AI & RoboticsNews

Google Maps now lets you access Gemini while walking and cycling

January 30, 2026
Google announced on Thursday that Google Maps users can now access Gemini hands-free while walking and cycling. The update comes a few months after Google Maps rolled out its Gemini-powered hands-free, conversational driving experience. The announcement marks Google’s ongoing efforts to plug Gemini into more parts of people’s everyday lives, while shifting Google Maps from static…
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AI & RoboticsNews

Waabi raises $1B and expands into robotaxis with Uber

January 29, 2026
Autonomous vehicle startup Waabi has raised $1 billion and struck a partnership with Uber to deploy self-driving cars on the ride-hailing platform – the company’s first expansion beyond autonomous trucking. The funding consists of an oversubscribed $750 million…
AI & RoboticsNews

Google pitches Gemini to students studying for India’s most competitive college entrance exam

January 29, 2026
Google is expanding its push into AI-powered learning by adding full-length practice tests in Gemini for the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE), India’s nationwide engineering exam used to shortlist candidates for the country’s top technical institutes and taken by millions of students each year. Google said students can take full-length mock exams for the JEE within Gemini, which will offer…
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AI & RoboticsNews

‘Among the worst we’ve seen’: report slams xAI’s Grok over child safety failures

January 28, 2026
A new risk assessment has found that xAI’s chatbot Grok has inadequate identification of users under 18, weak safety guardrails, and frequently generates sexual, violent, and inappropriate material. In other words, Grok is not safe for kids or teens. The damning report from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that provides age-based ratings and reviews of media and tech for families, comes as…
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AI & RoboticsNews

Synthesia hits $4B valuation, lets employees cash out

January 27, 2026
British startup Synthesia, whose AI platform helps companies create interactive training videos, has raised a $200 million Series E round of funding that brings its valuation to $4 billion – up from $2.1 billion just a year ago. Unlike some other AI startups that are…
AI & RoboticsNews

Former Googlers seek to captivate kids with an AI-powered learning app

January 27, 2026
Big Tech companies and upcoming startups want to use generative AI to build software and hardware for kids. A lot of those experiences are limited to text or voice, and kids might not find that captivating. Three former Google employees want to get over that hurdle with their generative AI-powered interactive app, Sparkli. Sparkli was founded last year by Lax Poojary, Lucie Marchand, and Myn Kang.
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