“Avengers” director Joe Russo and I are increasingly convinced that fully AI-generated movies and TV shows are possible in our lifetimes. In recent months, OpenAI’s ultra-realistic text-to-speech engine has shown glimpses of this brave new frontier. As for me, Meta’s announcement today brought our AI-generated content future into sharp relief. …
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Data breach affects 1.3 million Maine residents, says state
The state of Maine confirmed that a Russia-linked ransomware gang stole over a million people’s personal data earlier this year. Hackers exploited a vulnerability in Maine’s MOVEit file-transfer system, which stored sensitive resident data, the state said Thursday. The statement said hackers downloaded state agency files between May 28 and …
Read More »The US v. Google trial: vertical search, pre-installs, and Firefox/Yahoo
One of the biggest tech antitrust cases since the U.S. tried Microsoft in the 1990s, the Justice Department’s landmark case against Google, is nearly two months old, and the revelations keep getting deeper. In our last roundup, we learned how Google spent $26.3 billion in 2021 to become the default …
Read More »Matthew Johnson-Roberson of CMU discusses robotics
In the coming weeks, will host robotics expert Q&As. I’ve spoken with Matthew Johnson-Roberson several times since he became Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute director last year. Johnson-Roberson is a double threat, with significant insights from two angles. He has a strong startup CV and a long academic career, most …
Read More »Threads now allows Facebook and Instagram post opt-outs
In response to user feedback, Instagram’s Threads will now let users turn off automatic post sharing on Instagram and Facebook. Meta added a carousel of suggested threads to other Meta-owned apps in late August to boost Twitter/X traffic. Given that their Threads audience was different from their Facebook and Instagram …
Read More »The $429 Bose QuietComfort Ultra lives up to its name
Bose was the answer to the question “What headphones should I buy for a flight?” for years. The QuietComfort line was known for blocking plane noise on long flights. Apple and Sony have risen to the top of the category in recent years, making the question harder to answer. In …
Read More »The former Myspace founders create a text-to-video generator that customizes content with your selfie
Chris DeWolfe and Aber Whitcomb, the founders of Myspace and Jam City, have followed tech trends for nearly two decades. The veteran tech entrepreneurs launched Plai Labs, an a16z-backed social platform development startup that provides AI tools for consumers to collaborate and connect, earlier this year. Plai Labs launched PlaiDay, …
Read More »Startups receive free AI chips from Microsoft and VCs
Microsoft wants to give a few startups free Azure cloud “supercomputing” resources to develop AI models during an AI chip shortage. Microsoft added a free Azure AI infrastructure option for “high-end,” Nvidia-based GPU virtual machine clusters to train and run generative models, including large language models like ChatGPT, to its …
Read More »The Samsung Gauss alternative to ChatGPT generates text, code, and images
Samsung Gauss, its generative AI model, was unveiled at the Samsung AI Forum 2023 a few days after OpenAI’s developer event. Samsung Gauss Language, Code, and Image are three tools developed by Samsung Research. The large language model, Samsung Gauss Language, can answer ChatGPT questions and understand human language. It …
Read More »TikTok Music and CapCut now accept DistroKid songs
Millions of independent artists can now promote their music on TikTok Music, the recently launched subscription-based music streaming service, thanks to a new partnership with DistroKid. The deal lets musicians upload their songs to CapCut, ByteDance’s video editing app with 490 million iOS and Android users. Independent artists who promote …
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