ICT news

• OpenAI Threatens To Ban Users Who Probe Its 'Strawberry' AI Models

  18-09-2024 23:21 via slashdot.org
  
  OpenAI truly does not want you to know what its latest AI model is "thinking." From a report: Since the company launched its "Strawberry" AI model family last week, touting so-called reasoning abilities with o1-preview and o1-mini, OpenAI has been sending out warning emails and threats of bans to any user who tries to probe how the model works.
  Unlike previous AI models from OpenAI, such as GPT-4o, the company trained o1 specifically to work through a step-by-step problem-solving process before
  
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• 23andMe Board Resigns in New Blow To DNA-Testing Company

  18-09-2024 22:41 via slashdot.org
  
  All seven independent directors of DNA-testing company 23andMe resigned Tuesday, following a protracted negotiation with founder and Chief Executive Anne Wojcicki over her plan to take the company private. WSJ: It is the latest challenge for 23andMe, which has struggled to find a profitable business model. The stock price fell to $0.30 per share after hours on Tuesday. At that price the company is worth less than the cash on its balance sheet. In a letter addressed to Wojcicki, the directors wro
  
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• IBM is Quietly Axing Thousands of Jobs

  18-09-2024 22:00 via slashdot.org
  
  IBM has been laying off a substantial number of employees this week and is trying to keep it quiet, The Register reported Wednesday, citing its sources. From the report: One IBM employee told The Register that IBM Cloud experienced "a massive layoff" in the past few days that affected thousands of people. "Unlike traditional layoffs, this one was done in secret," the insider said. "My manager told me that they were required to sign an NDA not to talk about the specifics."
  Multiple posts on layof
  
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• Apple and Google Diverge on Photography Philosophy

  18-09-2024 21:21 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple's VP of camera software engineering Jon McCormack has affirmed the company's commitment to traditional photography in an interview, contrasting with Google's "memories" approach for Pixel cameras. (A Google executive said last month of the AI usage in the pictures Pixel smartphone owners take: "What some of these edits do is help you create the moment that is the way you remember it, that's authentic to your memory and to the greater context, but maybe isn't authentic to a particular milli
  
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• Global Police Dismantle Encrypted Messaging App Used By Criminals

  18-09-2024 20:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  International police forces have taken down an encrypted communication platform and arrested 51 people, marking a success for co-ordinated efforts to crack down on anonymous messaging services used by criminal groups. FT: Europol and law enforcement agencies from nine countries dismantled Ghost [non-paywalled source], an online platform which used three different encryption standards and allowed users to destroy all messages by sending a specific code, Europol announced on Wednesday. The crackdo
  
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• Federal Reserve Cuts Rates By Half a Point and Signals Era of Easing Has Begun

  18-09-2024 20:04 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point [non-paywalled source] on Wednesday and signalled more reductions would follow, launching its first easing cycle since the onset of the pandemic. Financial Times: The US central bank's first cut in more than four years leaves the federal funds rate at a range of 4.75 per cent. Michelle Bowman, a governor on the Federal Open Market Committee, voted against the decision, favouring a quarter-point reduction. The half-poi
  
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• US Government 'Took Control' of a Botnet Run by Chinese Government Hackers, Says FBI Director

  18-09-2024 19:28 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Last week, the FBI took control of a botnet made up of hundreds of thousands of internet-connected devices, such as cameras, video recorders, storage devices, and routers, which was run by a Chinese government hacking group, FBI director Christopher Wray and U.S. government agencies revealed Wednesday. The hacking group, dubbed Flax Typhoon, was "targeting critical infrastructure across the U.S. and overseas, everyone from corporations and media organizations
  
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• LinkedIn Is Training AI on User Data Before Updating Its Terms of Service

  18-09-2024 18:45 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: LinkedIn is using its users' data for improving the social network's generative AI products, but has not yet updated its terms of service to reflect this data processing, according to posts from various LinkedIn users and a statement from the company to 404 Media. Instead, the company says it will update its terms "shortly." The move is unusual in that LinkedIn appears to have gone ahead with training AI on its users' data, even creating a new option in its s
  
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• Fossil Fuel Companies Sponsor $5.6 Billion in Global 'Sportswashing' Deals

  18-09-2024 18:12 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Fossil fuel companies pumped at least $5.6bn of sponsorship money into motorsports, football, golf and even snow sports in an effort to "buy social licence to operate," according to a new report. From a report: Almost no major spectator sport remains untouched by oil and gas money, according to research carried out by the New Weather Institute (NWI), a climate thinktank, which traced more than 200 sponsorship deals between sports teams and the industry. In addition, sports stars such as Cristian
  
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• Walkie-Talkies, Solar Energy Systems Explode Across Lebanon in Second Wave After Pager Attack

  18-09-2024 17:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Israel blew up thousands of two-way personal radios used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon in a second wave of an intelligence operation that started on Tuesday with the explosions of pager devices, two sources with knowledge of the operation told Axios. The second wave of clandestine attacks is another serious security breach in Hezbollah's ranks and increases the pressure on the militant Lebanese group.
  Lebanon's official news agency reported that at least th
  
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• Walkie-Talkies Explode Across Lebanon in Second Wave After Pager Attack

  18-09-2024 17:22 via news.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Israel blew up thousands of two-way personal radios used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon in a second wave of an intelligence operation that started on Tuesday with the explosions of pager devices, two sources with knowledge of the operation told Axios. The second wave of clandestine attacks is another serious security breach in Hezbollah's ranks and increases the pressure on the militant Lebanese group.
  Lebanon's official news agency reported that at least th
  
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• YouTube Will Use AI To Generate Ideas, Titles, and Even Full Videos

  18-09-2024 16:51 via news.slashdot.org
  
  YouTube has announced a series of AI-related features on the platform, including a couple that might change how creators make videos -- and the videos they make. From a report: The first feature is the new Inspiration tab in the YouTube Studio app, which YouTube has been testing in a limited way over the last few months. The tab's job is, essentially, to tell you what to make: the AI-powered tool will suggest a concept for a video, provide a title and a thumbnail, and even write an outline and t
  
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• Lionsgate Embraces AI in Movie Production To Cut Costs

  18-09-2024 16:08 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The entertainment company behind "The Hunger Games" and "Twilight" plans to start using generative AI in the creation of its new movies and TV shows, a sign of the emerging technology's advance in Hollywood. From a report: Lions Gate Entertainment has agreed to give Runway, one of several fast-evolving AI startups, access to its content library in exchange for a new, custom AI model that the studio can use in the editing and production process.
  The deal -- the first of its kind for Runway and on
  
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• AI Tool Cuts Unexpected Deaths In Hospital By 26%, Canadian Study Finds

  18-09-2024 15:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBC News: Inside a bustling unit at St. Michael's Hospital in downtown Toronto, one of Shirley Bell's patients was suffering from a cat bite and a fever, but otherwise appeared fine -- until an alert from an AI-based early warning system showed he was sicker than he seemed. While the nursing team usually checked blood work around noon, the technology flagged incoming results several hours beforehand. That warning showed the patient's white blood cell coun
  
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• Microsoft Releases and Patents 'Python In Excel'

  18-09-2024 12:00 via developers.slashdot.org
  
  Longtime Slashdot reader theodp writes: Python in Excel is now generally available for Windows users of Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise," Microsoft announced in a Monday blog post. "Last August, in partnership with Anaconda, we introduced an exciting new addition to Excel by integrating Python, making it possible to seamlessly combine Python and Excel analytics within the same workbook, no setup required. Since then, we've brought the power of popular Python analytics libraries such as pan
  
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• FDA Grants Neuralink With Breakthrough Device Tag For 'Blindsight' Implant

  18-09-2024 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Neuralink said on Tuesday it has received the FDA's "breakthrough device" designation for its experimental implant aimed at restoring vision. Called Blindsight, the device "will enable even those who have lost both eyes and their optic nerve to see," said Neuralink founder Elon Musk. Reuters reports: The FDA's breakthrough tag is given to certain medical devices that provide treatment or diagnosis of life-threatening conditions. It is aimed at speeding up development and review of devices curren
  
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• Windows Media Player and Silverlight Are Losing Legacy DRM Services on Windows 7 and 8

  18-09-2024 08:05 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Per a recent update to Microsoft's Deprecated Windows features page, Legacy DRM services utilized by Windows Media Player and Silverlight clients for Windows 7 and Windows 8 are now deprecated. This will prevent the streaming or playback of DRM-protected content in those applications on those operating systems. It also includes playing content from personal CD rips and streaming from a Silverlight or Windows 8 client to an Xbox 360 if you were still doing tha
  
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• New Research Finds Microplastics In the Brain's Olfactory Bulb

  18-09-2024 05:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: Scientists in Brazil found microplastics in the brain tissue of cadavers, according to a new study published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open. Mounting research over the last few years has found microplastics in nearly every organ in the body, as well as in the bloodstream and in plaque that clogs arteries. Whether these ubiquitous pollutants can reach the human brain has been a primary concern for scientists. The latest research looked a
  
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• Google Will Begin Labeling AI-Generated Images In Search

  18-09-2024 03:00 via search.slashdot.org
  
  Google said in a blog post today it will begin labeling AI-generated and AI-edited image search results later this year. Digital Trends reports: The company will flag such content through the "About this image" window and it will be applied to Search, Google Lens, and Android's Circle to Search features. Google is also applying the technology to its ad services and is considering adding a similar flag to YouTube videos, but will "have more updates on that later in the year," per the announcement
  
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• Snap's New Spectacles Inch Closer To Compelling AR

  18-09-2024 02:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The Verge's Alex Heath reports: Snap's fifth-generation Spectacles have a richer, more immersive display. Using them feels snappier. They weigh less than their predecessor and last longer on a charge. Those are exactly the kinds of upgrades you'd expect from a product line that's technically eight years old. But the market for Spectacles -- and AR glasses in general -- still feels as nascent as ever. Snap has an idea for what could change that: developers. These new Spectacles, announced Tuesday
  
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• Apple Pulls iPadOS 18 For M4 iPad Pro After Bricking Complaints

  18-09-2024 01:40 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple's iPadOS 18 update is no longer available after some iPad Pro owners found that it bricked their devices. MacRumors reports: There are reports on Reddit from iPad Pro users who had an interruption in the installation process, leading to an iPad that refused to turn on. A total replacement was required for affected users. Not all M4 iPad Pro owners have had an issue installing the update, and it could be linked to installing the new iOS 17.7 update before installing iOS 18. Apple will make
  
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• Final Fantasy 16 Producer Asks Fans Not To Make 'Offensive Or Inappropriate' Mods

  18-09-2024 01:00 via games.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from IGN: Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida has asked fans to please not make "offensive or inappropriate" mods upon the game's PC release tomorrow, September 17. Yoshida wouldn't comment on any specific mods he wants to see in Final Fantasy 16 in an interview with PC Gamer, though made clear what he doesn't want to see. "If we said, 'it'd be great if someone made X, Y, Z,' it might come across as a request, so I'll avoid mentioning any specifics here,"
  
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• Instagram Makes All Teen Accounts Private

  18-09-2024 00:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Instagram has introduced new safety features that make teenage accounts private by default, enhance parental supervision, and set messaging restrictions to protect young users, requiring parental approval for changes. NPR reports: Meta said users under 16 will now need a parent's approval to change the restricted settings, dubbed "Teen Accounts," which filter out offensive words and limit who can contact them. "It's addressing the same three concerns we're hearing from parents around unwanted co
  
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