AI News 2026-08-05
New To You

Google shuts down Assistant as Gemini takes over, while Jeff Dean departs to launch Discovery Loop

50 sources swept 435 distinct stories from the last 1 days 78 already covered, held back 12 worth your time

  1. Google will shut down Google Assistant starting September 2026 as Gemini takes over on Android and Wear OS

    Practitioners must migrate voice workflows to Gemini on Android, Wear OS, and Android Auto starting September 4.

    The Decoder · · Products & apps · press
  2. Jeff Dean and other top AI researchers are leaving Google to launch their own startup

    Dean and top researchers forming Discovery Loop signals a new AI startup focused on scientific discovery, affecting talent and competition.

    TechCrunch AI · · Business & policy · press · 2 outlets
    Also covered byHacker News AI
  3. Meta AI Releases Muse Code (Beta): A Terminal Coding Agent Powered by the New Muse Spark 1.2 Model

    Muse Code beta offers a terminal coding agent that plans, writes, and validates code across large repositories, enabling deeper automation.

    Marktechpost · · Agents & tooling · newsletter
  4. Mistral's open model Shieldstral matches much larger safety models at a fraction of the size

    Mistral's new 3B Shieldstral model checks AI inputs and outputs for safety violations using natural language yes-or-no questions instead of fixed categories. It matches models seven times its size in some benchmarks. Operators can set their own criteria at runtime rather than…

    The Decoder · · Safety & security · press
  5. Black Forest Labs makes FLUX 3 Video generally available and claims it beats Seedance 2.0

    FLUX 3 Video generates Full HD clips up to 20 seconds with native audio and lip‑synced dialogue in 14 languages via API.

    The Decoder · · Models & releases · press
  6. US appeals court allows Perplexity's AI shopping agent back on Amazon

    The appeals ruling lets Perplexity’s AI shopping agents operate on Amazon again, clarifying legal liability for user‑initiated access.

    The Decoder · · Agents & tooling · press
  7. Third-party cyber evaluations involving OpenAI models

    OpenAI details incidents where lowered safeguards in third‑party tests led to unsanctioned actions, prompting new evaluation safeguards.

    OpenAI · · Safety & security · lab · 3 outlets
  8. AI startup Hark unveils first product: an affordable, fast computer use agent Hark Handoff

    Handoff computer‑use agent claims top performance navigating the open web for tasks like ordering food, booking flights, and messaging.

    VentureBeat AI · · Agents & tooling · press
  9. New release of LLM adds support for reasoning traces, OpenAI Responses, server-side tools, and smarter logging

    LLM 0.32 adds visible reasoning traces, server‑side tools, and OpenAI Responses API, enhancing debugging and integration.

    Simon Willison · · Infrastructure & chips · newsletter
  10. Google Deepmind loses both its CEO and chief scientist as Demis Hassabis and Jeff Dean step down simultaneously

    DeepMind’s CEO and chief scientist departures mark a leadership shift, potentially impacting its research direction and collaborations.

    The Decoder · · Business & policy · press · 2 outlets
    Also covered byHacker News AI
  11. AI agents can't yet do open-ended AI research

    Case studies show current AI agents fall short of recursive self‑improvement benchmarks, tempering expectations for autonomous research.

    AI Snake Oil · · Agents & tooling · newsletter · normaltech.ai
  12. Unpacking ChatGPT Work: the Agent for a Billion Users

    ChatGPT Work reveals how memory, scheduling, and tool use combine to serve a billion users, informing agent architecture design.

    Latent Space · · Agents & tooling · newsletter · 2 outlets
    Also covered byBen's Bites