Overview
Today’s headlines focus on product shifts, privacy-driven AI features, trust and governance in AI, and the widening gap between AI winners and losers.
Product & tool updates
- Microsoft is retiring Teams’ Together Mode, the pandemic-era feature that created the illusion of participants sitting together. (The Verge)
- Reports say Apple’s revamped Siri may lean into privacy features such as auto-deleting chats as Apple positions privacy as a differentiator in AI. (TechCrunch, The Verge)
- Nectar Social, an AI-powered marketing OS, closed a $30M Series A led by Menlo Ventures, showing continued VC interest in applied AI startups. (TechCrunch)
Trust, policy & research governance
- The Elon Musk–OpenAI trial has put trust in leadership and institutions at the center of public scrutiny around AI. (TechCrunch)
- ArXiv announced enforcement measures: authors who let AI do all the work may be banned for a year, signaling tougher norms for AI-generated research. (TechCrunch)
- Public sentiment is fraught: at a University of Arizona commencement, students booed Eric Schmidt during AI-focused remarks — a reminder of growing skepticism. (The Verge, TechCrunch)
Industry trends & funding
- Coverage highlights an “AI skills arms race” in automotive, emphasizing talent and tooling as critical competitive edges. (TechCrunch Mobility)
- Investment moves such as Eclipse’s involvement around Cerebras’s $2.5B deal point to continued capital flow into specialized AI compute and real-world applications. (TechCrunch)
- Analysis of the AI boom underscores an uneven landscape — clear winners are emerging while many are left behind. (TechCrunch)
Key takeaways
- Privacy and product pivots are front-and-center: expect more AI features that foreground user data control.
- Trust and governance matter: leadership credibility and new publication rules will shape research and public opinion.
- Talent, compute, and targeted funding continue to separate the “haves” from the “have-nots.”
Sources
- Microsoft is retiring Teams’ Together Mode — https://www.theverge.com/tech/932215/microsoft-teams-together-mode
- Apple’s Siri revamp could include auto-deleting chats — https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/17/apples-siri-revamp-could-include-auto-deleting-chats/
- Why trust is a big question at the Elon Musk-OpenAI trial — https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/17/why-trust-is-a-big-question-at-the-elon-musk-openai-trial/
- Revamped Siri will reportedly offer auto-deleting chats — https://www.theverge.com/tech/932207/siri-apple-intelligence-auto-deleting-chats
- University of Arizona students boo Eric Schmidt’s AI cheerleading during commencement — https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/932203/university-of-arizona-students-boo-eric-schmidt-ai-commencement
- If you’re giving a commencement speech in 2026, maybe don’t mention AI — https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/17/if-youre-giving-a-commencement-speech-in-2026-maybe-dont-mention-ai/
- TechCrunch Mobility: The AI skills arms race is coming for automotive — https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/17/techcrunch-mobility-the-ai-skills-arms-race-is-coming-for-automotive/
- For Eclipse, the $2.5B Cerebras win is just the start — https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/17/for-eclipse-the-2-5b-cerebras-win-is-just-the-start-of-realizing-its-physical-world-thesis/
- The haves and have nots of the AI gold rush — https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/16/the-haves-and-have-nots-of-the-ai-gold-rush/
- Marketing operating system Nectar Social raises $30M Series A — https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/16/marketing-operating-system-nectar-social-raises-30m-series-a-in-round-led-by-menlo/
- Research repository ArXiv will ban authors for a year if they let AI do all the work — https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/16/research-repository-arxiv-will-ban-authors-for-a-year-if-they-let-ai-do-all-the-work/
Disclaimer
Not financial/professional advice.