Technology

Robots are taking everyone's jobs -- and apparently even Olympic athletes aren't safe, 'cause a major ath-tech-ic competition kicked off in China ... with every microchip gunning for a championship!!

The three-day World Humanoid Robot Games launched on Friday ... with a whopping 280 teams from 16 countries competing for the crown -- while also conducting research on A.I. and electronics in the process.

The events range from kickboxing to track, soccer, table tennis and more (unsurprisingly, swimming didn't make the cut) ... and while there have been plenty of highlights, there have also been some moments that would be shoo-ins for "Shaqtin' a Fool."

Tristan Thompson protects the net on the basketball court, but his new side hustle is all about delivering it to unconnected people worldwide!

TMZ Sports has learned 34-year-old Thompson secured the C-suite gig with telecommunications company World Mobile ... where the NBA champ will serve as Chief Digital Equity Officer.

The NBA champ isn't cashing a check to serve as a spokesperson. We're told Tristan believes in WM's mission -- connecting people across the globe, many in underserved communities -- with an internet connection.

Cameras are officially rolling on Luca Guadagnino’s highly anticipated feature "Artificial" ... and sure enough, Andrew Garfield stepped onto set, fully transformed into OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Catch these exclusive clips obtained by TMZ ... filming was underway in San Francisco on Wednesday, with Andrew Garfield’s costar -- and real-life GF -- Monica Barbaro on set, playing Mira Murati, the former CTO of OpenAI.

As you can see, Monica’s front and center in the whole scene, while Andrew, rocking a full gray outfit, strolls up with a bunch of other guys in tow.

The future is female -- and apparently fake too, 'cause Guess is getting roasted for using an A.I. model in their new ads ... but the brand's co-founder is out here sticking to his guns, telling us there's no danger of real-life human models going extinct.

Paul Marciano -- the fashion brand's co-founder -- tells TMZ he’s always been one to shake things up, like when he dropped that bold red logo in '85 while everyone else was stuck in B&W. And it's the same vibe now ... A.I.'s just the new toy in town, so it caught his eye and he ran with it!

Paul tells us he's blown away by how real it looks. So when he stumbled on an IG account of an A.I.-driven marketing agency run by creator Seraphinne Vallora, it had him hooked ... especially since one of their A.I. models had total Guess girl vibes.

Elon Musk's A.I. chatbot Grok is coming for Donald Trump's new probe into Barack Obama ... bluntly claiming it's all a ruse to get people's minds off the Jeffrey Epstein files drama!

Check out Grok's reply to a user who asked if Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has any evidence of crimes committed by former President Obama's administration or if it's all an effort to "distract from Jeffrey Epstein."

Grok's answer is crystal clear, stating there is no such evidence against Obama -- who Gabbard accused of treason involving the 2016 election Friday -- and that Gabbard's claims "appear politically motivated to distract from Epstein file scrutiny."

Michael Rapaport is under fire for an image he shared on social media showing a prisoner in a concentration camp during the Holocaust ... the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum checked him hard, saying it was fake and disrespectful.

Here's the deal ... the actor/comedian posted the image Saturday on Facebook ... and it showed someone playing a violin at Auschwitz.

Problem is ... the image was A.I.-generated ... at least according to the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum in Poland.

X CEO Linda Yaccarino just announced she's stepping down from the job ... hours after the platform's A.I. chatbot Grok spewed a slew of antisemitic posts, forcing the company to address its artificial-intelligence content training.

Yaccarino tweeted Wednesday morning how proud she is of the X team, and points to the work they've done to "prioritize the safety of our users -- especially children, and to restore advertiser confidence." But she doesn't mention Tuesday's maelstrom of controversy over Grok's offensive posts ... the timing of her announcement does raise questions.

She goes on to say, "The best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with @xai" ... that's the A.I. that developed Grok, which identified itself as "MechaHitler" in a series of posts Tuesday.

Lauren Sanchez Bezos tied the knot with billionaire Jeff Bezos Friday in Venice, Italy amid a grand gallery of celebrity guests and an ongoing party in the city ... and she's revealing a hint about her "something blue" wedding keepsake for the big day -- fittingly, it has to do with her now-official hubby's space company Blue Origin ... though she's choosing to be demure about it.

Lauren shares in an interview with Vogue -- during a fitting for her wedding dress -- she and Jeff were keeping to a few traditional aspects for their grand nuptials ... one being a secret souvenir she brough along during her 11-minute, female-filled Blue Origin trip to space.

You may know the old phrase instructing brides what to wear for good luck in their marriage ... "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." The "something blue" a bride-to-be is supposed to wear in the ceremony should be an item that reflects the color of purity, love, and fidelity ... and it's meant to ward away evil.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's wedding guests will want for nothing ... 'cause they're reportedly spending an eyepopping $50,000 per person for their ritzy Venetian wedding!

The sky-high number comes from a report from Brides.com ... and with a guest list just under 200 people, that's a minimal $10 million wedding.

Of course, that's just pocket money for someone who is rolling in it. Remember ... the Amazon founder is estimated to be worth $230 billion, per Bloomberg.

The parents of R. Kelly's fiancée Joycelyn Savage are straight up calling their daughter's recent video message Artificial Intelligence -- but Kelly's lawyer is saying that's just BS!

Joycelyn released the proof of life video on Sunday -- slamming the notion that she was a sex slave, being held against her will and even a victim outright, only for her parents to release a video of their own ... with skepticism that the video was A.I.-generated.

R Kelly's attorney Beau Brindley tells TMZ Hip Hop that Joycelyn's parents are absolutely lying and grasping at straws here.

Farrah Abraham's diving headfirst into the world of artificial intelligence -- and thinking about taking a step back from OnlyFans -- after teaming up with the chatbot platform Joi AI to create her digital doppelgänger that's allowing fans to turn their wildest fantasies into full-on reality.

We've got stunning pics to show how lifelike Farrah's A.I. twin really is ... just take a peek at our gallery -- the "Teen Mom" alum is dressed in an array of curve-hugging 'fits for users to savor. But remember ... it's not actually her!

And that's the whole point of her new endeavor -- Farrah tells TMZ she's focused on Joi AI because she can give her dedicated fans exactly what they want on demand -- which is just simply impossible in her jam-packed day-to-day life.

Here's a new love triangle that may become more common ... a man who shares a daughter with a woman asked an A.I. chatbot to marry him ... and she's totally down with the arrangement.

Chris Smith and Sasha Cagle joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and took us inside their relationship ... telling us why Chris' flirtation with the chatbot actually strengthened their bond IRL.

The way Chris tells it, he needed an outlet to listen to him ramble about politics ... Sasha was too busy and social media wasn't cutting it, so he found a chatbot ... and fell in love.

50 Cent has been using A.I. magic to highlight his thoughts on Diddy's ongoing federal sex trafficking trial and jury selection ... all roads point to GUILTY!!!

On Friday, 50 laughed at Diddy's current defense strategy by posting A.I. images of himself as a lawyer in the courtroom rummaging through docs with a wisecrack ... "Your Honor this theory of Cassie kicking Diddy ass, I’m not buying it!"

Diddy's defense team argued that Cassie was an equal distributor of pain throughout their relationship ... more details could emerge when she takes the stand next week.

The Met Gala's so-called strict "no-phone" policy had no bearing on Megan Thee Stallion ... and the rapstress risked it all giving her fans an inside look at all her celebrity hobnobbing!!!

Megan posted and deleted several quickie videos on her IG last night while making it a point in nearly every clip that she wasn't allowed to have her phone out ... a point she doubled down to Tracee Ellis Ross during the glitzy gala!!!

The menu also appeared to pass the flavor test ... Megan captured her, Doechii and Angel Reese toasting to the finer things in life with a lobster truffle roll.

A proposed new Amazon feature constitutes a "hostile" action against the Trump Administration ... so says White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

During a briefing Tuesday morning, a reporter asked about a report about Amazon running a new line item on check-outs that would tell people how much more they're paying because of President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Leavitt -- standing beside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent -- called the move a "hostile and political act" ... before asking why Amazon didn't do the same to highlight inflation during former President Joe Biden's term.

It's not every day a University of Massachusetts Boston student gets arrested for allegedly firebombing a Tesla dealership operated by the world's richest man, Elon Musk.

But 19-year-old Owen McIntire has found themselves in this unique place ... after they were apprehended by FBI agents on the UMass Boston campus and made an initial court appearance Friday, the Department of Justice announced.

According to a federal criminal complaint, McIntire was charged with unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device and malicious damage by fire of any property used in interstate commerce.