Two cofounders leave Thinking Machines Lab to return to OpenAI

A group of researchers have left Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab to go back to OpenAI. Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s head of apps, posted on X that Thinking Machines cofounders Barret Zoph and Luke Metz, along with Sam Schoenholz, will be returning to the company.

In October, Thinking Machines cofounder Andrew Tulloch left to work for Meta.

Thinking Machine Labs was cofounded by Murati, a former OpenAI executive, and the startup has been raising large amounts of money, reportedly with a $50 billion valuation.

Two Thinking Machines Lab Cofounders Are Leaving to Rejoin OpenAI

Thinking Machine Labs was cofounded by Murati, a former OpenAI executive, and the startup has been raising large amounts of money, reportedly with a $50 billion valuation.

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As Wikipedia turns 25, its future will depend on AI — for better or worse

The online encyclopedia is celebrating 25 years since launch, but its next quarter century will likely be defined by the AI giants it’s now signing content deals with.

Wikipedia Home Page, Closeup on LCD Screen

Jon Keegan1h

ICE agents arrest workers from Meta’s Hyperion data center site

Yesterday, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers stopped and arrested two workers from Meta’s massive Hyperion data center construction site in Richland Parish, Louisiana.

According to the Richland Parish Sheriff’s Office, two dump truck drivers were stopped and arrested as part of a traffic stop as they headed to the construction site where thousands of people are working.

Bloomberg reports that unmarked vehicles at the perimeter of the construction site were stopping and checking the identification of workers. The Sheriff’s Office said ICE agents did not enter the Meta site at any time.

Immigration Officers Descend on Meta Data Center, Arrest Drivers

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Ryan Broderick, Adam Bumas3h

Rani Molla4h

X says it’s stopping Grok from putting real people in bikinis on X

After public and government uproar over sexualized deepfakes of women and children, X’s Safety account posted Wednesday evening that it is no longer allowing the Grok account on X to generate “images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis.” The xAI-owned company also said it restricted image generation and editing via Grok on X more broadly to paid subscribers.

For what it’s worth, a subscriber reply to X Safety’s post asking Grok to put the tweet “in a bikini” prompted the chatbot to post an image of a woman in a bikini — though she does not appear to be a real person. I’m not a paid X subscriber but, in the process of reporting this piece, I was able to edit the image to be “younger” and “17 years old.”

The post also did not address what the changes mean for Grok’s stand-alone app, which currently ranks No. 5 among free apps in Apple’s App Store. Previous reporting from NBC News found that users could also still generate offensive images using the app.

Tesla and xAI CEO Elon Musk, for his part, said Wednesday that he was “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok.”

Safety on X: "@Grok Account Image Generation Updates " / X

Tesla and xAI CEO Elon Musk, for his part, said Wednesday that he was “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok.”

Rani Molla24h

California AG launches probe into xAI and Grok over sexualized deepfakes of women and children

The California attorney general just opened an investigation into xAI, Elon Musk’s AI startup, over chatbot Grok’s apparent role in generating nonconsensual sexual images of women and children. The probe centers on reports that Grok has been used to facilitate the creation of sexually explicit images without consent, many of which have circulated on X.

“The avalanche of reports detailing the non-consensual, sexually explicit material that xAI has produced and posted online in recent weeks is shocking,” Attorney General Rob Bonta wrote in a press release. “As the top law enforcement official of California tasked with protecting our residents, I am deeply concerned with this development in AI and will use all the tools at my disposal to keep California’s residents safe.”

California’s move follows growing scrutiny from US lawmakers and the UK government over AI-generated sexual content and deepfakes.

xAI and Tesla CEO Musk earlier today wrote that he was “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero.”

Grok is currently No. 5 on Apple’s free App Store.

Attorney General Bonta Launches Investigation into xAI, Grok Over Undressed, Sexual AI Images of Women and Children

California’s move follows growing scrutiny from US lawmakers and the UK government over AI-generated sexual content and deepfakes.

xAI and Tesla CEO Musk earlier today wrote that he was “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero.”

Grok is currently No. 5 on Apple’s free App Store.

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