google

Google To Potentially Invest Hundreds Of Millions Into Character.AI Startup 

Google is currently in conversation to invest in Character.AI, an artificial intelligence chatbot platform startup. According to CTech News, Character.AI was created by Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, two former employees of Google Brain. 

Google is prepared to invest “hundreds of millions of dollars” into Character.AI as it continues to train chatbot models to talk to users, according to sources who spoke to Reuters. 

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Character.AI and Google already have a standing relationship in which they use Google’s cloud services and Tensor Processing Units to train its chatbot models, so this investment would deepen that partnership. 

Character.AI allows users to log in and choose from a variety of celebrities, movie characters, creatures, etc. to chat with. Users can even create their own character chatbot to speak with. Subscription models cost $9.99 a month, but the platform is also free to use. 

According to data from Similarweb, reported by CalTech, “Character.AI’s chatbots, with various roles and tones to choose from, have appealed to users ages 18 to 24, who contributed about 60% of its website traffic. 

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The demographic is helping the company position itself as the purveyor of more fun personal AI companions, compared to other AI chatbots from OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.”

Within the first six months of launching, Character.AI saw about 100 million visits every month. 

Reuters wrote that “The startup is also in talks to raise equity funding from venture capital investors, which could value the company at over $5 billion.

In March, it raised $150 million in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz at $1 billion valuation.

Google has been investing in AI startups, including $2 billion for model maker Anthropic in the form of convertible notes, on top of its earlier equity investment.”

google

Google To Replace Passwords With Passkeys In New Update 

On Tuesday, Google announced an update to the way they plan to enforce cybersecurity: by replacing passwords with passkeys instead. According to Gizmodo Magazine, Google claimed it’s planning to “make passwords a rarity, and eventually obsolete.” 

Passkeys have been around for a little while now. A passkey is defined as any sort of short form method of unlocking your devices or accounts, for example, using your fingerprint or pin code to unlock your phone. 

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The biggest advantage of these types of cybersecurity systems is that hackers will need your entire device, not just your password, to gain access to your accounts; as most passkeys only work on the single device they’re implemented on. 

According to Google, passkeys are 40% faster than passwords as well, and are popular among consumers due to the fact that they don’t need to memorize long randomized passwords full of various letters, numbers, and symbols.

According to Gizmodo, technology experts have been predicting for the past decade that the use of passwords for cybersecurity would likely become obsolete, however, every year that sentiment has been proven wrong, especially with the rise of new streaming services and social media platforms in the past five years alone. 

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Google, however, is the platform that has the best chance at being the catalyst for this transition. As one of the biggest tech companies in the world, Google has the potential to set a new precedent when it comes to how the average person protects their presence online. 

Google has stated that when a user logs into their account, a new prompt will appear asking if the user wants to create and use passkeys, allowing them to “skip passwords when possible” if you go into the settings of your Google account, and use other features. 

With these new changes, it’s still not likely that passwords will go away anytime soon. 

“The tech industry has a lot of work to tackle before you can forget all your passwords, but that impossible dream is now a massive step closer to reality,” wrote Thomas Germain.

iphone

Apple Addresses Reports of iPhone 15 Overheating

Apple acknowledged user reports of overheating on some of its new iPhone 15 models, stating that a software glitch and certain apps are to blame.

The latest iPhone hit the shelves on September 22. Shortly after, users voiced their concerns about the device becoming uncomfortable to hold after limited use, sometimes reaching temperatures of more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius).

In a statement to CNN, Apple shared that it has “identified a few conditions which can cause an iPhone to run warmer than expected.”

Overheating can occur with the use of some recently updated third-party apps. The device may also run hot due to “increased background activity” the first few days after setup or a system reset.

According to Apple, the overheating problems currently affecting some iPhone models do not pose a safety risk and will not have any effect on the devices’ long-term performance. Apple also highlighted the fact that iPhones have thermal protections built in to help with overheating.

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The company is working with the developers of third-party apps whose recent updates were running in ways “causing them to overload the system.” Instagram, ridesharing service Uber, and racing game Asphalt 9 are just a few examples.

“We’re working with these app developers on fixes that are in the process of rolling out.”

Last week, Meta updated its Instagram app for the newest version of iOS to fix an issue where the app would cause the iPhone to overheat.

In addition, Apple acknowledged a bug in iOS 17 that could be affecting some users. It plans to release a software update to fix the problem, but no date has been set for the update’s release.

On Apple’s support page, users are cautioned that their devices may overheat when performing tasks such as restoring from a backup, using apps with heavy graphics processing, streaming high-quality video, and charging wirelessly.

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“These conditions are normal, and your device will return to a regular temperature when the process is complete or when you finish your activity. If your device doesn’t display a temperature warning, you can keep using your device.”

Despite the recent complaints, consumer demand for the iPhone 15 appears strong. Analysts reported that iPhone 15 pre-orders were doing better than initially expected in the days leading up to the release date, with robust demand also for the premium iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

In August, Apple reported that sales had dropped for a third consecutive quarter, totaling around $39.7 billion, shortly before the release of the new iPhones. The figure represents a decrease of about 2% in revenue from the previous year as fewer people upgrade their devices.

About 250 million iPhones, according to estimates, have not been updated in more than four years. A shift to a USB-C charging port and improvements to the processor and camera may incentivize users to upgrade this year.

The iPhone 15 Pro prices begin at $1,099, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max begins at $1,199. The base-level iPhone 15 goes for $799, while the Plus version, the iPhone 15 X, costs $899.

iphone

France To Allow Apple To Sell iPhone 12s Again After Meeting Radiation Standards

France may now allow Apple to sell their 12th generation iPhone model after weeks of the nation citing the device’s alleged high levels of electromagnetic radiation. Now, Apple has apparently met France’s electromagnetic radiation standards, allowing the company to start selling the phone again. 

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France’s L’Agence Nationale des Fréquences, or ANFR, confirmed this week that the iPhone 12 met the standards after Apple issued a new software patch for the phone.

According to Gizmodo, the agency stated they tested the phone’s specific radiation absorption rate, which measures the level of radio waves emitted by the device, and found that the iPhone 12 was back in compliance with the nation’s standards after the patch. 

Once Apple patches all iPhone 12s, they will be able to sell the devices in France again. 

It was about two weeks ago that France initially put a stop to the sales of iPhone 12s throughout the country after the ANFR claimed the device didn’t meet radiation standards. Other nations such as Belgium and Germany followed suit and began testing the devices themselves as well. 

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Apple has consistently claimed that the issue isn’t actually with their phones, but instead with France’s, and the EU in general’s, testing standards. They stated that the new software patch simply “accommodates” the testing protocols. 

According to Gizmodo, “The ANFR said the tests were performed by an accredited laboratory and found the SAR was 3.94 W/kg (watt per kilogram) after the update compared to 5.74 W/kg before the update. The measurements were taken when phones are kept close to the body, such as inside a user’s pocket.”

“France and other EU countries have placed limits on the amount of electromagnetic radiation that can be absorbed by a body. According to the French regulatory agency, the country monitors all waves between 100 kHz and 10 GHz,” the publication explained

According to the World Health Organization, there isn’t any definitive science that proves there are major health consequences to exposure from low-level electromagnetic fields and waves. However, the recent wave of 5G conspiracy theories spreading online hasn’t helped when it comes to people worrying about radiation in their personal devices. 

phone

China Looking To Limit Phone Time For Minors To Two Hours A Day 

China is proposing new measures that would limit that amount of time minors spend on their phones as a part of their initiative to curb internet addiction and “cultivate good morality and socialist values,” according to reports

The proposal came from the Cyberspace Administration of China, the nation’s top internet regulator. The proposal requires all mobile devices, apps, and app stores to have a built in “minor mode” that would limit daily screen time for kids and teens to a maximum of two hours a day, depending on the specific age group. 

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These restrictions, if approved, will add onto current measures that were passed as a part of Beijing’s effort to limit screen time among kids and reduce their “exposure to undesirable information,” according to CNN.

The proposal’s rules will be open for public discussion until September 2nd. If it were to pass, kids and teens using devices on minor mode will have all of their applications close automatically once their time limits are up. Also, no one under the age of 18 will be able to access their screens from 10 pm to 6 am. 

Children under the age of eight will be able to use their phones for only 40 minutes a day while kids between the ages of eight and 16 will get an hour. Teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 will be allotted two hours. 

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After using their devices for 30 minutes, all age groups will receive a reminder to rest. The Cyberspace Administration also thinks “mobile internet service providers should actively create content that disseminates core socialist values  and forges a sense of community of the Chinese nation,” according to the draft.

Certain educational services as well as emergency services will not be impacted by the time limits. 

According to CNN, parents are on board with the proposal. “I think it’s good. On the one hand, it can protect their vision as many young kids cannot stop themselves while watching something they like. On the other hand, it’s easier for us parents to control our kids’ screen time. Most importantly the content under the minor mode is more positive and healthy,” one parent said. 

According to the China Internet Network Information Center, China has one of the world’s largest internet user bases, with about 1.07 billion users out of a population of 1.4 billion. One in five users were 19 years old or younger, as of December 2022. 

shopping

China To Relax Their Internal Migration Rules To Kickstart Their Economy 

China is moving to relax its rules on internal migration to make it easier for people to settle into smaller cities in an attempt to increase their ailing economy and provide growth, according to a government announcement this week. 

The ministry of public security (MPS) announced plans to lower the standard for receiving an urban hukou, their household registration. Beijing, specifically, wants local governments to cancel hukou restrictions in cities that have less than 3 million people, as well as relax the restrictions for cities with 3-5 million residents, according to the MPS.

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Cities with a larger population, more than 5 million people, will also be encouraged to relax their hukou quotas, to ideally allow more people to receive the highly prized urban registration documents. 

China’s national development and reform commission, which oversees economic and social policy, first announced these plans back in 2019, however, it’s not clear how many cities have actually adopted the rules. 

One of the main goals of relaxing these registrations is to encourage rural migrants to move into cities to aid the urban economy. One-third of the total working population in China, around 292 million people, are rural migrants that are working in China’s growing metropolitans.

However, these population groups don’t have proper access to public education, healthcare, and other social benefits, leading many of them to leave their families and return to villages themselves. Without urban hukou, many rural migrants are forced to pay more for social services, and are even banned from buying property in the city. 

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The hukou system also deters migrants from spending money and moving into cities long-term, which economists in China claim have impacted its growth. 

“To the extent that there is a spare capacity of workers in the rural areas to draw upon and go and work in the urban areas, easing the registration requirements may help at the margins … but I don’t think it’s really going to alleviate labor supply problems,” said George Magnus, a research associate at the University of Oxford’s center in China. 

In the second quarter of 2023, when compared to 2022, China’s economy grew by 6.3%, which was below expectations, and marked a .8% increase in the first three months of the year. 

Part of this decrease is due to the decreasing workforce in China. The number of individuals working who are aged 16 to 59 declined by more than 40 million between 2019 and 2022. 

twitter

Police Halt Elon Musk’s Attempt to Remove Twitter Sign From HQ After Rebranding

Elon Musk’s efforts to rebrand Twitter as X are not going as smoothly as planned. While workers were trying to remove the company’s old name and famed bird logo from the front face of its headquarters, police intervened.

The local police department stopped the impromptu renovation Monday afternoon, citing the act as “unauthorized work.” The authorities say the social media company failed to notify the building’s owner and security about its intention to remove the sign from its San Francisco headquarters.

After the incident, a representative for the police department shared with The Associated Press in an email that no crime had been committed. The police were trying to ascertain if Twitter had a permit to close Market Street and block a lane of traffic.

“Officers assigned to Tenderloin Station responded to the area of 10th and Market streets regarding a report of a possible unpermitted street closure. Through their investigation, officers were able to determine that no crime was committed and this incident was not a police matter.”

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By the time the work had been interrupted, only the old Twitter logo and the letters “er” remained. On Sunday, Musk had tweeted, “And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and gradually, all the birds.” Later that day, he shared on the platform that the bird logo would be replaced with the letter X.

X.com now points to https://twitter.com/. Interim X logo goes live later today.”

However, users like NYTimes Tech Reporter @Rmac18 tweeted, the hyperlink redirected many users to a GoDaddy landing page.

“Despite this, X dot com is still redirecting some people (including myself) to a GoDaddy site with ads for sectional sofas.”

The New York Times reported that Musk renamed conference rooms in the building, incorporating the letter X. Some titles seen in photos include “s3Xy,” “eXposure,” and “eXult.” The letter X was also projected into the cafeteria.

Musk has made a number of controversial changes to the site since he purchased the social media platform for $44 billion last year, the most recent being the name change to X. Many of these amendments to the platform, with its lax moderation policies, have driven advertisers off the website.

He has also been accused of not holding up his alleged “free-speech absolutist” philosophy. Aside from his supporters, users claim that the new paid Twitter Blue subscription directly puts a price on speech, amplifying his supporters while dampening the reach of his opponents or those who cannot afford it.

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Users with left-wing views and progressive activists are seeing their accounts suspended with no explanation. He was recently accused of removing the community-based fact-check under one of his tweets inciting vaccine hesitancy.

Earlier this month, Musk told CNN that the company was struggling with its finances, citing a 50% drop in advertising revenue and a negative cash flow.

In a tweet about the rebranding, Twitter’s new chief executive Linda Yaccarino praised taking the platform in a new direction.

“It’s an exceptionally rare thing – in life or in business – that you get a second chance to make another big impression. Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square.”

However, analysts say that this move could end up costing Twitter. Mike Proulx, research director and vice president at Forrester, said in a blog post that given the drop in revenue and negative cash flow, ditching the Twitter name will damage the platform further.

“This is far from a position of strength from which to attempt what is essentially an app relaunch — a move that will only alienate more users and more advertisers. While Musk’s vision is to turn “X” into an “everything app,” this takes time, money, and people — three things that the company no longer has. Disenfranchised Twitter users will increasingly turn to Threads while Musk’s company continues to lose money. Simply put, X’s runway is coming to an end.”

ai

Scientists Utilizing Artificial Intelligence To Find New Hit Songs And Musicians

According to new research from scientists in California, a robot utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) could be the next step in identifying hit pop songs and artists in the music industry. The scientists said that by utilizing the technology, they’ve been able to identify hit songs with 97% accuracy.  

“By applying machine learning to neurophysiologic data, we could almost perfectly identify hit songs. That the neural activity of 33 people can predict if millions of others listened to new songs is quite amazing. Nothing close to this accuracy has ever been shown before,” says Paul Zak, a professor at Claremont Graduate University and senior author, in a media release

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The AI itself uses a neural network, which is apparently so straightforward that it can also be utilized for streaming service efficiency, TV shows, and movies in general. 

The music industry today is dominated by streaming services. With billions of songs to choose from, it can become challenging for popular apps such as Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, etc. to choose which ones their users will listen to, especially among newer artists. 

Professor Zak claims that his colleagues and himself believe that their method is twice as effective as previous models which only showed a 50% success rate. 

In the study itself, participants listened to a set of 24 songs while wearing a skull-cap brain scanner. Throughout the process, they were asked about their preferences while the scientists measured their neurophysiological responses. 

“The brain signals we’ve collected reflect activity of a brain network associated with mood and energy levels,” Zak stated.

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Based on the responses, the team of scientists were able to use their technology to predict market outcomes for certain songs, including the number of streams a song may receive. This process is referred to as “neuroforecasting,” which essentially means using the brain activity of a select group of people to predict how a larger population will react.

According to reports from Study Finds, who reported on the study, “a statistical model identified potential chart hits 69 percent of the time, but this jumped to 97 percent when machine learning was applied to the data. The team found that even by analyzing neural responses to only the first minute of songs, they achieved a success rate of 82 percent.

“This means that streaming services can readily identify new songs that are likely to be hits for people’s playlists more efficiently, making the streaming services’ jobs easier and delighting listeners,” Zak explains.

“If in the future wearable neuroscience technologies, like the ones we used for this study, become commonplace, the right entertainment could be sent to audiences based on their neurophysiology. Instead of being offered hundreds of choices, they might be given just two or three, making it easier and faster for them to choose music that they will enjoy.

“Our key contribution is the methodology. It is likely that this approach can be used to predict hits for many other kinds of entertainment too, including movies and TV shows,” Zak stated.

apple

Apple Unveils Augmented-Reality Headset, ‘Vision Pro’ 

Apple unveiled a new augmented-reality headset known as the Apple Vision Pro at its annual software developer conference this Monday. This marks the first new product category since the company introduced the Apple Watch nine years ago. 

At the event, CEO Tim Cook described the device as a “spatial computing tool” controlled by the user’s eyes, hands, and voice. 

Cook said: “It’s the first Apple product you look through, not at.”

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Apple revealed that the Vision Pro utilizes a three-dimensional camera and microphone system to capture videos and pictures that can be viewed in 3D later. 

Alan Dye, Apple’s human interface chief, stated that users will select content inside the goggles with their eyes, tap their fingers together to click something, and gently flick to scroll. 

The device includes an exterior display that shows the user’s eyes to people on the outside. When a user is fully immersed in a virtual world, the exterior screen goes black. However, when a person approaches a user who is utilizing the full virtual world, the headset will show the user and the outside person to each other. 

“You’re never isolated from people around you. You can see them, and they can see you,” Dye stated. 

Apple also showed that the headset can be used with a trackpad and keyboard so that it can be used for work, and in general like a traditional computer with multiple displays. 

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The launch of the headset will be interesting for the tech world, as it’s entering a market that has yet to gain a lot of traction, especially among the average tech user, as the high price point has steered many people away. 

For Apple’s Vision Pro, the starting price will be $3,499, and launch early 2024, starting with sales in the US market, with more international releases coming later in the year. 

More specs for the Vision Pro include a glass front with an aluminum back, five sensors, 12 cameras, a 4K display for each eye, and an internal computer that’s cooled with a fan. The headband itself that goes around the head is cloth-lined and modular to fit every user comfortably. 

For individuals who wear glasses, Apple will offer custom optical inserts that magnetically attach to the lenses of the users glasses. 

The headset itself has been in the works for years now, and has supposedly gone through multiple changes and delays to keep up with the current market, but also to ensure the product was fully ready for release.

parrot

Parrots Taught to Video Call Other Parrots Formed Lasting Friendships, Researchers Say

Researchers from Northeastern University, the University of Glasgow, and MIT designed a video calling system for parrots to “chat” with other parrots. Over time, the birds developed a preference for certain parrot “friends,” forming strong bonds and repeatedly calling the same birds.

The United States is home to 20 million pet birds, and scientists are trying to find a way to help them connect from afar. The 15 volunteers who completed the experiment were recruited from Parrot Kindergarten—a training platform that helps owners deepen their relationship with their birds and “better meet their needs for mental enrichment and challenge.”

Parrots are highly sociable creatures and flock together in their natural habitats. However, these birds are typically kept as solo pets in households or other forms of captivity. Due to their high intelligence, parrots can become distressed and even pluck their feathers if they are not provided with adequate attention and mental stimulation.

Parrot owners spent the first two weeks of the study training their birds to ring a bell and touch the image of another parrot—displayed on a tablet screen—to initiate a video call. There were a total of 212 video calls placed by parrots. The owners then turned off the calls after five minutes or if their parrots lost interest.

Phase two of the experiment involved an “open call” period during which the participating parrots could call any other parrot in the study at any time. In total, the parrots made 147 calls to other birds, providing over 1,000 hours of footage for researchers to analyze.

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The study’s authors, Rébecca Kleinberger, an assistant professor at Northeastern; Jennifer Cunha, a parrot behaviorist and Northeastern researcher; and Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, an assistant professor at the University of Glasgow, reported that the parrots usually stayed on their calls for the maximum time allowed. The birds also appeared to understand that there was a real “fellow bird” on the other side of the screen.

Some parrots even taught their companions new skills, such as flying, foraging and making different vocalizations. “She came alive during the calls,” one pet parent said about their bird.

Hirskyj-Douglas told the Guardian, “I was quite surprised at the range of different behaviors.”

“Some would sing, some would play around and go upside down, others would want to show another bird their toys.”

They also formed clear preferences. For instance, Cunha’s Goffin’s cockatoo named Ellie became friends with an African Grey parrot named Cookie. “It’s been over a year, and they still talk,” Cunha told Northeastern Global News. They seemed to be making vocalizations that mirror “Hello, I’m here” in parrot-speak.

Ultimately, the birds formed lasting bonds, measured by how frequently a bird chose to call the same bird. The most socially active parrots, who initiated the most calls, also received the most calls, pointing to a “reciprocal dynamic similar to human socialization.”

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Some parrots were even reported to have developed attachments to the human caretakers of their virtual friends.

While it is true that captive parrots will not get the same social stimulation they would in the wild, regular video chats with other birds can help enrich their lives.

Despite the promising results, the authors caution parrot owners against launching impromptu Facetime chats on their birds’ behalf. In the study, experts monitored the parrots they were working with, ending calls at the first sign of stress, aggression, disinterest, or discomfort.

The authors noted that “unmediated interactions could lead to fear [or] even violence and property damage.”

“We were really careful about training the birds’ caregivers thoroughly to ensure that they could offer an appropriate level of support to empower their parrots but also help them avoid any negative experiences. As soon as the birds showed any signs of distraction or discomfort, the calls were stopped.”

Kleinberger noted how parrots were only recently domesticated for a generation or two, unlike dogs, cats, and horses. “We’re not saying you can make them as happy as they would be in the wild,” she says. “We’re trying to serve those who are already [in captivity].”

Speaking about Cookie and Ellie, Hirskyj-Douglas says she found their connection particularly moving.

“It really speaks to how cognitively complex these birds are and how much ability they have to express themselves. It was really beautiful, those two birds, for me.”