Meta’s AI goals have been boosted by the fact that 500 million people in India use WhatsApp. Susan Li, CFO of Meta, said on Wednesday that India is the biggest market for Meta AI use. This is a big deal because the product just came out in India a few months ago. Li said on Meta’s earnings call for the second quarter that since it launched, people have used Meta AI for billions of searches. “We’re seeing especially good signs on WhatsApp in terms of engagement and retention,” she said. “At the same time, India has become our biggest market…
Author: David
He says, “This wasn’t the right time for me or North Carolina.” The governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, dropped out of the race to be Kamala Harris’ running mate in the next election. The New York Times said that the governor made this public by posting it on his X handle. But it wasn’t clear what the choice was until Cooper made his statement on Monday night. Cooper said in a statement, “I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for president.” The thought of being nominated for this part made me feel good. I know she will win. “This…
Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Palestinian group Hamas, was killed early Wednesday morning in Iran, the group said. This caused fears of a wider escalation in a region already shaken by Israel’s offensive in Gaza and a conflict getting worse in Lebanon. The Revolutionary Guards of Iran confirmed Haniyeh’s death and said they were looking into it. He had just been to an event swearing in the new president of the country. Another official news source in Iran, IRNA, confirmed that Haniyeh had been killed and said that one of his bodyguards had also been killed at their home…
Last week, Google had both good and bad news. The good news is that for the first time, the cloud business made $10 billion for the quarter. This includes Google Workplace software as a service and Google Cloud infrastructure services. With that, it must not have been as painful to miss out on its second possible $20 billion purchase in less than a month. The first deal that didn’t go through was the long-rumored one to buy HubSpot, a CRM and marketing software company based in Boston. We never got a price for that, but the market value of the…
OpenAI started rolling out ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode on Tuesday. This was the first time users could hear GPT-4o’s very realistic voice replies. A small group of ChatGPT Plus users will be able to use the test version today. According to OpenAI, the feature will slowly be added to all Plus users in the autumn of 2024. When OpenAI first showed off GPT-4o’s voice in May, it shocked people with how quickly it responded and how much it sounded like the voice of a certain person. Sky’s voice sounded a lot like Scarlett Johansson’s, who played the voice of the…
Very right-wing Late Monday night, Israeli nationalists broke into two military bases to protest the arrest and questioning of nine Israel Defence Forces reservists who are thought to have raped and abused a Palestinian prisoner so badly that he had to be taken to the hospital. On social media videos, guards at the Sde Teiman military camp and prison, which is near Beersheba in southern Israel, yell and push military police who came to question the reservists, which seems to be to protect the suspects. Israeli troops have been fighting Hamas in Gaza since their horrific terrorist attack on October…
As the failed electric vehicle (EV) startup Fisker goes through bankruptcy, one question that keeps coming up is: does Heights Capital Management, which is Fisker’s only secured backer, deserve to be at the front of the queue to get the money from the liquidation? Heights has kept saying “yes” without any doubt. But as the sides got ready for a hearing on Monday morning, new information came to light. Things were looking good until a last-minute change of plans threw everything off. Fisker and Heights agreed late Sunday night to work together for the next three weeks to come up…
Last year, Meta had a huge hit with Segment Anything, a machine learning model that could quickly and accurately find and outline anything in a picture. CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off the update on stage at SIGGRAPH on Monday. It uses video, which shows how quickly the field is changing. A vision model looks at a picture and pulls out the parts: “this is a dog, this is a tree behind the dog” (hopefully, not “this is a tree growing out of a dog”). This process is called segmentation. Even though this has been going on for a long time,…
Apple has put out a technical study that talks about the models it used to make Apple Intelligence possible. Apple Intelligence is a set of generative AI features that will be coming to iOS, macOS, and iPadOS in the coming months. In the paper, Apple responds to claims that it trained some of its models in an unethical way by saying again that it did not use private user data but instead used a mix of publicly available and licensed data for Apple Intelligence. In the paper, Apple says, “The pre-training data set is made up of……data we have licensed…
It was decided by a federal district court in New York that U.S. border officers need a warrant before they can search the electronic devices of Americans and foreigners crossing the U.S. border. The July 24 ruling is the latest court opinion to go against the U.S. government’s long-standing legal case that federal border agents should be able to access travellers’ devices at ports of entry, such as airports, seaports, and land borders, without a warrant from the court. Civil rights groups that pushed for the decision were happy with it. The decision makes it clear that border agents need…
When I saw Google’s newest ad for the first time, I thought, “Is it just me, or is this kind of bad?” It stopped making me wonder after the fourth or fifth time I saw it. It all starts with a dad telling his daughter how much he loves Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and that she “might even be the world’s number one Sydney fan.” She wants to write a love letter to the Olympic gold medallist, but she needs her dad’s help. That’s when things get weird. Yes, this is an ad for Google’s Gemini AI, so the dad tells Gemini,…
The U.K. will get Zapp’s first electric two-wheeler next month. One of Zapp Electric Vehicles’ goals is to make its electric two-wheeler name a worldwide EV business. Parhlo World has learnt exclusively that India will be one of the places where it is launched. The i300, an electric two-wheeler for city riding, will be the company’s first product. It will be released in the UK as early as next month, and then it will go to Thailand. In an interview with Parhlo World, Zapp founder and CEO Swin Chatsuwan said that the company is now expanding to India, which is…
After lowering import taxes in South Asia, Apple lowered the prices of its iPhone models by 3 to 4 percent in India. The price cuts start at 300 rupees ($3.6), which is about $3.6, and go up to 6,000 rupees ($71.7) for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max lines. This is the first time Apple has dropped the prices of the Pro models from this generation in India. India cut the basic customs duty on cell phones from 20% to 15% in its yearly budget earlier this week, which led to this move. Statistics from the industry show that…
Google is making changes to the free version of Gemini, its AI-powered robot, so it can keep up with competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI. The updates are meant to make the platform work better and be open to more people. Google stated in May that Gemini 1.5 Flash would be a lightweight multimodal model that would be available on the web and on phones starting Thursday in 40 languages and about 230 countries. Google says that Gemini 1.5 Flash improves quality and latency, with gains that are especially clear in reasoning and understanding images. Besides being better for Google, running…
It’s possible that OpenAI wants to get into the search game and compete with big names like Google and Bing as well as newcomers like Perplexity. Thursday, the company showed off SearchGPT, a search tool that will use web sources to give “timely answers” to questions. SearchGPT looks a lot like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which is a chatbot tool. You type in a question, and SearchGPT gives you web-based data and pictures with links to relevant sources. You can then use a sidebar to ask more questions or look into other connected searches. There are searches that look at where you…
The India-based company Jio has teamed up with the Taiwanese fabless semiconductor giant MediaTek to make digital dashboards for the electric scooter market, which is growing quickly. The relationship was announced Thursday at an event for the business world in New Delhi. It will bring MediaTek chips, an Android-based operating system, and hardware made by Jio to electric scooters in India and maybe even other emerging markets. The information shown to the driver is run by AvniOS, which is built on Android, and is powered by MediaTek MT8766 and MT8768 system-on-chips. The deal could be good for both of the…
After looking into how Meta handles explicit pictures made by AI, the Oversight Board, the company’s semi-independent watchdog group, is now telling the company to improve its rules about these kinds of images. That’s what the Board wants Meta to do: change the word “derogatory” to “non-consensual,” and move Meta’s rules about these kinds of pictures from the “Bullying and Harassment” section to the “Sexual Exploitation Community Standards” section. The rules that Meta has now about explicit images made by AI go beyond the “derogatory sexualized Photoshop” rule that is in its part on bullying and harassment. The Board also…
Apple announced on Wednesday that Apple Maps is now available on the web as a public test. This means that you can use your browser to access the service. With this start, Apple Maps goes up against Google Maps, which has been online for a long time. Maps on the web can be used in English and works with Safari and Chrome on Macs, iPads, and PCs, as well as Chrome and Edge on PCs. In the future, Apple aims to add support for more languages, browsers, and platforms. You can use Apple Maps on the web just like you…
Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, says that the company is still in the “early days” of its plans to add support for high-fidelity music players. During Tuesday’s earnings call for the company, an executive talked about a new tier called “deluxe.” The first news about Spotify HiFi came out in 2021. It was going to be a high-end subscription level. At the time, the business said that the tier would let people improve the sound quality to a “lossless audio format of CD quality.” It’s now the middle of 2024, and the company still hasn’t released the grade. During the…
Elon Musk says he will show off Tesla’s prototype “robotaxi” at an event on October 10. He had planned to do this on August 8, but changed his mind. Musk also said that Tesla would show off “a couple of other things,” but he didn’t say what those things were. The comments made on Tuesday during Tesla’s second-quarter earnings call mostly back up Bloomberg’s original story about the delay, including the fact that Musk wanted to change some parts of the prototype. Musk said earlier this month that he had asked for a “important design change to the front.”Musk said…
People who make content are very busy. Most of them work more than 20 hours a week to add new information to their own websites. That doesn’t give the crowd much time to get involved. But Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes that AI could resolve this issue. Zuckerberg talked about his dream for the future with internet star Rowan Cheung. He said that creators will have their own “bots” that reflect their personalities and “business objectives.” Zuckerberg says that creators will use these bots to do some community outreach so that they have more time to do other, probably more…
The people in the town are likely to hold special poojas every day until the official Democratic candidate for president is named. On Monday, there were special prayers at the Dharma Sastha Temple in Painganadu-Thulasendrapuram village, which is where Kamala Harris’ grandfather was born. The US vice president seemed to be the favorite to win the Democratic presidential nomination. People in the village, which is 350 km from Chennai, celebrated Harris’s election as vice president in 2020 by making rangolis in front of their houses and feeding a lot of people. On Monday, from 9:30 am to 10:00 am, they…
Telegram, a messaging app, now has 950 million active users. The company’s founder Pavel Durov said on his channel on Monday that they want to hit 1 billion users this year. Durov said last week that the company also plans to release an app store and an in-app browser that can read web3 pages this month. It passed 900 million users in March. When asked by the Financial Times at the time, Durov said that the company hopes to make money next year. The speed at which Telegram is adding web3 technology to its app seems to be increasing. The…
Brian Kim, the founder of the South Korean internet giant Kakao, was given an arrest warrant by a court in Seoul on charges of manipulating stock prices during the company’s takeover of K-pop agency SM Entertainment in 2023. Thursday, the Seoul Southern District Court said that Kim should be arrested because of “concerns of evidence destruction and flight.” The hearing took place on Monday. He could go to jail for up to 20 days while the police look into the case more before charging him. The founder has been very important to Kakao’s strategic decisions, so this could affect how…
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, made an offer to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz for $23 billion, but Wiz turned it down, according to a person who knows about the talks. The offer is a big jump from Wiz’s last private value of $12 billion, but the company’s management team and investors have decided to stay independent, the person said. In an email to Wiz’s 1200 workers around the world, CEO Assaf Rappaport said, “It’s hard to say no to such humble offers, but with our great team, I feel confident in making that choice.” Based in New York Wiz…
One of India’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, WazirX, has “temporarily” stopped all trading on its website. This comes just a few days after a security breach cost the company about $230 million, which is almost half of its reserves. In a tweet on Sunday night, the Mumbai-based exchange said that the cyberattack had made it much harder to keep the important 1:1 collateral ratio with assets. This makes people even more worried about WazirX’s reserves and its ability to fully repay its customers. This week, WazirX stopped customers from withdrawing money because someone got into one of the exchange’s multi-signature wallets…
Since Vice President Kamala Harris dropped out of the race, President Joe Biden may not be running again. Biden said he “fully supports and endorses Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year” when he announced his plans. Harris, on the other hand, said she “intention is to win and earn this nomination.” That being said, it’s not clear if other Democratic politicians will run against her for the ticket at an open convention or in some other way. If Harris is chosen, the Democrats will have a presidential candidate with ties to the Bay Area and the…
The next big Google tech event is on August 13 at 10 a.m. PT. That gives the Made By Google show, which usually happens in the middle of fall, about two months early. In a big deal, the company will also unveil its newest top phone, the Pixel 9, before the iPhone 16. Apple will show off its newest product in September. Google hasn’t explained why they changed things. Not even a month away from what has already become the strangest presidential election in modern U.S. history, there may be too much noise. The company also has a lot to…
The latest small AI model from OpenAI, GPT-4o mini, was released on Thursday. The company says that starting today, a cheaper and faster AI model called GPT-4o mini will be made available to developers as well as to customers through the ChatGPT web and mobile app. Next week, enterprise users will be able to get in. The company says that GPT-4o mini does better than the best small AI models in the business at tasks that require reasoning with both text and images. As small AI models get better, developers like them more because they are faster and cheaper than…
It’s clear that Elon Musk doesn’t like Joe Biden. But since Musk officially backed Donald Trump for president this year and is said to be giving him money, Biden is returning the favor. Musk and other famous and rich Silicon Valley VCs are now being directly urged by the president to back Trump’s campaign. The next post Biden made on Musk’s social media site X after testing positive for COVID said, “I’m sick.” In the next post, he revealed a trick: “of Elon Musk and his rich buddies trying to buy this election.” A few hours before, Biden’s campaign sent…
After looking into it, the mail service did something to “fix” the problem. Found that the U.S. Postal Service gave the mailing addresses of its online users to Meta, LinkedIn, and Snap, all of which are big names in advertising and technology. The USPS said on Wednesday that it had fixed the problem and stopped doing what it was doing, saying that it was “not aware” of it. Tech found that USPS shared customer information by using tracking pixels, which are secret pieces of code that collect data. Tech and advertising companies make this kind of code so that every…
As the investigation unfolds into Trump’s assassination attempt, dreadful news came by with the passing of a rallygoer. The victim has been identified as Corey Comperatore. A 50-year-old, a supporter of Trump, was present at the rally with his family, a wife, and daughters. Corey Comperatore was shot while protecting his wife, and his daughters. Moreover, he was a former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Department. Moreover, he was an active Christian and a community member. Corey’s loss has left his family devasted, calling it a ” terrible nightmare … our painful reality.” Further, Corey’s sister, Dawn Comperatore…
Zoologists from Britain faced 249 years in prison for raping and killing dogs. 53-year-old Britton broke down in the court when his mental condition was discussed. Britton, a 53-year-old former researcher from Charles Darwin University admitted to 60 charges placed on him in court. Moreover, these charges included rape, torture, and killing of dogs inside a shipping container on his property. While the proceeding angered animal rights activists, there were, however, legal experts who fought for the zoologist’s mental condition. Furthermore, citing psychological disorder. Arguing he suffers from paraphilia – a condition met with intense sexual desires for atypical objects,…
Kat Torres, a Brazilian from a humble beginning to an influencer who has inspired millions and many more, was found involved in human trafficking, and sex slavery. News circulated when two female fan-cum-clients working for Kat, living with her went on missing. Additionally, the FBI was able to uncover more about Kat Torres with her key victim, Ana. Ana in 2019 escaped an abusive, ending up with Kat Torres. Hollywood A-listers such as Leonardo DiCaprio were seen with Kat. Moreover, she provided tips to happiness and success. Furthermore, she promised connections with Hollywood. Kat Torres’s Trafficking, Hypnotisms, and Prostitution Ana…
Donald Trump, who used to be president, chose Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate on Monday. Trump is trying to get back the office he lost to Joe Biden in 2020. Vance is best known for his autobiography, “Hillbilly Elegy.” He worked as a venture investor for many years before becoming a U.S. senator in 2022. Vance went to San Francisco after graduating from Yale Law School in 2013. There, he worked as a principal at Mithril Capital, a fund that Peter Thiel and Ajay Royan help to start. Mithril raised two funds, one for $540 million in…
The most important changes to Apple’s iMessage and Messages app in iOS 18 aren’t the Genmoji or AI emoji or even the option to send texts via satellite. Texting with Android users will be a lot easier now that you can finally plan messages to go out at a later time and date. You will also be able to use RCS, the next generation of messaging that will replace SMS. These changes can now be found in the public test of iOS 18, which just started this week. These messaging tools will have a big effect on how people talk…
In answer to a request from India’s cricket board, an Indian tribunal court started the insolvency process for Byju’s on Tuesday. Byju’s was once India’s most valuable startup. The decision essentially puts in place an interim resolution professional who will run the business, kicking out the founder of the startup. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) asked the National Company Law Tribunal (PDF) to make a decision. The BCCI wants to get back almost $19 million from the Bengauluru-based edtech company. The Indian cricket team used to be supported by Byju’s. Creditors, employees, and vendors have been…
Today, most people agree that creative AI will have a huge impact on business, and those who don’t adapt will be quickly forgotten. As companies learn more about AI, they want proof, or real business data, that show how it is actually helping them make more money and run their businesses better. They shouldn’t and can’t just believe what the seller says. Still, it’s not simple to find a direct link between something like Microsoft Copilot and how well a business does generally. After that, should CIOs just believe it? Jamin Ball, an investor, says in this week’s Clouded Judgement…
The idea of a “factory in a box” picks up where the failed electric vehicle company Arrival left off. Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Pegg sees a second chance when he looks at Daisy, Helixx’s 3D-printed prototype delivery car. And McDonald’s is giving him ideas on how to get there. The prototype is an interesting proof of concept. It was shown to the world for the first time this week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Standard PLA+ filament has been used to 3D print almost every part of Daisy on 14 household printers from Creality. There are clear layer…
Betabet, the company that owns Google, may be about to make its biggest purchase ever. The Wall Street Journal says Alphabet is close to agreeing to pay about $23 billion to buy Wiz. The WSJ says the deal might go through soon, but it’s not official yet. Wiz is an all-in-one cloud security solution that takes in data from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and other cloud systems and checks it all for security holes. Alphabet officials probably see the deal as a way to strengthen Google’s cloud business, which grew 28% in the first quarter of this…