EU Slaps Apple & Google with Big Fines; Google Messages Can Now Blur Unwanted Nudes; Tesla Profits Down 71%; OpenAI Wants to Buy Chrome
Posted: April 23, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, business, technology, Tesla Leave a commentThe European Union strikes again under its Digital Markets Act, fining Apple $571 million and Meta $228 million for breaches of the act. CNBC reports that the EU says Apple failed to comply with so-called “anti-steering” obligations under the DMA. Under the EU’s tech law, Apple is required to allow developers to freely inform customers of alternative offers outside its App Store. The tech giant was ordered by the EU to remove technical and commercial restrictions on steering and to refrain from perpetuating its non-compliant conduct in the future. As for Meta, the EU Commission found that the social media group illegally required users to consent to sharing their data with the company or pay for an ad-free service. This was in response to Meta’s introduction of a paid subscription tier for Facebook and Instagram in November 2023. Both companies will appeal.
Google Messages is getting a useful new feature…the ability to blur unwanted nudes. Now, if some clown sends you an unsolicited picture of his equipment, Google will blur it out and give you a Sensitive Content Warning on Android. According to arstechnica.com, the option isn’t live on all Androids yet. If you are an adult, you will just get the warning, and then can peek if you like. If it is a supervised teen’s phone, the feature is enabled, and can’t be disabled on the child’s device. Only the Family Link administrator can do that. The detection of the nakedness is done on device. Google says the feature is a part of its Android System Safety Core. Apple just calls their version of this feature Sensitive Content Warning. Google’s should be available soon on all devices running Android v. 9 or higher.
Tesla’s earnings call was yesterday, and the headline is everywhere that their profits dropped 71% on weak sales…due in no small part to people angry at Elon Musk’s meddling in the government. TechCrunch.com says the electric car maker reported $409 million in net income on $19.3 billion in revenue. They sold nearly 337,000 cars first quarter. First quarter of last year, Tesla did $1.4 billion in profit. The thing is, even the $400 million wasn’t due to car sales! Tesla made about that much on interest from investments, and made another $595 million by selling zero-emissions tax credits to other car makers. According to its earnings report — without those, it would have posted a loss. Elon Musk is now promising to put out the formerly cancelled cheaper Tesla yet this year, and has put off the robo-taxi vehicle to next year. He also promised to only spend one or two days a week at DOGE for what he said was as long as the president wants him.
With the Department of Justice vs Google trial continuing, and the government set on breaking up Google if they prevail, now a new twist has emerged. OpenAI is throwing its hat into the ring to buy Chrome, should Google be forced to sell it. Arstechnica.com notes that while OpenAI is in bed with Microsoft and their lousy Bing, they are eyeing Chrome. Of course there are other suiters too, but OpenAI would look to make it a fully AI first browser. Chrome with its 4 billion users and 67% market share would be a gigantic boost. Google has said that Chrome can’t make it on its own, but that is still another alternative….making it a free-standing company. With Google Ad placement and others, it likely could survive…but it is a fascinating thought that OpenAI could end up with it…with ChatGPT search instead of Google’s Gemini AI.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Automatic Leveling Coming to YouTube Music; 3 Big Siri Upgrades in iOS 19; OpenAI o3 Model-Fudging on Benchmark; Nintendo Switch 2 Preorders Start Thursday
Posted: April 21, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, science, technology Leave a commentHere’s a feature I can really get behind, and plead for all others to follow suit…consistent volume on songs! YouTube is apparently going to bring automatic audio leveling to YouTube Music. This has been something radio has had for decades. Who wants to keep turning the volume up and down all the time…whether at home or in the car? Arstechnica.com reports that the automatic gain control…or ‘normalizing,’ in more recent computer audio lingo, won’t just make the songs all the same volume throughout…so you can still have the normal soft passages you would expect…but at least the average level between the songs will be consistent. I hope that the folks over at Apple will follow suit! It is ridiculous in 2025 to have to manually go for the volume control so you don’t get your eardrums fried when a new song comes on!
Apple has been known for years to wait in the wings, then come out with hardware that leaps past competitors. That certainly isn’t the case with Siri, which is a poor excuse for an also-ran of an assistant. According to 9to5mac.com, after delaying promised upgrades that should be out now, Apple will roll out improvements in Siri this fall…in iOS 19. What can we look for? For starters, personalization. You might ask ‘When is Mom’s flight landing?’ It will supposedly scan your texts, calendar, contacts, and email and pull the info, then hit the web and check flight tracker to give you the touchdown time. Another feature will be actual hands-free computing. Up to now, you could set timers, turn things on and off, and so forth…but that’s about it. The upgrade will let you do things across apps. You could tell Siri to add a photo to one of your notes, for example, and it will find and pull the pic, and drop it into the note described, without opening either app. Thirdly, it should get onscreen awareness…you might get a text from a friend with a new address. You can just ask Siri to add it to that person’s contact card. My big complaint about this and all the ‘assistants,’ whether Siri, Google, or Alexa…is that hands-free computing will be annoying in public or on public transit. We already have those nuts who hold their phone in front of them on speaker mode and talk loudly into them. Use your earbuds! Actually, I rather prefer the quiet and privacy typing brings!
We just reported on how Meta had exaggerated their latest AI model…and now along comes OpenAI with their newest o3 model and surprise…there’s a discrepancy between first and third party benchmarks! More fudging, it seems. To me, this seems silly as hell since no regular people outside the world of AI makers and those who test them has any idea about these benchmarks, but here we are. Techcrunch.com says in December, OpenAI claimed the model could answer just over a fourth of questions on FrontierMath, a challenging set of math problems. That score blew the competition away — the next-best model managed to answer only around 2% of FrontierMath problems correctly. As it turns out, Epoch AI, the research institute behind FrontierMath, released results of its independent benchmark tests of o3 on Friday. Epoch found that o3 scored around 10%, well below OpenAI’s highest claimed score. That’s a bit more than a rounding error! In OpenAI’s defense the 25% was the ‘upper-bound’ score, and the ‘lower-bound’ score for version o3 was around 10%. This reminds me of the ‘stereo wars’ of the 70’s, when some makers claimed a big number of watts for their rigs…and then it turns out that that was driving only one channel at a time…they were way less powerful when running music through both channels…you know, like the way people actually listen to the things! Do better, AI makers…you don’t need to BS us on how magical your large language model is.
After a delay in both the US and Canada, Nintendo will open preorders for the new Switch 2 on Thursday. The base price is $450, according to engadget.com. This price is unchanged even in the face to the Trump tariffs. If you actually want a game though, it will be $500 for Mario Kart World in a ‘bundle.’ I love how it’s now a bundle…at least on the original Nintendo you got one cartridge game so you could play the damned thing. Nintendo did warn that it may adjust the price of Switch 2 accessories due to ‘market conditions.’ It should still be available June 5th. This was a topic of discussion at a family lunch over the weekend. You might just want to wait until another game or two drops for the Switch 2.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now
Meta Will Resume AI Training on Public Content; Meta Antitrust Trial; Nvidia To Start Chipmaking in Arizona and Texas; Tariffs-On Again, Off Again-Apple Increases Non-China Production
Posted: April 14, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, business, finance, investing, stocks Leave a commentMeta announced today that they will start using publicly available content from European users to train its AI models…something it paused last year after an outcry about data privacy. The training will be on public posts and content shared by adult users in the European Union. Meta says it will not use private messages, but noted to the EU regulators that it will be doing nothing different from Google and OpenAI. The social giant said it will begin notifying users in the EU about the training…and will include a link to a form where they can object at any time. Meta says “We’ll honor all objection forms.”
In other Meta news, the big antitrust case the FTC has brought against Meta is under the gavel in Washington, D.C. According to NPR, it comes after a 6 year investigation over whether the social media giant broke competition laws when it acquired Instagram and WhatsApp. It would put quite a dent in the $1.4 trillion dollar ad business, if the government prevails and makes Meta spin off those series into separate companies. It is being compared as a corporate breakup to the one that the government forced on AT&T some 40 years ago. The trial before Judge Boasberg is expected to last up to 8 weeks. Meta is expected to present a vigorous defense.
Nvidia has announced it has commissioned over a million square feet of space to build and test AI chips in Arizona and Texas. Techcrunch.com says production of its Blackwell chips has already started at TSMC’s plants in Phoenix, and Nvidia is building ‘supercomputer’ manufacturing plants in Texas…partnered with Foxconn in Houston and Wistron in Dallas. Mass production should ramp up in the next 12-15 months, and within 4 years, Nvidia is aiming to make as much as a half trillion dollars worth of AI infrastructure in the US. The plants in Arizona were started by the Chips Act under the Biden Administration.
Another roller coaster on tariffs over the weekend. First, a cave, exempting smartphones, and computers, and processors from the 145% tariff on Chinese imports. After that, it was just a temporary pause on SundayThen, yesterday, 9to5google.com, among many others, reports that Trump flip-flopped again, and said no exemptions. This is playing havoc with tech companies. Apple, for one, began ramping up production in India, and now makes 20% of iPhones there. They also increased production in Vietnam and Thailand. Look for other electronics makers other than do likewise to avoid the ridiculous tariffs Trump is trying to impose on China. For its part, China is not caving, and is putting on matching tariffs on imports from the US.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Samsung Galaxy Edge Launch Imminent; OpenAI Image Generator Now Available to Everyone; Google Messages-Group Chat Upgrade; France Fines Apple For Excessive Rejection of Tracking!
Posted: April 1, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, chatgpt, openai, Tech, technology Leave a commentThe Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge could be unveiled soon. Androidpolice.com reports that a European retailer, NieuweMobiel, claims the slim profile phone will launch in Europe on April 15th. We don’t know for sure when the phone will actually get into user’s hands. An earlier report from Korea said May. That could still hold…although both Samsung and Apple tend to open preorders on the day devices are shown, with availability coming around a week later. As Samsung is notoriously leaky, we expect the Galaxy S25 Edge to have 256Gigs as base memory, and come in Silver, Black, and Blue. Expected base price should be around $1294. The initial run is only about 40,000 units, so it will probably only be available initially in Korea, parts of Europe, and the US.
ChatGPT’s built-in image generation feature is now available to everyone. According to engadget.com, OpenAI made the feature available to free users over the weekend. What this means is you can generate images from within ChatGPT and without having to switch to OpenAI’s DALL-E generator. Prior to its rollout to the free tier, the tool was only available to Plus, Pro and Team subscribers. Do be aware that for the freebie users, you have a limit of three images a day. One of the tool’s most popular uses is the creation of Ghibli (Jib’ lee)-style images using real-life photos. These are in the style of a Japanese anime studio of the same name. Users simply have to upload the photo they want to use and then instruct ChatGPT in natural language to create a Ghibli-style version of it.
Google Messages is considering an update to group chats that could be a biggie. A major feature will be the ability to “join this group with this unique link or QR code.” So…they are taking a page out of Zoom’s book, it would seem. 9to5google.com notes that the group link and QR code automatically expires after a few days. Also, the USP can be reset at any time. That gives the ability to set a custom group icon, and makes it possible to delete sent messages ‘for everyone.’ No time frame on when or even if the features might drop.
From the ‘You’ve Got to Be Kidding Department,’ France has fined Apple 150 million Euros over ‘excessive’ pop-ups that let users reject tracking! Arstechnica.com reports that France’s Competition Authority says Apple’s requiring what amounts to double consent harms “smaller publishers in particular since, unlike the main vertically integrated platforms, they depend to a large extent on third-party data collection to finance their business.” The agency does note that Apple’s own data collection is obtained with a single pop-up. Ok, duly noted France…but what user in their right mind wants to be tracked…ever? Too bad about companies who rely on income from taking and selling my data. Get a better business model!
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Amazon Rolls Out Nova Act AI Agent; Apple-MacBook Pro Refresh This Fall, “Overhaul” Next Year; Google Bows Gemini 2.5 Pro to All Gemini App Users; DOGE to Quickly Rebuild Social Security Databases-Eeek
Posted: March 31, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, chatgpt, Machine Learning Leave a commentAmazon has rolled out Nova Act, a general purpose AI agent that can take control of a web browser and independently perform some simple actions. Techcrunch.com reports that Nova Act will also power major features of the upcoming Alexa Plus upgrade. The version out now isn’t a bit less ready for prime time…Amazon calls it a ‘research preview.’ What it can do, according to Amazon, is automate basic actions on behalf of users, such as ordering salads or making dinner reservations. With the Nova Act toolkit, developers can pull together tools that allow an AI agent to navigate web pages, fill out forms, or pick dates on a calendar.
This Fall’s MacBook Pros will just get a refresh it looks like. Apple will upgrade the laptops to their new M5 chip. According to 9to5mac.com, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims in his PowerOn newsletter that there will be a larger overhaul of the MacBook Pro in 2026. That update will bring the M6 chip, an OLED display, and a thinner design. Having dealt with the ’thinner design’ concept in an earlier MacBook Pro myself…and hassled with the infamous ‘butterfly’ keyboard, I am a bit less excited about the 2026 model than I might have been. I still have the old rig as a backup…and it is always a challenge to use it and see if I will get no letter when I hit a key or 11 repeats of that letter. Great for entering passwords!
Google announced over the weekend that it is rolling out the latest Gemini 2.5 model…which is experimental…to all free Gemini app users. 9to5google.com notes that this is the one that integrates thinking capabilities rather than offering it as a separate variant. It is currently in the “experimental” phase, but has support for a number of features. Previously, Google had just made it available for Gemini Advanced subscribers, with Google One AI Premium at $19.95 a month…but the decision was made to push it out to all Gemini users.
The Department of Government Efficiency…so-called, is getting a team to work on trying to migrate Social Security’s computer systems completely off COBOL in the next few months. If that doesn’t scare you after they didn’t understand the dating system and thought there were 200 year old recipients getting checks, I don’t know what will! Wired.com reports that normally a migration of this size and scale…some 65 million peoples’ accounts involved….should take much longer. One technologist told Wired “one of the big risks is not underpayment or overpayment per se but [it’s also] not paying someone at all and not knowing about it. The invisible errors and omissions.” In 2017, Social Security got funding to try to move off COBOL, calculating it would take 5 years…but when COVID-19 happened, they took the foot off the gas on that to focus on helping people by phone and web, since offices were closed for a bit.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Android Risk of Sideloading-According to Google; Amazon No-Shock New AI Search Angle-Suggesting Products; Rivian Births Micromobility Startup; Military Vehicles Getting Mixed Reality Windshields
Posted: March 26, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, business, Google, Tech, technology Leave a commentGoogle has dropped a number on the risk of side loading Android apps, and it is a bit jaw-dropping. Androidpolice.com reports that Google says apps downloaded from places outside the Google Play Store are 50 times more likely to contain malware than apps from the Play Store. Google says its ‘stronger privacy policies’ and ‘AI-powered threat detection’ has prevented some 2.36 million suspicious apps from getting into the Play Store. Sometimes you can get some really cool apps from outside Google….or even by skirting Apple’s App Store…which Apple makes much more difficult. As always, just be extra careful of the source when you do so.
Amazon…like all Big Tech…is going full bore on AI. They even have an AI assistant they call Rufus in the Amazon app now. Well, geekwire.com says now Amazon is using generative AI for a new feature called “Interests” that turns natural language queries into product recommendations — and updates shoppers when new items match their prompt. If you thought Amazon was really ‘sticky’ before as far as getting you to spend time on their platform and buy more, just wait! At present, the feature is only available to a small subset of US users on the website and mobile, but the online giant plans to roll it out to more people in the coming months. If that isn’t enough…well, according to CNBC, they are also testing a new chatbot for health and wellness questions.
Rivian has spun off a division that has been something of the CEO’s baby since before he even founded the auto company in 2009. The focus will be on so-called ‘micro mobility.’ According to TechCrunch.com, the new firm is called Also. The team comes from Apple, Google, Specialized, Tesla, REI, and Uber. Although they haven’t been totally specific, the ‘micro mobility’ vehicle admittedly has a bike-like profile. Rivian’s CEO Scaringe will serve on the new spin off’s board, and Rivian holds a minority stake in the company. They plan to leverage Rivian’s tech, retail presence, and economies of scale. They hope to have a flagship product in production by next year. Scaringe has made it clear that they want to make a micro mobility product at affordable prices. The vehicle will have a screen, computers, and a battery. He has complained that nice e-bikes can run $6-8,000, or even $10 grand. It looks very much like they are aiming to make an e-bike or similar vehicle with top shelf performance for a fraction of the price, leveraging Rivian’s tech.
A Finnish startup called Distance Technologies has come out of stealth with a tech it says can turn any transparent surface into a Mixed Reality Display. Thenextweb.com notes that the startup has the deep-pocketed backing of Google. Further, they are partnering with Patria to try out the tech on that defense firm’s armored vehicles. The partners will jointly develop a heads-up display for Patria’s six-wheel drive armored personnel carrier. The system will display 3D tactical data, terrain mapping, and AI-driven military insights directly onto the windshield, allowing military personnel to see in low-visibility environments like darkness and smoke. While Mixed Reality windshields on military 6 wheeled vehicles may not excite you, the thing is…this sort of tech always finds its way into commercial civilian use. With actual self driving still years away (and always promised within months…for at least the last 10 years), think about this tech making it easier to drive at night or through thick fog…hopefully not smoke, like on a battlefield! An unique feature of the display is that it isn’t static like on your car- if it has one. This tech tracks the user’s eye movements and then displays the correct light field to match where they are looking! The system is allegedly capable of ‘infinite’ pixel depth…that should mean indistinguishable from natural light.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Apple Announces WWDC 2025; Google Bows Next-Gen AI Reasoning Model; Europe Goes for Alternatives to US Cloud Services; Napster…Napster! Sells for $207 Million
Posted: March 25, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, chatgpt, Google, technology Leave a commentApple has announced WWDC 2025. The dates are June 9 through the 13th at Apple Park in Cupertino. 9to5mac.com notes that the event will be ‘entirely online’ and that it’s free for developers. There will, however, be an in-person special event at Apple Park on June 9. Space for that in-person event is limited, and details on how to apply to attend can be found on the WWDC25 website. As usual, we should see previews of all the next wave of operating system updates: iOS19, MacOS 16, and all the rest. We have already reported that the word is that iOS 19 will be “one of the most dramatic software overhauls” in Apple’s history. The update will reportedly refresh the design of icons, menus, apps, windows, and more. It will also simplify how users navigate and control their devices.
Google has rolled out Gemini 2.5 and a new family of AI reasoning models that they say pause to ‘think’ before answering a question. The question is, will they answer questions correctly? We’re going to find out. According to techcrunch.com, the new family of reasoning models include Gemini 2.5 Pro, Experimental, a multimodal, reasoning AI model that the company claims is its most intelligent model yet. This model will be available on Tuesday in the company’s developer platform, Google AI Studio, as well as in the Gemini app for subscribers to the company’s $20-a-month AI plan, Gemini Advanced. In the future, Google says all its new AI models will have reasoning capabilities baked in.
With all the disruption coming from the present Trump administration, European companies and governments are looking for alternatives to the big US cloud Services…like Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services. Days ago, the Dutch House of Representatives just passed eight motions requiring their government to reduce reliance on US tech companies and move to European alternatives. A few days prior to that, over 100 organizations signed an open letter to European officials calling for the continent to become “more technologically independent” and saying the status quo creates “security and reliability risks.” Another example of this administration costing US companies money because our allies no longer trust us. What will the next 3 years bring? Hard to tell, but buckle up!
Napster…do you even know a single soul who uses Napster…just sold for $207 million. Engadget.com reports that a company called infinite Reality is the buyer. They say it will be used for marketing in the ‘metaverse.’ The company intends to create virtual 3D spaces for music fans to attend concerts and listening parties…and also to build a sales platform for musicians and labels to sell merch. Will it work…maybe, but $207 million for a circa 1999 platform? All I can say is ‘wow.’
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
23andMe Bankruptcy; Apple Watch May Get Cams and AI; Google Gemini Live-Is Live; CA Bill Update-Cheap Broadband for Poor Details
Posted: March 24, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Apple, Artificial Intelligence, Tech, technology Leave a comment23andMe, the DNA testing firm, has filed for bankruptcy. The company intends to look for a buyer and continue to operate as a debtor in possession through the process. The CEO has resigned to bid for the company independently…engadget.com reports that the Board had previously rejected a bid from her. Rob Bonta, the Attorney General of California, has recommended that users contact the company immediately and demand that their data be deleted, to try to safeguard their private information and avoid misuse. 23andMe had been hacked in 2023, and the hackers got away with info on some 6.9 million customers. They were hit with a class action over it a year later.
Although some Apple Intelligence features have been delayed until late this year, with analysts dinging Apple over that…now, it looks like Cupertino is doing anything besides sitting still. According to theverge.com, they are working on adding cameras to the Apple Watch in order to enable AI features like Visual Intelligence in the next two years. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said in his Power On newsletter that the cams will live ‘inside the display’ on the standard Watch, but the Ultra will have them on the side, next to the digital crown and button. What the cameras will bring is that the Watch will be able to “see the outside world and use AI to deliver relevant information.” We had reported previously that Apple was working on adding cams to the AirPods, so it looks like they are going all-in on Apple Intelligence. The cam-equipped Watches and AirPods could roll out in 2027. Visual Intelligence will bow on the iPhone 16’s.
Google has added features to Gemini which are pretty cool. Androidpolice.com notes that Gemini has added new live video AI features. A person with a Google One subscription can now not only engage in live discussion about a screenshot from your device, but (at least on an Xiaomi phone right now) can share their screen in real time with the AI. You can ask the AI anything about what’s on the screen. Up to now, this only was expected to work with static screen shots. No announcements have been made, so it sounds like maybe there is a rolling worldwide staggered release.
We reported earlier that California had introduced a bill that would make ISPs provide cheap broadband to low income folks like New York has. Now, arstechnica.com reports that it has been amended with details. The Internet service providers would have to furnish 100Mbps download speeds and 20Mbps upload speeds for $15 a month. The Supreme Court has twice refused to step in and stop this, so expect California to move forward on this. and for other states to follow suit. In New York, AT&T stopped offering home 5G internet due to the law there, but they won’t be able to do that so easily in California. That’s because they offer DSL and other fiber internet in the Golden State, and still are classified as a carrier of last resort for landline service.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Win 11 Updates Inadvertently Delete Copilot; Apple Wanted iPhone 17 Air to be Portless; Google-New AI Can Remove Watermarks; Ultralight EVs Revealed by Startup Longbow
Posted: March 18, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, chatgpt, Google Leave a commentAs software gets more and more complex, and companies are turning attention to their AI models, some things can slip through the cracks. That is apparently true with this month’s Windows 11 update. Arstechnica.com reports that the update removes the Copilot app from some Windows 11 PCs…unpinning it from the task bar. Microsoft says it is “working on a resolution to address the issue” but that users who want to get Copilot back can reinstall the app from the Microsoft Store and re-pin it to the taskbar, the same process you use to install Copilot on PCs where it has been removed.
More keeps slipping out about the upcoming slimmer iPhone model…dubbed the iPhone Air by most. Here’s an interesting item that engadget.com picked up from Mark Gurman. Apple apparently really wanted to dump the USB-C port and make the thin iPhone Apples first totally portless phone. Apparently, they ran into tough sledding with this when EU regulators protested. Apple hasn’t totally given up…they may try to roll out a portliness iPhone later on if the iPhone 17 Air is successful. The Air is reportedly 2 mm thinner than other iPhones. Mark Gurman says it should be priced at about $900…putting it between the entry level iPhone 17 and the pricier Pro models.
There has been plenty written already…to say nothing of plenty of angst about AI duplicating voices. Now, gizmodo.com notes that Google’s new AI model can remove watermarks from images. The version is Gemini Flash 2.0. It is only in the experimental phase so far, but users have found it easily removes the watermarks from copyrighted images. There are already a number of other AI powered apps that can remove objects and fill gaps in images…even including Apple Intelligence with their ‘Clean Up’ feature. Companies have worked to keep from removing watermarks…nicknamed ‘nerfed,’ which is to say they have significant restrictions in place to avoid legal trouble. OpenAI’s Dall-E image model won’t generate images of copyrighted characters, for example…because a certain House of Mouse is very protective of its characters and they have a robust legal department. Google will no doubt try to rectify the issue before releasing Gemini Flash 2.0 generally, but the horse may be out of the barn on this…much like with voices.
EV’s may be a big part of the wave of the future in vehicles, but they are for the most part pretty hefty. Now, a startup in Britain has come out of stealth, and introduced plans for two lightweight EV’s. The company is called Longbow, and it is founded by ex-Tesla, Lucid, and Polestar execs…so no strangers to getting an EV line off the ground. Thenextweb.com reports that the cars are being touted as ‘spiritual successors’ to the iconic Lotus and Jaguar E-Type. The first one out of the blocks is called the Speedster, a sports car that will weigh only 1984 lbs and do zero to 62 in 3.5 seconds! It will have a range of 275 miles and starts at $110,404. First customer deliveries are set for 2026. Longbow also plans a Roadster. That vehicle will run $84,425 and will weigh in at 2193 lbs and will do zero to 62 in 3.6 seconds. Note that the average EV today weighs in at some 4400 lbs, so these are just about half that! Longbow plans to use off the shelf parts, even down to the electric motor, so no exotic hand made parts that will cost a fortune to replace. It is good to recall that the original Tesla was a cool little roadster…and these days, almost no one is making anything like that.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
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