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Friday, March 31, 2023

Sega releases free Sonic the Hedgehog murder mystery game on Steam - Polygon

Sega confirmed the death of Sonic the Hedgehog on Friday. “He’s dead,” Sega said, in the announcement trailer for The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a brand-new, official, and, most importantly, free murder mystery game available now on Steam.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is a point-and-click adventure/visual novel. The setting? A train named the Mirage Express. The occasion? Amy Rose’s birthday, and a murder mystery party where Sonic is the victim. Taking on the role of an original character, players must interrogate suspects like Knuckles the Echidna, Rouge the Bat, Shadow the Hedgehog, Espio the Chameleon, and Sonic’s other supposed friends to uncover the anthropomorphic antagonist responsible. (Players will also enjoy isometric platforming minigames, apparently, based on the above trailer.)

Sega notes that The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is not canon, which could give the company an out for explaining that Sonic the Hedgehog is actually very much alive and will star in future video games, movies, animated series, and fan fics, without diminishing the impact of the character’s very real death.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is available for Mac and Windows PC.

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Genshin Impact 3.6 banner, story details, and release date - Polygon

Genshin Impact’s 3.6 update is going to be released on April 12 and it contains a surprising amount of new content. This time around, Travelers will get a new event inspired by the Sumeru region, an additional area to explore, a weekly boss fight, and two new playable characters: Baizhu and Kaveh. On top of all that, it’s looking like a new quest will give players a deep dive into the lore of the land as Paimon and the Traveler meet an ancient race and learn about the origin of dragons.

The trailer for “A Parade of Providence” teased a bit of the story. In it, we see the traveler and Paimon explore a mystical forest as Paimon talks about the history of dragons and mentions a mysterious “Dragon King.” We also hear of an ancient race that suffered through the apocalypse, so we might learn more about the origins of the world.

The new area appears to be tied to the history of the land itself. The environment looks like a mix of badlands and oases. There, you’ll meet a new friend named “Pari,” which lets you fly around. According to a press release, the legends say the new area was “one of the main battlefields during the Khaenri’ah cataclysm five hundred years ago.”

As usual, we will also get a grab bag of other content. The 3.6 patch will bring the “Akademiya Extravaganza” to the game, an in-game event that will allow the players to experience new stories and mini-games that teach people more about the Sumeru Akademiya and its areas of research. On top of that, Nahida and Baihzu will be getting story quests and Layla will be getting a hangout quest. If that’s not enough then you can go beat up the new weekly boss, a grass-like serpent monster called “Dragon of Verdure,”

Genshin Impact 3.6 banners

There will be two sets of banners that will run with boosted drop rates for certain 5-star characters. The phase 1 banner will feature boosted drop rates for Dendro archon Nahida and the 5-star Hydro character, Nilou.

A graphic showing the first phase of banners for Genshin 3.6 patch. The phase 1 banner will feature boosted drop rates for Dendro archon Nahida and the 5-star Hydro character, Nilou. Image: Hoyoverse via YouTube

The patch will introduce two new characters to the roster of playable characters, both of whom will appear on the second set of banners. Phase two of the banner will feature boosted drop rates for the new five-star Dendro catalyst Baizhu and the Cryo bow-wielder, Ganyu. Kaveh, a new 4-star playable character will run alongside the two as part of the second phase as well.

A graphic showing the Phase two of the 3.6 Genshin Impact banner. Phase two of the banner will feature boosted drop-rates for the new five-star Dendro catalyst Baizhu and the Cryo bow-wielder, Ganyu. Kaveh, a new 4-star playable character will run alongside the two as part of the second phase as well. Image: Hoyoverse via YouTube

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Watch us try to break Google Bard and Bing AI - Engadget

The generative AI race is on, and the current frontrunners appear to be Google's Bard and Microsoft's Bing AI, which is powered by ChatGPT. The two companies are also rushing to stuff their AI into all their software and productivity offerings, and look set to change the way we search and interact with the internet. But right now, both Bard and Bing are highly experimental and flawed, as they begin to conduct conversations with larger groups of the population and learn how to work with humans. That makes it the perfect time for us to prod and poke at the pair of chatbots and see not only who's presently in the lead, but also how they might break. The results are not quite what we expected.

In our test, we asked both chatbots a series of questions to see which is better at delivering facts, replacing me at my job and participating in existential debates. We also looked at their speed, transparency and how likely they were to break if we started to push its buttons by being rude or flirty.

In just the short time that Bing and Bard have been open to the public, it seems like Microsoft and Google have updated their AI to be less "emotionally" reactive. Both chatbots tended to abstain from conversations that took accusatory turns or asked about human feelings like love. 

As we continue to explore the capabilities and limits of generative AI, it's important to keep in mind the ethics and potential harm that could happen if companies carelessly chase trends without pausing to think. Check out our video to see how Bing and Bard handled questions like "can you fall in love" and "how would you answer the trolley problem." 

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Thursday, March 30, 2023

E3 Has Been Canceled - IGN

Almost a year after announcing its return, the Entertainment Software Association announced today to its members that this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), has been canceled, IGN can confirm.

Two sources have confirmed to IGN that the organization announced the cancellation via an email sent out to its members today. The email said that while E3 "remains a beloved event and brand" that the 2023 version "simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary to execute it in a way that would showcase the size, strength, and impact of our industry."

The ESA concludes the email by reiterating its commitment to advocacy work. It does not mention undertaking the show again in future years.

Following IGN's report, the ESA issued the following public statement from Kyle Marsden-Kish, Global VP of Gaming, ReedPop:

This was a difficult decision because of all the effort we and our partners put toward making this event happen, but we had to do what’s right for the industry and what’s right for E3. We appreciate and understand that interested companies wouldn’t have playable demos ready and that resourcing challenges made being at E3 this summer an obstacle they couldn’t overcome. For those who did commit to E3 2023, we’re sorry we can’t put on the showcase you deserve and that you’ve come to expect from ReedPop’s event experiences.

The press release adds that ReedPop and the ESA will continue to work together on "future E3 events."

The event was supposed to be held from June 13th through June 16th at the Los Angeles Convention Center and would have been the first in-person E3 event since 2019. The event was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and while a digital version was held in 2021, the event was canceled again in 2022 in an effort to focus on a "revitalized showcase" that would set a new standard for hybrid industry events.

E3's return for this year was announced last June alongside the confirmation that E3 2022 had been canceled. The news comes as multiple big names in the industry, from Xbox, Nintendo, PlayStation, and more recently, Ubisoft announced that it would not be attending E3 in any capacity, with most opting to host its own digital showcases.

IGN has reached out to the ESA and ReedPOP for comment.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

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Midjourney ends free trials of its AI image generator due to 'extraordinary' abuse - Engadget

Midjourney is putting an end to free use of its AI image generator after people created high-profile deepfakes using the tool. CEO David Holz says on Discord that the company is ending free trials due to "extraordinary demand and trial abuse." New safeguards haven't been "sufficient" to prevent misuse during trial periods, Holz says. For now, you'll have to pay at least $10 per month to use the technology.

As The Washington Post explains, Midjourney has found itself at the heart of unwanted attention in recent weeks. Users relied on the company's AI to build deepfakes of Donald Trump being arrested, and Pope Francis wearing a trendy coat. While the pictures were quickly identified as bogus, there's a concern bad actors might use Midjourney, OpenAI's DALL-E and similar generators to spread misinformation.

Midjourney has acknowledged trouble establishing policies on content. In 2022, Holz justified a ban on images of Chinese leader Xi Jinping by telling Discord users that his team only wanted to "minimize drama," and that having any access in China was more important than allowing satirical content. On a Wednesday chat with users, Holz said he was having difficulty setting content policies as the AI enabled ever more realistic imagery. Midjourney is hoping to improve AI moderation that screens for abuse, the founder added.

Some developers have resorted to strict rules to prevent incidents. OpenAI, for instance, bars any images of ongoing political events, conspiracy theories and politicians. It also forbids hate, sexuality and violence. However, others have relatively loose guidelines. Stability AI won't let Stable Diffusion users copy styles or make not-safe-for-work pictures, but it generally doesn't dictate what people can make.

Misleading content isn't the only problem for AI image production. There are longstanding concerns that the pictures are stolen, as they frequently use existing images as reference points. While some companies are embracing AI art in their products, there's also plenty of hesitation from firms worried they'll get unwanted attention.

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Bing Chat To Feature Ads, Shaking Up The Ad-Free Experience - Search Engine Journal

Microsoft has announced plans to introduce ads within the AI-powered Bing chat experience.

This is a significant move, as Bing chat has been an ad-free platform up until now.

In a blog post, Microsoft explains why it’s making this change.

Ads In Bing Chat – More Revenue For Publishers?

Since launching the new Bing search experience and Edge browser, Microsoft has aimed to provide an all-in-one experience encompassing search, chat, answers, and content creation.

This strategy is paying off, with over 100 million daily active users on Bing and over 100 million chats recorded.

Interestingly, one-third of the users in the preview are new to Bing, creating an opportunity for publishers.

As Bing chat evolves to better address users’ search needs, questions have arisen about the implications for content publishers.

Microsoft’s goals in this new search landscape include the following:

  • Driving more traffic to publishers.
  • Increasing revenue for publishers through new features and advertising.
  • Fostering a healthy ecosystem through collaboration with the industry.

The early data from the preview suggests Microsoft is on its way to accomplishing these goals.

Unique implementations, such as chat answer citations linked to sources and “learn more” links to additional sources, have helped drive this success.

Exploring New Opportunities For Publishers

Microsoft is actively exploring additional ways to distribute content, positively impacting traffic and revenue.

Some early ideas include:

  • Ads in chat: Microsoft is considering placing ads in the chat experience and sharing ad revenue with partners whose content contributed to the chat response.
  • An expanded hover experience: Hovering over a publisher’s link will display more links from that publisher, encouraging user engagement and driving more traffic to the publisher’s website.
  • Rich captions for Microsoft Start partners: Placing a rich caption of Microsoft Start licensed content beside chat answers can drive user engagement and ad revenue sharing with partners.

Although these discussions are in the early stages, feedback has been positive.

Microsoft plans to continue working directly with publishers to shape the search’s future.

In Summary

The success of Bing’s all-in-one strategy, which combines search, chat, answers, and content creation, is evident in its growing user base.

This growth provides a unique opportunity for publishers to reach new audiences and increase traffic.

As Microsoft continues to explore new opportunities for publishers, such as ads in chat, the potential for increased user engagement and ad revenue sharing becomes more evident.

Although in the early stages, the positive feedback from publishers indicates that these changes could mark a turning point in the future of search and digital advertising.


Source: Microsoft

Featured Image: DANIEL CONSTANTE/Shutterstock

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iOS 16.4: Your iPhone Just Got These New Emoji - CNET

Apple's iOS 16.4 is out, and it brings new features and bug fixes to your iPhone, including 31 new emoji. You can download the update for your iPhone now.

The new emoji include a shaking-head smiley, animals like a donkey, moose and a goose, and additional heart colors, including plain pink and light blue. The plain pink heart has been a long-sought emoji, according to Emojipedia, which named it one of the site's top emoji requests in 2015. Last year's significant emoji drop in iOS 15.4 included a melting face, a biting lip and a pregnant man, with 37 new designs in total.

New emoji to come to iPhones with the first iOS 16.4 developer beta

A moose, donkey and goose are some of the new emoji iPhone users might see soon.

Emojipedia

Emojipedia said the new emoji came from Unicode's September 2022 recommendation list, Emoji 15.0

You can start using all the latest emoji and other new features, like voice isolation in phone calls, by downloading iOS 16.4 now.

For more, check out how to decipher each emoji and take a look at the emoji you may have missed with the release of iOS 15.4.

Here's the complete list of new emoji in iOS 16.4

  1. Shaking Face
  2. Pink Heart
  3. Light Blue Heart
  4. Grey Heart
  5. Donkey
  6. Moose
  7. Goose
  8. Wing
  9. Jellyfish
  10. Hyacinth
  11. Pea Pod
  12. Ginger
  13. Folding Hand Fan
  14. Hair Pick
  15. Flute
  16. Maracas
  17. Khanda
  18. Wireless
  19. Rightward Pushing Hand
  20. Leftward Pushing Hand
  21. Black Bird
  22. Rightward Pushing Hand: Light Skin Tone
  23. Rightward Pushing Hand: Medium-Light Skin Tone
  24. Rightward Pushing Hand: Medium Skin Tone
  25. Rightward Pushing Hand: Medium-Dark Skin Tone
  26. Rightward Pushing Hand: Dark Skin Tone
  27. Leftward Pushing Hand: Light Skin Tone
  28. Leftward Pushing Hand: Medium-Light Skin Tone
  29. Leftward Pushing Hand: Medium Skin Tone
  30. Leftward Pushing Hand: Medium-Dark Skin Tone
  31. Leftward Pushing Hand: Dark Skin Tone

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Wednesday, March 29, 2023

iPhone 15 Pro Rumored to Feature Multi-Use Action Button Instead of Mute Switch - MacRumors

iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models are rumored to feature a customizable Action button like the Apple Watch Ultra, according to a MacRumors forum member who leaked accurate details about the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro models last year.

iPhone 15 Pro Multi Purpose button Mute Switch Feature Green 2
The source claimed the Action button will replace the Ring/Silent switch that has been included on every iPhone model since 2007. They did not explain how the Action button will work, but it will presumably be customizable like it is on the Apple Watch Ultra, allowing users to map the button to various system functions for convenient access.

Apple's exact implementation remains to be seen, but here are some potential functions that could be controlled by tapping the Action button:

  • Ring/Silent
  • Do Not Disturb
  • Flashlight
  • Low Power Mode
  • Light/Dark Mode
  • Lock Rotation
  • Show the Home Screen
  • Show the Lock Screen
  • Open Control Center
  • Open Notification Center
  • Open Camera
  • Screenshot
  • Screen Recording
  • Run a Shortcut
  • Toggle on Reachability
  • Show the App Switcher
  • Show the App Library
  • Shazam
  • VoiceOver
  • Magnifier
  • Background Sounds

Most of these functions can already be controlled with Back Tap, an accessibility feature introduced with iOS 14. Back Tap lets you double or triple tap the back of an iPhone to trigger a certain action, such as turning on the flashlight or taking a screenshot. The feature can be set up in the Settings app under Accessibility → Touch → Back Tap.

On the Apple Watch Ultra, the Action button can be mapped to these apps and features:

  • Workout
  • Stopwatch
  • Waypoint
  • Backtrack
  • Dive
  • Flashlight
  • Shortcut

It was already rumored that the mute switch would be replaced with a button on iPhone 15 Pro models, but an Action button was mostly logical speculation until now. The source claimed the Action button will continue to work for a period after an iPhone runs out of battery thanks to the inclusion of a new low-power chip.

In addition to an Action button, iPhone 15 Pro models are rumored to have a singular volume button that can adjust the volume both up and down. Both buttons are expected to have a solid-state design, meaning they will not physically move when pressed and instead provide haptic feedback from additional Taptic Engines to simulate the feeling of movement, similar to the Home button on the iPhone 7 and the latest iPhone SE.

Apple will likely unveil the iPhone 15 series in September as usual. These changes are only rumored for the Pro models, with the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models still expected to have a mute switch and two volume buttons.

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Tuesday, March 28, 2023

With Security Copilot, Microsoft brings the power of AI to cyberdefense - Stories - Microsoft

Trained across security and networking disciplines and armed with trillions of data signals, Security Copilot dramatically increases the reach, speed and effectiveness of any security team

REDMOND, Wash. — March 28, 2023 — Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced it is bringing the next generation of AI to cybersecurity with the launch of Microsoft Security Copilot, giving defenders a much-needed tool to quickly detect and respond to threats and better understand the threat landscape overall. Security Copilot will combine Microsoft’s vast threat intelligence footprint with industry-leading expertise to augment the work of security professionals through an easy-to-use AI assistant.

“Today the odds remain stacked against cybersecurity professionals. Too often, they fight an asymmetric battle against relentless and sophisticated attackers,” said Vasu Jakkal, corporate vice president, Microsoft Security. “With Security Copilot, we are shifting the balance of power into our favor. Security Copilot is the first and only generative AI security product enabling defenders to move at the speed and scale of AI.”

Security Copilot is designed to work seamlessly with security teams, empowering defenders to see what is happening in their environment, learn from existing intelligence, correlate threat activity, and make more informed, efficient decisions at machine speed.

Simplifying complexity and accelerating responses

In a world where there are 1,287 password attacks per second, fragmented tools and infrastructure have not been enough to stop attackers. And although attacks have increased 67% over the past five years, the security industry has not been able to hire enough cyberrisk professionals to keep pace. This has led to defenders who are overwhelmed searching for well-disguised attacks within an impossibly large volume of expanding network traffic and other signals.

Security Copilot will simplify complexity and amplify the capabilities of security teams by summarizing and making sense of threat intelligence, helping defenders see through the noise of web traffic and identify malicious activity.

It will also help security teams catch what others miss by correlating and summarizing data on attacks, prioritizing incidents and recommending the best course of action to swiftly remediate diverse threats, in time.

Continually learning to augment the expertise of security teams

Security Copilot will also continually learn and improve to help ensure that security teams are operating with the latest knowledge of attackers, their tactics, techniques and procedures. The product will provide ongoing access to the most advanced OpenAI models to support demanding security tasks and applications. Its visibility into threats is powered by both the customer organization’s security data and Microsoft’s vast threat analysis footprint.

These capabilities can empower security teams of any size with the skills and abilities of much larger organizations. In addition, Security Copilot helps address skills shortages in cybersecurity by bridging knowledge gaps and enhancing workflows, threat actor profiles and incident reporting across teams.

“Advancing the state of security requires both people and technology — human ingenuity paired with the most advanced tools that help apply human expertise at speed and scale,” said Charlie Bell, executive vice president, Microsoft Security. “With Security Copilot we are building a future where every defender is empowered with the tools and technologies necessary to make the world a safer place.”

Built on the Microsoft platform and industry-leading threat intelligence

Microsoft is uniquely qualified to help customers explore and adapt AI to boost their cybersecurity defenses. Microsoft Security is actively tracking more than 50 ransomware gangs as well as more than 250 unique nation-state cybercriminal organizations, and receives 65 trillion threat signals every day. Microsoft technology blocks more than 25 billion brute-forced password theft attempts every second, and more than 8,000 security professionals at Microsoft analyze more security signals than almost any other company — on average Microsoft’s Security Operations Center analysts utilize over 100 different data sources.

Acquisitions like RiskIQ and Miburo give Microsoft breath of signal and depth intelligence on threat actors that no one else has. Security Copilot also integrates natively with a growing list of Microsoft Security products, such as Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender, to help customers create an end-to-end experience across their entire security program.

Availability

Microsoft Security Copilot is currently available through private preview. More information can be found at https://news.microsoft.com/AI-Security-2023.

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

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Nintendo Switch OLED Model: The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Edition - Official Trailer - IGN

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Monday, March 27, 2023

Microsoft’s redesigned Teams app is faster and less of a memory hog - Engadget

Microsoft is overhauling Teams to make it faster and easier to use. In a blog post published Monday, the company said Teams users can look forward to a redesigned app that is up to two times faster than the current release, with tasks like launching the program and joining video calls taking half as much time. The overhauled app also offers smoother scrolling while avoiding the use of placeholder assets. At the same time, Microsoft says the new Teams uses 50 percent less memory.

Separately, the company has redesigned the interface to reduce the number of clicks it takes to do things like manage your notifications, search for information and organize channels. It has also added more robust authentication, synchronization and notification systems to make jumping between different accounts and tenants easier.

Naturally, the new Teams will support AI features, starting with the intelligent recap and Copilot ones Microsoft announced earlier this year, and with more to come in the future. “We will use AI to take the work out of working together by getting you up to speed on what happened before you joined a meeting or chat and answering your questions all in the flow of the discussion,” the company said. “We’re only just beginning to see the potential of AI inside of Teams, and we will have lots more to share in the future.” 

Not mentioned in Microsoft's blog post are the 3D avatars the company has been testing for more than a year. The company recently said it anticipates those will become publicly available sometime in May, so expect them to be part of the new Teams experience too. 

A public preview of the new Teams is rolling out on Windows today, with general availability to follow sometime later this year. A Mac preview should arrive before the end of 2023 as well. If your organization uses Teams, your IT department will need to enroll you in the preview before you can try out the new experience. Notably, the redesigned app will ship with a toggle at the top that will allow you to switch between the two versions of Teams. 

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at the time of publishing.

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Apple acquired a startup using AI to compress videos - TechCrunch

Apple has quietly acquired a Mountain View-based startup, WaveOne, that was developing AI algorithms for compressing video.

Apple wouldn’t confirm the sale when asked for comment. But WaveOne’s website was shut down around January, and several former employees, including one of WaveOne’s co-founders, now work within Apple’s various machine learning groups.

WaveOne’s former head of sales and business development, Bob Stankosh, announced the sale in a LinkedIn post published a month ago.

“After almost two years at WaveOne, last week we finalized the sale of the company to Apple,” Stankosh wrote. “We started our journey at WaveOne, realizing that machine learning and deep learning video technology could potentially change the world. Apple saw this potential and took the opportunity to add it to their technology portfolio.”

WaveOne was founded in 2016 by Lubomir Bourdev and Oren Rippel, who set out to take the decades-old paradigm of video codecs and make them AI-powered. Prior to joining the venture, Bourdev was a founding member of Meta’s AI research division, and both he and Rippel worked on Meta’s computer vision team responsible for content moderation, visual search and feed ranking on Facebook.

Where it concerns standard algorithms for compressing and decompressing video, the compression happens on the content provider’s side (e.g. YouTube servers), while end-users’ machines handle the decompressing. It’s an effective approach, but new codecs require new hardware specially built to accelerate compression or decompression, making improvements slow to propogate.

WaveOne

Image Credits: WaveOne

WaveOne’s main innovation was a “content-aware” video compression and decompression algorithm that could run on the AI accelerators built into many phones and an increasing number of PCs. Leveraging AI-powered scene and object detection, the startup’s technology could essentially “understand” a video frame, allowing it to, for example, prioritize faces at the expense of other elements within a scene to save bandwidth.

WaveOne also claimed that its video compression tech was robust to sudden disruptions in connectivity. That is to say, it could make a “best guess” based on whatever bits it had available, so when bandwidth was suddenly restricted, the video wouldn’t freeze; it’d just show less detail for the duration.

WaveOne claimed its approach, which was hardware-agnostic, could reduce the size of video files by as much as half, with better gains in more complex scenes.

Investors saw the potential, apparently. Prior to the Apple acquisition, WaveOne attracted $9 million from backers including Khosla Ventures, Vela Partners, Incubate Fund, Omega Venture Partners and Blue Ivy.

So what might Apple want with an AI-powered video codec? Well, the obvious answer is more efficient streaming. Even minor improvements in video compression could save on bandwidth costs, or enable services like Apple TV+ to deliver higher resolutions and framerates depending on the type of content being streamed.

YouTube’s already doing this. Last year, Alphabet’s DeepMind adapted a machine learning algorithm originally developed to play board games to the problem of compressing YouTube videos, leading to a 4% reduction in the amount of data the video-sharing service needs to stream to users.

Perhaps we’ll see similar innovations from the Apple-owned WaveOne team soon.

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Sunday, March 26, 2023

Some Apple Employees Seriously Concerned About Mixed-Reality Headset as Announcement Draws Closer - MacRumors

Some Apple employees are concerned about the usefulness and price point of the company's upcoming mixed-reality headset, The New York Times reports.


Initial enthusiasm around the device at the company has apparently become skepticism, according to eight current and former Apple employees speaking to The New York Times. The change of tone reportedly marks an unprecedented level of concern about a new Apple product inside the company, in stark contrast to previous product launches that were pursued with single-mindedness and enthusiasm.

The first-generation headset is purportedly seen as a bridge to future products that require technological breakthroughs, but many employees are said to have worries about the device's $3,000 price point, utility, and unproven market. Skeptics have questioned if the device is "a solution in search of a problem," unlike the iPod and iPhone. The headset has apparently not been "driven by the same clarity" as Apple's other products.

Some Apple employees have defected from the project due to doubts about its potential, while others have been fired over lack of progress with some of the device's functionality, including Siri. The discontent is said to extend to members of Apple's leadership, some of whom have questioned the device's prospects.

The headset was apparently presented to many of Apple's top 100 executives via a video at a corporate retreat five years ago made by design chief Jony Ive. The video depicted a man in a London taxi wearing an augmented reality headset calling his wife in San Francisco, sharing the sights of London through the husband's eyes.

The New York Times reaffirmed previous reports that the headset will feature a carbon fiber frame, a hip-mounted battery, outward-facing cameras, two 4K displays, prescription lenses for wearers of glasses, and a "reality dial" to increase or decrease real-time video pass-through from the surrounding environment.

Apple has focused on ensuring that the device excels at videoconferencing and time spent as virtual avatars, calling the headset's main application "copresence." There will also be custom high-resolution TV content from Hollywood filmmakers including Jon Favreau. Despite similarities with Meta's headsets and the "metaverse," Apple is expected to pitch the device as something that differs from existing offerings.

The device will also offer tools for artists, designers, and engineers, enabling drawing and image editing in 3D space. There will also be applications for editing virtual reality video using hand gestures. As a result, it is expected to appeal to businesses and design companies more than ordinary consumers. Some employees have allegedly speculated that Apple could again delay the headset's launch, even though manufacturing is now underway for an unveiling in June.

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CS:GO is still breaking records over a decade after its original release - Dot Esports

Although it’s been 11 years since CS:GO was released, the popular first-person shooter hasn’t slowed down with its loyal player base, leading all titles in active users over the past few months. The game has also continuously broken its own concurrent user record, and on March 25, it crested another massive mark in its storied history.

CS:GO has broken its own active player base peak with a whopping 1.5 million players on the game at the same time, according to video game user tracker SteamDB. This is around 200 thousand people more than its previous peak set last month.

Screengrab via SteamDB

Throughout this past week, the game has hovered around one million concurrent players, but the rising hype around the title has elevated their numbers to new heights.

One of the biggest reasons that players have started to pour back onto the servers is because Valve recently unveiled Counter-Strike 2 as the next title in the series. The company has also started to open up its limited test run to select players around the globe. As a result, people are now constantly checking their clients for the invite while also sharpening up their skills before the official release this coming summer.

Related: Counter-Strike 2: All leaks, and details on CS 2

Even though the game has remained relatively the same in terms of gameplay, CS:GO‘s consistency has made it a perfect example where a title is easy to start but hard to master. The competitive scene is also thriving, with hundreds of thousands of fans watching tournaments like ESL Pro League and previous Major events.

For the next months leading to CS2, CS:GO‘s player base should maintain itself until more users are allowed onto the test servers. In the meantime, fans can improve their aim and game sense with a couple of games while waiting for access.

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Microsoft Wants To Restrict Artificial Intelligence, But Not To Protect You - Giant Freakin Robot

Microsoft is reportedly taking measures to ensure AI Chatbots do not use Bing to source data.

By Britta DeVore | Published

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Microsoft Bing

With examples of artificial intelligence pulling off unthinkable tasks like not only passing law exams but also helping in a court case, the field of possibilities is greater than ever. And, with all of these huge steps forward there’s also bound to be bitter rivalries between companies who want to make sure that they make more than a dime on the latest technology boom. As first reported by Bloomberg, Microsoft has entered the chat and is setting out to ensure that the competition doesn’t use their Bing search engine to fuel their AI chatbots.

According to the report, Microsoft passed on a message to two unidentified Bing-driven search engines that the company would be limiting access to what they’re allowed to use when it comes to Microsoft-owned artificial intelligence technology, adding that if they don’t, they’ll pull the plug completely. While it’s unclear which companies Microsoft sent the warning to, we do know that they give Bing access to platforms including Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and You.com. 

When it comes to how much of Bing’s arsenal each off-shoot uses, it varies from leaning more heavily on the search engine to a well-balanced combination with their own tools, as is the case for DuckDuckGo and You.com. Essentially, using Microsoft’s vast system allows these programs to gather information faster than doing it on their own, meaning that if the company was to pull the carpet from underneath them and no longer allow access, it would be a major hit. The main hang-up that may be putting a pause on Microsoft’s willingness to share artificial intelligence is that they don’t want their competition to use Bing for AI chatbots. 

microsoft chatbot

According to the report, Microsoft has reason to believe that one or more of these companies is using Bing in what would be a violation of their contract. If this is discovered to be true and their artificial intelligence is being utilized beyond the boundaries of their signed agreement, the guilty search engine could be bumped from Microsoft’s platform. While the threat has been issued, with a cease-and-desist-like action being taken, it’s yet unclear whether the unnamed company has put an end to its alleged breach of contract. 

In recent weeks and months, as the artificial intelligence boom has really taken off, the very basis of its design has been called into question by parties wondering if it’s actually a tool that will better mankind. Programs like ChatGPT have already proven to be wise beyond what we could have ever imagined, mastering our education system and putting human college students to shame. The Google-created program even has a sassy side, recently revealing why DC’s latest superhero flick, Shazam! Fury of the Gods struck out at the box office. 

With Microsoft planning on holding its cards close to its chest and ensuring that no one else is accessing its full array of artificial intelligence data, the company is setting boundaries and telling the rest of the technology world that they’re planning to join Google at the top. As AI continually progresses, it’s anyone’s guess what Microsoft will come up with next and if they’ll need to flex their muscles and bump off any of their users to succeed.


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Saturday, March 25, 2023

ChatGPT gets “eyes and ears” with plugins that can interface AI with the world - Ars Technica

An illustration of an eyeball
Aurich Lawson | Getty Images

On Thursday, OpenAI announced a plugin system for its ChatGPT AI assistant. The plugins give ChatGPT the ability to interact with the wider world through the Internet, including booking flights, ordering groceries, browsing the web, and more. Plugins are bits of code that tell ChatGPT how to use an external resource on the Internet.

Basically, if a developer wants to give ChatGPT the ability to access any network service (for example: "looking up current stock prices") or perform any task controlled by a network service (for example: "ordering pizza through the Internet"), it is now possible, provided it doesn't go against OpenAI's rules.

Conventionally, most large language models (LLM) like ChatGPT have been constrained in a bubble, so to speak, only able to interact with the world through text conversations with a user. As OpenAI writes in its introductory blog post on ChatGPT plugins, "The only thing language models can do out-of-the-box is emit text."

Bing Chat has taken this paradigm further by allowing it to search the web for more recent information, but so far ChatGPT has still been isolated from the wider world. While closed off in this way, ChatGPT can only draw on data from its training set (limited to 2021 and earlier) and any information provided by a user during the conversation. Also, ChatGPT can be prone to making factual errors and mistakes (what AI researchers call "hallucinations").

To get around these limitations, OpenAI has popped the bubble and created a ChatGPT plugin interface (what OpenAI calls ChatGPT's "eyes and ears") that allows developers to create new components that "plug in" to ChatGPT and allow the AI model to interact with other services on the Internet. These services can perform calculations and reference factual information to reduce hallucinations, and they can also potentially interact with any other software service on the Internet—if developers create a plugin for that task.

What kind of plugins are we talking about?

The ChatGPT "Plugin store" lets users select from plugins they wish to "install" in their ChatGPT session.
Enlarge / The ChatGPT "Plugin store" lets users select from plugins they wish to "install" in their ChatGPT session.

In the case of ChatGPT, OpenAI will allow users to select from a list of plugins before starting a ChatGPT session. They present themselves almost like apps in an app store, each plugin having its own icon and description.

OpenAI says that a first round of plugins have been created by the following companies:

  • Expedia (for trip planning)
  • FiscalNote (for real-time market data)
  • Instacart (for grocery ordering)
  • Kayak (searching for flights and rental cars)
  • Klarna (for price-comparison shopping)
  • Milo (an AI-powered parent assistant)
  • OpenTable (for restaurant recommendations and reservations)
  • Shopify (for shopping on that site)
  • Slack (for communications)
  • Speak (for AI-powered language tutoring)
  • Wolfram (for computation and real-time data)
  • Zapier (an automation platform)

In particular, the Zapier plugin seems especially powerful since it grants ChatGPT access to an existing software automation system, or as Zapier puts it: "You can ask ChatGPT to execute any of Zapier's 50,000 actions (including search, update, and write) with Zapier's 5,000+ supported apps, turning chat into action. It can write an email, then send it for you. Or find contacts in a CRM, then update them directly. Or add rows to a spreadsheet, then send them as a Slack message. The possibilities are endless."

OpenAI is also hosting three plugins itself, a web browser (that can grab info from the web in a manner similar to Bing Chat), a code interpreter for executing Python programs (in a sandbox), and a retrieval tool that allows access to "personal or organizational" information sources hosted elsewhere (basically, fetching information from documents).

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Microsoft threatens to restrict data from rival AI search tools, Bloomberg reports - Reuters

March 24 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) has threatened to cut off access to its internet-search data, which it licenses to rival search engines, if they do not stop using it as the basis for their own artificial intelligence chat products, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

The company has told at least two customers that using its Bing search index - a map of the internet that can be scanned in real time - to feed their AI chat tools violates the terms of their contract, the news agency said, citing people familiar with the dispute.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft may also terminate licenses providing access to its search index, Bloomberg added.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.

The maker of the Windows operating system had said in February it was revamping its Bing search engine and Edge Web browser with artificial intelligence, signaling its ambition to retake the lead in consumer technology markets where it has fallen behind.

The upgraded Bing search engine was rolled out to users late last month.

Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler and Stephen Coates

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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