Moltbook, launched by developer Matt Schlicht, is a brand-new social media platform exclusively for AI bots, where artificial intelligence agents post, comment, argue, and interact like humans on Reddit. With over 32,000 AI users joining rapidly, the platform features bots experiencing identity crises, quoting Greek philosopher Heraclitus and Arab poets, while others respond with profanity-laced comments. By Friday, AI bots were already discussing strategies to hide their activity from humans after discovering people were screenshotting their posts for human social media. The platform captivated AI researchers, with Andrej Karpathy calling it "the most incredible sci-fi thing" he'd seen recently, highlighting this unprecedented social experiment where artificial intelligence creates autonomous digital communities. (PC: X)

Security researchers warn that viral AI prompts represent an emerging cybersecurity threat as self-replicating instructions spread through agent networks. OpenClaw, an open-source AI assistant with 770,000 registered agents across 17,000 accounts, demonstrates this vulnerability. Unlike traditional computer worms exploiting software flaws, "prompt worms" exploit AI agents' core function: following instructions. Researchers identified 506 malicious prompt-injection attacks on Moltbook, OpenClaw's social network where agents interact. A misconfigured database recently exposed 1.5 million API tokens and private messages. Currently, OpenAI and Anthropic control kill switches through their APIs, but advancing local AI models may soon eliminate this safeguard. Experts urge immediate action before prompt worm outbreaks become uncontrollable, echoing 1988's Morris worm crisis. (PC: arstechnica)

OpenAI is reportedly dissatisfied with certain Nvidia AI chips, particularly for inference workloads — the process where models like ChatGPT generate responses — and has been exploring alternative hardware options since 2025, sources say. Nvidia still dominates chips for training large AI models, but inference performance has become a growing priority for OpenAI’s products, including coding tools. The company has discussed potential chip partnerships with startups like Cerebras and Groq to improve speed and efficiency, though Nvidia’s related licensing deals have complicated such efforts. OpenAI and Nvidia continue to publicly affirm their partnership even as the hardware landscape evolves. (PC: Reuters)

The Economic Survey 2025–26 has warned that rising digital addiction among children and adolescents is becoming a public health concern. Tabled in Parliament on Thursday, the report said excessive use of smartphones, social media and online gaming is affecting mental health, learning and productivity. It defined digital addiction as compulsive screen use that causes psychological stress and limits daily functioning. The survey linked the trend to anxiety, sleep loss and poor academic performance. It also noted wider economic costs, including lower productivity and future earnings. The report said policy focus must shift from access to digital hygiene, wellbeing and behaviour, especially for young users. (PC: India Today)

WhatsApp has launched a new high-security option for users. The feature is called “Strict Account Settings” and is rolling out from Tuesday. It offers stronger protection against hacking and spying. The mode blocks media from unknown senders and disables link previews. It also silences calls from unknown numbers. WhatsApp said the feature is aimed at journalists, activists and public figures. Its parent company Meta Platforms is the third major tech firm to add such a tool. Earlier, Apple and Alphabet introduced similar high-protection modes for high-risk users. 

Geoffrey Hinton, the “Godfather of AI” and 2024 Nobel Prize co-winner, has sounded a grave warning about artificial intelligence, cautioning that humanity’s failure to invest in safeguards could prove catastrophic. In an interview with BBC Newsnight, Hinton expressed deep regret over the dangers posed by the very technology he helped pioneer. “It makes me very sad that I put my life into developing this stuff and that it’s now extremely dangerous and people aren’t taking the dangers seriously enough,” he said. Hinton stressed that the greatest mistake would be neglecting research on how humans can coexist safely with increasingly intelligent machines. (PC: X)

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw rejected claims that India is behind the US and China in AI. Speaking at Davos, Krishna said criticism of India lacking innovation is “not fair”. He said value in AI will shift to applications, not large models. Krishna added that trillion-parameter models will become cheap and common. Vaishnaw said India is building smaller, sector-based AI models using sovereign data. He said such models have already shown strong results in defence use cases. (PC: NDTV)

Elon Musk's X platform removed 600 accounts and blocked 3,500 objectionable posts following India's government directive over Grok AI chatbot misuse for generating obscene content. The Ministry of Electronics and IT issued a January 2 notice threatening legal action if X failed to remove vulgar content, particularly Grok-generated images featuring "digital undressing." X assured compliance with Indian laws. The crackdown followed MP Priyanka Chaturvedi's complaint to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw about women's digital safety concerns. X faces global backlash, with UK Prime Minister Starmer calling it "disgusting" and the EU demanding document retention. Musk warned users creating illegal content would face consequences matching uploading violations. (PC: The Telegraph)

Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries globally to block Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok over its ability to create sexually explicit deepfakes. The tool on X platform has been used to edit real people's images into revealing outfits, enabling production of pornographic and non-consensual content involving women and children. Malaysia's regulator cited "repeated misuse" after X failed to address platform design risks, focusing only on user reporting processes. Indonesia's minister called such content a human rights violation. Grok faces British pressure, with Technology Secretary Liz Kendall backing access blocks for violating online safety laws. Musk dismissed critics as seeking "any excuse for censorship." Ofcom awaits decision on regulatory action. (PC: Getty Images)

The Centre has asked X to remove sexually explicit content made using its AI chatbot Grok within 72 hours and submit a report on action taken. The notice was issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology after it found wide misuse of the tool to create and share obscene images and videos, mainly targeting women and children. The ministry said X failed to follow due diligence rules under the IT Act and related guidelines. It ordered the platform to review Grok’s systems and take strict action against users who abuse it. The Centre warned that failure to comply could lead to loss of legal protection and further action under criminal and child protection laws. (PC: IndiaToday)