Talk Fuse

    Topic: AI

    Artificial intelligence covers the systems, tools and policies shaping how software can generate content, analyse information and make decisions. The topic follows new models and products, the companies building them, and their growing influence across work, media, entertainment and everyday technology.

    It also examines the trade-offs: security, reliability, accountability, jobs and the rules being proposed to govern powerful systems. For readers, AI is increasingly not a niche technology story but a lens on how digital services and institutions are changing.

    • US Marines’ latest anti-drone toy is an AI turret that uses regular machine guns

      The US Marine Corps is adopting an AI-controlled gun turret system called Bullfrog, made by defence robotics firm Allen Control Systems (ACS), to counter the growing threat of cheap drones without relying on costly interceptor missiles. The system works by fitting onto existing military firearms rather than requiring a bespoke weapon, and it will be…

    • This Former Intel CEO Wants to Jumpstart Moore’s Law With Light

      Former Intel chief executive Pat Gelsinger has joined venture capital firm Playground Capital, where he aims to back “deep tech” semiconductor startups that could reignite Moore’s Law, the decades-old prediction that transistor density doubles roughly every two years. Gelsinger left Intel in late 2024 and, after weighing roles in government, academia, private equity and industry,…

    • Substack is adding an AI detection feature

      Substack has introduced an AI detection feature, developed in partnership with Pangram, that lets readers assess how much of a piece of content was likely written by artificial intelligence. The move reflects growing pressure on publishing platforms to address concerns about undisclosed AI-generated content, and comes alongside a new feature allowing creators to explicitly disclose…

    • Even sexy Skyrim mods aren’t safe from AI slop anymore

      AI-generated “slop” mods have spread through Skyrim’s modding community, including in the popular category of sexually explicit content, as tools that make coding easier let creators churn out low-effort mods with slick, misleading thumbnails. This matters because it undermines modders who spend months on detailed, hand-crafted work, who report being outpaced in downloads and awards…

    • NFMLA Expands NewNarratives Grants and Adds Absurd Fellowship for Emerging Auteurs to Use AI

      NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA), a nonprofit supporting emerging filmmakers, has expanded its NewNarratives grant scheme, raising total available funding to $35,000 and introducing a new AI-focused fellowship in partnership with Absurd. The move builds on a programme launched in 2021 with Warner Bros. Discovery, which has so far attracted more than 1,175 applications from over…

    • Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement approved; only 350 authors opted out

      A US judge has approved a $1.5 billion (£1.18 billion) settlement between Anthropic and a class of authors, closing the largest copyright class-action ever certified and the largest copyright settlement on record. The case arose after a court ruled that Anthropic’s use of books to train its AI models was fair use, but that it…

    • Canada’s SOCAN names Musical AI as its attribution partner to credit and pay creators whose work shapes AI music

      Canada’s performing rights society SOCAN has partnered with Musical AI, a Canadian rights technology firm, to build systems that identify when songwriters’ and composers’ work has been used by artificial intelligence, ensuring those creators are credited and paid. SOCAN will recognise Musical AI as an approved technology partner for attribution services, marking one of the…

    • Google releases three new Gemini models — but no 3.5 Pro

      Google DeepMind has released three new Gemini models — 3.6 Flash, 3.5 Flash-Lite and 3.5 Flash Cyber — but has again held back the long-awaited update to its flagship Gemini Pro model. The launch is notable largely for what was missing, since rivals OpenAI and Anthropic have been shipping new flagship models at a rapid…

    • 3 Essential and Gritty Southern Rock Songs From the 1980s That Still Pack a Punch

      This is a light-hearted music feature rather than a hard news story, in which American Songwriter picks out three southern rock tracks from the 1980s that the outlet argues remain powerful decades later. The list highlights how country-rock crossover songs from that era combined swagger, attitude and social commentary in ways still felt in rock…

    • Oracle faces $100M annual bill to back Wisconsin datacenter power promises

      Oracle says it could face more than $100 million a year in financing costs after Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission refused to reconsider a ruling requiring the company to post substantial financial security for a huge new datacentre campus. The Lighthouse Campus in Port Washington, being developed with Vantage and OpenAI and expected to need nearly…