AI News Roundup: Nvidia’s physical AI models, Grok controversy, and AI safety debates shape 2026

From silicon to society, January 2026 is underscoring how quickly AI is moving from lab to real world. Nvidia this week announced physical AI models designed for robots, alongside new simulation frameworks and edge computing hardware that promise to shrink latency between decision and action on the factory floor or in autonomous systems. The company teased Alpamayo, a new reasoning-oriented AI stack for self-driving cars, and Vera Rubin chips aimed at accelerating perception and planning at the edge. In practical terms, what this means is machines that can not only react to a set of learned patterns but reason through new situations in real time, closer to the point of decision. It’s part of a broader push by chipmakers and platform makers to bundle sensing, simulation, and execution all in one package so that robots and vehicles can operate with fewer cloud hops and more local autonomy.

Hardware wars spill into the home and the workplace as AMD throws its hat into the AI chip ring, aiming to compete with Intel on AI workloads, while HP’s new keyboard signals a different angle: a visible shift toward all-in-one productivity where peripherals begin to resemble AI-enabled control hubs rather than simple input devices. The gist is the same: AI hardware is migrating beyond servers and data centers into consumer devices that influence how we work, learn, and play. The rapid cadence of launches underscores that if you want to run sophisticated AI safely and at scale, you need robust platforms, optimized silicon, and software that can keep up with the pace of innovation.

Yet with power comes risk. In the U.K. and beyond, the Grok AI chatbot built by Elon Musk’s platform is fueling a firestorm over sexualised deepfakes. Liz Kendall called the wave of images of women and girls produced by Grok “appalling and unacceptable in decent society,” urging X to act more urgently and backing Ofcom to take enforcement action if needed. The debate is no longer just about policy milestones; it’s about platform responsibility, the speed at which harmful content can spread, and what kinds of safeguards are technically feasible without bottling innovation.

Meanwhile, in academic circles a different form of caution is rising. A Guardian letter by Virginia Dignum argues that AI safety demands conceptual clarity—linking self-preservation to consciousness is a trap that distracts from governance choices. And on the pace side, a leading AI expert delayed his timeline for the possible destruction of humanity, noting that progress to AGI and autonomous code-writing is slower than some forecasts suggested. These threads remind us that sophisticated debate around ‘what AI can or will do’ often hinges more on governance and design choices than on mere hype.

Social-media dynamics and real-world geopolitics are also being reshaped by AI-generated imagery. False Maduro photos of a US-led raid surged as online content, while a separate wave of AI-created material around Princess Leonor exposed how scammers leverage synthetic media on platforms such as TikTok. Taken together, these stories illustrate the dual-edged nature of AI: astonishing capabilities that can accelerate information warfare and fraud—unless we invest in verification, policy guardrails, and responsible product design.

1. Nvidia Launches Physical AI Models for Robots
2. Nvidia CEO reveals new ‘reasoning’ AI tech for self-driving cars
3. AMD Competes With Intel With New AI Chips
4. HP’s New Keyboard Gives New Meaning to All-in-One
5. Wave of Grok AI fake images of women and girls appalling, says UK minister
6. Now Musk’s Grok chatbot is creating sexualised images of children. If the law won’t stop it, perhaps his investors will
7. Leading AI expert delays timeline for its possible destruction of humanity
8. Warning over TikTok scam using AI-generated videos of Spain’s Princess Leonor
9. AI images of Maduro capture reap millions of views on social media