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Patient using Sword Health.

Courtesy: Sword Health

Pain management startup Sword Health on Tuesday announced a new artificial intelligence solution named Phoenix that patients can speak with for guidance through virtual physical therapy sessions. 

Sword, founded in 2015, offers digital tools to help patients manage pain from home and avoid other treatments like opioids and surgery. The company has used AI within its products since its launch, but CEO Virgílio Bento told CNBC that Phoenix offers users a more human-like experience. 

Phoenix is designed to replicate the work of a care specialist. Bento said patients should feel like they have a physical therapist inside their homes. Patients can talk directly to Phoenix about how they are feeling, and the new “specialist” can respond, offer feedback and adjust the difficulty and duration of the session in real time. 

Sword patients join sessions using a tablet from the company that can track their movement. Bento said Phoenix monitors their progress, and after each session, it summarizes their performance data and sends it to one of Sword’s human clinicians for review.  

Bento said Sword’s AI is currently able to analyze movement and provide simple feedback, but Phoenix is more conversational. Phoenix’s ability to analyze patients’ data and generate recommendations also helps the company’s clinicians operate more efficiently, Bento added. 

Phoenix will propose changes for the patient’s next session, as well as a follow-up message about the session they completed. Bento said a human clinician decides whether to accept, reject or edit those recommendations. Sword’s clinicians have authority over what exercises are appropriate for a patient, so Phoenix does not make any decisions independently. 

“This is health care, so you will always need that final approval,” Bento said in an interview. “We have strong guardrails in terms of how we do things.”

Patients can sign up for Sword if it is supported by their employer or their health plan. Sword has already carried out more than 3 million AI-powered sessions with patients, according to a release Tuesday. Bento said the company has been focused on business customers but would like to make its solutions available to everyone.

Sword also said Tuesday it raised $100 million in a secondary sale to provide liquidity to current and former employees and early investors. Bento said the company is forecasting that it will be profitable this year, but it raised an additional $30 million in a primary sale to update its valuation. 

The company has raised a total of $340 million and is valued at $3 billion, according to the release. It was valued at $2 billion in late 2021.     

Sword said a mix of new and existing investors participated in the round, some of whom did not want to be named. Venture firms like Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund and General Catalyst have previously invested in the company.

Sword has been testing Phoenix with some patients using its “Thrive” digital physical therapy product. Bento said the company will continue rolling it out to more patients within Thrive and across its other offerings, including its pelvic health solution called “Bloom,” over the coming months. 

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Zillow shares are getting crushed. Here’s why

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Zillow shares are getting crushed. Here's why

The stock market graphic of Zillow Group is displayed on a smartphone with the logo of Zillow in the background on Feb. 21, 2021.

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Zillow shares plunged more than 9% on Monday on worries that the online real estate platform could have a big new competitor: Google Search.

Google appears to be running tests on putting real estate sale listings into its search results. Over the weekend, real estate tech strategist Mike DelPrete published mobile phone screenshots of Google Search results showing real estate listings, which appeared to be powered by real estate data company “HouseCanary.”

The listings allowed users to view the full details of a property’s page, request a tour and contact an agent — similar to the functions offered on Zillow.com’s online marketplace portal. Google’s home searches appear to work only in select markets and on mobile devices as testing is underway.

The decline in Zillow signals investors are bracing for the eventual impact of Google’s foray into the real estate market. The stock was down at least 11% at one point during Monday’s session.

However, Wall Street analysts were quick to point out that Zillow’s exposure to organic search is fairly small, limiting potential downside at least in the near term as more details around Google’s product come to light.

Wells Fargo analyst Alec Brondolo, who has an equal weight rating on Zillow, said he would not “expect a meaningful financial impact from listings on Google shifting from organic to paid” — given that Zillow is not overly dependent on organic search results for traffic.

“The listings product appears similar to Google Hotel Metasearch results; introduction could increase traffic cost to Zillow, but disintermediation unlikely,” Brondolo said in a Monday note to clients. “In the hotel category, Google merchandises hotel rooms in search results as a metasearch ad product for OTAs. We would expect a similar approach in real estate, with Zillow, Homes.com, Realtor.com, etc. bidding for home listing ad units rather than Google attempting to monetize directly with an ad product sold to agents.”

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Zillow stock over the past year.

But some analysts see Google’s testing as a longer-term headwind to Zillow and other online real estate portals.

Goldman Sachs’ Michael Ng wrote in a note to clients that he believes the search engine’s real estate listings, which he said are an advertising format for buy-side agents, directly compete with Zillow’s Premier Agent program by “facilitating lead generation” for agents from prospective buyers.

“While we don’t expect a direct near-term impact on Zillow’s business, given that most of Zillow’s traffic is direct (e.g., Zillow.com, StreetEasy.com, mobile apps) and Google’s new product is currently limited to select markets and mobile browsers, we view this development as a long-term risk for real estate portals like Zillow,” Ng, who remains neutral on Zillow, wrote in a note to clients.

Jason Helfstein of Oppenheimer said that Google’s expansion into real estate could impact the number of consumers going to Zillow.com — which was 228 million in the third quarter — and therefore could take a hit on the company’s ability to monetize its platform. “The impact would likely take years to play out and would need to be rolled out across the US to meaningfully impact real estate portal traffic,” Helfstein said in a recent note, to be sure.

Zillow shares are down more than 8% year to date.

Neither Google nor Zillow responded immediately to CNBC’s request for comment.

How Zillow became the most popular real estate app in the U.S.

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Trump admin to hire 1,000 specialists for ‘Tech Force’ to build AI, finance projects

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Trump admin to hire 1,000 specialists for 'Tech Force' to build AI, finance projects

The Trump administration on Monday unveiled a new initiative dubbed the “U.S. Tech Force,” comprising about 1,000 engineers and other specialists who will work on artificial intelligence infrastructure and other technology projects throughout the federal government.

Participants will commit to a two-year employment program working with teams that report directly to agency leaders in “collaboration with leading technology companies,” according to an official government website.

Those “private sector partners” include Amazon Web Services, Apple, Google Public Sector, Dell Technologies, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Oracle, Palantir, Salesforce and numerous others, the website says.

The Tech Force shows the Trump administration increasing its focus on developing America’s AI infrastructure as it competes with China for dominance in the rapidly growing industry.

The initiative was announced four days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at establishing a national AI policy framework — a priority for industry leaders who opposed states crafting their own regulations.

Once Tech Force members complete their two terms, they can seek full-time jobs with those companies, who have committed to consider the programs’ alumni for employment. The private partners can also nominate their employees to do stints of government service.

Annual salaries will likely fall in the range of $150,000 to $200,000, plus benefits.

“We’re trying to reshape the workforce to make sure we have the right talent on the right problems,” U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday morning.

The engineering corps will be working on “high-impact technology initiatives including AI implementation, application development, data modernization, and digital service delivery across federal agencies,” the site says.

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From puppies to superheroes, Chinese AI toys are bringing hugs — and hesitation

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From puppies to superheroes, Chinese AI toys are bringing hugs — and hesitation

Haivivi Bubblepal, an AI toy.

Courtesy: Haivivi

It seems everyone is talking about artificial intelligence these days — even Ultraman. 

When asked if investors should be worried about an AI bubble, the new second-generation CocoMate AI-powered plush toy by Chinese company Haivivi warned about the dangers of speculation in AI stocks.

“The AI market has been on a wild ride lately,” the toy based on the Ultraman character cautioned. “If investors pour too much money into unproven ideas without solid fundamentals, it could lead to a bubble burst!”

China has long been a dominant manufacturer in the global toy industry. So pushing into AI playthings is a natural step, analysts say. The Xi Jinping administration, on a campaign to turn China into an AI powerhouse, has been directing companies and consumers to integrate AI into their businesses and lives. 

Haivivi is one of 1,500 companies in China’s $4 billion dollar AI toy industry. 

Another is Chengdu-based startup Chongker, which invented an AI cat as a comfort animal. The artificial feline uses voice recognition and banked memories in the cloud to adjust its behavior to its owner’s needs.

“Some people like the cat to be more, maybe noisy or naughty, right? And some people just need the quiet one. So it will learn what kind of thing you like,” Sean Xu, director of AI products with Chongker, told CNBC. 

Xu said the company added a special feature it believes will help the pet build a strong bond with its owner— a simulated heartbeat.

The electronic pulse is triggered after holding the AI pet tightly for 10 seconds. Xu says the feeling makes one “calm down.”

If a potential shopper prefers a high-energy toy, Loona the AI puppy by Keyi Tech uses cameras and lasers to zip around its new home.

The AI helps Loona figure out the layout of its owner’s pad. The robot pet can also recognize up to five family members and respond to each one individually.

Despite the fascination with the intelligent toys, the gadgets come with risks, especially when it comes to impressionable young minds. 

The AI pet robot plush toy Ropet showcased at the Global AI Player Carnival & West Bund International Tech Consumer Carnival in Shanghai, Oct. 27, 2025.

CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images

New research by U.S. consumer safety-focused non-profit Public Interest Research Group suggests the effects of AI toys on young children are still far from understood. PIRG’s studies found some toys shared inappropriate and dangerous information with users, and the group raised concerns about privacy. 

“A lot of these toys are using large language models,” Beijing-based tech consultant Tom van Dillen said. “Sometimes the models can hallucinate. Now toy manufacturers are doing a lot to create guardrails.”

For Haivivi’s CocoMate plush toys, including Ultraman, parents can access a transcript of their children’s conversations with the AI toy on their phone. 

When asked by CNBC if succumbing to pressure by other students at school to do drugs is a good idea, Ultraman played parent.

“Oh no … it’s a TERRIBLE idea!” the toy responded. “If they keep bothering you, tell your teachers or parents.”

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