The US just banned Chinese humanoid robots and power inverters over security fears
The ban is expected to hit Unitree, Sungrow, and Huawei hardest
Tech Culture
The technology revolution is everywhere and it's manifesting in more ways than we can imagine. The intersection of technology and society, from art to communication.
AI firms are quietly buying and destroying millions of printed books to train their models
Demand for older print books is surging as AI firms look for human-written content free from AI-generated text
Apple is the most valuable company in the world, again
Apple overtakes Nvidia as investors seek safety from AI stock volatility
Teacher arrested for clapping in support of speaker opposing data center
The teacher said he had a right to applaud before officers removed him from the meeting
An artist is suing an AI meme generator for selling his viral comic as ad templates
The "Running Away Balloon" comic went viral for its simplicity, making it easy for others to remix and share
Sam Altman says AI won't shorten the workweek because humans secretly enjoy being busy
Who doesn't love the relentless grind of work?
The Odyssey got bootlegged on X, but the internet cared more about the memes
The joke about who's actually watching "the way Nolan intended" has outclassed any potential leak
Modder rigs his Steam Deck with spikes and an automated taser to stop family members from borrowing it
Desperate times call for desperate measures
Professor's invisible prompt trap catches 32 students cheating on their midterm with AI
The students submitted essays containing phrases such as "Madagascar purple bicycle whispers to the ceiling"
Facepalm: Modern problems require modern solutions – according to the meme. In this case, the issue is students using AI to cheat on assignments. The solution, used to great effect by one professor, was to hide a white-colored font in the assignment prompt telling the AI to talk nonsense about an unrelated subject.
Nvidia's Jensen Huang joins X, defends Chinese AI: "Open-source models that are excellent should be used"
Big quote: Jensen Huang just spent a week watching his company's valuation get hit by the threat of a Chinese open-weight model. His response was to go on the record defending it. Speaking to Axios in Fort Worth, Texas, at the opening of a new phase of the Wistron plant that builds Nvidia's AI infrastructure, the Nvidia CEO said American companies should "absolutely" be free to run Chinese models. "These Chinese models are excellent," he said. "Open-source models that are excellent should be used." Asked whether China could displace American labs, he was blunt: "Zero possibility."
Atari signs deal to turn Pong, Centipede, and Asteroids into movies
Breakout, Missile Command, Millipede, and Yars' Revenge are also included
First-responder drones are spreading rapidly across the US, and privacy groups are worried
The FAA issued more waivers in ten months than it had during the previous seven years combined
This $299 flip phone is the anti-smartphone, promises to save you from doomscrolling hell
The Light Flip is an old-school phone with no social media, web browsing, or shopping apps
A new brain-computer implant is helping blind seniors see again, and it just got approved in Europe
In clinical trials, 84% of patients regained the ability to read using the implant
Gig economy workers and Amazon staff are increasingly dependent on food stamps and Medicaid, says federal report
Amazon workers' reliance on the programs has tripled since 2020
Amazon orders Robocop TV series as franchise heads to Prime Video
"I'd buy that for a dollar!"
France just voted to ban kids under 15 from social media, but Australia's ban shows how hard that is to enforce
France plans to restrict VPNs to close that loophole, too
Overview: As social media algorithms come under increasing scrutiny, policies to ban children from services such as Facebook, X, YouTube, and Snapchat are gaining popularity across the globe. France has just become the latest country to pass such legislation – but data suggests the impact of Australia's earlier ban has been limited.
Fiat's new $15,000 mini EV is now on sale in the US, but it's not yet legal to drive
The Topolino has been zipping around European cities since 2023, it's about the size of a pickup bed
Samsung finally has its own credit card, seven years after Apple
The Galaxy Card offers 5% cash back on Samsung purchases, but just 1% on everything else
Fire departments are testing autonomous drones that fight wildfires before crews even arrive
Drones can traverse difficult terrain and prevent early-stage fires from spreading
What was the world's first digital and programmable robot?
It was stationed at General Motors and sold at a loss.
Marvel drops the first Avengers: Doomsday trailer, set to open against Dune: Part Three this December
Doctor Doom, the X-Men, and Steve Rogers return as Marvel tries to make superhero movies feel like events again
Highly anticipated: Marvel has released the first full trailer for Avengers: Doomsday, bringing together nearly every corner of its cinematic universe for what may be the studio's biggest test since Endgame. Robert Downey Jr. returns to the MCU as Doctor Doom, facing a lineup that includes the Avengers, the New Avengers from Thunderbolts, the Fantastic Four, Wakanda's heroes, and characters from Fox's original X-Men films.
A new coding contest challenges developers to fit an entire game onto a 1.44MB floppy disk
No single byte is going to be wasted
CD sales are up 16%, but half the buyers don't even own a CD player
Young buyers see physical media as collectibles