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Welcome to The Prompt by Kuro House, your daily AI update. Today, we’re diving into five stories that show how AI is reshaping tech, energy, and entertainment in concrete ways. Let’s get right to it.
First up, the smartphone as we know it might be on its way out. True Ventures co-founder Jon Callaghan shared with TechCrunch a bold vision where phones won’t be the main interface in five to ten years. Instead, the firm is backing new hardware like Sandbar, a voice-activated ring designed to capture and organize thoughts seamlessly. This isn’t just about gadgets, but about enabling new behaviors, much like how Peloton changed fitness by building community, not just selling bikes. True Ventures is betting on these alternative interfaces to become essential, as wearables grow faster than smartphones in a saturated market.
Next, Meta just made a major move by acquiring Manus, a Singapore-based AI startup generating over $100 million in annual recurring revenue. According to TechCrunch, Meta is paying $2 billion to bring Manus’s AI agents into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Manus impressed with capabilities like screening job candidates and analyzing stock portfolios, outperforming OpenAI’s Deep Research in benchmarks. However, the acquisition comes with geopolitical scrutiny since Manus’s parent company was founded in Beijing before relocating to Singapore. Meta has assured that Manus will cut all Chinese ownership ties and cease operations in China following the deal.
On the energy front, Wired reports a surprising resurgence of nuclear power in the US, driven by AI’s massive energy demands. President Trump’s administration ordered 10 new reactors by 2030 and reshuffled the nuclear regulator to accelerate progress. Tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are investing heavily in nuclear-powered data centers, with Microsoft even backing the restart of Three Mile Island. Despite the political push and public support, construction costs and timelines remain major hurdles, leaving the future of nuclear uncertain. Meanwhile, coal plants are getting temporary lifelines but face long-term decline as renewables continue to dominate.
In a lighter yet thought-provoking story, The Verge’s Allison Johnson tested Google’s Gemini AI by recreating a commercial scenario with her child’s stuffed animal. The ad shows Gemini tracking down a lost toy and generating adventurous images and videos of it, but the real AI experience was more complex and imperfect. Gemini struggled to identify the toy accurately and required careful prompting to produce believable visuals, especially videos. More importantly, Johnson reflects on the ethical side of using AI to simulate emotional connections with children, drawing a firm line against AI-generated voices addressing her son directly. The story highlights both the promise and the pitfalls of AI in personal, emotional contexts.
Finally, Hollywood’s embrace of generative AI in 2025 has been messy, according to The Verge. Studios like Disney and Netflix have begun integrating AI tools for production and localization, but the results are often underwhelming or outright problematic. Amazon’s AI-dubbed anime series, for example, suffered from poor translations and was quickly pulled after public backlash. Despite lawsuits over copyright and quality issues, major players are doubling down, with Disney signing a billion-dollar deal with OpenAI to allow AI-generated videos featuring their characters. The industry is entering what some call the “slop era” of AI content, raising questions about quality and creativity going forward.
That wraps up today’s top AI stories shaping our world in tangible ways. From the death of the smartphone to nuclear-powered AI data centers, and from emotional AI experiments to Hollywood’s AI struggles, the landscape is evolving fast. Thanks for tuning in to The Prompt by Kuro House. Catch you tomorrow for more insights.
