Author: GT

This week, Google released a family of open AI models, Gemma 3, that quickly garnered praise for their impressive efficiency. But as a number of developers lamented on X, Gemma 3’s license makes commercial use of the models a risky proposition. It’s not a problem unique to Gemma 3. Companies like Meta also apply custom, non-standard licensing terms to their openly available models, and the terms present legal challenges for companies. Some firms, especially smaller operations, worry that Google and others could “pull the rug” on their business by asserting the more onerous clauses. “The restrictive and inconsistent licensing of…

Researchers have developed a model that explains how humans adapt continuously during complex tasks, like walking, while remaining stable.The findings were detailed in a recent paper published in the journal Nature Communications authored by Nidhi Seethapathi, an assistant professor in MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Barrett C. Clark, a robotics software engineer at Bright Minds Inc.; and Manoj Srinivasan, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Ohio State University.In episodic tasks, like reaching for an object, errors during one episode do not affect the next episode. In tasks like locomotion, errors can have…

(Bloomberg) — European Central Bank Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said the US risks bringing about the next financial emergency through its support of cryptocurrencies and non-bank finance. Most Read from Bloomberg “The United States risks sinning through negligence,” he said in an interview with the French weekly La Tribune Dimanche. “Financial crises often originate in the United States and spread to the rest of the world. By encouraging crypto-assets and non-bank finance, the American administration is sowing the seeds of future upheavals.” Villeroy added that European supervision was better secured and said there was no risk of…

Google will replace Google Assistant on Android phones with Gemini later this year, the company announced on Friday. Google said in a blog post that it’ll upgrade more users from Google Assistant to Gemini “over the coming months.” Later this year, Assistant will no longer be accessible on most mobile devices or available from app stores. “Additionally, we’ll be upgrading tablets, cars and devices that connect to your phone, such as headphones and watches, to Gemini,” the company added. “We’re also bringing a new experience, powered by Gemini, to home devices like speakers, displays and TVs.” Google said it’ll share…

With a more efficient method for artificial pollination, farmers in the future could grow fruits and vegetables inside multilevel warehouses, boosting yields while mitigating some of agriculture’s harmful impacts on the environment.To help make this idea a reality, MIT researchers are developing robotic insects that could someday swarm out of mechanical hives to rapidly perform precise pollination. However, even the best bug-sized robots are no match for natural pollinators like bees when it comes to endurance, speed, and maneuverability.Now, inspired by the anatomy of these natural pollinators, the researchers have overhauled their design to produce tiny, aerial robots that are…

Swedish fintech Klarna took the next step in its highly anticipated U.S. IPO on Friday when it made its F-1 prospectus public. We are sifting through the document now. Klarna hopes to raise at least $1 billion at a $15 billion valuation with this IPO, Bloomberg reported last week. The public documents don’t yet reveal how many shares it plans to sell or the price range, so we won’t know if this IPO will meet its fundraising aspirations or not until it prices shares. That’s typically around a month, sometimes more, after the prospectus documents are made public for everyone…

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a sophisticated campaign targeting the Albion Online gaming community through impersonation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The operation, discovered in early March 2025, leverages decoy documents designed to appear as official EFF communications while deploying malware in the background. Albion Online, a multiplayer online role-playing game with a player-driven economy, has become a lucrative target due to third-party markets where in-game assets are exchanged for real money. Researchers at Hunt.io identified messages on the game’s forum directing players to phishing websites under the pretext of discussing security for in-game assets tied to their accounts. The…

Robots have come a long way since the Roomba. Today, drones are starting to deliver door to door, self-driving cars are navigating some roads, robo-dogs are aiding first responders, and still more bots are doing backflips and helping out on the factory floor. Still, Luca Carlone thinks the best is yet to come.Carlone, who recently received tenure as an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro), directs the SPARK Lab, where he and his students are bridging a key gap between humans and robots: perception. The group does theoretical and experimental research, all toward expanding a robot’s…

As businesses race to replace humans with AI “agents,” coding assistant Cursor may have given us a peek at the attitude bots could bring to work, too.  Cursor reportedly told a user going by the name “janswist” that he should write the code himself instead of relying on Cursor to do it for him. “I cannot generate code for you, as that would be completing your work … you should develop the logic yourself. This ensures you understand the system and can maintain it properly,” janswist said Cursor told him after he spent an hour “vibe” coding with the tool.…

A sophisticated cyber espionage campaign dubbed “Operation Sea Elephant” has been discovered targeting scientific research organizations, with a particular focus on ocean-related studies. The operation, attributed to a threat actor group known as CNC with South Asian origins, aims to steal valuable research data to ensure regional dominance in the Indian Ocean. The CNC group has demonstrated significantly enhanced capabilities compared to other Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups operating in South Asia. Their attacks have become increasingly modular and customized, allowing them to evade detection more effectively than their counterparts. Security experts at Qiaxin discovered the campaign in mid-2024 when…