The AI Hype Index: Unsexy AI
It feels bad enough when an open letter signed by leading economists warns that AI might steal your job. The fact it may soon be better than you at making dinner? Insult to injury. But that’s exactly what the company 1X promised when it showed off a pair of new, impressively dexterous (and, to some, oddly sexy?) robotic hands in a July demo.
While the tech community was sharply divided over the appeal of those disembodied hands, almost everyone can agree that a few things are decidedly not sexy: Grok’s porn-pilled translation feature, Meta’s creepy glasses (which may soon get even creepier), and Big Tech’s emissions (which continue to skyrocket).
But while it’s not always the most popular technology, at least AI is paying off for one group: single chip workers in Korea, newly inundated with dating opportunities thanks to their giant bonuses. Who says you can’t buy love?
Deep Dive
Artificial intelligence
A startup claims it broke through a bottleneck that’s holding back LLMs
Subquadratic has now shared more details about its new model. But some are still skeptical.
By Will Douglas Heavenarchive page
Anthropic found a hidden space where Claude puzzles over concepts
A new technique has let the company probe deeper than ever into the weird workings of an LLM.
By Will Douglas Heavenarchive page
Claude Science is Anthropic’s newest flagship product
The company is doubling down on AI for science.
By Grace Huckinsarchive page
The $400 million machine powering the future of chipmaking
The AI era needs ever faster chips. ASML has a monopoly on the expensive contraptions needed to pattern them. Can anyone catch up?
By Clive Thompsonarchive page
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Illustration by Rose Wong
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Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/07/29/1140795/the-ai-hype-index-unsexy-ai/
