Author HubMatthias Bastian

Matthias is the co-founder and publisher of THE DECODER, exploring how AI is fundamentally changing the relationship between humans and computers.
AI and society

Anthropic settles landmark AI copyright lawsuit for at least $1.5 billion

AI and society

Google downplays AI's environmental impact in new study

AI and society

Meta's human-like chatbot personas can mislead users and result in real-world harm

Ad
AI and society
Short

About 300 Google DeepMind employees in London are seeking to join the Communication Workers Union (CWU), reports the Financial Times. The workers want to challenge Google's decision to sell AI technology to defense groups and maintain ties with the Israeli government through Project Nimbus. The move comes after Google went back on its February promise not to develop AI for weapons or surveillance. Workers are worried their work could be used in the Gaza conflict, according to an engineer who spoke to the FT. Five employees have already quit over these concerns. A letter to management in May failed to address the issues. The CWU says the workers' main concerns are ethical, not financial. If the union is recognized, it could lead to management talks or potential strikes.

Ad
Ad
AI and society
Short

China's President Xi Jinping called for greater self-reliance in AI development at a Politburo meeting on Friday. Xi emphasized that China must comprehensively advance technological innovation, industrial development, and AI applications using the new national system. He urged for political support in areas such as research, talent training, and intellectual property. Xi called for strengthening basic research and key technologies like high-performance chips and basic software. He also pushed for accelerating AI laws and regulations to ensure safety and control.

"We must recognise the gaps and redouble our efforts to comprehensively advance technological innovation, industrial development, and AI-empowered applications."

Xi Jinping

Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad
AI in practice
Short

Google's AI chatbot Gemini currently has around 350 million active users, according to figures published by Google as part of a court hearing on its own search dominance. This puts it well behind OpenAI's ChatGPT, which has at least 500 million weekly users according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. However, the Gemini figures should be viewed with caution, as Google likely has an interest in presenting itself as smaller. The figures presumably only account for the Gemini chatbot app, while users actually interact with Gemini in many places, such as Google's AI search or by voice input on Android devices. With the new Gemini 2.5 Pro, Google has also caught up in terms of technology and currently has the most powerful AI model on the market.

Google News

Bank details

IBAN: DE88 2507 0070 0053 0014 00
BIC: DEUTDE2HXXX
Account holder: Deep Content GmbH
Purpose: Support THE DECODER
AI in practice

Anthropic confirms technical bugs after weeks of complaints about declining Claude code quality

AI and society

Anthropic settles landmark AI copyright lawsuit for at least $1.5 billion

AI in practice

Microsoft presents its first large AI models and signals greater independence from OpenAI

Google News