The next technology epoch is here

AI gained mainstream attention with tools like IBM Watson and Apple’s Siri

With the release of ChatGPT in 2022, which drew over 100 million weekly users in just two months, natural language processing and understanding could be achieved at scale via machine learning. Unlike earlier artificial intelligence that could pull stored knowledge, generative AI produces text, images, or sounds.

Google invented the foundation of the AI movement—but ChatGPT was a shock

For years, Google was the cutting-edge of the AI world, including the development of the Transformer—the basis of contemporary AI chatbots. But since OpenAI debuted ChatGPT in 2022, the company was had to play catch-up. This is a four-hour deep dive into Google's AI history.

Decoding the hype around AI

2022 was the year AI broke onto the scene, with applications like ChatGPT amazing users with its ability to generate realistic-sounding answers. Technologist Arvind Narayanan presents a clear-eyed view of what the technologies can (and can't) do.

View a timeline of AI deployments from 2017 to 2025

The development of transformer architecture and the release of GPTs across AI labs led to rapid changes in LLM scale and power. Companies like OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Anthropic have invested billions of dollars to develop reliable, versatile models.

Google Search incorporated AI Overviews in 2024 to fight back competitors

Analysts believe that generative AI tools—not antitrust rulings—are Google's biggest threat because they draw users away from traditional search and potential ad revenue. AI partnerships, like the one between Apple and OpenAI, may further reduce Google's market share.

The virtual reality era has finally arrived

The smartphone era has driven a large share of the consumer electronics market for almost 20 years now. But what comes next? Dominant computing platforms come and go over time, and there’s reason to believe that mixed reality devices like headsets and glasses might be the form factor that eventually replaces smartphones. This article presents a snapshot of where we are right now in the VR era, and what the future holds.

In 2024, Meta launched an AI video generator to create or edit videos through prompts

The tool puts the Meta in direct competition with OpenAI and Google as more companies are investing billions of dollars to capitalize on the explosion of public interest in machine learning and generative media technologies.

Many of the top companies in the US by market cap began as tech startups

Combined, the top seven companies by market cap in the US as of December 2024—Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Tesla—were worth more than $16T at the time.

In 2025, American tech companies will spend $300B to $400B on AI

That is, in nominal dollars, more than any group of companies has ever spent to do anything. Notably, these companies are not remotely close to earning $400B on artificial intelligence.

As of 2025, the internet is entering its fourth phase, with three more to go

Since the inception of the internet as a tool for connecting teams of researchers, technological and infrastructure advancements have progressively increased connectivity. Connections between computers, mobile devices, all devices, and now AI agents will be succeeded by an internet that integrates perception and the senses toward an eventual quantum internet.

Will AI kill us all? A debate

As AI becomes a bigger part of our lives, what does that mean for the future of humanity? The podcast Entanglements hosts a pessimistic former OpenAI employee and an optimistic Princeton professor to discuss whether AI brings dystopia or a brighter future.

CNET previews CES 2026

This CNET preview outlines what’s coming at CES 2026—from major showcases by Samsung, Sony, LG, and Lenovo to expected trends in AI, chips, digital health, mobility, and robotics.

As of 2025, Meta Platforms Inc. is the largest social media company in the world

Facebook alone has nearly three billion monthly active users, with advertising across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp generating 97% of Meta's revenue. Messenger adds more than 650,000 users a daily.

ChatGPT was conceived over dinner at a Silicon Valley hotel

A guest list of tech leaders, including Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, met to discuss how to counter Google's efforts to create human-level cognition systems. The group initially committed a reported $1B to launch the effort.

As of 2025, increasing numbers of people turn to AI companions for emotional connection

These chatbots provide endlessly supportive, one-sided, and highly customizable relationships to users, but may hinder the development of real-world connections and emotional growth. About 72% of teens have tried AI companions, with more than half of them using one regularly.

Apple's future will likely continue to incorporate mixed reality hardware and AI

Although the majority of Apple's profits come from iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales, CEO Tim Cook has overseen a diversification of products since the acquisition of the Beats headphone brand in 2014, including the launch of the Apple Card, Apple TV, and the Vision Pro headset.

AI's growing energy demands are driving tech companies to consider nuclear power

Big Tech has rebranded nuclear power as a green solution to address the strain on the grid from millions of people using power-hungry AI tools. As of mid-2025, generating one image uses as much electricity as charging the average smartphone, or leaving a household light bulb on for 87 consecutive days.

YouTube plans on embracing AI-powered features

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan lays out a series of priorities and predictions for how the online video giant will continue to evolve. Mohan says the company wants AI to play a bigger role—in addition to figuring out how YouTube can evolve and improve the experience of streaming its content.

Tech giants like SpaceX and Meta are increasingly behaving like sovereign powers

Companies now make unilateral decisions once reserved for nation-states, such as controlling satellite internet access in active war zones and influencing global information flows. Lawmakers and the international order are struggling to keep up with technological developments, let alone regulate them.

Expert predictions on the metaverse

Experts are split about the likely evolution of a truly immersive metaverse. Many worry current online problems may be magnified if Web3 development is led by those who built today’s dominant web platforms.

See a visualization of the most popular e-commerce companies in America

Amazon’s app sees more users than the next four most popular e-commerce apps (like Temu, Walmart, and others) combined.

In 1999, Microsoft and Intel’s addition signaled the information tech era for the Dow

Microsoft and Intel became the first information technology firms added to the DJIA. Their inclusion marked a turning point—the digital revolution and tech began to drive the American economy.

Google reveals the top searches of 2023

Google Search remains the world's most popular online search engine, and the tech behemoth reveals the most common searches from at the end of every year. See global as well as more local trends in most common searches for people, films, and more.

The evolution of X, from startup to Musk-owned giant, reflects rapid tech shifts

Twitter began in 2006 as a side project and grew into a major global platform, widely used for news, activism, and political discourse. Despite mainstream success, it faced ongoing management turmoil, business struggles, and rising concerns over misinformation and user safety.

Social media algorithms are shaping real-life language through memes

The evolution of the internet in the early 2000s supercharged the creation and spread of memetic content. Now, highly tuned algorithms on platforms like TikTok and YouTube influence the language, phrasing, and content of creators, which shapes how we use language in the real world.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.