The latest version of xAI’s Grok can process images
xAI, the OpenAI competitor founded by Elon Musk, has introduced the first version of Grok that can process visual information. Grok-1.5V is the company’s first-generation multimodal AI model, which cannot only process text, but also “documents, diagrams, charts, screenshots and photographs.” In xAI’s announcement, it gave a few samples of…
China bans Intel and AMD processors in government computers
China has introduced guidelines that bar the the use of US processors from AMD and Intel in government computers and servers, The Financial Times has reported. The new rules also block Microsoft Windows and foreign database products in favor of domestic solutions, marking the latest move in a long-running tech…
Microsoft’s upcoming custom chip will be made by Intel
Intel’s relatively new Foundry division — formerly known as Intel Foundry Services until earlier today — has just landed a notable order from a big name. According to Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that his company will be tapping into Intel’s latest 18A (1.8nm)…
CES 2024 Day 1 recap: Samsung and Sony dominated, as did chips and laptops
The first unofficial day of CES 2024 has come and gone and it feels like we’ve been run over by a giant metaphorical eighteen-wheeler full of press conferences. From home robots to electric vehicles to AI, laptops and processors, there was news from pretty much all areas of tech. There…
Hyperloop One is shutting down
Hyperloop One had once dreamed of building a high-speed freight link between Europe and China, one that could take cargo from one end to the other in a single day. That will, however, remain one of the many goals the company won’t be able to fulfill. Hyperloop One is shutting…
Microsoft briefly blocked employees from using ChatGPT over security concerns
Microsoft temporarily prohibited its employees from using ChatGPT “due to security and data concerns,” according to CNBC. The company announced the rule in an internal website and even blocked corporate devices from being able to access the AI chatbot. While several tech companies had prohibited — or had at least…
The Morning After: Meta unveils AI personalities, Meta Quest 3 and new smart glasses
Meta’s big product showcase for 2023 focused on its new headset, the Quest 3, which Mark Zuckerberg claims is “the first mainstream mixed reality headset,” hurting the feelings of the Quest 2, which preceded it. The Meta Quest 3 has full color passthrough on its external cameras, able to blend…
Snapchat’s My AI chatbot glitched so hard it started posting Stories
My AI, the in-app digital assistant that rides herd on your Snapchat Plus experience, has suffered numerous breakdowns and technical malfunctions since its debut in February. Tuesday was more of the same as the chatbot took it upon itself to post single-second-long Stories to users’ feeds and then go unresponsive…
X sued by AFP over not discussing payments for news content
Elon Musk and X, the site formerly known as Twitter, are in more legal trouble. The Agence France-Presse (AFP) is suing X for not engaging in discussions about payment to the French publisher in exchange for its articles appearing on the platform. In 2019, France passed neighboring rights legislation, extending…