How AI is depriving students of basic human skills
The debate over how to use AI in schools — and what constitutes cheating — may seem like a replay of previous debates that occurred when technology disrupted education. But AI feels different. Columnists Molly Roberts, Megan McArdle and Monica Hesse unpack AI's pernicious effects and discuss how we might bring about a better AI future.
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23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Wayve and Uber plan London robotaxi launch after UK speeds up autonomous vehicle rollout
U.K.-based autonomous vehicle technology company Wayve and Uber plan to launch a fully driverless robotaxi service in London in the coming years. The news comes soon after the U.K.'s announcement of an accelerated framework for self-driving commercial pilots. U.K. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander confirmed Tuesday that the U.K. government would fast-track pilots to spring 2026, up from late 2027, to incentivize investment in autonomy in the country. Wayve and Uber did not share many details of their upcoming launch, such as when exactly the companies would begin trials and service, with how many vehicles, or via which vehicle manufacturer partner or partners. Wayve said in April that its tech would be headed to Nissan vehicles. The announcement follows Uber's strategic investment into Wayve in 2024 that promised to see the startup's AI integrated into consumer vehicles that will one day operate on Uber's platform. A Wayve spokesperson told TechCrunch the companies would start in the U.K. capital and scale out to greater London and beyond from there. First, every company involved in launching a robotaxi service would need to prove relevant safety cases to regulators. 'We have a partner ecosystem for bringing a service to market,' Sarah Gates, Wayve's director of public policy, told TechCrunch. 'Wayve provides driving intelligence integrated into a base vehicle provided by a vehicle manufacturer, and then we would have a fleet operator, and Uber would operate the service. So each part of that supply chain would need to prove safety and responsible deployment for what they're responsible for.' In Wayve's case, the company needs to prove the safety of the system and how it drives within its operational design domain. Uber would have separate commitments around operating a passenger service responsibly and having things like customer service in place. 'This is a defining moment for U.K. autonomy,' Alex Kendall, Wayve's CEO and co-founder, said in a statement. 'With Uber and our global OEM partner, we're preparing to put our AI Driver technology into real service on the streets of London, delivering on our AV2.0 vision for scalable autonomy. Our Embodied AI learns to drive anywhere, in any vehicle, and this trial brings us closer to bringing safe and intelligent driving to everyday rides across the UK and beyond.' Wayve recently published a blog detailing the initial findings from its 'AI-500 Roadshow,' a project to visit 500 cities using a single AI model by the end of 2025. So far, the startup has hit 90 cities in 90 days, spanning Asia, Europe, and North America. The demonstration is designed to prove that Wayve's technology can operate anywhere it's placed, rather than relying first on mapping a region. That's relevant data to a company like Uber, which operates globally and has been doing deals with almost every AV company to scale its autonomous capabilities fast. 'Uber has got one of the largest mobility networks globally, so the fact that our AI can serve as their global network is a big reason why this partnership and this [driverless] trialing is so important,' Tilly Pielichaty, a Wayve spokesperson, told TechCrunch. 'We are starting in the U.K., but the ambition is to take it everywhere.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Verge
28 minutes ago
- The Verge
Meta is reportedly making a $15 billion bet on AGI
Meta is close to finalizing an almost $15 billion investment in Scale AI, the tech giant's largest-ever external investment, which would give Meta a 49% stake in the company, according to The Information. As part of the deal, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is personally assembling a team of about 50 people to help Meta supercharge its AI goals — specifically, to achieve artificial general intelligence — and Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang is set to join that group once the deal is final, according to Bloomberg and The New York Times. AGI is the concept of AI that equals or surpasses human cognitive abilities, and it's something that nearly every AI industry leader is currently racing to achieve before their competitors. Bloomberg was first to report on the planned multibillion-dollar investment. Scale, the AI giant that provides training data to industry leaders like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Meta, in April reportedly expected that its 2025 revenue would more than double year-over-year to about $2 billion. It's also currently planning a tender offer for employees and early investors at a $25 billion valuation. Meta has been concerned about falling behind in the AI race as competitors like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft pull ahead. In May, Meta delayed the launch of its new flagship model, dubbed Behemoth, amid concerns about its capabilities compared to competing models, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company's investment in Scale AI is likely a bid to catch up as competing tech giants each choose one or more AI startups to back for greater chances of AI success, whether internally or externally. Amazon has invested at least $8 billion in Anthropic, the AI startup founded by ex-OpenAI research executives, and Anthropic's tech now powers Amazon's Alexa Plus. Google has given at least $3 billion to Anthropic, and the two companies share a significant cloud contract. Microsoft has famously invested at least $13 billion in OpenAI and currently gets a share of the company's revenue. Besides its forthcoming deal with Meta, Scale has spent the last few months leaning hard into deals with governments across the world, like a five-year deal with Qatar to provide automation tools for civil service, healthcare, and more. The company has said its work with countries in Asia and Europe could account for a big piece of sales coming up. And in March, Scale signed a multimillion-dollar deal with the Department of Defense for a flagship AI agent program for the U.S. military.
The Verge
28 minutes ago
- The Verge
Amazon Key Access Control system
Amazon Key is coming to apartment buildings. is a new building intercom solution that uses the Ring app to let apartment dwellers answer their building door and buzz people in on their phones. The intercoms need to be installed by a property manager, and the system includes virtual keys for communal spaces; keys for individual apartments aren't mentioned. Interestingly, Ring founder Jamie Siminoff left Amazon to run a smart building access solution, but he's now back at Amazon. 1/4 Image: Amazon
