Institutions, In a Hurry Up to Comply with the Disabilities Act of 2024

Universities and public colleges are in a hurry to make their webpages, online course content, and mobile apps accessible to people with disabilities by April 2026 to meet compliance guidelines and requirements. The Department of Justice gave institutions two years to comply with its regulations under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), effective April 2024. Experts in Higher Ed said that this Act will require serious time and financial investment, making it prohibitive for many institutions. Compliance requires publicly funded entities to ensure that all web and media content — thousands of webpages — adheres to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. It means every PDF file must be accessible, captions and audio descriptions must accompany every video, and every sound clip must be paired with a transcript. Faculty have to make course materials accessible, and any third-party tech platform from vendors must also be compliant. The consequences of not responding are severe, as the DOJ has taken a larger role in enforcing civil rights laws in higher ed under the second Trump administration. Also, legal and activist groups can sue noncompliant institutions. Some experts have pointed out that the White House can use the new rules in its negotiations with higher ed institutions, given the widespread lack of preparation.

Anthropic Will Release Its Agents Skills Technology as an Open Standard

Google Released an Early Version of Remote MCP Servers

OpenAI Issues Its first Certified Skills-Driven Course, 'AI Foundations'

"Enterprise AI Adoption Is Accelerating, Enabling People To Do New Kinds of Work"

OpenAI, whose ChatGPT now serves 800 million users per week, shared the State of the Enterprise AI Report, which draws on a survey of 9,000 workers across 100 enterprises adopting AI. The primary outcome is that enterprise AI adoption is accelerating, reshaping how people work, teams collaborate, and organizations build and deliver products. In addition, AI is not just helping people do the same work faster—it is enabling people to do new kinds of work. AI is gaining traction across every sector, with technology, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, and finance seeing a momentum. Globally, the fastest‑growing business customer bases include Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands, and France, each exceeding 140% year‑over‑year growth. International API customer growth has exceeded 70% over the last six months, with Japan having the most significant number of corporate API customers outside the U.S. Across surveyed enterprises, 75% of workers report that using AI at work has improved either the speed or quality of their output. Workers report saving 40-60 minutes per day, with heavy users reporting more than 10 hours per week. Across departments: 87% of IT workers report faster IT issue resolution. 85% of marketing and product users report faster campaign execution. 75% of HR professionals report improved employee engagement. 73% of engineers report faster code delivery.

Disney Will License Its Iconic Characters to OpenAI's Sora Video Generator

The Walt Disney Company agreed to license for three years to OpenAI’s video generator Sora its 200 animated, masked, and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars, including costumes, props, vehicles, and environments, starting in early 2026. ChatGPT and Sora’s users will be able to prompt and generate short images and videos, but not voice, using these iconic characters. Among them, there are Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Lilo, Stitch, Ariel, Belle, Beast, Cinderella, Baymax, Simba, Mufasa, as well as characters from the worlds of Encanto, Frozen, Inside Out, Moana, Monsters Inc., Toy Story, Up, Zootopia, plus iconic animated or illustrated versions of Marvel and Lucasfilm characters like Black Panther, Captain America, Deadpool, Groot, Iron Man, Loki, Thor, Thanos, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Leia, the Mandalorian, Stormtroopers, Yoda, etc. Alongside the licensing agreement, Disney will become a major customer of OpenAI, using its API to build new products, tools, and experiences, and deploying ChatGPT for its employees. As part of the agreement, Disney will make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI and receive warrants to purchase additional equity. However, OpenAI said, “The transaction is subject to the negotiation of definitive agreements, required corporate and board approvals, and customary closing conditions.” Robert A. Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company, said, “Through this collaboration with OpenAI, we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works.” “Disney is the global gold standard for storytelling, and we’re excited to partner to allow Sora and ChatGPT Images to expand the way people create and experience great content,” said Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI. Under the license, curated selections of Sora-generated videos will be on display on Disney+, Among the characters fans will be able to use in their creations are Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Lilo, Stitch, Ariel, Belle, Beast, Cinderella, Baymax, Simba, Mufasa, as well as characters from the worlds of Encanto, Frozen, Inside Out, Moana, Monsters Inc., Toy Story, Up, Zootopia, and many more; plus iconic animated or illustrated versions of Marvel and Lucasfilm characters like Black Panther, Captain America, Deadpool, Groot, Iron Man, Loki, Thor, Thanos, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Leia, the Mandalorian, Stormtroopers, Yoda and more.

Google Improves with Gemini 3 Its AI-Powered Design Tool 'Stitch'

Coursera Merges with Udemy, Owning 59% of The Combined Company, Valued at $2.5B

Google Says that 1,000 U.S. Higher Ed Institutions Are Using Gemini for Education and NotebookLM

The Trump Administration Will Forbid State Laws that Conflict with Federal Policy on AI

President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to withhold funding for states that regulate AI, arguing that 50 different regulatory regimes hamper the industry's growth. President Trump signed an executive order in this regard. That funding refers to the $42 billion included in Broadband Equity Access and Deployment. It directs the Secretary of Commerce to evaluate state laws for conflicts with Trump's AI priorities and to block those states in conflict from accessing. “We want to have one central source of approval," Trump told reporters, flanked by top advisers, including Treasury Secretary Scott. "To win, United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation.” The order targets states such as Colorado, whose efforts, according to the White House, can result in "ideological bias and produce false results.” Trump's order called for his administration to work with Congress to craft a national standard that forbids state laws that conflict with federal policy, protects children, prevents censorship, respects copyrights, and protects communities. California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose state is home to several major AI companies, signed a bill this year requiring major AI developers to explain their plans to mitigate potential catastrophic risks. New York state last month became the first to enact a law requiring online retailers that employ "surveillance pricing" to disclose their use of algorithms and customers' personal data. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has proposed an AI bill of rights that includes data privacy, parental controls, and consumer protections. Other states have passed laws banning AI-generated non-consensual sexual imagery and unauthorized political deepfakes. The Trump Administration has embraced AI as a critical technology, working closely with U.S. companies to boost investment in a sector where China has also made great strides.

OpenAI Prioritizes Agentic Commerce, Launching More AI Tools For Shopping

OpenAI is prioritizing Agentic commerce, that is, the use of AI tools to do shopping research and make purchases on a user’s behalf. This year, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has launched integrations with apps such as Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, Figma, Spotify, and Zillow. It has also announced further partnerships with Target, Intuit, and others. With Instacart’s built-in search app, OpenAI is launching a grocery shopping experience inside of ChatGPT, allowing customers to brainstorm meal ideas, make a grocery list, and check out, all without leaving the chat interface. These agentic commerce tools can give OpenAI another way of making money, since it’ll take an undisclosed “small fee” when it helps merchants make a sale. Adobe has predicted that AI-assisted online shopping will grow by 520% this holiday season.