Author: zppiot
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. PsiQuantum plans to build the biggest quantum computing facility in the US Quantum computing firm PsiQuantum is partnering with universities and a national lab to build the largest US-based quantum computing facility in Chicago, the company has announced. The firm says it will house a quantum computer containing up to one million quantum bits, or qubits, within the next 10 years. At the moment, the largest quantum computers have around 1000 qubits. But significant hurdles lie ahead. Building…
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. How to access Chinese LLM chatbots across the world Hundreds of Chinese large language models have been released since the government started permitting AI companies to open up their models for the general public to play around with in the summer of 2023. For users in the West, finding these Chinese models and trying them out can feel challenging, owing to language barriers and registration requirements. But in fact, a lot of the chatbots support conversations in English…
How a glitch crippled tech operations worldwide How the CrowdStrike glitch crippled operations across the globe 01:41 CrowdStrike on Wednesday released more details about the cause of Friday’s technology outage, which crippled Microsoft Windows computers around the world and disrupted airlines, hospitals, banks and other businesses.The cybersecurity company blamed a bug in a program that’s meant to catch issues before software updates are uploaded to customers. That glitch blocked “problematic content data” from being flagged before it was sent to clients, CrowdStrike said in an update on its website. The resulting bad data led to a critical error that “could…
FBI warns parents as sextortion cases involving minors surge FBI warns parents as sextortion cases involving minors surge 02:44 So-called sextortion scams are on the rise, with criminals from Nigeria frequently targeting adult men in the U.S., according to social media giant Meta. Meta on Wednesday said it has removed about 63,000 accounts from Nigeria that had been attempting to target people with financial sextortion scams. In such scams, criminals pretend to be someone else, typically an attractive woman, in an attempt to trick potential victims into sending nude photos of themselves. Upon receiving nude pics, the scammer then threatens to…
Catch up with China 1. While a Windows system outage disrupted computers across the world on Friday, China was largely unaffected. Instead of the CrowdStrike software that caused the chaos, Chinese companies usually use domestic cybersecurity software. (CNBC) 2. Nvidia is working on yet another flagship AI chip, known as B20. It’s designed to sell to the Chinese market without violating US export controls. (Reuters $) 3. In a recent interview, Donald Trump accused Taiwan of taking the semiconductor industry away from the US and asked it to pay more for American military equipment. (New York Times $) 4. Guo…
Software providers test health care AI bots, but are they accurate? – CBS News Watch CBS News With medical providers facing rising levels of burnout, software designers are testing specialized AI-powered chatbots that they hope provide preventative care advice to patients. However, CBS News Confirmed found that the summaries given from existing AI bots like ChatGPT aren’t always accurate. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On #Software #providers #test #health #care #bots #accurate
One year ago, seven leading AI companies—Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI—committed with the White House to a set voluntary commitments on how to develop AI in a safe and trustworthy way. The eight commitments included promises to do things like improve the testing and transparency around AI systems, and share information on potential harms and risks. On the first anniversary of the voluntary commitments, MIT Technology Review asked the AI companies that signed the commitments for details on their work so far. Their replies show that the tech sector has made some welcome progress—with some pretty big…
For users in the West, finding these Chinese models and trying them out can feel challenging, owing to language barriers and registration requirements. And indeed, there are still hoops to jump through if you don’t have a valid Chinese phone number. But in fact, a lot of the chatbots support conversations in English and are surprisingly easy to access. Whether you’re just curious to find out how well they perform or want to conduct more serious experiments for work, there are lots of ways to access Chinese LLM-powered chatbots. Here’s how anyone can try one out in minutes. If you…
But AI nerds may remember that exactly a year ago, on July 21, 2023, Biden was posing with seven top tech executives at the White House. He’d just negotiated a deal where they agreed to eight of the most prescriptive rules targeted at the AI sector at that time. A lot can change in a year! The voluntary commitments were hailed as much-needed guidance for the AI sector, which was building powerful technology with few guardrails. Since then, eight more companies have signed the commitments, and the White House has issued an executive order that expands upon them—for example, with a requirement that…
Google is getting rid of “cookies” that track users Google is getting rid of “cookies” that track users 00:36 Google on Monday said the search company is reversing its plan to phase out the use of third-party cookies in its Chrome browser in favor of a new strategy that will allow people to “make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing.”The about-face was announced in a July 22 blog post from Anthony Chavez, vice president of Privacy Sandbox, a Google initiative created to phase out third-party cookies. Google first announced plans in 2020 to phase out third-party cookies, data stored in…
RESULT: Good. This is an encouraging result overall. While watermarking remains experimental and is still unreliable, it’s still good to see research around it and a commitment to the C2PA standard. It’s better than nothing, especially during a busy election year. Commitment 6 The companies commit to publicly reporting their AI systems’ capabilities, limitations, and areas of appropriate and inappropriate use. This report will cover both security risks and societal risks, such as the effects on fairness and bias. The White House’s commitments leave a lot of room for interpretation. For example, companies can technically meet this public reporting commitment…
While new machine-learning techniques that predict weather by learning from years of past data are extremely fast and efficient, they can struggle with long-term predictions. General circulation models, on the other hand, which have dominated weather prediction for the last 50 years, use complex equations to model changes in the atmosphere and give accurate projections, but they are exceedingly slow and expensive to run. Experts are divided on which tool will be most reliable going forward. But the new model from Google instead attempts to combine the two. “It’s not sort of physics versus AI. It’s really physics and AI…
Software designers are testing specialized AI-powered chatbots that can give medical advice and diagnose conditions — but questions abound about accuracy. This spring, Google unveiled an “AI Overview” feature where answers from the company’s chatbot started to appear above typical search results, including for health-related queries. While it might have sounded like a good idea in theory, there have been issues around health advice offered by the software. In the first week that the bot was online, one user said Google AI gave incorrect, possibly lethal information about what to do if bitten by a rattlesnake. Another search resulted in Google recommending…
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The terrible complexity of technological problems The philosopher Karl Popper once argued that there are two kinds of problems in the world: clock problems and cloud problems. As the metaphor suggests, clock problems obey a certain logic. The fix may not be easy, but it’s achievable.Cloud problems offer no such assurances. They are inherently complex and unpredictable, and they usually have social, psychological, or political dimensions. Because of their dynamic, shape-shifting nature, trying to “fix” a cloud problem…
Flyers still experiencing fallout from largest IT outage in history – CBS News Watch CBS News Travelers at airports across the globe were still facing long lines and flight cancellations as airlines Saturday struggled to recover from the CrowdStrike software meltdown. Elise Preston reports. Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On #Flyers #experiencing #fallout #largest #outage #history
U.S. celebrates 55th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing – CBS News Watch CBS News Saturday marks 55 years since the crew of Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Buzz Aldrin, the only surviving member of that crew, remembered the historic moment by writing, “I am still inspired by what we all saw and did, the best of America and the best of humanity.” Be the first to know Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Not Now Turn On #U.S #celebrates #55th #anniversary #Apollo #moon #landing