AI Leadership Weekly

Top Stories

Reddit issues ‘legal demands’ over unauthorised AI research
It was recently revealed that researchers from the University of Zurich used the r/changemyview subreddit as an experimental playground to see if AIs could be persuasive to humans. Understandably, this has drawn outrage from the Reddit community, with the researchers now facing legal action.

The study, which used AI bots to debate Reddit users without consent, involved generating deceptive personas (e.g., “rape survivors” or “Black Lives Matter opponents”) and mining user data to infer sensitive details like race and political views. One prompt even instructed the AI to “analyse a Reddit user’s posting history to infer sociodemographic characteristics.”

Reddit’s top lawyer, Ben Lee, warned the University of Zurich researchers that the company is considering legal action. The university has also now confirmed they’ve abandoned publishing results, citing an “exceptionally challenging” ethics review. The university’s ethics committee called for better justification, participant transparency, and platform compliance, though its recommendations are non-binding. The incident has prompted the university to adopt stricter review processes, emphasising coordination with online communities before experiments.

$70 million to debug code in production
Lightrun, an Israeli startup specialising in code analysis and remediation, has secured $70 million in Series B funding. The round, led by Accel and Insight Partners, follows a $40 million Series A in 2021, bringing total funding to $110 million.

The startup’s flagship product, the "Runtime Autonomous AI Debugger," integrates directly into IDEs and uses AI simulations to identify and fix potential issues in code before deployment. Their core challenge is the surge in production issues caused by AI coding assistants and human developers, with up to 60% of bugs being traced to code created by both humans and AI (an issue that'll only intensify as integrated code assistants become more prevalent and generate more and more code to audit and debug).

“Code is becoming cheap but bugs are expensive,” according to CEO Eran Ben Zaken, and says that Lightrun’s solution reduces the need for reactive troubleshooting. And while the company is currently focused on IDE-based tools, it leaves room for future expansion into cyber security and code-creation assistance tools.

Take It Down Act will combat deepfakes
The U.S. House passed the Take It Down Act, a bill which criminalises the distribution of non-consensual sexually explicit deepfake videos and images, and requires social media platforms to remove such content within 48 hours.

The legislation, backed by President Trump and the First Lady, aims to combat the rising threat of AI-generated revenge porn and deepfake abuse, which has increasingly targeted individuals, particularly women and teens. Activists and victims’ advocates praised the bill as long-overdue action, with Melania Trump highlighting its importance in shielding young people from “toxic” online content.

While the bill seems like common sense, two Republican lawmakers have opposed it, warning it could enable “slippery slopes” and abuse, such as fake takedown requests. Trump himself “joked” that he’d “use it for myself too.” Critics, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, raised concerns about the law’s potential to stifle free speech and privacy and warned that mandatory takedowns could lead to overzealous filtering, flawed AI moderation, and vulnerabilities in encrypted platforms. They also argued that the bill “threatens free expression” without addressing deeper issues like AI misuse.

In Brief

• NotebookLM ‘podcast’ overviews now available in over 50 languages

• Alibaba unveils Qwen3 family of ‘hybrid’ reasoning models

• Freepik releases ‘open’ AI image generator

Market Trends

OpenAI launches shopping features in ChatGPT, competing with Google
OpenAI has rolled out shopping capabilities in ChatGPT, enabling users to search for products, receive recommendations, and click links to purchase via retailers like Amazon and Walmart. The feature uses user preferences, reviews from sources like Amazon and Reddit, and “stored memories” to tailor suggestions.

Adam Fry, OpenAI’s search product lead, emphasised the tool’s focus on user-specific preferences over Google’s algorithmic approach. “ChatGPT seeks to understand how reviews relate to what users are looking for,” he told Wired. While similar to Google Shopping, OpenAI currently avoids sponsored results, though it may explore monetisation later.

The update raises concerns for affiliate sites, as users might bypass their links, cutting off revenue. Fry noted OpenAI will “experiment” with compensating affiliates but prioritises refining recommendations.

Duolingo to replace some workers with AI
Duolingo’s CEO, Luis von Ahn, announced the company will prioritise AI by phasing out contractors for tasks AI can handle, and by integrating AI into hiring, performance reviews, and headcount decisions.

von Ahn claims the shift aims to eliminate bottlenecks, allowing employees to focus on creative work rather than repetitive tasks. “Without AI, it would take us decades to scale our content,” von Ahn said.

The company also plans AI-powered features like Video Call, enabling tutor-like interactions. von Ahn also noted that, "We can’t wait until the technology is 100% perfect. We’d rather move with urgency and take occasional small hits on quality than move slowly and miss the moment."

$22 million funding round for Japanese cancer-detection startup

Japanese startup Craif is using AI to analyse urine samples and search for microRNA (miRNA) as a noninvasive way of detecting the early stages of cancer.

Craif’s initial product, miSignal, targets seven cancers (including breast, pancreatic, and lung cancers) and is already generating revenue in Japan. Currently, they distribute their test kits through a variety of sources, including clinics and pharmacies, and direct-to-consumer. They have also now established a San Diego office to support its expansion into the US. Currently, they are collaborating with 30 medical institutions and are planning for FDA trials by 2029.

The company, spun off from Nagoya University, has raised $57 million in funding and is positioning itself as a leader in AI-driven diagnostics. Its approach leverages the 2024 Nobel Prize-winning research on miRNA, and aims to detect multiple cancers through a simple urine test. Its CEO, Ryuichi Onose, emphasises the need for early detection in under-served populations, highlighting the potential to reduce healthcare disparities through AI-driven diagnostics.

Tools and Resources

Raindrop
Get slack notifications when your AI product fails.

Virton
Take out the risk of buying clothes online by virtually trying them on! Upload your picture to Virton, and their AI tech will overlay the clothing on your.

Panto
Have an AI agent conduct your code review.

Hit reply to let us know which of these stories you found the most important or surprising! And, if you’ve stumbled across an interesting link/tweet/news story of your own, send it our way at [email protected] It might just end up in the next issue!

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