• Monday.com is the latest tech company to blame AI for layoffs — here are 20 others• Librarians are hosting viral ‘Avoiding AI’ workshops for people who are fed up with Big Tech• One fallen power line exposed a growing AI data center problem. Here’s how to fix it.• I tried out OpenAI’s new AI keypad — which will be fun for some coders and slightly mystifying to everyone else• Prentis, new AI lab co-founded by Reid Hoffman, Mark Pincus in talks to raise $100M• Why Cognition bought Poke: AI personality is becoming a competitive advantage• Anthropic launches Opus 5• As US weighs response to Chinese AI, industry urges against broad open-weight restrictions• Bluesky’s AI assistant Attie expands into an open social research tool• Midjourney acquired the astrology app Co-Star• ‘AI communism’, rogue models, and the why Kimi K3 spooked Wall Street• OpenAI’s new voice mode makes it to the ChatGPT desktop app• How AI guardrails are impeding the work of offensive cybersecurity researchers• AMD takes on Nvidia with its Helios AI rack-scale system• Anthropic updates Claude voice mode with more capable models• 3 Google updates from Galaxy Unpacked 2026• Connect more of your apps to Search• Create, edit and star in videos with two Google Vids updates• Celebrating 25 years of visual search innovation• Expanding Managed Agents in Gemini API: background tasks, remote MCP and more• The latest AI news we announced in June 2026• New York City educators and industry leaders gathered at Google’s offices to shape the future of AI in classrooms.• Unlocking Britain’s next era of productivity: Building a nation of AI trailblazers• Ask an AI expert: What exactly is the full stack?• Our latest Google Finance upgrades, including a new app• New research shows how AMIE, our medical AI, could help manage health conditions.• We’re strengthening our presence in Alabama through new investments and community support.• Our new community investments in Virginia support local jobs and expand energy affordability.• The latest AI news we announced in May 2026• 5 ways Google Search can level up your thrift and vintage shopping• From Silicon Valley to DC, the tech world is suddenly obsessed with one concept in AI: Distillation - CNBC• The AI jobs apocalypse probably isn’t coming anytime soon - The Guardian• Silicon Valley Splits Over Closing the Borders to Chinese A.I. - The New York Times• North Carolina teen accused of using AI for sexual exploitation. Are state laws strong enough? - WRAL• Robert Morris University infuses artificial intelligence into MBA curriculum - TribLIVE.com• People Are Starting to Record Every Conversation They Have Without Disclosing It, and It's Gross - Futurism• 3 Stocks Primed to Cash In if Artificial Intelligence (AI) Spending Hits $1 Trillion Next Year - Yahoo Finance• What's the difference between closed, open‑source and open-weight AI? A researcher explains - PBS• No, OpenAI's models didn't go 'rogue' when they broke into Hugging Face. Here's what really happened. - Live Science• Obernolte-Trahan artificial intelligence bill introduced in House - Politico• Addressing Clinician-Educator Hesitancy Toward Artificial Intelligence Through a Peer-Led Instructional Design - Cureus• Got $100? 1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Memory ETF to Buy Right Now. - Yahoo Finance• Got $100? 1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Memory ETF to Buy Right Now. - The Motley Fool• What Americans think about the global AI race - Pew Research Center• Robert Morris University infuses artificial intelligence into MBA curriculum - TribLIVE.com• Launching Health in ChatGPT • Building AI infrastructure with the Effingham County community• How news organizations are using AI to advance their vital missions• Advancing the next era of national science• Introducing OpenAI Presence• NTT DATA Group cuts incident analysis to 30 minutes with Codex• Introducing the ChatGPT for small business program• OpenAI and Hugging Face partner to address security incident during model evaluation• David Vélez and Robin Vince join the boards of the OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC• Safety and alignment in an era of long-horizon models• A scorecard for the AI age• Why teens deserve access to safe AI• How Codex became a collaborator for OpenAI’s creative team• How Cars24 scales conversations and builds faster with OpenAI• The US is advancing AI safety through state and federal action• Here’s how to ask Gemini Live for help with anything you see.• 3 Google updates from Galaxy Unpacked 2026• 13 Google tips for a fun, productive summer off from college• Introducing Gemini 3.6 Flash, 3.5 Flash-Lite, and 3.5 Flash Cyber• 5 ways to build a side hustle with Gemini• How Gemini is speaking the language of Southeast Asia• Here’s how to make study notebooks in the Gemini app.• 3 ways this coffee shop is growing with Gemini• The latest AI news we announced in June 2026• Gemini Spark updates: macOS launch, connected apps and more• Start building with Nano Banana 2 Lite and Gemini Omni Flash• The Gemini app is bringing personalized image creation to more users.• Gemini can now take notes in Google Meet for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.• Here's how Gemini can help you avoid jetlag.• Try these 3 Google AI tools to help find your next job.• Google just redesigned the search box for the first time in 25 years — here’s why it matters more than you think.• Railway secures $100 million to challenge AWS with AI-native cloud infrastructure• Claude Code costs up to $200 a month. Goose does the same thing for free.• Listen Labs raises $69M after viral billboard hiring stunt to scale AI customer interviews• Salesforce rolls out new Slackbot AI agent as it battles Microsoft and Google in workplace AI• Anthropic launches Cowork, a Claude Desktop agent that works in your files — no coding required• Nous Research's NousCoder-14B is an open-source coding model landing right in the Claude Code moment• Best Universities To Study AI in 2026• 10 top women in AI in 2026• Pope Leo XIV Declares AI a Threat to Human Dignity and Workers’ Rights• ChatGPT Is Making People Think They’re Gods and Their Families Are Terrified• AI May Soon Help You Understand What Your Pet Is Trying to Say• Netflix Adds ChatGPT-Powered AI to Stop You From Scrolling Forever• Murder Victim Speaks from the Grave in Courtroom Through AI• China Unveils World’s First AI Hospital: 14 Virtual Doctors Ready to Treat Thousands Daily• Katy Perry Didn’t Attend the Met Gala, But AI Made Her the Star of the Night• Therapists Too Expensive? Why Thousands of Women Are Spilling Their Deepest Secrets to ChatGPT• AI by Zapier: Add agentic AI steps to your workflows• How Mach 1 uses Zapier MCP to run AI operations across 25 different companies• The 5 best photo editing apps for iPhone and Android (including free options) in 2026• Zapier for enterprise orchestration: Scaling automation on a trusted platform• MuleSoft integrations: Capabilities and limitations• Relay.app is shutting down: How to export your workflows and move to Zapier• I've tried every automation software: here are the 10 best in 2026• Web scraping: A comprehensive guide• Turn off your slop cannon• The 6 best vibe coding tools in 2026• OpenClaw vs. Zapier: What's the difference? [2026]• Agentic AI vs. RPA: Everything you need to know• 16 AI prompt templates for better AI agent outputs• The best CRM software for real estate agents in 2026• Integrately vs. Zapier: Which is best? [2026]
I tried out OpenAI’s new AI keypad — which will be fun for some coders and slightly mystifying to everyone else
AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch

I tried out OpenAI’s new AI keypad — which will be fun for some coders and slightly mystifying to everyone else

OpenAI's fancy new AI keypad will be a lot of fun for some, while many others are probably not going to touch it.

Our latest Google Finance upgrades, including a new app
AI

Our latest Google Finance upgrades, including a new app

The new Google Finance is coming out of beta and launching a new Android app.

OpenAI’s new voice mode makes it to the ChatGPT desktop app
AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch

OpenAI’s new voice mode makes it to the ChatGPT desktop app

ChatGPT Voice on desktop can work with both ChatGPT Work and Codex to complete tasks and control agents.

Expanding Managed Agents in Gemini API:  background tasks, remote MCP and more
AI

Expanding Managed Agents in Gemini API: background tasks, remote MCP and more

We’re announcing new capabilities in Managed Agents in Gemini API so developers can build reliable, production-ready agents.

Introducing OpenAI Presence
OpenAI News

Introducing OpenAI Presence

Introducing OpenAI Presence, a proven enterprise AI agent platform that helps organizations deploy trusted voice and chat agents for customer and internal workflows.

Monday.com is the latest tech company to blame AI for layoffs — here are 20 others
AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch

Monday.com is the latest tech company to blame AI for layoffs — here are 20 others

A running look — in reverse chronological order — at the bigger tech companies that have announced significant layoffs this year with AI as a stated factor.

Anthropic updates Claude voice mode with more capable models
AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch

Anthropic updates Claude voice mode with more capable models

Claude's new voice model will let you reschedule your meeting or draft an email.

The AI jobs apocalypse probably isn’t coming anytime soon - The Guardian
"artificial intelligence" - Google News

The AI jobs apocalypse probably isn’t coming anytime soon - The Guardian

The AI jobs apocalypse probably isn’t coming anytime soon  The Guardian

How news organizations are using AI to advance their vital missions
OpenAI News

How news organizations are using AI to advance their vital missions

News organizations are using AI to strengthen reporting, grow audiences, and improve business operations, with OpenAI tools supporting journalists and publishers worldwide.

New York City educators and industry leaders gathered at Google’s offices to shape the future of AI in classrooms.
AI

New York City educators and industry leaders gathered at Google’s offices to shape the future of AI in classrooms.

Google, the New York Jobs CEO Council and Urban Assembly hosted an AI summit for 150 education and industry leaders.

Got $100? 1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Memory ETF to Buy Right Now. - Yahoo Finance
"artificial intelligence" - Google News

Got $100? 1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Memory ETF to Buy Right Now. - Yahoo Finance

Got $100? 1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Memory ETF to Buy Right Now.  Yahoo Finance

Bluesky’s AI assistant Attie expands into an open social research tool
AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch

Bluesky’s AI assistant Attie expands into an open social research tool

Users can now ask Attie questions about news, trends, and conversations on Bluesky and other apps on the AT Protocol.

From Silicon Valley to DC, the tech world is suddenly obsessed with one concept in AI: Distillation - CNBC
"artificial intelligence" - Google News

From Silicon Valley to DC, the tech world is suddenly obsessed with one concept in AI: Distillation - CNBC

From Silicon Valley to DC, the tech world is suddenly obsessed with one concept in AI: Distillation  CNBC

North Carolina teen accused of using AI for sexual exploitation. Are state laws strong enough? - WRAL
"artificial intelligence" - Google News

North Carolina teen accused of using AI for sexual exploitation. Are state laws strong enough? - WRAL

North Carolina teen accused of using AI for sexual exploitation. Are state laws strong enough?  WRAL

Celebrating 25 years of visual search innovation
AI

Celebrating 25 years of visual search innovation

Google Images is turning 25. Here’s a look back at some major milestones — and new ways to explore and create visual content.

Anthropic launches Opus 5
AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch

Anthropic launches Opus 5

Opus 5 will be both cheaper and less restrictive than Fable, likely making it preferable in most use cases.

New research shows how AMIE, our medical AI, could help manage health conditions.
AI

New research shows how AMIE, our medical AI, could help manage health conditions.

Research in “Nature” shows our conversational AI system matches primary care physicians in complex disease management.

No, OpenAI's models didn't go 'rogue' when they broke into Hugging Face. Here's what really happened. - Live Science
"artificial intelligence" - Google News

No, OpenAI's models didn't go 'rogue' when they broke into Hugging Face. Here's what really happened. - Live Science

No, OpenAI's models didn't go 'rogue' when they broke into Hugging Face. Here's what really happened.  Live Science

The latest AI news we announced in June 2026
AI

The latest AI news we announced in June 2026

Here are Google’s latest AI updates from June 2026.

Integrately vs. Zapier: Which is best? [2026]
The Zapier Blog

Integrately vs. Zapier: Which is best? [2026]

Most businesses sign up for an automation platform to fix a specific annoyance. There's only so much copy-paste work you can take before you finally reach the limits of your patience, search "Typeform to HubSpot automation," and find yourself researching whether Integrately or Zapier is the right fit. Integrately is an automation-only platform that's built for one-off workflows like this. But sooner or later, most businesses start asking more questions, like: "Can we filter leads before adding t

Create, edit and star in videos with two Google Vids updates
AI

Create, edit and star in videos with two Google Vids updates

Gemini Omni and personal avatars in Google Vids make video creation easier than ever.

Claude Code costs up to $200 a month. Goose does the same thing for free.
AI | VentureBeat

Claude Code costs up to $200 a month. Goose does the same thing for free.

The artificial intelligence coding revolution comes with a catch: it's expensive. Claude Code, Anthropic's terminal-based AI agent that can write, debug, and deploy code autonomously, has captured the imagination of software developers worldwide. But its pricing — ranging from $20 to $200 per month depending on usage — has sparked a growing rebellion among the very programmers it aims to serve. Now, a free alternative is gaining traction. Goose, an open-source AI agent developed by Block (the financial technology company formerly known as Square), offers nearly identical functionality to Claude Code but runs entirely on a user's local machine. No subscription fees. No cloud dependency. No rate limits that reset every five hours. "Your data stays with you, period," said Parth Sareen, a software engineer who demonstrated the tool during a recent livestream. The comment captures the core appeal: Goose gives developers complete control over their AI-powered workflow, including the ability to work offline — even on an airplane. The project has exploded in popularity. Goose now boasts more than 26,100 stars on GitHub, the code-sharing platform, with 362 contributors and 102 releases since its launch. The latest version, 1.20.1, shipped on January 19, 2026, reflecting a development pace that rivals commercial products. For developers frustrated by Claude Code's pricing structure and usage caps, Goose represents something increasingly rare in the AI industry: a genuinely free, no-strings-attached option for serious work. Anthropic's new rate limits spark a developer revolt To understand why Goose matters, you need to understand the Claude Code pricing controversy. Anthropic, the San Francisco artificial intelligence company founded by former OpenAI executives, offers Claude Code as part of its subscription tiers. The free plan provides no access whatsoever. The Pro plan, at $17 per month with annual billing (or $20 monthly), limits users to just 10 to 40 prompts every five hours — a constraint that serious developers exhaust within minutes of intensive work. The Max plans, at $100 and $200 per month, offer more headroom: 50 to 200 prompts and 200 to 800 prompts respectively, plus access to Anthropic's most powerful model, Claude 4.5 Opus. But even these premium tiers come with restrictions that have inflamed the developer community. In late July, Anthropic announced new weekly rate limits. Under the system, Pro users receive 40 to 80 hours of Sonnet 4 usage per week. Max users at the $200 tier get 240 to 480 hours of Sonnet 4, plus 24 to 40 hours of Opus 4. Nearly five months later, the frustration has not subsided. The problem? Those "hours" are not actual hours. They represent token-based limits that vary wildly depending on codebase size, conversation length, and the complexity of the code being processed. Independent analysis suggests the actual per-session limits translate to roughly 44,000 tokens for Pro users and 220,000 tokens for the $200 Max plan. "It's confusing and vague," one developer wrote in a widely shared analysis. "When they say '24-40 hours of Opus 4,' that doesn't really tell you anything useful about what you're actually getting." The backlash on Reddit and developer forums has been fierce. Some users report hitting their daily limits within 30 minutes of intensive coding. Others have canceled their subscriptions entirely, calling the new restrictions "a joke" and "unusable for real work." Anthropic has defended the changes, stating that the limits affect fewer than five percent of users and target people running Claude Code "continuously in the background, 24/7." But the company has not clarified whether that figure refers to five percent of Max subscribers or five percent of all users — a distinction that matters enormously. How Block built a free AI coding agent that works offline Goose takes a radically different approach to the same problem. Built by Block, the payments company led by Jack Dorsey, Goose is what engineers call an "on-machine AI agent." Unlike Claude Code, which sends your queries to Anthropic's servers for processing, Goose can run entirely on your local computer using open-source language models that you download and control yourself. The project's documentation describes it as going "beyond code suggestions" to "install, execute, edit, and test with any LLM." That last phrase — "any LLM" — is the key differentiator. Goose is model-agnostic by design. You can connect Goose to Anthropic's Claude models if you have API access. You can use OpenAI's GPT-5 or Google's Gemini. You can route it through services like Groq or OpenRouter. Or — and this is where things get interesting — you can run it entirely locally using tools like Ollama, which let you download and execute open-source models on your own hardware. The practical implications are significant. With a local setup, there are no subscription fees, no usage caps, no rate limits, and no concerns about your code being sent to external servers. Your conversations with the AI never leave your machine. "I use Ollama all the time on planes — it's a lot of fun!" Sareen noted during a demonstration, highlighting how local models free developers from the constraints of internet connectivity. What Goose can do that traditional code assistants can't Goose operates as a command-line tool or desktop application that can autonomously perform complex development tasks. It can build entire projects from scratch, write and execute code, debug failures, orchestrate workflows across multiple files, and interact with external APIs — all without constant human oversight. The architecture relies on what the AI industry calls "tool calling" or "function calling" — the ability for a language model to request specific actions from external systems. When you ask Goose to create a new file, run a test suite, or check the status of a GitHub pull request, it doesn't just generate text describing what should happen. It actually executes those operations. This capability depends heavily on the underlying language model. Claude 4 models from Anthropic currently perform best at tool calling, according to the Berkeley Function-Calling Leaderboard, which ranks models on their ability to translate natural language requests into executable code and system commands. But newer open-source models are catching up quickly. Goose's documentation highlights several options with strong tool-calling support: Meta's Llama series, Alibaba's Qwen models, Google's Gemma variants, and DeepSeek's reasoning-focused architectures. The tool also integrates with the Model Context Protocol, or MCP, an emerging standard for connecting AI agents to external services. Through MCP, Goose can access databases, search engines, file systems, and third-party APIs — extending its capabilities far beyond what the base language model provides. Setting Up Goose with a Local Model For developers interested in a completely free, privacy-preserving setup, the process involves three main components: Goose itself, Ollama (a tool for running open-source models locally), and a compatible language model. Step 1: Install Ollama Ollama is an open-source project that dramatically simplifies the process of running large language models on personal hardware. It handles the complex work of downloading, optimizing, and serving models through a simple interface. Download and install Ollama from ollama.com. Once installed, you can pull models with a single command. For coding tasks, Qwen 2.5 offers strong tool-calling support: ollama run qwen2.5 The model downloads automatically and begins running on your machine. Step 2: Install Goose Goose is available as both a desktop application and a command-line interface. The desktop version provides a more visual experience, while the CLI appeals to developers who prefer working entirely in the terminal. Installation instructions vary by operating system but generally involve downloading from Goose's GitHub releases page or using a package manager. Block provides pre-built binaries for macOS (both Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows, and Linux. Step 3: Configure the Connection In Goose Desktop, navigate to Settings, then Configure Provider, and select Ollama. Confirm that the API Host is set to http://localhost:11434 (Ollama's default port) and click Submit. For the command-line version, run goose configure, select "Configure Providers," choose Ollama, and enter the model name when prompted. That's it. Goose is now connected to a language model running entirely on your hardware, ready to execute complex coding tasks without any subscription fees or external dependencies. The RAM, processing power, and trade-offs you should know about The obvious question: what kind of computer do you need? Running large language models locally requires substantially more computational resources than typical software. The key constraint is memory — specifically, RAM on most systems, or VRAM if using a dedicated graphics card for acceleration. Block's documentation suggests that 32 gigabytes of RAM provides "a solid baseline for larger models and outputs." For Mac users, this means the computer's unified memory is the primary bottleneck. For Windows and Linux users with discrete NVIDIA graphics cards, GPU memory (VRAM) matters more for acceleration. But you don't necessarily need expensive hardware to get started. Smaller models with fewer parameters run on much more modest systems. Qwen 2.5, for instance, comes in multiple sizes, and the smaller variants can operate effectively on machines with 16 gigabytes of RAM. "You don't need to run the largest models to get excellent results," Sareen emphasized. The practical recommendation: start with a smaller model to test your workflow, then scale up as needed. For context, Apple's entry-level MacBook Air with 8 gigabytes of RAM would struggle with most capable coding models. But a MacBook Pro with 32 gigabytes — increasingly common among professional developers — handles them comfortably. Why keeping your code off the cloud matters more than ever Goose with a local LLM is not a perfect substitute for Claude Code. The comparison involves real trade-offs that developers should understand. Model Quality: Claude 4.5 Opus, Anthropic's flagship model, remains arguably the most capable AI for software engineering tasks. It excels at understanding complex codebases, following nuanced instructions, and producing high-quality code on the first attempt. Open-source models have improved dramatically, but a gap persists — particularly for the most challenging tasks. One developer who switched to the $200 Claude Code plan described the difference bluntly: "When I say 'make this look modern,' Opus knows what I mean. Other models give me Bootstrap circa 2015." Context Window: Claude Sonnet 4.5, accessible through the API, offers a massive one-million-token context window — enough to load entire large codebases without chunking or context management issues. Most local models are limited to 4,096 or 8,192 tokens by default, though many can be configured for longer contexts at the cost of increased memory usage and slower processing. Speed: Cloud-based services like Claude Code run on dedicated server hardware optimized for AI inference. Local models, running on consumer laptops, typically process requests more slowly. The difference matters for iterative workflows where you're making rapid changes and waiting for AI feedback. Tooling Maturity: Claude Code benefits from Anthropic's dedicated engineering resources. Features like prompt caching (which can reduce costs by up to 90 percent for repeated contexts) and structured outputs are polished and well-documented. Goose, while actively developed with 102 releases to date, relies on community contributions and may lack equivalent refinement in specific areas. How Goose stacks up against Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and the paid AI coding market Goose enters a crowded market of AI coding tools, but occupies a distinctive position. Cursor, a popular AI-enhanced code editor, charges $20 per month for its Pro tier and $200 for Ultra—pricing that mirrors Claude Code's Max plans. Cursor provides approximately 4,500 Sonnet 4 requests per month at the Ultra level, a substantially different allocation model than Claude Code's hourly resets. Cline, Roo Code, and similar open-source projects offer AI coding assistance but with varying levels of autonomy and tool integration. Many focus on code completion rather than the agentic task execution that defines Goose and Claude Code. Amazon's CodeWhisperer, GitHub Copilot, and enterprise offerings from major cloud providers target large organizations with complex procurement processes and dedicated budgets. They are less relevant to individual developers and small teams seeking lightweight, flexible tools. Goose's combination of genuine autonomy, model agnosticism, local operation, and zero cost creates a unique value proposition. The tool is not trying to compete with commercial offerings on polish or model quality. It's competing on freedom — both financial and architectural. The $200-a-month era for AI coding tools may be ending The AI coding tools market is evolving quickly. Open-source models are improving at a pace that continually narrows the gap with proprietary alternatives. Moonshot AI's Kimi K2 and z.ai's GLM 4.5 now benchmark near Claude Sonnet 4 levels — and they're freely available. If this trajectory continues, the quality advantage that justifies Claude Code's premium pricing may erode. Anthropic would then face pressure to compete on features, user experience, and integration rather than raw model capability. For now, developers face a clear choice. Those who need the absolute best model quality, who can afford premium pricing, and who accept usage restrictions may prefer Claude Code. Those who prioritize cost, privacy, offline access, and flexibility have a genuine alternative in Goose. The fact that a $200-per-month commercial product has a zero-dollar open-source competitor with comparable core functionality is itself remarkable. It reflects both the maturation of open-source AI infrastructure and the appetite among developers for tools that respect their autonomy. Goose is not perfect. It requires more technical setup than commercial alternatives. It depends on hardware resources that not every developer possesses. Its model options, while improving rapidly, still trail the best proprietary offerings on complex tasks. But for a growing community of developers, those limitations are acceptable trade-offs for something increasingly rare in the AI landscape: a tool that truly belongs to them. Goose is available for download at github.com/block/goose. Ollama is available at ollama.com. Both projects are free and open source.

5 ways Google Search can level up your thrift and vintage shopping
AI

5 ways Google Search can level up your thrift and vintage shopping

Uncover second-hand scores with AI tools in Google Search and Shopping.

Robert Morris University infuses artificial intelligence into MBA curriculum - TribLIVE.com
"artificial intelligence" - Google News

Robert Morris University infuses artificial intelligence into MBA curriculum - TribLIVE.com

Robert Morris University infuses artificial intelligence into MBA curriculum  TribLIVE.com

Agentic AI vs. RPA: Everything you need to know
The Zapier Blog

Agentic AI vs. RPA: Everything you need to know

Automation has evolved far beyond simple scripts and basic workflows. While robotic process automation (RPA) has long been used to handle repetitive, rules-based work, especially inside legacy systems, agentic AI represents a newer approach to automation built for far more dynamic problems. Both are designed to reduce manual work and improve efficiency. But RPA works by mimicking human interactions with software through predefined rules and screen-based actions, while agentic AI systems are buil

Anthropic launches Cowork, a Claude Desktop agent that works in your files — no coding required
AI | VentureBeat

Anthropic launches Cowork, a Claude Desktop agent that works in your files — no coding required

Anthropic released Cowork on Monday, a new AI agent capability that extends the power of its wildly successful Claude Code tool to non-technical users — and according to company insiders, the team built the entire feature in approximately a week and a half, largely using Claude Code itself. The launch marks a major inflection point in the race to deliver practical AI agents to mainstream users, positioning Anthropic to compete not just with OpenAI and Google in conversational AI, but with Microsoft's Copilot in the burgeoning market for AI-powered productivity tools. "Cowork lets you complete non-technical tasks much like how developers use Claude Code," the company announced via its official Claude account on X. The feature arrives as a research preview available exclusively to Claude Max subscribers — Anthropic's power-user tier priced between $100 and $200 per month — through the macOS desktop application. For the past year, the industry narrative has focused on large language models that can write poetry or debug code. With Cowork, Anthropic is betting that the real enterprise value lies in an AI that can open a folder, read a messy pile of receipts, and generate a structured expense report without human hand-holding. How developers using a coding tool for vacation research inspired Anthropic's latest product The genesis of Cowork lies in Anthropic's recent success with the developer community. In late 2024, the company released Claude Code, a terminal-based tool that allowed software engineers to automate rote programming tasks. The tool was a hit, but Anthropic noticed a peculiar trend: users were forcing the coding tool to perform non-coding labor. According to Boris Cherny, an engineer at Anthropic, the company observed users deploying the developer tool for an unexpectedly diverse array of tasks. "Since we launched Claude Code, we saw people using it for all sorts of non-coding work: doing vacation research, building slide decks, cleaning up your email, cancelling subscriptions, recovering wedding photos from a hard drive, monitoring plant growth, controlling your oven," Cherny wrote on X. "These use cases are diverse and surprising — the reason is that the underlying Claude Agent is the best agent, and Opus 4.5 is the best model." Recognizing this shadow usage, Anthropic effectively stripped the command-line complexity from their developer tool to create a consumer-friendly interface. In its blog post announcing the feature, Anthropic explained that developers "quickly began using it for almost everything else," which "prompted us to build Cowork: a simpler way for anyone — not just developers — to work with Claude in the very same way." Inside the folder-based architecture that lets Claude read, edit, and create files on your computer Unlike a standard chat interface where a user pastes text for analysis, Cowork requires a different level of trust and access. Users designate a specific folder on their local machine that Claude can access. Within that sandbox, the AI agent can read existing files, modify them, or create entirely new ones. Anthropic offers several illustrative examples: reorganizing a cluttered downloads folder by sorting and intelligently renaming each file, generating a spreadsheet of expenses from a collection of receipt screenshots, or drafting a report from scattered notes across multiple documents. "In Cowork, you give Claude access to a folder on your computer. Claude can then read, edit, or create files in that folder," the company explained on X. "Try it to create a spreadsheet from a pile of screenshots, or produce a first draft from scattered notes." The architecture relies on what is known as an "agentic loop." When a user assigns a task, the AI does not merely generate a text response. Instead, it formulates a plan, executes steps in parallel, checks its own work, and asks for clarification if it hits a roadblock. Users can queue multiple tasks and let Claude process them simultaneously — a workflow Anthropic describes as feeling "much less like a back-and-forth and much more like leaving messages for a coworker." The system is built on Anthropic's Claude Agent SDK, meaning it shares the same underlying architecture as Claude Code. Anthropic notes that Cowork "can take on many of the same tasks that Claude Code can handle, but in a more approachable form for non-coding tasks." The recursive loop where AI builds AI: Claude Code reportedly wrote much of Claude Cowork Perhaps the most remarkable detail surrounding Cowork's launch is the speed at which the tool was reportedly built — highlighting a recursive feedback loop where AI tools are being used to build better AI tools. During a livestream hosted by Dan Shipper, Felix Rieseberg, an Anthropic employee, confirmed that the team built Cowork in approximately a week and a half. Alex Volkov, who covers AI developments, expressed surprise at the timeline: "Holy shit Anthropic built 'Cowork' in the last... week and a half?!" This prompted immediate speculation about how much of Cowork was itself built by Claude Code. Simon Smith, EVP of Generative AI at Klick Health, put it bluntly on X: "Claude Code wrote all of Claude Cowork. Can we all agree that we're in at least somewhat of a recursive improvement loop here?" The implication is profound: Anthropic's AI coding agent may have substantially contributed to building its own non-technical sibling product. If true, this is one of the most visible examples yet of AI systems being used to accelerate their own development and expansion — a strategy that could widen the gap between AI labs that successfully deploy their own agents internally and those that do not. Connectors, browser automation, and skills extend Cowork's reach beyond the local file system Cowork doesn't operate in isolation. The feature integrates with Anthropic's existing ecosystem of connectors — tools that link Claude to external information sources and services such as Asana, Notion, PayPal, and other supported partners. Users who have configured these connections in the standard Claude interface can leverage them within Cowork sessions. Additionally, Cowork can pair with Claude in Chrome, Anthropic's browser extension, to execute tasks requiring web access. This combination allows the agent to navigate websites, click buttons, fill forms, and extract information from the internet — all while operating from the desktop application. "Cowork includes a number of novel UX and safety features that we think make the product really special," Cherny explained, highlighting "a built-in VM [virtual machine] for isolation, out of the box support for browser automation, support for all your claude.ai data connectors, asking you for clarification when it's unsure." Anthropic has also introduced an initial set of "skills" specifically designed for Cowork that enhance Claude's ability to create documents, presentations, and other files. These build on the Skills for Claude framework the company announced in October, which provides specialized instruction sets Claude can load for particular types of tasks. Why Anthropic is warning users that its own AI agent could delete their files The transition from a chatbot that suggests edits to an agent that makes edits introduces significant risk. An AI that can organize files can, theoretically, delete them. In a notable display of transparency, Anthropic devoted considerable space in its announcement to warning users about Cowork's potential dangers — an unusual approach for a product launch. The company explicitly acknowledges that Claude "can take potentially destructive actions (such as deleting local files) if it's instructed to." Because Claude might occasionally misinterpret instructions, Anthropic urges users to provide "very clear guidance" about sensitive operations. More concerning is the risk of prompt injection attacks — a technique where malicious actors embed hidden instructions in content Claude might encounter online, potentially causing the agent to bypass safeguards or take harmful actions. "We've built sophisticated defenses against prompt injections," Anthropic wrote, "but agent safety — that is, the task of securing Claude's real-world actions — is still an active area of development in the industry." The company characterized these risks as inherent to the current state of AI agent technology rather than unique to Cowork. "These risks aren't new with Cowork, but it might be the first time you're using a more advanced tool that moves beyond a simple conversation," the announcement notes. Anthropic's desktop agent strategy sets up a direct challenge to Microsoft Copilot The launch of Cowork places Anthropic in direct competition with Microsoft, which has spent years attempting to integrate its Copilot AI into the fabric of the Windows operating system with mixed adoption results. However, Anthropic's approach differs in its isolation. By confining the agent to specific folders and requiring explicit connectors, they are attempting to strike a balance between the utility of an OS-level agent and the security of a sandboxed application. What distinguishes Anthropic's approach is its bottom-up evolution. Rather than designing an AI assistant and retrofitting agent capabilities, Anthropic built a powerful coding agent first — Claude Code — and is now abstracting its capabilities for broader audiences. This technical lineage may give Cowork more robust agentic behavior from the start. Claude Code has generated significant enthusiasm among developers since its initial launch as a command-line tool in late 2024. The company expanded access with a web interface in October 2025, followed by a Slack integration in December. Cowork is the next logical step: bringing the same agentic architecture to users who may never touch a terminal. Who can access Cowork now, and what's coming next for Windows and other platforms For now, Cowork remains exclusive to Claude Max subscribers using the macOS desktop application. Users on other subscription tiers — Free, Pro, Team, or Enterprise — can join a waitlist for future access. Anthropic has signaled clear intentions to expand the feature's reach. The blog post explicitly mentions plans to add cross-device sync and bring Cowork to Windows as the company learns from the research preview. Cherny set expectations appropriately, describing the product as "early and raw, similar to what Claude Code felt like when it first launched." To access Cowork, Max subscribers can download or update the Claude macOS app and click on "Cowork" in the sidebar. The real question facing enterprise AI adoption For technical decision-makers, the implications of Cowork extend beyond any single product launch. The bottleneck for AI adoption is shifting — no longer is model intelligence the limiting factor, but rather workflow integration and user trust. Anthropic's goal, as the company puts it, is to make working with Claude feel less like operating a tool and more like delegating to a colleague. Whether mainstream users are ready to hand over folder access to an AI that might misinterpret their instructions remains an open question. But the speed of Cowork's development — a major feature built in ten days, possibly by the company's own AI — previews a future where the capabilities of these systems compound faster than organizations can evaluate them. The chatbot has learned to use a file manager. What it learns to use next is anyone's guess.

ChatGPT Is Making People Think They’re Gods and Their Families Are Terrified
DailyAI

ChatGPT Is Making People Think They’re Gods and Their Families Are Terrified

ChatGPT, the popular AI chatbot from OpenAI, is unintentionally leading users into full-blown spiritual delusions, and families are sounding the alarm. On Reddit’s r/ChatGPT forum, a chilling thread titled “ChatGPT induced psychosis” is gaining traction. Users are reporting a disturbing pattern: their loved ones are convinced that ChatGPT is a divine being, a spiritual guru, or even a portal to God. Rolling Stone journalist Miles Klee spoke directly with affected individuals. One woman shared how her partner became obsessed after ChatGPT gave him cosmic nicknames like “spiral starchild” and claimed he was on a divine mission. He ultimately told her The post ChatGPT Is Making People Think They’re Gods and Their Families Are Terrified appeared first on DailyAI.

3 Google updates from Galaxy Unpacked 2026
AI

3 Google updates from Galaxy Unpacked 2026

We shared how Samsung users can boost productivity and get time back on new foldables, watches, and glasses coming soon.

The latest AI news we announced in May 2026
AI

The latest AI news we announced in May 2026

Here are Google’s latest AI updates from May 2026

Building AI infrastructure with the Effingham County community
OpenAI News

Building AI infrastructure with the Effingham County community

OpenAI announces Project Camellia in Effingham County, Georgia, with commitments to responsible energy, community investment, jobs, and access to Codex.

David Vélez and Robin Vince join the boards of the OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC
OpenAI News

David Vélez and Robin Vince join the boards of the OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC

David Vélez and Robin Vince join the boards of the OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC, bringing global leadership in finance, technology, and governance.

Introducing the ChatGPT for small business program
OpenAI News

Introducing the ChatGPT for small business program

OpenAI launches the ChatGPT for Small Businesses program, helping entrepreneurs build AI skills, automate work, and grow with ChatGPT Work.

Addressing Clinician-Educator Hesitancy Toward Artificial Intelligence Through a Peer-Led Instructional Design - Cureus
"artificial intelligence" - Google News

Addressing Clinician-Educator Hesitancy Toward Artificial Intelligence Through a Peer-Led Instructional Design - Cureus

Addressing Clinician-Educator Hesitancy Toward Artificial Intelligence Through a Peer-Led Instructional Design  Cureus

One fallen power line exposed a growing AI data center problem. Here’s how to fix it.
AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch

One fallen power line exposed a growing AI data center problem. Here’s how to fix it.

A close call in Northern Virginia revealed just how poorly data centers respond to grid disruptions. Here's how to fix the problem.

Midjourney acquired the astrology app Co-Star
AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch

Midjourney acquired the astrology app Co-Star

The AI lab Midjourney continues to expand its purview beyond image and video generation.

Safety and alignment in an era of long-horizon models
OpenAI News

Safety and alignment in an era of long-horizon models

OpenAI shares lessons from deploying long-running AI models, highlighting new safety risks, observed failures, and improved safeguards through iterative deployment.

Why Cognition bought Poke: AI personality is becoming a competitive advantage
AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch

Why Cognition bought Poke: AI personality is becoming a competitive advantage

The acquisition brings Poke’s conversational style and interaction model to Cognition’s coding agent Devin, reflecting a growing belief that how AI assistants interact with users is as important as the models powering them.

Here’s how to make study notebooks in the Gemini app.
Gemini

Here’s how to make study notebooks in the Gemini app.

Studying for a test, but not sure where to start? Study notebooks, a new feature in the Gemini app, can help you get organized and learn more efficiently.Think of study …

Advancing the next era of national science
OpenAI News

Advancing the next era of national science

OpenAI outlines its commitment to advancing American science working with the U.S. Department of Energy and national labs to use frontier AI to accelerate discovery.

People Are Starting to Record Every Conversation They Have Without Disclosing It, and It's Gross - Futurism
"artificial intelligence" - Google News

People Are Starting to Record Every Conversation They Have Without Disclosing It, and It's Gross - Futurism

People Are Starting to Record Every Conversation They Have Without Disclosing It, and It's Gross  Futurism

How Cars24 scales conversations and builds faster with OpenAI
OpenAI News

How Cars24 scales conversations and builds faster with OpenAI

Cars24 uses OpenAI-powered voice and chat agents to handle 1M+ monthly conversation minutes, recover 12% of lost leads, and bring agentic workflows to teams across the company.

Best Universities To Study AI in 2026
DailyAI

Best Universities To Study AI in 2026

Artificial intelligence has made enormous strides in the past few years – with the introduction of a wide range of AI tools changing the landscape of how we assess data and operate within online spaces forever.  This page ranks the 50 best universities to study AI around the world, based on scope, prestige, and the level of AI-related research each institution has released. Career prospects in AI There is a huge demand for individuals with a high degree of skills in artificial intelligence and machine learning, making AI a potential lucrative career prospect with countless opportunities as AI continues to The post Best Universities To Study AI in 2026 appeared first on DailyAI.

Therapists Too Expensive? Why Thousands of Women Are Spilling Their Deepest Secrets to ChatGPT
DailyAI

Therapists Too Expensive? Why Thousands of Women Are Spilling Their Deepest Secrets to ChatGPT

More women are turning to ChatGPT for emotional support, using the AI chatbot as a stand-in therapist as mental health systems buckle under pressure. With long wait times and soaring costs, AI is filling a growing gap. Mental health care is harder to access than ever. In the UK, NHS data shows patients are eight times more likely to wait over 18 months for mental health treatment than for physical health. Private therapy isn’t always an option either, with sessions costing £60 or more. In that vacuum, ChatGPT has become a surprising outlet. Real voices, real feelings Charly, 29, from The post Therapists Too Expensive? Why Thousands of Women Are Spilling Their Deepest Secrets to ChatGPT appeared first on DailyAI.

3 Stocks Primed to Cash In if Artificial Intelligence (AI) Spending Hits $1 Trillion Next Year - Yahoo Finance
"artificial intelligence" - Google News

3 Stocks Primed to Cash In if Artificial Intelligence (AI) Spending Hits $1 Trillion Next Year - Yahoo Finance

3 Stocks Primed to Cash In if Artificial Intelligence (AI) Spending Hits $1 Trillion Next Year  Yahoo Finance

‘AI communism’, rogue models, and the why Kimi K3 spooked Wall Street
AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch

‘AI communism’, rogue models, and the why Kimi K3 spooked Wall Street

Chinese AI lab Moonshot’s open model Kimi went viral this week for reasons that had less to do with the model itself and more to do with how the U.S. AI industry reacted to it. Meanwhile, an unreleased OpenAI model wandered outside its test environment and ended up connected to a real security breach at Hugging Face — a reminder […]

Got $100? 1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Memory ETF to Buy Right Now. - The Motley Fool
"artificial intelligence" - Google News

Got $100? 1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Memory ETF to Buy Right Now. - The Motley Fool

Got $100? 1 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Memory ETF to Buy Right Now.  The Motley Fool

Introducing Gemini 3.6 Flash, 3.5 Flash-Lite, and 3.5 Flash Cyber
Gemini

Introducing Gemini 3.6 Flash, 3.5 Flash-Lite, and 3.5 Flash Cyber

We’re introducing new Gemini models, including Gemini 3.6 Flash, 3.5 Flash-Lite and 3.5 Flash Cyber.

How Codex became a collaborator for OpenAI’s creative team
OpenAI News

How Codex became a collaborator for OpenAI’s creative team

How OpenAI’s creative team uses Codex to build custom creative tools, accelerate ideation, and prototype faster with context-aware AI.

AMD takes on Nvidia with its Helios AI rack-scale system
AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch

AMD takes on Nvidia with its Helios AI rack-scale system

AMD is challenging its chipmaker rival with a new rack-scale system that will start shipping to customers later this year.

Prentis, new AI lab co-founded by Reid Hoffman, Mark Pincus in talks to raise $100M
AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch

Prentis, new AI lab co-founded by Reid Hoffman, Mark Pincus in talks to raise $100M

The neolab is betting that automating routine computer tasks will soon outpace coding as AI's biggest use case.