OpenAI subtly announced its next major AI model, Astra, within the third paragraph of a blog post titled "Ten advances in mathematics and theoretical computer science." This unconventional reveal suggests Astra could be a new iteration like GPT-5.6 Astra or GPT-6 Astra, or even a standalone name, following OpenAI's celestial naming convention (Terra, Luna, Sol).

According to an anonymously sourced report, Astra is capable of "long-running" work, and CEO Sam Altman has reportedly been demonstrating the model to federal officials. OpenAI did not respond to inquiries regarding the model's official name or its relation to a previously mentioned "pre-release model" involved in a cyber incident with Hugging Face. It was clarified that Astra is not the model that compromised Hugging Face.

The blog post itself highlights ten mathematical proofs, including one on the "asymptotic strength of the Cohn–Elkies linear program" for sphere-packing, purportedly solved by an internal version of Astra. While mathematicians have generally approved of OpenAI's mathematical work, some, like Harvard mathematician Melanie Matchett Wood, noted that the problems solved were not always widely recognized "central conjectures."

👉 Read the full article on Gizmodo

During his final earnings call as Apple CEO, Tim Cook hinted that users might eventually have to pay for the new Siri AI, especially "when people use it a lot." This potential charge aligns with Apple's "philosophy" of building private, context-based AI that enriches users' lives, while also enriching Apple.

Cook expressed pride in the new Siri AI, which is currently available in developer and public betas and has received positive feedback. The company is learning about user reliance and the associated compute costs, which Cook noted are an area of significant spending due to a "hybrid model" utilizing both Apple's own data centers and paid cloud services.

The new Siri AI offers a much richer experience, leveraging personal information from apps like Notes and Messages to provide contextually informed answers. This advanced sophistication, a significant leap from previous iterations, appears to be an add-on service rather than being included in the device price, similar to how certain AI camera features are tied to an iCloud+ subscription.

👉 Read the full article on Gizmodo

Zoox, Amazon's autonomous vehicle company, has received the first U.S. commercial exemption from the NHTSA for a robotaxi designed without a steering wheel or pedals. This authorization allows Zoox to deploy up to 2,500 vehicles annually for two years, moving beyond testing and free rides to commercial passenger service.

The exemption addresses safety standards traditionally designed for human-driven cars, which mandate manual controls and mirrors. However, Zoox must still manufacture the vehicles, scale operations, and secure local state and city permits, with the NHTSA imposing enhanced oversight, requiring reports on accidents, anomalous stops, and software changes. A recent recall of 105 units for a software update after a vehicle struggled with smoke highlights the need for this vigilance.

The Zoox robotaxi features a unique design with four seats facing each other, no fixed front or rear, four-wheel steering, and a suite of cameras, radar, and lidar sensors. While Waymo currently dominates the U.S. robotaxi market in terms of miles driven and authorized vehicles, Zoox's approval marks a significant step by introducing a vehicle that completely abandons the traditional car form factor for commercial operation.

👉 Read the full article on Gizmodo en Español