The head of Google’s DeepMind says artificial intelligence could usher in an era of ‘incredible productivity’ and ‘radical abundance’. But who will it benefit? And why does he wish the tech giants had moved more slowly?
Category: robotics/AI – Page 25
Apple CEO: AI Is ‘As Big or Bigger’ Than the Internet, Smartphones
Apple CEO Tim Cook told employees at an all-hands meeting that the AI revolution is “as big or bigger” than the internet, smartphones, cloud computing, and apps. According to Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter, Cook said, “Apple must do this,” adding that this is “ours to grab.” He expressed hopes that, though Apple has been relatively late in rolling out AI tools—Apple Intelligence was only unveiled in 2024 —it could still dominate its rivals.
“We’ve rarely been first,” the CEO told staff. “There was a PC before the Mac; there was a smartphone before the iPhone; there were many tablets before the iPad; there was an MP3 player before iPod.”
But Cook argued that Apple invented the “modern” versions of those products, adding: “This is how I feel about AI.” He also discussed practical steps Apple is taking to make these plans a reality. Cook said Apple is investing in AI in a “big way,” and that 40% of the 12,000 employees hired last year are set to work on research and development.
Muscle-inspired sheet-like robot navigates the tightest spaces
A POSTECH research team has developed a thin, flexible robotic actuator inspired by human muscle proteins. As thin as paper, yet capable of generating strong forces, this robot can maneuver through tight spaces and manipulate objects, making it suitable for a wide range of applications—from surgical robots to industrial equipment. The study has been published in Nature Communications.
Most conventional robots are built with rigid metal components, giving them strength but limiting their ability to perform delicate motions or operate in confined environments.
In the medical field, there is a growing need for robots that can assist with surgeries inside the human body. In industrial settings, flexible robots are needed for tasks like inspecting complex machinery or cleaning narrow pipelines. However, technologies that combine both flexibility and strength have been lacking—until now.
Humanoid robots Adam and Adam-U display lifelike AI movement
Video: China’s humanoid robots perform synced dance using motion capture AI.
PNDbotics debuts full-sized humanoid Adam and legged Adam-U at WAIC 2025, merging agility, AI training, and motion capture.
Zuckerberg Says Meta Is Now Seeing Signs of Advanced AI Improving Itself
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is making some very grandiose statements amid his ludicrously expensive quest to gain a lead in the AI industry.
It’s easy to get caught up in the human drama of his talent hunt. But in the very first lines of a new public letter about his so-called Superintelligence Lab, the tech founder made a claim that’s either a staight-up fib, a very generous reading of a situation, or a clue that he’s closer to enacting profound change in the world than almost anyone realizes.
New Wi-Fi fingerprint system re-identifies people without devices
Surveillance in the digital age is no longer limited to cameras and smartphones. From facial recognition to GPS logs, the tools used to monitor people have grown increasingly sophisticated.
Now, researchers in Italy have shown that even ordinary Wi-Fi signals can be used to track people, without needing them to carry any device at all.
A team from La Sapienza University of Rome has developed a system called ‘WhoFi,’ which can generate a unique biometric identifier based on how a person’s body interacts with surrounding Wi-Fi signals.
Italian researchers turn Wi-Fi signals into biometric tools, enabling passive tracking of individuals without phones using AI.
Personal Superintelligence: A lousy video illustrating Zuckerberg’s lousy AI memo
So I took @meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg blog post on’superintelligence’ aka #artificialgeneralintelligence from https://www.meta.com/superintelligence/ and generated an audio track using @Descript (no edits were made) and then created a ‘data’-like avatar (which is often compared to what Zuck used to look like::). Then I asked Descript to add some stock footage and generate captions… (again, no edits) and here we are.
You can judge it for yourself, but here’s what I think:
1) Zuck’s memo is… crap (sorry)
2) The voiceover is decent but yes… crappily generic… and of course, it didn’t allow me to use Z’s voice or image.
3) The stock footage used (I did not make ANY edits) is… crap (to call it generic would be generous)
4) The cuts, layovers and transitions are…crap.
The result is crap. I hope you don’t like it.
Note: This is NOT by any means a comment on the power of @Descript’s AI editing platform which I really like and constantly use, and definitely recommend. But it’s not a miracle machine:)
To see what Descript can do if you put real effort into it, go here: https://youtu.be/AEKtY7F5Z0Q?si=pIYoqoms7PfMukoo.
Rather, it shows that mindlessness, lazyness, and effortlessness creates SLOP. As creators, we must resist using these tools without serious editing, questioning and curating. #thehumanresistance.
The summary below was also written by AI: