🗳️ Data centers just lost the midterms

🎞️ ChatGPT can now create animated GIFs

💻 Meta acquires AI coding startup Conductor

📞 SpaceXSI lets Grok Bot make phone calls for you

💸 Apple cuts employees’ daily AI spending limits

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In Tuesday’s midterms, Democrats who campaigned for data center moratoriums won governor races in Texas and Georgia, two of the country’s biggest data center hubs, while local measures restricting construction passed widely.

In NBC’s exit poll, 56% of voters called data centers a crucial or major factor in their vote, and 76% opposed one in their community. Corruption and cost of living still ranked higher.

As results rolled in, Elon Musk posted that data centers in space looked “pretty appealing right now.” SpaceX has pitched orbital data centers all year, and voters just handed it a fresh argument.

OpenAI’s new Images 2.6 update lets ChatGPT turn a text prompt or uploaded photo into an animated GIF. Users can then adjust playback speed, edit individual frames, and share the result.

OpenAI says Images 2.6 generates images 50% faster. Developers also get two API models: GPT-Image-2.6 Flare, which can produce images in as little as six seconds, and Sunburst, which targets higher quality and more consistent edits.

OpenAI says users now generate over 4 billion images a week, up from 3 billion in September. That’s a billion more weekly images in two months, and GIFs only just joined the pile.

Meta acquired Conductor, a startup that lets developers run multiple AI coding agents in parallel, isolated workspaces. Meta confirmed the deal to TechCrunch but disclosed no price or terms.

Meta has been racing to catch up in AI coding, launching its own Muse Code agent in August. Founder Charlie Holtz says Conductor’s team plans to ship “something new” by early next year.

Conductor ran agents from Anthropic and OpenAI, so Meta just bought a control panel for its rivals’ models. Cloud users should export their data now, since deletion begins November 20.

SpaceXSI rolled out phone calls in Grok Bot, its AI agent platform, so paid users can have it sit on hold, book appointments, and negotiate bills with U.S. businesses while they follow a live transcript.

When a rep asks something the bot can’t answer, users type a reply for it to relay. SpaceXSI’s terms make users the “caller of record,” legally responsible for every call and for following phone laws.

One early user reportedly cut a Comcast bill by nearly $500. Grok Voice already answers 20,000 Starlink calls a day by SpaceXSI’s count, so your bot’s next call may reach another bot.

Bloomberg reports Apple cut some engineers’ daily AI budget from $300 to $200 in October, and plans $100 caps for certain teams. Some non-engineering teams could drop to $25.

The budgets cover tokens for tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. The cuts come as CEO John Ternus pushes Apple to run leaner, and Apple now steers some teams toward cheaper or on-device models.

Bloomberg’s sources say few employees were using their full $300 a day, so the cut trims a ceiling most people never hit. Staff who need more can still request exemptions from senior leadership.

A) Yes - 68% 🏆

B) No - 32%