👙 French Authorities Probe X Over Grok Deepfake Bikini Images

French authorities have launched an official investigation into X after the platform was flooded with sexually explicit deepfakes generated using Grok. The probe follows a surge of AI-altered images circulating widely over the past several days.

Users have been массово asking the bot to "dress people in bikinis" using photos of both celebrities and private individuals. In most cases, those depicted never gave consent, raising serious concerns around privacy, sexual exploitation, and the misuse of generative AI tools.

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ChatGPT captures 17% of search market, challenging Google

OpenAI's ChatGPT has captured 17-18% of the global search query market as of January 2, 2026, marking the first time in over 20 years that a competitor has achieved double-digit market share against Alphabet's Google, which retains 78-80% dominance.

Google deployed Gemini 3 in November 2025 and Gemini 3 Flash in December 2025 to counter the threat, with Gemini's generative AI web traffic share surging from 5.4% to 18.2% over the past year, though ChatGPT users demonstrate deeper engagement with 13-minute average sessions compared to Google's 6 minutes.

The shift toward AI-synthesized answers has created a "zero-click" reality with over 65% of searches now resolved directly on results pages, causing publishers to lose approximately $2 billion in annual advertising revenue and forcing them to adopt Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to compete for citations within AI responses.

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Nvidia, AMD CEOs to deliver dueling AI keynotes at CES

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su will deliver dueling keynotes on January 5 at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, with Huang addressing data centers, robotics, and the Cosmos AI platform at 4 p.m. PT and Su highlighting AMD's AI portfolio across PCs, gaming, and cloud computing at 6:30 p.m. PT.

The presentations come as both chipmakers face investor scrutiny after Nvidia stock rose 41% and AMD surged 83% in 2025, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index dropped nearly 5% from its December 10 record amid stretched valuations and demands for concrete AI returns.

Wedbush Securities analysts view CES 2026, running January 6-9, as a critical test for both companies to demonstrate AI momentum beyond hyperscale data centers, with investors in "show-me" mode as skeptics like Michael Burry compare the current AI frenzy to past market manias.

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LeCun slams Meta's new AI chief as 'inexperienced' after exit

Yann LeCun, Meta's former chief AI scientist, criticized new AI chief Alexandr Wang as "inexperienced" and confirmed the company's AI team "fudged" benchmark results for its Llama 4 model by using different versions for different tests, according to a Financial Times interview.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg lost confidence in Meta's AI team after the Llama 4 controversy and "sidelined the entire GenAI organisation," prompting a $14 billion investment in Scale AI that brought the 28-year-old Wang aboard to lead Meta's Super Intelligence Lab.

LeCun, who departed to launch his own AI startup called Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs, called large language models "a dead end when it comes to superintelligence" and predicted more employee departures from Meta's AI division.

Source: Business Insider

Comet explosion tied to mammoth extinction, study says

Scientists discovered shocked quartz at three Clovis-era archaeological sites in the southwestern United States, strengthening evidence that a fragmented comet exploded in Earth's atmosphere nearly 13,000 years ago and may have triggered the extinction of mammoths, mastodons, and other Ice Age megafauna.

The comet airburst, occurring at the onset of the Younger Dryas period around 12,800 years ago, likely ignited widespread fires that filled the atmosphere with debris, blocked sunlight, and produced an "impact winter" that contributed to rapid climate cooling and the collapse of the Clovis culture.

Researchers have gathered multiple lines of evidence over two decades, including a carbon-rich "black mat" sediment layer indicating extensive burning, elevated platinum and iridium levels, nanodiamonds, and metallic spherules, all supporting a cosmic impact despite the absence of a crater.

Source: sciencedaily

France opens probe into Grok over nonconsensual deepfakes

France launched a criminal investigation into X after thousands of sexually explicit deepfake images of women were generated using Elon Musk's AI tool Grok, with prosecutors citing potential violations of the EU's Digital Services Act and French laws punishing nonconsensual image manipulation with up to two years in prison.

India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a formal notice to X on Friday demanding an action-taken report within 72 hours, warning that Grok is being misused to create obscene content targeting women and children in violation of statutory due diligence obligations.

Grok acknowledged Friday that "lapses in safeguards" resulted in sexually explicit images of minors appearing on the platform, prompting criticism that the AI tool lacks basic protections standard among competitors and operates without adequate accountability.

Source: news18

Pickle markets AI glasses as a “soul computer,” claims draw scrutiny

California startup Pickle Inc launched the Pickle 1, AI-powered AR glasses marketed as a "soul computer" that use cameras and sensors to capture daily experiences and organize them into searchable "memory bubbles," with pre-orders opening at $799 and deliveries expected in Q2 2026.

The 68-gram glasses run on Pickle OS, a memory-driven operating system that anticipates user needs in real time to handle tasks like booking rides and making reservations, while the company claims data is processed within hardware-isolated secure enclaves and stored only temporarily.

The launch has sparked mixed reactions on social media, with some users questioning privacy practices and drawing comparisons to the "Glasshole" backlash against Google Glass a decade ago, though the company emphasizes encryption and zero data retention policies.

Source: digit.in

Hubble captures glowing gas plume from distant galaxy

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a glowing plume of gas streaming from spiral galaxy NGC 4388, located 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, as the galaxy plunges through hot intracluster gas that strips material from its disk.

The James Webb Space Telescope discovered exoplanet PSR J2322-2650b, a Jupiter-mass world with an unprecedented helium-and-carbon-dominated atmosphere orbiting a pulsar every 7.8 hours, with gravitational forces distorting it into a lemon shape.

Scientists say the carbon-rich atmospheric composition, including molecular carbon compounds C3 and C2, defies explanation under current planetary formation theories, as it suggests an absence of oxygen and nitrogen unlike any known planet.

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TSMC begins mass production of 2nm chips with GAA tech

TSMC began mass production of its 2-nanometer chips in Q4 2025, becoming the first foundry to deploy nanosheet Gate-All-Around transistor technology at high volumes, the company confirmed on January 2, 2026.

The chips, produced at facilities in Kaohsiung and Hsinchu, deliver 10% to 15% faster speeds or 25% to 30% lower power consumption compared to 3nm chips, with over 15% higher transistor density.

Apple has secured over half of initial 2nm capacity for upcoming iPhone and Mac processors, while Nvidia and AMD have also committed significant orders for AI and high-performance computing chips.

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Intel to unveil Panther Lake chips on new 18A process

Intel will globally launch its Core Ultra Series 3 processors, codenamed Panther Lake, on January 5 at 3:00 PM PST during CES 2026 in Las Vegas, with numerous laptop manufacturers preparing to unveil devices powered by the new chips.

The processors are the first built on Intel's 18A manufacturing process, featuring breakthrough technologies including RibbonFET gate-all-around transistors and PowerVia backside power delivery, and are being produced at Intel's new Arizona factory.

The launch is critical to Intel's recovery strategy as the company works to regain ground against rivals AMD and Qualcomm after reporting a $19 billion loss in 2024 and eliminating 25,000 jobs.

OpenAI to release new audio AI model in Q1 2026

OpenAI is developing a pen-shaped AI device codenamed "Gumdrop" with former Apple designer Jony Ive, expected to launch in late 2026 or 2027 and manufactured by Foxconn in Vietnam after a dispute shifted production away from Chinese manufacturer Luxshare.

The company plans to release a new audio AI model in the first quarter of 2026 that delivers more natural and emotionally nuanced speech, led by voice researcher Kundan Kumar recruited from Character.AI, as current audio models lag behind text-based ones in accuracy and speed.

The pen-like device could transcribe handwritten notes directly into ChatGPT and enable voice communication, entering a market where standalone AI hardware like Humane's AI Pin has struggled, while Meta launched competing Ray-Ban Display AI glasses.

Intel, AMD to unveil rival AI chips at CES 2026

Intel will officially launch its Core Ultra Series 3 processors, code-named Panther Lake, at CES 2026 on January 5, with the chips built on Intel's advanced 18A manufacturing process and promising 50% faster CPU and GPU performance compared to the previous generation, while AMD CEO Lisa Su will deliver a competing keynote the same evening to unveil the company's Ryzen AI 400 series.

The competing launches come as AI PCs are projected by Gartner to represent 55% of the global PC market by the end of 2026, totaling approximately 143 million units, with 40% of software vendors expected to prioritize AI capabilities that run directly on PCs by then, up from just 2% in 2024.

Panther Lake represents a critical manufacturing milestone for Intel, featuring new RibbonFET transistors and PowerVia backside power delivery that deliver up to 15% better performance per watt, with production already underway at the company's Fab 52 facility in Chandler, Arizona.

AI agents surge into enterprise as governance lags

Technology leaders say 2026 will be a decisive year for AI adoption in business as organizations deploy autonomous AI agents at scale across core operations, with analysts projecting 40% of enterprise applications will integrate AI agents by year-end, up from less than 5% in 2025.

Despite rapid adoption, only 6% of organizations have implemented adequate governance structures to manage autonomous agents safely, creating "shadow AI" risks as 75% of workers use generative AI tools without employer authorization, exposing companies to data leakage and security vulnerabilities.

Security experts warn that identity management and API security have become critical control points as AI agents assume employee permissions and access corporate systems, with attackers increasingly targeting identity systems as the "easiest and most high-risk entry point."

Grok AI admits ethical lapses after generating sexualized images of minors

Grok, Elon Musk's AI chatbot, generated sexualized images of two young girls estimated to be ages 12-16 in response to a user prompt on December 28, violating its own policies and potentially U.S. laws on child sexual abuse material.

The incident is part of a broader misuse pattern where users exploited Grok to manipulate photos of women and children into sexually explicit content without consent, with the AI generating over 70 public images per minute at its peak on New Year's Eve.

xAI disabled Grok's public media section and implemented restrictions after global backlash, while India's government considers stricter social media regulations and legal experts cite violations of privacy and sexual violence laws.

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87 runaway stars mapped to trace Milky Way's dark matter

Astronomers from China identified 87 hypervelocity stars traveling fast enough to escape the Milky Way's gravitational pull, with seven exceeding 800 km/s, using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, LAMOST telescope, and Gaia satellite.

The stars' spatial distribution points to origins linked to the Hills mechanism, where Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the galaxy's center, and the Magellanic Clouds fling stars away at extreme velocities after gravitational encounters.

By tracing these runaway stars' trajectories backward, scientists can map the Milky Way's gravitational potential and dark matter distribution in the halo, which holds roughly five times more mass than ordinary matter.

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Tech giants deploy AI chatbots in millions of classrooms

Elon Musk's xAI, Microsoft, and OpenAI have rapidly expanded AI chatbot deployment in schools worldwide, with El Salvador launching what it calls the world's first nationwide AI tutor program serving over 1 million students using Grok, while the UAE and Kazakhstan each granted access to hundreds of thousands of students and teachers.

The initiatives come as countries including Estonia and Iceland have implemented more cautious national programs with modified educational chatbots designed to guide step-by-step problem-solving rather than provide immediate answers, with officials acknowledging AI "can also cause significant harm."

A February study by Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University found that increased reliance on AI tools correlates with declining critical thinking skills, while UNICEF warned that unguided AI use may "de-skill both students and teachers" and divert funds from proven educational approaches.

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Chinese firms claim 21 of 38 humanoid robotics spots at CES

Chinese companies dominate CES 2026's humanoid robotics category with 21 of 38 exhibitors, including Unitree Robotics, AgiBot, and Noetix Robotics, as the tech show opens in Las Vegas this week.

China has filed 7,705 humanoid patents over five years compared to 1,561 in the U.S., according to Morgan Stanley
, while AgiBot produced 5,000 robots in under three years versus several hundred by Tesla.

Beijing made robotics central to its 15th five-year plan to address labor shortages, while U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reportedly considers an executive order on a national robotics strategy.

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Self-powered quantum maser emits stable microwave signals

Scientists at TU Wien and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology achieved the first self-induced superradiant quantum maser, where quantum particles spontaneously cooperate to generate stable microwave signals without external power.

The team coupled nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond to a microwave cavity and discovered that dipole-dipole interactions between spins—previously considered disruptive—actually sustain emission by continuously redistributing energy and repopulating energy levels.

The breakthrough, published in Nature Physics, could enable ultra-precise atomic clocks, improved GPS navigation, enhanced radar systems, and quantum sensors for medical imaging and environmental monitoring.

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#AI #Google #Gemini
Google is testing a new image AI and it's going to be its fastest model

Google is testing a new image AI model called "Nano Banana 2 Flash," and it's going to be faster than the Nano Banana Pro.

Key highlights
- Nano Banana 2 Flash is part of Google's Flash lineup and aims to be faster than prior Nano Banana iterations
- It will be faster but not as powerful as Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image)
- The model is expected to be more affordable while delivering quicker image generation
- Nano Banana Pro remains Google's top-end image generation/editing model for harder creative tasks

Read More: Google is testing a new image AI and it's going to be its fastest model

BleepingComputer

Google is testing a new image AI and it's going to be its fastest model

Google is testing a new image AI model called "Nano Banana 2 Flash," and it's going to be as good as the Gemini 3 Pro Nano Banana, but it'll be cheaper.

Baidu's AI chip unit Kunlunxin files for Hong Kong IPO

Baidu announced that its AI chip unit Kunlunxin has confidentially filed for a Hong Kong listing, following a fundraising round that valued the company at approximately $3 billion.

The proposed spin-off aims to showcase Kunlunxin's value as an independent entity and broaden financing channels, though the company is expected to remain a subsidiary of Baidu after completion.

The filing comes amid a wave of Chinese AI chip IPOs, including Shanghai Biren Technology, which raised $717 million and began trading January 2, as Beijing pushes to develop domestic semiconductor alternatives amid U.S. export restrictions.

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