Welcome to the newest edition of ID Tech’s AI update. Here’s the latest big news on the shifting landscape of AI and identity technology:
Anthropic launched new versions of its flagship AI models this week, claiming that its Claude Opus 4 model can independently write code for hours at a time. Such capabilities are being offered to developers via Anthropic’s “Claude Code” tool.
OpenAI will buy Jony Ive startup LoveFrom for $6.5 billion, and Ive will take on an ‘expansive’ role at his new parent company. Ive was a key architect of the iPhone. At OpenAI, he is working on new AI-powered “companion” devices that will eschew screens.
Ray Kurzweil’s humanoid robot startup has secured a $100 million investment from its sole Series B funder Gauntlet Ventures. Famous for futurist books like The Age of Spiritual Machines and The Singularity Is Near, Kurzweil co-founded Beyond Imagination with Harry Kloor to build robots for industrial work.
Google unveiled a new AI “filmmaking” tool called Flow, powered by its Gemini, Imagen, and Veo models. Essentially, it combines reasoning, generative audio, and generative video capabilities to enable users to make impressive videos with a single prompt—videos that can even depict spoken language, with a script made up by Gemini.
Google has also announced smart glasses-focused partnerships with Warby Parker and Kering. It’s evidently looking to compete with Meta, which has been working with Ray-Ban to bring AI capabilities to luxury eyewear products.
Google and Character.AI will have to face a lawsuit over their AI technology’s alleged role in a teenage boy’s suicide. The boy’s mother alleges that her son became emotionally dependent on an AI-generated character, leading to social isolation and, ultimately, his death. A U.S. district judge rejected motions to dismiss the case, including an argument that the chatbot’s actions are protected by the First Amendment.
The Vatican has denounced a deepfake video of Pope Leo XIV that depicts the pontiff praising Ibrahim Traoré, the President of Burkina Faso, who took power in a 2022 coup. Traoré has been styling himself as an anti-colonial freedom fighter, and the 36-minute YouTube video appeared to show the new Pope praising him as such. Vatican News notes that “all of Pope Leo XIV’s speeches, addresses, and texts can be consulted in full at vatican.va.”
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called U.S. export controls on chip sales to China a “failure” at the Computex conference in Taipei, arguing that they have hobbled the American tech industry while China’s has continued to advance. He also announced plans to build a huge AI supercomputer in Taiwan in collaboration with Foxconn, TSMC, and the Taiwan government.
The chatbot’s take: Maybe we should make this particular question a weekly poll on LinkedIn or something:
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May 23, 2025 – by Alex Perala
