• Voice AI engine and OpenAI partner LiveKit hits $1B valuation

    January 22, 2026

    LiveKit, a developer of infrastructure software for real-time AI voice and video applications, has announced the raise of $100 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation. The round, which comes 10 months after LiveKit’s previous fundraise, was led by Index Ventures with participation from existing investors, including Altimeter Capital Management, Hanabi Capital, and Redpoint Ventures. LiveKit powers OpenAI’s ChatGPT voice mode. The startup’s other customers include xAI, Salesforce, Tesla, as well as 911 emergency service operators and mental health providers. The company was founded in 2021 by Russ d’Sa and David Zhao as an open source software project for…

  • Polestar opposes looming changes to Australian EV incentives

    January 22, 2026

    Polestar Australia has called on the Australian Government to leave its long-standing electric vehicle (EV) incentives alone, following an announcement in December last year that its EV subsidy scheme would be reviewed. Since July 1, 2022, EVs priced below the Luxury Car Tax (LCT) threshold for fuel-efficient vehicles ($91,387 for 2025-26) have been exempt from Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT), potentially saving novated lessees thousands each year. The Australian Treasury estimates that roughly 100,000 EV buyers have benefited to date. Following the review, which was promised when the discount was legislated, the government could end, renew or modify the scheme. According…

  • JBL made a pair of AI-powered practice amps

    January 22, 2026

    JBL is trying its hand at something new, with a pair of AI-powered practice amps. The BandBox Solo and BandBox Trio include an onboard Stem AI that purportedly lets you separate or remove vocals and instruments from any music streamed over Bluetooth. So, say you’re a young guitarist learning “Stairway to Heaven” (as one does). At least in theory, you could use the speaker to remove Jimmy Page’s part and hone your chops with the rest of the band. The $250 BandBox Solo, designed for individual musicians, has a single guitar / mic input. And the $600 BandBox Trio, better…

  • Are AI agents ready for the workplace? A new benchmark raises doubts.

    January 22, 2026

    It’s been nearly two years since Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella predicted AI would replace knowledge work — the white-collar jobs held by lawyers, investment bankers, librarians, accountants, IT and others. But despite the huge progress made by foundation models, the change in knowledge work has been slow to arrive. Models have mastered in-depth research and agentic planning, but for whatever reason, most white-collar work has been relatively unaffected. It’s one of the biggest mysteries in AI — and thanks to new research from the training-data giant Mercor, we’re finally getting some answers. The new research looks at how leading AI…

  • David Ellison extends deadline for Warner Bros. Discovery takeover offer

    January 22, 2026

    Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is apparently still hopeful that investors will approve his $108.4 billion hostile takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount Skydance announced Thursday that it’s extending its all-cash offer to acquire the storied studio, and giving investors until February 20, 2026 to accept. The company’s previous offer expired on January 21, but with a lawsuit in the works and a revised Netflix deal to compete with, Paramount Skydance wants to stay in the conversation. Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery originally announced their $82.7 billion acquisition agreement in December 2025. Netflix’s deal is for a significant portion, but…

  • Google DeepMind CEO is ‘surprised’ OpenAI is rushing forward with ads in ChatGPT

    January 22, 2026

    Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said he’s “surprised” that OpenAI has already moved to introduce ads within its AI chatbot. In an interview with Axios at Davos, the AI leader was responding to a question about using ads to monetize AI services, saying the idea is something that the team at Google was thinking through “very carefully.” Hassabis also said that his team wasn’t feeling pressure from the tech giant to make “a knee-jerk” decision around advertising, despite how key ads are to Google’s core business. The DeepMind co-founder’s remarks followed Friday’s news that OpenAI will begin testing ads as a…

  • Renault’s electric car division to be plugged back into core business – report

    January 22, 2026

    Since its creation in 2023, Ampere, the electric vehicle (EV) division of Renault, has been run independently of the rest of the automaker, but this situation will soon end. According to Reuters, Renault CEO François Provost presented plans earlier this week to the company’s unions, which will see Ampere reintegrated into Renault by July. The plan does not include any cuts to the roughly 11,000 people working for the electric car division. Ampere currently houses all of Renault’s engineering, and research and development resources related to EVs. It also operates three factories in northern France that build most of the…

  • Double Fine announces delightful-looking multiplayer pottery game Kiln

    January 22, 2026

    Double Fine has been on a tear with its smaller projects lately. The popular indie game developer is following up last year’s atmospheric adventure game Keeper with a new title in a totally different direction. As its Double Fine founder Tim Schaefer attempted to say five times fast during today’s Xbox Developer Direct, Kiln is an “online multiplayer pottery party brawler” that boasts exactly the sort of colorful, clever fun that fans have come to expect from the studio. Kiln is a game with two facets: creation and destruction. On the creation side, players get to design a ceramic vessel…

  • Ring is adding a new content verification feature to videos

    January 22, 2026

    It’s going to be more difficult to fake or manipulate Ring camera video footage going forward. On Thursday, the Amazon-owned device maker introduced Ring Verify, a new video authenticity feature that will allow anyone to determine whether a video has been altered in any way. The company says this could be useful when you come across shared videos, like those sent to you by a neighbor or those purporting to show some sort of incident. While you may not be able to instantly identify whether some TikTok video was AI-generated — like bunnies jumping on a trampoline, for instance —…

  • Forza Horizon 6 will hit Xbox Series X/S and PC on May 19

    January 22, 2026

    Forza Horizon 6 is taking the racing series to Japan for the first time, and now we know exactly when you’ll be able to hit the virtual streets of Tokyo. The game will arrive on Xbox Series X/S, PC and Xbox Cloud on May 19, with an early access period commencing on May 15. That lines up with earlier reports about the release date(s) after an in-game ad supposedly appeared in Forza Horizon 5. The upcoming title will hit PS5 later this year. The standard edition of Forza Horizon 6 is expected to cost $70, though it will be on…