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☆ Tesla ordered by auto regulators to provide data on 'Elon mode' Autopilot configuration
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Tesla has received a special order from federal automotive safety regulators requiring the company to provide extensive data about its driver assistance and driver monitoring systems, and a once secret configuration for these known as "Elon mode." If the driver leaves the steering wheel unattended for too long, the "nag" escalates to a beeping noise. As CNBC previously reported, with the "Elon mode" configuration enabled, Tesla can allow a driver to use the company's Autopilot, FSD or FSD Beta systems without the so-called "nag." Tesla CEO Elon Musk who also owns and runs the social network X, formerly Twitter, often implies Tesla vehicles are self-driving. His use of Tesla's systems would likely comprise a violation of the company's own terms of use for Autopilot, FSD and FSD Beta, according to Greg Lindsay, an Urban Tech fellow at Cornell.

Persons: Elon Musk, Porte, Tesla, Elon, John Donaldson, Philip Koopman, Koopman, Ann Carlson, Ashok Elluswamy, Greg Lindsay, Grep, Bruno Bowden, Musk Organizations: SpaceX, Twitter, Porte de, CNBC, Traffic Safety Administration, Bloomberg, NHTSA, Automotive, Carnegie Mellon University, California DMV, FSD, Urban Tech, Cornell Locations: Paris, California

☆ Amazon will soon let you pay for groceries with your palm at any Whole Foods—but tech experts urge caution
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon One is a type of biometric-based form of payment which uses your unique physical features, such as your face or palm print, to authorize payments. This means customers who sign up for the Amazon One program won't need their wallets or phones to pay for groceries. To its credit, Amazon says its palm scanners use liveness-detection technology and are able to tell the difference between a live palm and a fake one. Consumers should also be aware that the database where their biometric data is stored could potentially be hacked. It's important to understand that your biometric information is some of the most sensitive data you create, says Greer.

Persons: you'll, that's, Hafiz Malik, Malik, Evan Greer, Cynthia Rudin, Rudin, Greer, That's, Warren Buffett Organizations: Foods, University of Michigan, Corporations, CNBC, Duke University Locations: U.S

☆ Amazon built a data center empire in northern Virginia. Exclusive filings reveal it's using as much energy as a major city.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Daniel Geiger | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Amazon does not disclose how many data centers it occupies, where they are located, or how much electricity they consume. Many of Amazon's data centers listed in the permits have been built recently and some may still be under construction. "You cannot run a data center based on the variability of solar and wind," Boston said. Any producer of renewable energy can sell one REC for every megawatt hour of renewable energy it generates. Brady, the Cushman & Wakefield data center executive, said that data centers often match their backup generation to the capacity of a data center's power supply.

Persons: Shaolei Ren, David Ward, Abraham Silverman, Sean Brady, Glenn Youngkin, Steve Helber, Terry Boston, –, Ben Hertz, Wood Mackenzie, Andy Jassy Mike Blake, Amazon's, Priya Barua, We've, Barua, Blackstone, Weston Swenson, Brady, Swenson, Josh Levi Organizations: Amazon, Washington DC, Amazon Web Services, UC Riverside, Columbia University's Center, Global Energy, Cushman & Wakefield, Dominion Energy, France's, AP, Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Republican, State Corporation Commission, Boston, state's Department, Environmental, Reuters, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Clean Energy Buyers Association, Virginia's Department, Industry, Cushman &, Dominion, Data Center Coalition Locations: Virginia, New York City, Washington, Seattle, France, Ward, Northern Virginia, West Coast, Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE

☆ What is the LK-99 superconductor? Everyone is talking about how it could change the world, but experts say we're still a long way off
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

South Korean scientists claim to have made a superconductor, LK-99, that works at room temperature. But electricity that travels along a superconductor barely loses energy along the way. That's the premise behind LK-99, a possible superconductor material that scientists in South Korea say they have devised, which has been dominating headlines and social media posts in the past week or so. To that end, some experts are trying, but this holy grail has eluded scientists for many years, so the prospects are still a long way off, experts told Insider. "So low power energy chips is one major area in chip design."

Persons: Leonard Kahn, Kahn, Edwin Fohtung, Elif Akçalı, Akçalı, it's, Meissner, we're, Siddharth Joshi, Joshi, Navid Asadi, Asadi, Dale Rogers Organizations: Service, Department of Physics, University of Rhode Island's College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Florida, University of Notre Dame, Arizona State University Locations: Wall, Silicon, South Korea

☆ Google's water use is soaring. AI is only going to make it worse.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Its latest environmental report shows a 20% jump in water consumption in its data centers. Google just published its 2023 environmental report, and one thing is for certain: The company's water use is soaring. The numbers provide a stark reminder of the environmental cost of running huge data centers, which often require vast amounts of water to stay cool. The majority of the water Google is consuming right now is "potable," clean enough to be used as drinking water. In its latest report, Google said it takes "local water stress" (another way of saying scarcity) into account, and said 82% of its freshwater withdrawals in 2022 came from regions with low water stress.

Persons: Shaolei Ren, Ren, Alistair Barr Organizations: Google, University of California Locations: Riverside, Mesa , Arizona, Arizona, Mesa

☆ Turns out all we may need to stop climate change is 139 billion gallons of super-duper white paint
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Cork Gaines | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

According to one professor, we can stop global warming if we used a new super white paint. The problem though, is we would need to cover at least 1% of the earth's surface with the paint. But just how big is 1-2% of the Earth's surface? For reference, the total land area of the United States is just over 3.5 million square miles, so we'd need to cover the country in white paint from sea to paint-stained sea. If we assume the new paint acts like commerical paint, as the Purdue researchers suggest, a gallon would cover about 400 square feet, we would need roughly 139 billion gallons of the super-duper white paint to cover just 1% of the Earth's surface.

Persons: Jeremy Munday, Davis, Munday Organizations: Service, Purdue University, University of California, New York Times, Purdue Locations: United States, Texas

☆ 30-year-old balances 9-to-5 job with Olympic swimming side hustle: 'I'm really thankful that they're letting me do it'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"My co-workers, in and out of the pool, are really great with my schedule. Fink isn't the first professional athlete with a standard day job. But balancing a side gig and a full-time job isn't easy, especially when the side gig is high-level athletic competition. Of course, Fink's swimming career isn't over yet. I'm really thankful that they're letting me do it," he said in a statement following his victory last week.

Persons: Nic Fink's, Fink, he's, Melanie Margalis, He's, Katie Ledecky, Michael Andrew . Fink isn't, Pierre le, Lanni Marchant, Paul Adams, Marchant, Warren Buffett Organizations: U.S, CNBC, Services, TYR, Olympics Locations: Atlanta, Tokyo, Canadian

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Microsoft employees roast CEO Satya Nadella, men use AI for dating profiles, and top investors for fledgling startups
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Moving forward, I'll be a senior reporter on our flagship newsletter, Insider Today. Insider Today takes you inside the biggest stories in business, including tech. We're working on revamping Insider Today, and we want your feedback. Please fill out this quick, five-question survey to let us know what you want to see in the newsletter. Before we say "Bye Bye Bye" here — see you soon at Insider Today!

Persons: I'm, Siu, you've, you'll, Rebecca Zisser, we've, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Asia Martin, Arantza Pena Popo, Oran Cummins, Satya Nadella, William Bullock, Robert, Teodora Danilovic, Michael Parks, Diamond Naga Siu, Lisa Ryan, Alistair Barr, Hallam Bullock Organizations: Getty, Apple, Microsoft, OceanGate Expeditions Locations: Tech, Silicon, Midtown Manhattan, York City, San Diego, New York City, Silicon Valley, London

The video does not disclose any potential AI use and the DeSantis campaign did not respond to a question about whether the images were fake or whether AI was used to create them. A person with knowledge of the DeSantis campaign operation said the Trump side had been "continuously posting fake images and false talking points to smear the governor." The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Drexel professor Stamm's forensics analysis tool suggests the images were made using an AI model called a diffusion model, which underpin popular AI image generation products like DALL-E and Stability AI. "At some point the AI systems will be outputting images that have no differences from real images," said James O'Brien, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Persons: Donald Trump, Russell Cheyne, Anthony Fauci, Trump, Fauci, Ron DeSantis, Matthew Stamm, Hany Farid, DeSantis, Drexel, Biden, James O'Brien, Alexandra Ulmer, Anna Tong, Seana Davis, Rosalba O'Brien, Stephen Coates Organizations: U.S, Republican, Aberdeen International Airport, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Republican White, Twitter, Trump, Drexel University, University of California, Republican National Committee, RNC, Thomson Locations: Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, Florida, Berkeley, U.S, China, Taiwan, San Francisco

☆ DeSantis Campaign Uses Apparently Fake Images to Attack Trump on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Nicholas Nehamas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In turn, Mr. DeSantis’s camp suggested the images were obviously fake, comparing them to memes circulated by Mr. Trump and his allies. But those images — which included a video of Mr. DeSantis in a woman’s suit adapted from “The Office” and a “recording” of a conversation between Mr. DeSantis, Adolf Hitler and the Devil — were clearly intended to be humorous and easy to discern as doctored. Who knows?” The image, which appeared to be photoshopped, had earlier been posted by Mr. Trump on his Truth Social website. “This is the big information security problem of the 21st century,” said Matthew Stamm, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Drexel University who reviewed the images of Mr. Trump and Dr. Fauci and strongly doubted their authenticity. Unlike Mr. DeSantis’s video, the R.N.C.

Persons: DeSantis’s, Trump, DeSantis, Adolf Hitler, Christina Pushaw, ”, Matthew Stamm, Fauci, Biden Organizations: Mr, Twitter, Republican, Drexel University, Republican National Committee Locations: China, Taiwan

☆ I'm a former Google engineer who founded an AI startup. Here are the AI tech skills to learn and the tech roles AI will replace.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AI will overtake many tasks, and some roles, he says, leaving people free for more creative work. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Zach Smith, founder of Nova AI. But the path to my dream career – founder of a newly launched startup called Nova AI – wasn't straightforward or easy for me. And the people who do them should prepare themselves to be shifted towards different, more creative tasks. While I don't think that QA engineers are going to be entirely replaced, all of the manual functions they do will be automated.

Persons: Zach Smith, Gayle McDowell, I've, there's, it's Organizations: Morning, Nova, Google, Georgia Institute of Technology, Nova AI

☆ ChatGPT is powered by these contractors making $15 an hour
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( David Ingram | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Out of the limelight, Savreux and other contractors have spent countless hours in the past few years teaching OpenAI's systems to give better responses in ChatGPT. So far, AI contract work hasn't inspired a similar movement in the U.S. among the Americans quietly building AI systems word-by-word. watch nowJob postings for AI contractors refer to both the allure of working in a cutting-edge industry as well as the sometimes-grinding nature of the work. There's no definitive tally of how many contractors work for AI companies, but it's an increasingly common form of work around the world. A spokesperson for OpenAI said no one was available to answer questions about its use of AI contractors.

[1/2] A Tesla Model 3 vehicle drives on autopilot along the 405 highway in Westminster, California, U.S., March 16, 2022. Tesla denied liability for the accident and said in a court filing that Hsu used Autopilot on city streets, despite a user manual warning against doing so. "This case should be a wakeup call to Tesla owners: they can't over-rely on Autopilot, and they really need to be ready to take control and Tesla is not a self-driving system," he said. The Hsu trial unfolded in Los Angeles Superior Court over three weeks, with testimony from three Tesla engineers. The main question in Autopilot cases was who is responsible for an accident while a car is in driver-assistant Autopilot mode - a human driver, the machine, or both?

☆ Inside the Rise and Fall of Kittyhawk, Larry Page's Failed Flying Car Company
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Hugh Langley | Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

Killing off projects had become something of a tradition at Kittyhawk, the secretive flying-car startup launched by the Google cofounder Larry Page. Larry Page has used his Google money to found a series of flying car companies with one common goal: "to free the world of traffic." "When Bloomberg did their original exposé, that's when urban air mobility became a thing," a former Kittyhawk employee recalled. Everyone thought: If Larry Page is in this space, there must be something here." Interpreting "Larry-isms" or "learning to speak Larry" were essential skills for any Kittyhawk employee who wanted to retain their sanity.

☆ A computer engineering student is using ChatGPT to overcome learning challenges linked to her dyslexia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

French college student Myriem Khal uses ChatGPT to overcome learning challenges linked to her dyslexia. Myriem Khal, a French computer engineering student with dyslexia, told Insider that she has used the buzzy AI chatbot to help her understand her course materials. "I have always needed to work harder than others, and I have always fought to be as bright as possible in my studies," Khal said. "The teacher was very technical," Khal said. Khal asked ChatGPT in French to explain technical concepts for her AI class to understand the material.

☆ A top-100 Amazon seller with over $200 million in sales shares the top 6 things that set apart a successful seller from a failed one
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

He has since learned the key things that set apart those who succeed and fail on Amazon FBA. But by 2013, he had taken interest in Fulfillment by Amazon after his brother, a toy seller on the platform, surpassed $1 million in sales. One thing Needham has learned from being an Amazon seller for over a decade is that the business is far from passive. Below are six key things he says could set apart the successful Amazon seller from the ones who fail. Another successful seller Needham knows will launch a slightly different product at all three price points.

☆ The tech meltdown comes for Gen Z
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The tech industry was teetering, and she wondered whether the future she had banked on would survive. On Handshake, a leading jobs board for college students, entry-level software positions in the tech industry slumped 14% last year. "I'm finding that students are pivoting to organizations that have IT functions but are not in the tech industry," says Laura Garcia, director of career education at Georgia Tech. Given the seismic downturn in tech, some students are rethinking their dreams of working for the Amazons and Googles and Metas of the world. Suddenly, in the eyes of Gen Z, tech seems to be just as ruthless and unreliable of an employer as banking did to millennials who came of age in the Great Recession.

☆ Fact Check-Earthquake in Turkey was not a HAARP operation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Multiple experts told Reuters that HAARP could not have been responsible for the earthquake in Turkey or anywhere as it does not have such capabilities. HAARP CANNOT TRIGGER EARTHQUAKESAccording to the HAARP website’s FAQ section, it cannot control or manipulate the weather (haarp.gi.alaska.edu/faq). Nishimura said there may not have been lightning strikes at all in the video shared online. Experts say the Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey was not a result of a HAARP operation because HAARP does not have capabilities to trigger earthquakes. (Update Feb. 13, 2023: Replaces paragraph 8 with response from HAARP program manager)This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team.

☆ How to delete yourself from the internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

With so much personal data floating publicly on the internet, consumers have a legitimate interest in controlling the information flow. Self-help tools to remove personal informationFor those who are so inclined, there are ways to limit the amount of personal information available on the internet. If that fails, Google says it may remove personal information "that creates significant risks of identity theft, financial fraud, or other specific harms." It can be hard to gauge the effectiveness of these services, partly because there's so much personal information in the public domain. DeleteMe's website says that 2,389 pieces of personal information, on average, are found over a two-year subscription.

☆ Purdue’s 1st Asian American president takes office weeks after school official mocks Asian languages onstage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Chiang’s tenure comes shortly after Thomas L. Keon, chancellor of PNW mocked Asian languages during a winter commencement. A post published by nonprofit Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, written by writer Emil Guillermo, said that action from Chiang could send a strong message. The first Asian American president fires the racist chancellor who told a bad Asian joke.”Keon did not respond to a request for comment. “The Board has therefore issued a formal reprimand to Dr. Keon.”Thomas L. Keon, chancellor of Purdue University Northwest in Indiana. Instead, he said, it’s reflective of larger problems that Asian and Asian American students often faced.

☆ EnCharge AI, a chip startup born in Princeton lab, raises $21.7 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Jane Lanhee Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec 14 (Reuters) - EnCharge AI, a chip startup born at a Princeton University lab, on Wednesday said it raised $21.7 million as it looks to commercialize its computing technology that is designed to run artificial intelligence applications more efficiently. Its first products will be cards that can be easily slotted into server racks for companies to run AI applications, said Naveen Verma, CEO and co-founder of EnCharge AI and a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Princeton. EnCharge AI chips work by computing data directly in the memory on the chip, using a special chip design and software. The chips will first be used in factories, warehouses and retail spaces to run AI applications, said Verma. EnCharge AI said the latest funding round was led by Anzu Partners with participation from AlleyCorp, Scout Ventures, Silicon Catalyst Angels, Schams Ventures, E14 Fund and Alumni Ventures.

☆ Tech jobs: Recent grads send in hundreds of apps in unfamiliar, shrinking market
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Now, though, they’re applying for tech jobs at possibly the worst time in years, as nearly every part of the sector from streaming services to robotics has laid off people or frozen hiring. He graduated with a computer science degree in December 2021, a time he now sees as “the beginning of the end” for the most recent tech boom. “My biggest chances of getting a job in the U.S. kind of tanked,” he said, because of the recent layoffs. At colleges and universities, interest in computer science soared during the most recent tech boom. Lam, who’s scheduled to graduate in December 2023, said he originally thought the layoffs in tech would hurt junior-level people the most.

☆ Man behind the Korean wave talks about the future of K-pop and what aspiring artistes can do
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Kimberley Kao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Gabriel Olsen | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images"But when foreign bands come to [South Korea to] perform, they completely took over the stage and fans went wild. Future of K-popAs for the future of K-pop, "I think the metaverse that everyone is talking about these days is the future," Lee says. SM Entertainment established a metaverse world called SM Culture Universe, and launched its first metaverse girl band, Aespa in 2020. SM Entertainment established a metaverse world called SM Culture Universe, and launched its first metaverse girl band, Aespa in 2020. Alexi Rosenfeld | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images"SM Entertainment is building 'Play-2-Create'… people can discover their creative side and create in the metaverse.

☆ Bolsonaro contests Brazil election, demands votes be anulled
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Neither explained how that might have affected election results, but said they were asking the electoral authority to invalidate all votes cast on those machines. Diego Aranha, an associate professor of systems security at Aarhus University in Denmark, who has participated in official security tests of Brazil’s electoral system, agreed. Bolsonaro spent more than a year claiming Brazil’s electronic voting system is prone to fraud, without ever presenting evidence. Brazil began using an electronic voting system in 1996 and election security experts consider such systems less secure than hand-marked paper ballots, because they leave no auditable paper trail. But Brazil’s system has been closely scrutinized by domestic and international experts who have never found evidence of it being exploited to commit fraud.

☆ Chip firm Navitas, worth $1 billion, is competing with industry leaders to replace silicon chips with more environmentally-friendly gallium-nitride ones.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

After spending decades working with silicon chips, Sheridan started Navitas to capitalize on an emerging technology he says has a multibillion-dollar market potential. Today, most of Navitas' GaN chips can be found in phone and laptop chargers made by companies like Samsung, LG, Lenovo, and Dell. Sheridan said integrated circuits gave Navitas chips a competitive edge over GaN chips produced by competitors like Infineon, Texas Instruments, and Nvidia. GaN chips are far from replacing silicon chipsWhile GaN chips have promise, silicon chips are dominant. It says it has also invested in research and development to design GaN chips for bigger systems.

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