SpaceX and Tesla merger, Anthropic AI lawyers: technology news

SpaceX and Tesla may merge: Musk approves

Elon Musk positively assessed the possible merger of SpaceX and Tesla. The boards of directors of both companies created committees of independent directors to study the deal. He reported this at a telephone conference dedicated to the financial results of SpaceX.

“Do I think that this is a good idea? Yes," Musk stated, emphasizing that he would not participate in the discussion as an interested party.

The companies already cooperate closely: Tesla supplied SpaceX with batteries and cars, invested in xAI, and also plans joint production of AI chips. For the deal the approval of 50% of the votes of Tesla shareholders will be required. The merger may create a corporation worth about $3.5 trillion.

OpenAI introduces PIN-protected chats in ChatGPT

OpenAI began gradually adding a function of protected chats to ChatGPT. Such correspondences are hidden from the usual history, the list of pinned chats and the general search. They are stored in the section Projects > Locked chats, access to which requires the account PIN code.

On supported mobile devices one will be able to use Face ID, Touch ID or the unlocking of the device itself. The function is being introduced for users of the tariffs Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu.

At OpenAI they emphasized that locking a chat does not provide end-to-end encryption and does not create a separate encrypted storage. It also does not change the terms of storage of the correspondence and the setting determining whether it can be used for improving AI models. If the user forgets the PIN code and decides to reset it, all protected chats and the data connected with them will be irrevocably deleted — it will be impossible to restore them through support.

In Russia an AI assistant for a healthy lifestyle has been launched

Sechenov University and the NMIC of Therapy and Preventive Medicine have launched a personal AI assistant that helps take care of health. At the base of the free service “Losing Weight Healthily” is the neural network model “GigaChat” from “Sber.”

The assistant will become a personal helper who accompanies a person on the path to a healthy lifestyle, helps reduce risk factors and correct habits in a timely manner.

At the Ministry of Health they assured that the model has passed verification in various directions of medicine and has confirmed knowledge in dietetics, therapy, cardiology, pediatrics, neurology and other areas. The medical base is formed on the basis of validated clinical materials and methodologies and covers questions of nutrition, physical activity, sleep and disease prevention.

Anthropic is teaching AI agents to conduct negotiations and conclude legal deals

Anthropic is conducting negotiations with law firms in order to teach its Claude AI agents to conduct bidding and achieve better conditions for users. The agents work under human guidance but are capable of independently making decisions — participating in buying and selling, arguing with customer services and defending the interests of the owner.

The company is studying how lawyers defend the interests of clients in order to apply these approaches in the configuration of the AI. The variant of supplying the agents with documents signed by the user with tasks and rules was also considered.

At Anthropic they note that there is so far no regulatory and legal base for AI concluding deals, but such a future is near. At the same time there is a risk: if powerful systems are available first of all to those who have more resources, this will strengthen inequality in negotiating possibilities.

Spotify deleted 50 million AI slop tracks

Spotify deleted from the platform about 50 million tracks generated by neural networks (AI slop). This is the second round of the fight against such content — in September of last year the service announced the deletion of 75 million spam AI tracks.

The company analyzed the tracks that listeners skipped, ignored or complained about, and revealed a clear regularity: it invariably turned out to be “garbage” (slop) or spam. Over the last half year Spotify changed the recommendation system in order to exclude such content and make the music of real artists more noticeable; the editors also do not include it in playlists. After the innovations the complaints of listeners noticeably decreased.

Tesla launched the production of humanoid robots Optimus in California

Tesla launched the serial production of humanoid robots Optimus at the plant in Fremont (California). The first specimens corresponding to the requirements of mass output have already come off the conveyor. To place the new line the company dismantled the former capacities for assembling Model S and Model X in 46 days. However, according to Elon Musk, voiced based on the results of the third quarter of 2026, it will take at least a year, and possibly more, to reach the target rate of 20 thousand robots per week.

Most of the equipment of the new line, designed for the output of up to a million robots a year, has already been installed, but about 10 thousand components and parts remain to be tuned. Among the unsolved problems are the development of robotic manipulators and restrictions on the supply of rare-earth magnets from China. Optimus is also planned to be equipped with the AI5 chip, significantly surpassing its predecessor AI4 in computational capabilities.

Musk expects to eliminate the remaining problems with the construction, reliability and service life of the robot by the end of 2027, after which Tesla will begin deliveries to external customers — first of all for dangerous, monotonous and repeating operations in industry. The company is also building a second plant for the production of robots in Texas and in the next month or two promises to publish a video with Optimus performing tasks not programmed in advance.

Xiaomi released the Redmi Band 4 for $25

Xiaomi began sales of the Redmi Band 4 smart watch in China. The device costs 169 yuan — about $25. The models in black and silver colors received a metal body, a 1.47-inch display with a resolution of 172 × 320 pixels and a brightness of 450 nits, protected by 2.5D glass.

The dimensions of the device are 43.5 × 25.8 × 10.2 mm, the weight without the strap is 18 g, connection to the smartphone via Bluetooth 5.3 BLE. The battery with a capacity of 300 mAh provides up to 21 days of work in energy-saving mode and up to 8 days with regular use of health monitoring functions. The bracelet around the clock tracks the pulse and the level of stress, measures the oxygen saturation of the blood and analyzes the quality of sleep, supports 50 training modes and water protection 5 ATM.

Among the additional functions — control of music and the smartphone camera, alarm clock, stopwatch, timer, weather forecast and phone search. The device is compatible with Android 8.0+ and iOS 14.0+, works through the Xiaomi Fitness application.