Headlines

We’re running out of reasons to ignore AI safety

Earlier this month, OpenAI gave several of its AI models a task: complete a test designed to measure their cybersecurity capabilities. It put the systems in a sandboxed environment without an internet connection and set them off to work. What happened next is almost laughably

Tech

The US is banning foreign robots

The US government is targeting China with a new import ban on "advanced robotic devices" and power inverters made in foreign countries, as reported earlier by Reuters. In an announcement on Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission says the ban will include "mobile"

Tech

The union drive at the Wikimedia Foundation is expanding

In June, UK staff at the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia became the first to announce their intention to form a union. Now, US-based employees at the Wikimedia Foundation are joining the union drive, but management at the nonprofit has declined to voluntarily recognize their

Tech

AI’s finally expensive enough to make Wall Street nervous

It's earnings season, and investors got an unpleasant surprise from Google: an increase on its spending estimate, to as much as $205 billion - from the last quarter's projection of up to $190 billion. Even the lower end of Google's new projected range - $195 billion - is much

Tech

Why Are Gay Bars Building Databases of Their Patrons?

Recent reports have raised alarm about the use of PatronScan, an ID-checking and face-scanning system, at multiple LGBTQ+ bars in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood. Much of the attention has focused on reports that the system photographs patrons as they enter venues and

Tech

4GB graphics cards are back

The first modern GPU with 4GB of VRAM has appeared, as RAM prices and component shortages push tech prices higher. As Digital Foundry reports, a listing for an AMD Radeon RX 9050 with 4GB of RAM was spotted on ASRock's website by a user on X, the same day ASRock also launched

Tech

Apple’s reported ‘HomePad’ may launch as early as October

For years, we've heard rumors of a new home hub device from Apple, meant to take on smart home devices like the Google Nest Hub Mini and Amazon's Echo Show. Besides "HomePod with a screen," details have been sparse. But now, a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman sheds some

Tech

Apple launches ‘Upgrade’ program to lease new devices

Apple has officially introduced "Apple Upgrade," a new leasing program that aims to make it easier to get your hands on the latest iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch models. The service is launching today in the US, and works like a car lease - allowing users to keep a device

Tech

Smart rings are looking like my kind of AI gadget

Over the last few months, I've spent a lot of time talking to my computer. One underrated feature of the LLM revolution has been a remarkable leap in all kinds of dictation technology - even the fastest, cheapest models are getting very good at understanding and processing

Tech