New Nonprofit Launches $500M Effort to Help Workers Displaced by AI
A newly formed bipartisan nonprofit organization called RAISE US is stepping up to address one of the biggest economic concerns of our time: workers losing their jobs to artificial intelligence. The group is launching with more than $500 million earmarked for education and job training programs at the state level. According to an analysis by the Boston Consulting Group, more than half of all jobs in the United States could be transformed by AI within the next few years. Former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb are leading the effort as co-founders. Initial programs are planned for Arkansas, Maryland, Utah, and Connecticut. Raimondo has said the goal is for those states to serve as testing grounds for ideas that Congress could eventually turn into national policy.
Scam Attempts Are Overwhelming Americans — But Few Report Them
A new AP-NORC poll reveals that the vast majority of Americans are bombarded with scam attempts on a daily basis, with roughly 3 in 10 people saying they have personally lost money or had their personal information stolen by scammers. A separate survey conducted by Gallup and the Stop Scams Alliance between January and February found that in the past year alone, about 1 in 10 U.S. adults — or someone in their household — was tricked by a scammer into losing money or handing over access to a financial account. Nearly half of those victims reported losing more than $500. Despite the widespread impact, both surveys found that very few victims actually reported the scam to federal authorities or local law enforcement.
AI’s Hidden Environmental Cost — And What You Can Do About It
Every time you type a question into an AI tool, you’re adding to your environmental footprint. Artificial intelligence systems consume enormous amounts of energy and water, and experts warn that the problem is getting worse as AI use expands. While it may feel like individuals have little power to change things, sustainability experts say there are steps people can take. The advice is straightforward: keep your AI queries brief and think twice before using AI for simple tasks like finding a cookie recipe, getting directions, or looking up business hours. Experts note that the tech industry is actively pushing people to rely on AI for these everyday tasks, while remaining secretive about just how much energy and water their systems actually consume.
Humanoid Robot Company Eyes Wall Street in $2.5 Billion Deal
Agility Robotics, an Oregon-based company that builds human-shaped robots, is preparing to enter the public markets. The company announced a planned merger with an investment firm that would value it at $2.5 billion — a move that would make it the first publicly traded company focused specifically on humanoid robots. Its flagship product, called Digit, is built to handle heavy bins and containers in warehouse environments. Unlike other humanoid robots, Digit’s legs are designed more like a bird’s than a human’s. The company’s CEO has said the robots are intended to take over repetitive, injury-prone tasks. Agility has financial backing from Amazon, Nvidia, and others, with Toyota and Mercado Libre among its early customers. A fifth generation of Digit is expected to arrive later this year.
AI Scientists Shift Focus from Chatbots to the Physical World
Some of the brightest minds in artificial intelligence are moving beyond the chatbot era. A growing number of researchers and entrepreneurs are now focused on what are called AI “world models” — systems designed to understand the physical structure of space and time, not just process written language. Among those leading the charge are prominent scientists including “Godmother of AI” Fei-Fei Li and Yann LeCun. While enormous sums of money — potentially trillions of dollars — continue to flow into chatbot developers like Anthropic and OpenAI, a rising faction of AI innovators is devoted to building systems that can respond intelligently to real-world, physical environments.
China Reclaims Title of World’s Fastest Supercomputer
For the first time since 2017, a computer in China has claimed the top spot on the list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. A machine called LineShine, located in Shenzhen, China, knocked the previous leader — a U.S. computer known as El Capitan, based in California — out of first place. The latest rankings from the TOP500 project, announced Tuesday, show that the LineShine computer at China’s National Supercomputing Center is capable of performing 2.198 exaflops, meaning it can carry out more than 2 quintillion calculations every second. The Top500 list is widely seen as a measure of a country’s technological strength.
AI Chatbots Are Now Playing Matchmaker in the Dating World
Artificial intelligence is finding its way into the world of romance. People are turning to AI in several ways when it comes to dating — some use AI-powered matchmaking services, others rely on it to build out their dating profiles, and many are using chatbots to help write messages to potential partners or decode messages they receive. Major dating apps and AI companies are embracing the trend. ChatGPT and Gemini have both shared content on TikTok highlighting their tools’ ability to offer personalized relationship guidance. Dating coach Carey Gaynes captured the moment with a cultural reference: “Claude is the new Cyrano,” she said, pointing to the 19th century French play ‘Cyrano de Bergerac,’ in which one character secretly writes the romantic words spoken by another.
Alibaba Takes Pentagon to Court Over Military Company Label
Chinese tech giant Alibaba has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense, seeking to have its name removed from a government list that designates it as a Chinese military company. The suit was filed Tuesday in California and argues that the designation has no factual or legal foundation. The label, which was announced on June 8, effectively brands Alibaba as a national security threat and has caused significant damage to the company’s reputation. The Pentagon has claimed that Alibaba has indirect ties to China’s defense sector, a claim the company strongly denies. Alibaba says it operates under an independent board of directors and has no connections to the military. The lawsuit follows similar legal challenges brought by other Chinese companies facing the same designation.
Supreme Court Shuts Down Lawsuit Linking Cisco Technology to Persecution of Falun Gong
The U.S. Supreme Court has sided with technology company Cisco, agreeing to end a lawsuit that alleged the company’s products were used to help the Chinese government persecute members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. The justices ruled Tuesday that American courts are not the appropriate venue for such cases, rejecting the plaintiffs’ arguments that the lawsuit could proceed under the 18th-century Alien Tort Statute and the Torture Victim Protection Act, which was first passed in 1991. The ruling continues a legal trend in which courts have turned away plaintiffs attempting to use the U.S. justice system to seek accountability for actions taken by foreign governments, particularly when those actions occurred on foreign soil.
AI Spending Frenzy Rattles Investors as Stock Values Slide
Major technology companies are pouring staggering amounts of money into artificial intelligence, but investors are starting to show signs of concern. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft together plan to spend as much as $720 billion this year building out AI data centers. This week, markets reflected growing doubt about whether AI can generate enough profit to justify that level of investment. On Monday, shares of Amazon and Alphabet each dropped by roughly 5%. On Tuesday, chipmakers including Nvidia and Micron dragged the broader market downward. As tech companies increasingly turn to financial markets to fund their AI expansion, questions are mounting about whether the current pace of spending is sustainable over the long term.
