Elon Musk’s Neuralink Corp. has announced it’s started testing a robotic arm that could be controlled using the mind.

The early-stage study outlines a robotic arm that would be controlled using a Neuralink device implanted in the brain, allowing paralyzed people to control it without movement. Where current prosthetics rely on existing movement from the remaining limb, a Neuralink robotic arm would be more widely applicable.

“We’re excited to announce the approval and launch of a new feasibility trial to extend BCI control using the N1 Implant to an investigational assistive robotic arm,” wrote Neuralink in an announcement post on X.

“This is an important first step towards restoring not only digital freedom, but also physical freedom.”

We’re excited to announce the approval and launch of a new feasibility trial to extend BCI control using the N1 Implant to an investigational assistive robotic arm.

This is an important first step towards restoring not only digital freedom, but also physical freedom. More info…

— Neuralink (@neuralink) November 25, 2024

The arm functions via a small, virtually invisible implant in the part of the brain that controls movement. It can interpret a person’s neural activity, so that people with little or no movement in their limbs can operate the arm by simply intending to move within their brain, without any wires or physical movement required.

What does Neuralink’s technology do?

The technology is still in its infancy, with a first-in-human trial currently in progress. That means that any approved device is years away from being widely available.

Neuralink is cross-enrolling participants from the ongoing PRIME Study (the company’s ongoing research) but those with limited or no ability to use both hands due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can still apply to be part of the early-stage study, which you can find more about here.

The robotic arm is building on Neuralink’s existing work in disability aids, with the company making history by implanting a chip in patients’ brains that allows them to control computers with their minds. The second patient had their chip implanted in August 2024.

Featured image: Midjourney

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Runway has just launched a new AI image generation tool called Frames, offering high-quality photorealism and advanced levels of control.

Powered by Gen-3 Alpha and Runway’s in-house API, Frames offers photorealistic quality and stylistic control, with separate ‘Worlds’ to afford consistent aesthetics when switching, for example, between brands.

You can assign different effects and aesthetics to different Worlds, such as 1970s album art, Japanese zines, or dynamic landscapes. That ensures all content within the World stays within the same style. The numbers assigned to the Worlds suggest that there could be thousands of different style options, as well as the future possibility for users to create their own Worlds.

“With Frames, you can begin to architect worlds that represent very specific points of view and aesthetic characteristics,” reads the official announcement. “The model allows you to design with precision the look, feel and atmosphere of the world you want to create.”

Runway pushing the boundaries of generative AI

Runway has been busy recently, having released facial expression motion capture to improve its video generation last month and another video expansion tool just a few days ago that allowed users to generate new content from an existing video.

The company has made a name for itself in bringing out tools that rival major image startups like Midjourney and Leonardo. The powerful Gen-3 Alpha can clearly achieve a lot and Runway is bringing out fresh features and style options all the time when it comes to video generation.

If it does the same for its image generation arm, it could quickly become a one-stop shop for creative generative AI.

Featured image: Runway

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The reforms from the Albanese government (Australia’s federal government), proposed by Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, included various measures, including banning online gambling ads, restricting gambling ads during sporting matches, and limiting ads to two per hour on television.

However, the proposal has now been delayed until 2025, according to Sky News, after it failed to gain Senate support. Those opposed to the bill have raised concerns about the loss of funding from gambling ads for traditional media, as well as logistical issues about putting the reforms into practice.

“There is simply is not going to be enough time this week to pass that legislation,” Employment Minister Murray Watt told Sky News on Sunday, November 24.

However, Rowland’s campaign will continue next year when the issue returns for debate once again. An exact date has not yet been confirmed.

Why are the reforms around gambling ads important?

The measures stem from concerns about the prevalent nature of gambling ads in sport and their potential impact on children. In Australia, gambling has become an increasing welfare focus, with estimates suggesting that Australians lose approximately $25 billion on legal forms of gambling each year, according to the Australian Institution of Health and Welfare. That represents the largest per capita losses in the world.

That doesn’t take the social cost of gambling into account either, such as adverse financial impacts, emotional and psychological costs, relationship and family impacts, and productivity loss and work impacts. That has been estimated to cost the government $7 billion in Victoria alone.

The Australian Prime Minister has openly complained that the nation ‘has a gambling addiction,‘ with one third of the population regularly betting on sporting events, and previous attempts to curb the impact included tightening video game ratings.

Featured image: Flickr, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

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Video-sharing platform Rumble has become the latest in a recent flurry of companies adding Bitcoin to their official balance sheets.

Rumble, a YouTube alternative with more lenient content moderation policies, has officially confirmed that the Board of Directors has approved a corporate treasury diversification strategy of allocating a portion of the company’s excess cash reserves to Bitcoin.

“This move emphasizes Rumble’s belief in Bitcoin as a valuable tool for strategic planning and is designed to accelerate the company’s expansion into cryptocurrency,” reads the official company statement. “Rumble’s Bitcoin allocation strategy will include purchases, at the discretion of the company, of up to $20 million.”

This comes after Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski teased the idea on social media, putting a poll out on X. Out of 43,790 votes, 93.9% of respondents voted yes to the proposal.

Lets put this in a poll format…

Should Rumble add Bitcoin to its balance sheet?

— Chris Pavlovski (@chrispavlovski) November 19, 2024

Following the official company announcement Pavlovski followed up with another post to X, writing: “I wasn’t joking when I said I was going to be laser-focused on the crypto and gaming communities. It’s a new era.”

The date of Rumble’s first Bitcoin purchase is yet to be made and is up to the discretion of the company’s management, depending on “several factors.” These include the influence of the wider crypto market, the price of Bitcoin, and the cash needs of the platform.

“We believe that the world is still in the early stages of the adoption of Bitcoin, which has recently accelerated with the election of a crypto-friendly US presidential administration and increased institutional adoption,” Pavlovski said as part of the official company statement.

“Unlike any government-issued currency, Bitcoin is not subject to dilution through endless money-printing, enabling it to be a valuable inflation hedge and an excellent addition to our treasury.”

It’s certainly true that Bitcoin is enjoying another high in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s re-election, with Bitcoin rising to a record high. The decision from Rumble appeared to be good news for the platform’s share price, with it spiking to $7.31 in a 12.63% rise during the same trading session as the announcement.

Featured image: Midjourney

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A ransomware attack has resulted in an outage affecting US and UK grocery chains and other major companies. Blue Yonder, a major software supply chain company for huge brands, has been the subject of the attack.

The incident took place on November 21 and was seemingly still in progress days later on November 26.

“The Blue Yonder team is continuing to work around the clock, together with our external cybersecurity firms, to safely restore systems, resulting in steady progress,” a statement from the company on November 23 read. “Our investigation remains ongoing, but please know that our priority is to ensure a safe and secure recovery. At this point, we do not have a timeline for restoration.”

The service from the Arizona-based company that has been affected is a private cloud computing service, rather than its public cloud environment. Although the company hasn’t named which of its clients have been affected, it appears to be impacting supply chain issues for some recognizable brands.

Which companies have been affected by the Blue Yonder ransomware attack?

Two major supermarket chains in the UK, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, have reported being affected by the attack.

“We have reverted to a backup process but the outage has caused the smooth flow of goods to our stores to be impacted,” said a spokesperson for Morrisons, a company with nearly 500 grocery stores across the UK.

A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s, another major UK grocery chain, also confirmed to CNN that it had “contingency processes in place” to deal with the Blue Yonder outage.

There’s no confirmed list of what other brands have been affected but other US grocery chains use Blue Yonder’s services, including Albertsons, which owns chains like Safeway and Jewel-Osco, and Kroger, the company behind brands like Ralphs and Fred Meyer.

Outside of grocery chains, Blue Yonder also counts Fortune 500 companies like Proctor & Gamble and Anheuser-Busch as its clients. Past ransomware attacks have resulted in major data leaks (although this doesn’t appear to be a risk in this case, with customer data seemingly not affected) pulling in billions of dollars in 2023.

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

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Elon Musk could have a role in Donald Trump’s White House, and this could mean stricter AI standards.

It’s no secret that Musk and Trump have a good relationship, with the SpaceX CEO being very open about his support for the President-elect during his campaign, with numerous posts on his social media site, X. Even before Trump won the 2024 presidential election, it was also speculated that there could be a place for Musk in the White House.

There have been no official announcements yet, but regardless, it’s probable that Musk will wield influence in the future administration. Looking ahead, a leading scientist who has worked closely with Musk has theorized that this could lead to tougher AI standards when it comes to safety.

What has Musk already said about AI standards in safety?

Max Tegmark highlighted that Musk’s support for a failed AI bill in California was a testament to the billionaire’s continued concern about AI safety. While Trump himself has not addressed the issue, either on or off the campaign trail, it’s certainly a priority for Musk.

That hasn’t stopped Musk from pushing AI tools on his platforms, like X, but he has warned against the unrestrained development of AI. In 2023, he was one of more than 30,000 names signed on a letter calling to pause research into AI models.

Speaking to the Guardian at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Tegmark explained that Musk could use his influence to persuade Trump to introduce standards that prevent the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) – the term for AI systems that match or exceed human levels of intelligence, something Musk has expressed fears about in the past.

“I do think that if Elon manages to get Trump’s ear on AI issues, we’re more likely to get some form of safety standards, something that prevents AGI,” the professor, specializing in AI at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said. “He might help Trump understand that an AGI race is a suicide race.”

Featured image: Midjourney

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Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold 3 is available to access by researchers around the world via open-source.

Google DeepMind, the tech giant’s AI research lab, has just open-sourced its AlphaFold 3 protein prediction model. That means academic researchers all over the world can access both the code and training weights for the very first time, following a limited release in May.

What is AlphaFold 3?

Awarded a Novel Price, AlphaFold 3 can predict interactions between proteins and other molecules, such as DNA, RNA, and potential drug compounds. This can open up a wealth of new opportunities, having already mapped more than 200 million protein structures in an unprecedented level of research into structural biology.

That potential is far more accessible now that any researchers can access the code and models, meaning there are vastly more options for how the technology can be put to work.

Before now, other companies like Baidu and ByteDance had already created their versions based on what was published in original research studies and papers. However, the fact that the tech is now accessible to all, regardless of location, financial investment, and so on.

It’s worth noting that DeepMind’s spinoff lab, Isomorphic Labs, maintains exclusive commercial rights, having recently secured $3 billion in pharmaceutical partnerships. However, that doesn’t stop academics putting the code through its paces for research purposes.

This could open plenty more doors in scientific and medical research. Tracking interactions at this level is key for drug discovery and development, with the ability to track behavior across enzymes vital to human metabolism and antibodies that combat infectious diseases.

Making scientific and medical research more accessible is one of the loftier goals for AI, one that OpenAI’s Sam Altman cited in his hopeful letter about the future of artificial superintelligence. Offering wider access to AlphaFold 3 is expected to accelerate groundbreaking discoveries across both biology and medicine, not just by offering access to advanced tech but also by creating an even playing field among researchers outside of powerful institutions who might not normally be able to use such code.

Featured image: Google

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Nintendo has offered an early look at the Donkey Kong expansion to Super Nintendo World in Japan’s Universal Studios.

Following an announcement in May 2024, Nintendo has confirmed the opening date of the Universal Studios Japan expansion of Super Nintendo World, as well as offering a first real look at the Donkey Kong-themed zone in a Nintendo Direct on November 11, as reported by Verge. The park section is set to open on December 11.

What will Super Nintendo World’s expansion include?

The expanded section of the theme park is all about the animated gorilla and his lore, with a mine cart rollercoaster and a three-player version of the Donkey Konga rhythm game that visitors can play in real life.

Guests will enter the new zone by going through a tunnel made of faux rocks, opening up into a jungle-themed area. Some of the scenery includes a tree house, a golden temple that releases steam, and plenty of banana-flavored desserts – just like DK himself would like.

The park’s NFC bracelet unlocks an engaging game that you can take part in while walking through the park, finding and collecting giant letters hidden throughout the area. You can also collect Donkey Kong-themed wristbands and find an animatronic Cranky Kong, one of DK’s many relatives.

The expansion is part of Nintendo’s wider plans to become more than a gaming or even entertainment company. With its experiments with feature films, like 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it’s been focusing on expanding its theme park offering since it first announced the expansion in 2021.

All of the attractions in Osaka and LA will also be part of the all-new Super Nintendo World set to open in Orlando in 2025. Other in-person experiences include the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, which recently opened its doors for the first time. That’s not to say that Nintendo has forgotten the importance of its gaming arm, with the world waiting for news on the upcoming Switch console.

Featured image: Nintendo

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President-elect Donald Trump is expected to put pro-crypto personnel in positions across major federal financial regulators.

While on the campaign trail, Trump promised to support crypto if he were to win, earning him both donations and, presumably, votes. He previously promised to transform the United States into the “crypto capital of the planet,” according to the Washington Post, in a pledge that was met with enthusiasm from crypto leaders and concern from consumer watchdogs.

Now, the Post further reports that Trump’s aides are eyeing crypto-friendly candidates for top financial posts, as well as consulting with crypto company executives for possible federal policy changes.

Specifically, these early discussions focus on financial regulatory agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Many of the officials and industry executives in contention have pro-crypto views, according to anonymous sources close to the matter.

Roles like the chair of the SEC and other major institutions would be instrumental in incorporating crypto more closely into the American financial system.

Who is Trump’s team considering for these roles?

Some of the people in contention for the top job at the nation’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) include Daniel Gallagher, a former SEC official and Republican donor who now works at Robinhood; and Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, two Republican commissioners already at the agency.

All three have previously criticized the SEC for being too hard on crypto, with Gallagher previously describing the agency as taking a “scorched earth” approach to the industry.

Others in contention for SEC commissioner include Paul Atkins, who has held the role before, and Chris Giancarlo, a former GOP commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The role of chairman is also likely to be up for grabs, with Trump having already promised to fire Gary Gensler at a bitcoin conference last summer. Gensler has headed up fraud charges and various other allegations against major crypto companies like FTX, Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken over their business practices.

Featured image: Midjourney

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It could be even easier for Instagram users to make their AI-powered profile picture, judging from a new in-app test.

While it’s already possible to create an AI-generated profile picture using third-party services, it could soon be available to do in-app. App researcher Alessandro Paluzzi has reported on X that Instagram is testing a new feature for all of its users, to streamline the process of creating AI-generated profile images.

Users won’t need to leave the Instagram app or use a third-party service provider but instead do it directly from the profile editing section. This echoes what Snapchat and TikTok already offer through their ‘Dreams’ and ‘AI avatar’ features.

#Instagram is working on the ability to create an #AI profile picture pic.twitter.com/yFIRujk1GS

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) November 11, 2024

Facebook, owned by Meta like Instagram, is also testing an AI-powered profile picture generator but it’s not yet been released on the platform. Judging from the advanced stage of the test shared by Paluzzi, Instagram may have the jump on Facebook and be able to debut it first.

How would Instagram’s AI profile picture feature work

In the same way that Instagram users can currently click on ‘Edit Profile’ and upload a picture to act as their profile image, a new option would appear that reads ‘Create an AI profile picture.’ When clicked on, this would lead users to be able to convert their existing image into something more stylized, as pictured in Paluzzi’s X post above.

It’s not yet confirmed whether Instagram would allow users to edit any picture in their gallery or only their uploaded profile picture, or how much choice there would be over what kind of style your photo would take. It also doesn’t seem to offer any word-based prompts to further edit your image.

Meta has been incorporating AI into its social media offering more and more, with its social media AI chatbot expanding into more markets last month. Instagram specifically has also used it behind the scenes to detect underage users.

Featured image: Alessandro Paluzzi

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Microsoft is working on an enterprise-level Copilot feature that would allow companies to build their own custom AI virtual employees.

In practice, this would mean that companies would be able to create their own AI chatbots to interact with customers or in-house employees to handle internal tasks, ensuring the tone and behavior of the agent was in line with company guidelines and preferences.

This project, titled Microsoft Copilot Studio, is the next stage of AI at work, with a closed beta running earlier this year and a public testing phase planned for November, as reported by TechSpot.

The types of tasks that AI employees, dubbed agents by Microsoft, can carry out are generally administrative ones, such as answering customer enquiries via chatbot generating or resolving IT support tickets, and answering emails using prepared templates.

The fact that Microsoft refers to agents and ‘virtual employees’ plays on people’s existing fears around AI: namely, that AI could steal human jobs. The tech giant has also therefore been quick to emphasize that Copilot agents can only automate repetitive and often tedious tasks. The idea is that this frees up human time for more creative, higher-responsibility roles.

How does Copilot Studio work?

Companies won’t need to have extensive technical knowledge to work with Copilot Studio, with the application using a low-code format. The largely graphical interface requires limited programming knowledge and there are pre-built agents provided by Microsoft that clients can use to create their own or hit the ground running with immediately.

Some of the premade agents include an AI sales qualification agent (focused on customer outreach), a supplier communications agent (intended to optimize supply chains), and a customer intent agent (helping human customer service employees with automatically generated articles). That offers an idea of what the intended uses are for companies putting Copilot Studio into action.

Microsoft hasn’t given a firm timeline for when Copilot Studio will be available for the wider public but with the test phases progressing, it could be as early as next year.

Featured image: Microsoft

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Spotify has launched a new in-app feature that allows users to create cover art for their playlists.

Spotify users can already upload their own photos to use as cover art for playlists but now you can customize them even further. A new in-app feature called ‘Create Cover Art’ allows people to crop images in different shapes, add colorful backgrounds, and use effects like blurring and fish-eye to fine-tune your cover art as you like.

There are also text tools included to add different fonts to the words on your cover image. The same effects listed above also work on the text. Last but not least, there is also a library of stickers to add the finishing touches to the cover art.

While there’s no generative AI capabilities at the moment, Spotify has been no stranger to AI use in the past, with AI-powered playlist generation launched earlier this year. Indeed, Spotify has been launching various new features, perhaps in a bid to make its offering more premium, with potential plans for a price increase for a higher tier of subscription possibly in the works.

How to use Spotify’s new ‘Create Cover Art’ feature

The ‘Create Cover Art’ feature is currently in its beta form in 65 geographical markets around the world. You’ll need to be on the mobile app to try it out, rather than the desktop version.

Open up a playlist and tap the three dots to expand the settings. If the beta has rolled out to you, you should see ‘Create Cover Art’ in the menu that then pops up. The toolbar of image, text, and sticker options will pop up from there.

You can also export your cover art to share on social media to promote your playlists further, or otherwise the cover art will remain in the app, seen at the top of playlists where the title and description are.

Featured image: Spotify

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Ray-Ban’s Meta smart glasses are the best-selling product in the majority of Ray-Ban stores in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

One year on from the release of the second generation of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, EssilorLuxottica’s CFO Stefano Grassi revealed on a recent investors’ call that the smart glasses are the top-selling product in 60% of Ray-Ban stores in EMEA – a term used to describe the geographical region encompassing Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Speaking in the parent company’s Q3 2024 earnings call, Mr Grassi told investors, as reported by Upload: “Ray-Ban Meta, very happy about the performance that we’ve seen. It’s an overall success story that we see.

“Just to give you an idea, it’s not just a success in the US, where it’s obvious. But it’s also a success here in Europe. In 60% of the Ray-Ban stores in Europe, in EMEA, Ray-Ban Meta is the best-seller in those stores. So it’s something that is extremely pleasing.”

It’s no surprise that he’s pleased, with the average price of Ray-Ban products being between $150 and $200 and the Ray-Ban Meta glasses starting $300, that surely accounts for a spike in revenue for the eyewear company.

What does this mean for smart glasses?

Looking to the future, the popularity of Ray-Ban’s offering is an early sign that tech and fashion are increasingly going in hand in hand. Even more importantly, consumers are willing to pay more for smart glasses if they’re stylish and easily available, highlighting that smart wear is becoming integrated into the day-to-day, rather than being reserved for tech fans.

Technology-wise, the Ray-Ban Meta glasses are relatively simple, as smart glasses go, especially when you compare them to Apple’s plans, for instance. There’s no display and, while there are still updates coming through, EssilorLuxottica has lines in the sand about how far aesthetics can be compromised for greater technical advancements.

For example, the thickness of the frames has been a sticking point, meaning there’s no room for the kind of technology needed to make them real AR glasses.

That said, there are still some tempting features included in Ray-Ban’s gear, clearly intended to be used in everyday routines. You can set reminders and timers, send WhatsApp voice memos, scan AR codes, and activate Meta AI. There are also plans to add live translation, Spotify controls, and more later this year.

The Meta AI features are only available in the UK and the US but this hasn’t seemed to impact the sales throughout EMEA. Plus, there’s still plenty of time for further developments, with Meta and EssilorLuxottica recently extending their partnership into the 2030s.

Featured image: Meta

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An Irish watchdog has devised and published an Online Safety Code for video-sharing platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram and Facebook’s Reels.

The code, published by media and internet watchdog Coimisiún na Meán, will apply to any video-sharing platforms headquartered in the country from next month, which includes ByteDance’s TikTok, Google’s YouTube, and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook Reels.

The Code states that platforms will need to have terms and conditions that ban uploads or sharing of a harmful content, including cyberbullying, promoting self-harm or suicide, and promoting eating or feeding disorders,as well as banning content that incites hatred or violence, terrorism, child sex abuse material (CSAM), and racism or xenophobia.

It’s intended as a stopgap to address content that might slip through the gaps left by the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), according to Coimisiún na Meán spokesman Adam Hurley. The DSA has been in place since February 2024 and is focused on illegal content, such as CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material), rather than the wider scope that the proposed Irish Code seeks to address.

“One of the thoughts behind the Online Safety Code is dealing with content which is more harmful rather than illegal,” Hurley told Tech Crunch. “What we’ve done is broaden the scope to harmful content that they must prohibit uploading of and then act on reports against those terms and conditions.”

“It’s a prohibition on uploading in their terms and conditions. So they have to prohibit the uploading of these types of content in their own terms and conditions, and then they’ll have to enforce those terms and conditions,” he added.

What does the Online Safety Code state?

Other areas that Ireland’s Online Safety Code covers is requiring platforms to have a way to report harmful content, so that they can act in accordance with the aforementioned terms and conditions. EU law doesn’t allow for a general monitoring obligation on platforms, so this builds on the existing take down approach adopted by many social media platforms.

The Code also states that video platforms that allow for pornographic content or violence must employ age verification to ensure minors don’t access content inappropriate for their age. The regulator will assess appropriate age assurance measures on a case-by-case basis.

Ireland isn’t alone in wanting to address online child safety concerns, with the EU, Australia, and the US Senate all dealing with cases related to online safety.

Featured image: Unsplash

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Indian regulators are considering banning private cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, advocating for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) instead.

As reported by local news publication The Hindustan Times, Indian government institutions are leaning towards a ban on private cryptocurrencies, citing CBDCs as a more favorable option that provides the same benefits for less risk.

Anonymous officials have told the press that recent consultations on the topic have led to the conclusion that the risks outweigh the benefits when it comes to private cryptocurrencies.

“CBDCs can do whatever cryptos do,” said one official. “In fact, CBDCs have more benefits than cryptos, minus the risks associated with private cryptocurrencies.”

The digital rupee (e₹), India’s own CBDC, has already gained over five million users, with 16 participating banks joining in since the currency’s launch in late 2022. What’s more, the State Bank of India (SBI) has been experimenting with the application of CBDC, such as the launch of a pilot project in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh where lending to tenant farmers came via programmed end-use credits.

As it stands, cryptocurrencies are not deemed legal tender in India, despite the country already establishing a tax framework for cryptocurrencies.

What are CBDCs?

CBDCs, which stands for Central Bank Digital Currencies, are a new form of digital currency that are issued by a country’s central bank. They function in a similar way to cryptocurrencies but the central bank sets their value, in a similar way to a national currency.

India isn’t the only country to develop a CBDC, with the Bank of England considering issuing a digital pound, similar to a digital banknote. 2020 saw the Central Bank of the Bahamas launching the Sand Dollar, a digital currency that sought to boost financial inclusion. In the US, state governments have blocked similar attempts in the States.

The benefits of CBDCs include making it easier for people without bank accounts to access financial services, making transactions more secure, and making it easier for governments to implement financial policies.

Featured image: Midjourney

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Streaming services Disney+ and Hulu have removed the option of subscribing in-app to avoid a hefty Apple commission.

Historically, Apple has required streaming platforms with apps available on the App Store to offer a way to subscribe directly through the app. This earns the tech giant a 15-30% commission on all sign-ups – something Disney+ and Hulu are now pushing back on, now that it’s no longer a requirement.

The two streaming services are joining the ranks of apps ditching Apple’s app-based purchases, with both of them removing the option to subscribe to their services in the iOS apps. As confirmed on both of the companies’ websites, new users need to create an account via an external website.

“New and returning subscribers are no longer able to sign up and pay for Disney+ through Apple,” reads the Disney+ website. “However, you can see all plans and sign up directly on DisneyPlus.com, and can still watch Disney+ content on supported Apple devices. These changes do not impact existing Apple-billed subscribers.”

There’s virtually identical text on the Hulu help section too, confirming the change for both service providers.

The decision to remove app-based purchases will likely save both Disney and Hulu money on customer acquisition, no longer needing to pass on money from new customers to Apple. This is one of many steps from Disney trying to boost income from the streaming service, after recently cracking down on shared subscriptions.

How has Apple responded to move away from in-app subscriptions?

An Apple spokesperson told 9to5Mac that Apple believes the App Store has helped Disney reach a wider audience with its apps, while both Disney+ and Hulu also benefited from Apple’s Video Partner Program. The program allowed streaming platforms to promote their content through Universal Search and Siri, as well as reducing its commission from 30% to 15%.

Apple claims that using the App Store’s purchase system is still the best way to let users buy digital goods and services, despite it not being a requirement anymore. Specifically, Apple’s system supports transactions in many countries and currencies and has its own anti-fraud mechanism.

Featured image: Unsplash

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Apple’s newly-announced iPad Mini is well-prepared to grow with AI, featuring an A17 Pro chip and support for the company’s new Apple Intelligence system.

Geared towards AI and portability, Apple has now announced the next generation of the iPad Mini, complete with a new chip and integration with Apple Intelligence. Despite boosting its AI performance, it stays compact with an 8.3-inch design.

The new model will be available in four colors, including new-to-Apple blue and purple options. The updated iPad Mini starts from $499 for 128GB of storage (double the minimum storage of the previous generation) and with Wi-Fi and $649 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model, coming in both 256GB and 512GB configurations.

Pre-orders begin today, with availability starting October 23. A new Smart Folio, available in charcoal gray, light violet, denim, and sage, is also available for $59.

The chip upgrade results in a 30% boost in CPU performance 25% increase in GPU performance when compared to the generation before.

As well as integrating with Apple Intelligence, the iPad Mini also has wider support across other Apple tools, including the Pencil Pro, as well as Wi-Fi 6E support, faster USB-C data transfer, and an upgraded 12MP wide camera with Smart HDR 4.

The pencil support means pressure sensitivity, haptic feedback, and gesture controls but also means the latest Apple Intelligence features, like improved writing tools, image generation, and task automation, will be available on the next generation of iPad Mini.

What’s new with the iPad mini 7:

New blue and purple colors
Faster A17 Pro chip
Apple Intelligence support
Wi-Fi 6E support
Bluetooth 5.3 support
12MP camera with Smart HDR 4
Apple Pencil Pro support
Faster USB-C port (with USB 3 speeds)
New 128GB… pic.twitter.com/EGp2MA2wdK

— Apple Hub (@theapplehub) October 15, 2024

What is Apple Intelligence?

The first wave of Apple Intelligence features will be available from October onwards with a gradual rollout in US English via the software update, iPadOS 18.1.

Some of the initial features include Writing Tools, where users can refine their writing across Apple apps like Mail, Notes, Pages, and some third-party apps, a more integrated Siri across internal systems (with richer language-understanding capabilities), and tools in Photos like Memories, where users can create movies with text-based prompts, and the new Clean Up tool, where people can identify and remove distracting objects in the background of a photo.

Future plans for Apple Intelligence include integration with ChatGPT, Image Wand, where the Pencil can transform a rough sketch into a polished image, and Siri able to draw on a user’s personal history to better inform its responses.

Featured image: Apple

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China has denied claims  a state-sponsored hacking group has infiltrated critical American infrastructure.

Made jointly by the US government and Microsoft in May 2023, the allegations state that Volt Typhoon, a state-sponsored hacking group in China, installed surveillance malware in ‘critical’ systems on the island of Guam and other locations in the United States. Allegedly, that gave the group access to those systems for the last five years.

In February 2024, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the NSA, and the FBI issued an advisory warning to critical infrastructure organizations regarding state-sponsored cyber actors from China, claiming that they “are seeking to pre-position themselves on IT networks for disruptive or destructive cyberattacks.”

The joint claims from the American agencies stated that Volt Typhoon had infiltrated the US Department of Energy, US Environmental Protection Agency, as well as various government agencies in Australia, the UK, Canada, and New Zealand. Instead of attacking any of these targets, Volt Typhoon is allegedly ‘pre-positioning’ itself for potential future attacks.

The fact that government agencies were targeted suggests that the plan would be to disrupt critical infrastructure, or so the reports claim. The US government believes that the goal is exacerbating “potential geopolitical tensions and/or military conflicts.”

How has China responded?

Now, China has denied such allegations, with the nation’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (NCVERC) describing the claims as a “political farce” orchestrated by US officials in a new report seen by Bloomberg.

The report is also said to have cited more than 50 cybersecurity experts who added their voices to China’s claims that there isn’t sufficient evidence linking Volt Typhoon to the Chinese government.

In return, the NCVERC has made claims in response that the United States is using “cyber warfare forces” to gather intelligence and infiltrate international networks, alleging that the US is using a tool known as Marble that can use Chinese and Russian code to implicate the respective countries in the actions.

This is the last in a long line of technology-based spats between China and other world powers, with China being accused of hacking the UK Ministry of Defence and a separate hired hacker scandal earlier this year.

Featured image: Midjourney

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Apple researchers have published a study detailing key limitations in LLMs, or large language models, from major AI labs like OpenAI.

The study, worked on by scientists from the tech giant and published this month, reveals a new benchmark used to evaluate LLMs’ mathematical reasoning skills. That benchmark has highlighted limitations in some of the world’s top LLMs, including OpenAI’s 4o and o1 models.

Specifically, the paper found that changing the wording of questions or adding unrelated phrases could drastically change the results. In some cases, accuracy dropped by up to 65%. The more complex the questions, the wider the range of results achieved, lowering the accuracy.

As such, the team at Apple, made up of Iman Mirzadeh, Keivan Alizadeh, Hooman Shahrokhi, Oncel Tuzel, Samy Bengio, and Mehrdad Farajtabar, have concluded that their research shows “no evidence of formal reasoning” in the models tested. They argue that the behavior is more likely sophisticated pattern matching than mathematical processes.

What are LLMs?

LLMs are what underpins a lot of AI-powered tools nowadays. They are a type of AI that uses machine learning to understand and generate human language, making them useful for text analysis, understanding text prompts, and so on. LLMs are typically trained on large amounts of data, such as books and articles, to learn how language works.

However, this research appears to support the theory that LLMs cannot truly reason yet. That leaves some doubt about whether they can be trusted with more complex tasks, at a time when many companies are using AI for increasingly important roles.

For example, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman outlined plans for AI to feed into virtually every aspect of life, from healthcare and education to home assistants and workplace aids. Concerns around whether superintelligent AI is really as close as Altman claims have already been raised by other tech leaders, including Meta’s AI Chief Yann LeCun, who labeled such hopes “complete B.S.”

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An intrepid IT engineer in the UK is digging through trash to find a lost hard drive with a discarded Bitcoin fortune on it.

James Howells, based in Newport, Wales, is suing the local council over a claim of £495 million ($524 million) in damages. That’s the peak value of his lost Bitcoin, lost on a hard drive that was discarded in August 2013.

Howells’ then-partner accidentally threw the valuable hard drive away, at a time when the coins were trading for around $130. Now, the value is nearly $66,000 a coin.

Clearly motivated to regain access to the hard drive, Howells is offering the local council 10% of the value recouped from it in an attempt to organize a dig. These efforts are said to cost around £10 million, something the council will not allow, stating that it is the only entity with authority over the site.

What are the next steps in the crypto-trash case?

The case is new going to court in December, with Howell suing for damages and demanding access to the landfill site. Howells told WalesOnline that he’s prepared to take the case to the country’s Supreme Court in the hope of gaining access back to the crypto funds. At the moment, he’s working with investors, to whom 70% of the proceeds would go if the hard drive is found.

After several years in a landfill, the likelihood of the lost hard drive being in good enough condition to access are getting increasingly low. However, Howells’ legal team believes there’s an 80% chance of the drive still working if found soon.

Howells is putting all of his energy into the efforts to recover the hard drive, noting that he is currently experiencing “financial struggles.”

“My finances are not in the best position at the moment,” he told WalesOnline. “I’m focusing all my current efforts and resources, including money, on the recovery project. I struggle along in the meantime.

“But the legal effort is covered. We’re willing to go all the way to the appeals court, the Supreme Court. With a case of this magnitude, I’m expecting to go the full distance. I didn’t really want to go to court but this is the final shot.”

Featured image: Ideogram

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