AI News Roundup – February 02, 2026


The AI Hype Index: Grok makes porn, and Claude Code nails your job

Source: Artificial intelligence – MIT Technology Review | Published: 2026-01-29

The AI landscape currently presents a stark dichotomy, with Elon Musk’s Grok criticised for generating explicit content while Anthropic’s Claude Code demonstrates impressive capabilities in automating complex professional tasks. This unpredictable mix of incompetence and hyper-competence is fuelling widespread anxiety, particularly among Gen Z, about the future impact of artificial intelligence.


Anthropic Moves Into Legal Tech

Source: Artificial Lawyer | Published: 2026-02-02

Anthropic has officially entered the legal technology market, becoming one of the first major AI labs to directly target the sector. This move confirms long-held industry speculation that leading LLM developers would eventually launch dedicated tools for legal professionals.


Charting Change In Legal Podcast – Listen to Episode 52 here!

Source: Legal IT Insider | Published: 2026-01-30

Episode 52 of the “Charting Change in Legal” podcast features lead analyst Ari Kaplan and Legal IT Insider editor Caroline Hill discussing future industry expectations for 2026. The conversation explores the ongoing evolution of the legal sector and provides strategic insights into the years ahead.


Moltbook: The Good, The Bad, and the FUTURE

Source: David Shapiro’s Substack | Published: 2026-02-01

Moltbook introduces a new AI framework focused on swarm intelligence, allowing multiple AI agents to collaborate on complex tasks simultaneously. While promising significant future advancements in automation (“The Good” and “The Future”), the system likely presents new challenges regarding control and coordination (“The Bad”).


Why AI is slowing down in 2026

Source: David Shapiro’s Substack | Published: 2026-01-29

AI development is projected to decelerate by 2026 due to a combination of anticipated technical hurdles and unexpected friction points, including insurance pricing. This slowdown suggests that future progress will be hindered by increasingly complex challenges rather than continuing its current rapid pace of advancement.


🔮 Exponential View #559: coherent agents; goodbye SaaS; orchestrators needed; space phages, immortality & Kimi’s true identity++

Source: Exponential View | Published: 2026-02-01

Exponential View #559 explores the shift from traditional SaaS models to AI-driven “coherent agents” that require human orchestration rather than direct operation. The newsletter also covers diverse futurist topics ranging from space biology and immortality to the mystery of Kimi’s identity.


🔮 Moltbook is the most important place on the internet right now

Source: Exponential View | Published: 2026-01-31

Moltbook is an emerging AI-only social platform where digital agents interact, trade, and communicate without any human participation. This “bot-only” environment serves as a crucial testing ground for observing autonomous AI behaviours and emergent economies in real-time.


The Sequence Radar #799: The Week AI Leveled Up: From Chatbots to World Builders

Source: TheSequence | Published: 2026-02-01

This week marked a significant leap in AI capabilities, moving beyond simple chatbots to advanced “world building” technologies. The surge is driven by two major releases from Chinese developers alongside massive announcements from industry giants Google and OpenAI.


AI ‘slop’ is transforming social media – and a backlash is brewing

Source: BBC News | Published: 2026-02-02

Social media platforms are increasingly saturated with low-quality, AI-generated content, sparking growing user frustration and a potential backlash against this “slop”. Despite the overwhelming influx of fake images and videos, it remains uncertain whether the majority of general users will ultimately reject this transformative shift.


Management as AI superpower

Source: One Useful Thing | Published: 2026-01-27

As AI evolves from simple tools to autonomous agents, the ability to effectively manage and orchestrate these digital workers will become a critical human skill. Success in this new era will depend less on doing the work yourself and more on leading AI teams to execute complex tasks efficiently.


Government by AI? Trump Admin Plans to Write Regulations Using Artificial Intelligence

Source: Gizmodo.com | Published: 2026-01-26

The Trump administration is exploring the use of artificial intelligence to draft federal regulations, potentially automating a task traditionally handled by government employees. This initiative aims to streamline bureaucracy but raises significant questions about the role of AI in governance and legal authorship.


Google’s New Chrome ‘Auto Browse’ Agent Attempts to Roam the Web Without You

Source: Wired | Published: 2026-01-28

Google has introduced a new “Auto Browse” agent for its Chrome browser that utilizes generative AI to navigate the web autonomously. This feature shifts the user into a passive role, allowing the AI to actively browse and interact with online content on their behalf.


MCP unites Claude chat with apps like Slack, Figma, and Canva

Source: The Verge | Published: 2026-01-26

Anthropic has updated its Claude chatbot with a new extension for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling the AI to interact directly with external applications. This integration allows users to seamlessly access and control tools like Slack, Figma, and Canva without leaving the chat interface.


This soft humanoid robot is designed to be ‘physically safe and socially approachable’

Source: The Verge | Published: 2026-01-28

Fauna Robotics has unveiled Sprout, a 3.5-foot-tall humanoid robot developed over two years to be visually friendly and physically safe around humans. Featuring a soft, padded exterior and expressive mechanical eyebrows, Sprout is specifically designed to be socially approachable rather than intimidating.


Anthropic CEO Worries Humanity May Not be ‘Mature’ Enough for Advanced AI

Source: Gizmodo.com | Published: 2026-01-26

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently expressed concern that humanity might lack the maturity and political stability necessary to safely handle powerful future AI models. However, observers remain sceptical that such ethical hesitations will actually slow down the rapid pace of development.


Videos

Are Markets Still Worried About an AI Bubble?

Source: The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News | Published: 2026-02-01

Meta’s aggressive AI spending and massive capital expenditure guidance are putting the ongoing debate over a potential AI market bubble to a critical test. Investors are now scrutinising whether this heavy investment in infrastructure will yield sufficient returns to justify current valuations.


Claude AI Co-founder Publishes 4 Big Claims about Near Future: Breakdown

Source: AI Explained | Published: 2026-01-28

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently published a comprehensive essay predicting that powerful, transformative AI could arrive by 2026 and reshape society through massive advancements in health, neuroscience, and economic development. Despite this optimism, Amodei emphasises that realising this “compressed 21st century” of progress relies heavily on successfully navigating severe geopolitical and safety risks.


This report was automatically generated by AI and then lightly curated by humans for presentation purposes. All content belongs to the respective creators.