Author: GT

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm since its launch in November 2022. What started as a tool to supercharge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth with 300 million weekly active users. 2024 was a big year for OpenAI, from its partnership with Apple for its generative AI offering, Apple Intelligence, the release of GPT-4o with voice capabilities, and the highly-anticipated launch of its text-to-video model Sora. OpenAI also faced its share of internal drama, including the notable exits of high-level execs like co-founder and longtime chief…

Just after sunrise on Saturday, a satellite set its long-range camera on the city of Mandalay in Myanmar, not far from the epicenter of Friday’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake that devastated the Southeast Asian county’s second-largest city.The mission was to capture images that, combined with artificial intelligence technology, could help relief organizations quickly assess how many buildings had collapsed or were heavily damaged and where helpers most needed to go. At first, the high-tech computer vision approach wasn’t working. “The biggest challenge in this particular case was the clouds,” said Microsoft’s chief data scientist, Juan Lavista Ferres. “There’s no way to…

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is set to propose a significant reclassification of cryptocurrency assets by 2026, according to a report by Nikkei. The move aims to designate cryptocurrencies as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, a shift from their current classification as a means of settlement under the Payment Services Act. This regulatory change comes amid a rise in reports of cryptocurrency-related scams. The FSA intends to implement stricter regulations on companies involved in crypto investments, which would require exchanges and firms soliciting crypto investments to register with financial authorities. This proposal is part of a…

AI startup Runway on Monday released what it claims is one of the highest-fidelity AI-powered video generators yet. Called Gen-4, the model is rolling out to the company’s individual and enterprise customers. Runway claims that it can generate consistent characters, locations, and objects across scenes, maintain “coherent world environments,” and regenerate elements from different perspectives and positions within scenes. “Gen-4 can utilize visual references, combined with instructions, to create new images and videos utilizing consistent styles, subjects, locations, and more,” Runway wrote in a blog post, “[a]ll without the need for fine-tuning or additional training.” Gen-4 sets a new standard…

MARA Holdings Inc. (MARA), a prominent Bitcoin mining company, has announced plans to offer up to $2 billion in stock to finance additional Bitcoin purchases. This strategic move, disclosed in a March 28 Form 8-K and prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), will be facilitated through an at-the-market agreement with investment firms, including Cantor Fitzgerald and Barclays. The company stated that the net proceeds from the stock offering will be allocated for general corporate purposes, primarily focusing on Bitcoin acquisitions and working capital. MARA Holdings, previously known as Marathon Digital, aims to bolster its position in…

Electric trucking company Harbinger has filed an objection to the sale of Canoo’s assets to its CEO, potentially throwing a wrench into the two-month-old bankruptcy case. Harbinger’s objection, filed late Friday, accuses Canoo of hiding certain assets from the sale process, including what the startup purchased from another bankrupt EV company, Arrival. It also accuses Canoo of listing assets that Harbinger believes the startup did not actually own (though it did not specify which ones). Harbinger said it came to this determination after it considered buying the assets and gained access to the virtual data room for potential bidders. What’s…

On March 28, 2025, California Assembly Bill 1052, originally introduced as the Money Transmission Act, underwent significant amendments focusing on Bitcoin and crypto investor protections. The bill, now titled “Digital Assets,” aims to secure self-custody rights for California’s nearly 40 million residents. The revised legislation prohibits public entities from restricting or taxing digital assets solely based on their use as payment, establishing that digital financial assets are valid forms of payment in private transactions. Additionally, the bill expands the California Political Reform Act of 1974, preventing public officials from engaging in transactions involving digital assets that could create conflicts of…

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during an Amazon Devices launch event in New York City, U.S., February 26, 2025. Brendan Mcdermid | ReutersAmazon on Monday released a new AI model that can take actions in a web browser on a user’s behalf, a move that puts it in more direct competition with OpenAI, Anthropic and other companies that have developed the so-called “agents.”The new model, called Nova Act, is designed to help developers build agents, or AI software that can complete multi-step tasks for users without supervision. Amazon showed Nova Act searching for “apartments by biking distance to the train station”…

Substack continues to double down on video amid TikTok’s uncertain future in the U.S. The company announced on Monday that it’s rolling out a scrollable video feed in its app, making it the latest platform to introduce a TikTok-like feed. Given the timing of the launch, Substack is likely aiming to capitalize on the potential void left by TikTok if it faces a ban in the United States. The move comes a month after Substack announced that it would start allowing creators to monetize their videos on the platform and let them publish video posts directly from the Substack app.…

Scientists have developed a device that can translate thoughts about speech into spoken words in real time.Although it’s still experimental, they hope the brain-computer interface could someday help give voice to those unable to speak.A new study described testing the device on a 47-year-old woman with quadriplegia who couldn’t speak for 18 years after a stroke. Doctors implanted it in her brain during surgery as part of a clinical trial.It “converts her intent to speak into fluent sentences,” said Gopala Anumanchipalli, a co-author of the study published Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience.Other brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs, for speech typically…