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In Silicon Valley, Venture Capital Meets a Generational Shift

NYT Technology - Wed, 03/13/2024 - 04:02
Big-name investors such as Reid Hoffman and Michael Moritz are pulling back, creating room for a new generation of tech power brokers.

Apple's Vision Pro successfully helps nurse assist in spinal surgery – and there's more mixed-reality medical work on the way

Techradar - Tue, 03/12/2024 - 23:00

In a fascinating adoption of technology, a surgical team in the UK recently used Apple’s Vision Pro to help with a medical procedure.

It wasn’t a surgeon who donned the headset, but Suvi Verho, the lead scrub nurse (also known as a theater nurse) at the Cromwell Hospital in London. Scrub nurses help surgeons by providing them with all the equipment and support they need to complete an operation – in this case, it was a spinal surgery. 

Verho told The Daily Mail that the Vision Pro used an app made by software developer eXeX to float “superimposed virtual screens in front of [her displaying] vital information”. The report adds that the mixed reality headset was used to help her prepare, keep track of the surgery, and choose which tools to hand to the surgeon. There’s even a photograph of the operation itself in the publication. 

Vision Pro inside surgery room

(Image credit: Cromwell Hospital/The Daily Mail)

Verho sounds like a big fan of the Vision Pro stating, perhaps somewhat hyperbolically, “It eliminates human error… [and] guesswork”. Even so, anything that ensures operations go as smoothly as possible is A-OK in our books.

Syed Aftab, the surgeon who led the procedure, also had several words of praise. He had never worked with Verho before. However, he said the headset turned an unfamiliar scrub nurse “into someone with ten years’ experience” working alongside him.

Mixed reality support

eXeX, as a company, specializes in upgrading hospitals by implementing mixed reality. This isn’t the first time one of their products has been used in an operating room. Last month, American surgeon Dr. Robert Masson used the Vision Pro with eXeX’s app to help him perform a spinal procedure. Again, it doesn’t appear he physically wore the headset, although his assistants did. They used the device to follow procedural guides from inside a sterile environment, something that was previously deemed “impossible.”

Dr. Masson had his own words of praise stating that the combination of the Vision Pro and the eXeX tool enabled an “undistracted workflow” for his team. It’s unknown which software was used. However, if you check the company’s website, it appears both Dr. Masson’s team and Nurse Verho utilized ExperienceX, a mixed reality app giving technicians “a touch-free heads up display” 

Apple's future in medicine

The Vision Pro’s future in medicine won’t just be for spinal surgeries. In a recent blog post, Apple highlighted several other medical apps harnessing visionOS  Medical corporation Stryker created myMako to help doctors plan for their patients’ joint replacement surgeries. For medical students, Cinematic Reality by Siemens Healthineers offers “interactive holograms of the human body”. 

These two and more are available for download off the App Store, although some of the software requires a connection to the developer’s platform to work. You can download if you want to, but keep in mind they're primarily for medical professionals.

If you're looking for a headset with a wider range of usability, check out TechRadar's list of the best VR headsets for 2024.

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Midjourney just changed the generative image game and showed me how comics, film, and TV might never be the same

Techradar - Tue, 03/12/2024 - 16:12

Midjourney, the Generative AI platform that you can currently use on Discord just introduced the concept of reusable characters and I am blown away.

It's a simple idea: Instead of using prompts to create countless generative image variations, you create and reuse a central character to illustrate all your themes, live out your wildest fantasies, and maybe tell a story.

Up until recently, Midjourney, which is trained on a diffusion model (add noise to an original image and have the model de-noise it so it can learn about the image) could create some beautiful and astonishingly realistic images based on prompts you put in the Discord channel ("/imagine: [prompt]") but unless you were asking it to alter one of its generated images, every image set and character would look different.

Now, Midjourney has cooked up a simple way to reuse your Midjourney AI characters. I tried it out and, for the most part, it works.

Image 1 of 3

Midjourney AI character creation

I guess I don't know how to describe myself. (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 3

Midjourney AI character creation

(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 3

Midjourney AI character creation

Things are getting weird (Image credit: Future)

In one prompt, I described someone who looked a little like me, chose my favorite of Midjourney's four generated image options, upscaled it for more definition, and then, using a new "– cref" prompt and the URL for my generated image (with the character I liked), I forced Midjourney to generate new images but with the same AI character in them.

Later, I described a character with Charles Schulz's Peanuts character qualities and, once I had one I liked, reused him in a different prompt scenario where he had his kite stuck in a tree (Midjourney couldn't or wouldn't put the kite in the tree branches).

Image 1 of 2

Midjourney AI character creation

An homage to Charles Schulz (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2

Midjourney AI character creation

(Image credit: Future)

It's far from perfect. Midjourney still tends to over-adjust the art but I contend the characters in the new images are the same ones I created in my initial images. The more descriptive you make your initial character-creation prompts, the better result you'll get in subsequent images.

Perhaps the most startling thing about Midjourney's update is the utter simplicity of the creative process. Writing natural language prompts has always been easy but training the system to make your character do something might typically take some programming or even AI model expertise. Here it's just a simple prompt, one code, and an image reference.

Image 1 of 2

Midjourney AI character creation

Got a lot closer with my photo as a reference (Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2

Midjourney AI character creation

(Image credit: Future)

While it's easier to take one of Midjourney's own creations and use that as your foundational character, I decided to see what Midjourney would do if I turned myself into a character using the same "cref" prompt. I found an online photo of myself and entered this prompt: "imagine: making a pizza – cref [link to a photo of me]".

Midjourney quickly spit out an interpretation of me making a pizza. At best, it's the essence of me. I selected the least objectionable one and then crafted a new prompt using the URL from my favorite me.

Midjourney AI character creation

Oh, hey, Not Tim Cook (Image credit: Future)

Unfortunately, when I entered this prompt: "interviewing Tim Cook at Apple headquarters", I got a grizzled-looking Apple CEO eating pizza and another image where he's holding an iPad that looks like it has pizza for a screen.

When I removed "Tim Cook" from the prompt, Midjourney was able to drop my character into four images. In each, Midjourney Me looks slightly different. There was one, though, where it looked like my favorite me enjoying a pizza with a "CEO" who also looked like me.

Midjourney AI character creation

Midjourney me enjoying pizza with my doppelgänger CEO (Image credit: Future)

Midjourney's AI will improve and soon it will be easy to create countless images featuring your favorite character. It could be for comic strips, books, graphic novels, photo series, animations, and, eventually, generative videos.

Such a tool could speed storyboarding but also make character animators very nervous.

If it's any consolation, I'm not sure Midjourney understands the difference between me and a pizza and pizza and an iPad – at least not yet.

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Dating Apps Have Hit a Wall. Can They Turn Things Around?

NYT Technology - Tue, 03/12/2024 - 13:24
The apps have changed our love lives, but they haven’t been able to convince enough young users to pay.

Forget the Apple Car – Porsche has been using the Apple Vision Pro with its record-breaking new Taycan

Techradar - Tue, 03/12/2024 - 12:30

Porsche has just unveiled its most dynamic Taycan so far - the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT. This takes the Taycan Turbo S, gives it more power, reduces the weight and primes it for the track. There are two versions of the new car, the Taycan Turbo GT and the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach package, which loses the backseats and gains a rear wing to make it a record-breaking track car. 

The unveiling of any new Porsche model wouldn't be complete without some mention of its performance credentials and a portion of the launch presentation included coverage of a record-breaking lap from the Laguna Seca raceway in California. 

It seems that Porsche CEO Oliver Blume couldn't make it to The Golden State himself, so instead, he watched it using Apple Vision Pro. Cut to Tim Cook congratulating Porsche on their record-breaking new car, one of many examples of Porsche and Apple's strong ongoing partnership.

Blume wasn't just watching a video feed on Apple Vision Pro, however. He was in a full-on spatial computing mode, virtual track map, multiple windows of telematics, video feed from the car on the track – even the driver's heart rate was displayed. A celebration of cutting-edge tech at a corporate level? You bet. 

an image of the Apple Vision Pro being used with a Porsche virtual cockpit

(Image credit: Porsche / Chris Hall)

"What an amazing experience it was to join the team virtually along with Apple Vision Pro. Thanks to our custom race engineer cockpit app, it felt like I was right there in Laguna Seca with Lars [Kern, Porsche development driver]," said Blume.

"It has been great to bring the best of German engineering and Apple's inspiring product innovations together."

Cue Tim Cook's surprise cameo. "Congratulations to you and the Porsche team on the new record you set with this incredible new vehicle. It's these kinds of extraordinary milestones that show the world what can happen when a team of incredibly dedicated people come together to break new ground on a big idea," said Cook.

"Porsche has always been known for excellence," continued Cook, "and we're proud to see a number of our products play a role in what you do. And it's so great to see Apple Vision Pro helping reimagine track experiences."

The mutual backslapping continued for a little longer, before Blume dropped the next nugget: "We appreciate the great partnership we have established over the years, starting with the My Porsche app on Apple CarPlay and now we're taking it one step further with Porsche's Apple Vision Pro race app to bring the best user experience to our employees and customers."

The appearance of Apple Vision Pro went virtually unnoticed, however. There was no mention of any Apple Vision Pro app in the press materials and when asked at the launch site in Leipzig, there was no more information forthcoming. Porsche it seems, aren't saying any more about it.

Chalk it down as the ultimate tease perhaps: there doesn't seem to be a name for the app that was used – Oliver Blume himself referred to it in two different ways – but it does demonstrate that Porsche and Apple are continuing to work on technologies together beyond Apple CarPlay and the customisation of the Porsche digital displays.

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Airbnb Bans All Indoor Security Cameras

NYT Technology - Tue, 03/12/2024 - 11:18
Widespread use of indoor security cameras has raised concerns about privacy in vacation rentals, hotels, public bathrooms, locker rooms and on cruise ships.

Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses are becoming AI-powered tour guides

Techradar - Tue, 03/12/2024 - 10:44

While Meta’s most recognizable hardware is its Quest VR headsets, its smart glasses created in collaboration with Ray-Ban are proving to be popular thanks to their sleek design and unique AI tools – tools that are getting an upgrade to turn them into a wearable tourist guide.

In a post on Threads – Meta’s Twitter-like Instagram spinoff – Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth showed off a new Look and Ask feature that can recognize landmarks and tell you facts about them. Bosworth demonstrated it using examples from San Francisco such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Painted Ladies, and Coit Tower.

As with other Look and Ask prompts, you give a command like “Look and tell me a cool fact about this bridge.” The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses then use their in-built camera to scan the scene in front of you, and cross-reference the image with info in the Meta AI’s knowledge database (which includes access to the Bing search engine). 

The specs then respond with the cool fact you requested – in this case explaining the Golden Gate Bridge (which it recognized in the photo it took) is painted “International Orange” so that it would be more visible in foggy conditions.

Screen shots from Threads showing the Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses being used to give the suer information about San Francisco landmarks

(Image credit: Andrew Bosworth / Threads)

Bosworth added in a follow-up message that other improvements are being rolled out, including new voice commands so you can share your latest Meta AI interaction on WhatsApp and Messenger. 

Down the line, Bosworth says you’ll also be able to change the speed of Meta AI readouts in the voice settings menu to have them go faster or slower.

Still not for everyone 

One huge caveat is that – much like the glasses’ other Look and Ask AI features – this new landmark recognition feature is still only in beta. As such, it might not always be the most accurate – so take its tourist guidance with a pinch of salt.

Orange RayBan Meta Smart Glasses

(Image credit: Meta)

The good news is Meta has at least opened up its waitlist to join the beta so more of us can try these experimental features. Go to the official page, input your glasses serial number, and wait to get contacted – though this option is only available if you’re based in the US.

In his post Bosworth did say that the team is working to “make this available to more people,” but neither he nor Meta have given a precise timeline of when the impressive AI features will be more widely available.

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New Rabbit R1 demo promises a world without apps – and a lot more talking to your tech

Techradar - Tue, 03/12/2024 - 10:00

We’ve already talked about the Rabbit R1 before here on TechRadar: an ambitious little pocket-friendly device that contains an AI-powered personal assistant, capable of doing everything from curating a music playlist to booking you a last-minute flight to Rome. Now, the pint-sized companion tool has been shown demonstrating its note-taking capabilities.

The latest demo comes from Jesse Lyu on X, founder and CEO of Rabbit Inc., and shows how the R1 can be used for note-taking and transcription via some simple voice controls. The video (see the tweet below) shows that note-taking can be started with a short voice command, and ended with a single button press.

another week, another homemade r1 demo. note taking with r1 with playback/download/AI summary.still need bit of touch but it’s both intuitive and functional. more to come. pic.twitter.com/3r5hCsYMe1March 11, 2024

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It’s a relatively early tech demo – Lyu notes that it “still need bit of touch” [sic] – but it’s a solid demonstration of Rabbit Inc.’s objectives when it comes to user simplicity. The R1 has very little in terms of a physical interface, and doubles down by having as basic a software interface as possible: there’s no Android-style app grid in sight here, just an AI capable of connecting to web apps to carry out tasks.

Once you’ve recorded your notes, you can either view a full transcription, see an AI-generated summary, or replay the audio recording (the latter of which requires you to access a web portal). The Rabbit R1 is primarily driven by cloud computing, meaning that you’ll need a constant internet connection to get the full experience.

Opinion: A nifty gadget that might not hold up to criticism

As someone who personally spent a lot of time interviewing people and frantically scribbling down notes in my early journo days, I can definitely see the value of a tool like the Rabbit R1. I’m also a sucker for purpose-built hardware, so despite my frequent reservations about AI, I truly like the concept of the R1 as a ‘one-stop shop’ for your AI chatbot needs.

My main issue is that this latest tech demo doesn’t actually do anything I can’t do with my phone. I’ve got a Google Pixel 8, and nowadays I use the Otter.ai app for interview transcriptions and voice notes. It’s not a perfect tool, but it does the job as well as the R1 can right now.

Rabbit r1

The Rabbit R1's simplicity is part of its appeal - though it does still have a touchscreen. (Image credit: Rabbit)

As much as I love the Rabbit R1’s charming analog design, it’s still going to cost $199 (£159 / around AU$300) – and I just don’t see the point in spending that money when the phone I’ve already paid for can do all the same tasks. An AI-powered pocket companion sounds like an excellent idea on paper, but when you take a look at the current widespread proliferation of AI tools like Windows Copilot and Google Gemini in our existing tech products, it feels a tad redundant.

The big players such as Google and Microsoft aren’t about to stop cramming AI features into our everyday hardware anytime soon, so dedicated AI gadgets like Rabbit Inc.’s dinky pocket helper will need to work hard to prove themselves. The voice control interface that does away with apps completely is a good starting point, but again, that’s something my Pixel 8 could feasibly do in the future. And yet, as our Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff puts it, I might still end up loving the R1…

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The National Beat: Bickering billionaires, flying cars and startup IPOs

Memphis Business Journal - Tue, 03/12/2024 - 08:59
This week's edition of The National Beat looks at the next wave of potential IPOs for startups, some bickering billionaires and flying cars that could fit in your garage.

Despite Trump’s Opposition to TikTok Ban, House Moves Ahead With Bill

NYT Technology - Mon, 03/11/2024 - 19:05
With both parties eager to demonstrate a willingness to be tough on China, bipartisan legislation to force the Chinese owners of the platform to divest or face a ban was moving forward.

How the A.I. That Drives ChatGPT Will Move Into the Physical World

NYT Technology - Mon, 03/11/2024 - 11:00
Covariant, a robotics start-up, is designing technology that lets robots learn skills much like chatbots do.

Fed up with OneDrive in Windows 11? Microsoft clarifies that you can easily remove the cloud storage app

Techradar - Mon, 03/11/2024 - 09:09

Windows 11 users can uninstall OneDrive – in case you weren’t aware of that – and Microsoft has made this clearer with a change to a support document.

Neowin picked up on this alteration Microsoft made to its guide on how to ‘Turn off, disable, or uninstall OneDrive’ which is part of its library of troubleshooting support documentation.

Now, as Neowin informs us, previously this document did not mention Windows 11 – it only referred to Windows 10. And that might have given some users the impression that it was only possible to remove OneDrive on Windows 10, and not Windows 11.

This isn’t the case, of course, and you can unhook OneDrive from Windows 11, removing it completely, just as you can with Windows 10. By mentioning both operating systems, Microsoft is now making it clear that this is the case.

Microsoft has also fleshed out this support document with further instructions on how to stop syncing OneDrive and other details relating to its cloud storage service.

Oddly, though, another support document on how to ‘Turn off OneDrive in Windows’ still only mentions Windows 10, and not Windows 11. However, it might be the case that Microsoft is in the process of updating this sprawling library of content, and just hasn’t reached that page yet.

Analysis: Removing OneDrive is a cinch

This is useful confirmation to get from Microsoft, as it was easy enough to make negative assumptions about hidden agendas here – when in truth the likelihood is the software giant just hadn’t got round to updating the support info (and still hasn’t with some articles, as we just noted). Although Neowin also points out, it’s possible that this updating process has been prompted by Microsoft now having to comply with new European regulations (the Digital Markets Act).

If you haven’t popped over to view the links to the support info, you may be wondering what the process for uninstalling OneDrive from either Windows 10 or Windows 11 is. Fortunately, it’s simple: just go to ‘Add or remove programs’ (type that in the search box on the taskbar, then click on it), scroll down the list of apps to find Microsoft OneDrive (it’s under ‘M’ and not ‘O’ just to clarify), and then select Uninstall.

This doesn’t mean that you’re completely nuking your OneDrive account, in case there’s any doubt. All your files will still be in OneDrive when you visit the site on the web (or from another, say mobile, app), just as normal – all you are doing is removing the app from Windows 11, and this way of accessing your files on your Windows PC (and any syncing or related features therein).

Some of the confusion about not being able to uninstall OneDrive in Windows 11 at all may have sprung from the fact that it wasn’t possible to remove the cloud storage app from Windows 8.1.

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Get ready to learn about what Windows 11 of the future looks like at Microsoft’s March 21 event

Techradar - Mon, 03/11/2024 - 07:20

We’ve begun getting hints of what Microsoft is gearing up to announce for Windows 11 at its March event, and now we’ve got new pieces of the puzzle. We’re expecting information about a new feature for the Paint app, Paint NPU, and about a feature that’s being referred to as ‘AI Explorer’ internally at Microsoft. 

Microsoft has put up an official page announcing a special digital event named “New Era of Work” which will take place on March 21, starting at 9 PM PDT. On this page, users are met with the tagline “Advancing the new era of work with Copilot” and a description of the event that encourages users to “Tune in here for the latest in scaling AI in your environment with Copilot, Windows, and Surface.”

It sounds like we’re going to get an idea of what the next iteration of Windows Copilot, Microsoft’s new flagship digital AI assistant, will look like and what it’ll be able to do. It also looks like we might see Microsoft’s vision for what AI integration and features will look like for future versions of Windows and Surface products. 

A screenshot of the page announcing Microsoft's digital event.

(Image credit: Microsoft) What we already know and expect

While we’ll have to wait until the event to see exactly what Microsoft wants to tell us about, we do have some speculation from Windows Latest that one feature we’ll learn about is a Paint app tool powered by new-gen machines’ NPUs (Neural Processing Units). These are processing components that enable new kinds of processes, particularly many AI processes.

This follows earlier reports that indicated that the Paint app was getting an NPU-driven feature, possibly new image editing and rending tools that make use of PCs’ NPUs. Another possible feature that Windows Latest spotted was “LiveCanvas,” which may enable users to draw real-time sketches aided by AI. 

Earlier this week, we also reported about a new ‘AI Explorer’ feature, apparently currently in testing at Microsoft. This new revamped version which has been described as an “advanced Copilot” looks like it could be similar to the Windows Timeline feature, but improved by AI. The present version of Windows Copilot requires an internet connection, but rumors suggest that this could change. 

This is what we currently understand about how the feature will work: it will make records of previous actions users perform, transform them into ‘searchable moments,’ and allow users to search these, as well as retract them. Windows Latest also reinforces the news that most existing PCs running Windows 11 won’t be able to use AI Explorer as it’s designed to use the newest available NPUs, intended to handle and assist higher-level computation tasks. The NPU would enable the AI Explorer feature to work natively on Windows 11 devices and users will be able to interact with AI Explorer using natural language

Using natural language means that users can ask AI Explorer to carry out tasks simply and easily, letting them access past conversations, files, and folders with simple commands, and they will be able to do this with most Windows features and apps. AI Explorer will have the capability to search user history and find information relevant to whatever subject or topic is in the user’s request. We don’t know if it’ll pull this information exclusively from user data or other sources like the internet as well, and we hope this will be clarified on March 21. 

Person working on laptop in kitchen

(Image credit: Getty Images) What else we might see and what this might mean

 In addition to an NPU-powered Paint app feature and AI Explorer, it looks like we can expect the debut of other AI-powered features including an Automatic Super Resolution feature. This has popped up in Windows 11 23H4 preview builds, and it’s said to leverage PCs’ AI abilities to improve users’ visual experience. This will reportedly be done by utilizing DirectML, an API that also makes use of PCs’ NPUs, and will bring improvements to frame rates in games and apps.

March 21 is gearing up to bring what will at least probably be an exciting presentation, although it’s worth remembering that all of these new features will require an NPU. Only the most newly manufactured Windows devices will come equipped with these, which will leave the overwhelming majority of Windows devices and users in the dust. My guess is Microsoft is really banking on how great the new AI-driven features are to convince users to upgrade to these new models, and with the current state of apps and services like Windows Copilot, that’s still yet to be proven in practice.

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Windows 11’s next big AI feature could turn your video chats into a cartoon

Techradar - Mon, 03/11/2024 - 06:50

Windows 11 users could get some smart abilities that allow for adding AI-powered effects to their video chats, including the possibility of transporting themselves into a cartoon world.

Windows Latest spotted the effects being flagged up on X (formerly Twitter) by regular leaker XenoPanther, who discovered clues to their existence by digging around in a Windows 11 preview build.

Potential new camera effects:Video looks like a watercolor paintingVideo looks like an animated cartoonVideo looks like an illustrated drawing2/2March 9, 2024

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These are Windows Studio effects, which is a set of features implemented by Microsoft in Windows 11 that use AI – requiring an NPU in the PC – to achieve various tricks. Currently, one of those is making it look like you’re making eye contact with the person on the other end of the video call. (In other words, making it seem like you’re looking at the camera, when you’re actually looking at the screen).

The new capabilities appear to be the choice to make the video feed look like an animated cartoon, a watercolor painting, or an illustrated drawing (like a pencil or felt tip artwork – we’re assuming something like the video for that eighties classic ‘Take on Me’ by A-ha).

If you’re wondering what Windows Studio is capable of as it stands, as well as the aforementioned eye contact feature – which is very useful in terms of facilitating a more natural interaction in video chats or meetings – it can also apply background effects. That includes blurring the background in case there’s something you don’t want other chat participants to see (like the fact you haven’t tied up your study in about three years).

The other feature is automatic framing which keeps you centered, with the image zoomed and cropped appropriately, as (or if) you move around.

Analysis: That’s all, folks!

Another Microsoft leaker, Zac Bowden, replied to the above tweet to confirm these are the ‘enhanced’ Windows Studio effects that he’s talked about recently, and that they look ‘super cool’ apparently. They certainly sound nifty, albeit on the more off-the-wall side of the equation than existing Windows Studio functionality – they’re fun aspects rather than serious presentation-related AI powers.

This is something we might see in testing soon, then, or that seems likely, particularly as two leakers have chimed in here. We might even see these effects arrive in Windows 11 24H2 later this year.

Of course, there’s no guarantee of that, but it also makes sense given that Microsoft is fleshing out pretty much everything under the sun with extra AI capabilities, wherever they can be crammed in – with a particular focus on creativity at the moment (and the likes of the Paint app).

The future is very much the AI PC, complete with NPU acceleration, as far as Microsoft is concerned.

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Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies

NYT Technology - Mon, 03/11/2024 - 04:00
LexisNexis, which generates consumer risk profiles for the insurers, knew about every trip G.M. drivers had taken in their cars, including when they sped, braked too hard or accelerated rapidly.

Elon Musk Has a Giant Charity. Its Money Stays Close to Home.

NYT Technology - Sun, 03/10/2024 - 11:47
After making billions in tax-deductible donations to his philanthropy, the owner of Tesla and SpaceX gave away far less than required in some years — and what he did give often supported his own interests.

BMW Is a Surprise Winner in Electric Vehicles

NYT Technology - Sat, 03/09/2024 - 11:46
Once considered a laggard, the German luxury carmaker is one of only a few established automakers that has been able to compete effectively against Tesla.

Toyota’s Hybrid-First Strategy Is Delivering Big Profits

NYT Technology - Sat, 03/09/2024 - 04:02
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, has been criticized for selling few electric vehicles, but its decision to focus on hybrids is paying off financially.

Sam Altman Asserts Control of OpenAI as He Rejoins Its Board

NYT Technology - Fri, 03/08/2024 - 20:09
Mr. Altman, whose sudden firing and rehiring in the fall shocked Silicon Valley, was among several new additions to the board announced on Friday.

Workers at Microsoft-Owned Activision Vote to Unionize

NYT Technology - Fri, 03/08/2024 - 19:22
The group will become the largest union at a video game company in the United States, while Microsoft pledged to stay neutral on the vote.

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