British antitrust regulators on Wednesday blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard, thwarting the biggest tech deal in history over worries that it would stifle competition for popular titles like Call of Duty in the fast-growing cloud gaming market. The Competition and Markets Authority said in its final report that “the … continue reading -> “UK Blocks Microsoft-Activision Gaming Deal, Biggest in Tech”

Mars is Earth’s next-door neighbor in the solar system — two rocky worlds with differences down to their very core, literally. A new study based on seismic data obtained by NASA’s robotic InSight lander is offering a fuller understanding of the Martian deep interior and fresh details about dissimilarities between Earth, the third planet from … continue reading -> “Study Details Differences Between Deep Interiors of Mars and Earth”

A Japanese space start-up will attempt Tuesday to become the first private company to put a lander on the Moon.    If all goes to plan, ispace’s Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander will start its descent towards the lunar surface at around 15:40 GMT.    It will slow its orbit some 100 kilometers above the Moon, then adjust … continue reading -> “Moon Shot: Japan Firm to Attempt Historic Lunar Landing”

The U.S. Space Force said on Monday that Elon Musk’s SpaceX was granted approval to lease a second rocket launch complex at a military base in California, setting the space company up for its fifth launch site in the United States.  Under the lease, SpaceX will launch its workhorse Falcon rockets from Space Launch Complex-6 … continue reading -> “SpaceX Wins Approval to Add Fifth U.S. Rocket Launch Site”

Twitter accounts operated by authoritarian governments in Russia, China and Iran are benefiting from recent changes at the social media company, researchers said Monday, making it easier for them to attract new followers and broadcast propaganda and disinformation to a larger audience.  The platform is no longer labeling state-controlled media and propaganda agencies, and will … continue reading -> “Twitter Changes Stoke Russian, Chinese Propaganda Surge”

The AI bot ChatGPT has passed exams, written poetry, and deployed in newsrooms, and now politicians are seeking it out — but experts are warning against rapid uptake of a tool also famous for fabricating “facts.” The chatbot, released last November by U.S. firm OpenAI, has quickly moved center stage in politics — particularly as … continue reading -> “Writer, Adviser, Poet, Bot: How ChatGPT Could Transform Politics”

The Biden administration announced more than $80 million in funding Thursday in a push to produce more solar panels in the U.S., make solar energy available to more people, and pursue superior alternatives to the ubiquitous sparkly panels made with silicon. The initiative, spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and known as Community … continue reading -> “US Invests in Alternative Solar Tech, More Solar for Renters”

A viral AI-generated song imitating Drake and The Weeknd was pulled from streaming services this week, but did it breach copyright as claimed by record label Universal? Created by someone called @ghostwriter, Heart On My Sleeve racked up millions of listens before Universal Music Group asked for its removal from Spotify, Apple Music and other … continue reading -> “Did the AI-Generated Drake Song Breach Copyright?”

Competition between the U.S. and China in artificial intelligence has expanded into a race to design and implement comprehensive AI regulations. The efforts to come up with rules to ensure AI’s trustworthiness, safety and transparency come at a time when governments around the world are exploring the impact of the technology on national security and … continue reading -> “US-China Competition in Tech Expands to AI Regulations”

U.S. homeland security officials are launching what they describe as two urgent initiatives to combat growing threats from China and expanding dangers from ever more capable, and potentially malicious, artificial intelligence. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Friday that his department was starting a “90-day sprint” to confront more frequent and intense efforts by China … continue reading -> “US Targeting China, Artificial Intelligence Threats “

Twitter has removed labels describing global media organizations as government-funded or state-affiliated, a move that comes after the Elon Musk-owned platform started stripping blue verification checkmarks from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee. Among those no longer labeled was National Public Radio in the U.S., which announced last week that it would stop using … continue reading -> “Twitter Drops Government-Funded Media Labels”

The CEO of TikTok tried to calm critics’ fears about the security of his company’s app during an appearance Thursday. Shou Chew was asked at a TED2023 Possibility conference if he could guarantee Beijing would not use the TikTok app, owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance, to interfere in future U.S. elections. “I can say … continue reading -> “TikTok CEO Tries to Ease Critics’ Security Concerns”

While artificial intelligence, or AI, is not new, the speed at which the technology is developing and its implications for societies are, for many, a cause for wonder and alarm. ChatGPT recently garnered headlines for doing things like writing term papers for university students. Tom Graham and his company, Metaphysic.ai, have received attention for creating … continue reading -> “Good, Bad of Artificial Intelligence Discussed at TED Conference  “

This time it’s for real.  Many of Twitter’s high-profile users are losing the blue check marks that helped verify their identities and distinguish them from impostors on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform.  After several false starts, Twitter began making good on its promise Thursday to remove the blue checks from accounts that don’t each … continue reading -> “Twitter Begins Removing Blue Checks From Users Who Don’t Pay”

SpaceX’s giant new rocket blasted off on its first test flight Thursday but exploded minutes after rising from the launch pad and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the nearly 400-foot (120-meter) Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. … continue reading -> “SpaceX Giant Rocket Explodes Minutes After Launch from Texas”

A growing number of startups are using artificial intelligence to replicate human voices. A company is creating synthetic voices for organizations to use for advertising, marketing and training. Phil Dierking reports. …

Apple Inc. opened its first flagship store in India in a much-anticipated launch Tuesday that highlights the company’s growing aspirations to expand in the country it also hopes to turn into a potential manufacturing hub. The company’s CEO Tim Cook posed for photos with a few of the 100 or so Apple fans who had … continue reading -> “Apple Inc Bets Big on India as It Opens First Flagship Store”

Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday he will launch an artificial intelligence (AI) platform that he calls “TruthGPT” to challenge the offerings from Microsoft and Google. He criticized Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the firm behind chatbot sensation ChatGPT, of “training the AI to lie” and said OpenAI has now become a “closed source,” “for-profit” organization “closely allied … continue reading -> “Elon Musk Says He Will Launch Rival to Microsoft-backed ChatGPT”

Elon Musk’s SpaceX on Monday called off a highly anticipated launch of its powerful new Starship rocket, delaying the first uncrewed test flight of the vehicle into space. The two-stage rocketship, standing taller than the Statue of Liberty at 394 feet (120 m) high, originally was scheduled for blast-off from the SpaceX facility at Boca … continue reading -> “SpaceX Postpones Debut Flight of Starship Rocket System”

Japanese video games group Sega has offered to buy Angry Birds maker Rovio, valuing the Finnish company at over $770 million, the companies said Monday.    “Combining the strengths of Rovio and Sega presents an incredibly exciting future,” Alexandre Pelletier-Normand, CEO of Rovio, said in a statement, which added that Rovio was recommending shareholders to accept … continue reading -> “Japan’s Sega to Buy Finnish Angry Birds Maker Rovio”

Floating in the port of Los Angeles, a strange-looking barge covered with pipes and tanks contains a concept that scientists hope to make waves: a new way to use the ocean as a vast carbon dioxide sponge to tackle global warming. Scientists from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have been working for two years … continue reading -> “‘Big Sponge’: New CO2 Tech Taps Oceans to Tackle Global Warming”

Information in this article is confirmed with other sources and may be used without attribution to The Associated Press in broadcasts — websites still must use the attribution. The News Center has no plans currently to match it.   (With AP Photo)    Europe’s Most Powerful Nuclear Reactor Kicks Off in Finland    Apr 16, 2023 … continue reading -> “Europe’s Most Powerful Nuclear Reactor Kicks Off in Finland “

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week released proposals for the most aggressive vehicle emission standards in the country’s history, with the expectation that electric cars will account for two of every three cars being produced in the U.S. by 2032. Keith Kocinski reports. …

The first image of a black hole captured four years ago revealed a fuzzy, fiery doughnut-shaped object. Now, researchers have used artificial intelligence to give that cosmic beauty shot a touch-up. The updated picture, published Thursday in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, keeps the original shape, but with a skinnier ring and a sharper resolution. The … continue reading -> “First Image of Black Hole Gets Makeover With AI “

ChatGPT could return to Italy soon if its maker, OpenAI, complies with measures to satisfy regulators who had imposed a temporary ban on the artificial intelligence software over privacy worries. The Italian data protection authority on Wednesday outlined a raft of requirements that OpenAI will have to satisfy by April 30 for the ban on … continue reading -> “ChatGPT Could Return to Italy if OpenAI Complies With Rules”