AI Coding Tools Are Revealing a Hidden Divide — and Alienating Developers Who Love the Craft
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All storiesGig Apps Are Paying Users to Sell Their Personal Data — Phone Calls, Videos & All — to Train AI Models
A new wave of gig apps — including Kled AI, Silencio, Neon Mobile, and Luel AI — are paying everyday users cash in exchange for intimate personal data such as phone calls, text messages, and videos of real-world locations. This data is then sold to AI companies to train their models. The trend signals a growing "data gig economy" where individuals monetize their daily lives to fuel AI development.
Techmeme
OpenAI Cofounder Karpathy Hasn't Written a Line of Code Since December — AI Agents Did It For Him
Andrej Karpathy, OpenAI cofounder and founder of Eureka Labs, revealed in a podcast interview that he has not written a single line of code since December, with AI agents now handling 100% of his coding workflow — a dramatic reversal from just months prior. He described feeling a sense of "psychosis" trying to keep up with the rapid pace of agentic AI development, admitting he feels nervous about not being at the forefront of the field. Karpathy also shared how he built a personal AI home assistant he calls "Dobby the House Elf," which manages his smart home systems — from lighting to security cameras — entirely via WhatsApp messages in natural language.
Fortune Tech
Wall Street Shrugs at Nvidia's GTC Keynote Despite Jensen Huang's Trillion-Dollar Projections
Despite a bullish 2.5-hour GTC keynote from CEO Jensen Huang — featuring projections of $1 trillion in chip orders and massive market opportunities in AI agents and robotics — Nvidia's stock declined as Wall Street remained unconvinced. Investors are grappling with broader uncertainty around AI's societal and economic impact, even as Nvidia continues to shatter revenue expectations. Analysts suggest the disconnect lies not in Nvidia's performance, but in the market's struggle to quantify AI's return on investment and long-term trajectory.
TechCrunch AI
Iran-Qatar War Threatens Helium Supply, Putting AI Chip Manufacturing at Risk
Iran's military strikes on Qatar's Ras Laffan natural gas facility have halted helium production, threatening global semiconductor supply chains. Qatar supplies roughly 30% of the world's helium, a critical and irreplaceable input in chipmaking, and the shortage is expected to hit in a matter of weeks. South Korean chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix are especially exposed, importing ~65% of their helium from Qatar.
Fortune Tech
People Are Selling Their Voices, Faces & Private Data to Train AI — But the Costs Are Hidden
A growing gig economy has emerged where thousands of people worldwide — from Cape Town to Chicago to Ranchi — are micro-licensing their biometric data, voice recordings, private conversations, and daily life footage to AI data marketplaces for small cash payouts. Platforms like Kled AI, Silencio, and Neon Mobile are filling a critical gap as AI companies face a looming shortage of high-quality human-generated training data. However, workers often sign away irrevocable, royalty-free rights to their data, leaving them exposed to risks like identity theft, deepfakes, and exploitation with little to no legal protection.
The Guardian AI
New Documentary "Ghost in the Machine" Traces Gen AI's Roots to Eugenics and Race Science
Director Valerie Veatch's documentary Ghost in the Machine explores the historical and ideological foundations of generative AI, tracing a direct line from Victorian-era eugenics pioneer Francis Galton to modern machine learning. After witnessing firsthand how AI models like OpenAI's Sora produced racist and sexist outputs — and being dismissed when she raised concerns — Veatch set out to explain why the industry seems structurally disinterested in addressing these issues. The film argues that statistical tools foundational to machine learning were developed by eugenicists, embedding discriminatory thinking into the technology from its very origins.
The Verge AI