Microsoft has launched two new "reasoning agents" for Copilot that were designed to analyze vast amounts of work data, including emails, meetings, chats and documents. The first tool called "Researcher" is based on OpenAI's deep research model combined with Copilot's advanced orchestration and deep search capabilities. Researcher was made for "complex, multi-step research" at work. It can take a user's internal work data along with additional information from the web, such as competitive data, emerging trends and the latest market analysis, to create market strategies and comprehensive quarterly reports, among other potential uses. Plus, it can pull data from Salesforce, ServiceNow and other external sources.Meanwhile, the new "Analyst" tool was built to function like a skilled data scientist. It's based on OpenAI's o3-mini reasoning model and uses "chain-of-thought reasoning" to solve issues in multiple steps to provide answers that Microsoft says "mirror human analytical thinking." It can process raw data across multiple spreadsheets to, say, predict future revenue and expenses, forecast demand for a new product and visualize the purchasing patterns of customers. For the most complex data queries, it can run Python, and users will be able to view the code while it's running in real time.Both Researcher and Analyst will be rolling out to customers with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license starting in April as part of "Frontier." Customers enrolled to the new Frontier program will get access to Copilot technologies while they're still in development, starting with these two new tools.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsoft-introduces-deep-research-and-analysis-tools-for-copilot-143001894.html?src=rss

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves' second open beta goes live as SNK announces Cristiano Ronaldo as a playable character (yes, really).

Privacy violations, incorrect information and legal liability all remain worries for businesses adopting AI.

A child-size table and small chairs make up the centerpiece of a playroom. Its where children do crafts, host tea parties for their dolls, play hide-and-seek, and build forts. So it makes sense that people buy a lot of them: By 2030, Americans will spend an estimated $12 billion on play tables.[Photo: Bauen]The market is flooded with sets, ranging from inexpensive ones like Ikeas $50 version to more design-forward varieties like Lalos $300 set. Still, husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Lynn and Cassidy Rouse believe theres room in the market for a better-designed version. More specifically, they wanted to create a set that was indestructible, easy to assemble, usable indoors and outdoors, and even portable. And they wanted to create chairs that were almost impossible to tip over.The Rouseswho have two young childrenspent two years designing a play table and chairs, exploring hundreds of prototypes and materials, until they arrived at their final design: a whimsical-looking set made from recyclable plastic. The product has already won an iF Design Award. This week, theyre launching a $649 play table and chair set through their new brand, Bauen. Over time, they expect to redesign other childrens furniture.A Packed MarketChild-size furniture has been around since the 18th century, when well-to-do families wanted to give their children opportunities to play and develop. Today such items are a staple of childhood.But when the Rouses scoured the market for a play table for their kids, they found most options lacking. Thanks to the rise of cheap, mass-produced furniture, you can find many affordable options from Target, Walmart, and Amazon. The problem is that most of them are made of inexpensive materials that break easily. When we spoke to experienced parents, they said that they had gone through several sets of play tables, Cassidy says. Its become a norm to get an inexpensive play set and expect to throw it out after a few years. If you have a second child, you just buy a whole new set.[Image: Bauen]Outdoor play sets are slightly more durable, since they are made using heavy-duty plastic, but theyre often designed like picnic tables, and dont look good indoors. So you end up buying two setsone for indoors, and another for outdoors, he says.Today, thanks to improved child-safety laws, companies need to follow regulations when designing furniture for kids. After receiving reports of injuries, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission established a rule that chairs marketed for children younger than 5 must go through a stability test issued by a third-party testing agency. The test involves putting the chair at an incline to show that it will not easily tip over if the child sits too far back or leans to one side.But in focus groups, the Rouses heard parents say their kids frequently tipped over in play chairs, partly because often they often sit quietly at the table, instead playing vigorously and leaning backward at an unsafe angle. We didnt think the standard accommodated the way children actually interact with this furniture, Lynn says.[Image: Bauen]Redesigning a ClassicSo they set out to create a better product, starting by designing a chair that is more tip-resistant than others on the market. When you first see the chairs, their proportions look a little comical. They have a very wide seat, a very short 8-inch back, and thick legs (a now patent-pending design). All of this creates a low center of gravity, which makes them harder to tip over.Most childrens chairs are designed like smaller versions of adult chairs, Cassidy says. But we had a breakthrough when we realized that toddlers dont need a large, supportive back; their bodies are often leaning forward to see what is in front of them. By creating a wide seat and a low back, the chair is much more stable.[Image: Bauen]Rethinking the chairs led the Rouses to rethink almost every aspect of the sets design. They wondered whether it was possible to create furniture that would look good indoors but also be practical outdoors. They ended up using polyethylene, a type of durable plastic thats often used to construct outdoor furniture. They sourced it from a company whose products are deemed toxin-free by the EU, which has higher product safety standards than the U.S.[Image: Bauen]Despite being plastic, the set doesnt look like a traditional picnic table and chairs meant for the backyard. The furniture has interesting curves. Depending on how its styled, it can look fun and cartoony in a kids bedroom, or sleek in a modern home. But when the sun comes out, you can easily carry the set out to a deck or garden, so kids can eat and play outside.After trying out many other products on the market, the Rouses discovered things they disliked and avoided them in their own design. For instance, they didnt like the way liquid would spill right off tables, so they designed raised edges so spills would stay contained. Lynn found it annoying that many chairs were not large enough for adults to sit on. We wanted it to fit an adult bottom, she says. That way you can sit with your child at the table. But you can also bring it to the bathroom and sit on it while giving your kid a bath.[Image: Bauen]Finally, they wanted to make the set easy to assemble. The chairs dont require any assembly. For the table, you only have to attach the legs. It doesnt require any tools, and it takes less than two minutes. Importantly, the table is designed to be disassembled easily so you can store it and transport it. You might want to bring it on holiday with you, Lynn says.The Bauen set is certainly thoughtfully designed, but its also much more expensive than other kids furniture on the market. At $649, it is more than double the cost of the Lalo set, which is already considered expensive. The table will likely be appealing to affluent, design-conscious parents. But the Rouses are also trying to make the case that their product is much more durable than others on the market, so its a good value for money.

As AI takes on a greater role in our media ecosystem, many journalists look at it like a farmer sees an invasive species: as a force that threatens to slowly choke, kill, and replace their work, potentially threatening their livelihood.Theres good reason for this: For reporters and editors, AI represents an assault on multiple fronts. Not only can large language models (LLMs) take over many tasks within journalistic workresearch, writing, editingAI systems also threaten to substitute media publications entirely. The more readers get their information from AI, the less reason they have to engage with publishers or journalists directly.Ask a journalist how its going these days, and youre likely to hear, Not great. Many are understandably skeptical, if not outright antagonistic, toward AI. And while the many rounds of recent layoffs at media companies arent happening because AI is replacing journalists en masse, its growing presence in newsrooms is certainly a factor in how those organizations are restructuring themselves.Theres another perspective, however. While the rise of AI is, in many ways, painful for journalists, it may actually be healthy for journalism.Audiences are moving onThe fact is more and more people are using AI to find news and information. ChatGPT now has 400 million weekly active users, and its showing up on top 10 lists of the most popular sites on the internet. A recent study from Adobe found that the amount of traffic that AI services are sending to retail sites has increased 1,200% in just the last seven months. Despite generating far fewer clicks than traditional search, AI tools are driving a massive spike in trafficproof of their growing reach.AI use may be climbing fast, but its all a drop in the bucket compared to regular search. A recent analysis from search expert Rand Fishkin revealed that ChatGPT searches are less than 1% of overall search activity.Googles 10 blue links may still rule the day, but Google is going deeper into AI, too. Its AI Overviewstopic summaries at the top of search resultsnow appear in searches for more users, and it has recently expanded the availability of AI mode, which produces a summary that does away with the links altogether. While Google hasnt yet begun applying these tools to current news articles in a significant way, the trend is clear: more AI in search, not less.So whichever way you turn, the picture is clear: a significant part of our future media ecosystem will be AI-mediated. The key question: How will these systems surface the content for the summaries they give?This is a difficult question to answer definitively, partly because AI companies arent eager to open up their black boxes, but also because the technology itself makes the decisions LLMs make fairly opaque. But we can infer a lot from the outputs they create, and what companies do say.OpenAI publishes a model spec for its LLMsbasically a set of first principles. One of them is seek the truth together, by which it means the AI and user collaborate to find whatever the truthful output is for the users query. Taken at face value, thats well aligned with journalistic principles. Balance and neutrality are also encouraged by AI systems. Most topics in the news have left- and right-leaning takes, with chatbots giving a blended summary, possibly with a note that opinions differ. Overall, AI summaries are the result of a multisource approach that tends to reward depth and uniqueness.The new incentives of AIDeep and unique content that takes a balanced and neutral approach to the truth? We used to call that good journalism. If AI optimizes for these factors and allows for a business model that works, it would alter media incentives for the better. Because we couldnt do much worse than the last decade.When search referrals and social reach ruled the day, publisher incentives were often not aligned with journalistic best practices. Even if you overlook the worst excesses of that era, such as clickbait and content farms, most digital newsrooms were obsessed with running up page views and unique visitors so they could sell big numbers to advertisers. As a result, incentives aligned around content that was provocative and disposable rather than thoughtful and rich.Success in the AI era, however, will be measured by how often your stories are cited in AI summaries. The content will need to be definitive in some waythat leaving it out would weaken the answer to the point where its incomplete or wrong. Thats great motivation for journalists to produce scoops, original quotes, and analysis you cant get anywhere else.Of course, this all hinges on a big assumption: that AI systems can actually maximize accuracy and minimize biasand be trusted to do so. Recent evidence suggests thats far from a sure bet: An extensive study from Newsguard revealed an effort to influence LLM outputs to favor the Russian point of view on the Ukraine war. And it was apparently successful: the brute-force campaign affected the outputs of all the popular AI chatbots and search engines. OpenAI might align its model seek the truth together with the user, but reinforcements may be needed.Theres another snag: the copyright question. The major AI labs have attracted so many copyright lawsuits that elaborate data visualizations are required to keep track. Thats led to several AI companies inking content deals with various publishers, which might be good for business, but theres a big downside for users: information in AI summaries will favor partners, which may not necessarily be the best possible sources. OpenAI, for instance, has said that ChatGPT does this, and it avoids citing, linking, or summarizing content from anyone litigating against it.Courts and legislators could step in, but they might not do so in a way that benefits news publishers. If they decide that the data ingestion that all AI systems do is fair use, that would instantly reduce the value of journalism in the AI market and disincentivize publishers from appearing in AI summaries at all. Extremely strong copyright, on the other hand, might make the information too expensive for AI companies to even offer a wide range of summarized news.This isnt a surrender. Its a strategy.So yes, there a lot to be sorted out before we declare a golden AI age of journalism. But the tools are there to create an ecosystem with the right incentives: a media that can build sustainable business through summarization, a journalism community where talent and hard work are rewarded instead of quick hits and clickbait, and a public that benefits from thorough and fair summaries of topics.The potential of such a vision is worth fighting for, and certainly a much more productive struggle than pushing back against AI as an existential threat. The fact is AI is here to stay, but theres an opportunity to help shape a new system that rewards truth, originality, and transparency. Sure, robots can do a lot, but when journalists do the hard work of telling stories that matter, that impact should be apparenteven to a machine.

Furniture design often walks a delicate line between aesthetic appeal and production efficiency, with manufacturing processes frequently generating significant waste through unused material cutoffs. This challenge becomes particularly pronounced with intricate designs requiring multiple components, where each piece might leave behind scraps that serve no purpose beyond becoming industrial waste. The environmental impact of these practices has pushed designers to reconsider their approach, seeking solutions that maintain visual appeal while minimizing material waste.Enter the Fold chair, a striking example of how thoughtful design can address these concerns through radical simplicity. This remarkable seating solution emerges from a single sheet of powder-coated steel, transformed through strategic folds rather than cuts and joins. The chair demonstrates how manufacturing efficiency doesnt need to compromise design innovationin fact, the constraints of working with a single sheet have produced a uniquely distinctive silhouette that stands apart from conventional seating options.Designer: Lorenz KrisaiThe production process begins with a flat metal sheet cut into what resembles a cloverleaf pattern with four extended legs projecting diagonally from the central form. Through precise folding techniques, this two-dimensional cutout transforms into a three-dimensional chair, with the curved edges becoming the backrest and sides while the extensions fold downward to create sturdy legs. This origami-like transformation occurs without adding a single screw, bolt, or additional component.Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Fold chairs design is how it balances visual lightness with practical functionality. The gentle curves of the seat and backrest create an impression of fabric draped over an invisible frame, though this reference point might not be immediately obvious to all observers. The powder-coated finish adds both durability and visual warmth to what could otherwise feel like an austere industrial object, making it suitable for various interior settings.The chairs stackability adds another layer of practical value, allowing multiple units to nest together efficiently when not in use. This feature makes the design particularly appealing for spaces with fluctuating seating needs, such as cafs, event venues, or flexible workspaces. The ability to stack and store these chairs compactly multiplies their space-saving benefits beyond the material efficiency of their production.Some might question whether the thin metal construction provides adequate support and stability for everyday use. The slender profile certainly creates an impression of delicacy that might cause hesitation. However, the inherent structural properties of folded metal can create surprising strength, similar to how a simple paper fold can dramatically increase a sheets ability to support weight. Simple yet substantial, the Fold chair demonstrates how you can create more with less.The post Single Sheet of Metal Transforms Into an Ultra-Minimalist Stackable Chair first appeared on Yanko Design.

Chess stands as one of humanitys most enduring games, captivating minds across cultures for centuries with its perfect balance of accessibility and depth. While the fundamental rules have remained largely unchanged since medieval times, the sixty-four squares continue to host infinite strategic possibilities, making each match a unique intellectual battle. This timeless quality has allowed chess to transcend generations, maintaining its relevance through countless cultural shifts and technological revolutions.The physical design of chess pieces offers a fascinating canvas for artistic interpretation, allowing the game to reflect different eras, cultures, and artistic movements while preserving its essential playability. The latest remarkable iteration comes through a collaboration celebrating The New Yorker magazines upcoming centennial, transforming the traditional pieces into a miniature homage to Manhattan that captures the publications distinctive visual aesthetic and the citys unmistakable character.Designers: The New Yorker x PrintworksIllustrated by acclaimed artist Christoph Niemann, whose distinctive work has graced numerous New Yorker covers, this wooden chess set reimagines each piece as an iconic element of New York City. The queen, traditionally the boards most powerful figure, takes the form of the Statue of Liberty, an inspired choice that connects Lady Libertys watchful presence over the harbor with the queens commanding influence over the game. This thoughtful symbolism extends throughout the entire collection, creating layers of meaning for players to appreciate.The knights, known for their unique L-shaped movements and ability to jump over other pieces, appear as pigeons in mid-flight, a playful nod to the citys ubiquitous birds that somehow manage to navigate the urban landscape with surprising agility. Meanwhile, the pawns, essential yet often sacrificial pieces, are represented by yellow taxis, here painted in black and white, those ever-present vehicles that form the lifeblood of Manhattans streets, moving steadily forward through the grid-like pattern of the city that resembles a chess board itself.Crafted entirely from high-quality wood, the set maintains the substantial feel and tactile pleasure that serious players expect while introducing visual elements that transform each move into a miniature New York story. The board itself continues the metropolitan theme, with squares that echo the citys famous grid system, creating a cohesive playing experience where Manhattans essence is captured in every aspect of the design, from the smallest pawn to the boards overall aesthetic.This special edition represents a perfect marriage between gaming tradition and artistic innovation, offering chess enthusiasts a fresh perspective on familiar pieces without compromising functionality. For collectors of unique chess sets or admirers of The New Yorkers distinctive illustration style, this collaboration provides a remarkable artifact that celebrates both the magazines cultural contribution and New York Citys enduring character through the medium of play.The set exemplifies how thoughtful design can breathe fresh life into traditional objects, creating something simultaneously familiar and surprising. By transforming abstract chess pieces into recognizable city symbols, Printworks and The New Yorker have created a playable tribute to Manhattan that invites both strategic thinking and appreciation of the citys distinctive character with every move, proving that even after centuries of play, chess continues to find new ways to capture our imagination.The post The New Yorker Chess Set: Where City Icons Make Their Move first appeared on Yanko Design.

Perfect for beginners, this guide will help you to master essential Blender skills while crafting a fun, tasty-looking 3D masterpiece!

Has Tesla become the world's most hated company?

Modern science wouldnt exist without the online research repository known as arXiv. Three decades in, its creator still cant let it go.