Anthropic, the company behind Claude, installed an AI vending machine in the Wall Street Journal newsroom. A customized version of their model, dubbed Claudius, was let off the leash. It took control, ordering stock, fixing pricing, and even generating a profit. Staff communicated with it via Slack, asking for snacks and suggesting new ideas. Humans would replenish the refrigerator and update the goods, but Claudius handled all business calls.
Alibaba broke last year’s Singles Day sales record by generating more than $30.8-billion USD in the annual 24-hour shopping extravaganza. Gross merchandise value, a figure that shows sales across the company’s many shopping platforms, surpassed last year’s $25.3 billion record at around 5:34 p.m. SIN/HK on Sunday, and kept climbing. It even started off with a bang, as sales hit the $1 billion mark in just one minute and twenty-five seconds, while exceeding $10 billion over an hour in. Read more for another video and additional information.