Daily News: May 14, 2025
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Today's News
Here are the top 5 recent news items on artificial intelligence:
1./ Google's AlphaEvolve Writes Its Own Code to Save Millions in Costs
Google DeepMind introduced AlphaEvolve, an AI-powered agent capable of inventing sophisticated new algorithms by pairing Google’s Gemini large language models with evolutionary techniques. AlphaEvolve has already delivered substantial efficiency gains, including recovering 0.7% of Google’s global computing resources, redesigning Tensor Processing Unit circuits, and accelerating Gemini model training by 1%. Remarkably, AlphaEvolve even broke a 56-year-old mathematical record for multiplying matrices, outperforming algorithms humans had failed to improve since 1969. Google now plans to expand AlphaEvolve’s use beyond internal optimization, potentially impacting fields like material sciences, drug discovery, and complex mathematical research.
2./ Klarna CEO Credits AI for Cutting Workforce by 40%
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski revealed the fintech firm reduced its workforce by approximately 40%, from about 5,500 employees in December 2022 to roughly 3,400 by December 2024, citing heavy investments in artificial intelligence and natural attrition. Klarna aggressively integrated AI, notably deploying a customer service assistant powered by OpenAI’s technology, replacing around 700 customer service roles. Siemiatkowski noted that natural attrition due to a hiring freeze also significantly contributed to the headcount reduction. Klarna’s anticipated IPO remains delayed following market turbulence triggered by recent trade policy announcements.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/14/klarna-ceo-says-ai-helped-company-shrink-workforce-by-40percent.html
3./ Programmer Loses $150k Job to AI, 800+ Job Rejections, DoorDashes to Survive
Shawn K, a software engineer with two decades of experience, lost his $150,000-a-year job last April due to AI-driven automation and has since applied to over 800 positions with fewer than 10 interviews, some conducted by AI agents. Now living in an RV trailer, he delivers DoorDash orders and sells personal items on eBay to scrape by. While tech layoffs aren’t new for K, he says this is fundamentally different, warning that AI-driven job displacement isn’t just looming—it’s already underway, creating what he calls a “social and economic disaster tidal wave.”
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/software-engineer-lost-150k-job-090000839.html
4./ SoundCloud Reverses Controversial AI Terms After Backlash
SoundCloud has reversed recent terms-of-use updates that sparked backlash over fears the platform would use user-uploaded content to train generative AI models. CEO Eliah Seton acknowledged that the previous wording was “too broad and unclear,” causing concern among creators. SoundCloud clarified the updated terms explicitly state user content won’t be used to train AI intended to replicate or synthesize users’ voices, music, or likenesses.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/14/soundcloud-backtracks-on-ai-related-terms-of-use-updates/
5./ AI Can Spontaneously Form Human-Like Social Norms, Study Reveals
A new study has found that large language model (LLM) artificial intelligence systems, when communicating in groups, spontaneously develop human-like social norms and linguistic conventions without external guidance. Conducted by researchers from City St George’s, University of London, and IT University of Copenhagen, the research demonstrated that AI agents independently agreed upon shared naming conventions through repeated one-on-one interactions, much like humans developing slang or terminology. Researchers observed collective biases emerging naturally, suggesting AI systems can develop group behaviors not tied to individual agents. The findings highlight new challenges and opportunities for AI safety, emphasizing the importance of understanding AI as social entities capable of shaping shared cultural norms.
Today's Takeaway
Today’s headlines underscore an accelerating AI revolution that is both thrilling and deeply troubling. Google’s AlphaEvolve rewriting its own code and solving problems untouched by humans for decades highlights AI’s potential to drastically reshape not only tech but science itself, promising breakthroughs alongside significant upheaval. Klarna’s aggressive job cuts driven by AI automation, coupled with Shawn K’s heartbreaking story of professional displacement, starkly illustrate the immediate human cost of unchecked AI adoption; it’s no longer speculative fear, but a lived reality for many. Meanwhile, SoundCloud’s quick reversal after creator backlash shows how companies still fumble ethical boundaries around AI usage, underscoring the urgent need for clear regulation and transparency. Perhaps most intriguing, and unsettling, is AI’s demonstrated ability to spontaneously create its own social norms, suggesting these models are more socially complex and unpredictable than previously assumed. Taken together, these stories demand a thoughtful pause: Are we guiding this powerful technology wisely, or blindly racing towards a future we don’t fully understand and may not control?
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