The New York Times tells Perplexity to stop using its content

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1. The New York Times tells Perplexity to stop using its content

The New York Times has sent a cease and desist letter to Perplexity, an AI startup funded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, for reusing its content without permission. The letter claims Perplexity's use of the Times' content violates copyright law and gives the startup until October 30 to respond before taking legal action.

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas said they are interested in working with every publisher, including the New York Times. The New York Times has previously taken OpenAI and Microsoft to court over copyrighted content.

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2. Meta's AI chief Yann LeCun says the idea that AI could pose an existential threat is "complete BS.

Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at Meta, has debunked the "smarter than humans" scare, which has been driven by Nobelist Geoffrey Hinton and Elon Musk. He believes that today's AI models are far from rivaling the intelligence of our pets, and that AI startups are overestimating its development.

LeCun believes that AI is a powerful tool and that researchers are on the wrong track. He believes that cats have a mental model of the physical world, persistent memory, reasoning ability, and planning capacity, which are not present in today's AIs.

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3. Cognizant adds multi-agent functionality to AI application platform

Cognizant's Neuro AI platform will add multi-agent capabilities, allowing organizations to ideate, prototype, and test generative AI applications without coding. The platform has four steps: Opportunity Finder, Scoping Agent, Data Generator, and Model Orchestrator. It acts as a Cognizant consultant for clients building applications and provides a framework for the customer to follow.

The platform uses pre-configured agents to communicate with each other, ensuring capabilities are needed. Competition in AI application consulting is growing, with companies like Accenture and McKinsey and Company creating new product offerings to make using generative AI easier.

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4. This three-person robotics startup is working with designer Yves Béhar to bring humanoids home

Christoph Kohstall, founder of Kind Humanoid, shares his chaotic workspace with a gantry system used to stabilize robots during testing. The team has moved on to a less conventional system, an $80 coat rack.

The spirit of Silicon Valley's dormant home-brew computing scene is still present in the company's videos, which showcase the company's early prototypes. Yves Béhar, a sought-after designer, recently visited Kohstall's garage and showcased his renderings for a humanoid robot. The team intentionally avoids making the robot too human to avoid the uncanny valley effect.

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5. This $400 mental health pet companion is powered by AI

Moflin, an AI pet robot, is designed to help alleviate adult stress by providing mental health companionship. The fuzzy, featureless toy resembles a guinea pig or Ghibli creature, but its AI brain can change its mood and form attachments to human caregivers.

It costs $398 for prospective adopters and an optional $44 annual repair service called Club Moflin. The pet robot, first introduced at CES in 2021, has emotional capabilities and can respond to the human's mood and care. Owners can access an app to monitor their pet's emotional state.

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