Amazon rolls out Alexa+ on the web to early access users, with chat functionality, smart home controls, file management, and cross-device conversations (Todd Bishop/GeekWire)
GeekWire
With new Alexa website, Amazon’s consumer AI vision finally comes together — and it’s actually useful
Amazon has quietly started rolling out Alexa.com, bringing its AI-powered Alexa+ assistant to the desktop browser for the first time and completing...
Techmeme
Amazon rolls out Alexa+ on the web to early access users, with chat functionality, smart home controls, file management, and cross-device conversations
By Todd Bishop / GeekWire. View the full context on Techmeme.
Sources: Armadin, launched by Mandiant's founder Kevin Mandia to fight AI hacking, raised a $24M seed and is in talks to raise $100M+ at a $600M+ valuation (Wall Street Journal) https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/this-buzzy-cyber-startup-wants-to-take-on-dangerous-ai-threat-c0916a3a
Techmeme
Sources: Armadin, launched by Mandiant
From Wall Street Journal. View the full context on Techmeme.
OpenAI releases GPT‑5.2-Codex, with improvements on long-horizon work through context compaction, stronger performance on large code changes, and more (OpenAI) https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-5-2-codex/
Techmeme
OpenAI releases GPT‑5.2-Codex, with improvements on long-horizon work through context compaction, stronger performance on large code changes, and more
From OpenAI. View the full context on Techmeme.
Twenty-four companies, including Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, OpenAI, and AWS, join the US Genesis Mission to boost the use of AI for scientific discovery (Courtney Subramanian/Bloomberg)
Bloomberg.com
Microsoft, Google Among 24 Firms Joining US AI ‘Genesis Mission’
Two dozen top artificial intelligence companies have signed on to join the federal government’s “Genesis Mission,” an effort by the Trump adm...
Techmeme
Twenty-four companies, including Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, OpenAI, and AWS, join the US Genesis Mission to boost the use of AI for scientific discovery
By Courtney Subramanian / Bloomberg. View the full context on Techmeme.
Netflix hires ESPN anchor Elle Duncan as its first on-air host for live sports and cultural events; she has appeared on SportsCenter, College GameDay, and more (Todd Spangler/Variety)
Netflix Hires ESPN Anchor Elle Duncan as First Sports On-Air Host
Netflix Hires ESPN anchor and TV sports veteran Elle Duncan as its first on-air sports host.
Techmeme
Netflix hires ESPN anchor Elle Duncan as its first on-air sports host in a multiyear deal; Duncan will also cover other live events for the company
By Todd Spangler / Variety. View the full context on Techmeme.
Nirvana, which uses real-time driving telematics to build insurance policies for truckers, raised a $100M Series D at a $1.5B valuation, up from $830M in March (Mary Ann Azevedo/Crunchbase News)
Crunchbase News
Exclusive: AI Insurance Startup Nirvana Nearly Doubles Valuation To $1.5B with $100M Series D
Nirvana Insurance, an AI-based commercial insurance platform for the trucking industry, has raised a $100 million Series D round at a $1.5 billion ...
Techmeme
Nirvana, which uses real-time driving telematics to build insurance policies for truckers, raised a $100M Series D at a $1.5B valuation, up from $830M in March
By Mary Ann Azevedo / Crunchbase News. View the full context on Techmeme.
Anthropic launches Agent Skills, which let AI assistants perform specialized tasks using modular instructions, and says Microsoft, Cursor, and others use them (Michael Nuñez/VentureBeat) https://venturebeat.com/ai/anthropic-launches-enterprise-agent-skills-and-opens-the-standard
Techmeme
Anthropic launches Agent Skills as an open standard with a specification and SDK, and says VS Code, GitHub, Cursor, Goose, and others already support the format
By Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat. View the full context on Techmeme.
Sources describe tensions between OpenAI's research and ChatGPT product groups, leading to the "code red"; OpenAI is set to beat its 2025 revenue goal of $13B (The Information) https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openais-organizational-problems-hurt-chatgpt
Techmeme
Sources describe tensions between OpenAI
From The Information. View the full context on Techmeme.
Edison, which last month released AI tool Kosmos to speed up and automate complex scientific hypothesis generation, raised $70M at a $250M valuation (Rachel Metz/Bloomberg)
Bloomberg.com
AI Startup Edison Raises $70 Million to Speed Up Scientific Research
A startup building artificial intelligence software to speed up and automate scientific research has raised $70 million in a new funding round, the...
Techmeme
Edison, which last month released AI tool Kosmos to speed up and automate complex scientific hypothesis generation, raised $70M at a $250M valuation
By Rachel Metz / Bloomberg. View the full context on Techmeme.
Rivian launches Universal Hands-Free driving for second-generation R1 EVs, expanding coverage from 135,000 highway miles to 3.5M+ miles across the US and Canada (Sean O'Kane/TechCrunch)
TechCrunch
Rivian rolls out new 'Universal Hands-Free' driving feature | TechCrunch
The driver assistance software is available on Rivian's for Gen 2 R1 cars and works on 3.5 million miles of North American roads. But it doesn...
Techmeme
Rivian launches Universal Hands-Free driving for second-generation R1 EVs, expanding coverage from 135,000 highway miles to 3.5M+ miles across the US and Canada
By Sean O