Google Adds AI Ads, OpenAI Preps First Consumer Hardware

Here's today's top stories in AI news. - Sam Altman and Jony Ive say OpenAI’s first hardware is in prototyping with a potential launch in under two years. The device aims for a “simple, beautiful, playful” design. - Major insurers including Great American, Chubb, and W. R. Berkley are seeking to exclude AI-related liabilities, citing systemic risk; AIG says it’s not adopting such exclusions. Defamation, chatbot errors, and deepfake fraud cases highlight exposure. - Perplexity launched a free U.S. AI shopping assistant that remembers preferences, shows product cards with specs and reviews, and supports Instant Buy via PayPal; mobile is coming soon. - Elon Musk predicts work will be optional within 10–20 years as robots boost productivity and “universal high income” emerges. Economists doubt the timeline, noting costly robotics, slow adoption, political hurdles, and inequality risks. - Google is adding sponsored ads to AI mode answers, including with Gemini 3 Pro, placing them at the bottom of responses as it steers users toward its answer engine.