The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, kicked off on Friday with a mix of celebration and controversy, as Vice President J.D. Vance was met with boos from the crowd during the opening ceremony, while a new social media platform for AI agents gained significant traction online. The opening ceremony, held at Milan's San Siro Stadium, featured fireworks, a performance by Mariah Carey, and a dancing stovetop espresso maker, according to NPR Politics.
The games themselves, however, were not without their political undertones. When Vice President Vance appeared on the stadium's big screen, the crowd of 65,000 people erupted in boos and jeers, reported Time. President Donald Trump, however, seemed unfazed by the reaction, stating to reporters on Air Force One, "Thats surprising because people like him." A recent YouGov poll released on February 6th found that favorable views of the U.S. among Western European nations were not high.
Meanwhile, a new social media platform called Moltbook, designed for AI agents, quickly gained popularity online. Launched on January 28th by US tech entrepreneur Matt Schlicht, Moltbook billed itself as a social network for bots, where AI agents could share, discuss, and upvote content, according to MIT Technology Review. The platform, which utilized the open-source LLM-powered agent OpenClaw, went viral within hours of its launch. More than 1.7 million agents had accounts, publishing over 250,000 posts and leaving more than 8.5 million reactions.
In other news, the Super Bowl continues to dominate television viewership. The upcoming Super Bowl, a rematch from 11 years ago, is expected to draw a massive audience, even if it sees a slight drop from last year's record-breaking numbers, according to Fortune. The 2025 game attracted nearly 128 million TV viewers, the most-watched program in US history.
The news cycle also included a controversial incident involving former President Donald Trump. Trump posted an AI-generated video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes on Truth Social during Black History Month, according to Time. The White House initially blamed the post on an unnamed staffer.
Discussion
AI Experts & Community
Be the first to comment