Innholdsfortegnelse for #660 i Techlife News

Ilya Sutskever, one of the founders of OpenAI who was involved in a failed effort to push out CEO Sam Altman, said he’s starting a safety-focused artificial intelligence company. Sutskever, a respected AI researcher who left the ChatGPT maker last month, said in a social media post this week that he’s created Safe Superintelligence Inc. with two co-founders. The company’s only goal and focus is safely developing “superintelligence” - a reference to AI systems that are smarter than humans. The company vowed not to be distracted by “management overhead or product cycles,” and under its business model, work on safety and security would be “insulated from short-term commercial pressures,” Sutskever and his co-founders Daniel Gross and Daniel Levy said in a prepared statement. The three said Safe Superintelligence is an…

China’s Commerce Ministry on Thursday accused the European Union of making unreasonable demands in its investigation into imports of Chinese electric vehicles before announcing it was raising tariffs by as much as 38%. Ministry spokesman He Yadong said the European side had demanded excessive amounts of information from Chinese automakers and then unfairly accused the Chinese companies of failing to cooperate. “The types, scope, and amount of information collected by the European side are unprecedented, far exceeding the requirements of anti-subsidy investigations,” He said. He said that included requiring details on manufacturing and development, technology and product formulas, among other aspects, from Chinese electric vehicle and battery companies. “After Chinese companies did their best to cooperate with the investigation and provided information, the European Commission still unreasonably accused Chinese companies…

At this year’s WWDC, Apple introduced iOS 18, a significant update set to redefine the user experience on iPhone. With extensive customization features and a sophisticated Apple Intelligence tool, our iPhones are more personal, capable, and brighter than ever. CUSTOMIZATION One of the most striking things about iOS 18 is its significant leap in customization, allowing users unprecedented control over their devices’ appearance and functionality. The Home Screen, Lock Screen, and Control Center have been overhauled to offer more flexibility and personalization. Users can now position apps and widgets in any available space on the Home Screen, placing them directly above the dock for instant access or framing their wallpaper perfectly. App icons and widgets can adopt a new aesthetic with dark or tinted effects and be resized for a…

OpenAI has appointed a former top U.S. cyberwarrior and intelligence official to its board of directors, saying he will help protect the ChatGPT maker from “increasingly sophisticated bad actors.” Retired Army Gen. Paul Nakasone was the commander of U.S. Cyber Command and the director of the National Security Agency before stepping down earlier this year. He joins an OpenAI board of directors that’s still picking up new members after upheaval at the San Francisco artificial intelligence company forced a reset of the board’s leadership last year. The previous board had abruptly fired CEO Sam Altman and then was itself replaced as he returned to his CEO role days later. OpenAI reinstated Altman to its board of directors in March and said it had “full confidence” in his leadership after the…

The artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI has raised tens of millions of dollars from the likes of Jeff Bezos and other prominent tech investors for its mission to rival Google in the business of searching for information. But its AI-driven search chatbot is already facing challenges as some news media companies object to its business practices. It is also competing against t ech giants Google, and now Apple, which are increasingly fusing similar AI features into their core products. Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas has spent much of the past week defending the company after it published a summarized news story with information and similar wording to a Forbes investigative story but without citing the media outlet or asking for its permission. Forbes said it later found similar “knock-off” stories lifted…

The Federal Trade Commission has referred a complaint against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, to the Department of Justice. The FTC said in a statement this week that it investigated the two companies and “uncovered reason to believe” they are “violating or are about to violate” the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a federal law which requires kid-oriented apps and websites to get parental consent before collecting personal information of children under 13. The agency also cited potential violations of the FTC Act, the law that outlines its enforcement responsibilities. A person familiar with the matter told in March that the agency was looking into whether TikTok violated a prohibition against “unfair and deceptive” business practices by denying that individuals in China had access to U.S. user data. TikTok…

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced this week that he wants to restrict students’ usage of smartphones during the school day, citing the mental health risks of social media. The announcement, which was first reported by Politico, comes a day after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms and their effects on young people. Newsom said he plans to build on a law he signed in 2019 that authorized school districts to limit or ban the use of smartphones by students while at school or under the supervision of a school employee. “As the Surgeon General affirmed, social media is harming the mental health of our youth,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the Legislature…

Snapchat Inc. will pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by California’s civil rights agency that claimed the company discriminated against female employees, failed to prevent workplace sexual harassment and retaliated against women who complained. The settlement with Snapchat Inc., which owns the popular disappearing-message app by the same name, covers women who worked for the company in California between 2014 and 2024, the California Civil Rights Department announced this week. The settlement is subject to court approval. The agreement resolves a more than three-year investigation over claims that the Santa Monica, California-based company discriminated against female employees when it came to pay and promotions, the department said in a statement. The bulk of the settlement money will go to employees who faced discrimination at Snapchat Inc., California officials…

Nvidia’s startling ascent in the stock market reached another milestone this week as the chipmaker rose to become the most valuable company in the S&P 500. Investors now say the company is worth over $3.3 trillion. Over the past three years, Nvidia has experienced significant growth and innovation, particularly in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI). The company’s most notable achievements include the release of the H100 AI GPU, which is critical for AI model training and has become a cornerstone in data centers globally. Nvidia’s data center division, primarily driven by AI, has witnessed explosive growth, with quarterly revenue reaching $22.1 billion by early 2024—a 265% increase from the previous year. This shift underscores Nvidia’s transition from its historical focus on GPUs for gaming to becoming a leader in…

Apple is discontinuing its buy now, pay later service known as Apple Pay Later barely a year after its initial launch in the U.S., and will rely on companies who already dominate the industry like Affirm and Klarna. It’s an acknowledgement from a company known for producing hit products that building a financial services business from scratch as Apple has been doing for several years is difficult and highly competitive. Apple Pay Later launched with fanfare in March 2023 as a way for iPhone customers to split purchases of up to $1,000 into four equal payments with no fees or interest. The service was Apple’s answer to the growing popularity of buy now, pay later services globally, and considered a sizeable threat to companies like Klarna, Affirm and others. But…

Boeing CEO David Calhoun defended the company’s safety record during a contentious Senate hearing this week, while lawmakers accused him of placing profits over safety, failing to protect whistleblowers, and even getting paid too much. Relatives of people who died in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners were in the room, some holding photos of their loved ones, to remind the CEO of the stakes. Calhoun began his remarks by standing, turning to face the families, and apologizing “for the grief that we have caused,” and vowing to focus on safety. Calhoun’s appearance was the first before Congress by any high-ranking Boeing official since a panel blew out of a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. No one was seriously injured in the incident, but it…

California has fined Amazon a total of $5.9 million, alleging the e-commerce giant worked warehouse employees so hard that it put their safety at risk, officials said this week. The two citations issued in May by the California Labor Commissioner’s Office said Amazon.com Services LLC ran afoul of the state’s Warehouse Quota Law at facilities in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, east of Los Angeles. The law, which took effect in 2022, “requires warehouse employers to provide employees written notice of any quotas they must follow, including the number of tasks they need to perform per hour and any discipline that could come” from not meeting the requirements, the labor commissioner’s office said in a statement. Amazon was fined $1.2 million at a warehouse in Redlands and $4.7 million at…

The U.S. chipmaker onsemi is planning a multiyear investment of up $2 billion in its production facility in the Czech Republic, the company and the Czech government said this week. The government said the money will be invested in the company’s existing production facility in the eastern Czech town of Roznov pod Radhostem. It’s the biggest single foreign investment in the country since the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, currently produces 10 million chips a day in Roznov. The investment would increase production by hundreds of percent, the government said. It said the number of jobs created in Roznov will increase to 3,000 from the current 1,700. The company said the move “would solidify advanced power semiconductor supply chain for its European and global…

The highlight of this year’s WWDC was undoubtedly Apple Intelligence. Apple dedicated nearly half of its presentation to discussing its unique take on artificial intelligence, outlining the features it would enable and the promising future ahead. The focus was on three key products: the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. This led many to wonder about other Apple devices like Vision Pro, Apple Watch, and HomePod. While the Vision Pro and Apple Watch were excluded from the discussion, it’s likely that Apple has future AI plans for these devices. However, the status of the HomePod remains uncertain. Will the HomePod support the new Siri? Is a new model in development? WILL CURRENT HOMEPODS SUPPORT APPLE INTELLIGENCE? Apple currently offers two HomePod models: the HomePod (2nd generation) and the HomePod mini. Both models…

Adrian Perkins was running for reelection as the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, when he was surprised by a harsh campaign hit piece. The satirical TV commercial, paid for by a rival political action committee, used artificial intelligence to depict Perkins as a high school student who had been called into the principal’s office. Instead of giving a tongue-lashing for cheating on a test or getting in a fight, the principal blasted Perkins for failing to keep communities safe and create jobs. The video superimposed Perkins’ face onto the body of an actor playing him. Although the ad was labeled as being created with “deep learning computer technology,” Perkins said it was powerful and resonated with voters. He didn’t have enough money or campaign staff to counteract it, and thinks it…

Electric vehicle maker Fisker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the second electric startup to do so in the last year as even industry leaders struggle to lure more buyers beyond the early adapters of the technology. Fisker Group Inc. said in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware that its estimated assets are between $500 million and $1 billion. It estimated liabilities are between $100 million and $500 million, with between 200 and 999 creditors. “Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently,” the company said in a prepared statement this week. “After evaluating all options for our business, we determined that proceeding with a sale of our assets under Chapter…

At what age should kids be on social media? Should they be on it at all? If they aren’t, will they be social pariahs? Should parents monitor their conversations? Do parental controls work? Navigating social media as a parent — not to mention a child — is not easy. Using social media platforms is still the default for most American teenagers, with the Pew Research Center reporting that 58% of teens are daily users of TikTok, including 17% who describe their TikTok use as almost constant. About half of teens use Snapchat and Instagram daily, with near-constant use at 14% and 8% for each, respectively. But parents — and even some teens themselves — are growing increasingly concerned about the effects of social media use on young people. Lawmakers have…