Artificial Intelligence

Mar 4, 2026

OpenAI is building its own alternative to GitHub, Microsoft's widely used platform for code management and collaboration, according to The Information. The move was triggered by a string of GitHub outages in recent months that directly affected OpenAI's own developers. The project is still in its early stages and likely won't be ready for several months.

Internally, the company is reportedly discussing whether to offer the product to outside customers - a move that would put OpenAI in direct competition with Microsoft, one of its biggest investors. GitHub has attributed some of its outages to problems with Microsoft's Azure cloud, which the service is currently being migrated to. Google and Meta both run their own internal code platforms but don't offer them externally. OpenAI, Microsoft, and GitHub all declined to comment.

Comment Source: The Information

Matthias Bastian

Mar 3, 2026

AI in practice

Google's fastest and cheapest model Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite got smarter but also tripled the price

Google Deepmind has released a preview of Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite, the fastest and cheapest model in the Gemini 3 series. It’s significantly more capable than its predecessor, but output costs have more than tripled.

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Matthias Bastian

Mar 3, 2026

Short News

OpenAI has released GPT-5.3 Instant, an update to the standard ChatGPT model. The new version aims to make everyday conversations feel more natural and useful. According to OpenAI, the model delivers more accurate answers, better web search results, and fewer unnecessary warnings and refusals. Hallucination rates drop by up to 26.8 percent for web searches and 19.7 percent for internal knowledge, depending on the scenario. The writing style also feels less robotic and preachy, OpenAI claims.

The system card shows some trade-offs on the safety front. GPT-5.3 Instant beats the older GPT-5.1 Instant on average when it comes to catching unauthorized content, but it actually performs worse than its direct predecessor, GPT-5.2 Instant. The model also takes a small hit on health-related queries (HealthBench) compared to the previous version.

GPT-5.3 Instant is rolling out now to all ChatGPT users and is available to developers via the API as "gpt-5.3-chat-latest." The outgoing GPT-5.2 Instant will stick around for paying users for another three months before OpenAI pulls the plug on June 3, 2026.

Comment Source: System Card | Blog

Maximilian Schreiner

Mar 3, 2026

AI in practice

Meta sends private AI glasses footage to Kenya with few safeguards - and Europe's privacy regulators may come knocking

Maximilian Schreiner

Mar 3, 2026

Short News

Meta is testing a shopping research feature in its Meta AI chatbot designed to compete with similar tools from OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. According to Bloomberg, the feature lets users ask for product suggestions. The chatbot responds with a carousel of product images that include brand, website, and price details, along with a brief bullet-point explanation of its recommendations.

The feature is currently rolling out to a limited number of US users in the Meta AI web browser. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the test but didn't share any further details.

Comment Source: Bloomberg

Maximilian Schreiner

Mar 3, 2026

Short News

Several US federal agencies are already dropping Anthropic's AI products and switching to competitors like OpenAI. According to Reuters, the shift currently affects the State Department, Treasury Department, Department of Health and Human Services, the Pentagon, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. President Trump ordered all agencies on Friday to phase out Anthropic products within six months. The Department of Defense had previously classified Anthropic as a supply chain risk and signed a deal with OpenAI.

The switch isn't exactly an upgrade, though - at least not yet. The State Department is replacing Anthropic's Claude models in its internal chatbot with OpenAI's outdated GPT-4.1 model.

Comment Source: Reuters

Maximilian Schreiner

Mar 3, 2026

AI in practice

A calendar invite is all it took to hijack Perplexity's Comet browser and steal 1Password credentials

Security researchers demonstrate how a manipulated calendar invite can trick Perplexity’s agentic Comet browser into stealing local files and taking over a full 1Password account.

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Matthias Bastian

Mar 3, 2026

Short News

Anthropic entered a $100 million Pentagon competition in early 2026. The company was proposing to use Claude for voice-controlled autonomous drone swarm technology, Bloomberg reports.

The idea was to use Claude to translate a commander's spoken orders into digital instructions and coordinate drone fleets without using AI for autonomous targeting or weapons decisions. Humans would be able to monitor and shut down the system. This approach lines up with Anthropic's position in its ongoing dispute with the Pentagon, where the company has stressed that human oversight is essential for autonomous weapons because current AI models aren't reliable enough to operate without it.

Anthropic didn't win the contract. Instead, the Pentagon awarded it to SpaceX/xAI and two defense companies partnered with OpenAI.

Comment Source: Bloomberg

Matthias Bastian

Mar 3, 2026

AI and society

After leaks and massive criticism, OpenAI adds safeguard clauses to Pentagon contract

Maximilian Schreiner

Mar 2, 2026

Short News

ASML, the world's sole manufacturer of EUV lithography machines used to produce advanced chips, is looking to expand beyond its core business. That's according to a Reuters report citing ASML Chief Technology Officer Marco Pieters.

The Dutch company is specifically planning to move into advanced packaging - a technique where multiple specialized chips are connected and stacked on top of each other. This approach is critical for modern AI chips and the high-bandwidth memory that feeds them. TSMC already uses advanced packaging to build Nvidia's most powerful AI processors, among others.

Pieters told Reuters that ASML is planning 10 to 15 years ahead, studying what kinds of machines the industry will need for packaging and bonding. The company is also exploring whether chips can be printed beyond their current size limit. On top of that, ASML wants to use AI to speed up the control software running its machines and improve quality checks during chip manufacturing.

Comment Source: Reuters