Recent articles
May 24, 2026
Hackers are learning to exploit chatbot ‘personalities’
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on AI mischief, follow Robert Hart. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM...
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May 22, 2026
Elon, stop trying to make Grok happen
There is a harsh truth about Elon Musk's "truth-seeking" AI chatbot Grok: It's not very good, and not many people are using it. That's the takeaway of a new Reuters report, which found that Grok ba...
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May 5, 2026
Researchers gaslit Claude into giving instructions to build explosives
Anthropic has spent years building itself up as the safe AI company. But new security research shared with The Verge suggests Claude's carefully crafted helpful personality may itself be a vulnerab...
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April 30, 2026
Meta is running get-rich-quick ads for its AI tools
Manus, an AI company Meta acquired for $2 billion last year is running ads promising quick, easy money with AI: Find local businesses without websites or with bad websites, have AI build them one, ...
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April 30, 2026
OpenAI’s new security model is for ‘critical cyber defenders’ only
OpenAI is preparing to launch a new frontier cybersecurity model, GPT-5.5-Cyber. CEO Sam Altman said the model will not be available to the general public, but will be first rolled out to a select ...
www.theverge.com
April 29, 2026
Taylor Swift deepfakes are pushing scams on TikTok
Scammers are using AI-generated videos of celebrities including Taylor Swift and Rihanna to promote shady services on TikTok, according to authentication company Copyleaks. The ads typically show c...
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April 29, 2026
China freezes new robotaxi licenses after Baidu chaos
China has suspended new licenses for autonomous vehicles, Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. The move comes after dozens of robotaxis operated by Chinese tech giant ...
www.theverge.com
April 24, 2026
China’s DeepSeek previews new AI model a year after jolting US rivals
Chinese AI company DeepSeek released a preview of its hotly anticipated next-generation AI model V4 on Friday, saying that the open-source model can compete with leading closed-source systems from ...
www.theverge.com
April 23, 2026
Anthropic’s Mythos breach was humiliating
Anthropic's tightly controlled rollout of Claude Mythos has taken an awkward turn. After spending weeks insisting the AI model is so capable at cybersecurity that it is too dangerous to release pub...
www.theverge.com
April 21, 2026
Yelp is making its AI chatbot way more useful
Yelp is giving its chatbot assistant a major upgrade, turning the platform into something closer to a digital concierge with a suite of new features designed for "getting things done." The move, on...
www.theverge.com
April 16, 2026
OpenAI’s big Codex update is a direct shot at Anthropic’s Claude Code
OpenAI is beefing up its agentic coding and development system Codex with a suite of updates that let it use your computer, generate images, and remember from past experiences. Codex will now be ab...
www.theverge.com
April 16, 2026
Character.AI’s new Books mode turns reading into roleplay
Mired in controversy and legal woes over concerns about its chatbots' interactions with users, particularly teens, Character.AI seems to be playing it safer with a new "Books" mode. The new format ...
www.theverge.com
April 15, 2026
Grok’s sexual deepfakes almost got it banned from Apple’s App Store. Almost.
Apple quietly threatened to kick Elon Musk's AI app, Grok, from its App Store in January over its failure to curb the surge of nonconsensual sexual deepfakes flooding X, according to NBC News. It w...
www.theverge.com
April 10, 2026
Gen Z’s love-hate relationship with AI
Gen Z is increasingly disillusioned with AI - just not enough to stop using it. A new Gallup report released this week, based on responses from nearly 1,600 people ages 14 to 29 across the US, sugg...
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April 9, 2026
Google makes it easy to deepfake yourself
YouTube Shorts is rolling out a new AI-powered feature giving creators an easy way to realistically clone themselves on camera. The launch, hinted at earlier this year, reflects the platform's frau...
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April 7, 2026
Gemini is making it faster for distressed users to reach mental health resources
Google says it has updated Gemini to better direct users to get mental health resources during moments of crisis. The change comes as the tech giant faces a wrongful death lawsuit alleging its chat...
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April 3, 2026
Chatbots are now prescribing psychiatric drugs
Utah is allowing an AI system to prescribe psychiatric drugs without a doctor. It's only the second time the state - and the country - has delegated this kind of clinical authority to AI. State off...
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April 2, 2026
It’s not easy to get depression-detecting AI through the FDA
For the past seven years, the California-based startup Kintsugi has been developing AI designed to detect signs of depression and anxiety from a person's speech. But after failing to secure FDA cle...
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April 1, 2026
Baidu’s robotaxis froze in traffic, creating chaos
Numerous robotaxis operated by Chinese tech giant Baidu froze in a major city on Tuesday, reportedly trapping passengers inside, stranding them on highways, and causing at least one accident in sna...
www.theverge.com
March 31, 2026
You can order Grubhub and Uber Eats ‘conversationally’ with Alexa Plus
Amazon is giving you a new way to order food through Grubhub and Uber Eats with Alexa without having to endure an awkward exchange just to add fries. Amazon said the entire process is meant to be c...
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March 26, 2026
EU backs nude app ban and delays to landmark AI rules
European lawmakers have voted to delay key parts of the EU AI Act, the bloc's flagship law for regulating artificial intelligence, while also backing proposals to ban nudify apps. The measures, app...
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March 25, 2026
Anthropic’s Claude Code gets ‘safer’ auto mode
Anthropic has launched an "auto mode" for Claude Code, a new tool that lets AI make permissions-level decisions on users' behalf. The company says the feature offers vibe coders a safer alternative...
www.theverge.com
March 23, 2026
AI influencer awards season is upon us
First came the AI beauty pageant. Then the AI music contests. Now, there is an award for AI Personality of the Year - perhaps the inevitable next step for the AI influencer economy as it transforms...
www.theverge.com
March 19, 2026
Fitbit’s AI health coach will soon be able to read your medical records
Would you share your medical records with a personal trainer? How about a virtual one? Google, which this week announced it is giving Fitbit's AI health coach the ability to read your medical recor...
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March 18, 2026
ChatGPT did not cure a dog’s cancer
When an Australian tech entrepreneur with no background in biology or medicine said ChatGPT helped save his dog from cancer, the story couldn't help but spread. It's the kind of validation Big Tech...
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March 16, 2026
This is not a fly uploaded to a computer
Last week, a few posts about a so-called virtual "embodied fly" tore through X, boosted by AI hype accounts and excited commenters who didn't seem to understand what it was they were excited about....
www.theverge.com
March 12, 2026
Perplexity’s Personal Computer turns your spare Mac into an AI agent
Perplexity wants to be more than just an answer engine. On Wednesday, it launched Personal Computer, a new AI agent tool that can turn a spare Mac into a locally run AI system, pitching it as "a di...
www.theverge.com
March 11, 2026
ChatGPT, Gemini, and other chatbots helped teens plan shootings, bombings, and political violence, study shows
AI companies have repeatedly promised safeguards to protect younger users, but a new investigation suggests those guardrails remain woefully deficient. Popular chatbots missed warning signs in scen...
www.theverge.com
March 5, 2026
AI tools can unmask anonymous accounts
Do you have a Reddit alt, secret X, finsta, or Glassdoor account you trash your boss with? AI might have just made it a lot easier to unmask you. That's the conclusion of a recently published study...
www.theverge.com
March 5, 2026
Anthropic makes last-ditch effort to salvage deal with Pentagon after blowup
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is reportedly back at the negotiating table with the Department of Defense in an attempt to salvage the company's relationship with the US military and prevent it from be...
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