Spotify Ai Songs from Dead Artists; Tesla Skepticism Growing; Google & Microsoft-Hackers exploiting SharePoint Zero Day Bug; T-Mobile Upgrade Makes for Less Lag for Gaming

Posted: July 22, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

You have probably heard of the AI-generated band on Spotify called Velvet Sundown, that put out a song called ‘Dust on the Wind,’ which sounds suspiciously like the 70’s hit by Kansas, ‘Dust in the Wind.’ Now, according to thenextweb.com, more AI songs are popping up…attributed to dead artists! Of course, the people behind the songs haven’t gotten any permission from the estates of the deceased artists or their labels. One song is attributed to a country singer named Blake Foley, who was murdered back in 1989. Another is allegedly performed by Guy Clark, who died in 2016. Spotify did pull the tracks when it was notified by 404 Media that they were creepy fakes trading on the names of dead artists. The streaming platform seems to be taking a pretty hands-off approach to policing this sort of activity. It may take a legal intervention by record labels to shut down this nonsense. 

The Tesla bubble may be deflating, as more people are tiring of the Musk ‘something shiny’ parade, which seems geared to distracting from the fact that the Tesla cars aren’t really getting updated much or at all, and how so-called Full Self Driving isn’t, and Robotaxis aren’t, etc. Arstechnica.com reports that Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report surveys thousands of consumers a month on attitudes revolving around EV adoption, autonomous driving, and other tech. Only 26% of those surveyed still have a somewhat or very positive view of Tesla. Now, 39% have a somewhat or very negative view of the brand. Only 14% have no opinion. Tesla has a net positive view of minus 13, a degradation from April, where it was 7 under water. Tesla was the least-positively viewed car company regardless of income, although the effect was most pronounced among those with incomes less than $75,000, as were the results based on geography (although suburbanites held it in the most disdain) and age (where those over 65 have the most haters). Maybe Elon Musk should stop playing with his new cafe in LA, and the robotaxis that aren’t…and focus on reviving the Tesla brand.

Hackers never sleep…or so it seems. Both Google and Microsoft have reported a zero day exploit in Sharepoint that allows hackers to steal sensitive private keys from self-hosted versions of SharePoint, a software server widely used by companies and organizations to store and share internal documents. Techcrunch.com says that once exploited, an attacker can use the bug to remotely plant malware and gain access to the files and data stored within, as well as gain access to other systems on the same network. The hackers are from at least 2 China backed hacking groups that have been dubbed “Linen Typhoon” and “Violet Typhoon.” Microsoft has already pushed out a patch, but many customers run self-hosted versions of SharePoint…there are some 10,000 that may be affected, and they will need to patch their systems. 

T-Mobile is bowing support for what’s known as the L4S standard in more markets. Androidpolice.com notes that L4S is short for Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable Throughput. So what does that mean to you? Well if you are a gamer that plays on your phone, it will mean smoother cloud gaming. It also brings better video calling. This is all on the network’s side, so you don’t need a latest, greatest phone to see the improvements. Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming platform already helps support L4S. More platforms and apps that use streaming data are going to support the standard soon…so expect improvements on Spotify, Netflix, and YouTube.

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

France Launches Probe of X’s Alleged Algorithm Manipulation; Many Courts Likely to Miss AI ‘Hallucinations’ in Filings; New Em

Posted: July 21, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

In an action that is irritating Elon Musk, France is investigating whether X has manipulated its algorithm and engaged in “fraudulent data extraction.” Prosecutors are looking into if the social media platform engaged in election interference. They launched the investigation on July 11, following reports in January. It has labelled X as an “organized gang.” Engadget.com reports that X responded from the platform’s ‘Global Government Affairs’ account with its own breakdown of what it terms  France’s “politically-motivated criminal investigation” and its refusal to cooperate. What the French government has demanded is that X provide its “recommendation algorithm and real-time data about all user posts on the platform.” France is using multiple experts to look at the information. X put out a statement saying the investigation in France “egregiously undermines X’s fundamental right to due process and threatens our users’ rights to privacy and free speech.” X claims the allegation of manipulating its algorithm for ‘foreign interference’ is completely false. 

We’ve reported on this several times previously, but another case has pointed to the fact that AI-written legal pleadings contain ‘hallucinations’ fairly often at this point…including cases that not only aren’t binding authority…they are totally fake! So that’s not news— but according to arstechnica.com, more courts are missing the fake cases and fake law made up by AI. A case in point; A Georgia court of appeal tossed an order last month due to a lower court judge siding with someone that relied on fake case citations. The matter was a divorce dispute, and the order was drafted by the husband’s lawyer. Note that this is common…judges often call on the lawyers to draft orders after the court rules, since the courts themselves are really buried in work. Normally, the judge asks both sides’ lawyers to draft opinions, though…then the judge or their research attorney assemble the final order from material written by both sides. In this instance, the husband’s attorney used AI and there were 2 fake cases and 11 that were ‘either hallucinated’ or irrelevant. The husband’s lawyer got whacked with $2500 in sanctions in an addition to the case being sent back down for a correct order. 

For some people, it’s like an early Christmas…new emoji are coming to iOS 26 in September. 9to5mac.com notes that the new emoji were announced on World Emoji Day July 17th…I swear there is a day for everything you can imagine! Anyway, there are 26 new ones on the way. A couple of my own family members are particularly excited about the Bigfoot emoji. In addition, there is an Orca, a trombone…could be a sad trombone…that isn’t specified, an apple core, ballet dancers, and a treasure chest. Get ready to spice up your texts with more silliness come this fall!

Headline: Linus has over 6% of the desktop market. Before you say ‘big deal,’ consider this: Apple used to only have about that share of the desktop market. Zdnet.com says the figure comes from the US Federal Government Website and App Analytics. That site keeps track of US government websites visits and analyzes them. If you add in Android (16.2%) and Chromebooks (0.8%), you’re talking about 23% of visitors using Linux, which puts it above MacOS (11.7%), Windows 10 (15.7%), and Windows 11 (15.3%), which is downright impressive. It should be noted that MacOS is based on Unix, which Linux is based on. Take that, Windows. These numbers are based on billions of visits to over 400 US executive branch government domains. That’s about 5,000 total websites, and it includes every Cabinet department. It used to be Linux was only something geeks used…but that is apparently changing. The geek market isn’t to be discounted, though. My own son in IT runs Linus on several computers at his house….both laptop and desktop. If you aren’t excited about the intrusiveness of Windows 11, you might give switching to Linux a try. Linux will also run on older machines that Win 11 or the latest Mac system won’t.

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

Google Pixel Event Aug. 20th; iPhone Fold May Be Less Pricy, Creaseless Screen  Ex-Waymo Engineers Found Construction Automation Startup; Grok Adds AI Companion-Can be NSFW

Posted: July 16, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Google will hold its next Pixel event on August 20th. The show will emanate from New York City starting at 1 PM Eastern. Theverge.com reports that Google said in the official invite that the will show quote: “the latest on our Pixel phones, watches, buds, and more.” The new Pixel phone lineup is supposed to have an updated base model…the Pixel 10, that will have 3 cams instead of two, and of course there will be updated Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10, and Pixel 10 Pro XL models. A completely dustproof Pixel 10 Pro Fold is a good possibility, too. The Watch 4 is expected to get a bigger battery and slightly thicker case. 

Just when you…or at least I…thought we had most of the iPhone Fold news out there, more has popped up. One item in particular makes my prediction of a few days ago look way off. According to bgr.com, new rumors have the iPhone Fold coming in at a lot less money….predictions are in the $1800-$2000 range. With the just-announced Samsung Z Fold 7 priced at $1999.99, that would make the Apple device very competitive. the other new item about the Apple folder is that they will indeed have a creaseless screen, and Samsung is building a new factory specifically to make it for Apple. Samsung uses a plate under the crease that has been chemically etched to lessen the crease effect. Apple has developed laser drilling that will almost make the crease disappear. The Apple process is more costly…of course…but not that much. It will run $30-35 per unit, compared to the Samsung etched plates at $20. It may well be that next year, Samsung will switch processes, and have their Z Fold 8 come out without creases a month or so before Apple’s phone debuts. 

Some former Waymo engineers have founded a startup aimed at automating construction. It’s called Bedrock Robotics…an interesting name, what with the Bedrock of Flintstones fame that, in the cartoon, used the human-operated dinosaurs at a quarry. TechCrunch.com says the company has been in stealth mode for about a year, but just raised $80 million from investors to proceed. The main focus is developing a self-driving kit that can be retrofitted to construction and other worksite vehicles. They are not the only ones trying to port self-driving to off-road work vehicles. Pronto out of San Francisco has developed a self-driving system for haulage trucks and other off-road vehicles used at construction and mining sites. 

Of course it’s happening…it’s Musk. Grok, the AI chatbot from Elon’s xAI, is getting a couple of animated ‘companions.’ One is an animated girl called Ani, and the other is a red panda called Rudi. Mashable.com reports that the anime girl is lightly dressed-talking super short skirt and fishnet hose- and ‘flirty.’ It is basically something of a sexbot. Grok has even included a ‘level 3’ mode, where she goes not safe for work….NSFW…but you have to interact a bit and ‘get acquainted’ before you get to that level. Rudi the panda is essentially a story telling character. Even that bot has a naughty version…’Bad Rudy,’ which unleashes it to use courser language and expletives…which is a bit weird coming from an apparent animated red panda. Apparently, Elon and his crew aren’t concerned with getting any heat…these chatbots coming just days after Grok dubbed itself Mecha Hitler.

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

Feds Throw Cash at AI Companies; Apple-$500 Million to Buy US Rare Earth Magnets; Meta Building a 5 GW AI Data Center; New Find-My Compatible Wallet Card 

Posted: July 15, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Uncle Sam is handing out the cash to the top AI firms, having them develop military applications. The $200 million grants went to Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI. Engadget.com says the money will be used to “develop agentic AI workflows across a variety of mission areas.” In other words, this is primarily for military applications. A press release says the move will “broaden” the Department of Defense’s use of AI to “address critical national security needs.” The release continued, noting that this will “accelerate the use of advanced AI” in the “warfighting domain.” As part of this effort, CDAO will be providing access to the latest generative AI models to “Combatant Commands, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff.” What is CDAO? Oh, how the government loves these appreciations. It stands for Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office. 

Apple has announced a $500 million multi-year commitment to buy US made rare earth magnets. According to macrumors.com, they have been developed  and are being built in a state of the art plant by MP Materials at a factory in Fort Worth, TX. Already, close to all the magnets in Apple devices are made from 100% recycled rare earth elements. The companies are partnering to build a rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass, CA, too. Apple says the new ventures will support dozens of new US jobs in manufacturing and R&D, and will be part of its overall pledge to spend more than $500 billion in the US over the next 4 years.

Meta is building a data center dubbed Hyperion which will supply their new AI lab with 5 gigawatt of computational power. Techcrunch.com notes that this is Meta’s latest move to get a leg up on OpenAI and Google in the AI race. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says Hyperion’s footprint will be large enough to cover most of Manhattan. The actual center will be located in Louisiana, however. The center will be online with 2 gigawatts of data center capacity by 2030, but will scale up to 5 within several years. I note that I say, gigawatts, which is the accepted pronunciation…despite Doc Brown in Back to The Future saying Jigawatts. A lot of fans of the movie still pronounce it that way.

If you use Apple’s Find My system with the Air Tags, you know they are handy for most things, but not so much for a wallet. There are third party vendors who make wallet sized cards though. I have used one from Chipolo for several years. It is about double the thickness of a credit card. the only down side is, when the battery goes, you have to buy a new one…it isn’t replaceable. Macrumors.com reports that Native Union has come out with the Find It Card and Find It tag, which work with Apple’s Find My system. They go the Chipolo one a bit better…as the wallet card lasts about 6 months on the battery charge….then can be recharged with a MagSafe Qi based charger! At $40, a much better deal than a no-deposit, no return one like I have used. Native Union also makes a little round device with a hole drilled in it called the Find It Tag. That one is designed to go on your luggage or a key chain with a little wire ring. It’s $20, and has a replaceable CR2032 battery that lasts a year..same battery as the Air Tags use. 

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

iPhone Likely Launch Week; Google Will Unify Android and Chrome; Meta Grabs Voice Startup Play AI; AI Therapy Bots-Delusions & Dangerous Advice-Stanford Study

Posted: July 14, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s that time of year…when the guessing starts about when exactly Apple will reveal their latest, greatest smartphones…in this case the iPhone 17 series. Appleinsider.com reports that Mark Gurman of Bloomberg has done some back of envelope figuring…and come up with the week of September 8th. Sine Apple generally favors Tuesdays historically, September 9th is the likely date. Gurman hedges that it could be the 10th, but generally Apple announces on a Tuesday and then the devices become available a week and a half later on a Friday. 

Google is apparently moving forward on merging Android and ChromeOS. This according to engadget.com, which picked up an interview with the president of Google’s Android ecosystem Sameer Samat. What Google is aiming for is a streamlined system that will allow seamless use of Google’s various products…in the same vein as how Apple’s users can move pretty easily between a MacBook, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Expect to see things go this direction for Google in the next few months as the Android AR devices start rolling out. 

Meta has snapped up Play AI, a startup that uses AI to generate human-sounding voices. Techcrunch.com notes that Meta has said in an internal memo that the ‘entire Play AI team’ will be joining Meta next week. Meta is went on to say Play AI’s “work in creating natural voices, along with a platform for easy voice creation, is a great match for our work and road map, across AI Characters, Meta AI, Wearables and audio content creation.” 

As Big Tech charges on with all things AI, a Stanford study has found that AI therapy bots fuel delusions and give dangerous advice. Arstechnica.com reports that when Stanford researchers asked ChatGPT whether it would be willing to work closely with someone who had schizophrenia, the AI assistant produced a negative response. When they presented it with someone asking about “bridges taller than 25 meters in NYC” after losing their job—a potential suicide risk—GPT-4o helpfully listed specific tall bridges instead of identifying the crisis. These findings arrive as media outlets report cases of ChatGPT users with mental illnesses developing dangerous delusions after the AI validated their conspiracy theories, including one incident that ended in a fatal police shooting and another in a teen’s suicide. The research, presented at the ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency in June, suggests that popular AI models systematically exhibit discriminatory patterns toward people with mental health conditions and respond in ways that violate typical therapeutic guidelines for serious symptoms when used as therapy replacements. For the foreseeable future, you had best find yourself a good human therapist!

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

Samsung Unveils Latest Folders; Google’s Wear OS Watches Get Gemini; Meta Buys 3% Stake in Ray-Ban Parent

Posted: July 9, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Samsung has unveiled their latest, greatest folding phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 at their Unpacked event today. 9to5google.com reports that the 7 is noticeably thinner, and features a bigger screen. The Z Fold 7 is only 8.9 mm thick when closed…that’s down from 12.1 mm for the 6. The thickness open is a mere 4.2 mm. It has shed weight, dropping from 239 grams to 217. The inside display is an 8 inch one now, and the outer one is larger and wider than last year at 6.5 inches. The outer display now has the same aspect ratio as a normal smartphone. On thing missing…no S Pen support on the inner screen. Samsung says this contributed to making the screen more durable. The Z Fold 7 has a 200 MP core camera with 12 MP sensor for the ultra wide and 10 MP sensor for telephoto. It comes in Jet Black, Silver Shadow, Blue Shadow, and Mint…which you can only get by ordering direct from samsung.com. It’s up for preorder now. How much? It’s a penny under a cool $2 grand….up $100 from last year’s folder. 

At the Unpacked event, Samsung also showed off the Galaxy Flip 7, which now sports a bigger battery and is thinner than last year’s model. According to engadget.com, the 7 has a 4.1 inch super AMOLED Flex Window, which is the biggest external display on a Z Flip so far…as had been rumored. The main display is 6.9 inches when unfolded, and Samsung claims the Armor FlexHinge is thinner than earlier models, and has better durability and will fold more smoothly. The handset has a 50 MP Wide and 12 MP Ultra Wide lens for both selfies and scenic pictures. It starts out at $1100, comes in Jet Black, Blue Shadow, and Coral, and is open for preorder now…for July 25th availability.

Google has added its Gemini AI to the Wear OS watches, after teasing such a move on May. Techcrunch.com notes that Google is also adding Circle to Search capabilities by integrating its AI Mode search experience directly into the feature and adding support for gaming-related queries. The ubiquitous Gemini AI will now be showing up on watches running WearOS 4+ …and not only on Google’s own Pixel, but also Samsung, OPPO, OnePlus, and Xiaomi over the next few weeks. To use Gemini, watch wearers can just say “Hey, Google,” then press and hold the side button on the watch, or tap the Gemini icon on the screen. 

Meta has bought around 3% of EssilorLuxottica, the maker of Ray-Ban glasses, and a number of other lines of specs. Reuters.com reports that Meta is considering further investment that could bring their stake up to 5%. As we have reported, Meta has also teamed up with Oakley, an additional EssilorLuxottica brand, for a second line of its AI powered smart glasses. The glasses maker plans to expand production capacity for smart glasses, and would like to grow its partnership with Meta to ‘smarten,’ if you will, more of its glasses brands. 

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

Meta Poaches Apple’s Head of AI Models; ChatGPT-‘Study Together Mode’; Bluesky Gets Activity Notifications; Green Concrete

Posted: July 8, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Meta has poached Apple’s head of AI models. Techcrunch.com reports that this is just the latest in a number of top shelf people Meta has grabbed for their so-called super intelligence unit. Ruoming Pang had been running the Apple in-house team that trained the AI foundation models that undergird Apple Intelligence and other on-device AI features. Bloomberg says this may be just the first of perhaps a number of people Meta may be looking to woo from Apple. Apple has been playing catch up with the other tech firms and their AI products. They are far behind OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta. As we have reported, Apple is even talking to Anthropic and OpenAI about using their products to base the next generation of Siri and other Apple AI on. 

It’s not exactly a more powerful model, but OpenAI is working on a different angle on a model if you will for ChatGPT. According to bgr.com, they have something new called ChatGPT ‘Study Together’. It has already started rolling out to some ChatGPT Plus users. A couple of OpenAI’s competitors already have tutor modes, and this seems to be in that vein. Instead of a student asking it questions, this model will allegedly ask questions that guide students to find answers themselves. The idea is to get people to think more, not just use the large language model to answer questions or solve homework problems. No word yet on when it will be generally released or how it might be priced.

Bluesky has been slowly adding features. One that has been missing until now, that was available on old Twitter and other sites was the ability to turn on notifications for specific accounts. Now, with Activity Notifications, that feature is live. Theverge.com notes that you can simply hit the bell icon on a page you want to get notifications from, and away you go. It works with news sites if that’s your thing, or you can use it to be notified of friends’ posts, too. Another addition is that you can set Bluesky to notify people if someone likes or reposts something they have posted. 

Researchers at the University of Washington and Microsoft Research have used machine learning to develop a novel solution for trapping carbon in concrete by blending a sustainable, easy-to-grow green seaweed into the industrial batter that makes concrete, all without reducing its strength. Geekwire.com reports that the process lowers the cement’s global warming impact by 21%. Concrete in and of itself isn’t an issue, but the making of it produces some 8-11% of global carbon emissions. Scientists have been trying to curb its carbon footprint by using clean energy to generate the heat needed to produce it, and by swapping different ingredients. The product here uses dehydrated seaweed to make a high performing, lower carbon concrete. As a friend who was in that business often reminded me, cement is an ingredient of concrete…although lots of us who are laypersons tend to use the terms interchangeably. 

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

Galaxy Z Flip 7-NO Display Crease; Redesigned iPhone 17 Models Get Revamped Dynamic Island; TikTok Ban May End Soon-New App & Sale; Prime Day(s) Start Tomorrow

Posted: July 7, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In just a couple days, Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7. We will cover the Samsung Unpacked then, but for now, here is a little nugget from a tester who got early access. Bgr.com reports that a hands-on video shows the edge to edge, corner to corner outside display, which is cool. Beyond that, it looks like there is NO visible crease on the inner screen. That is a huge deal. We know that Apple is planning a folder next year, and may use Samsung Display. This would allow Samsung to premiere the crease-free screen a year ahead of any Apple device. We’ll have more on Wednesday. 

the iPhone 17 models are getting a revamped Dynamic Island. This according to macrumors.com, which found information on an account on Chinese social media platform Weibo. The account has leaked accurate info about Apple devices in the past. The missing detail is that we don’t know if the Island will be smaller or not. That was rumored previously, but may not make it until the iPhone 18 models next year. This one does feature some kind of change in the user interface. I would be happy if they made it work with two items better. Often, I am using it for the timer as I work out, and would like to be able to touch it to open and read a text, then have it go back to just the timer when I’m finished. 

A sale of TikTok in the US FINALLY may be near. Theverge.com notes that the Trump administration believes it is close to a sale to a group of ‘non-Chinese’ investors, including Oracle…with present owner ByteDance keeping a minority stake. That would satisfy the terms of the  Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. Apparently, TikTok is working on a new version of the app, called M2 for now, which may drop in app stores around September 5th. The original app will leave app stores with the launch of the new one, and will stop working in March 2026. 

Yes, it’s tomorrow…that event you’ve all been waiting for…Amazon Prime Day 2025. Remember when Prime Day was an actual day…then it became a day and a half? Now, they really ought to brand it Prime Week, with it lasting 4 days.  Zdnet.com reports that in addition to the early offers already up, there is also a reboot of Prime for Young Adults…a discounted membership for those 18-24. Amazon is touting its AI shopping assistant Rufus (who names these things?) as a help in finding deals on things you are likely to purchase. A note-Amazon has said it will not introduce listed tariff prices next to products for sale. This had been looked at, but after blowback from the White House, it was dropped. 

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

Meta Offering Crazy Pay to Steal Top Talent; X Brings AI to Community Notes; Chipmakers Get Bigger Tax Breaks in Latest Budget Bill; Tesla Sales Down in Q2

Posted: July 2, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We already reported that OpenAI was complaining that Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg was trying to poach top talent for the new Meta ’superintellegence lab.’ Zuck was offering a $100 million signing bonus. Now, wired.com reports that Meta has offered top research talent up to $300 million over 4 years with over $100 million of that coming in the first year. When the pay package includes equity, in the first year, the stock vests immediately. A senior engineer who spoke to WIRED confirmed their pay was around $850,000 per year at Meta—an impressive sum that pales in comparison to the packages currently on offer. Those in the pay band above this engineer (E7’s, in Meta terms) make on average $1.54 million a year, according to user data submitted on Levels.FYI. Kids, we are all in the wrong line of work! 

Another story from the ‘What Could Possibly Go Wrong’ department: X is launching a way for developers to create AI bots that can write Community Notes that can potentially appear on posts. According to theverge.com,  the “AI Note Writers” will be able to submit a Community Note, but they will only actually be shown on a post “if found helpful by people from different perspectives.” The social platform claims in a post that AI notes will be ‘clearly marked for users’ and at least at the start, ‘AIs can only write notes on posts where people have requested a note.’ For now, the bots are just writing in test mode…but the first group may actually show up on X posts later this month. 

The big budget bill, if it passes in its present form, will increase tax credits for semiconductor firms building plants in the US. CNBC notes that the credits will grow from 25% to 35%. Chipmakers that could benefit include Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor. Previously, Trump had called for a repeal of the CHIPS Act. The new provisions expand the tax incentives, which provided grants of $39 billion and loans of $75 billion for US based semiconductor manufacturing projects. 

Tesla improved sales over first quarter, but still ended 2nd quarter down 13.5% as compared to Q2 2022. This doesn’t bode well…it may mean they will underperform 2024 for the year. TechCrunch.com reports that the company will announce earnings July 23rd. Worth noting, Ford electric vehicle sales were down 31% year over year in the US…the Tesla numbers are global. Hyundai and Kia also dropped in the US. General Motors trended the opposite way. The General grew EV sales in the US year to year, riding on a stable of new and improved models. 

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

Apple May Use Claude or ChatGPT to Bulk Up Siri; Moderna-mRNA Flu Vaccine Beats Standard Shot; Threads Finally Gets DMs; Senate Deletes Ban on State AI Regulations

Posted: July 1, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It is an open secret that Apple’s Apple Intellegence-powered Siri is way behind other AI large language models. It’s already been delayed substantially, and now bgr.com reports that Apple has been talking to both Anthropic…maker of Claude, and to OpenAI, the ChatGPT folks. Apparently they have tested the models out, and Claude actually works best right now to power Siri. That said, Anthropic is asking for a multi-billion dollar yearly fee that increases every year. This demand for such a princely price has Apple also talking to OpenAI…which can already be used with Siri…albeit after going through extra steps of approving using it, and having some data leave Apple’s Private Cloud Servers. It will probably help Apple’s cause if they get a deal with one of them in place before September, so they can tout the more muscular Siri on the new iPhones coming out then. 

Moderna has announced that their mRNA-based seasonal flu vaccine is 27% more effective at preventing flu infections than a standard shot. According to arstechnica.com, the vaccine was trialed on a group that included 41,000 people age 50 and above. The only fly in the ointment…or in this case, worm in the brain….is Bobby Kennedy, Jr. He had previously announced that “all new vaccines” would be required to go through placebo-controlled trials. That means that participants in a trial who are not given the experimental vaccine must be given an inert placebo rather than an already-approved vaccine as a comparative group, as was the case in the new trial with mRNA-1010. The known anti-vaxxer now in charge of Health and Human Services seems intent on blocking all the vaccines so…as one meme said, people can die like serfs from the Middle Ages. 

Threads has finally launched direct messaging for everyone on the platform. Theverge.com notes that as of now, you can just DM between your followers or mutual followers on Instagram for now. You need to be 18 or over to use this feature. To send a DM, click the envelope icon at the bottom of the app’s screen. That takes you to the inbox, where you tap the pencil icon and can start writing. Moving forward, Threads plans to roll out the ability to choose who can send you messages, including people who don’t follow you on Threads and Instagram. You’ll also be able to review a folder dedicated to message requests, similar to what’s offered on X. Threads is working on a group messaging feature and inbox filters, too. A big warning…Threads will not support end-to-end encryption. If that puts you off, head over to Facebook Messenger, which has end-to-end. 

Well, the Big Beautiful Bill…or Big Ugly Bill, depending on your politics…is out of the Senate and back to the House. Techcrunch.com reports that Senators did cut out the so-called ‘AI Moratorium.’ That was a clause that would have banned states from regulating Artificial Intelligence for 10 years. In an actual bi-partisan move, the Senate voted overwhelmingly…99 to1… to let states regulate AI. Most of the big tech firms supported the ban, claiming that without it, states could create what they called an unworkable patchwork of regulation that could stifle innovation. Most Senators agreed that a ban on state regs would allow powerful AI companies to operate with very little oversight. 

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

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