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20 Mar 2026

Starling Bank launches agentic AI assistant to transform money management in UK banking app

Starling Bank has rolled out Starling Assistant, an agentic AI money manager built with Google Gemini, to personal account customers. The AI-powered tool uses voice prompts and natural language processing to complete banking tasks, set savings goals, and provide personalized financial insights, marking a shift toward conversational banking.

2 Sources

9 out of 10 Game Developers Demand Stricter AI Disclosure Rules on Steam, Challenging Epic CEO

A major GamesIndustry.biz survey of 826 video game industry workers reveals that 88.4% believe generative AI use should be disclosed on game storefronts like Steam. The findings directly challenge Epic CEO Tim Sweeney's stance that such disclosures 'make no sense.' Despite Valve's current disclosure policy focusing only on player-consumed content, nearly half of developers want stricter requirements.

2 Sources

Google Search uses AI to rewrite headlines, sparking accuracy and editorial control concerns

Google is running a small experiment that uses AI to rewrite headlines in Search results, replacing what publishers originally wrote. The Verge discovered multiple instances where AI-altered headlines stripped crucial context or changed the meaning entirely. While Google calls it a narrow test, the move raises serious questions about editorial control, transparency, and how AI shapes information online.

7 Sources

xAI sends engineers to client sites as AI competition with OpenAI and Anthropic intensifies

Elon Musk's xAI is deploying engineers directly to prospective corporate clients to win business from OpenAI and Anthropic. The strategy secured Shift4 Payments, which plans to phase out ChatGPT for xAI's Grok in a multimillion-dollar contract. This white-glove approach reflects broader shifts in the AI industry as companies compete for enterprise customers.

2 Sources

WordPress.com now lets AI agents write and publish posts with human approval

WordPress.com has enabled AI agents like Claude and ChatGPT to create, edit, and publish content directly on websites through natural language commands. The feature, built on Model Context Protocol, allows AI to manage comments, fix metadata, and organize content while requiring explicit human approval at every step.

3 Sources

AMD releases FSR 4.1 with sharper upscaling as community unlocks FSR 4 for older Radeon GPUs

AMD launched FSR 4.1, delivering sharper AI-powered upscaling and enhanced Ray Regeneration 1.1 for RX 9000-series GPUs. The update shares its AI model with PlayStation's PSSR 2. Meanwhile, the OptiScaler community project has successfully brought FSR 4 to RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 cards, addressing AMD's controversial exclusivity stance.

2 Sources

Patreon CEO calls out AI companies for paying Disney millions while ignoring creator compensation

Patreon CEO Jack Conte has publicly challenged AI companies' fair use arguments, calling them bogus as firms like OpenAI strike multimillion-dollar licensing deals with Disney and Warner Music while using content from millions of smaller creators without payment. Speaking at SXSW, Conte demanded AI companies compensate content creators whose work trains models worth hundreds of billions.

3 Sources

Hachette Cancels Horror Novel Shy Girl After AI Allegations Rock Publishing Industry

Hachette Book Group pulled Mia Ballard's horror novel Shy Girl from publication after evidence suggested AI was used to write significant portions of the book. The cancellation marks the first time a major publisher has publicly withdrawn an existing title over AI concerns, sending shockwaves through the publishing industry as it grapples with detecting and preventing AI-generated content.

10 Sources

Russia proposes sweeping powers to ban ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini under new AI regulations

Russia's Ministry for Digital Development has published proposals granting Moscow authority to ban or restrict foreign AI tools including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. The regulations extend Russia's sovereign internet initiative to AI, requiring platforms with over 500,000 daily users to store Russian user data locally for three years. Expected to take effect next year, the move benefits domestic players like Sberbank and Yandex.

3 Sources

Luke Littler moves to trademark his face to combat AI fakes and protect commercial interests

The 19-year-old darts world champion has applied to the Intellectual Property Office to trademark his face, aiming to prevent unauthorized use of his image through generative AI and fake products. Littler joins celebrities like Matthew McConaughey and Cole Palmer in protecting their likeness as AI-generated deepfakes surge across entertainment and sports.

3 Sources

The Wheel of Time animated revival sparks fan outrage over potential AI use in production

The Wheel of Time is returning as an animated TV series, but fans are expressing serious concern over iwot Studios' partnerships with AI-focused companies. After Prime Video cancelled the live-action adaptation in 2025, the new projects—including animated films and a video game—could rely on AI technology, raising fears of what fans call 'AI slop' and 'franchisation and sloppification' of Robert Jordan's beloved fantasy series.

2 Sources

Unitree Robotics seeks $610M in Shanghai IPO as humanoid robots capture 32% global market share

Chinese startup Unitree Robotics filed for a $610 million IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, marking one of China's biggest onshore tech listings in years. The company shipped over 5,500 humanoid robots last year, capturing 32.4% of the global humanoid market, while its operating income surged 335% year-on-year to reach 1.708 billion yuan in 2025.

2 Sources

Amazon develops AI smartphone with Alexa at its core, over a decade after Fire Phone's demise

Amazon is developing a new AI smartphone codenamed Transformer, marking its re-entry into smartphone market more than 11 years after discontinuing the Fire Phone. The device will feature deep AI integration with Alexa Plus and focus on Amazon's ecosystem of services rather than traditional app stores, though the project could still be cancelled.

28 Sources

Ecolab acquires CoolIT Systems for $4.75 billion to meet surging AI data center cooling demand

Water solutions company Ecolab has agreed to acquire CoolIT Systems from KKR for $4.75 billion in cash, marking a significant bet on the booming AI infrastructure market. The deal represents a dramatic valuation jump from CoolIT's $270 million price tag when KKR acquired it in 2023, reflecting the surging demand for advanced cooling solutions as tech giants race to build AI-capable data centers.

4 Sources

Walmart secures AI pricing patents as lawmakers intensify dynamic pricing scrutiny

Walmart obtained two US patents for AI-powered pricing tools that automate markdowns and forecast demand using machine learning. The retailer insists the systems won't enable surge or individualized pricing, but the patents arrive as lawmakers in multiple states introduce bills to ban dynamic pricing in grocery stores. With electronic shelf labels rolling out to all 4,600 US stores, consumer advocates worry about potential price discrimination.

3 Sources

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