All Cybertrucks recalled because acceleration pedals can become stuck

PSA: Tesla vehicles have suffered multiple recalls, but they tend to result from software problems that the company can address through over-the-air (OTA) updates without physically returning the cars. However, drivers have discovered a serious problem with the Cybertruck that software patches can't fix.

The US Department of Transportation has issued a recall for all Tesla Cybertrucks due to a defect that can cause the acceleration pedal to become stuck under the interior trim, leading to unintentional and sustained acceleration. Fortunately, pressing the brake pedal simultaneously will stop the truck.

Tesla will repair or replace affected accelerators for free under recall number SB-24-33-003 and mail notices to owners starting in June. Owners can call Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752 or visit their website at tesla.com/contact.

@garyblack00 @WholeMarsBlog @DirtyTesLa @SawyerMerritt
Here's why CyberTruck sales are halted. It's a SERIOUS issue.
You can see that even when this owner pressed the brake...as soon as he let off the vehicle accelerated again.
TERRIBLE design by Tesla here... pic.twitter.com/Q97ACBo6Au

– AtheistTexan (@TriTexan) April 14, 2024

The company received the earliest known customer complaint over the issue at the end of March. Testing and further customer claims confirmed that the problem is widespread enough to warrant a recall.

A TikTok video from a Cybertruck owner illustrates how grave the issue is. In the clip, user @el.chepito1985 shows that the pedal's cover can slide off and into the path of the interior trim, keeping the accelerator at full throttle. He claims this defect presented itself to him while driving, but he could fortunately stop and park the vehicle before suffering a crash.

Tesla cars have suffered recalls before from problems with acceleration, autopilot, camera feeds, and other features. However, these were software problems that the company solved through OTA patches. A recall requiring physical service for each Cybertruck will likely further damage the vehicle's already tarnished reputation.

Multiple delays plagued the truck's rollout earlier this year, reportedly due to serious concerns about its design. Although the final production model resolved the glass durability shortcomings from the Cybertruck's embarrassing unveiling, post-launch tests showed that it fell short of its advertised driving range, forcing Tesla to revise it.

In related news, the company's vehicle deliveries last quarter fell by over eight percent year-over-year. Tesla blames the slide on factors like preparations for the production of the updated Model 3, the Berlin Gigafctory arson attack, and shipment delays stemming from attacks in the Red Sea. These and other problems have likely contributed to a steady decline in the company's stock price over the past few days.

Microsoft VASA tech can create realistic deepfakes using a single photo and one audio track

Through the looking glass: Microsoft Research Asia has released a white paper on a generative AI application it is developing. The program is called VASA-1, and it can create very realistic videos from just a single image of a face and a vocal soundtrack. Even more impressive is that the software can generate the video and swap faces in real time.

The Visual Affective Skills Animator, or VASA, is a machine-learning framework that analyzes a facial photo and then animates it to a voice, syncing the lips and mouth movements to the audio. It also simulates facial expressions, head movements, and even unseen body movements.

Like all generative AI, it isn't perfect. Machines still have trouble with fine details like fingers or, in VASA's case, teeth. Paying close attention to the avatar's teeth, one can see that they change sizes and shape, giving them an accordion-like quality. It is relatively subtle and seems to fluctuate depending on the amount of movement going on in the animation.

There are also a few mannerisms that don't look quite right. It's hard to put them into words. It's more like your brain registers something slightly off with the speaker. However, it is only noticeable under close examination. To casual observers, the faces can pass as recorded humans speaking.

The faces used in the researchers' demos are also AI-generated using StyleGAN2 or DALL-E-3. However, the system will work with any image – real or generated. It can even animate painted or drawn faces. The Mona Lisa face singing Anne Hathaway's performance of the "Paparazzi" song on Conan O'Brien is hilarious.

Joking aside, there are legitimate concerns that bad actors could use the tech to spread propaganda or attempt to scam people by impersonating their family members. Considering that many social media users post pictures of family members on their accounts, it would be simple for someone to scrape an image and mimic that family member. They could even combine it with voice cloning tech to make it more convincing.

Microsoft's research team acknowledges the potential for abuse but does not provide an adequate answer for combating it other than careful video analysis. It points to the previously mentioned artifacts while ignoring its ongoing research and continued system improvement. The team's only tangible effort to prevent abuse is not releasing it publicly.

"We have no plans to release an online demo, API, product, additional implementation details, or any related offerings until we are certain that the technology will be used responsibly and in accordance with proper regulations," the researchers said.

The technology does have some intriguing and legitimate practical applications, though. One would be to use VASA to create realistic video avatars that render locally in real-time, eliminating the need for a bandwidth-consuming video feed. Apple is already doing something similar to this with its Spatial Personas available on the Vision Pro.

Check out the technical details in the white paper publish on the arXiv repository. There are also more demos on Microsoft's website.

The legendary Zilog Z80 CPU is being discontinued after nearly 50 years

Why it matters: Zilog is retiring the Z80 after 48 years on the market. Originally developed as a project stemming from the Intel 8080, it eventually rose to become one of the most popular and widely used 8-bit CPUs in both gaming and general computing devices.

The iconic IC device, developed by Federico Faggin, will soon be phased out, and interested parties only have a few months left to place their orders before Zilog's manufacturing partner ends support for the technology.

According to Zilog's notification, Wafer Foundry Manufacturer (WFM) will cease accepting "last time buy" (LTB) orders for the remaining Z80 products in mid-June. Zilog will process and schedule LTB orders for the Z80 based on customers' demand, while WFM will provide actual delivery dates thereafter. Depending on the overall LTB demand, the company may impose stricter requirements on minimum and maximum quantities.

Federico Faggin, an Intel engineer, founded Zilog in 1974 after his work on the Intel 4004, the first 4-bit CPU. The Zilog Z80 was then released in July 1976, conceived as a software-compatible "extension" and enhancement of the Intel 8080 processor.

Developed by a team of just 12 people, the Z80 saw remarkable success, leading Zilog to establish its own chip manufacturing plants and expand to over a thousand employees within two years. Like its Intel counterpart, the Z80 was originally designed for embedded systems but went on to become a significant milestone in gaming hardware from the 1970s to the mid-1980s.

The Zilog Z80 is discontinued. pic.twitter.com/oCxVyl7IhT

– ãÂÂãÂÂã¦ã @ èª己ã®死 (@iyatemu) April 19, 2024

Several home computers and gaming consoles were built around the capabilities of the Z80, including Sega's Master System and SG-1000, and Nintendo's Game Boy and Game Boy Color. Many classic arcade games also used the Z80, including the original version of Pac-Man. Additionally, the 8-bit processor was common in military applications, musical synthesizers like the Roland Jupiter-8, and various other electronic devices.

Zilog licensed its Z80 technology to US companies Synertek and Mostek, which aided Faggin's venture with production, as well as to the European manufacturer SGS/STMicroelectronics. The CPU design was later replicated by Japanese, East European, and Soviet manufacturers, while corporations such as NEC, Toshiba, Sharp, and Hitachi produced their own compatible versions of the chip.

In recent years, Zilog has refocused Z80 production on the embedded device market, offering advanced microcontroller products that retain compatibility with the original Z80 and Z180 designs.

Astronomers gather additional evidence suggesting Planet Nine is real

Planet hunting: Astronomers have discovered even more evidence suggesting the existence of a mysterious planet at the edge of our solar system. Konstantin Bogytin and his team of astronomers based their latest research on a set of trans-Neptunian objects, which are objects found at the edge of the solar system beyond Neptune and orbit the Sun at a distance of more than 250 times that of Earth.

Astronomers typically do not look at these bodies when hunting for Planet Nine because they interact with Neptune's orbit.

Bogytin, however, decided to focus specifically on these objects to better understand their movements. They ran a series of simulations to see how other objects in the solar system including nearby giant planets and the Milky Way's Galactic tide affected their orbits.

The model that included Planet Nine, a long-suspected but as-yet-proven planet in the outskirts of our solar system, proved to be the best explanation for the observed behavior. It is not the only possible explanation, Bogytin said, just the best one and represents the strongest statistical evidence yet that it is really out there.

Pluto was long considered to be the ninth planet in our solar system, but was reclassified as a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.

Astronomers could get even more answers in the near future. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, currently under construction in Chile, will use a powerful 3.2 gigapixel camera with a 5.1-foot-wide optical lens called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) to scan the sky in hopes of unlocking even more mysteries of the universe. It should also provide astronomers with a better understanding of the most distant objects in our solar system, and help pin down whether Planet Nine is fact or fiction.

The new observatory is expected to go online in January 2025.

Bogytin and his team have published their findings in a paper titled, "Generation of Low-Inclination, Neptune-Crossing TNOs by Planet Nine", that is available now over on the open source repository arXiv.

Image credit: ZCH, Raymond McClintonel

SpaceX to launch a swarm of US reconnaissance satellites next month

Space surveillance: SpaceX has never had a particularly friendly relationship with traditional defense contractors and manufacturers. However, the company is allegedly ready to send a fleet of secret US spy satellites into low-earth orbit.

Unnamed sources told Reuters that SpaceX is working with aerospace and defense contractor Northrop Grumman to develop a highly advanced network of spy satellites. The devices are almost ready to launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The US government will likely use them to acquire high-resolution imagery of Earth's surface.

The constellation of "hundreds" of spy satellites is part of a $1.8 billion contract between SpaceX and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the US defense agency that operates US reconnaissance satellites. Northrop Grumman, one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military tech providers, is contributing specific surveillance solutions like a series of sensors for a subset of the spy satellites.

One of the sources said that it's in the "government's interest" to avoid investing too much in a single company "run by one person," an explanation providing an almost perfect definition of how SpaceX operates. Northrop Grumman will install its tech in at least 50 of the satellites. Other contractors are working on additional components, with SpaceX coordinating the efforts.

SpaceX is not unfamiliar with satellite swarms. It put thousands of satellites up for the Starlink internet service. The NRO is interested in exploiting the company's tried ability to launch "megaconstellations" through their existing manufacturing facilities and the reusable Falcon 9 carrier. The new satellites are a "proliferated" network of swarms of individual surveillance devices less vulnerable to a large-scale (albeit still theoretical) attack by enemy entities.

The new satellites have exceptionally high-quality image sensors, with a resolution that exceeds the capabilities of some of the best spy satellites currently employed by the US. The military could theoretically use them as an alternative to drones and reconnaissance aircraft for surveillance tasks without the risk of violating foreign airspace.

The insiders said the first elements of the new spy network will launch next month from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The NRO's principal deputy director, Troy Meink, confirmed the launch, stating it will be just the first of six identical operations slated for 2024 alone.

These credit cards feature OLEDs that light up upon payment

In a nutshell: A dwindling bank balance is never fun to see. But a card that lights up whenever it's time to swipe may finally bring a smile to your face as you make that four-digit purchase you don't really need. Fintech company Sentry Enterprises has unveiled a fresh innovation in the form of a platform called Radiance that embeds eye-catching OLED displays into the humble plastic card.

With this, issuers can emblazon their logos and designs in radiant color at every card swipe or contactless transaction. This, Sentry hopes, will help banks and issuers amplify their brands and boost customer engagement.

"Other illuminated cards out there don't even come close," proclaimed a proud company executive. "Radiance's proprietary card encapsulation process, integrated with OLED technology, redefines the range of graphic design options."

It may sound like a gimmick, but there's substance here too. Since the card obviously doesn't pack a battery, it only lights up when within EMV contactless range, giving users helpful payment feedback. The power is drawn from the card reader with the magic of NFC.

Sentry says Radiance uses a "proprietary card encapsulation process" that allows vivid OLEDs to be permanently embedded within card bodies, producing durable, delamination-free units that can withstand heavy usage. The platform is designed to integrate seamlessly with Visa, Mastercard, and existing POS systems while meeting stringent security certifications.

Though Sentry doesn't explicitly state it in its press release, the OLED tech here is likely the flexible kind. After all, bank cards are designed to tolerate abuse, even a bit of bending. Foldable OLED displays are all the rage these days in Windows laptops, and as the technology advances, the fact that it's starting to show up on everyday objects is hardly a surprise.

That said, Radiance is positioned as a flexible solution for banks and card manufacturers alike. For issuers, it offers a bold way to capture customers' attention and build loyalty through premium, interactive payment experiences. Card makers, meanwhile, can produce Radiance products via existing equipment with minimal retooling.

While consumer availability remains unannounced, the concept could find an early embrace among innovative neo-banks hungry to differentiate their offerings. With economic turbulence all around, who knows, perhaps it'll be eye-catching cards like these that end up driving consumer spending.

Gamers are renting out GPU power for AI porn generation in return for Fortnite skins

WTF?! If you're a gamer lending your GPU power to a cloud computing company called Salad, there's a good chance it's being used to create AI-generated adult content in exchange for video game currencies and items. Yep, you read that right.

According to a report from 404 Media, Salad has found a clever way to massively scale up AI content generation, including images, videos, and text, by outsourcing the heavy computational work to the powerful GPUs found in gaming rigs. Gamers who sign up to "rent" out their idle GPUs get paid in digital goods like Fortnite cosmetics, Roblox credit, Minecraft skins, and other gaming-related rewards through the Salad store.

It's easy money – powerful graphics cards are well suited for the processing power needed to run AI models like Stable Diffusion to generate media. But here's the kicker: part of the AI content Salad is generating using rented GPU power is adult content.

When signing up, Salad gives users the choice to opt out of being involved in generating explicit adult content. However, the company's Discord mods have reportedly claimed that by default, everyone is opted out, and some countries don't allow opting in due to local laws. Salad's website also suggests that users who don't generate adult content could make less money.

"There might be times where you earn a little less if we have high demand for certain adult content workloads, but we don't plan to make those companies the core of our business model," reads an excerpt from their FAQs.

The real shadiness emerges with Salad's involvement with Civitai, a platform where AI models are shared and images are generated. 404 Media notes that Civitai has previously allowed non-consensual porn generation, including one particularly disturbing incident where AI-generated images "could be categorized as child pornography" slipped through from another company working with Civitai.

Neither Salad nor Civitai have been transparent about just how prevalent non-consensual and illegal content generation is among the reams of AI porn being cranked out. But given Civitai's track record and the sheer scale of opaque processing power Salad is leveraging, it's quite possible that some messed-up stuff is being created, unbeknownst to the gamers whose GPUs are being rented.

It's a grim situation emblematic of the larger ethical pitfalls emerging in commercial AI development – companies rushing to stake claims and scale without adequate safeguards, transparency, or accountability measures in place.

404 Media speculated that Salad marks all Stable Diffusion image jobs as "adult content" by default because it can't actually verify what individual users are generating.

So while you may just be hoping to score some free Fortnite goodies by lending your GPU to Salad's cloud network, there's a chance your hardware is churning out digital depravity behind the scenes.

Let's just hope more thoughtful regulation emerges before the metastasizing of non-consensual AI porn renders the entire sector a dumpster fire.

Fallout TV show secures second season after stellar debut

Something to look forward to: It goes without saying that Amazon's Fallout TV show has been a critical and commercial success, with most fans of the franchise and even those who'd never heard of it enjoying the post-apocalyptic story. As such, it should come as no surprise to learn that Fallout has been renewed for a second season on Prime Video.

There were concerns that Fallout might be closer to Netflix's Resident Evil than HBO's The Last of Us when it comes to television adaptions of video games. Thankfully, the naysayers were proved wrong; the show has a 94% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, an 89% audience score, and, according to Amazon, is one of its three most-watched Prime titles of all time.

Fallout only premiered just over a week ago, yet Prime Video has already announced that we'll be returning to the Wasteland in the future. "We'd like to thank Jonah and Lisa and our friends at Bethesda for bringing the show to us, as well as Geneva and Graham for coming aboard as showrunners," Amazon MGM Studios head Jennifer Salke said in a statement "We are thrilled to announce season two after only one week out and take viewers even farther into the surreal world of Fallout."

Fallout looked set for a second season even before it debuted on Prime. Days before its April 10 launch, it was reported that the show would benefit from a $25 million tax credit for moving production to California from New York and Utah.

It's been a good week for Amazon. In addition to celebrating the success of Fallout, it was revealed that Prime US customer numbers were up 8% to an all-time high of 180 million. It seems the introduction of pay-to-remove ads to the service hasn't led to the widespread subscription cancelations some predicted.

In related news, the Fallout show has led to a sudden increase in player numbers for all the franchise's games, even the old pre-Bethesda titles. Fallout 76, meanwhile, hit a record-high player count. We saw the same thing happen with The Witcher when season one of the show landed on Netflix.

Fallout's TV series has led to people coming up with what they think would be the main cast's SPECIAL stats. Bethesda announced some characters were coming to its Fallout Shelter vault management sim, so here are a few official figures:

Lucy

• Strength: 4
• Perception: 7
• Endurance: 6
• Charisma: 5
• Intelligence: 6
• Agility: 5
• Luck: 7

The Ghoul

• Strength: 5
• Perception: 6
• Endurance: 7
• Charisma: 7
• Intelligence: 4
• Agility: 7
• Luck: 4

Maximus

• Strength: 7
• Perception: 6
• Endurance: 6
• Charisma: 5
• Intelligence: 4
• Agility: 7
• Luck: 5

Ma June

• Strength: 5
• Perception: 7
• Endurance: 5
• Charisma: 7
• Intelligence: 6
• Agility: 4
• Luck: 6

Snake Oil Salesman

• Strength: 4
• Perception: 5
• Endurance: 5
• Charisma: 8
• Intelligence: 8
• Agility: 4
• Luck: 6

Microsoft Xbox credit card is out of beta, available to all US residents

The big picture: Microsoft announced the co-branded "Xbox Mastercard" credit card last year with the promise of cashback in the form of reward points that can be used to buy Xbox games and more. It was piloted with members of the Xbox Insider program last September with plans to launch it for all US residents in 2024. The day has now arrived when everybody across the country can apply for it.

The Xbox Mastercard is now available in all 50 states to eligible residents aged 18 and above. Issued by Barclays, the card requires no annual fee and allows members to earn points on purchases across a slew of goods and services, including eligible products in the Microsoft Store, food delivery services like Grubhub and DoorDash, streaming platforms such as Netflix and Disney, and various other everyday purchases.

Newly-announced benefits of the Xbox Mastercard include two Game Pass Ultimate codes that could be gifted to friends to let them try out the service for three months. Other perks include an upgrade to Level 2 of Microsoft Rewards for faster rewards, three free months of Spotify Premium Individual, and more options to redeem card points, including on Xbox consoles, accessories, Xbox Gift Cards, and more.

When every day adds up to more play ð¤Â

Earn bonus card points and 3 months of @XboxGamePass Ultimate for new members with the Xbox Mastercard: https://t.co/pmT3EMZJ4l

– Xbox (@Xbox) April 18, 2024

Microsoft had earlier announced a number of other benefits, such as a one-time bonus of 5,000 points worth $50 after the first purchase. Members will also be able to customize the card by choosing one of five available designs, as well as personalize it with their gamertag. The card also supports contactless payments and digital wallets, offering users multiple ways of making payments.

In addition to those benefits, Mastercard is offering $0 Fraud Liability protection, so members are not charged for any payments they did not authorize. Card members are covered by other perks of the Mastercard network, including ID Theft Protection and Global Services for emergency assistance. Finally, card members will also get free online access to their FICO Credit Score.

Barclays is not charging an annual fee for the new card, and is instead using an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 20.99 percent to 29.99 percent based on the user's credit score. Members will be liable to pay various transaction fees, including a 5 percent balance transfer fee, a 5 percent cash advance fee, and a 3 percent foreign transaction fee in US dollars. Additionally, there will be a late payment fee of up to $41 if you miss a payment.

Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from the App Store in China following government order

What just happened? Apple has once again kowtowed to the Chinese government by removing Meta's WhatsApp and Threads apps from the mainland China App Store. Apple said it was ordered to do so at the request of the Cyberspace Administration of China, which claimed the demand was related to national security concerns. Telegram and Signal were also deleted from the store.

The four apps are some of the many Western services and products already blocked by China's Great Firewall, but users can bypass these restrictions using VPNs. Reuters writes that other Meta apps, including Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, were still available on the App Store in China, as were other Western apps such as YouTube and X.

Apple said in a statement, "We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree."

China's Communist Party has long kept a tight rein on what the population sees and does on the internet. The government monitors communications and censors sensitive topics such as the Tiananmen Square protests on social media.

Although iPhone sales fell in China by around a quarter during the first six weeks of 2024, the country remains a large and important market for the Cupertino firm. CEO Tim Cook praised China in March 2023, calling its relationship with Apple "symbiotic." As tensions between Beijing and the US kept on rising, Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang told Cook in October that the country remained committed to its relationship with Apple.

Washington hasn't eased the pressure on China this year, adding more export restrictions on certain US-made chips – the use of Intel's Meteor Lake CPUs in Huawei's recent MateBook X Pro drew plenty of criticism from Republican lawmakers. There's also the potential of a TikTok ban that appears more likely every day. But despite the animosity between the two nations, Cook emphasized Apple's commitment to China in March and his own personal feelings toward the country.

"I love China, I love being here, I love the people and the culture. Every time I come here, I am reminded that anything is possible here," Cook said.

A report from 2021 claimed that Cook signed a secret five-year deal in 2016 worth $275 billion with Chinese officials that would see Apple invest in the country's economic and technological development. In exchange, Apple's operations and services wouldn't face the same extensive regulatory scrutiny Chinese agencies often heap on foreign companies.

As the next Baldur's Gate game looks for a new developer, Larian teases two new projects

Forward-looking: As the 2023 awards season marks Baldur's Gate 3 as one of the most celebrated games ever, developer Larian Studios and Dungeons & Dragons owner Hasbro are going their separate ways. Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast want to maintain the iconic tabletop franchise's ongoing positive momentum while Larian begins work on something new.

Wizards of the Coast recently told PC Gamer that it is negotiating with other companies to build on the explosive success of Baldur's Gate 3, but we might not hear details on follow-up projects for some time. Meanwhile, Larian is preparing another large update for its award-winning RPG.

Patch 7 will bring bug fixes and improve the game's evil endings with new cinematics and music. The studio previously confirmed that it's also working on cross-platform mod tools. Future patches will introduce cross-play multiplayer and a photo mode.

Outside of those features, bug fixes, and optimizations, the Belgian studio is walking away from Baldur's Gate. It has no plans for Baldur's Gate 3 DLC, expansions, or Baldur's Gate 4. Instead, Larian will return to building its own properties and confirmed that it's currently developing two new projects.

While it's likely too soon for hard details on the next Larian game, the company promises that it carries the same spirit that created Baldur's Gate 3. Founder and CEO Swen Vincke believes the next title will be the studio's best game yet. That might be a tall order, as last year's Dungeons & Dragons-themed RPG recently became the first game to ever win Game of the Year at all five major awards events: The Game Awards, the Golden Joysticks, the Game Developers Choice Awards, the DICE Summit, and the BAFTAs.

Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast are still deciding how to continue making Dungeons & Dragons video games, but Baldur's Gate 4 is definitely an option. The companies don't want to repeat the two-decade hiatus that passed between Baldur's Gate 2 and 3, but they are taking their time to consider their options carefully.

However, another project similar to Baldur's Gate 3 could prove difficult. Not many developers have demonstrated the capacity for an RPG that combines similar levels of complexity, expansiveness, and production values. The studios most similar to Larian currently have a lot on their plates.

BioWare, the company behind the first two Baldur's Gate entries, is currently busy with Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and the next Mass Effect game. Microsoft-owned Obsidian, known for Pillars of Eternity and Fallout: New Vegas, is preparing to launch Avowed this year and later The Outer Worlds 2. InXile, another Microsoft subsidiary that previously released Wasteland 3 and Torment: Tides of Numenera, is working on Clockwork Revolution.

Amazon denies reports it started a business just to spy on rivals

A hot potato: Amazon's position at the top of the e-commerce market is one it wants to keep, even if – according to a new report – that means engaging in some sneaky tactics. The tech giant is said to have started a company so it could sell items on competitors' marketplaces to better understand how they ran their businesses - or to spy on them, to put it another way. Amazon, of course, disputes parts of the report.

Amazon set up a company called Big River Services in 2015 that sold items such as t-shirts, shoes, and beach chairs, writes The Wall Street Journal, part of Project Curiosity, a program designed to compare rival businesses against Amazon's own.

Big River's items were bought and sold on Best Buy, Overstock, and Walmart. It also joined FedEx, UPS, and other logistics services.

Amazon employees at Big River were told to take screenshots or photos of competitors' pricing, cataloging, and advertising systems, they were even sent to rivals' conferences to learn "exclusive information," the WSJ writes.

The Big River staff were told to hide their association with Amazon, minimizing the number electronic records. The Journal writes that Amazon executives had to view printed versions of reports and weren't allowed to keep them. The employees also used non-Amazon email addresses when communicating with other companies.

Amazon reportedly wanted to ensure the company and employees said the right thing should Project Curiosity ever be uncovered. An Amazon internal crisis management paper told workers to repeat the line, "We make a variety of products available to customers through a number of subsidiaries and online channels," if they were confronted.

There were a few signs that Big River and Amazon were connected. Employees of the former listed Amazon as their employer on their LinkedIn pages. There was also Big River's Japanese streetwear brand, called "Not So Ape," listing a Seattle address on its webpage. Furthermore, Big River's registration documents to the Washington Office of the Secretary of State included the address for Amazon's headquarters. The name Big River is a pretty big hint, too; it may as well have been called Strong Female Warrior.

Not So Ape clothing

Amazon has responded to the Wall Street Journal story by telling Quartz that Project Curiosity, which had a name change to Small Business Insights, is used to better understand how third parties experience its own platform more so than its rivals'. Amazon says this is evidenced by the fact that 70% of Big River's revenue comes from Amazon Stores rather than competitors. The company also told Business Insider that benchmarking, a term used for comparing a company to its competitors, is a common industry practice.

The reason Big River was a secret was to ensure that its team had real-world experience as a small business would through its interactions, Amazon said. It added that it had not identified any instances of an Amazon employee having FedEx pricing information prior to the launch of FedEx Fulfillment or using the information to adjust its pricing or pricing discussions with any sellers.

US Air Force successfully tests AI-controlled fighter jet in dogfight against human pilots

What just happened? In what has been hailed as a milestone moment for artificial intelligence's use in the military, the US Air Force has announced that it successfully tested a modified, AI-controlled fighter jet in a dogfight against human pilots last year.

The US Air Force Test Pilot School and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) first started testing a Lockheed Martin X-62A VISTA (Variable In-flight Simulation Test Aircraft) fitted with AI software back in December 2022, part of the Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program. Able to mimic the performance characteristics of other aircraft, the X-62A was flown for by the AI for over 17 hours.

DARPA revealed on Thursday that in September 2023, the X-62A carried out the first successful AI versus human within-visual-range engagements, also known as a dogfight.

The AI dogfights paired the X-62A VISTA against manned F-16 aircraft in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County, California. After initial flight safety was built up using defensive maneuvers, the aircraft switched to offensive high-aspect nose-to-nose engagements where they approached within 2,000 feet of each other at 1,200 miles per hour. It isn't revealed which side won the simulated battle.

The X-62A has a backup pilot in the rear cockpit and a technician in the front who can disengage the AI and take over the controls should anything go wrong. DARPA says the pilots did not have to activate the safety switch at any point during the dogfights.

There have been 21 test flights conducted to date, with more continuing throughout 2024.

In addition to its autonomous flight capabilities, the X-62A VISTA, a modified F-16, also features a high-resolution camera, a compact size, lightweight construction, and is versatile enough to be used for a wide range of applications, including scientific research, surveillance, recon, environmental monitoring, and emergency response.

Could Air Force pilots be yet another profession that is eventually threatened by AI? The 2020 AlphaDogfight Trials, a three-day competition designed to demonstrate advanced algorithms capable of dogfighting (using VR simulations), saw an experienced F-16 Air Force pilot lose 5-0 to the AI agent. DARPA said the machine performed aggressive and precise maneuvers that the human pilot could not match.

DARPA says that the X-62A VISTA will continue to serve a variety of customers for research while providing key academic lessons for the next generation of test leaders.

AI-controlled weapons in the military has been a controversial area for years. Elon Musk was one of many experts who called for a ban on the technology in 2017. In response, the army said that the final decision to engage a target always rests with humans, not machines.

Modder builds a Nintendo Wii the size of a deck of cards

WTF?! Shrinking popular game consoles has long been a popular pastime for modders. Some have spent years competing to make the tiniest functioning Nintendo Wii. The latest candidate measures just a few square inches and retains the original machine's functionality except for physical disc support.

Modder James "loopj" Smith recently introduced a fully functioning Wii that could easily fit in a shirt pocket. A complete assembly guide is available on GitHub, but it requires advanced motherboard trimming, soldering, and PCB assembly skills, so only experienced users should attempt it.

Dubbed Short Stack, the record-holding miniature Wii is about seven and a half percent the volume of Nintendo's original console. It is so minuscule that 13 Short Stacks could fit inside a stock Wii with room to spare.

Smith trimmed down the system's motherboard by replacing the original power delivery system, USB modules, Bluetooth hardware, and GameCube controller ports with smaller substitutes. The remaining original motherboard, containing the CPU, GPU, memory, and flash storage, measures just 62-by-62mm.

Other functions, including the video feed and status lights, use custom PCBs to save space. Smith also replaced the SD card slot with a microSD port. A notable addition is HDMI support, which the original Wii lacked. The strangest alteration is a conversion from GameCube controller connectors to much smaller TRRS headphone plugs. Cooling works through a small 5V blower fan and a custom heatsink cut from aluminum or copper.

A custom 3D-printed case is held together with M2.5 and M1.2 screws, accurately recreating the original Wii's look with all of the front-panel buttons. Smith also preserved the LED-lit disc drive despite the system being far smaller than the smallest optical disc.

The result is slightly smaller than that of prior variants like the Wii Nano or the portable Kill Mii. However, loopj admits that an even smaller 52-by-52mm motherboard is achievable, possibly cutting volume by 25 or 30 percent, so Short Stack's record might not hold for long.

Other famous consoles have also recently been modded into impressive new form factors. Earlier this month, someone built a handheld version of the original PlayStation in the shape of a rare controller for that console. More odd is an NES console crammed into a cartridge that also functions as a game when inserted into an original NES. What?

The VoodooX 3Dfx project tries to revive the legend of early 3D graphics cards for PC

In brief: Oscar Barea, a 3Dfx enthusiast, is trying to make Voodoo cards reach a "new hardware level." Using VSA-100 chips collected through online auctions, Barea and his collaborators are still working to "innovate" on the corpse of the first 3D graphics hardware company.

3Dfx Interactive is a brand that is long gone but not forgotten. It's a name known by many PC enthusiasts who experienced and survived the crazy hardware innovations of the 1990s that changed PC gaming forever. Oscar Barea is a Voodoo doctor (pun intended) who decided to resurrect the brand in his own way. Barea is trying to use the defunct company's graphics technology to assemble a working video card that can run games on a barebone PC setup.

Since 2022, Barea has shared his progress with the "VoodooX 3Dfx project" on X (formerly Twitter). The project aims to design, develop, and assemble a functional Voodoo video card based on the VSA-100 chip, the last "graphics processor" developed by 3Dfx Interactive for its Voodoo 4 and Voodoo 5 graphics cards.

Also read: 3Dfx Interactive: Gone But Not Forgotten

The VSA-100 is the most powerful 3D acceleration technology 3Dfx for the various Voodoo 4/5 models. Unfortunately, it only found its way into the single-chip Voodoo 4 4500 card and the dual-chip Voodoo 5 5500. The company released the VSA-100 cards in 2000, and the company went bankrupt soon after that, making them hard to find. Nvidia purchased most of 3Dfx's assets and developed the first commercial "GPU" for 3D gaming on PC.

Last year, someone sold a sample of the unreleased quad-chip Voodoo 5 6000 graphics card on eBay for a cool $15,000, demonstrating how rare and sought-after 3Dfx technology still is. Barea claims he used brand new, stand-alone VSA-100 chips, designing a custom "VoodooX" card that could somewhat work within 3Dfx's official specifications.

VoodooX 3Dfx project - I assembled the card and target is check how works DVI & HDMI output. Sadly across pictures the difference between DVI & D-SUB15 is not very visible but in real it is. DVI has a crispy and clear image quality even colors looks much better. pic.twitter.com/1LN1otDi0J

– Oscar Barea (@oscar_barea) April 16, 2024

According to Barea's X posts, the custom card has 32MB of RAM, while official VSA-100 specs support up to 64MB per chip. Barea engineered his card to provide newer digital interface ports (HDMI, DVI) next to a traditional VGA port. The difference in picture quality between VGA and digital output is seemingly noticeable, with "crispy and clear" images and better colors with a digital connection.

Barea said his latest tests with the custom VoodooX card are surprising. The VSA-100 chip can reach a core frequency of 160MHz with no issues and no attached heatsink, and the Quake3 "timedemo" works "perfectly" over HDMI. The VoodooX 3Dfx is still a work in progress, though. Barea is also testing a switch to enable a 32MB or 64MB memory per chip configuration.

Apple is rolling out AirPlay support for TVs in hotel rooms

Something to look forward to: If you've found yourself sitting bored in your hotel room, thumbing through 80 channels of nothing to watch, you might be happy to know that you can cast content from your iPad or iPhone to your hotel's TV starting today. So far, the list of properties is pretty sparse, but I found some hotels near places I visit, and Apple promised to expand support going forward.

Apple's AirPlay is finally available in some hotels starting today. At last year's WWDC, the company announced it was working with LG to bring the feature to hotel TVs by the end of 2023. It initially said the capability would arrive with the launch of iOS 17 last September. However, that got pushed back to the iOS 17.3 update in January. The rest of the delay was likely due to logistical and organizational issues between Apple and its partners.

For now, AirPlay is only available in 60 hotels in the US, Canada, and Mexico under the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) umbrella. These brands include Holiday Inn, Regent, and Candlewood Suites, to name a few. Sixty hotels is a paltry offering for the entire North American continent. However, Apple promised that IHG was only the beginning.

"AirPlay will also work with supported televisions in hotels, allowing users to easily enjoy their favorite content on the TV when traveling," the company's 2023 WWDC press release stated. "Built with a foundation of privacy and security, this capability will be available before the end of the year in select hotels, starting with brands from IHG Hotels & Resorts."

Apple was vague in today's announcement, saying that more hotels would be added "in the coming months." While the number of hotels is not specified, it's a promising sign for travelers. Those planning a trip can check the list of supporting destinations on IHG's website.

Some may wonder why AirPlay is unavailable on hotel TVs when it is supported on most newer televisions. The main reason is the technical setup of the property's TVs and networks. Some hotels have their sets wired to a cable or satellite service rather than WiFi. AirPlay requires both devices to be on the same WiFi network. So, if the TV isn't connected to WiFi, it won't detect the AirPlay signal request.

Furthermore, hotel WiFi is typically set up as a guest network. Most people have encountered these types of hotspots. They usually require a password or some other authentication method to ensure you are an authorized user (paying guest). AirPlay does not (or did not) have a way of handling this connection method. So, even if the property's television was connected to the network and had AirPlay support, the feature's request token could not get past the network's firewall.

Frequent travelers like myself will welcome the ability to cast YouTube, games, and other content to their hotel room televisions. Last weekend, I happily discovered that a property I frequent added a native Netflix app to their TVs. Unfortunately, I was right in the middle of season one of Fallout on Amazon Prime, so I still had to watch on my iPad, but I'm not complaining. I will certainly take advantage of AirPlay when I find it available while traveling.

Hackers attempted to trick LastPass employee with cloned voice of CEO

Facepalm: The troubled password management company LastPass is again under attack by unknown cybercriminals trying to breach its systems. Hackers are using novel tactics involving AI algorithms, cloned voices, and social engineering.

Bad actors targeted a LastPass employee with fake WhatsApp messages, going as far as creating an audio deepfake of the company's CEO, Karim Toubba. This digital twin, which LastPass says was likely made with AI, showed a forced urgency that usually comes with traditional social engineering attempts.

LastPass explained that the unnamed employee received several calls, texts, and "at least" one audio deepfake from a fake Toubba account. The attempted communication was outside of traditional business channels, and the employee was sensible enough to ignore the requests and report the incident to the internal security team.

The security team handled the intrusion attempt, though there was no actual impact on the company. LastPass publicly shared the incident to raise awareness of new social engineering tactics employing deepfake content. What was previously only available to nation-state threat actors is now increasingly available to "common" cyber-criminals and script kiddies. Fraud campaigns leveraging impersonation of executive roles aren't so rare anymore.

Audio deepfakes have improved in quality, and the AI-based technology needed to create them is now commonplace, thanks to numerous apps and websites that even a novice can use. LastPass pointed to several high-profile incidents discovered recently, with companies falling victim to convincing AI-generated fakes that pushed them to transfer money to fraudsters.

Reports of highly sophisticated audio or video deepfakes are rare, but things could worsen as AI evolves and improves. Recent deepfake incidents involving the White House forced the FCC to intervene. Meanwhile, tech companies have agreed to proactively fight AI-generated content to avoid significant disruption in the US 2024 presidential elections.

The impersonation attempt against LastPass isn't the first of its kind, but it certainly raises an issue with how cybercriminals now perceive the company. LastPass suffered several major security breaches in the past few years, while fraudsters have tried to exploit the company's name with fake apps designed to steal users' data. LastPass said it is working closely with its partners to share intelligence and stay "one step ahead" of cybercriminals.

Micron set to receive grants totaling over $6 billion for US chip production

Bottom line: Micron is on track to receive a significant injection of funding from the US government to help cover the cost of various domestic factory projects. The grants, said to total more than $6 billion, will reportedly come from the Commerce Department.

Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the deal is not yet finalized but could be wrapped up and announced as soon as next week. Based on the language used in the article, it does not sound as if the money is coming from the Chips and Science Act fund.

Micron is based in Boise, Idaho, and is currently building new factories in its home state as well as in New York. The NY megafab is expected to play a key role in Micron's strategy to raise American made, cutting-edge DRAM production to 40 percent of its global capacity over the next decade.

The project was announced in late 2022 and will be the largest semiconductor fab in the country once complete, and also represents the largest private investment in the history of the state of New York.

Micron at the time said it will invest up to $100 billion into the project over the next two decades and plans to inject the first $20 billion by the end of the 2020s. In that light, the $6 billion in funding from the government is just a drop in the bucket.

The Chips and Science Act allocates $39 billion in subsidies specifically intended to support chip manufacturing within the US. A handful of awards have already been doled out by the government with recipients including Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., and Samsung.

Intel will receive up to $8.5 billion in direct funding plus up to an additional $11 billion in low-interest loans and a 25 percent investment tax credit on up to $100 billion of capital investments. TSMC is on track to rake in $11.6 billion in funding for a third plant in Arizona, and Samsung is getting $6.4 billion.