Today’s episode dives into California’s landmark laws regulating companion bots and hiking penalties for AI deepfakes; OpenAI’s plan to allow adult content for verified adults and bring back more personality; critiques of how Sora, chatbot ads, and “Friend” wearables could erode shared reality; Sikorsky’s autonomous U-Hawk helicopter; Colombia’s AI-enabled drone battalion; Google’s Nano Banana image model in Search and NotebookLM and conversational editing in Photos; Microsoft’s first in-house image generator MAI-Image-1; OpenAI’s chip partnership with Broadcom and expanding data centers; Coco Robotics’ new physical AI lab; Q3’s AI-centric investor activity; HCLTech’s signal that enterprise AI revenue is getting real; and new research on in-context learning for dynamic wireless channels. We end with three takeaways: set boundaries with intimate AI, demand human-in-the-loop norms for autonomy, and expect more adaptive AI—ask for transparency.

Sources:

• HCLTech Makes Variable Pay Fixed for All, Adds 3,500 Employees in Q2 FY26
• To shield kids, California hikes fake nude fines to $250K max
• In-Context Learning for Non-Stationary MIMO Equalization
• 10 ways you can ask Google Photos to edit your photos for you
• Some like it bot! ChatGPT promises AI-rotica is coming for verified adults
• Active Investors Kept Busy In An AI-Centric Quarter
• Jahazii raises $400,000 to formalise Kenya’s informal workforce
• Coco Robotics taps UCLA professor to lead new physical AI research lab
• OpenAI to ease ChatGPT restrictions, allowing adult content for verified adults
• Microsoft launches its first in-house image generation model, MAI-Image-1
• Dienstag: OpenAI und Broadcom tun sich zusammen, Anleger verlieren Geld
• Big Tech deploys Orwellian doublespeak to mask its democratic corrosion | Peter Lewis
• Lockheed Martin ha tenido una idea para hacer del Black Hawk un arma más letal. Le quitó la cabina y lo volvió autónomo
• Try Google's Nano Banana image generator in Search and NotebookLM - here's how