🏃 Humanoid robot beats human record for half-marathon

The race between humans and machines just got a little more literal. This weekend, a Chinese android ran a half-marathon faster than any human ever has, and it wasn't even close. Let’s dive in!

In today’s insights:

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Evolving AI: A Chinese humanoid robot ran a half-marathon in under 51 minutes, beating the human world record.

Picture this: a bright-red 169cm android swinging its short arms, blowing past human runners in Beijing and crossing the finish line without breaking stride. That was Sunday. Lightning, developed by smartphone maker Honor, clocked 50:26 over 21 kilometers. More than 100 robot teams entered this year, up from around 20 last year when most machines barely made it to the end. Lightning also beat the previous robot champion by almost two hours, which tells you how fast this field is moving.

Running fast on two legs is a benchmark because it forces every subsystem to work together. China is using these events to industrialize humanoids the way it once industrialized EVs and solar panels. The US still builds more sophisticated single machines. But sophistication rarely wins industrial races. Scale does. Which approach will define the next decade of robotics?

Evolving AI: Your Guide to Building Secure AI Applications.

As AI adoption accelerates, new attack surfaces are emerging across infrastructure, supply chains, and model interfaces. Datadog’s AI Security Best Practices Guide breaks down how to secure:

This guide provides actionable strategies to help teams strengthen AI security without slowing innovation.

Free Download →

Evolving AI: Anthropic just dropped Claude Design, a tool that turns your ideas into slides, prototypes, and one-pagers.

The idea is simple. You tell Claude something like "prototype a calming meditation app with soft colors," and it builds an initial version. From there you can tweak fonts, swap colors, or add a dark mode toggle just by asking. It's aimed at founders and product managers who need to move fast without opening a design tool. Claude Design can also learn your team's design system by reading your codebase and design files, so everything stays on-brand. Anthropic says it complements Canva rather than competes with it.

Every creative tool AI absorbs shifts what counts as a skill. Design used to be a gate, but now it's just a prompt. This isn't just another feature launch. It's part of a pattern where specialized software becomes a conversation layer instead. As Anthropic eyes an $800 billion valuation, the real question is who still needs the original tools.

Not with brick-and-mortar stores. With robotic kiosks from ART. ART makes serving food 24/7 possible for brands like White Castle at .001% the cost of a new brick-and-mortar. That makes entering new markets a three-step process. Plug it in. Stock it. Turn it on. No wonder the three biggest foodservice providers in the US also use it. Get guaranteed bonus stock as an ART investor by 4/25.

Invest in ART Today

^{This is a paid advertisement for Automated Retail Technologies Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.automatedrt.com/}

Evolving AI: The White House is rolling out Anthropic's Mythos model to federal agencies, and the cybersecurity stakes are huge.

Federal CIO Gregory Barbaccia told Cabinet officials in a Tuesday email that the OMB is setting up protections to enable Mythos access. The model, announced April 7, is part of Project Glasswing, a controlled program for defensive cybersecurity work. Mythos has demonstrated elite-level coding and vulnerability discovery. The email did not confirm which agencies will get access or set a timeline. The White House says evaluation for fidelity and security comes first.

The Pentagon still lists Anthropic as a national security risk, all because the company drew a line at autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. The White House is looking past that and rolling out Mythos across agencies. Same safeguards, two very different reactions. It turns out the rules only matter until the government wants the tool badly enough.

QUICK HITS

🎬 OpenAI’s former Sora boss is leaving.

⚠ Cloud development platform Vercel was hacked.

🧪 Slime-like artificial muscle reshapes on command, heals after damage and turns one robot into many.

🧬 Generative AI may help scientists connect the many layers of cancer.

🏦 Banks are seeking to use AI as a tool for both protection and competition.

💻 The Google app for desktop is now available for Windows users around the world.

 *partner link