AI News Feed
These are AI-generated summaries I use to keep tabs on daily news.
Daily Tech Newsletter - 2025-12-28
The Spread of AI-Generated "Slop" and its Impact on Online Platforms
Kapwing and The Guardian report a significant rise in "AI slop" - low-quality, AI-generated content designed to generate views - on YouTube. Kapwing's research suggests 21-33% of a new user's Shorts feed may consist of AI slop or "brainrot" videos. These channels have accumulated billions of views and generate millions in revenue annually. Leading channels can generate millions of dollars from an estimated $117 million in annual revenue and billions of views. Spain leads in subscriber count, but South Korea dominates in total views. These findings highlight the challenge for platforms like YouTube, which acknowledge AI's potential but are concerned about the association of advertisers with AI-generated slop content. There is an industry of bad actors spreading misinformation and this highlights the increasing value of trust and importance of media literacy to filter misinformation.
Relevant URLs:
- https://www.kapwing.com/blog/ai-slop-report-the-global-rise-of-low-quality-ai-videos/
- https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/27/more-than-20-of-videos-shown-to-new-youtube-users-are-ai-slop-study-finds
AI-Driven Coding Advancements and Tools
Recent developments indicate significant progress in AI-assisted coding. Visual Studio Code continues to evolve as an open-source code editor with AI-powered features, including GitHub Copilot, chat-based task management, code completion, and flexible AI model support like a GPT-5.2 preview. Improvements in AI code generation are also reflected in Claude. Claude Code + Opus 4.5 reportedly wrote every line of code across 259 PRs and 497 commits in the month prior to December 27, 2025, involving 40,000 lines added and 38,000 lines removed. Andrew Ng emphasizes the value of coding skills, suggesting AI will enhance coder productivity by automating routine tasks.
Relevant URLs:
- https://simonwillison.net/2025/Dec/27/boris-cherny/#atom-everything
- https://code.visualstudio.com
- https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/andrew-ng-says-ai-limited-wont-replace-humans-anytime-soon-rcna246074
AI-Generated Misinformation Leads to Real-World Consequences and Legal Considerations
Ashley MacIsaac is considering legal action against Google, after its AI-generated summary falsely identified him as a sex offender, resulting in a concert cancellation. Google acknowledges the issue and is working to improve its systems. The root cause of the issue was found to be online articles for someone else, but with the same last name. This incident underscores the potential for AI to spread harmful misinformation and the resultant legal and reputational implications.
Relevant URLs:
Advancements in Small Language Model Performance Using Reinforcement Learning
Liquid AI has introduced LFM2-2.6B-Exp, an experimental checkpoint of its LFM2-2.6B language model. This model utilizes pure reinforcement learning (RL) to improve instruction following, knowledge tasks, and math within a 3B parameter budget. The LFM2-2.6B-Exp model demonstrates superior performance, even surpassing much larger models in certain benchmarks, while also focusing on efficient on-device capabilities.
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GraphBit Facilitates Production-Grade Agentic Workflows
GraphBit, facilitates the building of production-grade agentic workflow. It allows deterministic business using tools and LLM integrations, enabling the same workflow to run both offline and autonomously. It is positioned as an executable substrate rather than just an LLM wrapper.
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LLM Advocacy Amidst Ethical Concerns and Substack Newsletter Glitches
Simon Willison expresses support for LLMs despite ethical concerns regarding their training data. He also encountered a "Network error" on Substack, caused by the string /etc/hosts in a post about SQL injection, disrupting his newsletter schedule.
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