Author: GT

James D. Watson, whose co-discovery of the twisted-ladder structure of DNA in 1953 helped light the long fuse on a revolution in medicine, crimefighting, genealogy and ethics, has died. He was 97.The breakthrough — made when the brash, Chicago-born Watson was just 24 — turned him into a hallowed figure in the world of science for decades. But near the end of his life, he faced condemnation and professional censure for offensive remarks, including saying Black people are less intelligent than white people.Watson shared a 1962 Nobel Prize with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for discovering that deoxyribonucleic acid, or…

Francesco Nicodemo, a consultant who works with left-wing politicians in Italy, has gone public as the latest person targeted with Paragon spyware in the country.  On Thursday, Nicodemo said in a Facebook post that for 10 months, he preferred not to publicize his case because he “did not want to be used for political propaganda,” but now “the time has come.”   “It is time to ask a very simple question: Why? Why me? How is it possible that such a sophisticated and complex tool was used to spy on a private citizen, as if he were a drug trafficker or…

California-based startup Subtle Computing is tackling the problem of capturing people’s voices in noisy environments with its own voice-isolation models — a technology that could benefit voice-based AI products and services. Consumer apps using voice AI are today seeing tremendous growth. AI meeting note-takers like Granola, Fireflies, Fathom, and Read AI have received both user and investor attention. Existing companies like OpenAI, ClickUp, and Notion have integrated voice transcription solutions. App makers like Wispr Flow and Willow are working on voice dictation. Then there are hardware companies like Plaud and Sandbar that are using devices as a medium to transcribe…

Meta announced on Thursday that Vibes, its short-form video feed of AI-generated videos, is launching in Europe in the Meta AI app. Think TikTok or Instagram Reels, but every single video you come across is AI-generated. The rollout comes six weeks after Meta introduced the feed in the U.S. A few days after Meta’s launch, OpenAI released Sora, a social media platform for creating and sharing AI-generated videos. With Vibes, you can create and share short-form AI-generated videos and access a dedicated feed that displays AI videos from others. Meta says your feed will become more personalized to your interests…

Denmark’s government on Friday announced an agreement to ban access to social media for anyone under 15, ratcheting up pressure on Big Tech platforms as concerns grow that kids are getting too swept up in a digitized world of harmful content and commercial interests.The move would give some parents — after a specific assessment — the right to let their children access social media from age 13. It wasn’t immediately clear how such a ban would be enforced: Many tech platforms already restrict pre-teens from signing up. Officials and experts say such restrictions don’t always work.Such a measure would be…

SpaceX is buying another $2.6 billion worth of wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar, an expansion of a $17 billion deal announced in September, as its satellite internet business Starlink continues to win new customers around the world. The spectrum sale comes just a day after SpaceX revealed it has passed 8 million global customers. On Thursday, the company added more commercial contracts to that total. International Airlines Group announced it will install Starlink inflight internet on more than 500 aircraft across its portfolio, which includes British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus. The additional EchoStar spectrum will be used to grow…

Sora’s Android launch is off to an auspicious start. On its first day on the Google Play Store, the AI video app from ChatGPT maker OpenAI saw an estimated 470,000 downloads across the markets where it was available, according to new estimates from app intelligence provider Appfigures. That makes the Android launch more than 4x the size of the iOS launch, with 327% more installs (360,000) — but the firm notes that’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. On iOS, Sora was only available in the U.S. and Canada, and it was invite-only. Sora on Android, however, is available in the U.S.,…

Pentagon-backed MP Materials warned investors this week to approach other rare earths projects with caution, pointing to the industry’s difficult economics.Stocks of U.S. rare earth companies have had wild swings in recent months as investors have speculated that the Trump administration might strike more deals along the lines of its landmark agreement with MP. Smaller retail traders have gotten involved in the stocks with the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF up 60% this year.The Defense Department in July took an equity stake in MP, set a price floor for the company, and inked an offtake agreement with the…

Executives at Ford are considering killing its flagship electric pickup truck, the F-150 Lightning, according to The Wall Street Journal. The discussions are happening in the wake of Ford’s late October decision to idle F-150 Lightning production while it prioritizes hybrid and gas-engine versions of the popular pickup. The company’s been dealing with production troubles after a fire broke out at aluminum supplier Novelis’ factory in Oswego, New York, earlier this year. Ford introduced the F-150 Lightning in 2021 with a promised base price of $40,000. It started building and selling the truck in 2022 — although the truck wound…

OpenAI execs have been fielding plenty of questions about how they expect to pay for the $1.4 trillion worth of data center build-outs and usage commitments they’ve accrued this year, given that their revenue — while rising rapidly — is a $20 billion annual run rate, CEO Sam Altman said Thursday in a post on X. Altman’s comments came in response to comments made by OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar — which she quickly walked back. Speaking at a Wall Street Journal event on Wednesday, Friar said she wanted the U.S. government to “backstop” her company’s infrastructure loans. This, she explained,…