This week in AI, Apple stole the spotlight.
At the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in Cupertino, Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence, its long-awaited, ecosystem-wide push into generative AI.
The company promised Apple Intelligence is being built with safety at its core, along with highly personalized experiences.
Apple revealed in a blog post that it trains the AI models that power Apple Intelligence on a combination of licensed datasets and the public web.
Grab bagThis week marked the sixth anniversary of the release of GPT-1, the progenitor of GPT-4o, OpenAI’s latest flagship generative AI model.
This week at WWDC 2024, that prize went to Apple Intelligence.
It’s something that I’ve been requesting from Apple for several years, fueled by my own health struggles and the fact that I’ve somehow managed to contract COVID four times so far.
The ability to pause your activity rings is a minor feature update for most, but for those of us who obsess about such things to an unhealthy degree, it’s the best Apple Watch update in years.
There are several options for pausing: You can do it for one day, by day of the week or for entire months at a time.
Once entered, this will be the goal for that day of the week until it’s changed again.
If Trump wins, net neutrality is dead for one of several reasons.
A second Trump presidency, whatever its likelihood or one’s opinion on his other policies, would be fatal to net neutrality efforts.
Companies that oppose regulations like the FCC’s net neutrality plans often call for federal legislation on the topic.
A third threat to net neutrality comes from the Supreme Court, which is performing quite a bit of conservative wish-fulfillment lately.
Net neutrality rules being moot due to the FCC being inoperable would be the least of our worries if that occurs, though.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a third investigation into EV startup Fisker’s Ocean SUV, this time centered on problems getting the doors to open.
The agency says the complaints point to a an “intermittent failure” of the door latch and handle system.
The Ocean SUV is already being investigated by ODI over problems with its braking system, and for complaints about the vehicle rolling away on uneven surfaces.
It paused production of the Ocean in March and reported just $121 million in the bank.
But the new safety probe suggests a deeper problem with the SUV’s doors.
OpenAI is making its flagship conversational AI accessible to everyone, even people who haven’t bothered making an account.
Instead, you’ll be dropped right into conversation with ChatGPT, which will use the same model as logged-in users.
You can chat to your heart’s content, but be aware you’re not getting quite the same set of features that folks with accounts are.
You won’t be able to save or share chats, use custom instructions, or other stuff that generally has to be associated with a persistent account.
OpenAI offers this helpful gif:More importantly, this extra-free version of ChatGPT will have “slightly more restrictive content policies.” What does that mean?
In an alkaline electrolyzer, two electrodes are submerged in a solution of alkaline water (usually consisting of a high concentration of potassium or sodium hydroxide).
Alkaline electrolysis differs from the other main approach, proton-exchange membrane electrolysis, in a few ways.
One of the most important, though, is that alkaline electrolysis doesn’t require expensive exotic metals like platinum.
That gives alkaline electrolyzers a cost advantage from the start, one that Evoloh says it builds on with its lower-cost manufacturing.
To further trim manufacturing costs, Evoloh uses roll-to-roll printing, a technique pioneered centuries ago by printing presses and more recently used in battery manufacturing.
It contains the personal information of some 73 million AT&T customers.
Some AT&T customers have confirmed their leaked customer data is accurate.
But AT&T still hasn’t said how its customers’ data spilled online.
Hunt concluded the leaked data was real by asking AT&T customers if their leaked records were accurate.
But by now AT&T should be able to provide a better explanation as to why millions of its customers’ data is online for all to see.
After frenzied speculation that a recent photo of Kate Middleton and her children was AI generated, the Duchess of Cambridge herself had to address the controversy.
It’s an appropriate amount of hands — eight hands for four people — but they all look a bit off.
So when official Royal Family accounts published the suspicious-looking photo of Kate and her children, the internet had a field day.
Even British celebrities like Piers Morgan have weighed in, raising the question of why the Royal Family won’t quash the conspiracy theories by just releasing the unedited photo.
It’s a good thing that the public was so skeptical about Middleton’s sketchy photo, since she admitted that it was edited.
If anything, it was the VisionOS 1.1 update that showed me that I still have the capacity to grow.
I can tell you agree from the fact that you’re carrying on a normal FaceTime call without stopping every few seconds to tell me how weird my Apple Vision Pro Persona looks.
The headset made me re-enroll my face to get this new persona – and frankly, it’s for the best.
I’m not saying my new face definitely won’t frighten children, but I don’t think they’re going to lose much sleep over it.
I should mention that even in its 1.1 iteration, the Persona feature is still technically in beta – albeit a beta open to anyone with a Vision Pro.
Allianz Direct, a digital-first German subsidiary of the insurance giant, has acquired the French home insurance business of ailing insurtech Luko for €4.3 million (around $4.65 million).
This was both expected and unexpected: The two companies were hoping to get the green light on a deal in November.
After all, Luko ambitioned to become a European insurtech unicorn on its own, and maybe it’s now paying the price for it.
But there’s also relief for some in knowing that the company won’t be sold for parts after all — and the business unit that will live on is arguably what it should have stuck to all along.
Along the way, things became more complicated and debt mounted as it expanded in other markets and made acquisitions: German startup Coya and fellow French startup Unkle, both in 2022.
