Journalism begins where hype ends

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The danger of AI is not that it will become conscious and hate us, but that it will become competent and ignore us."

—Eliezer Yudkowsky

NVIDIA’s $6 Billion Poolside Deal to Compete with Domestic and Chinese Frontier AI Models

NVIDIA logo representing the chipmaker at the center of a major AI model push through its $6 billion Poolside deal.

More than 100 Poolside employees, including engineers, are expected to join NVIDIA and contribute to its Nemotron open-weight AI models.

Social Sciences Core Bans AI While UChicago Expands Claude Access

University of Chicago campus buildings in autumn.

The new guidelines call for AI-free and largely device-free SOSC Core classes, while allowing limited exceptions for specific academic purposes.

Oxford Launches BOLD Lab With 80 AI Researchers to Rethink How AI Learns

More than 80 researchers from the University of Oxford, UCL and Imperial College London are coming together through the BOLD Lab to pursue fundamental AI research. Photo: Oxford Engineering Science

Oxford has officially launched the British Open-ended Learning and Discovery (BOLD) Lab, a UKRI-funded AI research initiative bringing together more than 80 researchers from Oxford, UCL and Imperial College London to pursue new approaches to fundamental AI research.

Japan Calls on AI Companies to Disclose Training Data for Transparency

The proposed code aims to strengthen transparency around AI training data and protect intellectual property rights.

Australia Backs Establishment of Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence

Parliament of Australia as it establishes a Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence.

The committee will assess AI’s impact on Australia’s economy, laws, data sovereignty and communities, along with AI adoption, workforce impacts, security risks and emerging technologies.

Google Offers Free 1-Year AI Plans to College Students, Adds New Gemini Study Tools

Google has offered free AI tools to college students in US and rest of the world free for a year.

Under the offer, students in the United States can get Google AI Pro free for 12 months. Students in India and other countries can get Google AI Plus free for a year. Google has also launched a dedicated student hub in Gemini with study notebooks, flashcards, quizzes and more.

IIT Bombay e-PG Diploma Brings GenAI, LLMs and AI Agents into its Curriculum

IIT Delhi campus building.

The one-year programme combines core computer science with AI and machine learning and includes online learning alongside an in-person campus immersion at IIT Bombay.

MeitY’s Sushil Pal Stresses Components, Materials for India’s Semiconductor Drive

Sushil Pal, Joint Secretary, MeitY, with other participants at the Bharat Electronics Component Manufacturing Summit 2026 in New Delhi.

India needs to deepen its semiconductor ecosystem across components, materials, chemicals, equipment and advanced packaging as it works towards its broader electronics manufacturing ambitions, Sushil Pal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), said at the Bharat Electronics Component Manufacturing Summit 2026 in New Delhi on August 19. Addressing the summit, Pal said… Continue reading MeitY’s Sushil Pal Stresses Components, Materials for India’s Semiconductor Drive

EY India, SRCC Launch AI VIBE Programme to Prepare Students for AI Careers

Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) in New Delhi, where EY India and SRCC have launched the 12-month AI VIBE programme. Source: Wikicommons

SRCC and EY India have launched AI VIBE, a 12-month programme designed to prepare students for AI-driven careers through applied learning, industry mentorship and business exposure.

Andrew Ng Maps 4 Key AI Engineering Skills Developers Need in 2026

Andrew Ng, co-founder of Google Brain and Coursera, presents The AI Engineering Skills Map highlighting the four critical competencies developers need as AI transforms software engineering.

Andrew stressed that the aim is to help developers prioritise the skills they need to learn and help employers identify skilled developers.