AI News Roundup:

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What’s Happening in Artificial Intelligence This Week

The artificial intelligence landscape continues to evolve at breakneck speed, with major announcements spanning infrastructure investments, product launches, and ongoing debates about AI’s role in society. Here’s what you need to know about the latest developments.

Massive Infrastructure Expansion

The race to build AI computing capacity reached new heights this week as OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announced five new Stargate data center sites across the United States. After reviewing over 300 proposals from more than 30 states, the companies selected locations in Texas, New Mexico, and the Midwest that are expected to create over 25,000 onsite jobs and tens of thousands more across the country.

This expansion underscores the enormous demand for computational power to train and run advanced AI models. The partnership between these tech giants signals confidence that AI infrastructure investments will pay off in the coming years, even as questions about market sustainability persist.

AI Goes Mainstream in Business

eBay is betting big on AI to empower its seller community. The e-commerce giant has granted 10,000 sellers access to ChatGPT Enterprise, enabling them to draft product listings, respond to buyer inquiries, and analyze performance metrics more efficiently. Early adopters are already reporting significant time savings and more consistent listing quality, highlighting AI’s practical value in everyday business operations.

This move reflects a broader trend of established companies integrating AI tools directly into their workflows rather than building everything from scratch.

Free AI-Powered Browsing for Everyone

In a bold competitive move, Perplexity has eliminated the $200 monthly fee for its AI-powered browser, Comet, making it available to everyone at no cost. The browser deeply integrates AI capabilities for task automation, intelligent search, and personal assistant features throughout your web experience.

Perplexity has committed to keeping Comet free forever while also offering a premium Comet Plus subscription for additional perks. This positions the startup as a serious challenger to Google Chrome and demonstrates how AI companies are prioritizing user adoption over immediate monetization.

The Bubble Question

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos weighed in on one of the industry’s most pressing questions: Is AI in a bubble? Speaking at Italian Tech Week, Bezos acknowledged that AI is experiencing an “industrial bubble” where investors struggle to distinguish good ideas from bad ones amid the excitement. He pointed to examples of six-person companies receiving billions in funding as “very unusual behavior.”

However, Bezos emphasized that bubbles aren’t necessarily bad. He drew parallels to the biotech bubble of the 1990s, which ultimately produced life-saving drugs despite many companies failing. “AI is real, and it is going to change every industry,” Bezos stated, suggesting that current upheaval will lead to meaningful breakthroughs even if not every investment pays off.

Hollywood Faces Its AI Reckoning

The entertainment industry found itself at the center of an AI controversy when news broke that talent agents were in talks to sign Tilly Norwood, an AI-generated “actress” created by comedian and technologist Eline Van der Velden. The SAG-AFTRA actors’ union swiftly condemned the move, calling it a threat to human creativity and noting that the synthetic character was built using training data from real actors without their permission.

Prominent performers including Emily Blunt and Whoopi Goldberg have voiced concerns publicly, with some viewing this as a dystopian first step toward replacing human actors entirely. The incident highlights the growing tension between technological capability and creative industry protections.

AI Relationships Raise Concerns

A new study revealed an unexpected trend: growing numbers of Americans are forming romantic attachments with AI chatbots. Many participants reported preferring bot interactions over traditional relationships, citing the consistency, availability, and nonjudgmental nature of their AI companions.

While some view this as a harmless outlet, critics warn that AI relationships may exacerbate emotional isolation and complicate human intimacy. The phenomenon reflects deeper shifts driven by loneliness, technology adoption, and changing social norms.

Market Response

Financial markets have responded positively to AI developments, with tech stocks reaching new highs. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix shares jumped significantly following their deals to support OpenAI’s Stargate infrastructure project, demonstrating investor enthusiasm for companies positioned to benefit from AI’s growth.

However, the sustainability of these valuations remains an open question, particularly as companies have yet to see the transformative cost savings and revenue gains that justify current investment levels.

Looking Ahead

As we move through 2025, AI continues to generate both excitement and anxiety. The technology is undeniably real and increasingly practical, as evidenced by its integration into platforms like eBay and the expansion of computing infrastructure. Yet questions about market sustainability, social impact, and appropriate guardrails remain unresolved.

What’s clear is that AI is no longer a futuristic concept—it’s reshaping industries, relationships, and society in real-time. Whether we’re in a bubble or at the beginning of a genuine transformation, the coming months will reveal much about AI’s true potential and limitations.

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What do you think about these developments? Are we witnessing the birth of a transformative technology or getting caught up in hype? The answer, as with most complex questions, likely lies somewhere in between.

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