Inalife, a new startup, has created a digital legacy platform to help families preserve their memories, create an interactive family tree, and record messages for future generations, such as when a baby turns 18. The Hong Kong-based company launched its desktop app in July, attracting a few hundred users. Next …
Read More »FBI takedown of Qakbot botnet
A global law enforcement operation dismantled the Qakbot botnet this week, the largest U.S.-led financial and technical disruption of a botnet infrastructure. Qakbot, a banking trojan, is notorious for giving other hackers access to a victim’s network to install ransomware. In 18 months, Qakbot has enabled over 40 ransomware attacks …
Read More »AI-powered BeFake is a genuine app, not a parody.it has $3M funding
BeFake, an AI-augmented social network based on Gen Z app BeReal, raised $3 million in seed funding. The app’s name, a play on BeReal’s authentic photo sharing among friends, implies the opposite. BeFake users grab photos with both the front and back cameras and customize them with AI using in-app …
Read More »Meta releases bias-testing data for computer vision models
Meta released FACET, a new AI benchmark, today to assess the “fairness” of AI models that classify and detect objects and people in photos and videos. FACET, a tortured acronym for “Fairness in Computer Vision EvaluaTion” with 32,000 images of 50,000 people labeled by human annotators, accounts for occupations and …
Read More »Artificial intelligence startup AI21 Labs raises $155M at $1.4B
Walden Catalyst, Pitango, SCB10X, b2venture, Samsung Next, and Intel-owned Mobileye founder Amnon Shashua led a $155 million Series C funding round for Tel Aviv-based AI21 Labs, which develops text-generating AI tools. Google and Nvidia joined. AI21 Labs’ total raised $283 million values the company at $1.4 billion, up from The …
Read More »Chinese ChatGPT users can now try their own apps
One month after announcing its provisional measures to oversee generative AI, China approved the first large language model-empowered public services. Baidu’s Ernie Bot, ByteDance’s Doubao, Sogou founder’s Baichuan, and chatbots from Tsinghua University and Chinese Academy of Sciences labs are among eight generative AI applications registered with China’s cyberspace authority. …
Read More »MPs warn policymakers aren’t keeping up with AI rulebook, so UK government urged against delay
A UK parliamentary committee investigating artificial intelligence’s opportunities and challenges has urged the government to reconsider its decision not to introduce legislation to regulate the technology in the short term and to make an AI bill a ministerial priority. Committee chair Greg Clark writes in a statement today accompanying the …
Read More »Indian Moon Rover Finds Rich Elements At Lunar South Pole
With its Pragyan rover analyzing the Moon’s surface composition near the south pole, India’s Chandrayan-3 lunar mission is a scientific and technical success. Because the area being studied is near future bases, the data returned is more valuable than from previous crewed and robotic missions. However, the mission has not …
Read More »Twitterific’s Easter eggs live on in Ollie’s Arcade
The Iconfactory, which made wallpaper app Wallaroo, puzzle game Frenzic, and Twitterific, released Ollie’s Arcade today. The new iOS app offers mini-games reminiscent of arcade or electric handheld games to give users a retro gaming experience. The debut lineup includes “Ollie Soars,” a Flappy Bird-like game where you fly around …
Read More »Google’s artificial intelligence chatbot will be integrated into GM’s OnStar service
GM has found a new way to join the generative AI revolution. The automaker now handles non-emergency OnStar features with Google Cloud’s Dialogflow chatbot. GM announced the partnership Tuesday during Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai’s Google Cloud Next 23 keynote. Since 2022, GM’s OnStar in-car concierge has used Google Cloud’s conversational …
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