Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images McDonald’s has become corporate enemy number one after its hideous AI holiday commercial went viral across numerous social media platforms for all the wrong reasons. TBWA and The Sweetshop — the agency and production company behind the turd of an ad — have since tried to… Continue reading McDonald’s Issues Extremely Weird Response to Its Disastrous AI Ad
Category: Tech News
Category Added in a WPeMatico Campaign
Another AI-Powered Children’s Toy Just Got Caught Having Wildly Inappropriate Conversations
Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Alilo AI / Getty Images Last month, an AI-powered teddy bear from the company FoloToy ignited alarm and controversy after researchers at the US PIRG Education Fund caught it having wildly inappropriate conversations for young children, ranging from providing step-by-step instructions on how to light matches, to giving… Continue reading Another AI-Powered Children’s Toy Just Got Caught Having Wildly Inappropriate Conversations
Woman Orders Waymo, Finds Man Hiding in Trunk
luckythurman via TikTok Waymo’s autonomous ride-hailing service is going through a lot of firsts these days. Earlier this week, a pregnant woman in San Francisco gave birth inside one of the company’s self-driving vehicles while taking it to the hospital in lieu of an ambulance. Now, a different woman has experienced a very different kind… Continue reading Woman Orders Waymo, Finds Man Hiding in Trunk
Years After a Girl’s Death, the AIs That Killed Her Are Still Sending Notifications to Her Phone
Getty / Futurism We’ve written previously about Juliana Peralta, who was only 13 years old when her parents say an AI chatbot she was secretly engaging with drove her to suicide. Now her parents have shared a grim new detail with CBS News: the bot platform responsible, Character.AI, still sends notifications to Peralta’s phone, “trying… Continue reading Years After a Girl’s Death, the AIs That Killed Her Are Still Sending Notifications to Her Phone
How Taiwan Made Cashless Payments Cute
At a 7-Eleven convenience store in Taiwan, you can pick up a 4-inch plushie of Miffy, the bunny character from the Netherlands, a mini bento box charm complete with a realistic chicken drumstick, or a tiny plastic rotary phone. Produced by iCash Corporation (a 7-Eleven affiliate), these keychains are more than just trinkets: Each contains… Continue reading How Taiwan Made Cashless Payments Cute
OpenAI Launches GPT-5.2 as It Navigates ‘Code Red’
OpenAI has introduced GPT-5.2, its smartest artificial intelligence model yet, with performance gains across writing, coding, and reasoning benchmarks. The launch comes just days after CEO Sam Altman internally declared a “code red,” a company-wide push to improve ChatGPT amid intense competition from rivals. “We announced this code red to really signal to the company… Continue reading OpenAI Launches GPT-5.2 as It Navigates ‘Code Red’
The Disney-OpenAI Deal Redefines the AI Copyright War
On Thursday, Disney and OpenAI announced a deal that might have seemed unthinkable not so long ago. Starting next year, OpenAI will be able to use Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Ariel, and Yoda in its Sora video-generation model. Disney will take a $1 billion stake in OpenAI, and its employees will get access to… Continue reading The Disney-OpenAI Deal Redefines the AI Copyright War
Rivian is building its own powerful AI chips for autonomous driving
Transportation Autonomous Cars The company’s chips, quoted at 1,600 trillion operations a second, will fuel a new push into self-driving cars for the EV company. The company’s chips, quoted at 1,600 trillion operations a second, will fuel a new push into self-driving cars for the EV company. by Andrew J. Hawkins Dec 11, 2025, 5:20… Continue reading Rivian is building its own powerful AI chips for autonomous driving
You can send live video to 911 from your Android phone in seconds now – here’s how
Google / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Android users can now share live video with 911 operators. The telecommunicator initiates the request. The feature is available on devices with Android 8 or higher. Calling 911 can be stressful, and effectively communicating details… Continue reading You can send live video to 911 from your Android phone in seconds now – here’s how
Scientists Say the Time Has Arrived to Land Astronauts on Mars
The goal of sending astronauts to the surface of Mars has been a major point of contention, with the likes of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk arguing that we should skip the Moon entirely in favor of the Red Planet — despite NASA already being deeply invested in returning astronauts to the lunar surface for the… Continue reading Scientists Say the Time Has Arrived to Land Astronauts on Mars