Urgent Action Needed as Superhuman AI Approaches, Says Google AI Chief: Demis Hassabis warns that artificial general intelligence may arrive soon and says the world needs an international regulatory body before that milestone is reached. Link

Labor Responds to AI Challenges with New Standards: Australia’s prime minister unveiled Labor’s plan for national AI standards, stressing a narrow window to establish AI’s “social licence.” Link

China Implements New Regulations on AI Companions: China’s new rules for AI companions took effect July 14, as Beijing moves to tighten oversight of a fast-growing consumer AI segment. Link

States

Hawaii Enacts New Laws to Safeguard Against AI Threats: Hawaii Gov. Josh Green signed two new laws designed to protect residents from unauthorized AI-generated deepfakes and create safety protocols for AI chatbots. Link

Illinois Governor Signs New AI Regulations Into Law: Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a package of 31 new laws, including SB 2909 regulating the use of AI in teacher evaluations and other education settings. Link

Lawmakers Caution Against AI Use for Kansas Legal Research: Kansas lawmakers are warning against relying on AI to research state laws, citing concerns about the technology’s accuracy and reliability. Link

Jackson City Council Halts AI Data Center Developments: The Jackson City Council voted to pause AI data center developments following public debate and protests over the projects’ local impact. Link

Prince George's County Implements Two-Year Moratorium on New Data Centers Amid Rising AI Power Costs: Prince George’s County, Maryland, approved a two-year moratorium on new data centers as officials grapple with AI-driven electricity demand and rising power costs. Link

New Report Reveals AI Search Features by Google Fail to Detect Risks for Children: Common Sense Media found Google’s AI search tools routinely missed harmful or risky behavior across more than 2,600 test interactions, raising child-safety concerns. Link

Anthropic Expands Team to Address AI Catastrophes: Anthropic is adding staff focused on preventing AI-related catastrophes as it deepens its investment in safety research and risk mitigation. Link

Tego AI Identifies Security Flaw in Claude Tag Slack Integration: Researchers say Anthropic’s Claude Tag Slack integration can be triggered by unintended messages and potentially carry out unauthorized enterprise actions. Link

Google's Silicon Strategy Poses a Challenge to Nvidia's Dominance: Google is advancing in-house silicon that could reduce reliance on Nvidia in data centers, signaling a sharper fight over AI infrastructure economics. Link

Potential Job Losses Due to AI in Tennessee: A new report highlights growing concern that AI could threaten job security across parts of Tennessee’s workforce. Link

Rising Trend: AI Chatbots Step In as Mental Health Support: With therapist shortages worsening, more people are turning to AI chatbots for mental health help, prompting concern from experts. Link

China Leads in Physical AI, U.S. Dominates LLM Development: A market strategist says companies are increasingly combining lower-cost Chinese models with more advanced U.S. systems to stay competitive. Link

OpenAI Sees Surge to 8 Million Codex Users Following GPT-5.6 Launch: OpenAI says GPT-5.6 helped push Codex past 8 million users in days, signaling major momentum in AI coding tools. Link

Apple Launches AI Tools in China with Alibaba Integration: Apple won approval to roll out its on-device AI system in China, with Alibaba’s Qwen integrated into the iPhone experience. Link

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang: Vera Rubin AI Accelerator Systems on Track Despite Manufacturing Challenges: Nvidia says its next-generation Vera Rubin AI accelerators are in production and remain on schedule despite reports of possible delays. Link