PLUS: Turn a ChatGPT answer into a tool you can use

I don’t remember much about Peppy, my first and only pet cat. I can conjure the sensation of stroking her while she purred, recall how she used to get stuck in trees (just like in cartoons!), and chuckle about the time she pooed in my baby sister’s cot. That’s about it. What I do vividly…

I. Meet cute Barnabas and Mainspring grew up near at hand, about an hour apart with good traffic, but for a long time they weren’t close. They traded glimpses and occasional hellos and then went about their business. Both of them carried on livelier conversations with farther-flung neighbors, who were richer and had more to…

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects more than 5 million people around the world. And until now, no treatment could restore their vision. The PRIMA system, which was approved in Europe in July and is awaiting FDA clearance in the US, changes that. It combines a retinal implant with camera-­equipped eyeglasses to improve sight in patients…

The new open models target enterprise workflows and local AI agents, with one model claiming five times the speed of its closest competitor.

Some Accenture employees reportedly spent between $500 and $1,000 a month on Claude.

Afra Wang / New York Magazine: A look at China's AI learning frenzy, as economic anxiety and fear of being left behind fuel a booming market for courses promising prosperity through AI  —  In May, I sat in a living room on the fringes of Hangzhou, one of the most technologically advanced cities in China and home to Alibaba, Unitree, and DeepSeek.

Katie Zacharia, White House press secretary, has had a rough first week at work. Bloomberg/Getty Images Katie Zacharia says she did her best at her first White House briefing despite having little time to prepare. She said on "Hannity" that she only received briefing materials the morning of the press conference. Trump's new press secretary also confirmed she sat for the bar exam but did not pass. Katie Zacharia has had a tough first week at work. Her first briefing as the new White House press secretary lasted about 14 minutes, and she took three questions. Then came scrutiny over her legal career. During a Thursday appearance on "Hannity" on Fox News — known to be friendly territory for the Trump administration — Zacharia said she had done her "very best" in her debut and addressed the criticism over her legal career. "What I feel is I really stepped up to the plate to do the press conference, Sean, with very little prep time," Zacharia told host Sean Hannity. Zacharia said she had been on the job for “less than maybe eight hours” and only received briefing materials on Tuesday morning — the day of the press conference. She also responded to criticism that she had taken questions only from conservative outlets, saying she had called on the Daily Mail, which "is not known to be a conservative outlet or friendly to conservatives." Zacharia said she “probably should have stepped aside” after introducing herself, rather than take questions. Hannity then asked Zacharia about her background in law. She confirmed that she had taken the bar exam but had not passed, and had not retaken it. Zacharia said she graduated from Pepperdine the same week she got married, and planned to move to China. However, she had already registered for the exam. "The results of the bar were inconsequential, and I sat for it because I didn't want to have a withdrawal status," she said. In China, she said she got a job in the "international practice of a Chinese law firm" where she "was doing cross-country border transactions and multimillion dollar shareholder agreements." Zacharia also confirmed that she consulted with legal professionals over whether she could call herself a lawyer because she had a "valid Juris Doctor from a good law school." Hannity then brought up a Thursday CNN report about how she had shared several social media posts in which she described herself as an attorney. "I think they were retweets, and I corrected the record and said that that's not endorsing the title. They were retweets of a title that had been given," Zacharia said. Scrutiny over her legal background Over the past week, questions have mounted over Zacharia's legal credentials. She graduated from Pepperdine University's Caruso School of Law in 2011, but the Substack publication Popular Information reported on Tuesday that she had not been admitted to any state bar. On Wednesday, two watchdog groups filed complaints with California's state bar, calling on it to investigate whether Zacharia had violated state law by calling herself a lawyer. Her work experience in China has also drawn attention to her legal credentials. Chinese law experts told Business Insider that only Chinese nationals can take the country's bar exam. Foreign employees at international law firms can work on some transactions without passing it, but their role is limited. "She was never a lawyer in China. It doesn't mean she didn't do law-related work, but she was never a lawyer in China," Jacques deLisle, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania law school who studies the Chinese legal system, told Business Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider

The facility, CapitaLand Data Centre Chennai 01, is located in Ambattur and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

SpaceX says its AI is answering most of its customer calls. Anchiy/Getty Images - Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images SpaceX says Grok is taking 20,000 Starlink customer calls a day — and closing 70% without humans. The company revealed the stat while touting its voice-capable agent. It's part of a race to build AI agents that love to chat — possible (likely, even) with each other. Elon Musk's AI is a talker. This week, Musk's combined AI-and-space-exploration company, SpaceX, announced a new Grok Voice model — and revealed that Starlink call centers are already using the AI-as-a-conversationalist technology to answer 20,000 customer calls a day. The company said roughly 70% of those calls are resolved without humans. Grok Voice agents are verifying customers, troubleshooting Starlink hardware, issuing credits, and shipping replacement equipment, the company said. Its AI agents can take on those tasks in multiple languages, too. That makes Starlink a useful, real-world test case for AI voice technology — and particularly useful for its global expansion. The company says Starlink serves more than 6 million active customers around the world. Instead of building a massive human customer-service operation to power call centers, SpaceX is betting it can serve its multilingual customers with AI. SpaceX did not respond to Business Insider's questions about which languages Grok supports or what types of calls still require a person. AI companies have been quickly rolling out more powerful voice models that do their best Chatty Cathy impression. In July, OpenAI released GPT-Live-1 with call-capable support, while Google has launched similar enterprise systems. The same is true for AI companies that are focusing on consumers. Meta's Muse, for example, can also handle phone calls for those let into the beta feature. So, soon, your bot may dial one for English — while a company's bot answers the call. Read the original article on Business Insider

Social media bans are stacking up. In July, France joined Australia in restricting minors from accessing social media—barring children under 15 from major platforms, before the ban was blocked by the country’s top court on human rights grounds. The UK aims to forbid kids under 16 from accessing Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms in early…

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European stocks rose, headed for their biggest weekly outperformance over the S&P 500 since April 2025, as the region benefits from a switch among investors out of the AI trade and from some positive earnings news.

Smoke from fires in neighboring Indonesia has blanketed Singapore in haze, disrupting daily life across the city-state. Joseph Nair/NurPhoto/Getty Images Smoke from fires in Indonesia has blanketed Singapore in haze, obscuring its iconic skyline. Air pollution hit its highest level this year on Friday, reaching "very unhealthy" levels. The haze has disrupted flights, shuttered outdoor sports facilities, and canceled a run for nearly 3,000. Singapore, the Southeast Asian financial hub known for its futuristic skyline, has been blanketed by milky haze as smoke from fires in neighboring Indonesia drifts across the region. The haze has affected Singapore for weeks, with conditions deteriorating in recent days. The pollution has disrupted flights, shut down outdoor sports facilities, and prompted organizers to call off a major running event. On Friday, air quality in parts of Singapore reached "very unhealthy" levels, with pollution readings hitting their highest point this year. Here's what the haze looks like across the city. Singapore's landmark skyline fades into the haze Aditi Bharade Marina Bay Sands, the three-towered hotel overlooking Singapore's waterfront, has been shrouded in a milky haze. Singapore's environmental agency said winds were carrying smoke from fires in Indonesia's Kalimantan region toward the city-state. Pollution has hit its highest level this year Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images On Friday, air quality across much of Singapore reached the "very unhealthy" range on the country's Pollutant Standards Index. At that level, authorities recommend avoiding prolonged or strenuous outdoor activity. The PSI has been in the unhealthy range since October 5, making it 12 days of poor air in the city. The last time things looked this foggy in Singapore was during a 14-day period of hazy conditions in 2015. The country has seen shorter episodes of haze conditions in 2019 and 2023, but those blew over within a couple of days. The haze is affecting air travel Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty Images Poor visibility has disrupted flights at Singapore's smaller Seletar Airport, leading to diversions and cancellations. Both Seletar and the country's main international airport, Changi, remain operational. Nearly 3,000 runners have had their plans canceled Felin Lim/AFP/Getty Images The ISCA Run, scheduled for Saturday at Gardens by the Bay, was canceled because of the haze, affecting almost 3,000 registered participants. An ISCA spokesperson told Business Insider that organizers made the call early because air conditions remained unpredictable and they were concerned about the safety of runners, including young children taking part in the Family Run. The pollution is keeping people indoors Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images Singapore's public sports operator temporarily closed all outdoor and non-air-conditioned sports facilities it manages across the island on Friday because of the haze. Indoor, air-conditioned facilities have remained open. Read the original article on Business Insider

Tesla's new flying car has unleashed a wave of memes on the internet. Tesla Tesla revealed its next-gen Roadster car during a livestreamed event on Thursday. In the demonstrations, the car flew and did a kickflip. The internet was amused, to say the least. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Tesla's new flying car. Elon Musk's Tesla revealed its next-generation Roadster vehicle during a livestreamed event on Thursday. In a futuristic display of its capabilities, the car drove up a curved ramp until it was upside down, became airborne, engaged its thrusters at the bottom, and did a midair flip before landing. In another demonstration, it sped toward a line of cars, took off, did a kickflip over the cars, and landed on the other side. The demo was, by all measures, jaw-dropping. But the internet took all of minutes to turn the flying, kickflipping car into a meme. The best memes we've seen so far The overhead signs on the freeway give ample allowance for tall vehicles. Not so much for flying cars. POV: your Tesla’s pressurized line breaks pic.twitter.com/pw8QF7K9TB — Cole | Dental SEO (@AllGasSeo) October 16, 2026 Some internet users had the traffic police in their prayers. Sir let me see your drivers license and registratiooooohhh my god pic.twitter.com/k0OxLvXFPU — Probly (@ProblyHQ) October 16, 2026 We're not yet sure if roadster kickflips will be allowed on public roads. One X user made an early prototype of a new road sign: New road signs in the making… 🏎️🔄 pic.twitter.com/kVLcIZoYYH — Thexercisedude (@thexercisedude) October 16, 2026 Meanwhile, others were already thinking of how to get ahead of morning traffic. When the Karen in the left lane is going 10 under pic.twitter.com/9Bn5E4rrvw — KINGPIN (@HeyyBigGuy) October 16, 2026 If you've ever spilled a drink because of a sudden speed bump, imagine how much worse an unexpected flight might be. The hell pic.twitter.com/9ttyp8wCum — Jean Cabone (@jeancabone) October 16, 2026 My $10 coffee after I skipped the intersection. pic.twitter.com/CXgQTrAQVH — MrSwitzTV (@MrSwitz71) October 16, 2026 One practical-minded X user was more concerned about how Roadsters, in all their soaring glory, could be insured. Cars insurers right now pic.twitter.com/geV5OV1bn6 — Karani (@Weyne_west) October 16, 2026 Finally, there had never been a better time to quote "Back to the future." pic.twitter.com/w0WHhVoj1Q — Safe Spaces | Commentary+ (@real_safespaces) October 16, 2026 Read the original article on Business Insider

Artificial intelligence infrastructure firm Nscale is seeking to raise up to $3 billion in an initial public offering as soon as this month, just as investors are growing increasingly wary of the risks of the AI buildout. The UK firm has also been hit by regulatory hurdles, a fire and other delays during construction of a flagship data center in Norway. Bloomberg's Paula Doenecke reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

NetApp’s latest Excellerator cohort focuses on AI software engineering, cybersecurity, workflow automation and enterprise data intelligence.

Six vendors announced Leader placement in Gartner’s 2026 Magic Quadrant for API Management within ten days … IBM Is a Gartner API Management Leader for the 11th Time. Now the Test Is AI Agent GovernanceRead more The post IBM Is a Gartner API Management Leader for the 11th Time. Now the Test Is AI Agent Governance appeared first on DataFLOQ.

Tesla demonstrated the vehicle’s ability to accelerate, perform aerial manoeuvres and use a suction system to remain attached to a ramp while inverted.

Nagarro-related expenses pushed Persistent’s reported profit down 25.4%, despite 20.8% constant-currency revenue growth in Q2 FY27.