Edition: June 18, 2026

Dialog, a private network cofounded by Peter Thiel, secretly ranks its members based on wealth and fame, using algorithms to decide who to meet and who no longer belongs. The group's internal data, obtained by WIRED, includes personal information of nearly 200 prominent people. The ranking system assigns grades of A, B, or C, with the 'C' grade reserved for the most famous and influential.

AI inference startup Baseten is reportedly raising $1.5 billion in funding at a $13 billion valuation, just months after its last funding round. This represents a 160% increase in valuation in less than half a year. The funding round is said to be co-led by several prominent investors, including Spark Capital and Altimeter Capital.

The White House is making up its rules for AI regulation in real-time, as seen in its dispute with Anthropic, a leading AI lab, over the company's advanced models. The Trump administration's actions have been criticized for being opaque and potentially hampering innovation. The saga highlights the lack of clear laws and regulations governing AI development in the US.

OpenAI is bolstering its team ahead of its IPO with the addition of AI legend Noam Shazeer and former Trump White House AI policy official Dean Ball, enhancing its expertise in AI development and policy. Shazeer, known for his work on the Transformer architecture, joins from Google, while Ball will lead a new team focused on shaping frontier AI policy. This move comes as the AI landscape sees significant shuffling and regulatory scrutiny.

Amazon Web Services is in talks to sell its AI chip Trainium to other companies, posing a potential challenge to Nvidia's dominance in the market. The move could create a $50 billion competitor, although Nvidia's current revenue run rate is significantly higher. Amazon's decision to sell its chips would require it to balance supply and demand, potentially leaving current customers on waiting lists.

Researchers have identified a significant privacy risk in deep research agents that combine private local documents with external tools, potentially leaking sensitive information through external queries. The proposed MosaicLeaks framework and Privacy-Aware Deep Research training method aim to mitigate this risk. By using this approach, the leakage of private information can be reduced from 34.0% to 9.9%.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has ordered grid operators to fast track interconnection requests from data centers, aiming to address the growing electricity demand from the AI industry. Data centers will be responsible for paying the costs of interconnection, and grid operators must submit reports on their generating capacity and electricity rates. The move comes as electricity demand from data centers is expected to nearly triple by 2035.

The 'slowtech' movement is gaining traction as people seek to reduce their screen time and adopt a more mindful approach to technology, with some opting for older devices like iPods and retro gaming consoles. This shift is driven by a desire to create boundaries and bring 'friction' back into their lives. The movement is seen as a response to the exhausting connectedness of modern technology.

Three Amazon workers claim they're under internal investigation for speaking out about data center regulations, alleging the company is trying to intimidate and retaliate against them for expressing their personal opinions. The employees, who are part of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, had urged the Seattle City Council to regulate data centers. They have filed a complaint with Seattle's Office for Civil Rights, accusing Amazon of violating their right to free speech.

Computer vision deployments are driving retail productivity gains by automating physical shelf tracking, with the potential to address billions of dollars in operational shortfalls. Retailers such as BJ's Wholesale Club and Albertsons are already seeing significant improvements in efficiency and margin erosion. The adoption of store intelligence platforms is on the rise, with 60% of enterprise footprints now fully deployed.

General Intuition, a New York-based startup, is in talks to raise $300 million at a valuation of around $2 billion to further develop its AI foundation model. The company trains AI agents to move through space and time using a unique dataset of 2 billion videos per year. The fresh funds will be used to scale up compute capacity and release a new product by the end of summer.

A new super PAC, the Guardrails Alliance, has been launched with $5 million in funding to support AI legislation and counter Big Tech's influence in politics. The PAC aims to promote responsible AI development and deployment, and will support candidates like Alex Bores who share its vision. The move marks a growing grassroots movement among tech workers demanding more accountability from their companies.

The US government has imposed export controls on Anthropic's new AI model, Fable 5, citing national security concerns, and the company has taken the model offline. The move has sparked a debate about AI regulation and the government's approach to the technology. The situation has far-reaching consequences for the tech industry and the US's AI regulatory regime.

Adobe has introduced AI assistants to its Creative Cloud suite, including Photoshop and Premiere, as part of a public beta launch. These chatbots can help organize work and automate tasks specific to each app. The AI assistants are powered by Adobe's conversational creative agent and work independently within each app.

Pixi has launched a new iOS app that turns text messages into interactive AR experiences, allowing users to send AI-powered AR characters through iMessage. The characters can react to their surroundings, interact with people, and respond in real time. The app aims to bring a greater sense of presence and spontaneity to digital conversations.

HSBC has partnered with Google Cloud to develop and deploy AI tools across its global operations, aiming to support over 200 AI use cases in the next two years. The partnership will focus on areas such as wealth management, financial crime risk management, and internal decision support. The bank expects the partnership to generate significant revenue gains and efficiency improvements.

The search for dark matter has hit a roadblock as detectors are picking up neutrinos instead of the elusive substance, leading physicists to broaden their scope and explore new methods to detect dark matter. Researchers are now considering alternative approaches, including quantum sensors and searches in Jupiter's atmosphere. The hunt for dark matter is transforming into a more open-ended search with multiple candidates and approaches being explored.

Microsoft has become the main supplier of OpenAI models in China, selling the technology to the country's largest internet companies despite OpenAI and Anthropic's refusal to do so due to intellectual property and misuse concerns. This arrangement has allowed Microsoft to gain a unique position in the Chinese market, with companies like ByteDance spending over $1 billion annually on Microsoft's AI and cloud services. Microsoft's Azure AI revenue in China has tripled in the past year, driven by the growth of its AI business.

The UK plans to introduce facial age estimation technology to determine the age of asylum seekers, despite an internal report showing the system's flaws and biases, particularly against Sub-Saharan Africans. The technology has been found to regularly mistake children for adults, which could lead to incorrect placement in adult detention centers. Critics argue the system is "hideously inaccurate" and should not be used in high-stakes scenarios.

Midjourney Medical has unveiled its first hardware product, The Midjourney Scanner, an ultrasound-based full-body scanner that captures detailed images of the body's composition. The scanner aims to provide image quality comparable to MRI scans and can be used daily or annually for health monitoring. This innovation marks a significant leap from the company's AI-generated 'cat images' to advanced medical imaging.

Researchers are questioning whether LoRA, the most popular fine-tuning technique, is the best choice for parameter-efficient fine-tuning, and exploring alternative techniques that may offer better performance. LoRA is used by 98.4% of model cards on Hugging Face Hub, but its dominance may be self-reinforcing rather than a reflection of its superiority. The PEFT library provides a unified API for many PEFT techniques, allowing developers to experiment with alternatives to LoRA.

Researchers have developed a benchmarking tool to evaluate the effectiveness of open models in completing tasks with the help of coding agents, focusing on the process rather than just the final answer. The tool assesses how well models, library revisions, and tasks work together to achieve a goal. The study uses transformers as a case study and emphasizes the importance of optimizing software for agents.

Meta's AI unit is facing significant dysfunction and low employee morale, while billionaire Peter Thiel's secret society has been exposed and former cryptocurrency founder Sam Bankman-Fried is seeking a pardon from the Trump administration. The tech industry is also seeing other major developments, including SpaceX's acquisition of Cursor and Anthropic's negotiations with the government. These stories highlight the complex and often tumultuous world of tech and AI.

The search for dark matter has taken a new turn due to interference from neutrinos, prompting researchers to explore alternative methods, while in Kenya, entrepreneurs are embracing solar energy as a cost-effective solution for powering grain mills. Additionally, geoengineering efforts to combat climate change face significant practical challenges.

Solar geoengineering, often seen as a potential emergency solution to climate change, faces significant practical challenges, including delivering light-reflecting particles to the stratosphere and understanding their effects. Researchers are working to address these challenges, but the process is complex and raises concerns about governance and potential unintended consequences. The technology is still in its infancy, with many questions remaining about its feasibility and safety.

Snap is spinning off its internal generative AI video team into a new company called Dotmo, citing high costs as a reason for the move. Dotmo will focus on developing AI models for interactive gaming experiences and will retain close ties to Snap. Snap will have a significant equity stake in Dotmo and may see a return on investment if the company prospers.

A survey by Match Group found that nearly half of US singles have a negative view of AI's use in romantic contexts, with 47% expressing disapproval and 40% refusing to date someone who uses an AI companion app. However, 64% of respondents see potential benefits of AI in helping with their dating journey. The survey suggests that people are open to AI assistance, but draw the line at inauthentic or overly technological experiences.

Karamo Brown, life coach from 'Queer Eye', has launched a wellness app called Kē featuring his AI digital clone, offering personalized fitness and nutrition plans, meditation, and community support. The app's 'AI Karamo' feature allows users to interact with a digital version of Brown, providing real-time advice and guidance. Kē aims to aid in personal development and encourage users to seek real support when needed.

Amazon employees who testified in support of data center limits at a Seattle City Council hearing claim they are facing termination, alleging the company is retaliating against them for their political speech. The employees cited a city law that bars employment discrimination over such speech. They were called into a meeting with Amazon's Employee Relations after the City Council passed a moratorium on data centers.

Adobe has revamped its Firefly AI studio, introducing a redesigned interface and new features such as persistent context and reusable assets. The updates aim to streamline the design process, allowing users to easily replicate and edit their creations. The new Firefly experience is now available in private beta.

Google Docs users can turn off AI features, including the Gemini pop-up, by adjusting the bottom bar preferences or disabling smart features across their Google workspace via Gmail settings. This can help minimize distractions and improve the writing experience. The process involves a few simple steps to toggle off the unwanted AI features.

Google Docs users can turn off AI features, including Gemini, by adjusting their 'bottom bar preferences' or disabling 'smart features' across their Google workspace via Gmail settings. This can help minimize distractions and improve the writing experience. The process involves a few simple steps to toggle off unwanted AI features.