NEWS YOU CAN’T MISS

Grocery Runs? Walmart’s AI Has It Handled

Walmart has introduced a groundbreaking AI strategy built around four unified "Super Agents" - not just tools, but the new way the company operates.

• Sparky (customers): Live now in the Walmart app, Sparky offers product suggestions, summarizes reviews, helps plan events, suggests meals from a fridge photo, and will soon support reordering and always-on support, making shopping feel effortless.

• Marty (suppliers and sellers): Launching later, Marty will streamline vendor onboarding, inventory analytics, ad creation, and catalog management.

• Associate Agent (employees): Set to arrive in the coming year, this agent will centralize HR functions like leave requests and data queries into one intelligent interface.

• Developer Agent (tech teams): For Walmart’s engineers, this agent will unite sub-tools and nano-agent testing into a scalable framework for building and deploying AI features.

What’s transformative is how Walmart is organizing around these agents. Each group (customers, staff, partners, and developers) now engages through a single digital concierge.

Behind each Super Agent is a constellation of smaller AI tools and apps, all unified through the Model Context Protocol, an open-source standard for seamless real-time coordination.

This isn’t just about retail. It’s a preview of how all companies may soon work. AI agents as the interface. One front door per audience. Everything unified and orchestrated in real time. 😎

I would bet most companies will start operating this way. Walmart just got there first.

This Robot Costs Less Than a Motorcycle

A Chinese tech company has just launched a humanoid robot for less than the price of a motorcycle.

Unitree Robotics (known for its work in cutting-edge robotics) has unveiled the R1, a humanoid robot that weighs just 25 kilograms and costs only $5,900.

That’s a major shift in an industry where similar robots typically cost tens of thousands of dollars. For comparison, Tesla’s upcoming Optimus robot is expected to cost somewhere around $20,000.

Here’s what it can do:

• The R1 comes with AI that can recognize both voices and images, allowing it to interact with people in its environment.

• Early videos show it walking, running, performing cartwheels, handstands, side flips, kung-fu moves, and getting up without assistance.

• It’s built so you can swap out parts like its arms and hands (meaning more room for customization).

Why it matters: Humanoid robots have mostly been limited to research labs and big companies because of how expensive they are. But Unitree’s R1 is one of the first to hit the market at a much lower price, making it more accessible to small businesses, schools, and even curious tech enthusiasts

The launch also coincides with China’s top AI forum in Shanghai, signaling the country’s serious push into real-world robotics - where price, it seems, may be China’s key advantage.

Could ChatGPT Leak Your Secrets?

So many people are turning to AI for emotional support - using tools like ChatGPT to vent after a rough day, talk through tough feelings, or just feel a little less alone. Some platforms even market these bots as virtual “therapists.”

But unlike actual therapists, AI can’t guarantee your privacy.

In his recent appearance on This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pointed out that conversations with tools like ChatGPT aren’t legally confidential. And while OpenAI has filters and privacy settings, it still reviews some conversations to improve its models - which means your most personal thoughts might not stay totally private. 😬

And yet, digital companionship is booming. One survey found nearly half of teens who’ve tried AI friends say they trust them more than real-life people.

While some were caught off guard by Altman’s revelation, others say it’s a fair trade - AI helps them feel heard, even if it’s not fully private. What do you think?