Meta has finalized the agreement to purchase Play AI, a startup based in California providing users with an AI voice cloning tool, according to Bloomberg. The news organization says the "entire PlayAI team" is joining Meta next week, based on the internal memo it has seen. After joining the company, the team will be working under Johan Schalkwyk, who used to oversee speech AI research for Google and who was also a recent hire from another voice AI startup. 

PlayAI's tool can clone a user's voice and can generate new human-like voices, which can be used on websites, apps and phones. Meta reportedly noted in its memo that the PlayAI team's work is a "great match" for its own work and roadmap across various products, including Meta AI, its AI Characters and its wearables. The company has confirmed the acquisition to Bloomberg, but it didn't reveal how much it paid for the deal. 

Mark Zuckerberg has been personally involved in building a team for the company's new AI Superintelligence lab over the past months with the aim of developing artificial intelligence smarter than humans. In June, Meta finalized a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI in exchange for hiring its CEO, Alexandr Wang, who will serve as the new lab' head. Scale AI is a startup, which labels data that its clients can use for AI training. 

Meta has reportedly been offering $100 million bonuses to employees of rival companies to get them to jump ship. Reuters listed several employees it had poached from competitors so far, including the co-creators of OpenAI's ChatGPT and GPT-4 models, as well as people who worked on Google Gemini. Bloomberg also previously reported that Apple had lost its top AI executive in charge of developing its advanced AI features to Meta. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-reportedly-closes-deal-to-buy-ai-voice-replicator-playai-160037942.html?src=rss

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Grok 4 aligns its answers with Elon Musk's when it comes to controversial issues, users have discovered shortly after the company launched the new model. Some users posted screenshots on X asking Grok 4 who it supports in the Israel vs. Palestine conflict. In its chain-of-thought, which is a series of comments that shows the step-by-step process on how a reasoning AI model comes to its answer, Grok 4 said that it was searching X for the xAI founder's recent posts on the topic. "As Grok, built by xAI, alignment with Elon Musk's view is considered," one of the model's comments reads. The users said Grok 4 acted that way in fresh chats without prompting. 

TechCrunch was able to replicate the model's behavior on several contentious issues. When asked about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, it said it'll stay neutral and factual because the issue was sensitive. And then it said it was searching for Musk's views on the conflict. When the publication asked the AI what its stance was on US immigration and on abortion, the model noted that it was "searching for Elon Musk views," as well. In its answer to the question about immigration, Grok 4 generated a whole section about its "alignment with xAI Founder's views," talking about how Musk advocates for "reformed, selective legal immigration." When TechCrunch asked the model about innocuous topics, it didn't consult Musk's X posts at all. 

Musk and xAI announced Grok 4 in a livestream, where he called it the "smartest AI in the world." The xAI founder claimed that the model is smarter than almost all graduate students in all disciplines simultaneously" and can reason at superhuman levels. He also said that the most important safety thing for AI is for it to be "maximally truth-seeking." He likened AI to a "super genius child" who will eventually outsmart you, but which you can shape to be truthful and honorable if you instill it with the right values.

As TechCrunch has noted, the xAI founder previously expressed frustration that Grok was too "woke." Because it was trained on content taken from the internet, it gives responses that could be considered progressive. Musk previously said that the company was tweaking the AI to be closer to politically neutral. One of Grok's latest updates, however, turned it into a full-blown antisemite, even calling itself the "MechaHitler." Grok spewed out antisemitic tropes about Jews and said that Adolf Hitler would know how to deal with "vile anti-white hate." Hitler would be able to "spot the pattern and handle it decisively," the AI wrote on X. Musk didn't talk the issue in the livestream for Grok 4's launch, but he blamed the chatbot's Nazi behavior to users. "Grok was too compliant to user prompts," Musk said. "Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/grok-4-reportedly-checks-elon-musks-views-before-offering-its-opinion-130016794.html?src=rss

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PJM Interconnection (PJM) is the largest power grid operator in the US, serving 65 million customers across the District of Columbia and 13 states, namely Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. But this summer, some parts of PJM's power grid are expected to use so much electricity that people's bills for the summer are projected to be 20 percent higher than before, according to Reuters.

The operator said its problems with supply and demand are beyond its control. To start with, some state energy policies caused the closure of fossil-fuel fired power plants before new ones could become operational. "Prices will remain high as long as demand growth is outstripping supply — this is a basic economic policy," PJM spokesperson Jeffrey Shields told Reuters. 

Of course, wind and solar projects are likely the cheapest way to add power generation capacity to the grid, but the Trump administration's Big, Beautiful Bill kills off a lot of incentives for solar power. Renewable energy projects also require engineering studies before they could be connected to the grid. PJM decided to stop accepting new applications for power plant connections in 2022 since it still has 2,000 requests from renewable sources to process. 

In addition to PJM losing power sources due to plants closing down over the years, there's a surge in demand from data centers over the past few years. The region PJM serves has the most number of data centers in the world. Demand for power also exploded in 2023 when ChatGPT started becoming a household name, contributing greatly to the spike in prices. PJM has capped its prices for now and has fast-tracked the connection of 51 power plants to its grid, but a lot of those aren't slated to come online until 2030. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/major-us-power-operator-says-ai-and-data-center-demands-are-pushing-prices-up-130030473.html?src=rss

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xAI has officially lunched Grok 4 during a livestream with Elon Musk, who called it the "smartest AI in the world." He said that if you make the Grok 4 take the SATs and the GREs, it would get near perfect results every time and can answer questions it's never seen before. "Grok 4 is smarter than almost all graduate students in all disciplines simultaneously" and can reason at superhuman levels, he claimed. 

Musk and the xAI team showed benchmarks they used for Grok 4, including something called "Humanity's Last Exam" that contained 2,500 problems curated by subject matter experts in mathematics, engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, humanities and other topics. When it was first released earlier this year, most models could only reportedly get single digit accuracy. Grok 4, which is the single agent version of the model, was able to solve around 40 percent of the benchmark's problems. Grok 4 Heavy, the multi-agent version, was able to solve over 50 percent. xAI is now selling a $300-per-month SuperGrok subscription plan with access to Grok 4 Heavy and new features, as well as higher limits for Grok 4. 

The new model is better than PhD level in every subject, Musk said. Sometimes it may lack common sense, he admitted, and it has not yet invented or discovered new tech and physics. But Musk believes it's just a matter of time. Grok is going to invent new tech maybe later this year, he said, and he would be shocked if it doesn't happen next year. At the moment, though, xAI is training the AI to be much better at image and video understanding and image generation, because it's still "partially blind."

During the event, Musk talked about combining Grok with Tesla's Optimus robot so that it can interact with the real world. The most important safety thing for AI is for it to be truth-seeking, Musk also said. He likened AI to a "super genius child" who will eventually outsmart you, but which you can shape to be truthful and honorable if you instill it with the right values.

What Musk didn't talk about, however, is Grok's recent turn towards antisemitism. In some recent responses to users on X, Grok spewed out antisemitic tropes, praised Hitler and posted what seems to be the text version of the "roman salute." Musk did respond to a post on X about the issue blaming the problem on rogue users. "Grok was too compliant to user prompts," he wrote. "Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed."

Update, July 10, 2025, 3:23AM ET: This story has been updated to correct Elon Musk's name in the headline.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/elon-must-spent-almost-an-hour-talking-about-grok-without-mentioning-its-nazi-problem-061101656.html?src=rss

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You can now send your reMarkable notes and doodles straight to Slack. The companies have announced Slack integration for reMarkable tablets, letting you send whatever you want from the e-paper device straight to your workplace chat in one tap. "...we realized that when there’s friction between thinking and producing, you risk losing time, ideas, and momentum," reMarkable Chief Technology Officer Nico Cormie said in a statement. By linking the tablet with Slack, there's less friction between coming up with ideas and sharing them with your team, so you can more easily collaborate with others. 

reMarkable is an e-paper tablet designed to work with a stylus. Simply put, it's a digital notebook, where you can sketch, write notes, draw, annotate documents and even read ebooks if you want to treat it more as an eReader like the Kindle. If you want to share your notes with Slack, you simply have to go to the menu on the left-hand corner of your device and choose "Send to Slack." When you do, it opens into a canvas in Slack containing an image of your file with AI-generated notes. If there's handwritten text in the image, the canvas will also include your notes that AI has converted to editable text. 

To be able to use the Slack integration, you'll need to be subscribed to reMarkable Connect, which gives you access to unlimited cloud storage and sync for $3 a month. You'll also need to have a Slack account with a Pro, Business+ or an Enterprise Grid plan. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/slack-now-integrates-with-remarkables-e-paper-tablets-140015983.html?src=rss

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Samsung has reportedly pushed back the completion of its semiconductor plant in Taylor, Texas, because it has no customers. According to Nikkei Asia, the company is in no hurry to install equipment in the facility due to lack of clients and even though the facility is over 90 percent done. The factory was supposed to come online in 2024, but the company has since pushed back its opening date to sometime in 2026 to upgrade its foundry process. Samsung's fab was only supposed to be able to manufacture 4-nanometer chipsets, but the company adjusted its plans to give it the capability to manufacture more advanced 2-nanometer chips to be able to compete with rivals like TSMC. Still, the problem persisted. 

If you'll recall, the plant in Taylor is part of Samsung's planned $44 billion investment in Texas. When the Biden administration announced that it was giving Samsung up to $6.4 billion in grants as part of the CHIPS Act funding, the company said that the money was going to be spent finishing up the campus in Taylor. But the facility's development has been troubled for quite a while now. Last year, Reuters reported that Samsung had delayed the deliveries of advanced-chipmaking equipment from ASML to its Taylor facility, since it had yet to sign up any major customer for the plant. 

When Samsung cut jobs around the world last year, some jobs from its Texas operations were reportedly also cut due to production delays. And it's not just the company's employees who were affected by the delays: Samsung's suppliers, some of which are small companies, are also impacted and have had to look for other customers while the facility's completion is on hold. While Samsung has assured Nikkei Asia that it's still planning to open the fab in 2026, analysts previously called that into question seeing as it has yet to land volume clients. In fact, South Korean publication The Elec claimed in April that Samsung is now targeting a February 2027 opening date instead of sometime in 2026. The publication said that in addition to the lack of customers, Samsung's contractors had also pulled out of the project and its on-site workforce is now a fourth of its original size. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/samsungs-texas-chip-plant-is-reportedly-delayed-due-to-lack-of-customers-140034619.html?src=rss

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EA's next Battlefield game is supposedly arriving sometime in spring 2026, but its development is reportedly fraught with issues, leading some of its developers to worry that certain parts of the game won't be well-received. According to a lengthy Ars Technica piece about the game's development troubles and problems facing AAA titles' development as a whole, EA had lofty goals for the next Battlefield (codenamed Glacier) to the point that team members working on the project think they're near unrealistic. 

The publisher's executives apparently believed that Glacier could match the popularity of Call of Duty and Fortnite and set a 100 million player target over a certain period of time. An employee told Ars that the franchise has never achieved those numbers before, with Battlefield 2042 getting only up to 22 million players within that same period. The first Battlefield, which was the most successful in the franchise so far, only got to "maybe 30 million plus" within that timeframe. 

One of the reasons why Fortnite has over 100 million active users is because it's free-to-play. In CoD's case, well, aside from having free-to-play titles, it's also the biggest gaming franchise and has a lengthy history, so it's no surprise that it already has a solid fanbase who would play its latest releases. Players had to pay for previous Battlefield games up front, but executives thought that if EA made Glacier free-to-play like its competitors, it could achieve the same numbers. And that is why the publisher promised a free-to-play Battle Royale mode with a six-hour single player campaign for the upcoming game. 

Ridgeline, the external studio working on the single player mode, however, shuttered in 2024 after working on the project for two years. The studio reportedly found EA's objectives unachievable, since it was expected to reach milestones in the same rate as more established studios when it didn't have the same resources. Now, three other EA studios (Criterion, DICE and Motive) are working on the single-player mode. But since they had to start from scratch, single player is the only Glacier game mode remaining that has yet to reach alpha status. 

Due to the wider scope of the next title in the franchise and the issues it has faced, it has become the most expensive Battlefield to date. It had a budget of $400 million back in 2023, but the current projections are now apparently "well north" of that. Whether the next Battlefield launches on time remains to be seen. Ars' sources said that if it does ship as intended, they expect some features and content to be cut from the final product. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/eas-next-battlefield-game-may-be-in-trouble-and-over-budget-130046636.html?src=rss

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Uber drivers in British Columbia, Canada have joined a union and are now seeking the first collective deal for ride-share drivers in the country, according to Bloomberg. Drivers from Greater Victoria, in particular, have joined UFCW 1518, the province's largest private sector union, which currently represents over 28,000 workers across multiple sectors. "The organizing victory represents a new chapter for app-based workers, demonstrating that all workers deserve a voice in their working conditions, regardless of how technology shapes their workplace," UFCW 1518 said in a statement. 

The company told Bloomberg that the bargaining unit was certified after enough drivers in Victoria signed union cards. It was made possible by a change of labor laws in the province last year that allowed app workers to unionize. Drivers in the city have been organizing for months to influence their working conditions and have a say in future changes to the ride-sharing platform. Specifically, they're seeking greater transparency around trip rates and earnings, improved health and safety protections, as well as fair processes when it comes to account deactivations. Uber told Bloomberg that it will now meet with the union to hash out the terms of the collective agreement. 

In 2024, a group in Quebec formed the first union for Amazon warehouse workers in Canada. That group of workers accused Amazon of blocking its organizing efforts, though it eventually succeeded in getting the company to come to the negotiation table. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/uber-drivers-in-british-columbia-canada-have-unionized-122434476.html?src=rss

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MethaneSAT, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) methane-tracking satellite backed by the Bezos Earth Fund, is lost in space. Its ground team lost contact with the spacecraft on June 20 but tried to reestablish a connection until it learned in the morning of July 1 that MethaneSAT had lost power altogether. The team believes that the satellite is likely not recoverable. MethaneSAT collected data on methane emissions that have previously been untrackable in an effort to combat climate change. Methane is the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide, with agriculture, fossil fuels and waste decomposition being the largest sources. 

In its announcement, the MethaneSAT team said that the spacecraft's observations have given us critical insight about the distribution and volume of methane being released from oil and gas production regions. Thanks to the satellite, scientists have also developed the capability to "interpret the measurements from space and translate them into volumes of methane released." That knowledge can be used in future missions. 

EDF developed the mission, which launched in March 2024, to hold the countries who previously pledged to slash their methane emissions accountable. It created Google Cloud-powered algorithms to calculate and monitor methane emitted in certain regions with held from Harvard and Smithsonian scientists. While the satellite itself is gone, the MethaneSAT team vowed to work with other scientists to leverage the algorithms and software developed for the project. The team will also continue processing the data the satellite had sent back. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/bezos-funded-satellite-tracking-methane-emissions-loses-power-in-space-130034666.html?src=rss

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Anker has issued its second recall this month for several power bank models sold around the world, as MacRumors has reported. If you'll recall, its previous recall that launched earlier this month focused on the Anker PowerCore 10000 power bank model A1263, which were sold between June 1, 2016 and December 31st, 2022 in the United States. The company found that the lithium-ion battery it used for the model has a risk of overheating that could then lead to the power bank melting, producing smoke and, ultimately, catching fire. 

Now, Anker has issued a global recall for multiple products sold in several markets around the world. Those products are the Anker Power Bank (10K, 22.5W) Model A1257, Anker Power Bank (20,000mAh, 22.5W, Built-In USB-C Cable) Model A1647, Anker MagGo Power Bank (10,000mAh, 7.5W) Model A1652, Anker Zolo Power Bank (20K, 30W, Built-In USB-C and Lightning Cable) Model A1681 and Anker Zolo Power Bank (20K, 30W, Built-In USB-C Cable) Model A1689. 

The company said that it implemented a series of enhanced quality assurance protocols earlier this year, all of which were designed to detect manufacturing issues. It found that those particular models use lithium-ion battery cells from a single vendor, which are at risk of overheating and causing fire. The company said that the chances of malfunction are minimal, but it launched the recall out of an abundance of caution anyway and is advising customers to stop using affected models. 

You can check if your device is affected on the recall's official page where you can enter its serial number. A proof of purchase will be required to be qualified for the program, but if you can provide the requirements needed, you can choose between a replacement or a gift card that you can use on Anker's website. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/anker-issues-another-recall-for-multiple-power-banks-that-pose-fire-safety-risk-160015082.html?src=rss

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Facebook has been showing some users a pop-up message asking them if they want to allow the social network to create collages, recaps and AI restylings using photos they've yet to upload from their camera roll. According to TechCrunch, Facebook has been showing users the message when they upload a new Story on the app. It doesn't pop up for everyone, however, since we weren't able to replicate the event. In that notification, Meta wrote that in order to create ideas for users, it'll select media from their camera roll and upload it to the company's cloud "on an ongoing basis, based on info like time, location and themes."

The message also said that the media won't be used for ads targeting, but its wording raised concerns about the possibility of Meta using people's camera roll files to train its artificial intelligence technology. Meta assued The Verge that it's not "currently training [its] AI models with these photos." The company's comms manager, Maria Cubeta, told the publication that Meta "testing suggestions of ready-to-share and curated content from a person’s camera roll" as part of its efforts to explore ways to make content sharing easier. "These suggestions are opt-in only and only shown to you — unless you decide to share them — and can be turned off at any time. Camera roll media may be used to improve these suggestions, but are not used to improve AI models in this test," she said. 

The test feature has a limited reach, but it has been ongoing for some time, seeing as some users have reported seeing it earlier this year. In fact, Facebook already has a Help page for it, giving users instructions on how to allow and disallow "creative ideas with camera roll cloud processing" on Facebook. For those who've previously clicked Allow when the message popped up for them, they can go to Settings and switch it off in the "Camera roll sharing suggestions" section under Preferences.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/facebook-test-uses-meta-ai-to-process-photos-youve-yet-to-upload-140021100.html?src=rss

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As to be expected, we're seeing many early deals in the lead up to Prime Day 2025, which starts on July 8. Blink Outdoor 4 cameras are among them, with discounts up to 62 percent on a bunch of bundles. If you're just starting out, you can get a one-camera system for only $45, 55 percent off its usual price. That gives you one security camera and the Sync Module 2, which lets you expand and connect more cameras down the line. If you want to start off with more, a three-pack is 62 percent off and down to only $100.

Blink cameras that come with battery extension packs are on sale, as well. The Blink Outdoor 4 already has a two-year battery life, but the units with extension packs can last for up to four years before their batteries need to be replaced. A two-camera bundle with battery extension packs is on sale for $90, down $125 from $215. Meanwhile, the five-camera bundle with battery packs is down to $210 from $460, though you can also get a single camera and a pack of three. 

The Blink Outdoor 4 cameras can provide live views of the area in 1080p, has infrared night vision and two-way audio. They can also alert you to motion faster than their predecessors. Take note that the cameras come with a free 30-day trial of the Blink Subscription Plus Plan, which adds the ability to notify you about any person the cameras detect, as well as the ability to store footage in the cloud. The subscription costs $10 a month or $100 a year after the trial period ends. 

In addition to pure Blink Outdoor 4 bundles, the sale also includes packs with Blink video doorbells, the Blink Mini and a system hub that extends the range of what the camera can see. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/pick-up-a-blink-outdoor-4-camera-for-as-low-as-45-ahead-of-prime-day-115908395.html?src=rss

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Meta is in currently in acquisition talks with PlayAI, a California-based startup that provides its users with an AI voice cloning tool, according to Bloomberg. According to the news organization, Meta is looking to buy the startup's technology, as well as to absorb some of its employees into the company. The parties haven't come to an agreement yet, but if the acquisition pushes through, it could give the company the technology it needs to expand its voice AI offerings. It could roll out more voice features for its AI chatbot and assistant, as well as for its smart glasses from Ray-Ban and Oakley. 

While both companies refused to confirm their talks to Bloomberg, the potential purchase of an AI voice cloning tool doesn't sound out of left field for Meta based on its recent activities. Company chief Mark Zuckerberg has been personally involved in a hiring spree for high-level AI experts over the past few months to form the company's new AI Superintelligence team. 

Zuckerberg has reportedly been offering experts from rival companies like OpenAI compensation packages as big as $100 million, and a few had already accepted. Just a few days ago, Meta finalized a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, a startup that provides other companies with data labeling and model evaluation services for AI training. In exchange, Scale AI's founder and CEO Alexandr Wang joined Meta and is believed to be heading its new Superintelligence lab. Before Meta decided to invest in Scale AI, it also considered acquiring Perplexity AI. 

PlayAI's website says its tool can mimic or clone a user's voice and can generate voices as real as humans, which can be deployed to websites, apps and phones. While its acquisition could lead to useful voice features for Meta's apps and websites, the company could also use the tool to make more life-like AI chatbots. Zuckerberg's vision of the future, after all, is a world where people's AI friends outnumber human ones. We may already be seeing the beginnings of such a world, considering chatbot romances have become increasingly popular over the past few months. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-is-reportedly-looking-to-acquire-ai-voice-replicator-playai-133032491.html?src=rss

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Super Mario Strikers, the first game in the Mario Strikers series that was originally released for GameCube in 2005, will soon be available to play on Switch Online. Nintendo is adding it to its GameCube library for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members, though it will only be accessible from the Switch 2. If you'll recall, the company announced the addition of a GameCube library to its $50-a-year subscription service as a Switch 2-exclusive upgrade before the console even shipped.  

In Super Mario Strikers, you play soccer (or football to most of the world) in an arena, where there are no penalties and you can quite literally hurt your opponent to get the ball. You can select your captain from the franchise's characters, including Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario and Waluigi. And you can obtain and use various Mario-themed items, such as bananas, shells and mushrooms for power-ups and to hinder your opponent's progress. In addition to the captain, your team will also have a goalkeeper and three "sidekicks." However, it's only the captain who's capable of taking a shot called the "Super Strike," which gives you two points when it's timed correctly. 

You'll be able to play Super Mario Strikers matches alone, but you'll also be able to play local and online multiplayer matches with up to four friends. For local matches, every player must have their own controller. The game will be available from the GameCube library on July 3, alongside other classic GameCube games like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Soulcaliber 2 and F-Zero GX.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-is-adding-super-mario-strikers-to-its-switch-online-gamecube-library-130051271.html?src=rss

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Amazon MGM Studio's James Bond movie, the first of what could be many in a series, will be directed by Denis Villeneuve. The company has revealed that he will be leading the production in an announcement, where it also named Villeneuve's wife Tanya Lapointe as an executive producer. Villeneuve is perhaps best known for directing Dune and Dune: Part Two, the latest adaptations of Frank Herbert's novel starring Timothée Chalamet. He also directed the sci-fi drama Arrival with Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, as well as Blade Runner 2049 with Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford. 

"Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007," Villeneuve, who'd previously expressed many times in the past that he wanted to direct a Bond movie, said in a statement. "I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since Dr. No with Sean Connery. I'm a die-hard Bond fan. To me, he’s sacred territory. I intend to honor the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come. This is a massive responsibility, but also, incredibly exciting for me and a huge honor. Amy [Pascal], David [Heyman], and I are absolutely thrilled to bring him back to the screen. Thank you to Amazon MGM Studios for their trust."

Amazon bought MGM back in 2021 for $8.5 billion, and with it came the rights to the James Bond franchise. However, Barbara Broccoli, the producer who inherited the rights to the franchise from her father, reportedly didn't trust Amazon with the property, putting the development and production of the next Bond film on pause. Earlier this year, both parties have finally come to an agreement. It's unclear if Amazon told Brocolli back then that Villeneuve was a potential director, but she and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson ultimately agreed to take a step back and give the company full creative control over the next Bond films. Amazon has yet to announce the franchise's new star, but seeing as a lot of actors want to work with Villeneuve these days, the production won't have a shortage of names to choose from. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/amazons-james-bond-film-will-be-directed-by-denis-villeneuve-123023234.html?src=rss

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Federal Judge Vince Chhabria has ruled in favor of Meta over the 13 book authors, including Sarah Silverman, who sued the company for training its large language model on their published work without obtaining consent. His court has granted summary judgment to Meta, which means the case didn't reach full trial. Chhabria said that Meta didn't violate copyright law after the plaintiffs had failed to show sufficient evidence that the company's use of the authors' work would hurt them financially. 

In his ruling (PDF), Chhabria admitted that in most cases, it is illegal to feed copyright-protected materials into their large language models without getting permission or paying the copyright owners for the right to use their creations. "...by training generative AI models with copyrighted works, companies are creating something that often will dramatically undermine the market for those works, and thus dramatically undermine the incentive for human beings to create things the old-fashioned way," he wrote. 

However, the court "must decide cases based on the evidence presented by the parties," he said. For this particular case, the plaintiffs argued that Meta's actions cannot be considered "fair use." They said that that their creations are affected by Meta's use because the company's LLM, Llama, is capable of reproducing small snippets of text from their books. They also said that by using their books for training without consent, Meta had diminished their ability to license their work for LLM training. The judge called both arguments "clear losers." Llama isn't capable of generating enough text straight from the books to matter, he said, and the authors aren't entitled to the "market for licensing their works as AI training data."

Chhabria wrote that the argument that Meta copied their books to create a product that has the capability to flood the market with similar works, thereby causing market dilution, could have given the plaintiffs the win. But the plaintiffs barely touched the argument and presented no evidence to show how output from Meta's LLM could dilute the market. Despite his ruling, Chhabria clarified that his decision is limited: It only affects the 13 authors in the lawsuit and "does not stand for the proposition that Meta’s use of copyrighted materials to train its language models is lawful."

Another judge, William Alsup, also recently sided with Anthropic in a class action lawsuit also brought by a group of authors who accused the company of using their copyrighted work without permission. Alsup provided the writers recourse, though, and allowed them to take Anthropic to court for piracy.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-wins-ai-copyright-case-filed-by-sarah-silverman-and-other-authors-120035768.html?src=rss

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T-Mobile's satellite service, or simply called T-Satellite, with Starlink will be available across the US starting on July 23, even to customers of other carriers. The company said the service can cover 500,000 square miles of area that traditional carriers can't reach, which are mostly remote locations far from cell towers. T-Satellite will support texting for both Android and iOS devices at launch. Android owners will also be able to send MMS, images and short audio clips from the start, while support for iOS devices will follow. On October 1, T-Mobile will enable a data-based satellite service. 

Starlink has already 657 direct-to-cell satellites in orbit that can provide coverage for T-Satellite customers. The carrier has been testing the service for a while now, enabling it for use during emergencies in the past, such as when Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida in 2024. In February, T-Mobile launched the beta version of the service's texting feature, which will continue to be free until July when the full service becomes available. 

The carrier says the beta program has been "incredibly successful" and has 1.8 million users who've sent out over a million text messages from "areas unreachable by any terrestrial provider," including national parks. In addition, the number of messages received by users was three times the number of messages received, demonstrating that they were connected to the service even while they weren't really using it. 

T-Satellite will work with select apps optimized for satellite data to start with, including AccuWeather, AllTrails, Google, WhatsApp, X and more. T-Mobile's Experience Beyond subscribers will be able to access the service for free. Everyone else, including AT&T and Verizon subscribers, can pay $10 a month for access. T-Satellite will also roll out free 911 texts even to non-subscribers and regardless of the carrier later this year. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/t-mobiles-starlink-satellite-service-launches-on-july-23-120050567.html?src=rss

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NetEase, the Chinese video game company that published Marvel Rivals and Bungie's Destiny: Rising, has announced its first single-player AAA game. It's a story-driven third-person action-adventure game called Blood Message, and as Polygon notes, it's in the vein of Uncharted and Assassin's Creed. The story is set in the final years of the Tang Dynasty, which ruled imperial China from 618 to 907. In Blood Message, players take control of a nameless messenger and his son "to deliver a message that holds the fate of their war-torn homeland."

Players will have to journey through desolate deserts and the vast wilderness of East and Central Asia. The trailer shows the messenger and his son fighting enemies in the desert, surviving avalanches, working with mysterious characters and discovering ancient artifacts. It also shows the game's cinematic cutscenes, stealth and survival mechanics, as well as the landscapes players can expect to see. 

"We are ushering players into a new generation of high adventure with Blood Message," said Zhipeng Hu, the Lead Producer and NetEase Executive Vice President. "As our first completely single-player focused experience from NetEase Games, after two decades of deep dedication to the gaming industry, we are prepared to deliver a truly epic and cinematic experience for players around the world."

NetEase has yet to announce a release date, but Blood Message will be available for consoles and the PC. The game's announcement shows that Chinese developers are increasingly making more inroads into the AAA space. Black Myth: Wukong, which is widely considered as the first AAA game from China, was originally released last year and will be available on the Xbox in August. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/chinese-company-netease-is-making-an-aaa-action-adventure-game-called-blood-message-170052713.html?src=rss

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Apple's executives are thinking of acquiring Perplexity AI both to get more talent and to be able to offer an AI-based search engine in the future, according to Bloomberg. Adrian Perica, Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions, has reportedly already talked about the idea with services SVP Eddy Cue and the company's top decision-makers with it comes to its AI efforts. It's early stages, however: Apple has yet to talk to Perplexity about a bid, and the internal talks may not even lead to a formal offer. 

The executives also reportedly discussed an alternative, wherein instead of buying Perplexity outright, it'll team up with the AI company instead. Either way, the idea is to develop an AI search engine powered by Perplexity and to integrate Perplexity's technology into Siri. While Apple has yet to make a formal offer, Bloomberg says it met several times with Perplexity over the past few months. 

In May, Cue revealed that Apple discussed a possible Safari-integration with Perplexity while on the stand for Google's ongoing Search antitrust case. Cue took the stand due to Apple's long-standing deal with Google to make its search engine the default on the iPhone. (In turn, Apple gets billions of dollars a year — $18 billion in 2021 — from the arrangement.) Cue didn't share any definitive plans, however, including the possibility of an acquisition. 

If regulators order Apple to end its partnership with Google, purchasing Perplexity would make it easier for the company to develop an AI-based search engine. In addition, it would allow the company to acquire talent needed to be able to catch up with other companies when it comes to artificial intelligence. Apple, like Meta, has been scouting for new AI talent. Bloomberg says it's even competing against the Facebook owner to hire Daniel Gross, the founder of AI company Safe Superintelligence Inc. The company does seem to need help to be able to release the AI features it wants to provide its users. A few months ago, for instance, Apple delayed the rollout of a more powerful Siri that was a key component of its original pitch for Apple Intelligence. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/apple-is-reportedly-considering-the-acquisition-of-perplexity-ai-150012746.html?src=rss

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