Eliana Willis

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETLast month, Meta hosted its first generative AI developer conference, LlamaCon, where it planned to release the “Behemoth” large language model. Instead, the company pushed the release to June, and now, a new report suggests it might slip further — to the fall or later.Also: The top 20 AI tools – and the #1 thing to remember when you use themAccording to The Wall Street Journal, Meta engineers are “struggling to significantly improve the capabilities” of Behemoth. That’s especially interesting given that, just weeks ago, Meta claimed Behemoth is still in training and yet already “outperforms” all major competitors — including GPT-4.5, Claude Sonnet 3.7, and Gemini 2.0 Pro — on several STEM benchmarks. Concerns are brewing Large language models (LLMs) power AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Meta AI, processing prompts on the fly and generating human-like text in response. Behemoth was billed as Meta’s “most powerful yet” LLM — “one of the smartest in the world” — and meant to serve as a “teacher” for future models. That’s the public story; internally, concerns are brewing. Also: Meta’s new AI app delivers a chatbot with a social media twistInside Meta, engineers reportedly worry that Behemoth does not offer enough of an improvement over existing models to “justify” a public release. Keep in mind: Meta released Llama 4 in April. (Llama, short for Large Language Model Meta AI, is Meta’s family of LLMs.) To date, two smaller Llama 4 variants, Scout and Maverick, are available, and Meta has teased another lightweight version. ZDNET requested a comment from Meta and will update this article if a representative responds. More

Getty Images/dowell The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to sweeping proclamations — and dire warnings — about the future of the job market. Some hail the technology as a revolutionary boon for human productivity; others lament it as the harbinger of large-scale layoffs or even a death knell for human creativity.  Also: Google […] More

When is Memorial Day? Memorial Day always falls on the last Monday of May. This year, it is on Monday, May 26, 2025. However, retailers will have sales all weekend long and even weeks ahead of the holiday itself. Is Memorial Day a federal holiday?Yes, Memorial Day is one of 11 federal holidays recognized nationwide in the US. It is celebrated on the last Monday of May annually. Typically, schools, businesses, and government offices are closed during Memorial Day. Essential institutions like hospitals, airports, police stations, and more do not close for Memorial Day. Is Amazon having a Memorial Day sale? Amazon will likely have a Memorial Day sale and plenty of items discounted. In fact, the retailer does have a Memorial Day sales More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETThe Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge More

Noam Galai/Getty Images People might say they’re not willing to pay for AI, but numbers show otherwise.  Earlier this year, a ZDNET/Aberdeen survey into AI assistants found that only 8% of adults said they would be willing to pay extra for AI capabilities in their products and services. A recent CNET study centered around AI […] More

If you’re a medical or legal professional needing transcripts of dictations, a journalist looking to transcribe interviews with sources, or part of a team making use of real-time meeting notes, a transcription service can translate audio and video conversations onto paper for you. The best transcription services do this with a high degree of accuracy, whether you’re relying on human transcriptionists or AI-powered features. Also: The best VPNs we’ve testedWhat is the best transcription software right now?I tested different transcription software options to determine which ones produce accurate transcripts of live and recorded audio for a variety of user needs. Based on my testing, GoTranscript More

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETAt a time when major streaming services are announcing more and more ads, two more are following suit — and they’re using AI.Also: I used Netflix’s secret codes to quintuple my viewing options – here’s howTwo major media companies, Netflix and YouTube, announced plans this week to utilize new ad formats to keep users engaged, and both are using AI. Netflix is ‘marrying’ ads with showsNetflix’s announcement came during its annual Upfront event for advertisers. Through a new in-house advertising platform, Netflix Ads Suite, the company is adding several creative ad formats. Also: Netflix’s new AI search feature makes it easier to find what to watchAmong them is an interactive ad format that uses generative AI to “instantly marry advertisers’ ads with the worlds of our shows.” From Netflix’s description, it seems like these ads will blend into whatever show you’re watching to feel less intrusive (but hopefully they appear different enough that it’s clear it’s an ad). These ads will be both midroll and on the pause screen, and will have custom overlays, second screen buttons, and more. The format will be available to advertisers by 2026. YouTube More

Piyawat Wuttichaikitcharoen / Getty Images Tech executives are moving swiftly to embrace AI agents, according to the latest Technology Pulse Poll from accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY). The poll, which surveyed more than 500 tech leaders in April, found about half (48%) of respondents have at least begun deploying agentic AI within their organizations. […] More