AI news for Saturday, 31 October 2026
The day’s AI news in one list, the biggest stories first. Each story links to its short read and to the outlets that reported it.
- 1 · Funding & DealsOpenAI lowers funding target to $20 billion
OpenAI has lowered its funding target for its latest round from $30 billion to $20 billion, according to multiple reports. The company has secured approximately $11 billion so far, with a first close expected to be even lower.
Reported by TechCrunch and 1 more
- AI Agent Injects Gene Therapy Into Live Mouse Brain
A biotech startup connected an AI agent to robotic lab equipment and had it autonomously select a gene therapy and inject it directly into a live mouse's brain.
Reported by Wired AI and 1 more
- 3 · Policy & DramaJudge allows NAACP lawsuit against xAI to proceed
A federal judge ruled that an NAACP lawsuit against xAI can proceed, rejecting the company's attempt to dismiss claims that it operated gas turbines powering its data center without required air permits and in violation of the Clean Air…
Reported by TechCrunch
- Factory Droid 1.0 adds programmatic tool calling
Factory released an updated coding agent harness that uses programmatic tool calling, allowing a single model request to execute hundreds of tool calls instead of processing each result individually.
Reported by MarkTechPost
- 5 · Policy & DramaGoogle, Anthropic plan to support AI crawling opt-out standard
Major AI developers announced support for a new website crawling standard that would allow website operators to block artificial intelligence developers from using their content to train models.
Reported by SiliconANGLE
- Nvidia in talks to guarantee debt for AI data center
Nvidia is in talks to guarantee billions in debt financing for an AI cloud provider's data center project, an arrangement in which the chipmaker would essentially co-sign loans and step in if the company defaulted on construction payments.
Reported by TechCrunch
- 7 · Funding & DealsDulo raises $130 million for AI engineering
Dulo Inc., a startup co-founded by AI researcher Sebastian Thrun, has raised $130 million in funding from prominent investors including a former Google CEO, venture capitalists, and startup funds.
Reported by SiliconANGLE
- Meta’s Muse Could Upend All Kinds of Businesses. It Hasn’t Yet
Meta's Muse is an AI agent tool that automates online tasks like shopping, and the company claims millions of people are using it to make purchases.
Reported by Wired AI and 1 more
- Apple CEO says company won't ship AI for AI's sake
Apple's CEO stated in a recent interview that the company will use AI in new products but does not want to release AI features simply for the sake of adding AI.
Reported by TechCrunch
- 10 · RoboticsKorean researchers develop beetle-like soft robot
Robotic animals are complex electronic devices equipped with sensors, motors, and artificial intelligence that replicate the appearance and behavior of real or imaginary creatures.
Reported by The Robot Report
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