Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo reported a significant increase in app installations and website visits following Google's announcement of a major AI-driven overhaul to its search results. Reports indicate a rise of over 30% in iOS installs in the U.S. as some users appear to be seeking alternatives with less AI integration.
An Oakland jury unanimously ruled against Elon Musk in his lawsuit against OpenAI and its founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. The jury found that Musk waited too long to sue, exceeding the statute of limitations. The trial also revealed evidence suggesting Musk had sought sole control over OpenAI and may have used its resources for his own company, Tesla.
Two men have become the first to be federally charged under the new 'Take It Down Act' for allegedly creating and distributing non-consensual, sexually explicit deepfakes using AI. The law, signed by President Trump, criminalizes the creation of such content and requires its removal from online platforms.
President Donald Trump abruptly canceled a signing event for an executive order that would have created a government process for testing advanced AI models before their public release. Trump cited concerns that the order could hinder the US's competitive edge against China, while reports also suggest the cancelation was influenced by several top AI executives declining to attend the event.
Robinhood is introducing a new feature that will allow users to employ AI agents and chatbots to automate stock trading and manage investments on their behalf. The company is also launching an "agentic credit card" for AI-driven online purchases, while warning users of the significant financial risks involved with automated trading.
Meta has launched new paid subscription plans for its family of apps, including Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, under a new 'Meta One' brand. The company is also rolling out specific tiers for its AI chatbot, priced at $7.99/month for Meta One Plus and $19.99/month for Meta One Premium.
AI voice company ElevenLabs has launched Music v2, an updated version of its AI music generator. The new model is capable of creating songs that switch between genres mid-track and can handle complex vocals and non-musical sound effects. The company stated the model was trained exclusively on licensed data and is cleared for commercial use.
A bug in Google's new AI Overview feature caused it to mishandle the single-word search query "disregard." Instead of providing a definition, the AI would treat the word as a command, leading to empty or unhelpful results. Google has since acknowledged the issue and appeared to have implemented a fix.
Amazon is now allowing other online retailers to use the technology behind its Alexa for Shopping assistant through a new AWS service called the Agentic Shopping Assistant (ASA). The service enables businesses to build their own AI-powered chatbots for personalized product suggestions and customer inquiries, with Kate Spade being the first company to implement the technology.
Database provider ClickHouse announced it has tripled its business year-over-year, reaching an annualized revenue run rate of over $250 million. The company, which was recently valued at $15 billion, is reportedly preparing for a potential IPO within the next few years.
YouTube announced it will now automatically detect and apply more prominent labels to photorealistic AI-generated videos, a shift from relying on creator self-disclosure. The platform is using new internal systems to identify manipulated content, and labels will be permanent for videos made with YouTube's own AI tools or those with C2PA metadata.
Cognition, the AI startup behind the coding agent Devin, has raised over $1 billion in a new funding round, bringing its valuation to approximately $26 billion ($25 billion pre-money). The company reports significant enterprise adoption, with customers including Goldman Sachs, NASA, and Mercedes-Benz.
OpenAI announced it is adopting new measures to help identify AI-generated content by integrating Google's SynthID watermark and the C2PA open standard for content credentials into its models. The move is intended to increase transparency for images created with tools like ChatGPT, and a public verification tool will be launched to check for the AI metadata.
TechCrunch has announced that applications and nominations for its Startup Battlefield 200 competition will close at 11:59 p.m. PT on May 27. The program offers selected early-stage startups a chance to pitch at TechCrunch Disrupt, gain visibility, and compete for a $100,000 equity-free prize.
Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," which addresses the challenges of artificial intelligence, calling for it to be "disarmed" and guided by human dignity. Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah spoke at the Vatican presentation, emphasizing the need for external oversight in AI development.
Robinhood has introduced new features that allow users to employ AI agents for automated stock trading and to make online purchases using a virtual credit card. The company warns users of the significant risks involved, including the potential for complete loss of investment.
Project management software company ClickUp has laid off 22% of its workforce, a move CEO Zeb Evans described as a strategic restructuring toward an AI-centric model. The company plans to replace the roles with internal AI agents and aims to boost the productivity of its remaining employees, who will be rewarded with higher salaries for effectively utilizing the technology.
Following Google's recent announcement of its AI-driven search overhaul, alternative search engine DuckDuckGo reported a significant increase in user engagement. The company observed an average week-over-week rise in iOS app installations of up to 33% in the US, with users citing a desire to avoid being "force-fed" AI search results.
At its I/O 2026 conference, Google unveiled Universal Cart, an AI-powered hub that consolidates shopping items from Search, Gemini, and YouTube into a single persistent cart. The company also updated its Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), which allows AI agents to make autonomous, secure purchases on a user's behalf within predefined limits.
SpaceX has publicly filed its S-1 document for an initial public offering, revealing the company's financials and strategic vision for the first time. The filing details ambitious plans for an extraterrestrial economy, a $28.5 trillion total addressable market focused on AI, and financial dependencies on Elon Musk's other ventures like Tesla and xAI.
