OpenAI's first device will be movable, screenless speaker built as AI companion OpenAI is developing a new smart speaker that will turn its presence on a computer screen to a physical manifestation of its ChatGPT. OpenAI's much-anticipated push into consumer devices is slated to begin with a mobile, screen-free smart speaker designed to be a new type of home computer for the artificial intelligence era, according to people familiar with the matter. The product -- still under development -- is meant to serve as a humanlike AI companion that lives in the home, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the project hasn't been announced. It will help control smart-home appliances, play media, answer questions, respond to messages and tap into the range of capabilities offered by OpenAI's ChatGPT, they said. The device represents a critical next step for OpenAI, a top developer of AI models that is poised for an initial public offering in the coming months. The move will vault the company into deeper competition with the likes of Apple, Amazon and Alphabet's Google, and the push has already met some resistance.

The global race to build artificial intelligence data centers has turbocharged business for chipmakers, creating shortages and sending prices soaring for memory components in particular. And Kioxia is reaping the rewards. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right. With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.

Twenty-six employees of Meta Platforms have filed a novel lawsuit accusing the tech giant of using AI-powered software that disproportionately targeted people with disabilities or who took medical leave in selecting workers for mass layoffs. The lawsuit, filed in Oakland, California, federal court late Monday, says that the company relied on factors such as productivity and AI token usage when it slashed thousands of jobs earlier this year, disadvantaging people who missed work because of medical conditions or to care for family members. The plaintiffs, who were notified in May that their jobs would be eliminated starting on July 22, are seeking a preliminary ruling from the court blocking Meta from completing the layoffs while they pursue their claims in private arbitration. The workers say Meta's agreements require employees to arbitrate workplace disputes individually, but do not apply to requests for temporary relief. A Meta spokesperson on Tuesday said the claims lack merit. "Workforce management and organizational decisions were and are made by people, not AI," the spokesperson said.

Masayoshi Son speaks at an annual SoftBank World event in Tokyo on Tuesday. SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son said that in the not-so-distant future, nuclear fusion technology will offer the most realistic solution for powering AI data centers' ballooning needs. Natural gas will provide the bulk of data centers' power needs for the time being, Son said Tuesday. But he predicted that nuclear fusion -- the process by which the sun and other stars generate energy -- has a role to play, predicting the world will need 3 terawatts of data center capacity in 2040. Many technological and financial challenges remain for fusion technology to become a viable energy source, however, according to BloombergNEF. "Fusion will become the main source of a new kind of cheaper, clean and safe energy here on Earth," said Son, 68, at an annual SoftBank World event in Tokyo.

Damage caused by the use of generative AI is becoming a serious concern, including from AI covers, in which people have AI tools learn the voices of singers and voice actors, and sing songs using the professionals' voices. The Justice Ministry has come up with a draft report calling for the protection of the voices and images of famous individuals as the use of generative artificial intelligence grows. The draft report on civil responsibility over the unauthorized use of portraits and voices of famous people was submitted to an expert committee Monday. The ministry will release a final report as early as August after receiving expert feedback. Many things remain unclear regarding what constitutes the illegal use of voices, as no Japanese court ruling has been issued on related rights. The ministry said that it hopes the final report will be used as a reference in lawsuits and AI development.

More people are using generative artificial intelligence to make travel plans for their summer vacation and letting their children use the technology when doing their homework during summer holidays. Six out of 10 people who responded to a survey on this year's summer holidays said they are using generative artificial intelligence to make travel plans. The survey, conducted by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance on 1,120 people in their 20s to 50s in June, showed that 61.2% of those planning to travel in Japan or abroad refer to generative AI to make travel itineraries, as well as obtain information on local food and transportation. "The main tool people use for planning trips and doing research when they get there is shifting from travel guidebooks to generative AI," the firm said. Asked how they plan to spend their summer holidays, 58.4% said they are going out, down by 6.3 percentage points from last year. The rate of those traveling in Japan was 57.6%, up by 1 percentage point, while the ratio of those traveling overseas halved from 13.5% last year to 6.4%.

Tech companies' renewed emphasis on cost coincides with business customers scrutinizing AI spending. Three prominent artificial intelligence developers released new models over the past week. They all promise to be more advanced, but their biggest immediate selling point may not be what they can do, but how little they charge to do it. OpenAI said its most advanced offering, GPT-5.6, is designed to complete more work while using significantly fewer tokens, a unit of data processed by AI models. This will make the software far more cost efficient for customers. Grok 4.5, from Elon Musk's SpaceXAI, is billed as having twice the token efficiency as comparable models from other firms.

'They don't need people': the workers left behind by China's robot drive KUNSHAN, China - The park was in the center of China's richest county. Willow trees clustered around a well-manicured pond. Joggers in performance gear circled shiny new playgrounds filled with children. But in a quieter part of the park, Hu Xinbing was resting after another day of trying, unsuccessfully, to win his share of the local prosperity. After failing to find a job that morning, Hu, 31, lay behind some bushes, using a windbreaker as a pillow, and waited until he could try again the next day. Around him, about a dozen other out-of-work men had claimed their own corners of the park in Kunshan, about 30 miles outside Shanghai, dozing on benches or inside tents.

Japan's internal affairs industry may introduce artificial intelligence agents at local governments facing labor shortages. Japan's internal affairs ministry has begun considering the introduction of artificial intelligence agents to autonomously perform tasks at local governments facing labor shortages. On Thursday, the ministry held the first meeting of a related study group consisting of relevant experts and local government officials to discuss which tasks could be assigned to AI agents and how local government employees could manage them. The group will compile an interim report by the end of fiscal 2026 and aim to release its final report around summer 2027. According to the ministry, 74% of the country's local governments were using AI in some form as of October 2025. While AI tools to classify data and make predictions and those to generate text and images based on prompts were commonly used, AI agents were rarely used, except in trials at some organizations.

Ukraine creates'long-range' command to step up strikes on Russia Ukrainian uncrewed aerial vehicles hit what the Ukranian military say was a Russian tanker during a strike at a location given as Sea of Azov in this screenshot taken from video released Thursday. Kyiv - Ukraine is setting up a "long-range impact" command within its armed forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Kyiv's campaign against Russian energy and logistics has forced Moscow to ban diesel exports and restrict shipping near the Sea of Azov, which abuts the Black Sea. For months, Ukrainian attack drones have been targeting key energy infrastructure thousands of kilometers across Russia in what Kyiv casts as long-range sanctions against the primary contributor to Russia's state budget, backing its war effort. In recent weeks, Ukraine has reported strikes almost daily, with officials saying it is only fair to bring the war to Russia more than four years since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.