Tech News

Nearly two dozen dating apps were flagged by Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included researchers Tuesday as failing to meet privacy and security standards, sharing customer data with third parties, and excluding the right of a user to wipe their data from the app. According to Mozilla, financial pressures are forcing the owners of the apps to change leadership, experiment with new features and subscription models, integrate AI, diversify income streams, gamify apps to make them more addictive, and siphon off more data from their users, while too often slacking on security. Eighty percent of dating apps share or sell their customers’ data and won’t guarantee all users the right to delete their data, the researchers noted. Dating apps tagged with Privacy Not Included cautions included Badoo, Black People Meet, BLK, Bumble, Christian Mingle, Coffee Meets Bagel, Elite Singles, Facebook Dating, Grindr, Her, Hinge, Jdate, Lovoo, Match, Muzz, OkCupid, OurTime, Plenty of Fish, Scruff, TanTan, Tinder and Zoosk. Dating Apps Rejected by Gen Z “The problem is the dating apps say they need to collect this personal information to help you find an ideal match, but they use that information far beyond the scope of what would help you find a partner,” said Privacy Not Included researcher and writer Zoë MacDonald. “They share and sell that information to advertisers,” she told TechNewsWorld. “And half of them don’t meet our minimum security standards. That means the data is at risk of a breach, leak, or hack, putting it up for grabs for just about anybody.” The Mozilla researchers maintain that dating apps are in a financial bind due to a drop in popularity. With millennials married off, Gen Z — younger, poorer, more tech-savvy, and less prone to casual sex — has become disenchanted with the apps, which has hurt the apps’ makers’ bottom line.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has heralded the start of a technological revolution. This frenzy questions whether AI will, in the next year or two, set in motion a desktop and laptop “supercycle.” A supercycle period is marked by a significant surge in PC sales and upgrades, driven by compelling advancements in technology that persuade consumers and businesses to update their hardware at an accelerated pace. Given the flattening of overall sales since Covid-19 ended, the PC industry could sure use it. Prominent PC CEOs have shown off new notebook PCs with AI-embedded mobile processors for months. Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm are incorporating this new technology into their products this year and beyond. Many industry experts predict AI PCs will start a supercycle upgrade phenomenon in the second half of the year when more AI PCs hit the market. But is this likely? Recently, Intel and its partners showcased AI PCs equipped with on-device generative AI capabilities for enhancing photographs, movies, and presentations. These devices also feature real-time language and speech translation, effectively eliminating communication barriers. However, removing emotion from the equation, the supercycle upgrade phenomenon may be more muted than many expect despite the hype. AI, particularly gen AI cloud-based applications like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, has been wildly popular among desktop and laptop users. While these apps do not require a dedicated AI processor, we expect customers to upgrade to newer computer models as AI-powered features such as voice assistants, predictive text, and image recognition enhance PC usability. Proponents claim that as AI algorithms improve, they will uncover myriad applications that require more computational power, leading people to buy more powerful PCs and laptops. There is logic in this thought process, as AI-driven gaming and immersive VR apps may increase demand for high-performance computer hardware.

Artificial intelligence is forcing many companies to evolve and rethink how to govern and analyze data. Based on a survey of 479 chief data and analytics officers, chief data officers, and chief analytics officers worldwide, the results revealed that 61% of organizations are reevaluating their data and analytics (D&A) operating models because of the impact of disruptive AI technologies. When asked about changes chief data analytics officers need to make to their D&A operating model to be fit for current and future purposes, Gartner found that 38% said their D&A architecture will be overhauled over the next 12 to 18 months. In addition, 29% said they would revamp how they manage data assets and adopt and apply governance policies, practices, and standards. “Responding to the rapid evolution of D&A and AI technologies, CDAOs are wasting no time in making changes to their operating model,” Gartner Vice President Analyst Alan D. Duncan said in a statement. “While the management of their organization’s D&A operating model is increasing year over year, no other role than the CDAO has the responsibility of many of the key enablers of AI, which include data governance, D&A ethics, and data and AI literacy,” Duncan continued. “The scope of responsibilities of the CDAO role has also expanded as budget and resource constraints become even more of a problem,” he added. The survey results, released in advance, noted that AI has become part of the duties of a majority of CDAOs, with 58% saying AI is within their scope of responsibilities, an increase from 34% in 2023. “A lot of organizations, especially in the private sector, are redefining their entire business model based on AI, whether it’s going to be for the value of automation, operational excellence or forging new business paths,” said Gartner Senior Director Analyst Donna Medeiros. “There are a lot of industries that have been using AI for a long time, but gen AI, in particular, has been undergoing a lot of pilots".

ChatGPT is about to become more useful. The new model, called GPT-4o, is an update from the company’s previous GPT-4 model, which launched just over a year ago. The model will be available to unpaid customers, meaning anyone will have access to OpenAI’s most advanced technology through ChatGPT. Based on the company’s Monday demonstration, GPT-4o will effectively turn ChatGPT into a digital personal assistant that can engage in real-time, spoken conversations. It will also be able to interact using text and “vision,” meaning it can view screenshots, photos, documents or charts uploaded by users and have a conversation about them. OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati said the updated version of ChatGPT will now also have memory capabilities, meaning it can learn from previous conversations with users, and can do real-time translation. “This is the first time that we are really making a huge step forward when it comes to the ease of use,” Murati said during the live demo from the company’s San Francisco headquarters. “This interaction becomes much more natural and far, far easier.” The new release comes as OpenAI seeks to stay ahead of the growing competition in the AI arms race. Rivals including Google and Meta have been working to build increasingly powerful large language models that power chatbots and can be used to bring AI technology to various other products. The OpenAI event came one day ahead of Google’s annual I/O developer conference, at which it’s expected to announce updates to its Gemini AI model. Like the new GPT-4o, Google’s Gemini is also multimodal, meaning it can interpret and generate text, images and audio. OpenAI’s update also comes ahead of expected AI announcements from Apple at its Worldwide Developers Conference next month, which could include new ways of incorporating AI into the next iPhone or iOS releases. Meanwhile, the latest GPT release could be a boon to Microsoft, which has invested billions of dollars into OpenAI to embed its AI technology into Microsoft’s own products.

Ghost Shark and Manta Ray protect the undersea realm. Sounds like the plot of a future Marvel movie, but in actual fact, it’s what could be the future of Pacific naval defenses. Ghost Shark and Manta Ray are the names of prototype uncrewed underwater vehicles UUVs or drones introduced recently by Australia and the United States respectively. Experts say the submersibles could represent the future of undersea warfare, showing the ability to exert power while minimizing the danger to human life. The use of drones in aerial warfare has become commonplace. The US used them extensively during conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan beginning in the 1990s, and newer, cheaper drones have become key pieces of military hardware for both sides in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kyiv has also built naval surface drones, which have inflicted heavy losses on the much larger and more expensive ships of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Aerial and surface sea drones can be controlled using satellites and light and radio waves. But those don’t function in the same way in the depths. A 2023 study published in the Swiss journal Sensors points out that underwater communications require more energy but still see significant data loss to variables including water temperature, salinity and depth. Makers of the new generation of military UUVs aren’t saying how they would overcome communications problems. But when Australia unveiled Ghost Shark last month, it called the prototypes “the most advanced undersea autonomous vehicles in the world.” The first Ghost Shark prototype, "Alpha," was co-developed by the Defence Science and Technology Group, Navy and Anduril Australia.  Rodney Braithwaite/Australian Government Defence “Ghost Shark will provide Navy with a stealthy, long-range autonomous undersea warfare capability that can conduct persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) and strike,” a statement from the Australian Defense Ministry said, adding that it expects the first production models to be delivered by the end of next year.

The US government is planning to change auto emissions standards in a way that means automakers would need to sell a lot more electric vehicles. By 2032, electric vehicles would need to make up about two-thirds of all the new cars sold in America. Without these requirements, electric vehicles would have reached that sort of market share sometime after 2035, according to Moody’s industry analyst Matthias Heck. The goals laid out by the EPA are manageable, he said, but it won’t be easy and high levels of investment would be needed. For now, the proposal is still just that, a proposal, and could well change before before being finalized, Heck pointed out. Over the next decade things will change a lot, including charging infrastructure and the vehicles themselves. Consumers will be drawn to electric vehicles more as battery technology improves and prices drop. And government incentives, like those under the new Inflation Reduction Act, will help, too. The big, electric Kia EV9 has carpets made out of recycled fishing nets It’s important to remember that, nearly a decade from now, electric vehicles are going to be different from what’s on the market today, said Chris Harto a policy analyst for transportation and energy at Consumer Reports. And even as EV market share rises to two-thirds, it’s not like EVs will flood America’s roads overnight, he said. Eighty percent of the cars on the roads in 2032 will still be gas-powered, he said, but shopping for a new vehicle will be different. ‘We’re talking about past cost parity, so it’s going to be the same price or cheaper,” compared to a gas-powered car, he said. At the same time, driving ranges will increase, fast charging will be easier and more accessible and owners will enjoy greatly reduced operating costs, Harto said. Moody’s Heck predicted that next-generation EV batteries expected in the next few years will go 30% further on a charge and will recharge 30% faster. #TechNews #US #ElectricVehicles

The first test subject for Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain chip implant startup, has developed a problem just a few weeks after it was inserted. In a blog post, the company revealed that a number of the chip’s connective threads retracted from the subject Noland Arbaugh’s brain, which hindered the implant’s data speeds and effectiveness. The company offered few details about the incident — including exactly how the threads became detached. But the company said it was able to make the implant more sensitive to increase its performance even further. Arbaugh, Neuralink’s first human patient, has been a quadriplegic since 2016 following a diving accident. He was implanted with the chip in January as part of a trial called PRIME Study, short for Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface. The intent is to study the safety of its implant and surgical robot and to test the functionality of its device, the company said in a 2023 blog post about recruiting trial participants. Trial patients have chips surgically placed in the part of the brain that controls the intention to move. The chip, installed by a robot, then records and sends brain signals to an app, with the initial goal being “to grant people the ability to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone,” Neuralink previously explained. About a month after the operation, Musk said Arbaugh could control a computer mouse with his brain after having the chip implanted. Ultimately, Neuralink’s ambition is to use implants to connect human brains to computers to help, for example, paralyzed people to control smartphones or computers or blind people to regain sight. Like existing brain-machine interfaces, the company’s implant would collect electrical signals sent out by the brain and interpret them as actions. Musk previously said that the company’s first product would be called Telepathy, adding that its initial users will be people who have lost the use of their limbs. #TechNews #Neuralink #BrainChip

Apple Store workers in Towson, Maryland, the first of the tech giant’s retail employees to unionize, made history again by voting late Saturday in favor of authorizing a strike. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE), the union representing the workers, said in a news release the vote “underscores the frustrations among workers regarding unresolved workplace issues.” Employees at the store in Towson, a suburb of Baltimore, have been in contract negotiations with Apple management since last year over a number of issues, including the store’s “unpredictable” scheduling practices and wages that don’t “align with the area’s cost of living.” “This vote today is the first step in demonstrating our solidarity and sends a clear message to Apple,” said members of the union’s negotiating committee on Saturday. “The passage of the strike sanction vote highlights IAM CORE’s unwavering commitment to advocating for the rights and well-being of workers in the face of challenges.” In response, Apple said in a statement to CNN that it will “engage with the union representing our team in Towson respectfully and in good faith.” “At Apple we work hard to provide an excellent experience for our retail team members and empower them to deliver exceptional service for our customers,” an Apple spokeswoman said. “We deeply value our team members and we’re proud to provide them with industry leading compensation and exceptional benefits.” The union at the Towson store has not disclosed what date members would strike. #TechNews #Apple #Strike

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Apple has apologized for its controversial “Crush!” iPad Pro ad, saying it “missed the mark with this video” The ad sparked outrage from various creatives including actor Hugh Grant, who wrote “the destruction of the human experience, courtesy of Silicon Valley.” Apple has now cancelled plans to run TV ads