Microsoft Picks Up DeepMind Founder; Threads Adds ‘Trending Now’-Finally; iPhone 17 Getting Anti-Reflective Display; Valve Rolling Out Steam Family

Posted: March 19, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

In a big ‘get,’ Microsoft has brought over Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman. Theverge.com reports that he will be the CEO of Microsoft’s new team that will oversee the company’s consumer-facing AI products like Copilot, Bing, and Edge. Suleyman will report directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Suleyman had left Deep Mind after Google acquired it, and then started up Inflection AI. Microsoft is also picking up some of Inflection AI’s employees, including co-founder Karen Simonyan, who will be Chief Scientist of the consumer AI Group. Personally, I am hoping that all these big tech companies focusing so much on AI may help rid the world of artificial stupidity…and maybe even natural stupidity if we’re lucky. 

Threads has finally added a ‘Trending Now’ page! The announcement was made by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a post on the platform. According to gizmodo.com, the trending topics on the page for its first day live in the world were: Aaron Taylor Johnson, spring equinox, Bruce Willis’ birthday, Hong Kong security law, and former Trump lawyer Alina Habba. 

A new rumor is out about Apple’s iPhones. It won’t make it to the iPhone 16, but will likely show up on the iPhone 17 a year and a half from now. 9to5mac.com says that an account called Instant Digital has said that Apple has reportedly developed equipment that adds a “super-hard” anti-reflective layer to the iPhone’s display, which is also more scratch-resistant than before. The new layer sounds a lot like Corning’s Gorilla Glass Armor, which the new Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has. The Corning product reduces reflection by up to 75%, and adds scratch protection. Again, don’t expect the anti-reflective, more scratch-resistant layer until the iPhone after the one this fall. 

Valve has unveiled a new feature for its Steam gaming. It’s called Steam Families. Geekwire.com reports that it is out in beta now, and will replace current features Steam Family Sharing and Steam Family View. Now, there will be a single menu that covers both game sharing and parental controls. You can designate 5 other users as members of your Steam Family…they all get access to all the games in all the other family members’ libraries. (Note that this includes most…but not all games on steam.) A user who’s playing a game via a member of their Steam Family maintains local save files and achievement progress, and can play even if the game’s original owner is online at the time. However, in order for two users to play the same game simultaneously, you’d still need multiple copies of the game across various libraries.

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

Apple Negotiating With Google To Get Gemini AI on iPhone; LInkedIn Wants To Add Gaming; Tesla Settles Discrimination Suit; Tick-Killing Pill for Humans

Posted: March 18, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple has been working more quietly than others on AI…which it calls machine learning. Apparently things aren’t moving quickly enough for Cupertino. Now comes word that they are in ‘active negotiations’ with Google to bring the latter’s Gemini generative AI to the iPhone. Theverge.com reports that Apple has also considered ChatGPT from Open AI. Earlier this year, Samsung added a number of Galaxy AI branded features to its Galaxy S24 smartphones. The tech is also of course a banner feature of Google’s own Pixel 8 smartphones. It would be a good deal for Apple, even if they have to drop a ton of money, since their own AI is behind Google’s Gemini and ChatGPT…but it would also be a good deal for Google, as they would get their AI tools on some 2 billion iPhones. If a deal is made, is is likely to stay under wraps until Apple’s WWDC in June. 

In an effort to get more engagement and longer periods of it, Microsoft-owned LinkedIn is looking at adding gaming to the platform. According to TechCrunch.com, the platform now has a billion users. Most are on it for professional purposes or recruitment, but with Microsoft’s huge footprint in gaming, dropping some into LinkedIn really might do the trick as far as increasing peoples’ time on the platform. 

A long court battle between a former elevator operator and Tesla has settled. Owen Diaz had originally been awarded $137 million in damages in 2021 for racial discrimination, but that was cut to $3.2 million. Engadget.com says no settlement amount has been disclosed, which is normal for this type of situation. Diaz had accused the car maker of enabling a racist workplace, ‘straight from the Jim Crow era.’ Co-workers had left swastikas and racist graffiti on his work space and around the Tesla Fremont plant. There is still another lawsuit against the electric car maker for racial discrimination, and that one is in process of getting certified as a class action…which could add 240 black employees or former employees to Marcus Vaughn’s suit. 

We have them for dogs and cats…pills for tick prevention. Now, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is working on a pill for humans. Wired.com notes that it could protect people from tick borne Lyme Disease for several weeks at a time. An early trial has found that after 24 hours of taking the pill, it works to kill ticks on people for up to 30 days. Whether you are a hiker, or walk your dog, or just are outdoors a lot, this will be a big deal if it makes it all the way through testing and approval by the FDA.

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

Foxconn Sees  Non-iPhone Growth; Growth; TikTok CEO Responds to Possible US Ban; Teams Moving to EZ Switching From Work to Personal Accounts; Instagram Working on Spin Feature for Reels Vids

Posted: March 14, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Foxconn is forecasting ‘robust growth’ in 2024, but the increase isn’t coming from iPhones. Bgr.com reports that Foxconn sees the growth coming from stronger AI server demand. As Apple has already hinted that there will be AI features coming with iOS 18 and even more for the iPhone 16, Foxconn CEO Young Liu said  “Revenue from AI servers is estimated to climb 40% year-on-year, while revenue from graphic processing unit modules will jump by a triple-digit percentage.” Overall, AI server-related revenue will account for 40% of Foxconn’s total server business in 2024, up from 30% in 2023. Analysts have said Apple is building a number of new AI servers in anticipation of the changes in iOS 18 and with the iPhone 16. 

The CEO of TikTok has responded to the overwhelming US House vote to force ByteDance to either sell off the platform or face a ban of it in the US. According to mashable.com, the CEO called the bill ‘disappointing’ and intimated that TikTok may take legal action if the bill becomes law. It still has to pass the Senate, but President Biden has said he will sign it. TikTok had lobbied its users to flood Congress with calls and emails before the bill passed, but it did pass 352 to 65. CEO Chew claims that the bill will give more power and dollars to a handful of other social media platforms. He also says  “It will put more than 300,000 American jobs at risk and it will take away your TikTok.” Few believe ByteDance won’t sell TikTok if it comes down to it…the Chinese economy is hurting for cash right now, and most agree a sale would bring as much as several hundred billion. 

Microsoft is building a single version of Teams that will let you switch easily between work and personal accounts. Theverge.com says new app is being tested right now. The new version will be rolled out to commercial users in April. In future updates, you’ll be able to select the account you want to use when joining a meeting link or even join a meeting without signing in. This unified app will even let you launch personal and work accounts for Teams with separate icons on the taskbar instead of having to install and launch separate apps. Microsoft is also baking in notifications that show you clearly where a notification has come from. Personal notifications will also have more detail. 

Instagram has a feature they call ‘Spins’ in the works for its Reels short form videos. Techcrunch.com reports that the feature would allow other users to switch out the text or audio in your Reels. The feature is in the very early stage of development. It could be used as a way for users to start trends by creating templates that other people can then put their own creative spin on. At best, this could be like dropping samples into rap songs. On the other hand, I see it as a way to get a lot of humor…intended or unintended…and mischief! Laying in a track making someone say naughty things or making them talk like a duck. The possibilities are numerous. The original creator would get credit for their original every time someone makes a Spin of it. It isn’t a sure thing that Instagram will even release the feature…it isn’t being tested internally yet. 

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

House Passes Bill to Ban TikTok; Spotify Adds Music Vids; EU Parliament Passes AI Act; Amazon’s New AI Feature Lets Sellers Generate Product Listings

Posted: March 13, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

A big showdown is looming closer as the House has passed a bill that will ban TikTok in the US unless the app separates from its parent company in China, ByteDance. Theverge.com reports that the bill had a big bipartisan majority…it passed 352 to 65, with one member voting present. It now moves on to the Senate…where passage is not assured. President Biden has said he will sign it if it reaches his desk. Before getting to the House floor, the bill came out of the Energy and Commerce Committee on a 50 to 0 vote. TikTok claims it doesn’t store US user info in China, but the lawmakers aren’t buying that. ByteDance does have connections with the Chinese army and government, which has concerned US policy makers for years. Not everyone is thrilled with a ban of the platform…in addition to influencers, there are a number of businesses who have testified that a ban would wipe out their business. 

In an earth-shaking move, Spotify has added music videos in 11 countries…although not the US. So…Spotify is rolling out a beta of MTV…what an original concept! Snark aside, according to engadget.com, they will offer thousands of music videos across a wide range of genres and artists. To watch a video, users can just click ‘switch to video’ right on the now playing screen. The video will automatically start at the beginning, but users can switch back to audio at any time. 

The European Union Parliament has voted to adopt the AI Act, which they claim is ‘the world’s first comprehensive AI Law.’ Techcrunch.com says the vote was 523 to 46. The new law attempts to set up a risk-based framework for AI; applying various rules and requirements depending on the level of risk attached to the use-case. It covers prohibited use case, as well as non-compliance penalties…which can reach as much as 7% of global annual turnover. The EU legislators note that there will be additional laws needed in the future, as AI evolves in order to ensure that humans are on control and protected. 

Amazon is rolling out an AI feature that lets sellers generate new product listings from their existing web sites. Geekwire.com reports that Amazon will offer sellers the ability to quickly create new product listings using generative AI by providing a URL for their existing direct-to-consumer websites. Previous generative AI features released by Amazon include the ability to fill out a product listing starting with a few words, and to upload an image to automatically generate a product title, description, and attributes. More than 100,000 Amazon sellers have adopted generative AI tools for listing products, according to Amazon.

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

Former Activision Blizzard CEO Wants TikTok; Car Makers Sharing Driver Data With Insurers; AirPods Getting ‘Hearing Aid Mode’; Influencers Paid for Promoting Counterfeit Goods

Posted: March 11, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The former CEO of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, is angling to buy TikTok as the US government is threatening to ban the app unless it is sold off by Chinese firm ByteDance. Engadget.com reports that Kotick…and hey, tick is part of his name, so running TikTok ought to be a natural…ok, kidding…has talked about partnerning with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. If ByteDance will even sell, it would be a multi-hundred billion dollar deal. Kotick chaired Activision for 30 plus years. TikTok has had influencers and people who make a living on the platform flood Congressional representatives with calls and email, urging them not to ban or force a sale of the app. A bipartisan group of law makers are concerned about the data the app is getting which can be going to the Chinese government. President Biden has said he would sign a bill banning or forcing the sale of the app. 

Most people know that our data is currency to many businesses and organizations. Here’s a wrinkle you may not be aware of…a number of car makers are selling your driving data to LexisNexis, which in turn is selling the info to insurance companies, and it’s raising folks’ insurance rates! According to the New York Times, a number of makers have programs you can sign up for to keep track of your driving habits…some, like GM, have made it like a game where you can earn badges for you good driving. The down side is they track hard braking, hard cornering, speeding, tickets and accidents, and your insurance rates can go through the roof…or sunroof in this case. In some instances, people haven’t even signed up for the programs. Several states don’t permit this activity…including California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Hawaii. Besides General Motors, Kia, Subaru, and Mitsubishi contribute to the LexisNexis ‘Telematics Exchange.’ Ford, Honda, and Hyundai are also claimed to be included…although both Ford and Subaru deny this. If you want to see what data your car can collect, go to vehicleprivacyreport dot com. https://vehicleprivacyreport.com/. You can also see your LexisNexis report at consumer dot risk dot lexisnexis dot com slash consumer. https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/consumer

An interesting new feature may be coming to Apple’s AirPods Pro. Apparently in iOS 18, there will be ‘a major new hearing aid mode.’ The word comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The feature apparently won’t require any hardware changes. AirPods already have a feature called Live Listen, that came out own 2018. That feature turns an iPhone into a directional microphone, sending the audio to the AirPods in real time. A couple of years ago, AirPods got Conversation Boost, which boosts the mic directly in front to better pick up what a person is saying. With the new relaxed FDA guidelines allowing over the counter hearing aids, the hearing aid feature seems like a natural extension of what they already do. 

Quite a few social media influencers are making money promoting great prices on goods over TikTok. Well, it turns out…unsurprisingly, that most of the goods are counterfeit. Wired.com says it isn’t just on TikTok, either. Some influencers are also hawking the illegal knock offs on Facebook, Discord, and Reddit. One firm called Pandabuy claims to have hundreds of content creators touting goods. Some of the knocks offs are not only cheap, but also look cheap, but others are very good fakes. If it is a designer brand and it’s being marketed by an influencer on one of these platforms, it is most likely not the real deal. One example as a pair of $1000 Rick Owens high top sneakers for $73 that apparently are pretty accurate. As always, caveat emptor…let the buyer beware.

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

Google Hits Brakes on AI Images of People; AT&T, Others Cell Outage This Morning; ARM Claims ‘Software is Driver in Deal With Nuro; Samsung Will Bring Galaxy AI Features to More Devices

Posted: February 22, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Google has pumped the brakes, disabling Gemini’s ability to generate images of people. PCMag.com reports that this came after users found that Gemini was producing historically inaccurate images in some situations. Like some extreme examples? It showed what it claimed was a Native American man and woman as an 1820s German couple…and one of the Founding Fathers as African American. It also came up with Asian members in the 1929 German military. Google put out a message saying “We are aware that Gemini is offering inaccuracies in some historical image generation depictions, and we are working to fix this immediately.” 

There were widespread cellular outages this morning starting at about 3:30 am Eastern that affected calls and even 911 service. The problems were all on  AT&T’s network. According to NPR, AT&T now says it has restored around three quarters of its cellular network. Some 73,000 customers were affected. Verizon and T-Mobile reported that their networks were ‘operating normally.’ This is more concerning than in the past, since these days, nearly 71% of adults and 82% of kids live in wireless-only households. AT&T hasn’t said what caused the outages at this point. 

Chipmaker ARM supplies most of the systems on a chip that run the world’s smartphones, and now they are diving into the world of driverless cars. Thenextweb.com says the chip maker has cut a deal with Nuro, a startup in the autonomous vehicle realm. The partnership aims to accelerate the commercialization of self-driving cars. Arm will bring its famed semiconductor IP to Nuro’s vehicles, starting with the startup’s delivery robots. In an only slightly hyped statement, ARM says ‘software is becoming the driver’ for cars! Arm is finding a nice place in the automotive segment…since 2020, they have nearly doubled their revenue in the sector. As for startup Nuro, they are shooting for level 4 autonomy, which doesn’t need a human driver under certain road conditions. They haven’t given any roadmap for how soon they think that will become a reality.

The AI push marches relentlessly on…Samsung is now going to bring its Galaxy AI features to more devices with a software update in March. The handsets affected are the Galaxy S23 series, S23 FE, Z Fold5, and Z Flip. The tablets that will get the AI include the Tab S9 Ultra, Tab S9+, and Tab 59. With this upcoming update, users will get access to Google’s “Circle to Search” feature, which lets users search from anywhere on their phone using gestures like circling, highlighting, scribbling or tapping. Another feature called Live Translate will provide voice and text translations for phone calls. Plus, users will get access to an “Interpreter” feature that generates text translations for live conversations.

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

YouTube Dominates US TV Streaming-Nielson; Walmart Buying Vizio; iPhone 16 Rumor-Upgraded Microphones; US & Allies Police Take Down Cybercrime Giant LockBit

Posted: February 20, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Nielson’s January report…just out…on TV viewing and streaming has YouTube again the overall king of streaming services. Techcrunch.com reports that YouTube has 8.6% of viewing on TV screens. Netflix is close behind with 7.9% of the eyeballs. It has now been 12 consecutive months that YouTube has been able to hold on to the top spot. An interesting wrinkle: 61% of Gen Z reported that they favor user-generated content over other content formats. When it comes to mobile devices, it’s a different story. TikTok continues to dominate those. 

Walmart is going to acquire TV maker Vizio in a $2.3 billion deal. Rumors were floating about this last week, and now Walmart has made it official. According to theverge.com, Walmart says it is part of a move to boost its ad business. Vizio has more than 500 direct advertiser partnerships, thanks to its Vizio Platform Plus business — which the company says “now accounts for a majority of the company’s gross profit.” Vizio’s smart TV OS, SmartCast, is also used by more than 18 million active accounts. Walmart already has an existing Onn in-house brand of TVs, but owning Vizio will help the retailer better compete with affordable smart TVs from the likes of Amazon and Roku. Costco has sold a lot of Vizio sets…it will be interesting to see if they continue to sell them, or drop the line due to Walmart now making money off them. 

A rumor has resurfaced about iPhone 16 models…this one about better microphones with higher signal-to-noise ratios, allowing the handsets to hear your voice more clearly. Macrumors.com says this is mainly intended to improve the accuracy of Siri…which we all know is badly needed. Siri is also going to be getting generative AI features with iOS 18 later this year. Some of the AI features will be limited to the iPhone 16 models…not only due to the better microphones, but also a bigger neural engine in the A18 series chips. 

International law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and Britain’s National Crime Agency have struck a huge blow to one of the world’s most prolific cybercrime gangs, LockBit. The agencies have frozen some 200 cryptocurrency accounts and snatched up a wealth of data…as well as seizing 11,000 domains and servers. The hackers have done billions worth of damage to organizations and extorted over $120 million in ransom payments and recovery costs. 5 defendants have been charged in the US…other gang members were busted in Ukraine and Poland, with more to come.

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

EU Opens TikTok Investigation; Patent Office Denies OpenAI Trademark for ChatGPT; Switch 2 Bumped back to 2025; Apple May Get Dinged for a $538 Million Fine by EU

Posted: February 19, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The US has been scrutinizing TikTok, and now it is joined by the EU, and the European Commission has announce a formal probe into the social platform’s compliance (or lack thereof) with the Digital Services Act. The act, which was approved late last year and went into effect on Jan. 1, exists to legislate against things like illegal content, disinformation, and targeted advertising. Mashable.com reports that some of the things the EU is looking at include TikTok’s potential use of algorithmic systems to encourage addictive behavior, or what it calls a “rabbit hole effect.” In other words, they’re worried about if TikTok does too much to force you to keep looking at it. Other points of concern include privacy and safety for minors, advertising transparency, and proper age verification for users. If TikTok is found to be in violation of any DSA policies, it may have to fork over as much as 6 percent of its annual turnover. TikTok says it will cooperate with the investigation.

The US Patent and Trademark Office has issued two separate decisions denying OpenAI’s applications to trademark ‘ChatGPT’ and ‘GPT.’ According to geekwire.com, the AI company can appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal board within 90 days. The PTO wrote in their decisions that ‘Internet evidence shows that “CHAT” means “a synchronous exchange of remarks over a computer network.” Further, the evidence of record also establishes that “GPT” is a widely used acronym that means “generative pre trained transformers.” OpenAI’s partner Microsoft has applied for trademarks for their version, Copilot, as well as variations on Copilot in conjunction with other brand names. 

A lot of people have been itching to get a Nintendo Switch 2, but now it looks like that itch won’t get scratched until next year. Bgr.com says that a Brazilian game Journalist has heard from 5 separate sources that Nintendo now plans to launch the next version in early 2025. Previously, rumors had the Switch 2 coming out in the fall of this year in order to take advantage of the lucrative holiday selling season. Nintendo also plans to launch their switch 2 games early next year, which makes sense in light of the system coming out then.The original Switch is the third best selling video game console of all time, and it launched in March of 2017…so it’s definitely due for a refresh. 

The EU is considering a 500 euro fine…or $528 million over Apple Music’s treatment of competitors. Appleinsider.com reports that the European Commission is nearly finished with its investigation of whether Apple broke antitrust laws following a 2019 complaint from Spotify, and is on the verge of levying punishments. The official announcement may come in March. Along with the fine will come a ruling that Apple broke EU laws with its App Store anti-steering rules. Apple could be banned from preventing music streaming services from advising customers that they could get a better deal elsewhere than the App Store and the In-App Purchases system. These will apparently be referred to by the EU as “unfair trading conditions.” 

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

Galaxy S24 Customer Satisfaction Bests iPhone-First Time Ever; Google-Don’t Tell AI Personal Info; Microsoft Bringing Some Xbox Games to PS5 & Switch; EU Won’t Make Apple Open Up iMessage 

Posted: February 13, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

In a giant plus for Samsung, Galaxy S24 customer satisfaction has surpassed that of iPhones for the first time ever. Bgr.com reports that the data is from PerfectRec, which says 91% of early adapters of the Samsung S24 base model gave the Galaxy S24 5 stars and 88% gave top ratings to the S23 Ultra. The base iPhone 15 got 76%, with the top line iPhone 15 Pro Max garnering 74%. PerfectRec notes that this lead may not hold as it is a survey of early adopters who are enthusiasts that are more familiar with recent models and can be disappointed if incremental improvements don’t seem impressive. They note that It is possible this is purely an Apple phenomenon, and early Galaxy S adopters behave differently.” Still…a big psychological win for Samsung at this point.

Google has made what you would think would be an obvious warning…don’t disclose personal information to AI! According to zdnet.com, Google points out that your interactions with the Gemini will allow the AI to collect information about conversations, your location, feedback, and usage information. Google goes on to state that the collected information helps them provide, improve, and develop products, services, and machine learning technologies. Gemini Apps conversations can be reviewed by human reviewers, and they are retained for 3 years. Even when Gemini Apps Activity are off, your conversations will be saved with your account for up to 72 hours…so be warned. 

Microsoft is preparing to launch a “select number of Xbox games on PS5 and Nintendo Switch.” Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment are up first, with Sea of Thieves coming to non-Xbox platforms in late 2024. “Other first-party titles [are] also under consideration.” PCmag.com says we can expect more details on February 15th, just a couple days from now. Microsoft isn’t throwing in the towel on their own hardware…they are apparently working on their own hand held device. Of course Nintendo is far ahead with the Switch and then there is the Valve Steam Box.

The European Commission has ruled that Apple’s iMessage is not a ‘core platform service’ that falls under the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Theverge.com reports that this still doesn’t get Apple totally off the hook…they may need to offer interoperability with other messaging apps. Apple’s App Store, Safari browser, and iOS operating system were already designated as core platform services. Meta had both WhatsApp and Messenger designated core platform services under the DMA, and must make them interoperable with third-party services.  

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

GM Hires Ex-Tesla Battery Guru; Official-Google Bard AI is now Gemini; Deepfake ‘Face Swaps’ Surged 704% Last Year; FTC Accuses Microsoft of Misrepresenting Activision Blizzard Plans Post Layoffs

Posted: February 8, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

General Motors has picked up ex-Tesla executive and battery wiz Kurt Kelty to be the General’s new vice president of batteries…a brand new role at GM. Kelty’s role will likely affect the Ultium program, although his job is designed to be far broader. GM has had teams dedicated to different pieces of the battery process. However, there has never been one role that strings together every step, including sourcing raw materials and identifying and testing out new technologies. Kelty spent more than a decade as the head of Tesla’s battery team. He was there through the launch of Tesla’s first four cars: The Roadster, Model S, Model X and Model 3. He also used to work at Panasonic, Tesla’s partner in cell development at the Gigafactory in Nevada. Since leaving Tesla, Kelty was VP of commercialization at Silk Nanotechnologies, a firm that was working on a silicon based anode that can dramatically increase the energy density of lithium-ion batteries. 

Google announced officially today that it is renaming its Bard chatbot to Gemini, releasing a dedicated Gemini app for Android, and even folding all its Duet AI features in Google Workspace into the Gemini brand. It also announced that Gemini Ultra 1.0 — the largest and most capable version of Google’s large language model — is being released to the public. If you download the new app on Android, it can set Gemini as your default assistant…replacing Google Assistant when you say “Hey, Google.” So far, there isn’t dedicated Gemini app for iOS, and at any rate, you couldn’t replace Siri with it on Apple devices. Most people will use the standard version which is now called Gemini Pro. For Gemini Ultra, the more powerful version, you have to drop $20 a month for the Gemini Advanced subscription…which is part of the Google One AI Premium plan. Since that plan also includes 2TB of Google Drive Storage and other features, Google says the Gemini Advanced subscription is only really $10…except you have to pay the $20 to get it!

New research from iProov, a biometric firm from the UK finds that Deepfake “face swap” attacks skyrocketed by 704% from the first to the second half of 2023. With their ability to manipulate key traits of an image or video, face swaps made with GenAI are difficult to detect. They’re also user-friendly and affordable. To create convincing face swaps, all you need is off-the-shelf software. The manipulated or synthetic output is then fed to a virtual camera. SwapFace and DeepFaceLive are the most popular tools for bad actors, according to iProov.  By using these tools, crooks can hide the evidence of virtual cameras, which makes the face swaps harder to detect. Four years after researchers highlighted deepfakes the most worrying AI crime, their anxieties are becoming reality.

A week after Microsoft laid off nearly 2,000 employees in its gaming division, the Federal Trade Commission is accusing Microsoft of contradicting its pledge to allow Activision Blizzard to operate independently post-acquisition. Engadget.com reports that the FTC has filed a complaint in federal appeals court as of yesterday, saying that last week’s downsizing, which affected employees of Activision Blizzard, “contradicts Microsoft’s representations in this proceeding.” The FTC is asking for a temporary pause of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard as it further investigates potential antitrust issues. In Wednesday’s complaint, the FTC argued that the recent layoffs also undermine its own ability to order relief for employees who were negatively affected in the acquisition.

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

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