Singapore AI News & Daily Briefing

Meta's Muse AI assistant drew 2.8 million downloads in 12 days, prompting analysts to predict it could become a major paid product. It can handle emails, bookings and transactions, but is currently limited to the US and Canada.

Apple is pitching new Mac Mini and Mac Studio desktops as a cheaper way to run demanding AI jobs locally instead of renting cloud computing. Some configurations cost nearly US$20,000, but businesses could avoid per-use AI fees over time.

Meta’s Muse became the top free app in the US and drew more than 902,000 downloads in six days. It can use users’ social content and connected services to handle tasks, raising the stakes for convenience and online privacy.

[Search](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/search) [](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/global?ref=logo "The Business Times")  [Subscribe](https://subscribe.sph.com.sg/btpe-mthlyprepaid/?utm_campaign=btp99&utm_medium=sph-publication&utm_source=bt&utm_content=subscribebutton-header) # Amazon blocks Meta’s Muse AI agent from its retail site The e-commerce giant builds its own automated shopping tools and seeks to stop rivals’ bots from using its platform [Summarise](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/pulse/article/9716415?ref=pulse-article-top)![Image 3: share icon](blob:http://localhost/2a264bcbe362008e285b1a86

AI glasses and wearable recorders face lawsuits, venue restrictions and public distrust because they can capture bystanders. Makers are responding with camera-free designs, visible recording alerts and local processing, but clear consent rules will determine whether wearables become mainstream.

Paper2Agent is an open-source tool that turns a research paper, its code and supporting files into an AI assistant that can run the study’s methods. It could help scientists and students reproduce work faster, though 26 of 100 tested biology papers failed because their materials were incomplete.

A flaw in Meta’s Muse assistant let attackers hijack user accounts and misuse access to files, connected apps and device features. Meta patched it after about 12 hours, but Mac users should update and think twice before granting an AI assistant sweeping access.

Anthropic's Claude Opus 5.5 is faster and about 40% cheaper to run than Opus 5, while giving subscribers 20% more five-hour capacity. Power users may get more work from a subscription, though the performance and safety claims come mainly from Anthropic and early users.

AI coding tools produce software faster than many teams can inspect it. In a survey of more than 1,100 developers, 96% did not fully trust AI output and 38% said reviewing it required more effort, prompting companies to add automated checks and human oversight for risky changes.

Google DeepMind has mapped how 9 billion possible one-letter DNA changes may affect genes and released the results free for academic research. It could help scientists prioritise rare-disease experiments faster, but laboratory validation is still essential.

Google is rolling out Gemini 3.8 Live models for smoother voice conversations that can process visual inputs, switch among 97 languages mid-chat and complete tool-based tasks while still talking. Support is coming across Gemini, Search, Gmail, Keep and Workspace.

Gemini can now search through long videos, audio and transcripts to inspect only the moments needed to answer a question. Google says this makes analysis up to 66% cheaper and 7% more accurate, with support coming to Gemini and YouTube.

AI servers are being packed with so much computing power that data centres increasingly need liquid cooling instead of relying on fans. This could make larger AI systems easier to operate, but the article is a paid pitch for supplier CoolIT rather than independent reporting.

OpenAI has improved how GPT-6 reuses repeated instructions. Developers running assistants over many steps should see faster replies and API bills up to 90% lower for reusable content, making long-running AI tools more practical to build.

Robotics researcher Barbara Mazzolai is calling for robots to be designed so they can be reused, recycled or biodegraded. If this approach gains traction, it could reduce electronic waste and make robots more useful for farming and environmental monitoring.

Many youngsters fascinated by exploring outer space dream of becoming an astronaut, but few do. One who had the right stuff is Pedro Duque , who was Spain’s first astronaut. The aeronautics engineer flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station . After retiring as an astronaut, he headed Spain’s Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities . Today he is the chairman of HispaSat , a Spanish satellite company. Pedro Duque Employer HispaSat in Madrid Title President and chairman of the board Member grade Honorary member Alma mater The Polytechnic University of Madrid Nearly 30 years after his first mission, Duque is still Spain’s most famous astronaut. Three public schools have been named after him, and he has received numerous awards. This year, the IEEE Bo

September 8, 2026 Science AlphaGenome Atlas team How predicting the molecular impact of every possible single-letter DNA variant in the human genome will help accelerate our understanding of biology. Today, we are introducing AlphaGenome Atlas: a platform ([detailed in our paper](https://storage.googleapis.com/deepmind-media/DeepMind.com/Blog/alphagenome-atlas-a-predictive-map-of-every-possible-dna-letter-change-in-the-human-genome/alphagenome-atlas.pdf)) containing predictions for the effects of **9 billion single-nucleotide variants — every single-letter change possible — in the human genome.** It is the most comprehensive catalogue of how genetic mutations affect molecular biology, and it is available for academic research through an intuitive and free-to-use [website portal](https://al