The EU is creating new rules to make it easier to sue AI companies for harm. A bill unveiled this week, which is likely to become law in a couple of years, is part of Europe’s push to prevent AI developers from releasing dangerous systems. And while tech companies complain it could have a chilling effect on innovation, consumer activists say it doesn’t go far enough.  Powerful AI technologies are increasingly shaping our lives, relationships, and societies, and their harms are well documented. Social media algorithms boost misinformation, facial recognition systems are often highly discriminatory, and predictive AI systems that […]

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. Meta’s new AI can turn text prompts into videos What’s happened: Meta has unveiled an AI system that generates short videos based on text prompts. Make-A-Video lets you type in a string of words, like “A dog wearing a superhero outfit with a red cape flying through the sky,” and then generates a five-second clip that, while pretty accurate, has the aesthetics of a trippy old home video. How it works: Meta combined data from three open-source image […]

As the Chinese government works to reach ambitious carbon goals—an emissions peak by 2030 and neutrality by 2060—the country has become a global leader in the adoption of electric vehicles. But that’s not the only greener car alternative it’s pursuing.  Earlier this month, on September 16, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said it would “accelerate the popularization of methanol cars” and “explore the ‘green methanol + methanol cars’ model.” The next day, the director of China’s National Energy Administration, Zhang Jianhua, said that the country is “actively exploring new ways to replace fossil fuels, like green hydrogen, methanol, […]

Hello, hallo, and bonjour! This week’s Checkup is coming to you from Switzerland. It’s still dark when I arrive at the Grand Bellevue hotel at 7 a.m., and it’s tipping with rain. But I’ve braved the elements to make it to an early “longevity workout.” It’s the first event scheduled at an aging conference I’m attending this week in Gstaad, an upmarket, picture-postcard Alpine town popular with celebrities. And if the 45-minute workout can potentially help me live longer, I reason it’s worth the early start. I’m the first to arrive, so I take a peek around the hotel, where the […]

Meta has today unveiled an AI system that generates short videos based on text prompts.  Make-A-Video lets you type in a string of words, like “A dog wearing a superhero outfit with a red cape flying through the sky,” and then generates a five-second clip that, while pretty accurate, has the aesthetics of a trippy old home video.  Although the effect is rather crude, the system offers an early glimpse of what’s coming next for generative artificial intelligence, and it is the next obvious step from the text-to-image AI systems that have caused huge excitement this year.  Meta’s announcement of […]

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. Amazon has a new plan for its home robot Astro: to guard your life The news: Amazon announced yesterday that its home robot, Astro, will be getting a slew of major updates aimed at further embedding it in homes—and in our daily lives. The details: The new features offer more home monitoring. Astro will be able to watch pets and send a video feed of their activities to users, for example. But the robot will also be able […]

Digital twins capture the physical look and expressions of real humans. Increasingly these replicas are showing up in the entertainment industry and beyond. It gives rise to some interesting opportunities as well as thorny questions.  We speak to: Greg Cross, CEO and co-founder of Soul Machines Sounds from: 2PAC HOLOGRAM | LIVE Coachella Recording | High Quality – via YouTubeI’m Miquela, A Real-Life Robot Mess – via YouTubeCapitol Records signs AI, or ‘virtual’, rapper … then drops the artist after pushback – via YouTubeFN Meka Voice Glad Capitol Killed the Contract, Hitmaka Agrees | TMZ – via YouTube Black Mirror: You, me […]

Amazon announced Wednesday that its home robot, Astro, will be getting a slew of major updates aimed at further embedding it within homes—and in our everyday lives. Broadly speaking, the new features offer more home monitoring. The capabilities include some  standard fare: Astro will be able to, for example, watch pets and send a video feed of their activities to users. But Astro will also be able to wander around the house and keep an eye on rooms as well as entry points. “This will start with doors and windows, so that Astro can alert you if something was left […]

In a recent trial, a bionic pancreas that automatically delivers insulin proved more effective than pumps or injections at lowering blood glucose levels in people with type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a serious condition that causes a person’s level of glucose, or sugar, to become too high because the pancreas can’t produce enough insulin, a hormone that keeps blood glucose under control. People with type 1 diabetes need to monitor their glucose levels and take insulin every day.  The bionic pancreas, a credit card-sized device called an iLet, monitors a person’s levels around the clock and automatically delivers […]

Business leaders are heading for composable infrastructures, putting aside large and bulky traditional systems. Demand for increased flexibility and scale is driven by rapidly advancing technology and rising customer expectations. Gartner likens composable infrastructures to a structure made of simple building blocks. This modular structure permits fast changes and responds quickly to new demand, traffic spikes, material production issues, or supply chain challenges. Composability is increasingly available. “Achieving composability a decade ago was hard, expensive, and proprietary,” says Janakiram MSV, analyst at Janakiram & Associates. In this atmosphere, failing to make the change may be costlier. The principal advantage is […]