Halifax quietly let its AI wildfire surveillance system go offline last October when a pilot project ended—and didn’t bother telling residents. Now, as wildfire season looms, the city’s high-tech early warning tool is sitting idle, raising questions about transparency and preparedness.

Editor’s Note: Wildfires are a growing threat, especially after last year’s devastating Nova Scotia fires. The fact that Halifax’s AI system—meant to spot fires early—isn’t running this season (and officials kept it quiet) suggests a gap between tech promises and real-world action. People deserve to know if they’re being left vulnerable.

As graduation season nears, Chinese universities are cracking down on AI-generated content in student theses by setting strict limits on the "AI rate"—the proportion of a paper produced by artificial intelligence. Some schools are even using this metric to approve or reject submissions outright. While the goal is to curb academic misconduct, critics in China are dismissing AI-detection tools as unreliable "superstition tech," arguing they can’t accurately distinguish human work from machine output.

Editor’s Note: This isn’t just about students trying to cheat—it’s a messy debate over how (or whether) to police AI’s role in education. If detection tools are flawed, banning AI content could backfire, punishing honest work while missing actual misconduct. But ignoring the issue risks letting chatbots replace critical thinking. China’s struggle mirrors a global dilemma: how to adapt rules for a tech that’s evolving faster than our ability to regulate it.

Unitree Robotics, a Chinese company making humanoid robots, is reportedly gearing up for another funding round that could push its valuation as high as $2 billion. This move has sparked fresh chatter about the startup possibly heading toward an IPO soon. The news comes right after the company went through a restructuring last week.

Editor’s Note: Unitree’s big-money fundraising plans signal growing investor confidence in robotics—and China’s tech scene. If they pull this off, it could mean more cutting-edge robots hitting the market (or at least more hype around them). For tech watchers, it’s another sign that humanoid robots are shifting from sci-fi to serious business.

The UK government is pushing back against demands to require AI companies to reveal how they train their models, sparking accusations of dishonesty from critics. Despite pressure from the House of Lords—who want stronger copyright protections for artists—ministers are refusing to mandate transparency, leaving creatives and campaigners frustrated.

The debate over AI's effect on jobs is heating up, with tech leaders sounding alarms while other experts push back, suggesting the reality might be more nuanced—some jobs could vanish, but new opportunities might emerge too. It’s less about doom versus utopia and more about messy, unpredictable change.

Editor’s Note: Everyone’s talking about AI and jobs, but the truth isn’t as simple as "robots will steal everything" or "everything will be fine." This story cuts through the hype to explore why the real impact could be a mix of disruption and adaptation—something workers, businesses, and policymakers need to prepare for, not just fear or dismiss.

China’s Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence just dropped a new open-source AI model called "RoboBrain," designed to power the next generation of humanoid robots. Think of it as the operating system for smarter, more capable robots—helping China push ahead in the global race to develop advanced machines.

Editor’s Note: This isn’t just another tech announcement—it’s a big step in China’s push to lead in robotics. Open-sourcing the tech means faster innovation, but it also raises questions about how quickly humanoid robots could become part of daily life (or even the workforce). If RoboBrain delivers, it could give China a serious edge in automation and AI-driven industries.

The UK high court is cracking down on lawyers misusing AI after discovering fake case-law citations—some entirely made up—in legal submissions. Judges are urging senior attorneys to rein in the unchecked use of AI tools, which are becoming more common in legal work but risk undermining trust in the system.