The president’s threats against top universities send the wrong message to top international students.
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Google’s AI Mode just got more helpful – and easier to access
Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Google has updated AI Mode, making it a better fit for planning your summer vacation, shopping trip, or learning more about any topic. Plus, if you’re interested in trying the tool, access to it just got a lot easier.
Google’s new AI Mode takes Search’s real-time information access and combines it with the best generative AI capabilities — such as longer natural queries and personalized answers — to create an AI search engine experience. It is especially helpful for nuanced questions with many criteria, like shopping and trip planning.
Also: New Google Labs experiments help you learn new languages in ‘bite-sized’ lessons
“We are really enabling, helping you shop and seek local businesses, and plan your travel much better,” said Soufi Esmaeilzadeh, the director of Search product management, to ZDNET. “We’re taking AI Mode and elevating it by connecting it to the rich content that we have in our shopping graph, as well as the millions of businesses that we have in our local database.”
Shopping and trip planning cards
You can already use AI Mode to learn about any topic, including products or trip destinations. However, with the latest update, AI Mode will display visual place and product cards you can click for more information.
Also: Want a quick daily podcast based on your interests? Try Google’s latest AI experiment
While the emergence of AI agents have now made AI assistants that can book trips for you a reality, AI Mode serves as a research partner, helping you get the information you need to book your trip with ease. The same goes for shopping.
When searching for a location, such as a restaurant, you will get information such as ratings, reviews, and hours, while products will show shippable options with real-time price, images, local inventory, and more. All the information is pulled freshly off the web, so it has the most up-to-date details.
“If you ask a question like, ‘I’m looking for a midcentury modern furniture store where I want to get a dresser, and I’m looking for these particularities,’ the model can take that into consideration, respond, find the best businesses for you, and then allow you to access right there all the richness of the information the businesses that we have really worked for years to build out,” Esmaeilzadeh said.
Access your past searches
AI Mode will now have a new left-side panel that contains your past searches. This panel allows you to reference these searches later or return to the conversation with follow-up questions.
“In AI Mode, people really are engaging in follow-ups, and they are coming to it from more of these long-running journeys or research journeys, so we want to really make it easy in the product for people to be able to reference back the work that they did to pick up where they’ve left off,” Esmaeilzadeh said.
Although it may seem like a basic feature, can you imagine a world where you never access your Google Search history? Similarly, accessing past conversations will be a valuable productivity tool.
How to try AI Mode
To access AI Mode, users typically go to Google Labs and sign up for the waitlist — until now. If you want to try AI Mode for yourself, US users can now get immediate access. Visit Google Labs to get started.
The feedback on AI Mode has been positive, with users reporting it to be helpful, according to Google. As a result, the company is expanding access through a limited test outside of Labs. A small percentage of US Google Search users will see the AI Mode tab on the Search page. Google says it will continue to use user feedback to enhance the model.
Also: 5 easy Gemini settings tweaks to protect your privacy from AI
Google took a similar rollout approach when it launched AI Overviews, the feature that populates an AI-generated summary at the top of your search results page. This experience eventually moved out of Labs and became a regular part of users’ search results.
How AI Mode differs from AI Overviews and Gemini
If AI Mode reminds you of AI Overviews, that similarity is by design. AI Mode is meant to be more of an extension of the AI Overviews experience than a brand-new one, allowing users to ask follow-ups to the AI-powered responses and lean into searches that don’t depend on keywords.
Also: People are Googling fake sayings to see AI Overviews explain them – and it’s hilarious
Another major difference is that, unlike AI Overviews, which only populates AI responses when it deems relevant, AI Mode helps users predictably get AI-generated responses on demand.
“Power users came to us and said, ‘Hey, we enjoy this [AI Overviews], we want to have this more predictably,’” Esmaeilzadeh said.
Although you could technically take the same approach with Gemini, Google does make a distinction. Gemini is meant to function more as an assistant that can co-work with you, whereas AI Mode should function first and foremost as an information-seeking platform.
Also: Why I just added Gemini 2.5 Pro to the very short list of AI tools I pay for
“Gemini 2.0 I really view as a personal assistant that is focused on a lot of your productivity, creativity tasks, whether it’s writing or image generation or coding, in AI Mode, we live and breathe the search goal of making access to information effortless,” Esmaeilzadeh added.
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You can now use Google’s ChatGPT competitor AI Mode
Google (GOOG, GOOGL) is releasing its high-powered AI Mode to users across the US via its Labs testing service as it works to fight off challenges to its search throne from the likes of OpenAI and Perplexity, among others.
The option, which users must opt into, appears below the search bar in Google Search alongside features like Images, Videos, and Shopping, is a kind of conversational AI more closely aligned with ChatGPT, Meta’s (META) new Meta AI, and Google’s own Gemini.
The difference here is that because AI Mode is accessible directly from the Google Search page, it will appear in front of millions of users who already use Google as their regular search engine and, importantly, their browser homepage.
“Really this lets you ask whatever’s on your mind and have Google Search help you find helpful information,” Google Search vice president of product Robby Stein explained.
Google is bringing AI Mode to all US users on an opt-in basis. (Image: Google) · Google “It also allows you to ask follow-up questions, so you can have a back-and-forth. And it allows you to also use any modality. So you can use voice to talk to it, or you can take a photo and ask a question about that as well,” Stein added.
Google already offers generative AI via its AI Overviews, which appear above results in its standard Google Search option, but AI Mode strips out the company’s traditional list of ranked blue links in responses, instead providing a variety of bullet-point lists and sidebars with links to the sites the service pulls information from.
Like ChatGPT and Perplexity, however, AI Mode’s design could prove problematic for publishers who rely on referral links from sites like Google Search to drive traffic to their sites.
According to Stein, AI Mode pulls information together using Google Search’s real-time systems and the company’s Gemini models to provide users with answers to their queries. That means you can ask questions about your favorite TV shows, plan trips, or ask what the weather will be like over the weekend.
AI Mode takes advantage of AI reasoning. Stein says this means when you ask a question, the AI model makes a plan to answer it, and then works through a series of ways to answer your query using things like the open web, Google’s knowledge graph, and location data.
NasdaqGS – Nasdaq Real Time Price USDAs of 12:39:57 PM EDT. Market Open.
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“It makes this really powerful and rich and hopefully accurate response, because of all of the high-quality information systems that this is built on, which obviously Google search has been building up for 25 years now,” Stein explained.
Read more about Google’s stock moves and today’s market action.
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Pinterest is finally doing something about its AI infestation
Pinterest is making it easier for users to identify and avoid AI-generated slop on its platform. The company is launching new features that will automatically label images that are detected to be made or edited using generative AI, and allow users to see fewer of them when browsing for similar topics.
“As people encounter AI-generated content on Pinterest, we are empowering our users to make more informed choices about the content they see”, said Matt Madrigal, Chief Technology Officer. “Gen AI content on Pinterest should enhance users’ ability to discover and act on their inspiration, and we are intentionally approaching this new landscape in a thoughtful way that benefits everyone on Pinterest.”
Pinterest’s new Gen AI labels feature is rolling out globally, and should help prevent users from being duped. The labels will appear as an “AI modified” stamp in the bottom left-hand corner when a pin is clicked on in close-up. Pinterest identifies if an image was made or edited with AI by analyzing its metadata — presumably for invisible markers like Google’s SynthID or Adobe’s Content Credentials.
Pinterest also says it’s developed “classifiers that automatically detect gen AI content” even if the image doesn’t carry metadata markers. Detection-based AI flaggers can be hit or miss, but Pinterest is allowing users to appeal if they believe their pins have been mislabelled.
Artists struggle to find accurate real-world reference materials, for example, and there’s a good chance the clothing, accessory, or furniture products appearing in pins can’t be purchased, because they don’t actually exist. Even as a provider of “inspiration,” that can be problematic, because everything from hairstyles to interior design concepts generated by AI — which can be deceptively realistic — may be impossible to achieve in real life.
An experimental feature will also be launched “soon” that will allow Pinterest users to filter out some AI images for certain categories that are “prone to AI modification or generation,” according to Pinterest, such as beauty and art. The “see fewer” option will be available in the three-dot menu at the bottom right of a pin. Pinterest says this will flag its systems to recommend less of that content and will eventually expand to more pin categories, but it’s unclear just how much AI the feature will filter out. I can only hope it will eventually include an “all of it” option.
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Elon Musk Is Winding Down His Work Destroying the Government
A name card for Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seen during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 30, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesFor months, DOGE chief Elon Musk wielded his new position in Donald Trump’s administration with crude efficiency, slashing federal agencies and their workforces under a professed mission to cut government spending. But the Tesla CEO appears to have worn out his welcome: American voters strongly disapprove of both Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, according to numerous polls.
With Tesla reporting a drop in profits in its recent quarterly reports, Musk is signaling that his time in Washington might soon be coming to a close. “Now we’re getting more of a rhythm,” Musk told reporters Wednesday, per NBC News. “And so the amount of time that it’s necessary for me to spend here is much less, and I can return to primarily running my companies, which do need me.”
Musk’s comments to the media echoed similar sentiments he made on a quarterly call with Tesla investors last week, promising that he would devote more of his time to his work for the company. “Starting next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” he said, according to CNN.
The Tesla CEO’s change in focus might be the result of some internal pressure. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla board members had made contact with several firms to begin the process of finding a new top executive for the multibillion-dollar car company, spurred in large part by Tesla’s plummeting stock price and Musk’s public focus on government matters.
However, Robyn Denholm, the chairman of Tesla’s board of directors, disputed the Journal’s reporting. “This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published). The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead,” she said in a statement. The Journal contends that the denial only came after publication.
Musk seized the opportunity to bash the Journal, writing on X, “It is an EXTREMELY BAD BREACH OF ETHICS that the @WSJ would publish a DELIBERATELY FALSE ARTICLE and fail to include an unequivocal denial beforehand by the Tesla board of directors!”
During a televised Cabinet meeting this week, Musk touted DOGE’s work, claiming the initiative has saved the federal government and the American taxpayer $160 billion. But he also acknowledged that figure fell far short of his initial lofty claim that he could provide $2 trillion in savings. “In the grand scheme of things, I think we’ve been effective. Not as effective as I’d like. I mean, we could be more effective, but we’ve made progress,” he said.
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Nvidia and Anthropic clash over U.S. AI chip restrictions on China
Jensen Huang, President and CEO of Nvidia, speaks on AI the the return of American manufacturing at the Hill and Valley Forum at the U.S. Capitol on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Nvidia blasted Anthropic Thursday in a rare public clash over artificial intelligence policy with U.S. chip export restrictions set to take effect.
“American firms should focus on innovation and rise to the challenge, rather than tell tall tales that large, heavy, and sensitive electronics are somehow smuggled in ‘baby bumps’ or ‘alongside live lobsters,’ ” a spokesperson for Nvidia said.
Anthropic, the AI startup backed by billions from Amazon, argued for tighter controls and enforcement, saying in a blog post Wednesday that Chinese smuggling tactics involved chips hidden in “prosthetic baby bumps” and “packed alongside live lobsters.”
Chip restrictions from former President Joe Biden‘s term, called the “AI Diffusion Rule,” are set to take effect May 15. The rule puts global export controls on advanced AI chips and model weights to prevent rival nations like China from gaining ground in an escalating AI arms race.
President Donald Trump is reportedly working on updating these restrictions, adding another layer of uncertainty to the already contentious policy.
Anthropic, which relies heavily on Nvidia hardware to train its models, is calling for tighter restrictions that could limit Nvidia’s overseas business and revenue from chip sales.
Anthropic argued that compute access is the key strategic chokepoint in the race to build frontier AI. The company proposed lowering the export threshold for Tier 2 countries, tightening the rules to reduce smuggling risks, and increasing funding for enforcement.
“Maintaining America’s compute advantage through export controls is essential for national security and economic prosperity,” Anthropic wrote.
In a sharply worded response to Anthropic, an Nvidia spokesperson blasted the use of policy to limit competitiveness.
“China, with half of the world’s AI researchers, has highly capable AI experts at every layer of the AI stack. America cannot manipulate regulators to capture victory in AI,” the spokesperson said.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who visited with Chinese trade officials in mid-April, said Wednesday in Washington, D.C. that China is “not behind” the U.S. in AI and praised Huawei as a top global tech company.
“They’re incredible in computing and network technology, all these essential capabilities to advance AI,” Huang said. “They have made enormous progress in the last several years.”
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How Google’s Antitrust Case Could Upend the A.I. Race
A federal judge issued a landmark ruling last year, saying that Google had become a monopolist in internet search. But in a hearing that began last week to figure out how to fix the problem, the emphasis has frequently landed on a different technology, artificial intelligence.
In U.S. District Court in Washington last week, a Justice Department lawyer argued that Google could use its search monopoly to become the dominant player in A.I. Google executives disclosed internal discussions about expanding the reach of Gemini, the company’s A.I. chatbot. And executives at rival A.I. companies said that Google’s power was an obstacle to their success.
On Wednesday, the first substantial question posed to Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, after he took the stand was also about A.I. Throughout his 90-minute testimony, the subject came up more than two dozen times.
“I think it’s one of the most dynamic moments in the industry,” said Mr. Pichai. “I’ve seen users’ home screens with, like, seven to nine applications of chatbots which they are trying and playing and training with.”
An antitrust lawsuit about the past has effectively turned into a fight about the future, as the government and Google face off over proposed changes to the tech giant’s business that could shift the course of the A.I. race.
For more than 20 years, Google’s search engine dominated the way people got answers online. Now the federal court is in essence grappling with whether the Silicon Valley giant will dominate the next era of how people get information on the internet, as consumers turn to a new crop of A.I. chatbots to answer questions, find solutions to their problems and learn about the world.
At the hearing, government lawyers have argued that Google’s monopolistic tactics in search could be applied to make its Gemini chatbot a ubiquitous A.I. product. That cannot be allowed to happen in the emerging field of A.I., the government has said, to ensure that consumers have choices of products for use well into the future.
Google has argued that the court does not need to intervene because the rapid growth of OpenAI — the A.I. start-up that helps power Apple’s A.I. product on the iPhone — and other rivals shows that the market is rife with competition already.
How much Judge Amit P. Mehta, who will determine the fixes in the search case, buys into these A.I. arguments could reshape the fierce contest to lead the technology. Google is already a leading A.I. player, with Gemini attracting more than 350 million monthly active users, according to data at the trial. Any measures to hinder its efforts or help its competitors would have big implications for that race.
The government has asked the court to force Google to sell its Chrome browser and share data with rivals, including its search results and ads, among other measures.
Government requests for fixing monopolies are forward-looking by nature, attempting to undo years of damaged competition and opening markets to new rivals. From the government’s perspective, “you do not want to have spent five years and a whole bunch of agency resources bringing a case that doesn’t really do anything,” said John Newman, the deputy director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition during the Biden administration.
A Google spokesman pointed to the opening statement by the company’s lead lawyer, John Schmidtlein, who said the market for artificial intelligence was “performing extraordinarily competitively.” The Justice Department declined to comment.
The hearing this year follows Judge Mehta’s 2024 ruling that Google had illegally protected its monopoly by paying companies like Apple, Mozilla and Samsung for its search engine to come up automatically in web browsers and on smartphones.
From the hearing’s start, government lawyers put A.I. front and center.
The first witness, University of Texas associate professor of computer science, Gregory Durrett, gave Judge Mehta a crash course on A.I. In response, Judge Mehta asked questions about how chatbots work and how they were incorporated in Google’s products.
The government presented documents showing that Google last year had considered an arrangement with wireless carriers and smartphone manufacturers that would have given Gemini prime placement on devices alongside its search engine. It was reminiscent of the deals that Google had signed to get prime placement for its search engine.
Google decided not to move forward with the Gemini plan with wireless carriers and smartphone makers after the judge’s search ruling last year. It ultimately reached a separate deal with Samsung to put Gemini on Samsung’s smartphones, the documents showed.
A Google executive testified that the agreement with Samsung gave the smartphone maker the ability to work with other A.I. services. Mr. Pichai testified that the company had focused on signing deals that aligned with its own proposal for remedies, which says smartphone makers should have more freedom to decide what Google apps to install.
Executives from rival A.I. companies, such as OpenAI, also testified that the government’s proposed changes to Google’s business would make it easier for them to build products and reach consumers.
Nicholas Turley, the head of product for OpenAI’s ChatGPT, said on the stand that his company had rolled out a prototype search tool called SearchGPT in July and asked Google for a deal to access its data. But Google turned down OpenAI because “it would involve too many complexities,” according to an email from an OpenAI executive.
“I was aware that Google might not be incentivized to offer us good terms given the competitive nature of some of our offerings,” Mr. Turley said. If Judge Mehta required Google to share more data with OpenAI, the company would be able to “build a better product faster,” he added.
OpenAI would also be interested in buying Google’s Chrome browser if it were for sale, Mr. Turley added.
(The New York Times has sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement of news content related to A.I. systems. They have denied wrongdoing.)
Dmitry Shevelenko, the chief business officer of the A.I. search start-up Perplexity, testified that his firm had tried to reach deals with phone companies to offer its chatbot automatically — but one of them already had an arrangement with Google.
That company “really likes our assistant, thinks it is great for their users, but they can’t get out of their Google obligations, and so they’re unable to change the default assistant on the device,” he said.
Google’s lawyers countered that the company was not locking smartphone makers into overly restrictive deals to offer Gemini. They repeatedly said many A.I. companies were thriving and referred to data that showed ChatGPT was used more widely than any other chatbot.
“I think ChatGPT is doing just fine without any of the remedies in this case,” said Mr. Schmidtlein in his opening statement. “These companies are competing just fine without plaintiffs’ remedies.”
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OpenA rolled back GPT-4o update CEO Sam Altman called ‘sycophantic’ but experts warn there’s no easy fix to make AI less of a suck-up
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged GPT-4o had become “too sycophantic and annoying” after a recent update—raising fresh questions about whether AI can be helpful without just telling users what they want to hear.
JASON REDMOND—AFP via Getty Images
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AI predicts all 32 first-round picks
Does Cam Ward have the pieces of a successful rookie quarterback?
Former NFL quarterback Jordan Palmer has 3 things he looks for in rookie quarterbacks, and 1st overall draft pick Cam Ward has what he’s looking for.
Sports Seriously
Speed of light. Speed of technological advancement. Speed of time when you’re having fun. Speed of mock drafts.
There aren’t many more things in life faster than that, but the NFL draft waits for no one.
The 2025 NFL Draft hasn’t even been able to collect dust and we’re already onto 2026. Prank call week is still in full swing, yet here we are putting our sights on next April.
While everyone has a take on what promises to be a better quarterback class, the robots are also looming with some thoughts of their own.
Will Arch Manning declare? Will LaNorris Sellers, Drew Allar and Garrett Nussmeier live up to the hype? Which players will rise that we aren’t talking about and which will fall short?
So many questions, such few answers.
The wild world of artificial intelligence (AI) looks to bridge that gap. Who knows, maybe one of them will be helping teams make picks in the near future. After all, it already sets our calendars, controls our televisions, runs customer support and so much more.
That’s why we set out to predict the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft with the help of Microsoft’s Copilot using the Super Bowl odds as a guide to build our order.
We hope you enjoyed the summer, the regular season, the holidays, the playoffs, the Super Bowl and just about every other event we skipped over in the process. Without further ado, the New York Giants are now on the clock.
2026 NFL mock draft: First-round AI picks
1. New York Giants: Arch Manning, QB, Texas
The Giants waste no time kicking Jaxson Dart to the curb. Instead, they channel their inner child, focusing on the new shiny object. “Big Blue” continues the Manning legacy, selecting Arch, Eli’s nephew, with the first pick. While Giants fans will celebrate with this pick, it’s important to remember that many believe the Texas prospect will return to school. Those plans could be quickly thrown away if his uncle’s team comes calling though.
2. Cleveland Browns: LaNorris Sellers, QB, South Carolina
The Browns have been adding quarterbacks like they’re going out of style this offseason, but clearly that strategy didn’t work. Conventional wisdom would suggest that at least one of the five quarterbacks would work out. That wasn’t the case and now they have the chance to secure a quarterback with a high pick. The dual-threat Sellers will look to take another step forward this season with the Gamecocks but is clearly on the NFL radar going forward. He lands in Cleveland in this scenario.
3. Tennessee Titans: T.J. Parker, DE, Clemson
After rebuilding their offense this offseason, it looks like the Titans will eye some defense next year. They won’t be happy with the top-three pick, but this is a roster that’s still under major construction. From Death Valley to the Music City, Parker should resurrect the pass rush and give Tennessee someone capable of getting after the quarterback.
4. New Orleans Saints: Drew Allar, QB, Penn State
After a one-year hiatus, the quarterbacks have returned in the 2026 draft. New Orleans misses out on the Louisiana native Manning in this exercise but still finds their quarterback of the future in Allar. It comes at the expense of Tyler Shough, but the Saints can’t pass an opportunity to dive into this class with a pick this high. He has all the tools to make Saints fans giddy – strong arm, prototypical quarterback size and more. Accuracy is a concern, but it’s hard to not get excited about this prospect.
5. Carolina Panthers: Francis Mauigoa, OT, Miami
Bryce Young lives to fight another day in Carolina, seemingly securing the quarterback job following his third season. Carolina instead continues to invest in keeping the former Alabama star upright, which they do by taking Mauigoa out of Miami.
6. New York Jets: Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU
The Justin Fields experiment didn’t last long in the Meadowlands. Instead, the Jets secure their quarterback of the future in the 2026 draft. They opt to select the latest and greatest offering of LSU quarterbacks in the hopes that Nussmeier delivers the goods like Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels.
7. Las Vegas Raiders: Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State
Vegas went all-in on speeding up their rebuild, but now project for a top-10 pick in 2026. They won’t be complaining after securing Downs’ services though. The Ohio State safety is arguably the top defensive player on the board heading into next season and they get him at No. 7. Pete Carroll’s team might want to invest in a quarterback at some point given Geno Smith’s age, but it’s hard to argue with their decision here.
8. Indianapolis Colts: Kadyn Proctor, OT, Alabama
The Colts have decided to protect their quarterback by taking Proctor out of Alabama. Of course, that is under the assumption they have a quarterback. Indianapolis has plenty of questions they’ll have to answer, but it seems that Copilot is fine with Anthony Richardson’s production for now.
9. Cleveland Browns (from Jacksonville Jaguars): Evan Stewart, WR, Oregon
The Browns get their second top-10 pick courtesy of the Jaguars and the Travis Hunter trade. Cleveland secures Sellers a receiving option in Stewart. The Oregon wideout has blazing speed and that is always enough to fly up the draft boards. Cleveland’s offense will enjoy this makeover in the first nine picks.
10. New England Patriots: Deion Burks, WR, Oklahoma
Drake Maye gets a new receiver in the first round as New England takes the plunge on Burks to round out the top 10. He is on the smaller side, but Burks’ speed will make up for that as Copilot acknowledges the Patriots’ need for an explosive weapon in the passing attack.
11. Arizona Cardinals: Nicholas Singleton, RB, Penn State
The first running back of the draft comes off the board at No. 11 and it’s the Nittany Lion, Singleton. He doesn’t come with the same heavy workload that is common of top running backs in the draft given Penn State’s committee approach, so Arizona should be pleased to land a playmaker without a lot of miles on the tires.
12. Los Angeles Rams (from Atlanta Falcons): Jermod McCoy, CB, Tennessee
The Rams elected to trade their first-round pick in 2025 and now have the luxury of owning the Falcons’ pick. “Collect them picks,” as they now say in L.A. They use this pick to upgrade the secondary, taking a flier on McCoy – a player that Copilot believes can be a lockdown presence for Los Angeles.
13. Dallas Cowboys: Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame
Dallas worked to improve the trenches in the 2025 draft and now can live a life of luxury in 2026. They splurge for the second running back of the first round, opting for Love out of Notre Dame. The chatbot is a fan of Love’s dynamic playmaking ability thanks to his blend of speed, power and versatility.
14. Seattle Seahawks: Peter Woods, DT, Clemson
Construction continues in the Emerald City as Seattle opts for Woods to bolster the defensive line. With plenty of size and strength, Woods fits Mike Macdonald’s defense nicely, solidifying the front.
15. Miami Dolphins: Keldric Faulk, EDGE, Auburn
Miami appeared to forget that defense was a need for most of the offseason, possessing a roster with just four defensive lineman up until the draft. While still a year away, Faulk would continue to address that need. The chatbot is a fan of Faulk’s physical tools who also has great technique and explosiveness.
16. Pittsburgh Steelers: Cade Klubnik, QB, Clemson
We can only hope that Aaron Rodgers makes his decision by this time next year, but Klubnik becomes the Steelers’ quarterback of the future. He made strides last season at Clemson, something that fans will hope continues this year. The Steelers get a dual-threat signal caller who can potentially add some stability to Pittsburgh’s room.
17. Denver Broncos: C.J. Allen, LB, Georgia
We’re onto the back half of the first round and Allen is the first Georgia defender off the board. It took a while for that to happen, but Copilot made sure to make this draft as official as possible. The chatbot likes Allen as a versatile defender with great instincts, speed, and tackling ability.
18. Chicago Bears: Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State
Ben Johnson might be collecting receivers if this happens because this room is getting crowded in Chicago. Perhaps this means DJ Moore is on thin ice, but the chatbot liked the fit of adding an explosive playmaker like Tate in the Windy City.
19. Houston Texans: Spencer Fano, OT, Utah
New year, same problem. The offensive line remains a priority for Houston and they take care of that by taking the tackle Fano out of Utah. Like that family vacation you booked way-too-early to save on hotels and flights, C.J. Stroud can’t wait and will probably spend all season saying, “Are we there yet?”
20. Minnesota Vikings: Malik Muhammad, CB, Texas
The Vikings are looking to address their secondary and make the decision to select the Longhorns’ cornerback, Muhammad. Copilot likes him as a physical, instinctive defender with great coverage skills and ball-hawking ability.
21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Harold Perkins Jr., LB, LSU
Perkins saw his 2024 season end early with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which essentially ended his quest for being a first-round pick in the 2025 draft. The linebacker returned to school and now will look to rebuild his draft stock. He will do enough to make that a reality in Copilot’s imaginary eyes, landing in Tampa Bay on a team that could use linebackers.
22. Green Bay Packers: Antonio Kite, CB, Ole Miss
Kite began his college career at Alabama, transferred to Auburn and is now on the road to Ole Miss. His tour around the SEC has hit a snag, however, with Kite’s transfer not being completed yet. Copilot doesn’t have a problem drafting the prospect for the Packers though, with the hopes that he can soar to new heights in the NFL.
23. Los Angeles Chargers: David Bailey, EDGE, Texas Tech
Jim Harbaugh took a year off from adding to his defense in the first round, but that won’t be the case in 2026. He strikes by adding the edge rusher Bailey, with Copilot saying he can be a long-term replacement for Khalil Mack as a disruptive pass-rusher.
24. Los Angeles Rams: Caleb Lomu, OT, Utah
After passing on a quarterback earlier, the Rams opted to add to their defense. This time around, they’ll prioritize the trenches. The Rams add to the group up front to protect their quarterback. The question is, will that be Matthew Stafford?
25. Cincinnati Bengals: C.J. Baxter, RB, Texas
Cincinnati doesn’t really have a need at running back to warrant using a first-round pick on one, but they opt for Baxter anyway at 25. Baxter missed the 2024 season with a knee injury he suffered in practice, paving the way for Jaydon Blue to be featured. Blue is now out of the picture and Baxter has the chance to rebuild his draft stock in 2025. The chatbot likes what he can add to the Cincinnati offense.
26. San Francisco 49ers: Gennings Dunker, OT, Iowa
The 49ers will have to start planning for life after Trent Williams at some point and there’s no better time than the present in Copilot’s estimation. San Francisco opts for Dunker out of Iowa, who comes with the perfect name for moving bodies out of the way. He has plenty of college experience after opting to play a fifth season in Iowa City and doesn’t carry much risk. The 49ers find a potential plug-and-play starter.
27. Washington Commanders: LT Overton, EDGE, Alabama
Overton elected to return to Alabama for his senior season, but that didn’t hurt his draft stock as he still lands in the first round. Dan Quinn lands a key piece for his defense in Overton, who could be a problem for opposing offenses to deal with in the future.
28. Detroit Lions: Matayo Uiagalelei, EDGE, Oregon
Uiagalelei, unlike his brother D.J., is about getting after the quarterback. He did so in a big way last season, posting 10.5 sacks in his second season in Eugene. That also came with a step up in competition after Oregon joined the Big Ten. The Lions would love to add his explosiveness off the edge opposite Aidan Hutchinson. Opponents would probably enjoy something else.
29. Kansas City Chiefs: Xavier Nwankpa, S, Iowa
Nwankpa is back for his senior year, hoping to rebuild his draft stock with a big season. That will come to fruition if you ask Copilot, as the safety sneaks into the final picks of Round 1. Kansas City, and specifically Steve Spagnuolo, will enjoy Nwankpa’s versatility.
30. Buffalo Bills: Jaren Kanak, TE/LB, Oklahoma
Move over Travis Hunter, there’s a new two-way star in town? Kanak played linebacker for three seasons at Oklahoma but is making the switch to tight end for the 2025 season. He played on the offensive side of the ball in high school before switching with the Sooners. Now he’ll be switching back and apparently thriving in the process. Perhaps Hunter’s potential success as a rookie starts a trend and the Bills take advantage of a two-for-one special.
31. Baltimore Ravens: Rueben Bain Jr., EDGE, Miami
There’s no doubt the rich get richer in the NFL. Look no further than the Ravens, who see Bain fall into their laps at 31. Projected to be a top-10 pick at this stage of the year, Baltimore enjoys the benefit of Copilot’s creation and adds to their defense in a big way. At this rate, not even Batman will be able to save NFL offenses from this terrifying defense.
32. Philadelphia Eagles: Anthony Hill Jr., LB, Texas
It’s not Alabama or Georgia, but it’s still the SEC and an apparent steal for Howie Roseman. Hill, one of the top linebackers in the class, nearly fell out of the first round, but the Eagles enjoy taking whatever talent falls to them every year. This time, it’s the Longhorn that gets that honor.
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Governments Build Sandboxes to Test AI
In Massachusetts, CIO Jason Snyder has concerns about artificial intelligence. Many publicly available AI applications, for example, retain user data for training. “There’s significant risk there: That data is not ours to share,” he said. There are other concerns as well. Can the AI do what it promises? Will it deliver accurate outputs?
Snyder is looking to explore emerging AI use cases, but he wants to do it safely. With this in mind, Massachusetts has ramped up an “AI sandbox” — a cordoned-off space where it’s possible to test-drive emerging AI capabilities without impacting live systems and data.
For both state IT organizations and, increasingly, city technology departments, sandboxes offer a lower-risk way to embrace AI and accelerate innovation.
WHY A SANDBOX?
New Jersey Chief Innovation Officer Dave Cole described his state’s sandbox as a response to growing interest in AI as a support for various mission sets.
“Folks have a lot of ideas about how AI can help improve the work that we’re doing, how it can deliver better services,” he said. “In October of 2023, our governor put out an executive order tasking the state with finding responsible, effective ways to deploy this new technology.”
That led to the creation of a task force aimed in part at ensuring responsible and ethical use of AI. This in turn spurred creation of the sandbox. “We didn’t want to let folks just sort of figure out what tools to use on their own,” Cole said.
In Massachusetts, Snyder turned to a sandbox as a way to bring consistency to AI efforts. “We wanted to make sure that we set clear guardrails for everybody,” he said. “By creating a sandbox, not only did we retain ownership of the data, but we also could insert terms and conditions that everybody would agree upon.”
At the city level, too, some IT leaders are embracing sandboxes as a way to mitigate risk while still driving innovation.
Given the rapid pace of change in AI, “we realized that the standard linear approach to upgrades in technology just wasn’t going to get us where we need to go,” said Jeff Auker, director of Development Services in Hartford, Conn.
The city wants to accelerate AI adoption, but with so many AI tools still largely untested, any information on their effectiveness “is going to be anecdotal at best,” he said. Hartford’s sandbox offers a place to gather real-world insight into AI’s capabilities across a range of use cases, from planning and zoning to 311 response.
In Washington, D.C., meanwhile, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Stephen Miller is looking to sandboxes as a way for the IT department to help mission leaders safely explore AI’s potential.
Sandboxes offer “safe environments for our teams to work with our customer agencies, so we can get in there and play with the tools, try interesting things, in a risk-free environment,” he said.
“It also gives us a better idea of how the tool’s going to perform, what it’s going to look like when it’s live,” he said.
Washington, D.C., CTO Stephen Miller said a city’s small scale is an asset in getting AI work done, as they can “work as a whole government” to align priorities. Adobe Stock
BRINGING SANDBOXES TO LIFE
Across the board, these IT leaders are leveraging commercial cloud to deliver the isolated environment in which AI experimentation can take place.
Massachusetts, for instance, taps the Amazon Web Services (AWS) ecosystem. The sandbox incorporates Amazon Bedrock, a service that helps users build generative AI applications, along with Amazon Kendra, a machine learning-powered search service that helps users find information across their organization’s content.
With those tools in hand, the state worked with AWS “to wall off an area within our overall AWS account system for AI use, and AI use only,” Snyder said. The team is running its experiments in this safe area.
By putting the sandbox in a commercial cloud, the state was able to access needed supports, with AWS providing training to those who would be running experiments. That includes both state agencies and also university students: Researchers from Northeastern University, for example, are using the sandbox to look at AI use cases related to transportation, health care and grant distribution.
These are sensitive models with sensitive outcomes, and we need to make sure through these sandboxes that we are doing this in the right way, that we are increasing quality, that we are shrinking the time to deliver.
In New Jersey, the IT team put the sandbox in a secure, isolated environment within Microsoft Azure. “The application doesn’t have access to state data, systems or anything like that. It’s a standalone, isolated application,” Cole said.
Access to the sandbox is secured through the same authentication platform that employees already use to access other work systems. “That allows us to operate with a level of confidence, knowing that these are the same systems we use for document management, for email and for other cases where you might have sensitive information,” he said.
The sandbox incorporates a Microsoft open source, chat-based client that helps facilitate the user experience. “We took that client and added in things like document uploads, [enabling] people to attach files to their prompts,” Cole said. That chat client makes it easy to experiment in the sandbox, “and we’ve made that available to other states who are building out similar sandboxes.”
At the city level, Washington, D.C., likewise is using the Microsoft cloud environment to host its sandbox. This provides “a safe, isolated environment that’s apart from our actual production environment. We’re isolating the data, we’re isolating the models,” Miller said. Within the sandbox, experiments leverage no-code solutions for simplicity. “We want to make sure that we’re making things as seamless as possible.”
In terms of use cases, the district is looking especially at chatbots for customer support on city websites. “We want to make sure we’re helping these chatbots [deliver] a self-service model, by improving response times, improving customer satisfaction, improving the quality of customer support that we’re giving out,” Miller said.
Sandboxing helps to minimize the risk that arises when a municipal chatbot makes AI-generated answers publicly available. “We want to make sure that they’re doing what they’re doing in a way that we understand,” and that outputs are safe and equitable, he said.
Beyond chatbots, early sandbox efforts include a look at how AI can support more efficient procurement processes — a topic near and dear for Miller. “We’re the technology agency, so we do a lot of procurement around technology. But procurement is a very sensitive space,” he said.
“We’re utilizing a sandbox to see how AI is going to make it easier, how we’re going to get statements of work done faster,” he said. “These are sensitive models with sensitive outcomes, and we need to make sure through these sandboxes that we are doing this in the right way, that we are increasing quality, that we are shrinking the time to deliver.”
Hartford likewise is using a walled-off space within a major public cloud provider to host its sandbox. With test data segregated from production data, the city is interfacing with tools like Accela and OpenGov to explore AI-assisted capabilities.
“Within our internal IT teams and processes, we are working to define the use cases, to be very clear about who’s going to get access to the tools and to set up well-defined scripts to start testing,” Auker said. With the right protocols in place, “we can compare what we know are the right answers to what the tools are printing out. That’s going to get us comfortable.”
WHO IS INVOLVED?
Whether at the state or city level, an AI sandbox effort goes well beyond just the IT team.
In New Jersey, the Office of Innovation is situated within the governor’s cabinet and is leading the sandbox effort as part of its overall push to improve digital service delivery across the state. To launch the sandbox, “we worked very closely with the Office of Information Technology, OIT, which is a peer agency or organization. And this was a true partnership,” Cole said.
“OIT traditionally provides the platforms and the infrastructure for state technology. We focus more on the human-centered side of things: How do we use technology to deliver better results?” he said. The sandbox “required both teams coming together. We worked to build out the website, the interface design, the system, while OIT provided access to cloud-based platforms.”
In Massachusetts, CTO Bill Cole and a team of architects got the ball rolling on AI innovation, with Snyder’s team joining the effort in July 2024. “We recognized the need for what we describe as a center of excellence, to provide that overall AI governance,” Snyder said. That center of excellence now runs on the talents of the state’s CISO/chief risk officer and deputies; the chief technology officer and deputy; the chief privacy officer/general counsel and deputies; the chief IT accessibility officer; the chief of staff; director of contract management; and enterprise cloud architects.
The center of excellence provides both access to the sandbox and guidance — for example, in putting limits around what might be tested. “We had one use case that involved essentially trying to map the state Capitol, but we don’t want to do that, for physical security reasons,” Snyder said. “We could see how there would be benefit to that, but we also recognize the risk.”
The center of excellence also collab-orates with mission leaders as AI applications emerge from the sandbox. “Operationally, who’s supporting this code that you’ve created? There’s the risk of having all of these great innovations, and no one supports it in production,” he said. Part of the sandbox effort includes not just developing the applications, but “ensuring that they have the access, the environment and the operating plans going forward to support that new code.”
Operationally, who’s supporting this code that you’ve created? There’s the risk of having all of these great innovations, and no one supports it in production.
In Connecticut, the sandbox is organized under a larger statewide effort known as the Connecticut AI Alliance, which brings together not just state IT leaders but also area colleges and corporations.
The sandbox effort itself draws support from Auker and the state’s head of IT, as well as mission leaders from areas such as licensing, inspections, and planning and zoning — the people likely to benefit from AI innovations.
“If somebody wants to go stand up 400,000 square feet of mixed apartment and retail space on a lot that the city owns, that needs some environmental abatement — that process is going to touch a lot of people,” Auker said, and with mission leaders informing the AI-related requirements around that process, the end product is more likely to meet the actual need.
In Washington, D.C., meanwhile, Miller is looking to involve not just city workers but also private-sector partners in the sandbox effort.
“The key thing to bringing those sandboxes to life is working with your partners to understand what’s going to be available” in terms of emerging AI capabilities, he said. “Our strategic partners understand their tools, and they work with us to get a level-set of what’s going to be possible.”
Hartford, Conn.’s sandbox is a place to get concrete data on AI use cases when so much current information “is going to be anecdotal at best,” said Director of Development Services Jeff Auker. Adobe Stock
CITY-SPECIFIC CONSIDERATIONS
AI sandboxing is just beginning to emerge as a consideration at the municipal level, and it’s likely that cities will need to approach this with strategies that differ from those being used at the state level.
Given limitations around staffing and funding, “I could see them having scale problems,” Snyder said. “But I think you can offset that with consultative help, or vendor-partner help.”
Auker said Hartford is able to leverage its ties to the Connecticut AI Alliance to address scalability questions. “The state has a rich set of IT resources available to them,” he said. In addition, the city’s own ecosystem is helpfully robust: School districts, for example, have been proactive in exploring AI, and they bring that talent to the table in support of innovation.
It helps, too, to have corporate partners at the table. Big companies can support AI sandboxing efforts, and probably should. “It benefits them to have a much more streamlined city to do business with,” Auker said.
As applications emerge for production, municipal IT should be well-situated to bring them to life. Because city IT teams are laser-focused on practical outcomes, “we do have some advantages: We know what it’s supposed to look like in the end,” Auker said. “In the cities, we’re really good at the nitty-gritty of implementation.”
In Washington, D.C., Miller too sees cities having some plusses in their corner as they look to ramp up AI sandboxes. For example, a smaller bureaucratic footprint can make it easier to get things done.
On a municipal scale, officials from departments such as transportation to health and human services can connect easily with the IT team to bring AI-
driven applications into the testing environment. “We can work as a whole government to overcome obstacles as we identify them, and make sure that they’re aligning with the way that we want to put AI in place,” he said.
BEST PRACTICES
For state and city IT teams looking toward a sandbox approach in support of AI innovation, a few best practices already have emerged.
Snyder describes training as key to success. “We have 150 users already in the sandbox today — it supports quite a large group of people,” he said. Even for those with some AI experience, “just becoming familiar with the environment is critical.”
Rather than set people loose in the sandbox without any formal guidance, “you really have to provide the learning to get them to be able to use it,” he said, noting that both internal teams and vendors can play a role here. AWS, for example, has delivered training in support of the Massachusetts sandbox.
Cost factors in as well. With 14,000 active users in the New Jersey sandbox, Cole is attuned to the potential for cloud expenses to spiral. With this in mind, he’s implemented a per-use cost structure in the sandbox.
With a per-use model, “we focus on building on APIs that are transactional: We are paying per batches of tokens on request,” he said. This approach “radically reduces the costs. When people aren’t using it, we’re not paying for it.”
As a safeguard, he also keeps an automated eye on the bottom line. Suppose there was suddenly a 300 percent increase in sandbox usage. “We have monitoring and alerting, a sort of trip switch that would control for those costs,” he said.
In a pinch, the IT team could dial down the usage, although right now the sandbox is performing well within its expected budget, he said.
As government IT shops advance sandbox efforts, Miller said, data should be the starting point. “You need to understand what data you plan on providing these AI tools. That helps you understand the risks that you’re taking,” he said.
“If it’s health information or student information, that’s where those sandboxes will help you to know: How is this data transiting into this tool? What is this tool doing with that data after we close that window? That’s really where those sandboxes are going to help you,” he said.
Finally, he encourages government IT leaders to learn from others in this space. “We all have to make sure that those tools are safe and equitable, that they’re not being misused,” he said.
