Innholdsfortegnelse for #651 i Techlife News

Generative AI is advancing so quickly that the latest chatbots available today could be out of date tomorrow. Google, Meta Platforms and OpenAI, along with startups such as Anthropic, Cohere and France’s Mistral, have been churning out new AI language models and hoping to persuade customers they’ve got the smartest, handiest or most efficient chatbots. Meta is the latest to up its game, unveiling new models this week that will be among the most visible: they’re already getting baked into Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. But in a sign of the technology’s ongoing limitations, Meta’s amped-up AI agents have been spotted this week confusing Facebook users by posing as people with made-up life experiences. While Meta is saving the most powerful of its AI models, called Llama 3, for later, it’s…

A California lawmaker wants to require business owners and landlords to disclose their identities under legislation aimed at cracking down on opaque ownership structures that have enabled some companies to skirt state laws without facing consequences. Limited liability companies and similar corporations in the United States are often formed to protect a business owner’s personal assets. In California, the world’s fifth largest economy, such businesses are already required to register with the Secretary of State and share information including the name of the business, its address and the names of its executives or representatives. But Democratic state Sen. Maria Elana Durazo said that that’s not enough. She also wants the public to know who actually owns the company. Her bill would require these companies to list anyone who owns at…

Whether you’re working on creative projects, managing a home office powerhouse, or tackling complex data analysis, having the right workstation can make all the difference. If you’ve decided on a Mac, navigating the various options can be overwhelming, but there’s a machine to suit every need and budget. THE RIGHT MAC Apple offers a range of Mac desktops, each catering to specific user profiles and workflows. The Mac mini, for instance, is a compact powerhouse and an excellent choice for space-conscious users. Despite its size, the Mac mini packs a processing punch beyond everyday tasks. Sure, it can easily handle browsing and document editing, but consider its potential for creative pursuits. With a capable Mac mini setup, you can leverage code compilers for development or run music production software surprisingly…

The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide up to $6.4 billion in direct funding for Samsung Electronics to develop a computer chip manufacturing and research cluster in Texas. The funding announced this week by the Commerce Department is part of a total investment in the cluster that, with private money, is expected to exceed $40 billion. The government support comes from the CHIPS and Science Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022 with the goal of reviving the production of advanced computer chips domestically. “The proposed project will propel Texas into a state of the art semiconductor ecosystem,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a call with reporters. “It puts us on track to hit our goal of producing 20% of the world’s leading edge…

Developers, suppliers, and users of artificial intelligence must comply with existing state consumer protection, anti-discrimination, and data privacy laws, the Massachusetts attorney general cautioned this week. In an advisory, Attorney General Andrea Campbell pointed to what she described as the widespread increase in the use of AI and algorithmic decision-making systems by businesses, including technology focused on consumers. The advisory is meant in part to emphasize that existing state consumer protection, anti-discrimination, and data security laws still apply to emerging technologies, including AI systems — despite the complexity of those systems — just as they would in any other context. “There is no doubt that AI holds tremendous and exciting potential to benefit society and our commonwealth in many ways, including fostering innovation and boosting efficiencies and cost-savings in the…

European Union regulators said this week they’re seeking details from TikTok on a new app from the video sharing platform that pays users to watch videos. The European Commission said it sent TikTok a “request for information” on the TikTok Lite app that has been quietly released in France and Spain. The commission wants to know about the risk assessment that TikTok should have carried out before deploying the app in the European Union. “We have already been in direct contact with the Commission regarding this product and will respond to the request for information,” TikTok said in a statement. Such evaluations are required under the bloc’s Digital Services Act, a sweeping law that took effect last year with the aim of cleaning up social media platforms. The commission is…

Booming sales of cold drinks at Starbucks have created a problem: growing amounts of plastic waste from the single-use cups that Frappuccinos, Refreshers, cold brews and other iced drinks are served in. The coffee giant said Thursday it plans to alleviate some of that waste with new disposable cups that contain up to 20% less plastic. The cups are set to be rolled out to stores in the U.S. and Canada starting this month. Amelia Landers, Starbucks’ vice president of product innovation, said the Seattle-based company spent the last four years developing the new containers. Engineers tested thousands of iterations to see how much plastic they could remove while still making the cup feel sturdy. “We feel like it’s industry-leading,” Landers said. “It’s the best expression of a cold plastic…

London-based model Alexsandrah has a twin, but not in the way you’d expect: Her counterpart is made of pixels instead of flesh and blood. The virtual twin was generated by artificial intelligence and has already appeared as a stand-in for the real-life Alexsandrah in a photo shoot. Alexsandrah, who goes by her first name professionally, in turn receives credit and compensation whenever the AI version of herself gets used — just like a human model. Alexsandrah says she and her alter-ego mirror each other “even down to the baby hairs.” And it is yet another example of how AI is transforming creative industries — and the way humans may or may not be compensated. Proponents say the growing use of AI in fashion modeling showcases diversity in all shapes and…

Nissan expects to mass produce electric vehicles powered by advanced next-generation batteries by early 2029, the company said this week during a media tour of an unfinished pilot plant. Japan’s legacy automakers have fallen behind newer rivals like America’s Tesla and China’s BYD in the emerging all-electric auto sector. But Nissan, like other companies, sees a chance to catch up and perhaps leap ahead with a new kind of battery that promises to be more powerful, cheaper, safer and faster to charge than the lithium-ion batteries in use today. Solid-state batteries, which replace the corrosive liquids found in conventional batteries with solid metals, are widely seen as the next step for EVs, and leading automakers are racing to develop versions that can be mass produced. Rivals like Volkswagen and Toyota…

Microsoft is investing $1.5 billion in a technology firm based in the United Arab Emirates and overseen by the country’s powerful national security adviser. Microsoft and the technology holding company G42 announced the deal Tuesday. As part of the agreement, Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, will join G42’s board of directors. The deal “was developed in close consultation with both the UAE and U.S. governments,” Microsoft said. Based in Abu Dhabi, G42 runs data centers in the Middle East and elsewhere and has increasingly identified itself as an AI firm. It has built what’s considered the world’s leading Arabic-language AI model, known as Jais. Microsoft said G42 will run its AI applications and services on the U.S. tech giant’s cloud computing platform, and the two companies will work to bring digital…

The ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft said they will delay their planned exit from Minneapolis after city officials decided to push back the start of a driver pay raise by two months. The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to implement the ordinance on July 1 instead of May 1. Some council members said this gives other ride-hailing companies more time to establish themselves in the market before Uber and Lyft potentially leave, and it gives Minnesota lawmakers a chance to pass statewide rules on pay for ride-hailing drivers. Council member Robin Wonsley, the lead author of the ordinance, said the delay would lead to better outcomes for drivers and riders, and lay a stronger foundation for a more equitable ride-hailing industry statewide. She called the current industry model “extremely exploitative.”…

Data breaches like the recent one involving millions of AT&T customers are becoming an almost regular occurrence. As more of our lives move online, our personal data like email addresses, phone numbers, birthdates and even passcodes are becoming ever more vulnerable to theft or being mistakenly exposed. In malicious breaches, cybercriminals can use stolen data to target people with phishing messages, or by taking out loans or credit cards in their name, a common and harmful type of identity theft. Here are some tips to protect yourself. BE AWARE In the United States, there’s no federal law compelling companies or organizations to notify individuals of data breaches, but it’s standard practice for them to inform affected customers and often provide identity protection services, said Oren Arar, vice president of consumer…

Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company will “look at” manufacturing in Indonesia as he met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday. “We talked about the president’s desire to see manufacturing in the country, and it’s something that we will look at,” Cook told reporters after the meeting. Widodo’s administration has worked for years to bring manufacturing to the country to power economic development, while Apple is seeking to diversify its supply chains away from China, where most of its smartphones and tablets are assembled. The company began moving some production to countries like Vietnam, and more recently India, after shutdowns to fight COVID-19 in China repeatedly disrupted the company’s shipments. “I think the investment ability in Indonesia is endless. I think that, there is a lot of great…

The giant stuffed bear, its face a twisted smile, lumbers across the screen. Menacing music swells. Shadows mask unknown threats. Christopher Robin begs for his life. And is that a sledgehammer about to pulverize a minor character’s head? Thus unfolds the trailer for the 2023 movie “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” a slasher-film riff on A.A. Milne’s beloved characters, brought to you by ... the expiration of copyright and the arrival of the classic children’s novel into the American public domain. We were already living in an era teeming with remixes and repurposing, fan fictions and mashups. Then began a parade of characters and stories, led by Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse with many more to follow, marching into the public domain, where anyone can do anything with…

Amazon wants the public and - especially other businesses - to know it’s not giving up on its Just Walk Out technology. Although the company is ditching the cashier-less checkout system at its Amazon Fresh grocery stores, it plans to sell the technology to more than 120 third-party businesses by the end of the year. Reaching that goal would double the number of non-Amazon enterprises that use Just Walk Out compared to last year. “For us, really making sure that we can service that third-party market is the most important thing,” Jon Jenkins, the vice president of Just Walk Out at Amazon, said in an interview. “We’ve definitely been reassuring people that we are in this for the long haul.” Just Walk Out uses cameras, artificial intelligence and sensor trackers…

Tesla will ask shareholders to reinstate a compensation package for CEO Elon Musk potentially worth $55 billion that was rejected by a judge in Delaware this year and to move the electric car maker’s corporate home from Delaware to Texas. In a filing with federal regulators this week, the company said it would ask shareholders to vote on both issues during its annual meeting in June. In January, Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick ruled that Musk is not entitled to a landmark compensation package awarded by Tesla’s board of directors. Five years ago, a Tesla shareholder lawsuit alleged that the pay package should be voided because it was dictated by Musk and was the product of sham negotiations with directors who were not independent of him. It may be a…

Google began removing California news websites from some people’s search results, a test that acted as a threat should the state Legislature pass a law requiring the search giant to pay media companies for linking to their content. Google announced the move in a blog post, calling it a “short-term test for a small percentage of users ... to measure the impact of the legislation on our product experience.” The company said it also would pause new investments in the California news industry, including the partnership initiative with news organizations and its product licensing program. “By helping people find news stories, we help publishers of all sizes grow their audiences at no cost to them. (This bill) would up-end that model,” Jaffer Zaidi, Google’s vice president for global news partnerships,…