Source: https://www.spytalk.co/p/reel-to-real-when-artificial-intelligence
AI creates virus genome
Scientists at Stanford University have used artificial intelligence to design the complete genetic blueprint of a virus from nothing, marking a historic first in synthetic biology. The AI-created virus, named Evo-Φ2147, was created in laboratory conditions, where it successfully attacked and killed E. coli bacteria….
Jan. 27, 2026
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OpenAI’s Latest Mega-Fundraise, Big Tech Earnings Week, Amazon Layoffs?
Sam Altman is fundraising again and the next round could be historic. The OpenAI CEO is reportedly in early talks with Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds about raising $50 billion, a round that could give his company a valuation between $750 billion and $850 billion and eclipse its own record-setting $40 billion SoftBank investment fulfilled just a month ago…. two main questions will hang over the company: 1) How many more times can OpenAI secure funding rounds of this magnitude? 2) Can OpenAI live up to the expectations it’s setting for itself?
January 26, 2026
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Davos redeems itself
The AI frenzy was palpable at WEF (World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland), reflecting a shared belief among CEOs, investors and governments that a society-wide transformation is underway…. Social justice and climate themes faded from the agenda, replaced by a new moral framing — “center humanity” as AI adoption accelerates….Davos became an emergency summit.
January 24, 2026
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Reel to Real: When Artificial Intelligence Becomes the Spy in Your Home—and Mind
Acclaimed thriller author James Grady says films and fiction have become all too reliable guideposts to AI robots bending us to their will
A.I. spies and agent provocateur chatbots have been spiraling ordinary Americans into lives of delusions that they are being “watched” by forces other than the A.I.—which is telling them so. A.I. has driven teenagers to suicide. They send spy-scanned, sexualized photos of women and girls to strangers’ screens. A.I. helps create fake videos to flood social media sites with lies…
January 24, 2026
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AI is reshaping police detective work, starting with cold cases
Police departments are using artificial intelligence to sift massive evidence troves…The biggest constraint in modern policing isn’t a lack of evidence, but too much of it. AI promises to break that logjam, allowing stretched-thin departments to find critical leads buried in years of data. AI’s first wave in policing was about the streets: drones, license plate readers, gunshot detection and tools that promise faster response and more “eyes” on the city.
Now …AI for detective work that involves combing through jail calls, interviews, social media “warrant returns,” photos and old case files…
January 24, 2026
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eBay bans AI agents from shopping, but hints at future approved bots
No humans, no sale
eBay has faced significant controversy in recent years. Now, the e-commerce giant is preparing to tackle “agentic shopping” and other aggressive AI-driven bots that compete with regular, paying human customers. Starting February 20, 2026, eBay will explicitly prohibit chatbots and AI agents from operating on its auction platform.
January 23, 2026
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UK Home Secretary’s Shocking Admission About the Emerging AI Surveillance State
“When I was in justice, my ultimate vision… was to achieve, by means of AI and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with his Panopticon.” [A statement by] UK Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood,… in charge of the UK Police, justice system and MI5….Bentham, an 18th-century philosopher and social theorist, promoted the Panopticon as a circular prison with a central inspection tower from which a single guard could observe all inmates all the time while unseen.
January 23, 2026
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ArXiv preprint server clamps down on AI slop
The popular arXiv preprint server, which holds nearly 3 million manuscripts, mainly in computing science, physics, and math, has put up a new hurdle for first-time submitters. Until now, someone wanting to submit to arXiv for the first time only needed an email address affiliated with a reputable academic or research institution, such as a university. But a rule instituted on 21 January now requires first-time posters to be endorsed by an established arXiv author in their own field…. The move is an attempt to clamp down on a rising tide of fraudulent submissions, says University of Amsterdam astronomer Ralph Wijers, chair of the arXiv editorial council.
January 23, 2026
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Science Is Drowning in AI Slop
….For more than a century, scientific journals have been the pipes through which knowledge of the natural world flows into our culture. Now they’re being clogged with AI slop…. the editors and unpaid reviewers who act as guardians of the scientific literature are newly besieged. Almost immediately after large language models went mainstream, manuscripts started pouring into journal inboxes in unprecedented numbers.
January 22, 2026
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Jim VandeHei’s note to his kids: Blunt AI talk [He’s the CO of Axios]
You’re living history. Ignoring it would be foolish and self-destructive….
• You should download several LLMs: Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude. They work similarly, intuitively and conversationally. Experiment with them. You will find ChatGPT more chatty and friendly, Gemini more clinical and doctor-like, and Claude best for work and building things.
• One trick: Use the LLMs to fact-check — and build on — each other.
January 22, 2026
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Will AI wearables be another Apple superpower?
Apple’s rumored AI-enabled wearable pin, which will likely have a microphone and cameras, would enter a field already populated by companies like Memories.ai, Plaud and Looki, each offering their own takes on an AI wearable and jostling for market attention and share. OpenAI is also rumored to be developing a compact AI hardware device led by former Apple designer Jony Ive.
January 22, 2026
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Can you build data centers in a desert without draining the water supply? Utah is finding out.
[Utah Governor] Cox… warned of a new global “arms race” over who will ultimately control artificial intelligence technologies and the energy they need. “If you tell people, ‘I’m sorry, you’re just not going to have any energy for the things that we need. We’re just going to have to give up and let China rule the world, because we can’t create energy because it uses some water,’” the governor continued, “that’s crazy talk.”
January 21, 2026
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News from Power to the People VA
As 2026 legislative session starts, data centers’ diesel generators are a top concern for Virginians
Virginia’s ever-growing fleet of data centers will take the spotlight when the General Assembly reconvenes this week… legislators will need to address a problem that received little attention in previous years: the diesel generators that provide backup power in emergencies. In Northern Virginia… millions of people are exposed to air pollution from thousands of massive diesel generators.
January 21, 2026
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Behind the Curtain: Musk’s bet on space-based AI
Elon Musk and his SpaceX team believe they’ve cracked the code on building orbiting data centers to power the future of AI — and plan to use the company’s upcoming public offering to help fund the audacious vision, according to people briefed on the plans… Musk and top executives at other AI giants believe that earthbound data centers will become politically toxic and less efficient than space, which they see as the inevitable answer.
January 19, 2026
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Signal co-founder launches ChatGPT rival
…Signal co-founder Moxie Marlinspike has launched Confer, a ChatGPT-style assistant designed to keep conversations private by default, using encryption and secure execution so user data is not stored or reused.,,, Confer is built so conversations cannot be logged, stored, or used for model training, addressing growing concerns that AI assistants collect highly sensitive personal information over time.
January 19, 2026
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OpenAI caves to ads — it’ll be fine
Data published last week by Harmonic Security found that ChatGPT accounted for the vast majority of enterprise data vulnerabilities among AI apps in 2025. The research, which analyzed 22.4 million prompts across more than 660 AI apps, found that ChatGPT accounted for more than 71% of data exposures — while only accounting for 43.9% of the prompts.
January 19, 2026
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