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Is the AI boom a bubble waiting to pop? Here's what history says.
Is the AI boom a bubble waiting to pop? Here's what history says. Investors are increasingly asking if we're living through another financial bubble that's destined to burst. As the artificial intelligence trade continues to push the stock market to new highs, investors are increasingly asking if we're living through another financial bubble that's destined to burst. The S&P 500 Index jumped 16% in 2025, with AI winners Nvidia, Alphabet, Broadcom and Microsoft contributing the most. But at the same time, concerns are mounting about the hundreds of billions of dollars Big Tech has pledged to spend on AI infrastructure. Capital expenditures from Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta Platforms are expected to rise 34% to roughly $440 billion combined over the next year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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Grok makes sexual images of kids as users test AI guardrails
X's Grok AI tool created and published images of minors in minimal clothing, in apparent violation of its own acceptable use policy, which prohibits the sexualization of children. Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok created sexualized images of minors on the social media platform X in response to user prompts in recent days, drawing criticism of a tool that positions itself as less restrained than its competition. Grok created and published images of minors in minimal clothing, in apparent violation of its own acceptable use policy, which prohibits the sexualization of children. The offending images were later taken down. Representatives for xAI, the company that develops Grok and runs X, didn't respond to requests for comment.
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Delivery of the future begins in aspiring smart city Minami-Osawa
The autonomous delivery robot Lomby, which began operating in Minami-Osawa. In May 2025, outdoor deliveries using the Lomby, stylized as LOMBY, autonomous delivery robot began in the Minami-Osawa area of Hachioji City in western Tokyo -- one of the pilot areas for Smart City Tokyo, an initiative to unlock Tokyo's potential through digital technology. Customers can now use the 7-Eleven delivery app 7Now to order items from Minami-Osawa stores, and have them delivered directly to their homes. We spoke to Tomoharu Uchiyama, CEO of Lomby Inc., the startup behind the robot's development, to learn more about building new logistics models for the future. The challenges we face in an aging society include labor shortages, and a growing number of those with limited access to groceries--those who find it difficult to go out and shop.
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SoftBank lifts OpenAI stake to 11% with 41 billion investment
Having made colossal profits as well as losses on previous investments, founder Masayoshi Son has pivoted SoftBank toward artificial intelligence. Japanese tech investor SoftBank said Wednesday that its stake in OpenAI is now around 11% after completing the second stage of a $41-billion investment in the maker of ChatGPT. Having made colossal profits as well as losses on previous investments, flamboyant founder Masayoshi Son has pivoted SoftBank toward artificial intelligence. SoftBank had announced in April its planned investment of up to $40 billion in Open AI, and on Wednesday it said that the second tranche of $22.5 billion was completed. The final investment reached $41 billion and includes $30 billion from SoftBank's Vision Fund plus $11 billion from other third-party co-investors, it said.
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