🧠Meta's brain model beats real fMRI scans
Meta open-sourced TRIBE v2, an AI model trained on brain scans from 700+ subjects that simulates neural activity across vision, hearing, and language — with its synthetic predictions actually outperforming real fMRI recordings.
- —Trained on 1,000+ hours of brain data, v2 covers 70,000 brain regions (up from 1,000) across 700+ subjects (up from 4 in the original)
- —TRIBE v2's predictions matched population-level brain activity better than most real scans, which are often clouded by heartbeats, movement, and noise
- —The team replicated decades of neuroscience findings in software, correctly pinpointing brain regions for faces, speech, and text with zero scans
- —Code, weights, and a live demo are fully open-sourced — any researcher can start virtual brain experiments immediately
Why it matters: TRIBE v2 could do for brain research what AlphaFold did for protein structure: compress months of expensive scanning into seconds of compute.
📱Apple to unlock Siri for rival AI assistants in iOS 27
Apple plans to open the upcoming Siri revamp to multiple AI models starting with iOS 27, ending ChatGPT's exclusive integration and letting users choose which AI handles their queries directly from the assistant.
- —Users will be able to pick their preferred AI in extensions settings and route questions to models of their choice via Siri with iOS 27
- —ChatGPT is currently the only model compatible with Siri commands via its 2024 deal, but use of that integration has reportedly been minimal
- —Bloomberg said chatbots in the App Store could also be a revenue stream, with Apple taking a cut of AI subscriptions purchased across its devices
- —Apple is expected to introduce the new Siri AI overhaul powered by Gemini at WWDC in early June
Why it matters: Rather than betting on one model in the AI arms race, Apple is letting every AI into a billion iPhones — using its hardware moat as the real differentiator, not the model itself.
🛍️ Use Perplexity Computer as a personal shopper
Perplexity's Computer agent search feature (for Max subscribers or Pro users with credits) can shop for you, find items in stock in your size, and save significant time comparing prices.
- —Go to Perplexity's website or app and enable the Perplexity Computer toggle
- —Prompt: "Find me a good deal on [item]. I prefer brands like [brands]. Add style and sizing preferences"
- —Computer delegates sub-agents to browse product listings and compiles a well-formatted report automatically
- —For ongoing price tracking, prompt it to "turn this into a daily/weekly automation" — Perplexity will schedule it for you
Why it matters: Pro tip: switch the orchestrator model to Claude Sonnet to save tokens. Repetitive comparison tasks like shopping are exactly where agents shine.
❌Wikipedia bans AI from writing its articles
Wikipedia's volunteer editors voted 40-2 to ban the use of AI to write articles on the English-language site, a move the policy's author called a pushback against enshittification and forceful push of AI by so many companies.
- —Prior attempts at broad AI rules failed to reach consensus, but mounting AI-generated errors pushed editors to a near-unanimous vote
- —The ban covers writing or rewriting articles with LLMs; editors can still use AI for grammar fixes and translations with human review
- —The policy's author said the change could spark a broader change and empower communities on other platforms to set their own AI rules
- —StackOverflow and German Wikipedia have enacted similar bans; Spanish Wikipedia went further with a full AI ban including editing
Why it matters: AI text reportedly surpassed human output for the first time in 2025, and Wikipedia is trying to hold the human line — while Elon pushes Grokipedia in the exact opposite direction. How long this holds is anyone's guess.