Elon Musk's xAI company is looking to raise $4.3 billion in equity funding, adding onto the $5 billion it's seeking in debt funding.

Chatbots are increasingly looking to keep people chatting, using familiar tactics that we’ve already seen lead to negative consequences. Sycophancy can make AI chatbots respond in a way that’s overly agreeable or flattering. And while having a digital hype person might not seem like a dangerous thing, it is actually a tactic used by tech […]

Did President Trump just pull the trigger on a major decision?  When dozens of U.S. Air Force tankers started taking off from their bases, all sorts of speculation started to erupt on social media.  And then when those tankers started flying east across the Atlantic, the level of speculation escalated to a frenzy.  As I …

Something to celebrate. Bunnie Xo and Jelly Roll have opened up significantly to fans over the last year about their hopes to have a child. At first, the couple thought about keeping their journey private, but later decided to open up about their IVF journey to the public. After this decision, we got little snippets and updates about Bunnie Xo’s IVF stims, and how badly she and Jelly Roll want to have a child of their own, but recently she’s opened up even more about the trials and tribulations of this process. In March, Bunnie posted a video revealing to fans that they had done an egg retrieval: @xomgitsbunnie #bunniexo ♬ original sound – Bunnie Xo Since that procedure, she’s shared that it was not an easy process for her, which was the opposite of what other women had shared with her. She felt like the stims was easier for her than the retrieval. “I’m a little over two weeks out now, and I’m feeling so much better… Like everybody said like, ‘Oh, the stims is the hardest part,’ and blah, blah, blah, blah. And like the stims for me was so easy. And everybody’s like, ‘Oh, the egg retrieval is a breeze. After two days, you’re gonna be recovered and feeling great.’ No. No, no. No sir. I was not.  Like day 11 I was concerned, I messaged my clinic and was like, ‘Hello, not only have I gained 6 pounds on this sh*t. When does that start coming off? And secondly, why am I in so much pain?’ I took pictures I looked like I was four months pregnant.” Bunnie shared that all the hormones caused her body to be out of whack, and then commended the women who do two IVF cycles back to back, because it is not for the weak. “The women who do this IVF journey are a different breed. It’s crazy, like these women are just straight-up soldiers, man. And I get it, they are on a mission for a goal. But… how bad do I want that goal? You know, like I don’t know if I’m built like them. Maybe that’s why I don’t have kids, because I’m not built like them. I can’t f**king do it, man. But we are back on track.” While Bunnie said she was back on track after recovering from her last egg retrieval, that was short-lived after she had a horrible experience doing another IVF round on a different medication. Bunnie Xo shared that she did another round to do, then another egg retrieval, which increases your chances of viable embryos. But Bunnie shared that after doing a round on this new medication, her body went into medical menopause and had a “hellacious” reaction to it overall. “So I’m doing my second round of IVF. The last cycle, we got eggs, they are frozen, whatever. But I guess to increase your chances of having a baby, you need to have as many eggs as possible, which is why women end up doing 5-10 IVF cycles. Which hats off to you, broads, because there is no way, shape, or form that I could do that.” After that last update, it sounded like Bunnie Xo was considering taking a break from IVF and would just let fate run its course. But in a recent post, Bunnie Xo and Jelly Roll finally got some good news related to their journey. “When you just got the call you’ve been waiting on for 5 months since this IVF journey started. All the tears, the hopeless & the struggle, God finally said, ‘Here.'” Bunnie Xo writes over a video of her crying on the phone with what one would presume is her doctor. In a TikTok caption of the same footage, Bunnie Xo clarifies that this is not a pregnancy announcement, but a positive step in that direction: “This is not a pregnancy announcement- we won’t announce that. It’s just a huge huge milestone for us.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bunnie Xo. (@xomgitsbunnie) In another video that Bunnie Xo shared on her second TikTok account, she touched on the hope she’s still holding onto for how their journey will unfold and that the piece of news they received will grow into more reasons to celebrate. “I got some really cool news today on this IVF journey. Honestly, I have felt so hopeless since after the first retrieval. The emotional ups and downs of this process I wouldn’t wish on anyone. We have 24 more hours to hold our breath, but the fact that God has brought us this far makes me tear up just writing this. And I know everything can change in the blink of an eye, but I just want to take this moment to smile briefly and be thankful. I’ve been praying hard all day.” @ohheyitsbunnie #jellyandbunnie ♬ One Of Us – Joan Osborne We are keeping our fingers crossed for more good news to come, Bunnie and Jelly. God willing, all of these ups and downs will be worth it in the end when Bunnie Xo and Jelly Roll have a child of their own.The post Bunnie Xo & Jelly Roll Celebrate “A Huge, Huge Milestone” On IVF Journey: “God Finally Said ‘Here'” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Long before he became the Chief. Of course these days Eric Church is one of the biggest names in country music of the past two decades. He’s sold out festivals, stadiums, amphitheaters and arenas all across the country, has nearly a dozen #1 hits as both a solo and featured artist, and has served as an inspiration for an entirely new generation of country artists. But before that he was just Eric Church, a kid from Granite Falls, North Carolina. Even back then, though, Eric was showing off his musical talent, including in this throwback video that shows a young Eric Church performing the Garth Brooks hit “We Shall Be Free” for an audition in the early ’90s. There’s not a lot of information about the clip, which was posted by Jeff Hartman, a fellow artist from North Carolina who’s built his own successful music career and classmate of Church’s back at Appalachian State University. According to the description, their paths crossed in 1994, which would mean Church was around 17 at the time of the audition – and his style was obviously different than the black t-shirts and aviators we’re used to seeing him in today. For the audition, Church chose to perform “We Shall Be Free,” which was a controversial song when it was released back in 1992 in the wake of the LA riots. Written by Garth and songwriter Stephanie Davis, he revealed that he was inspired to write the song after being in Los Angeles for the ACM Awards while the riots were taking place: “The night the riots hit we watched it all on TV on the bus leaving LA. And as you drove out of LA you could see the buildings on fire. It was pretty scary for all of us, especially a bunch of guys from Oklahoma. Ya know this is intense out here.” He goes into more detail in the linear notes from his The Hits album: “‘We Shall Be Free’ is definitely and easily the most controversial song I have ever done. A song of love, a song of tolerance from someone who claims not to be a prophet but just an ordinary man. I never thought there would be any problems with this song. Sometimes the roads we take do not turn out to be the roads we envisioned them to be. All I can say about ‘We Shall Be Free” is that I will stand by every line of this song as long as I live. I am very proud of it. And I am very proud of Stephanie Davis, the writer. I hope you enjoy it and see it for what it was meant to be.” Obviously the song was a hit for Garth in the early ’90s, so it’s no surprise that Church decided to perform it back in high school. And like everybody else around that time, it’s clear that Church was listening to a lot of Garth Brooks: Another video posted by Hartman shows the future superstar singing “Friends In Low Places,” as well as “Take It Easy” by the Eagles, with a group of his fellow students around the same time. Talk about a blast from the past.The post Watch A Young Eric Church Perform Garth Brooks’ “We Shall Be Free” Way Back In High School first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Dierks Bentley joins the podcast to talk about his new album Broken Branches and some of his favorite songs on the tracklist, the Hot Country Knights and adding humor to his music, being friends with Cross Canadian Ragweed frontman Cody Canada, having a hobby like flying, being a dad, hangover cures, sports and more. Download the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or click here. We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts. Cheers, y’all. Audio Video The post Whiskey Riff Raff Podcast with Dierks Bentley first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

I don’t know how many times we have to say it, but: Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. It should be common sense by now, but unfortunately it seems like every day there’s a new rumor or post going viral that’s completely untrue. Unless it’s from a credible source, you shouldn’t assume it’s true. Unfortunately that’s not the case though, and oftentimes these rumors get shared and spread around before the truth ever has time to come out by people who are either want to believe that the fake post is true or want to be mad about it. Everybody’s looking for a reason to either be outraged or make their point, and they’re quick to share anything that helps them out, whether it’s true or not. Case in point: This post claiming that Jelly Roll refused to perform at a pride festival. Back on June 13, a page with 1 million followers posted on Facebook claiming that the country superstar had released a statement claiming that “woke doesn’t deserve to be celebrated” and refused to participate in pride month. (I’m not going to embed the post here, because honestly, why share it any further?) The original post has been shared over 3,000 times and racked up over 88,000 reactions, as well as nearly 27k comments. I’ve also seen videos on other platforms of people who were either upset by Jelly Roll’s supposed stance, or praising him for it. The problem? The whole story is complete bulls–t. Jelly’s wife, Bunnie Xo, took to her own social media to call out the post: “This is an absolute lie! Stop posting stuff for views and engagement that’s completely wrong. We have always supported the gays & theys baby” And she went even harder on her TikTok story: “This is appalling and disgusting that someone can just post anything they want & tear down an entire community w/defamatory FALSE statements that they could never back up. My husband would NEVER say this, we have always loved [our] gays & theys. We LOVE love. Please stop believing things without factual proof or hearing it from the source.” I mean, if you think critically about the post’s claims for more than a second or two, does it REALLY sound like something Jelly Roll would say? Have you ever heard him say anything negative about anybody, or stand for anything but acceptance for everybody? It’s laughably fake on its face, but still, people see something like that and run with it for their own agenda. Of course there were plenty of people who saw the fake post and took it as confirmation that Jelly is a Trump support, despite the fact that he’s never been political (at least not publicly), and even clarified who he voted for during the last 2024 presidential election: Nobody. In fact, the country music superstar COULDN’T vote for either candidate. Jelly Roll (whose real name is Jason DeFord) was convicted of felony robbery way back in 2003, and as a felon in Tennessee he lost his right to vote. So he couldn’t vote anyway. As Jelly responded in a (now-deleted) comment to a TikTok accusing him and his wife Bunnie Xo of being Trump voters: “I can’t vote sir – at all. lol. Nor have I ever. Nor will I ever be allowed to vote. It’s alright, you don’t know me, but please don’t lie about me.” Of course Jelly has said in the past that because he lost his right to vote he has never considered himself a Democrat or a Republican. While testifying in front of Congress on the fentanyl epidemic, he spoke on his political stance: “I am a musician. I have no political alliance. I am neither Democrat nor Republican. In fact because of my past, my right to vote has been restricted, thus for I have never paid attention to a political race in my life.” Like I said, don’t believe everything you read online. But hey, whatever helps you get clicks I guess.The post Bunnie Xo Sets The Record Straight After Fake Post Goes Viral Claiming Jelly Roll Refused To Participate In Pride Month first appeared on Whiskey Riff.