Google’s $40 Billion Bet on Texas

Today, we’re looking at Google’s most concrete move yet in the AI arms race: a $40 billion investment in data centers across Texas. We’re also looking at OpenAI’s most humanizing update to ChatGPT: giving users control over the em dash. It’s a small fix with big implications, a shift toward nuance, authorship, and breaking the “AI voice” that’s come to define machine-written text.

In today’s post:

• Google’s $40B Bet on Texas

• Call of Duty’s new look has AI written all over it

• OpenAI lets you break up with the em dash

What’s Trending Today

INVESTMENT

AI is fueling America’s next infrastructure boom

Google just announced a $40 billion investment in Texas. Not in apps. Not in ads. In data centers.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• This is Google's largest single-state investment ever.

• Three new data centers will be built by 2027 across Armstrong and Haskell Counties.

• The move boosts AI infrastructure, cloud capacity, and local jobs all at once.

• It signals growing state-level competition to attract Big Tech’s AI dollars.

• The company’s also upgrading existing sites in Midlothian and Dallas.

• With similar announcements from Amazon, Meta, and Anthropic, the AI arms race is now a build-out battle.

• Still, some analysts warn the spending frenzy may outpace real-world AI adoption.

This is the steel-and-concrete stage of the AI revolution. Companies that once thrived in virtual realms are now reshaping physical landscapes. But when hype drives infrastructure, the risk isn’t just financial, it’s strategic. The next few years will show whether the AI boom is built on solid ground or speculative ambition.

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GENERATIVE AI

Black Ops 7’s art isn’t what it seems

Activision just confirmed it used generative AI in Black Ops 7. Not for gameplay for artwork.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• Over 680 “Calling Cards” in the game appear to include AI-generated assets.

• Players say the art feels rushed, inconsistent, and oddly styled.

• Activision admits using AI tools but frames them as “empowering.”

• The company didn’t deny that key visuals were AI-made or AI-edited.

• This comes as Black Ops 7 launches on Xbox Game Pass, a franchise first.

• Fans are also frustrated by always-online campaign mode, even in solo play.

• AI shortcuts might save time and money, but they’re starting to show.

Generative AI in game art was inevitable. But when visuals start feeling off in a $70 title, players notice. If AI tools are going to be part of the pipeline, studios need to rethink quality control or risk making flagship releases look like afterthoughts.

BREAKTHROUGH

ChatGPT finally fixed this one annoying thing

Writers have begged ChatGPT to drop the em dash. Now, after months of pushback, it finally listens.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• OpenAI confirms users can now disable em dashes via custom instructions.

• CEO Sam Altman called it a “small-but-happy win” on X.

• The em dash had become a telltale sign of AI-generated writing.

• Critics dubbed it the “ChatGPT hyphen” even in human-written posts.

• Writers who already used it got unfairly labeled as bot users.

• For months, ChatGPT ignored user requests to avoid it.

• Now, the fix puts more control back in the writer’s hands.

This isn’t just about punctuation. It’s about trust and subtle signals. If AI tools want to stay invisible in the creative process, they can’t leave a trail. Style choices matter and so does the ability to opt out.

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