Technical updates

Four artificial intelligence experts have expressed concern after their work was cited in an open letter – co-signed by Elon Musk – demanding an urgent pause in research. The letter, dated March 22 and with more than 1,800 signatures by Friday, called for a six-month circuit-breaker in the development of systems "more powerful" than Microsoft -backed OpenAI's new GPT-4 , which can hold human-like conversation, compose songs and summarise lengthy documents. Since GPT-4's predecessor ChatGPT was released last year, rival companies have rushed to launch similar products. The open letter says AI systems with "human-competitive intelligence" pose profound risks to humanity, citing 12 pieces of research from experts including university academics as well as current and former employees of OpenAI , Google and its subsidiary DeepMind. Civil society groups in the US and EU have since pressed lawmakers to rein in OpenAI's research. OpenAI did not immediatel...

Twitter on Friday made public parts of the computer code that decides how the social media site recommends content, allowing users and programmers a peek into its workings and the ability to suggest modifications to the algorithm. The company said in a blog post it uploaded the code in two repositories on code-sharing platform Github . They include the source code for many parts of Twitter, including the recommendations algorithm which controls the tweets that users see on their timeline. The move comes at the behest of its billionaire owner Elon Musk , who has said code transparency would lead to higher trust among users and rapid improvements to the product. It also serves to address common concerns from users and lawmakers, who are increasingly scrutinizing social media platforms over how algorithms select the content that users see. Musk tweeted on Friday that third parties should be able to analyze the open-sourced code and "determine, with reasonable accuracy, what will...

Elon Musk asked a US judge on Friday to throw out a $258 billion (roughly Rs. 21,20,200 crore) racketeering lawsuit accusing him of running a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency Dogecoin . In an evening filing in Manhattan federal court, lawyers for Musk and his electric car company Tesla called the lawsuit by Dogecoin investors a "fanciful work of fiction" over Musk's "innocuous and often silly tweets" about Dogecoin. The lawyers said the investors never explained how Musk intended to defraud anyone or what risks he concealed, and that his statements such as "Dogecoin Rulz" and "no highs, no lows, only Doge" were too vague to support a fraud claim. "There is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10 billion (roughly Rs. 82,200 crore)," Musk's lawyers said. "This court should put a stop to plaintif...

Do Kwon, the cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind two digital currencies that lost an estimated $40 billion (nearly Rs. 3,28,500 crore) or more last year, has been charged with fraud by US prosecutors. An eight-count indictment against Kwon was made public in the US District Court in Manhattan, several hours after news of his arrest earlier Thursday in Montenegro. Lawyers for Kwon in the United States did not immediately respond to requests for comment after business hours. Thursday's indictment charges Kwon, a South Korean national who co-founded Terraform Labs and developed the TerraUSD and Luna currencies, with two counts each of securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and conspiracy. The criminal case follows related US Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges against Kwon and Terraform last month. Kwon had been a fugitive for several months, and South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for him last September. South Korean police said o...

After the launch of its second horizontally folding smartphone the Find N2, Oppo now appears to be working on its successor. Just like the Find N , the Find N2 was also exclusive to Oppo's home market. The new foldable that has been tagged as the Oppo Find N3 for now, is said to offer plenty of upgrades including a bigger display, battery, and the latest processor from chipmaker Qualcomm. The source has also provided hints about the upcoming smartphone's design without getting into the details. Tipster Digital Chat Station on Weibo has leaked out several details of an upcoming Oppo foldable handset, which has been tagged as the Find N3. These are the first set of details of the Oppo Find N3 to be publicly available and is also the first time we have heard about the device itself as Oppo released its successor to the Find N recently, in December last year. The tipster claims that the upcoming device will have a bigger 8-inch inner display with a resolution of 2,268 x 2,440...

Vampire Survivors took home the top honour at the BAFTA Games Awards, in what could be called the most shocking moment at the ceremony. The indie title won two trophies — Best Game Design and the coveted Best Game prize — beating out God of War Ragnarök , which was leading with six awards. Even developer Poncle confessed on-stage that they weren't expecting to win. The ceremony was streamed live on Twitch early Friday, and saw God of War Ragnarök dominating the lineup with a record-breaking 14 nominations, though six of them were acting nominations for its stellar cast. The Santa Monica Studio-developed sequel, however, secured the EE Game of the Year, which is a publicly voted award that isn't officially part of BAFTA . After an early access launch for PC in December 2021, Vampire Survivors almost instantly became a hit, throwing players into pixelated dungeons to mow down thousands of night creatures, while stacking up on perks such as bibles and garlic to keep them away. ...

Japan said on Friday it will restrict exports of 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, aligning its technology trade controls with a US push to curb China's ability to make advanced chips. Japan, home to major global chip equipment makers such as Nikon and Tokyo Electron, did not specify China as the target of the measures, saying equipment makers would need to seek export permission for all regions. "We are fulfilling our responsibility as a technological nation to contribute to international peace and stability," Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura told a news conference. Japan wants to stop advanced technology being used for military purposes and does not have one specific country in mind with the measures, he said. But Japan's decision is seen as a major diplomatic win for US President Joe Biden's administration, which in October announced sweeping restrictions on China's access to US chipmaking tech to slow its t...

A US judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc that alleged its Facebook social media business drove a now-defunct photo software application startup out of business in violation of federal antitrust law. US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn, New York, federal court said in her 67-page order that Phhhoto Inc had failed to timely bring its claims under relevant US antitrust law that sets a four-year window and under New York state competition provisions that have a three-year statute of limitation. "Phhhoto has failed in its 69-page amended complaint of 222 paragraphs to allege sufficient facts that cure the untimeliness of all of its federal claims," Matsumoto wrote. She said, "no exception applies to toll the limitations periods." The court declined to allow Phhhoto to fine-tune its case and bring another complaint. Lawyers for Phhhoto at plaintiffs' firm Hausfeld did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Thu...

E3 2023 has been cancelled — it's not happening in any form, in-person or digital, this year. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) confirmed the news on Twitter, following an original report from IGN based on emails sent to its members. It mentioned that while E3 was a beloved brand, the 2023 edition ‘simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary' to execute the event in a manner that would display the size and strength of the games industry. In January, the big three — PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo — pulled out of the summer video game event, leaving barely any major publishers. Following IGN's report , E3 2023 organiser ReedPop issued a public statement. “This was a difficult decision because of all the effort we and our partners put toward making this event happen, but we had to do what's right for the industry and what's right for E3 ,” Kyle Marsden-Kish, Global VP of gaming, ReedPop said, adding that a lot of publishers and developers int...

Alphabet's Google Cloud has accused Microsoft of anti-competitive cloud computing practices and criticised imminent deals with European cloud vendors, saying these do not solve broader concerns about its licensing terms. In Google Cloud's first public comments on Microsoft and its European deals its Vice President Amit Zavery told Reuters the company has raised the issue with antitrust agencies and urged European Union antitrust regulators to take a closer look. In response, Microsoft referred to a blogpost in May last year where its president Brad Smith said it 'has a healthy number two position when it comes to cloud services, with just over 20 percent market share of global cloud services revenues'. "We are committed to the European Cloud Community and their success," a Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday. There is intense rivalry between the two US tech giants in the multi-billion-dollar cloud computing business, where Google trails mark...

What are the biggest movies releasing in April 2023? Salman Khan headlines the biggest offering in Indian cinema this month, with Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan , a new action-packed affair which sees him as a self-appointed vigilante hoping to rid crime of the city. Directed by Farhad Samji ( Pop Kaun ), it is a remake of the 2014 Tamil film Veeram and is slated to release on April 21 in theatres. Follow that up with a mythological drama charting the epic love story of Shakuntala and King Dushyant, drawn from the pages of Mahabharata. Samantha Ruth Prabhu — best known for Super Deluxe — leads the cast of the Telugu film Shaakuntalam , hitting theatres on April 14. Coming to the Hollywood side, we've got The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the main draw of which has been the discourse surrounding Chris Pratt's voice, which doesn't sound high-pitched or Italian enough. Director duo Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!), however, continue repeatedly defending their voice...

Alibaba Group said on Thursday it will look to monetise non-core assets and consider giving up control of some businesses, as the Chinese tech conglomerate reinvents itself after a regulatory crackdown that wiped 70 percent off its shares. Group CEO Daniel Zhang said the company's breakup into separate businesses will allow its units to become more agile and eventually list on their own. His comments come two days after Alibaba announced its largest restructuring in the company's history, which will see it change into a holding company structure with six business units, each with their own boards and CEOs. "Alibaba will be more of the nature of an asset and capital operator than a business operator, in relation to the business group companies," Zhang told investors on a conference call on Thursday. On the same call, Alibaba CFO Toby Xu said the group would "continue to evaluate the strategic importance of these companies" and "decide whether or not...

Electronic Arts said on Wednesday it would lay off about 6 percent of its workforce and reduce office space, making it the first major videogame publisher to announce job cuts. Technology firms have led the latest round of layoffs as US companies brace for a potential economic downturn amid rising interest rates around the world. Meta Platforms and Amazon.com announced a second round of job cuts this month. Tech layoffs hit 63,000 in the first two months of the year, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. EA, which had about 12,900 staff at the end of March last year, expects to incur between $170 million (roughly Rs. 1,398 crore) and $200 million (roughly Rs. 1,644 crore) in charges related to the restructuring. "As we drive greater focus across our portfolio, we are moving away from projects that do not contribute to our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint, and restructuring some of our teams," CEO Andrew Wilson said in a blog post. E...

OnePlus is all set to launch the successor to Nord CE 2 Lite in India on April 4. The company has confirmed to launch the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G on the above-mentioned date. A teaser page for the phone is already live on the OnePlus India website. The site has revealed its colour variants and key specifications. Meanwhile, a reliable tipster has now tipped the expected price of the upcoming smartphone in India. The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite will be powered by a Snapdragon 695 5G SoC. Tipster Abhishek Yadav (Twitter: @yabhishekhd) has tipped that the upcoming OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G will start at Rs. 21,999 in India. However, the storage variants of the upcoming smartphone are yet to be known. It is tipped to pack 8GB of RAM and 128GB of inbuilt storage. The company has also shared that the phone will be equipped with a 5,000mAh battery with 67W fast charging support. Additionally, the phone will come in Pastel Lime and Chromatic Gray colour options. A recent report also suggest...

Vivo's X Flip has been in the rumour mill for a while. The smartphone brand has yet to confirm a launch date, but we have seen a number of leaks over the past few weeks, which indicate that the smartphone exists. The Vivo X Flip, as it's currently called, when launched will be the company's first vertical folding smartphone, after the recently launched X Fold Plus , which was the successor the original Vivo X Fold, its first foldable device. After recently appearing on benchmarking site Geekbench, the handset has now reportedly made it to the Google Play Store's list of devices, hinting at its official name and model number. The listing, which was first spotted by MySmartPrice , suggests the official moniker of the handset, which appears to be “Vivo X Flip”. The name is similar to what most buyers would expect and associate with a vertical folding device, and is the same moniker we have been using for Vivo's first clamshell foldable since the initial leaks. Also l...