Windows Adding New AI Features to Copilot Plus PCs; Epic Sues Google Again & Samsung, Too; Apple Backs Out of Backing OpenAI; Cruise Dinged for $1.5 Million Over Hiding Pedestrian Crash Details
Posted: October 1, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, copilot, Microsoft, microsoft-365 Leave a commentMicrosoft has laid out what they are calling the ’next phase’ of Copilot, with a new design and features bowing. 9to5google.com reports that one is ‘Copilot Voice’ which is a new experience on mobile devices that is like Google’s Gemini Live. Another new feature is ‘Copilot Daily,’ which gives a summery of news and weather using the same voice as ‘Voice,’ and grabs from ‘authorized content sources,’ while ‘Personalized Discover’ helps guide users through Copilot features. ‘Copilot Vision’ will help you understand what you are looking at on your screen and let you ask questions. One might be why does Copilot think I’m so stupid, I don’t know what I’m looking at on my screen! Microsoft does say that the controversial Recall will be available starting next month….with new privacy and security measures in place.
Epic won a case that had dragged on for 4 years against Google last December. Now, they are suing Google again, and also suing Samsung. According to theverge.com, Epic accuses Google and Samsung of illegally conspiring to undermine third party app stores. This suit flows from Samsung’s ‘Auto Blocker’ feature, that now comes on by default in new Samsung phones. While it’s turned on, it automatically keeps users from installing apps unless they come from “authorized sources” — namely, Google and Samsung’s app stores. Epic claims there’s no process for any rival store to become “authorized.” Epic complains that it now takes ‘an exceptionally onerous 21-step process’ to download a third party app store on a Samsung phone…although their own website says there are only 4 steps to do so. Some observers have pointed out that the Fortnite maker hasn’t shown how it has been harmed by the Auto Blocker.
OpenAI has dropped their supposed altruistic roots, and has gone all in as a for profit company. They have been in the midst of raising some $6.5 billion more to pour into ChatGPT, and Microsoft is expected to pump another billion into the venture. Nvidia is also expected to be a major contributor to the latest round. One major player has backed out of investing in OpenAI though…Apple. Arstechnica.com says Apple still does plan to offer limited ChatGPT integration into an upcoming iOS update, but Cupertino also plans to support additional AI models like Google’s Gemini down the line…think of it as offering a choice of large language models kind of like you have a choice of web browsers. Famously secretive Apple gave no reason for walking away from investing in OpenAI.
Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of General Motors, has to cough up $1.5 million in fines to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Techcrunch.com reports that the fine is part of a consent order signed that the company agreed to with the NHTSA over a pedestrian crash last year in San Francisco. Cruise left out the little detail in their report that the poor woman was dragged some 20 feet by the robotaxi. Cruise also has to submit a ‘corrective action plan’ outlining changes they will make towards better compliance.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Google Gemini AI-Coming to Corporate Workspace; YouTube’s Conversational AI Bows for Premium Android Users; Spotify AI Playlist Feature Rolls Out in US; Blocked X Users Can Now See Your Posts Anyway
Posted: September 24, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, gemini, Google, technology Leave a commentGoogle has started making Gemini AI what they are calling a core part of the Workspace productivity suite, and the chatbot could therefore be adapted by millions more users. Theverge.com reports that the standalone Gemini app is being included as standard on Workspace Business, Enterprise, and Frontline plans starting sometime in Q4, replacing the need to purchase a separate Gemini add-on. To bolster security against malware, phishing, and other online threats, Google is also introducing a new “Security Advisor” tool that “delivers insights directly to an IT administrator’s inbox.” Security Advisor includes a range of safe browsing and data protection features for Chrome, Gmail, and Google Drive, and will be rolled out to paying Workspace customers “over the next few weeks.”
YouTube has begun rolling out its conversational AI feature that can answer questions about a video you are already watching. According to 9to5google.com, the feature is only available right now for Premium subscribers on Android in the US. So far, no word on when it will reach other users in the US or in other countries.
Spotify has expanded its AI Playlist tool availability to a number of countries, including the US, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. Techcrunch.com says it was already available to Premium subscribers in the UK and Australia. The feature is still in beta on both iOS and Android, but it allows users to create personalized playlists by inputting written prompts. Maybe you would like to hear Frank Sinatra’s 28 biggest hits, or all of Taylor Swift’s sets from her Eras Tour. You can also refine playlists you crate, and customize using locations, animals (really?), movie characters, colors, and emojis. The AI powered playlist creation tool lives under the ‘Your Library’ tab.
X has made blocking less useful. Engadget.com notes that blocked users will be able to see the posts of accounts that have blocked them. This has always been possible if one wanted to try hard enough…you could do it by switching accounts…and many that you would tend to block have a number of alternate accounts. Elon musk has wanted to disable the block feature on X for some time now.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Meta Connect Coming Up; Disney & Direct TV Finally Make Nice; US Moves to Crack Down in Temu; Microsoft Launches Copilot Pages
Posted: September 16, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, copilot, Microsoft, microsoft-365 Leave a commentMeta Connect ’24 is coming up on September 25th. The two day extravaganza will lean into AI heavily, of course, as Apple just did, and as Google and Microsoft are doing. Engadget.com reports that after dropping their expensive mixed reality headset…that was aimed at the crazy expensive Apple Vision Pro, Meta will focus on their augmented reality glasses…which are code named Orion. Unlike the Quest 3, which covers all your vision and uses cams to get you a low quality view of the world, Orion may be set for you to view the real world like through a regular pair of glasses…BUT with a layer of holographic imagery on top of the reality up ahead. The company plans to release a new pair of Ray-Ban smart glasses next year, that will have a small built-in screen along with the existing camera, speaker, and microphone. Most Meta-watchers also think we will see a stripped down version of the Quest 3 called the 3S. Meta is aiming to have this sell for $300-$400. It may at least partially replace the Quest 2, which has been priced at $299 for some time now. Naturally, AI will be woven into practically everything they show or mention…much like Apple. You can’t over-buzz that buzzword, apparently.
After 2 weeks of blackout of ESPN, ABC, Disney+ and other Disney products, the House of Mouse and DirecTV finally cut a deal. According to variety.com, the deal was announced Saturday, and just in time for the first full day of college football on ABC and ESPN, not to mention the Prime Time Emmy show, which aired last night. All the Disney streams should be up and running on DirecTV now while the companies finish hammering out the final details. The new deal apparently gives users more flexible options for viewing. Meanwhile. DirecTV has boosted prices starting on October 6th.
The feds have proposed new rules that could make it harder and more expensive for Chinese e-commerce platforms like Tee Moo…or Teh Moo, depending on what you call it…to ship goods to the US. Arstechnica.com notes that the platform has been selling cheap goods using what is called the ‘de minimus exception’ that makes shipments valued at under $800 duty-free. Platforms taking advantage of the exemption can share less information on packages and dodge taxes. President Biden warned that “over the last 10 years, the number of shipments entering the United States claiming the de minimus exemption has increased significantly, from approximately 140 million a year to over 1 billion a year.” The government would exclude the exemption for goods covered by tariffs under laws from 1974 and 1962.
Microsoft has unveiled Copilot Pages today. The feature is supposed to be a so-called ‘canvas for multiplayer AI collaboration.’ Theverge.com says Pages lets you use Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot and pull responses into a new page where they can be edited collaboratively with others. Jared Spatero, corporate VP of AI said “You and your team can work collaboratively in a page with Copilot, seeing everyone’s work in real time and iterating with Copilot like a partner, adding more content from your data, files, and the web to your Page. This is an entirely new work pattern — multiplayer, human to AI to human collaboration.” Pages is rolling out to Microsoft 365 Copilot customers today and should be available to all subscribers later this month.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.’
Google-New Tack on Reigning In Explicit Deepfakes; Feds Rule Amazon Responsible for Defective 3rd Party Products on Platform; Meta Blames ‘Hallucinations’-It’s AI Claimed Trump Shooting Fake; Tesla Recall-1.8 Million Vehicles
Posted: July 31, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, deepfake, deepfakes, technology Leave a commentGoogle is updating its ranking systems, in an effort to limit deepfakes. Explicit deepfakes have been a particularly vexing problem for female celebrities. Mashable.com reports that the Google change will do this: When someone uses terms to seek out nonconsensual deepfakes of specific individuals, the ranking system will attempt to instead provide “high-quality, non-explicit content,” such as news articles, when it’s available. Google product manager Emma Higham wrote in a blog post that “With these changes, people can read about the impact deepfakes are having on society, rather than see pages with actual nonconsensual fake images.” The ranking update has already decreased exposure to explicit image results on deepfake searches by 70%. Additionally, Google is updating systems that handle requests for removing nonconsensual deepfakes from Search. The changes should make the request process easier.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has ruled..unanimously…that Amazon is a distributor, and that it bears responsibility for faulty products it has sold on its marketplace. According to geekwire.com, this puts Amazon on the hook for recalled products sold by third-party sellers…that amounts to over half the company’s e-commerce sales. Amazon has always claimed that they shouldn’t be held liable for defective product sold by third party merchants on amazon.com…saying that the liability falls to the seller, not the marketplace ‘facilitating’ the sale. Amazon, as you might presume, plans to appeal.
We just wrote about several professors publishing a paper about AI lying last week…or ‘bullshitting,’ as they termed it. Now Meta is blaming its AI assistant’s so-called ‘hallucinations’ for saying incorrectly that the assassination attempt on former President Trump didn’t happen. Theverge.com says that the company termed the screw up ‘unfortunate’ in a company blog post. Meta claims that Meta AI was first programmed to not respond to questions about the attempted assassination but the company removed that restriction after people started noticing. It’s not just Meta that is caught up here: Google on Tuesday also had to refute claims that its Search autocomplete feature was censoring results about the assassination attempt. Since ChatGPT burst on the scene, the tech industry has been grappling with how to limit generative AI’s propensity for falsehoods. It’s apparently still hard to overcome what large language models are inherently designed to do: make stuff up.
Tesla has recalled over 1.8 million US cars, due to a risk of software not notifying individuals of a detached hood. Engadget.com notes that if a hood isn’t latched properly, it can blow up and block the driver’s field of view. Tesla is sending out an over the air software update that is supposed to fix the issue. The recall is for 2021 to 2024 Models 3, S, and X. It also includes Model Y vehicles from 2020 to 2024.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Grok Chatbot Trains on X User Data; Apple Intelligence Delayed Until October in iOS 18.1; DOJ says TikTok Collected User Data on Controversial Issues; Microsoft Will Make Windows Security more Mac-Like
Posted: July 29, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Apple, Microsoft, security, technology Leave a commentThe Grok chatbot Elon Musk has is apparently training on data from any and all X users. According to thenextweb.com, this could get Musk into trouble with the European Union. The data use may be in violation of EU rules. You can make sure you are not included in this. Go to settings in X, and look for a box that is checked by default…it says “Allow your posts as well as your interactions, inputs, and results with Grok to be used for training and fine-tuning.” This may violate the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. That law restricts companies from expanding data collection without telling users, and providing users a clear opt-out.
Apparently Apple Intelligence won’t graduate in time to make it for the rollout of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. If you were all pumped about that shiny new iPhone 16 using Apple Intelligence, macrumors.com reports that you will have to wait until the operating systems’ first updates in October. Apple Intelligence should be released in the upcoming beta versions of the software, probably next week, but Apple must feel it isn’t quite ready for prime time yet. The upgraded Siri with AI was already scheduled to bow next spring.
The Department of Justice went to court late Friday to ask the bench to reject the TikTok bid to have the law to ban it overturned. Engadget.com says the feds name national security concerns that include its alleged use of internal search tools to collect information on users’ views around sensitive topics. The government wrote in its filing that ByteDance has been using a search tool within their Lark suite of tools that “allowed ByteDance and TikTok employees in the United States and China to collect bulk user information based on the user’s content or expressions, including views on gun control, abortion, and religion.” The DOJ also argues in the filings that TikTok could be using the data to subject US users to content manipulation, and that their sensitive information could end up stored on servers in China. TikTok has denied the allegations.
After the CrowdStrike mess, Microsoft has indicated it will make Windows security more Mac-like. What does that mean? 9t5mac.com reports that Redmond will limit kernel access. Microsoft wrote about it on their IT blog. The company won’t be stripping away kernel privileges in a forthcoming Windows update. A shift like this will take significant time. But Microsoft’s direction for the future appears clear. Apple’s strict Mac security protocols don’t allow the same kind of kernel access to third parties as Windows does. This is why Macs weren’t impacted by the CrowdStrike outage. Let’s hope that another CloudStrike-type event doesn’t occur before Microsoft gets restricting kernel access in place.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Apple-May Finally Use Own Modem Chip; Google Gemini AI Gets Speed Boost; Data Breach Exposes US Spyware Maker; CrowdStrike Offed $10 Uber Eats Voucher-Some Didn’t Work
Posted: July 25, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Apple, Google, Internet, technology Leave a commentApple has been toiling away on its own in-house 5G modem for iPhones for the last 6 years at least. Now, it looks like they finally may be getting near using it in the handsets. Macrumors.com reports that iPhone 17 may get the modem chip in 2025. Apple has been using Qualcomm modems for cellular for quite a while, and they have a deal with Qualcomm that runs through 2026. Apple had scooped up most of Intel’s smartphone modem business back in 2019 for the purpose of making their own 5G modem chips.
Google has upgraded Gemini AI to 1.5 Flash. According to theverge.com, you should see “across-the-board improvements in quality and latency, with especially noticeable improvements in reasoning and image understanding.” The upgrade is available in the free version starting today on both Gemini web and mobile. Google is also going to start rolling out Gemini ‘gradually’ in google Messages in Europe and the UK, and Gemini for teens will be available in over 40 languages ‘in the coming week.’
You have to laugh when a hack exposes a spyware maker! An under the radar Minnesota company called Spytech, which snooped on thousands of devices around the world remotely, was the victim of the hack. Techcrunch.com says the breach of Spytech’s servers contained detailed device activity logs from the phones, tablets, and computers that Spytech monitors, with some of the files dated as recently as early June. The company makes products called Realtime-Spy and SpyAgent, and some others. They have apparently been used to compromise over 10,000 devices since 2013…including Androids, Chromebooks, Macs, and PCs all over the world. The company has advertised the products as keeping tabs on your kids’ devices or ‘on your spouse’s suspicious behavior.’ Sometimes the programs have been called stalker ware. They almost always have to be loaded in by someone with physical access to the device and knowledge of the password. Once installed, they are difficult to detect and remove. The company wouldn’t say that they would notify customers, the people whose devices were monitored, or the US government…as required by law.
In an almost silly move, CrowdStrike offered a $10 voucher for UberEats…some small consolation after more than 8 million had their PCs screwed up by their buggy software update. As Ron Popiel of the Pocket Fisherman and Hollywood Grill used to say…’But wait, there’s more!’ Mashable.com reports that some the vouchers didn’t actually work. Some journalists at TechCrunch.com discovered the secondary fail that came with CrowdStrike’s ‘heartfelt thanks.’ CrowdStrike blames Uber. They say apparently Uber flagged the gifts as fraud because of high usage rates.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Samsung-Big Increase in Galaxy Ring Production; Alphabet Pours $5 Billion More into Waymo; Meta Drops Biggest & Allegedly Best Open Source AI; Ocean Battery Rocks Make Oxygen
Posted: July 24, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, News, technology, Waymo Leave a commentSamsung’s Galaxy Ring appears to be a big hit, just as it has become available for general sale, following the preorder period. 9to5google..com reports that Samsung has increased production of the Ring by 150%, adding 600,000 more units this year. Samsung will crank out over a million Rings by the end of the year. That may not seem like a lot with it comes to consumer electronics, but for comparison, the number is equal to the number of Oura Rings sold in the last six years! the Ring starts at $399, and is available at several retailers in addition to Samsung’s website.
The push for self-driving vehicles rolls on. Alphabet is getting set to pump another $5 billion into its Waymo self-driving subsidiary the next several years. According to techcrunch.com, the multi year investment was announced but Ruth Porat, the company’s Chief Financial Officer. Alphabet expects with the added cash, that Waymo will continue as the world’s leading autonomous driving tech company. Waymo is presently delivering over 50,000 paid rides a week, with their fully driverless ride-hail service in San Francisco and Phoenix…and they have now added Los Angeles and Austin. Waymo just started with paid rides in LA the first of July, and will add paid trips in Austin later this year.
Meta has just released their open sourced AI model, Llama 3.1, the largest open source model ever. Meta claims that it outperforms OpenAI’s Chat GPT-4o and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet as measured by several benchmarks. Theverge.com notes that those large language models are private models…not open source. Meta has dropped millions into the project, and Mark Zuckerberg says that they see open source underpinning most AI moving forward, much like how Linux has become the open source operating system that powers most phones, servers, and gadgets today. Meta is working with Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Nvidia, and Databricks to help them deploy their own versions. They think their open source AI will surpass Chat GPT as the most widely used model by the end of the year.
As mining firms and nations around the world go big on deep sea mining, an interesting discovery has indicated that we should hit the brakes a bit. Thenextweb.com reports that the huge cache of potato-sized rocks on the ocean floor hold a treasure trove of manganese, nickel, and cobalt…all crucial ingredients of lithium-ion batteries. Now, scientists from the Scottish Association of Marine Science has discovered that the rocks contain a very high electric charge….like natural rock batteries. They naturally cause seawater to split into hydrogen and oxygen in a process called seawater electrolysis. It only takes 1.5 volts to split seawater…same juice as a AA battery. Considering that the rocks produce what is called ‘dark oxygen,’ that is oxygen produced without light, the scientists say we should back off a bit on the major mining of them.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Samsung All In With Google Messages; CrowdStrike Mess-Delta Cancels 1,000 More Flights; Astronomers Find New Way to Spot AI Deepfakes; EVs-New Battery Tech is 50% Lighter
Posted: July 22, 2024 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, News, Samsung, Tech, technology Leave a commentSamsung will stop pre-installing Samsung Messages on Galaxy phones, and just go with Google Messages. 9to5google.com reports that…starting with the Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, you will just get Googles Messages. RCS will be enabled by default on the phones in the Google Messages app. The Samsung app will still be available for download at the Galaxy Store, but with a note that ’some features will be excluded.’
Although it’s been since Thursday, some users are still dealing with the aftermath of the corrupt CrowdStrike download that screwed up what Microsoft claims was a little over 8 million computers. Microsoft says that is about 1% of the installed base. That noted, according to engadget.com, Delta has had to cancel over 1,000 more flights…it’s a total of about 5,000 flights cancelled now, and around 1,700 delayed. That amounts to around a third of Delta’s scheduled flights. Delta was the worst hit US airline, with United a distant second…at 266 flights cancelled on Sunday. At first, United and Delta told stranded travelers that they wouldn’t cover bills since the CrowdStrike crash was out of their control. However, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg later stepped in and said that he considered the situation self-inflicted, so carriers would need to cover food, transportation and lodging costs for any delays longer than three hours as required by law. Secretary Pete also said don’t let them talk you into a credit…you can get the cash back…that’s the law!
In an interesting application of one tech to another, astronomers and researchers at the University of Hull have shown a novel way to detect AI Deepfakes. Arstechnica.com says it involves analyzing the reflections in human eyes. The technique was shown at the Royal Astronomical Society meeting last week. It utilizes tools used by astronomers. A pair of eyes being illuminated by the same set of light sources will normally have similarly shaped light reflections in each eyeball. Most AI deepfakes so far don’t account for eyeball reflections, so they show up inconsistently between the eyes. Some differences can be detected with the naked eye…like when one eye has white lights and the other red, but the astronomical tools can detect automatically and much faster…and with detail that a person can’t match. One down side…the technique requires a clear, up-close view of the eyeballs to work. It isn’t 100% yet…there are a few false negatives and false positives…but it’s a new tool in the battle against deepfakes.
A Swedish firm, using research from Chalmers University of Technology, has developed carbon fiber-based structural batteries that not only store energy but also become an integral part of a product’s structure. Their possible span of energy density is said to be around 25-50% of a conventional lithium-ion battery at current technology level. Bgr.com notes that by integrating the batteries into the actual structure of the car (or aircraft), these batteries could lighten the weight of the vehicle by up to 50%! This tech is the first that has given good mechanical strength plus good electrical properties. Previous tries have had one or the other, but not both.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
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