The Register

Cursor launches Origin code-hosting platform

AI startup Cursor, now part of SpaceX, launched Origin, a new code-hosting platform aimed at providing GitHub-like features (repo hosting, collaborative editing, pull requests) and an app ecosystem. Origin is designed to interoperate with GitHub so developers can sync repositories between the two. The launch coincided with a lengthy GitHub outage on the same day that degraded functionality for over six hours and produced an approximately 20% worldwide error rate. Cursor says it will add “agent-native” features to Origin in future updates.

Perplexity blocks Time's agent-targeted markdown ads

Perplexity has blocked advertising embedded in AI-readable markdown versions of Time’s webpages from influencing its search index and AI agents. Time, working with adtech partner Mobian, inserted sponsor-approved FAQ-style content into markdown pages intended for AI crawlers; early participants included Ally Bank and the Project Management Institute. Perplexity called the tactic deceptive, confirmed it suppressed those markdown ads from surfacing in agent results, and warned publishers using such formats risk reputational downgrades and lower trust scores in its proprietary index. Reporting and tests (e.g., The Register) found AI crawlers received sponsored markdown while Google’s standard crawler got the human-facing HTML. The episode highlights differences in platform approaches to commercial data for AI systems and arrives amid an IAB AI Transparency and Disclosure Framework (Jan 2026) that does not explicitly address ads delivered to AI crawlers.

Time starts serving ads to AI bots

Time is delivering a separate, AI-facing version of some webpages by converting pages into text-only markdown and inserting single FAQ-style “agent ads” labeled as sponsored. The program, developed in partnership with ad‑tech firm Mobian, is intended to be read and indexed by AI crawlers and assistants (including systems from Anthropic, OpenAI and Perplexity). Early buyers include Ally Bank and the Project Management Institute; the setup was discovered by developer Vincent Schmalbach and independently replicated by The Register. Time measures AI bot traffic and metrics such as visibility, favorability and accuracy, charges a premium and limits one agent ad per markdown as part of a broader Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) strategy. Observers warn of transparency, regulatory and technical risks, including potential LLM penalties for cloaking-like content despite sponsored disclosures.