Author: arthursheikin@gmail.com

[ad_1] When OpenAI launched GPT-5 last week, the company said the model would simplify the ChatGPT experience. OpenAI hoped GPT-5 would act as a sort of “one size fits all” AI model with a router that would automatically decide how to best answer user questions. The company said this unified approach would eliminate the need for users to navigate its model picker — a long, complicated menu of AI options that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly said he hates. But it looks like GPT-5 is not the unified AI model OpenAI hoped it would be. Altman said in a…

[ad_1] Sam Altman is in the process of co-founding a new brain-to-computer interface startup called Merge Labs, and raising funds for it with the capital possibly coming largely from OpenAI’s ventures team, unnamed sources told the Financial Times. The startup is expected to be valued at $850 million. A source familiar with the deal tells TechCrunch that talks are still early and OpenAI has not yet committed to participation, so terms could change. Merge Labs is also reportedly working with Alex Blania, who runs Tools for Humanity (formerly World) — Altman’s eye-scanning digital ID project that “allows anyone to verify their…

[ad_1] Netflix is taking its fight with Disney to hallowed ground: family-friendly sing-alongs.Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters” is briefly coming to select movie theaters as a sing-along event, in a new challenge to the Mouse House.Fans of “Kpop Demon Hunters” and its popular soundtrack can see the fictional K-pop girl group HUNTR/X on the big screen when the smash-hit film hits theaters in the US and Canada on August 23 and 24, Netflix said on Tuesday.The animated flick has become Netflix’s second-most-watched movie ever since its mid-June debut and was the No. 2 movie on the platform last week, based on…

[ad_1] E.J. Antoni, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the chief economist at the right-leaning Heritage Foundation, floated pausing the monthly jobs report amid accuracy concerns. Market pros say that would be a terrible move.Antoni told Fox News Digital on August 4 in an interview before his nomination that, “until it is corrected, the BLS should suspend issuing the monthly job reports but keep publishing the more accurate, though less timely, quarterly data.”Economists and market strategists told Business Insider on Tuesday that such a move would be damaging for investors and economic planners. It…

[ad_1] The Taylor Swift effect has hit the podcast world.The pop star plans to make a rare appearance on Wednesday on the “New Heights” podcast, which is cohosted by her boyfriend, NFL player Travis Kelce.As it turns out, dating one of the world’s most famous people can have a profound effect on your brand’s reach.Engagement with the podcast’s posts soared on Instagram Tuesday.Swift coupled her own 280 million-strong Instagram following with Kelce’s podcast audience to announce her twelfth studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” in an Instagram post at midnight on Tuesday. Less than 12 hours later, that post by the…

[ad_1] High stock valuations demand a more nimble approach for investors, according to Matrix Asset Advisors president and chief investment officer David Katz. Asked how he steers between sticking with an expensive market on the one hand, or switching to a value-oriented approach with the other, Katz told CNBC Pro on Monday, “You have to do both.” “We think that the overall stock market can continue to do OK, but we do think that if you have not been in the market, we would not be jumping in with both feet here,” said Katz, who founded Matrix in 1986. Katz…

[ad_1] The Sphere is seen during its opening night with the U2:UV Achtung Baby Live concert at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas on Sept. 29, 2023.Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesThere’s no place like the Las Vegas Sphere.More than 120,000 tickets have been sold for showings of a special rendering of “The Wizard of Oz” starting later this month, according to James Dolan, CEO of parent company Sphere Entertainment. The company expects ticket sales to reach 200,000 by the time of the first screening.”We’re very proud of the product, and we think it’s groundbreaking,” Dolan said on…

[ad_1] Elon Musk says Apple has made it “impossible” for AI apps that aren’t ChatGPT to hit No. 1 on the App Store. The problem with that argument is that DeepSeek did exactly that earlier this year — and Musk’s Grok app may have as well.XAI’s Grok app currently sits at #5 on the Apple App Store’s top free apps chart — four spots away from the long-dominant ChatGPT.On Monday, Musk blamed Apple, suggesting without evidence that Apple has its thumb on the App Store scales. Apple partnered with OpenAI last year to integrate ChatGPT into iOS.”Apple is behaving in a…

[ad_1] Demand for AI “companion” applications outside of bigger names, like ChatGPT and Grok, is growing. Of the 337 active and revenue-generating AI companion apps available worldwide, 128 were released in 2025 so far, according to new data provided to TechCrunch by app intelligence firm Appfigures. This subsection of the AI market on mobile has now generated $82 million during the first half of the year and is on track to pull in over $120 million by year-end, the firm’s analysis indicates. Image Credits:Appfigures Unlike general-purpose chatbots, AI companion apps anthropomorphize AI interactions by allowing users to converse with custom…

[ad_1] Goldman Sachs sees shares of Uranium Energy surging over the next year as the U.S. government aims to rebuild a domestic nuclear fuel supply chain. Goldman initiated coverage of Uranium Energy on Monday with a stock price target of $13, suggesting more than 30% upside from current levels. The pure-play domestic uranium miner has gained 50% this year with its market capitalization now totaling $4.45 billion. The Trump administration wants to quadruple nuclear power in the U.S. to 400 gigawatts by 2050 and reestablish a domestic uranium supply chain to fuel the nation’s reactors. The U.S. consumes 29% of…