Read full article about: Fei-Fei Li's World Labs raises one billion dollars for "spatial intelligence"
World Labs, the AI startup founded by AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, has raised one billion dollars in a new funding round. Backers include Autodesk, Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, and AMD, according to a blog post from the company. World Labs builds so-called world models - AI systems designed to understand the three-dimensional world and make decisions within it. According to Bloomberg, Autodesk alone contributed 200 million dollars.
We are focused on accelerating our mission to advance spatial intelligence by building world models that revolutionize storytelling, creativity, robotics, scientific discovery, and beyond.
Late last year, World Labs launched its first product "Marble," which generates 3D worlds from images or text. The startup says it will use the new funding to expand into robotics and science applications. World Labs didn't disclose its valuation, but Bloomberg previously reported talks at around 5 billion dollars. Li is known for her work on the ImageNet project, which played a major role in advancing modern image recognition.
Read full article about: Apple's smart glasses are further along than expected, with production targeted for late 2026
Apple is pushing ahead with three wearable AI devices: smart glasses, a pendant, and AirPods with a camera, according to Bloomberg. While these product categories had been rumored for a while, new details are now emerging.
The smart glasses (codenamed N50) appear to be further along than previously known. Bloomberg reports that Apple is already distributing wider prototypes internally, developing custom frames, and targeting production to start in December 2026. The glasses will reportedly feature two cameras - one for high-resolution photos and another for computer vision similar to the Vision Pro.
The pendant is said to be roughly the size of an AirTag, worn via a clip or chain, with processing power comparable to AirPods. Apple is still debating internally whether to include a speaker. According to the report, the camera-equipped AirPods could ship as early as this year, while the pendant wouldn't arrive until 2027 at the earliest. All three devices are built around Siri and designed as iPhone accessories. The Vision Pro team is now working on the glasses and pendant as well.
Read full article about: Perplexity pulls advertising from its search engine, calling itself an "accuracy business"
AI startup Perplexity says it has dropped advertising from its search platform because it could undermine user trust. Perplexity was one of the first generative AI companies to test ads back in 2024. By late last year, though, the company started pulling them.
A Perplexity executive told the Financial Times that ads made users start questioning every answer they received. The company sees itself in the "accuracy business" and is betting on subscription plans ranging from 20 to 200 dollars a month instead. Perplexity says it has over 100 million users and is valued at 18 billion dollars.
The move puts Perplexity at odds with some major competitors. OpenAI just started running ads in ChatGPT, and Google shows ads in its AI mode as well. Anthropic has also committed to keeping its chatbot Claude ad-free, even running a Super Bowl spot to make the point. The timing of Perplexity's announcement is also a bit of a marketing play - something the company has done before, like when it offered to buy TikTok and Chrome.
Read full article about: Anthropic and Infosys team up to build AI agents for regulated industries
Anthropic and Indian IT giant Infosys are jointly developing AI agents for regulated industries. The partnership focuses on telecommunications, finance, manufacturing, and software development. The agents are designed to handle complex tasks autonomously - like processing insurance claims, running compliance checks, or automating network operations for telecom providers.
The project combines Anthropic's Claude models with Infosys Topaz, an enterprise AI platform. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said there's a big gap between an AI demo and real deployment in regulated industries, and that Infosys brings the domain expertise needed to close it.
India is Anthropic's second-largest market for Claude, according to the company. Infosys is one of the first partners for Anthropic's new office in Bengaluru.
Context files for coding agents often don't help - and may even hurt performance
Context files are supposed to make coding agents more productive. New research shows that only works under very specific conditions.
German Wikipedia bans AI-generated content while other language editions take a softer approach
The German-language Wikipedia community has passed a sweeping ban on AI-generated content. The move puts it at odds with other Wikipedia language editions and the Wikimedia Foundation, which favor a less restrictive approach.
Read full article about: Indian Adani group plans $100 billion bet on AI data centers powered by renewable energy
Indian conglomerate Adani plans to invest roughly $100 billion in AI-capable data centers powered by renewable energy by 2035. The Adani Group is a major conglomerate with business operations spanning ports to energy. According to Reuters, the company expects the investment to trigger an additional $150 billion in related industries like server manufacturing and cloud platforms - creating a $250 billion AI infrastructure ecosystem in India.
Adani aims to expand its data center capacity from 2 to 5 gigawatts. On top of that, the company is putting $55 billion into renewable energy. Adani already works with Google and is building a second AI data center with Walmart subsidiary Flipkart. Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Reliance are also investing in India's AI infrastructure. The announcement came during the India AI Impact Summit 2026.