Stuck in the factory: how robotics pioneer Japan missed the AI-driven humanoid boom

While humanoid robots from China and the US have captured the imagination of people for their skill at serving drinks, taking part in boxing matches and running marathons, and entertaining through dance moves on stage, their counterparts in Japan - the long-time leader of the robotics world - are mostly confined to factories. Japan's early forays into humanoids date back to the 1960s, so what happened along the way? At the 26th International Robot Exhibition (IREX), a four-day, biennial industry

For the First Time, AI Analyzes Language as Well as a Human Expert

If language is what makes us human, what does it mean now that large language models have gained “metalinguistic” abilities?

If a Meta AI model can read a brain-wide signal, why wouldn’t the brain?

In 2023, Meta researchers were able to decode images in thoughts from the brain's magnetic fields. What if that's how the brain coordinates it's own global state?

How ‘long’ are web pages?

Metric Value Min 0 Max 3,004,502 Avg 10,403 Median 3,201 Metric Value Total Pages Analyzed 44,684 Page Content Tokens 464,854,727 Total Tokens (all) 541,062,817

UH scientists help unlock sun’s magnetic secrets with artificial intelligence

These advances allow researchers to see the sun’s magnetic landscape more accurately and improve predictions of solar activity that impacts life on Earth, including solar flares and coronal ejections that can disrupt satellites, power systems and communications.

GitHub – mozilla-ai/llamafile: Distribute and run LLMs with a single file.

Distribute and run LLMs with a single file. Contribute to mozilla-ai/llamafile development by creating an account on GitHub.

Why most enterprise AI coding pilots underperform (Hint: It’s not the model)

Data centers for AI could nearly triple San José’s energy use. Who foots the bill?

The county seat of Santa Clara is touting its partnership with Pacific Gas & Electric, claiming the city is “the West Coast’s premier destination for data center development.”

Are Generative AI Wildlife Videos Art or Slop? We Went Looking for Answers.

You're not crazy—the critters on Instagram are wilder than ever, thanks to artificial intelligence-generated video. Our articles editor takes a deep dive into the technology, culture, and ethics around this new footage.

Why is RAM so expensive right now? It’s way more complicated than you think

Yes, AI is partly to blame for surging prices and DRAM shortages, but that's not the whole story

WATCH: Kraken Robotics, TKMS ATLAS UK test KATFISH USV-LARS on ARCIMS USV

Kraken Robotics and TKMS ATLAS UK have demonstrated the KATFISH unmanned surface vessel launch and recovery system (USV-LARS) from TKMS ATLAS UK’s ARCIMS USV.

AI data center boom could be bad news for other infrastructure projects

Improvements to roads, bridges, and other infrastructure could take a hit as data center construction accelerates.

Exclusive: Washington Post’s AI-generated podcasts rife with errors, fictional quotes

Errors in the Post’s new AI-generated podcasts have frustrated the paper’s journalists.

OpenAI Launches GPT-5.2 for ChatGPT Users a Week After Declaring…

Just a month after introducing GPT 5.1, OpenAI introduced GPT-5.2, the next-generation model that will power its popular chatbot. GPT-5.2 is OpenAI's "most capable model series yet for...

Ensuring A National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose.

Google’s new framework helps AI agents spend their compute and tool budget more wisely

Researchers introduce BATS and Budget Tracker, two new methods that help agents prioritize high-value actions, cutting API costs by over 30% while boosting accuracy.

Ai2’s new Olmo 3.1 extends reinforcement learning training for stronger reasoning benchmarks

Ai2 updates its Olmo 3 family of models to Olmo 3.1 following additional extended RL training to boost performance.

Okibo launches autonomous, AI-guided painting and drywall finishing EG7+ robot

Okibo announced the release of the autonomous, AI-guided painting and drywall finishing EG7+ robot, which extends to 24 feet for construction projects.

Could America win the AI race but lose the war?

The US has gone all-in on artificial intelligence. But the idea of an end-of-times battle with China over tomorrow’s key technology is part delusion, part lobbying tool for Silicon Valley

ARX Robotics unveils Hector UGV to boost speed, range and autonomous capability for land forces

ARX Robotics has unveiled Hector, a wheeled, medium-class unmanned ground vehicle designed to increase speed, range and operational standoff for European land forces.

Toss a bitcoin to your Lightcone – LW + Lighthaven’s 2026 fundraiser

TL;DR: Lightcone Infrastructure, the organization behind LessWrong, Lighthaven, the AI 2027 website[1], the AI Alignment Forum, and many other things…

Even in Silicon Valley, skepticism looms over robots, while ‘China has certainly a lot more momentum on humanoids’

“The humanoid space has a very, very big hill to climb,” said Cosima du Pasquier, founder and CEO of Haptica Robotics.

Kindle’s New AI Feature Can Answer Questions About Your Books (Whether Authors Want It or Not)

The Kindle app's new feature will provide AI-generated tips to explain your book's plot or how the characters relate to one another, though it's currently only available on the iOS version.

People Are Already Creating Ghoulishly Horrifying Sora Disney Videos

Sora users have been churning out edgy AI Disney and Pixar style trailers well before Disney signed a licensing agreement with OpenAI.