo vehicle that had stopped to let out a passenger at the corner of 1st and Main at 10:30 p.m., LAPD Det. After the man, whom a Waymo spokesman described as an "unauthorized pedestrian," entered the vehicle, the company's Rider Support team instructed him to exit the car. When he did not, the company contacted the police, "who were then able to remove and arrest" the man, said Chris Bonelli, a Waymo spokesman. Vincent Maurice Jones, 34, was arrested at 12:15 a.m.

The flow of venture capital to Long Island companies slowed in the second quarter, with funding going to a restaurant loyalty card and an artificial intelligence system for options trading, according to data provider Crunchbase Inc. After a first quarter highlighted by a $20 million funding round to Farmingdale biotechnology company Codagenix Inc., there were two funding rounds in the second quarter: $1.5 million for Foodie Card Inc. and an undisclosed bootstrap round for Neuratrade LLC, according to San Francisco-based Crunchbase. The economic slowdown and safety measures prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic cut venture capital to a trickle, said Neil Kaufman, managing partner at Hauppauge law firm Kaufman & Associates LLC and chairman emeritus of the Long Island Capital Alliance. "The venture capital investment market has obviously slowed," he said. "It's difficult to do due diligence and meet people and develop relationships."

VAPAR an Australian startup in the Internet of Things arena which utilises artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to automate condition assessments for stormwater and sewerage pipelines, has raised $AU700,000 in seed funding. The funding round closed with a diverse range of angel investors in addition to Startmate and Australia's premier VC, Blackbird Ventures, who are also investors in Canva, SafetyCulture, and Culture Amp. The company, which began two years ago started says it aims to bring emerging technology into the traditional asset management space and revolutionise the way infrastructure is tracked, repaired and maintained. Co-founders Amanda Siqueira, CEO, and Michelle Aguilar, CTO, said they started the business after witnessing first-hand the tedious and time-consuming tasks of manual video inspection. Their software is used by water utilities and local councils to reduce the time needed for inspection reviews.

A teen in Spain has combined his love for engineering and one of his favorite childhood toys to create a prosthetic arm. David Aguilar, 19, from Andorra, a small principality between France and Spain, was born with a rare genetic condition that caused him to be missing his right forearm. "As a child I was very nervous to be in front of other guys, because I was different, but that didn't stop me believing in my dreams," Aguilar, who is studying bioengineering at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in Spain, told Reuters. The teen, who built his first robotic arm out of the plastic bricks at the age of 9, has since created multiple versions -- each of which have an increasing amount of functionality. "I wanted to ... see myself in the mirror like I see other guys, with two hands," Aguilar said.

David Aguilar has built himself a robotic prosthetic arm using Lego pieces after being born without a right forearm due to a rare genetic condition. Aguilar, 19, who studies bioengineering at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in Spain, is already using his fourth model of the colorful prosthetic and his dream is to design affordable robotic limbs for those who need them. Once his favorite toys, the plastic bricks became the building material for Aguilar's first, still very rudimentary, artificial arm at the age of nine, and each new version had more movement capability than the one before. David Aguilar has built himself a robotic prosthetic arm using Lego pieces after being born without a right forearm due to a rare genetic condition. 'As a child I was very nervous to be in front of other guys, because I was different, but that didn't stop me believing in my dreams,' Aguilar, who is from Andorra, a tiny principality between Spain and France, told Reuters.

One-third of its global online sales are now picked up in the store, the company says, but that has created long lines in some cities and waits for attendants to retrieve packages, customers say. To speed up the process, Zara said earlier this year it would roll out a robot-run version of click and collect, automating the service. The collection points in brick-and-mortar stores will allow shoppers who have ordered items online to scan or enter a code, triggering a behind-the-scenes robot to search for the customer's package in a small warehouse, and then deliver it quickly to a drop box. The move comes as Zara faces heightened challenges to maintain its momentum and compete with online-only apparel retailers, such as Zalando and ASOS, that sell a variety of brands. Annual sales at both have grown more than 20% in the past couple of years compared with low double-digit percentage growth at Zara's Spanish parent company Inditex SA ITX 0.46% .

Becky Friedman stands outside a rapture party, May 21, 2011 at Dorky's Arcade in Tacoma, Wash. First the bad news: The world is going to end one day and there is nothing we can do about it. The good news: We probably have a billion years to enjoy ourselves here before that happens. Humans have always been obsessed with The End. Since the dawn of civilization, people claiming to know when the big day is coming have stirred up trouble, sparked panics and started cults.