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The AI Hype Index: Unsexy AI

MIT Technology Review's AI Hype Index highlights unsexy AI developments including Grok's porn-pilled translation feature, Meta's creepy glasses, and Big Tech's skyrocketing emissions, while noting that AI is paying off for single chip workers in Korea with giant bonuses. The index also covers Subquadratic's claim of breaking a bottleneck holding back LLMs, Anthropic's discovery of a hidden space where Claude puzzles over concepts, and ASML's $400 million machine powering the future of chipmaking.

read2 min views4 publishedJul 29, 2026
The AI Hype Index: Unsexy AI
Image: MIT Tech Review AI

MIT Technology Review’s highly subjective take on the latest buzz about AI

It feels bad enough when an open letter signed by leading economists warns that AI might steal your job. The fact it may soon be better than you at making dinner? Insult to injury. But that’s exactly what the company 1X promised when it showed off a pair of new, impressively dexterous (and, to some, oddly sexy?) robotic hands in a July demo.

While the tech community was sharply divided over the appeal of those disembodied hands, almost everyone can agree that a few things are decidedly not sexy: Grok’s porn-pilled translation feature, Meta’s creepy glasses (which may soon get even creepier), and Big Tech’s emissions (which continue to skyrocket). But while it’s not always the most popular technology, at least AI is paying off for one group: single chip workers in Korea, newly inundated with dating opportunities thanks to their giant bonuses. Who says you can’t buy love?

Deep Dive

Artificial intelligence

A startup claims it broke through a bottleneck that’s holding back LLMs

Subquadratic has now shared more details about its new model. But some are still skeptical.

Anthropic found a hidden space where Claude puzzles over concepts

A new technique has let the company probe deeper than ever into the weird workings of an LLM.

Claude Science is Anthropic’s newest flagship product

The company is doubling down on AI for science.

The $400 million machine powering the future of chipmaking

The AI era needs ever faster chips. ASML has a monopoly on the expensive contraptions needed to pattern them. Can anyone catch up?

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