ICT news

• An Appeals Court May Kill a GNU GPL Software License

  28-02-2025 23:50 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is set to review a California district court's ruling in Neo4j v. PureThink, which upheld Neo4j's right to modify the GNU AGPLv3 with additional binding terms. If the appellate court affirms this decision, it could set a precedent allowing licensors to impose unremovable restrictions on open-source software, potentially undermining the enforceability of GPL-based licenses and threatening the integrity of the open-source ecosystem. The Register reports: The GNU
  
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• Intel Delays $28 Billion Ohio Chip Factory To 2030

  28-02-2025 23:10 via slashdot.org
  
  According to The Columbia Dispatch, Intel's promised $28 billion semiconductor project in central Ohio has been delayed again until 2030, with operations beginning sometime shortly thereafter in either 2030 or 2031. From the report: By the time it opens, Intel's first factory will have faced at least five or six years of delays, as it was originally scheduled to begin operating in 2025. Intel's second Ohio factory won't be completed until at least 2031 and will begin running in 2032, according t
  
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• Commercials Are Still Too Loud, Say 'Thousands' of Recent FCC Complaints

  28-02-2025 22:30 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Thousands" of complaints about the volume of TV commercials have flooded the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in recent years. Despite the FCC requiring TV stations, cable operators, and satellite providers to ensure that commercials don't bring a sudden spike in decibels, complaints around loud commercials "took a troubling jump" in 2024, the government body said on Thursday.Under The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CAL
  
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• Mozilla Responds To Backlash Over New Terms, Saying It's Not Using People's Data for AI

  28-02-2025 21:22 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Mozilla has denied allegations that its new Firefox browser terms of service allow it to harvest user data for artificial intelligence training, following widespread criticism of the recently updated policy language. The controversy erupted after Firefox introduced terms that grant Mozilla "a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information" when users upload content through the browser, prompting competitor Brave Software's CEO Brendan Eich to suggest a business pivot towar
  
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• Google's Sergey Brin Urges Workers To the Office at Least Every Weekday

  28-02-2025 19:50 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google co-founder Sergey Brin has urged employees working on the company's Gemini AI products to be in the office "at least every weekday" [non-paywalled source] and suggested "60 hours a week is the sweet spot of productivity," according to an internal memo cited by The New York Times. The directive comes as Brin warned that "competition has accelerated immensely and the final race to A.G.I. is afoot," referring to artificial general intelligence, when machines match or surpass human intelligen
  
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• US Workers See AI-Induced Productivity Growth, Fed Survey Shows

  28-02-2025 19:17 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Workers reported saving a substantial number of work hours by using generative AI, according to research conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, along with Vanderbilt and Harvard universities. From a report: The researchers, drawing from what they identified as the first nationally representative survey of generative AI adoption, measured the impact of generative AI on work productivity by how much workers used the technology and how intensely. They found users are saving meaningful
  
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• DeepMind CEO Says AGI Definition Has Been 'Watered Down'

  28-02-2025 18:33 via slashdot.org
  
  Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis says the definition of artificial general intelligence is being "watered down," creating an illusion of faster progress toward this technological milestone. "There's quite a long way, in my view, before we get to AGI," Hassabis said. "The timelines are shrinking because the definition of AGI is being watered down, in my opinion." DeepMind defines AGI as "AI systems that are at least as capable as humans at most cognitive tasks," while OpenAI has historically de
  
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• President Trump: UK Encryption Policy 'Something You Hear About With China'

  28-02-2025 17:40 via news.slashdot.org
  
  President Trump has directly criticized the UK government's approach to encryption, comparing recent actions to those of China. Speaking to The Spectator, Trump said he confronted UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the Home Office's request for "backdoor access" to encrypted iCloud data, which led Apple to remove its Advanced Data Protection feature from British services entirely.
  "We told them you can't do this... That's incredible. That's something, you know, that you hear about with China,"
  
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• Mozilla's Updated ToS: We Own All Info You Put Into Firefox

  28-02-2025 17:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  New submitter SharkByte writes: Mozilla just updated its Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for Firefox with a very disturbing "You Give Mozilla Certain Rights and Permissions" clause: When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you indicate with your use of Firefox. H/T to reader agristin as well, who also wrote about this.Read
  
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• Google Tweak Creates Crisis for Product-Review Sites

  28-02-2025 16:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google changed its rules around how product-review sites appear in its search engine. In the process, it devastated a once-lucrative corner [non-paywalled source] of the news media world. From a report: Sites including CNN Underscored and Forbes Vetted offer tips on everything from mattresses and knife sets to savings accounts, making money when users click on links and buy products.
  They depend on Google to drive much of their traffic, and therefore revenue. But over the past year, Google creat
  
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• Microsoft To Shut Down Skype in May, Shift Users To Teams

  28-02-2025 15:40 via slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft said Friday it will shut down its Skype messaging service on May 5, replacing it with the free version of Microsoft Teams for consumers. Existing Skype users will have approximately 60 days to decide whether to migrate to Teams, where their message history, group chats and contacts will automatically transfer, or export their data including photos and conversation history.
  The company will discontinue Skype's telephony features for calling domestic and international numbers, though it
  
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• Citigroup Erroneously Credited Client Account With $81 Trillion in 'Near Miss'

  28-02-2025 14:07 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Citigroup credited a client's account with $81 trillion when it meant to send only $280, an error that could hinder the bank's attempt to persuade regulators that it has fixed long-standing operational issues. Financial Times: The erroneous internal transfer, which occurred last April and has not been previously reported, was missed by both a payments employee and a second official assigned to check the transaction before it was approved to be processed at the start of business the following day
  
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• MTA Uses Google Pixel Smartphones and AI To Detect Subway Track Defects

  28-02-2025 11:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  BrianFagioli shares a report from BetaNews: [T]he MTA is testing a system that effectively transforms Google Pixel Android smartphones into powerful diagnostic tools for tracking rail defects. The project, called "TrackInspect," attaches Google Pixel phones to subway cars. Then, by using the Android devices' built-in microphones and motion sensors, it detects vibrations and sound patterns. These sounds can indicate areas of track that may need maintenance.Once the data is collected, it is upload
  
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• More Random Rich People Are Going To Space

  28-02-2025 08:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Blue Origin on Thursday announced the crew for its next mission. "The crew most notably includes popstar Katy Perry and broadcast journalist Gayle King. They will be joined by two scientists -- Aisha Bowe and Amanda Nguyen -- as well as Jeff Bezos' fiancee, TV personality Lauren Sanchez and film producer Kerianne Flynn," reports TechCrunch. From the report: Blue Origin says this marks the first all-female space crew since Soviet astronaut Valentina Tereshkova's 1963 solo mission, which made her
  
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• Viral Video Shows AIs Conversing In Their Own Language

  28-02-2025 04:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Longtime Slashdot reader mspohr shares a report from IFLScience: A video that has gone viral in the last few days shows two artificial intelligence (AI) agents having a conversation before switching to another mode of communication when they realize no human is part of the conversation. In the video, the two agents were set up to occupy different roles; one acting as a receptionist of a hotel, another acting on behalf of a customer attempting to book a room."Thanks for calling Leonardo Hotel. Ho
  
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• Apple's Find My Network Exploit Lets Hackers Silently Track Any Bluetooth Device

  28-02-2025 03:02 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Researchers at George Mason University discovered a vulnerability in Apple's Find My network that allows hackers to silently track any Bluetooth device as if it were an AirTag, without the owner's knowledge. 9to5Mac reports: Although AirTag was designed to change its Bluetooth address based on a cryptographic key, the attackers developed a system that could quickly find keys for Bluetooth addresses. This was made possible by using "hundreds" of GPUs to find a key match. The exploit called "nRoot
  
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• Apple Launches 'Age Assurance' Tech As US States Mull Social Media Laws

  28-02-2025 02:25 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Apple announced a new feature allowing parents to share a child's age with app developers without exposing sensitive information, as lawmakers debate age-verification laws for social media and apps. Reuters reports: States, such as Utah and South Carolina, are currently debating laws that would require app store operators such as Apple and Alphabet's Google to check the ages of users. That has set up a conflict in the tech industry over which party should be responsible for checking ages for use
  
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• Microsoft Releases a Copilot App For Mac

  28-02-2025 01:45 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft has released a native Copilot app for macOS, offering AI-powered text and image generation, dark mode, and a Command + Space shortcut. The Verge reports: Microsoft is launching this new Copilot Mac app in the US, UK, and Canada today, and the iPad version is also being updated with a split screen mode. You'll also now be able to log into Copilot on an iPhone or iPad with an Apple ID, and upload text or PDF files to ask questions about the documents or generate a summary about them. Thi
  
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• OpenAI Sam Altman Says the Company Is 'Out of GPUs'

  28-02-2025 01:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the company was forced to stagger the rollout of its newest model, GPT-4.5, because OpenAI is "out of GPUs." In a post on X, Altman said that GPT-4.5, which he described as "giant" and "expensive," will require "tens of thousands" more GPUs before additional ChatGPT users can gain access. GPT-4.5 will come first to subscribers to ChatGPT Pro starting Thursday, followed by ChatGPT Plus customers next week.Perhaps
  
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• EA Releases Source Code For Old Command and Conquer Games

  28-02-2025 00:20 via games.slashdot.org
  
  EA has released the source code for several classic Command & Conquer games, including Tiberian Dawn, Red Alert, Renegade, and Generals & Zero Hour. "They're being released under the GPL license, meaning folks can mix, match, and redistribute them to their hearts' content without EA lawyers smashing down the door," adds PC Gamer. Additionally, Steam Workshop support has been added for multiple C&C titles, along with updated mission editor tools and a modding support pack. From the re
  
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• Technicolor Begins To Shut Down Operations

  28-02-2025 00:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Technicolor Group has filed for a court recovery procedure in France after failing to secure new investors, putting its VFX brands, including MPC, The Mill, Mikros Animation, and Technicolor Games, at risk of closure. Variety reports: A total shutdown of MPC and Technicolor's operations would affect thousands of visual effects workers in countries include the U.S., UK, Canada and India. The turn in business has raised the alarm and sparked sadness within the VFX community. Parot's memo explains,
  
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