Nvidia Takes on Apple Silicon-New RTX Spark PC Chip; Meta’s AI Pendent; Duck Duck Go Eases Access to “NO-AI” Search Engine; BYD Assumes Crash Liability if You Use Self-Driving 

Nvidia is coming for Apple with their new RTX Spark PC chip. Macrumors.com reports that Nvidia claims it is ‘the most efficient PC chip ever built.’ Nvidia says its RTX Spark Superchip is purpose-built to run AI agents that can work proactively across apps and run in the background as a personal “teammate.” The RTX Spark is ARM based, rocking a Blackwell RTX graphics processor with a Grace CPU. Microsoft’s new 15 inch Surface Laptop Ultra will be one of the first machines to ship with the integrated silicon. Pricing hasn’t been announced for either the chip or the Surface Laptop Ultra…which will land later this year…but Nvidia has indicated that the first wave of RTX Spark machines will target the premium end of the market.

Meta is working on an AI pendant…because of course they are. According to techcrunch.com, the device will begin getting tested out nest year. Apparently, the gadget can either be worn on a necklace or be attached to a shirt to record conversations. Meta also intends to expand their line of AI glasses and plans to launch a business subscription called Wearables for Work. Meta is hoping all these AI wearable concepts will prove more popular than other wearables that have been tried in the past and failed. Meta’s hardware focused Reality Labs has lost $4 billion the first quarter of this year. 

DuckDuckGo has seen a surge of usage with the Google changes to make their search even more AI focused than it has been. Now, Techcrunch.com notes that the scrappy search engine is making it even easier to set up their no-AI search engine with new extensions. You can just use the link noai. duckduckgo.com as your default search engine. Once enabled, you are directed to DuckDuckGo’s AI-free search page. No prompts, no AI-assisted answers, and fewer AI images in the search results. The extensions are available for both Firefox and Chrome. 

A big issue with self-driving vehicles is the one of financial responsibility. Is the owner responsible, or the driver…even if they aren’t driving or touching controls? Is the maker of the self-driving vehicle on the hook? Now, at least in China, that question has been answered by BYD. Engadget.com reports that BYD will offer full-damage coverage for anyone using the Urban Navigate or Autopilot feature on its latest God’s Eye 5.0 driver assistance program. According to BYD, the company will “directly cover all resulting economic losses” if a driver uses the Urban Navigate on Autopilot feature in compliance with all regulations and gets into an at-fault accident. With it’s patchwork of mainly state insurance regulations, it will remain to be seen if this is ever adopted here in the US, but it would make a lot of sense. On the other hand, universal health coverage also makes a lot of sense…and where is that in the US?

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.