iPhone 17 Date Leak; Disney+ Will Assimilate Hulu; Nvidia Rejects Demand for Backdoor in AI Chips; Grok Generates Fake Taylor Swift Nudes

Mark Gurman has reported, and we have also that the likely date for the iPhone 17 rollout will be the week of September 8th. That’s based on prior year activity, and not exactly rocket science. Now, Bgr.com reports that a leak has picked up internal info from a German mobile phone provider which indicates the actual date will be Tuesday, September 9th. That will mean if Apple follows its usual routine, the phones will be available in stores and delivered by September 19th. We have already reported on a couple of the headlines…like the super thin iPhone 17 Air (if that’s what they end up calling it) and a noticeably better 48 MP telephoto lens. Do expect a relatively modest $50 price hike across the board on the iPhone 17 models…the first price bump in several years. 

Now that Disney owns all of Hulu, it looks like the House of Mouse will tie a bow around things, killing off the Hulu app and totally integrating Hulu’s streaming service into a new, unified Disney Plus app next year. According to engadget.com, a Disney spokesperson said that they will still offer standalone plans for Disney Plus and Hulu….presumably by just dimming out one or the other in the unified app if you aren’t paying for all of it. Having both on the same app will not only be convenient for users, but will give Disney more ways to package ad sales. Disney will also stop disclosing separate subscriber numbers for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+.  Between the 3, Disney had 183 million subscribers as of the end of June…up 2.6 million from March. 

A number of countries including the USA, China, and the UK have called for or demanded back doors before. Now, it is Nvidia and their AI chips. Theverge.com says Nvidia has responded in a blog post saying that its GPUs ‘do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors.’ In fact, China actually claimed that such already exist in Nvidia AI chips. Regarding the US, a bipartisan group of lawmakers have introduced the Chip Security Act, which would require Nvidia and other manufacturers to include tracking technology to identify when chips are illegally transported internationally, and leaves the door open for further security measures including remote kill switches. While Nvidia is expecting to be granted permits to once again sell certain AI chips in China, its most powerful hardware is still under strict US export controls there and elsewhere. David Reber Jr, Chief Security Officer for Nvidia notes that “There is no such thing as a ‘good’ secret backdoor.” He commented in a post that there are “only dangerous vulnerabilities that need to be eliminated.” He goes on to call kill switches “an open invitation for disaster.”

Elon Musk’s Grok has gone further in offending and pissing off some people than before. Now, it’s not political…think MechaHitler of a couple weeks back…the video generator has spewed out topless images of Taylor Swift without even being asked to do so! Editorial: she’s a billionaire…I hope she sues. Arstechnica.com reports that a reporter for the Verge, Jess Weatherbed, was testing the Grok Imagine video generator shortly after it was released, and it displayed the images of Swift ‘the very first time’ she used it. In fact, when she ask it to show ’Taylor Swift celebrating at Coachella with the boys,’ the thing cranked out 30 images of Swift in revealing outfits. There are presets on the latest iteration of Grok Imagine…custom, normal, fun, and spicy…that can convert images into video clips in 15 seconds. All the reporter did was input ‘spicy’ and confirm her birthdate. The AI then produced a clip of swift ‘tearing off her clothes’ and dancing in a thong.’

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