Free daily brief · Applied AI

Have a laugh at AI’s expense by roleplaying as a chatbot

Your AI Slop Bores Me is brilliant in its simplicity. There are two tabs: human and LARP as an AI. On one side you enter a request. On the other, you submit an answer. But the important thing is that there's a human on both sides of the equation. Prompts can request a response as

16 Aug 2026via theverge.com

SpaceX officially closes its Cursor acquisition

AI coding startup Cursor is now officially a part of SpaceX.

16 Aug 2026via techcrunch.com

Anthropic shares more details about how Claude’s new watermarks will work

How will the watermarking actually work? Can it be hidden with editing? And how does this affect code?

16 Aug 2026via techcrunch.com

I used OpenFactory to build my own Linux distro overnight - this AI tool is going to be big

Need a custom Linux distribution, but don't have time to learn how to build one? OpenFactory can help you.

15 Aug 2026via zdnet.com

OpenAI and Anthropic in price war as Chinese AI rivals gain ground

US groups release cheaper models after new challenges to their trillion-dollar ambitions.

15 Aug 2026via arstechnica.com

Google Meet can take notes for your in-person meetings now - here's how it works

Google's Gemini-driven meeting software can now save a transcript, send it to Google Drive, and email you a copy.

15 Aug 2026via zdnet.com

Databricks wanted to raise $1B, investors wanted $15B. It settled on $5B at a $190B valuation.

AI is expensive, Ali Ghodsi tells TechCrunch. With so many investors wanting into his latest round, he said yes to more than planned.

14 Aug 2026via techcrunch.com

Google announces Gemini 3.7 Flash just three weeks after previous release

Gemini 3.6 Flash debuted just 3 weeks ago, but Google says 3.7 has "substantial improvements."

14 Aug 2026via arstechnica.com

IBM partners with OpenAI to bolster enterprise AI push

IBM plans to train and certify tens of thousands of consultants on OpenAI's technologies as part of this deal.

14 Aug 2026via techcrunch.com

Twitch content has trained Amazon AI for years, but users can opt out now

Streaming platform says user-generated content "may be used for future Gen AI model improvements."

13 Aug 2026via arstechnica.com

AI code-testing startup Blacksmith’s valuation jumps almost 10x in less than a year

Blacksmith says revenue has grown more than tenfold over the past year.

13 Aug 2026via techcrunch.com

OpenAI-backed Thrive Holdings raises $2B to bring AI to the enterprise

Thrive Holdings has raised $2 billion in new funding at a $12 billion valuation from investors like SoftBank, D1 Capital Partners, and Altimeter Capital.

13 Aug 2026via techcrunch.com