CuspAI in Talks to Raise $100 Million to Discover New Materials
Founded in 2024, CuspAI uses generative AI and molecular simulation to build a platform that it likens to a highly specialized search engine. Users can describe properties they'd like a new material to have and the service responds with a chemical makeup.
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Axios
a few seconds ago
- Axios
"Clankers": A robot slur emerges to express disdain for AI's takeover
AI is everywhere whether you like it or not, and some online have turned to a choice word to express their frustration. Why it matters: Referring to an AI bot as a "clanker" (or a "wireback," or a "cogsucker") has emerged as a niche, irreverent internet phenomenon that illuminates a broader disdain for the way AI is overtaking technology, labor, and culture. State of play: The concerns range from major to minor: people are concerned that AI will put them out of a job, but they're also annoyed that it's getting harder to reach a human being at their mobile carrier. "When u call customer service and a clanker picks up" one X post from July reads, with over 200,000 likes, alongside a photo of someone removing their headset in resignation. "Genuinely needed urgent bank customer service and a clanker picked up," reads another from July 30. Here's what to know: Where "clanker" comes from Context: The word is onomatopoeic, but the term can be traced back to Star Wars. It comes from a 2005 Star Wars video game, "Republic Commando," according to Know Your Meme. The term was also used in 2008's Star Wars: The Clone Wars: "Okay, clankers," one character says. "Eat lasers." Robot-specific insults are a common trope in science fiction. In the TV Show Battlestar Galactica, characters refer to the robots as "toasters" and "chrome jobs." "Slang is moving so fast now that a [Large Language Model] trained on everything that happened before... is not going to have immediate access to how people are using a particular word now," Nicole Holliday, associate professor of linguistics at UC Berkeley, told Rolling Stone. "Humans [on] Urban Dictionary are always going to win." How people feel about AI Anxiety over AI's potential impact on the workforce is especially strong. By the numbers: U.S. adults' concerns over AI have grown since 2021, according to Pew Research Center, and 51% of them say that they're more concerned than excited about the technology. Only 23% of adults said that AI will have a very or somewhat positive impact on how people do their jobs over the next 20 years. And those anxieties aren't unfounded. AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs — and spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next one to five years, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told Axios in May. And the next job market downturn — whether it's already underway or still years off — might be a bloodbath for millions of workers whose jobs can be supplanted by AI, Axios' Neil Irwin wrote on Wednesday. People may have pressing concerns about their jobs or mental health, but their annoyances with AI also extend to the mundane, like customer service, Google searches, or dating apps. Social media users have described dating app interactions where they suspect the other party is using AI to write responses. There are a number of apps solely dedicated, in fact, to creating images and prompts for dating apps. Yes, but: Hundreds of millions of people across the world are using ChatGPT every day, its parent company reports. What we're watching: Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Jim Justice (R-WV) introduced a bipartisan bill last month to ensure that people can speak to a human being when contacting U.S. call centers. "Slur" might not be the right word for what's happening People on the internet who want a word to channel their AI frustrations are clear about the s-word. The inclination to "slur" has clear, cathartic appeal, lexical semantician Geoffrey Nunberg wrote in his 2018 article "The Social Life of Slurs." But any jab at AI is probably better classified as "derogatory." "['Slur'] is both more specific and more value-laden than a term like "derogative," Nunberg writes, adding that a derogative word "qualifies as a slur only when it disparages people on the basis of properties such as race, religion, ethnic or geographical origin, gender, sexual orientation or sometimes political ideology." "Sailing enthusiasts deprecate the owners of motor craft as 'stinkpotters,' but we probably wouldn't call the word a slur—though the right-wingers' derogation of environmentalists as 'tree-huggers' might qualify, since that antipathy has a partisan cast."
CBS News
2 minutes ago
- CBS News
Law enforcement department in Denver metro area begins using AI to assist with police reports
Police in Wheat Ridge are getting a technology upgrade. As of Aug. 1, the department has begun using artificial intelligence to help officers write their reports. "It was hand notes. You could go through a notepad in two shifts because you're writing everything down," said Sgt. Jamie Watson. The department's AI technology works directly with body-worn cameras. "I don't have to sit there and go back in my memory and go now 'What did she say about this?' It's right there -- it's transcribed for you," Watson said. To demonstrate, Watson simulated a traffic stop: "Speed limit there is 40 (mph). And I hate to tell you, you were doing 52," she said during the demonstration. Once the body camera is activated, the system begins running and listening to the interaction in real time. Within seconds, a report is generated for the officer to review. "It says, 'On August 5, 2025, at approximately 2:29 p.m., I conducted a traffic stop in the parking lot of the Wheat Ridge Police Department.' Now, I never said that -- it just picks up your location based on where you are," Watson explained. Wheat Ridge police spokesperson Alex Rose said the program costs about $100,000 a year and is an addition to the department's existing contract with Axon for body cameras. "In a net-net, you ask our officers, it's saving about 40% to 60% of their time behind a computer writing reports," Rose said. Rose says that means there's more time that officers can now spend out in the community. The department's new AI tool joins a growing list of technologies used by law enforcement agencies, including body-worn cameras and automatic license plate readers. Anaya Robertson, policy director at the ACLU Colorado, said the use of AI in police reporting raises legal and ethical questions. "When we're talking about incident reports and case notes -- those are often admissible in court," Robertson said. "There's a general bias that AI doesn't make mistakes, which is problematic when you think about something being used as evidence." He emphasized the need for transparency. "(It's) needed so the community knows their law enforcement agency wants to utilize this kind of technology," she said. In Wheat Ridge, the AI-generated report is only considered a first draft. Officers are prompted to include additional observations and personal reflections the AI may not capture. Built-in safeguards require officers to review the report carefully. Errors are intentionally placed in the drafts and must be corrected before submission. Watson, who participated in the testing phase, said the technology allows her to spend less time behind a desk and more time in the field. "It is an incredible benefit to the officer," she said. According to Rose, the department consulted with the district attorney's office, which approved the use of AI-generated reports. Each report includes a disclaimer noting the use of artificial intelligence in its creation.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why Novo Nordisk Stock Slipped Today
Key Points It was a double miss for the Wegovy maker in its second quarter. It's been hammered not only by competing licensed drugs, but it also has to contend with copycats. 10 stocks we like better than Novo Nordisk › Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) stock imitated the company's leading product on Wednesday by slimming down in price. The Danish pharmaceutical's shares lost nearly 4% of their value following its latest earnings release, comparing unfavorably to the modest (0.7%) gain of the S&P 500 index. Still growing, but... Novo Nordisk, famous for its Wegovy obesity drug (and its sibling, diabetes treatment Ozempic), unveiled its first half and second quarter of 2025 figures early Wednesday morning. For the quarter, the company booked 76.9 billion Danish kroner ($11.9 billion) in revenue, which was up only marginally on a sequential basis, and 13% higher compared to the same period of 2024. Net income, meanwhile, was down from the previous quarter but up from the year-ago quarter. It rose by 32% year over year to 26.5 billion kroner ($4.1 billion), or 5.96 kroner ($0.92) per share. Both headline numbers missed the consensus analyst estimates, although not by much. Pundits tracking the company were modeling the equivalent of just under $12 billion for revenue, and $0.95 per share on the bottom line. Although Novo Nordisk continues to post double-digit increases thanks largely to Wegovy and Ozempic, it has been in the investor doghouse so far this month. That's because at the end of July, it significantly cut its guidance for both total sales and operating profit. Withering competition Much of this has to do with the intense competition Novo Nordisk is facing due to the runaway success of those medications. These days, pharmacy sector powerhouse Eli Lilly is doing brisk business with a directly competing product, Zepbound, while third parties are copying Wegovy's semaglutide molecule for their own compounded products. The company announced no fewer than 14 new lawsuits on Tuesday, making a total of 146 across 40 U.S. states, to combat the latter. Should you invest $1,000 in Novo Nordisk right now? Before you buy stock in Novo Nordisk, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Novo Nordisk wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $619,036!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,092,648!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,026% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025 Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Novo Nordisk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Novo Nordisk Stock Slipped Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
