OpenAI to Challenge Google with Its Own Search Engine in May (3 minute read)
Reports indicate that OpenAI is looking to launch a search engine soon. OpenAI's in-house event on May 9 may focus on its release, although the event times and date may be subject to change. Google has scheduled its annual developer conference for May 14 - OpenAI's event may be a strategy to upstage Google before the search giant makes its AI announcements. This article presents the evidence for OpenAI's search plans.
U.S. v. Google: As landmark 'monopoly power' trial closes, here's what to look for (8 minute read)
The trial for the US Department of Justice's case against Google for using anti-competitive tactics to monopolize online search is now over and closing arguments are underway. Google's parent company Alphabet controls roughly 90% of the US search engine market, but the company claims its success is due to the quality of its product, not because of its business dealings. The ruling for the case could have far-reaching effects on how people use and interact with the internet. If the judge rules against Google, the consequences could be anything from fines to a restructuring of the company.
Siri for iOS 18 to gain massive AI upgrade via Apple's Ajax LLM (7 minute read)
Safari, Spotlight Search, and Siri will gain significant AI-related enhancements with the release of iOS 18. One of the key features in the works for Safari is text summarization. Siri will also receive a similar update, allowing it to generate responses to relay the content of messages in a simplified way. Apple's AI model will generate basic responses entirely on-device. More advanced replies or text summaries will need server-side processing.
Accelerated timelines, competition, and a lack of concern from superiors about real-world effects are themes common across a broad spectrum of the biggest effect companies. Engineers are increasingly saying that a large part of their jobs is focused on satisfying investors and not falling behind in the competition rather than solving actual problems for users. Some have been switched over to AI teams to help support fast-paced rollouts without adequate training, even if they are new to the technology. The immense pressure, long hours, and constantly changing mandates are causing burnout.
Microsoft ties executive pay to security following multiple failures and breaches (4 minute read)
Microsoft's Secure Future Initiative will make its Senior Leadership Team's pay partially dependent on whether the company is meeting its security plans and milestones, although it is unclear how much executive pay would be dependent on meeting those goals.
AI Copilots Are Changing How Coding Is Taught (4 minute read)
Educators are shifting away from syntax and emphasizing higher-level skills.
Tesla announces fourth round of layoffs in four weeks (2 minute read)
Multiple recently-former Tesla employees posted on social media on Sunday to share that they were no longer with the company. The company started laying off employees last month ahead of the release of its Q1 financial results. While Elon Musk has said that he plans to reduce headcount by more than 10% globally, the total may be closer to 20% by the time everything has settled. The latest round of layoffs affected service advisers, engineers, and HR.
New Microsoft AI model may challenge GPT-4 and Google Gemini (2 minute read)
Microsoft's new large-scale AI language model, MAI-1, could potentially rival state-of-the-art models from Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI.
OpenAI and Stack Overflow partner to bring more technical knowledge into ChatGPT (2 minute read)
Stack Overflow and OpenAI have announced a partnership that will give OpenAI access to Stack Overflow's API.
TikTok Sues to Block U.S. Ban (8 minute read)
TikTok has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new law requiring the sale or ban of the company. The suit seeks a court order preventing the US from enforcing the law. It accuses the US of trampling on TikTok's First Amendment rights under the banner of national security. Parent company ByteDance says it can't and won't sell its US operations by the deadline, leaving litigation as its best hope to remain in the US market. It claims to have taken measures to safeguard user data and prevent Chinese influence.
Some cases of Alzheimer's caused by two copies of a single gene (5 minute read)
Researchers have identified a genetic form of late-in-life Alzheimer's disease that occurs in people who inherit two copies of the APOE4 gene. The gene has been associated with the disease as a risk factor for Alzheimer's for years. A recent study suggests that having two copies of the gene is an underlying cause of Alzheimer's rather than just a risk factor. An estimated 15% of Alzheimer's patients carry two copies of APOE4. The gene can make symptoms begin seven to 10 years sooner than in other adults, but it also makes patients more prone to the dangerous side effects of some drug treatments. The discovery allows researchers to develop gene therapy or drugs specifically targeting the gene.
Base Power Company (78 minute read)
The power industry is bottlenecked by the grid - adding more renewables and electrifying more things will only make the grid less stable. The grid is buckling due to the increasing use of variable sources of electricity, decreasing grid reliability, increasing delays in building electrical infrastructure, and increasing demand for electricity. The Base Power Company is trying to fix this problem by deploying connected batteries across the grid. These batteries will store energy for use when needed, reducing strain on the grid.
Tesla had 3,400 job postings across the US, Mexico, Canada, and Puerto Rico on May 1, but it has since removed almost all of them. The bulk of the positions were in California, Texas, and Nevada, where the company has its gigafactories. This is the second time that Tesla has almost entirely wiped out its job postings since it began laying off workers on April 16. The company entered its fourth consecutive week of layoffs this week. At least six high-profile executives have either already resigned or plan to later this year.
Google DeepMind's new AI can model DNA, RNA, and ‘all life's molecules' (4 minute read)
Google DeepMind's AlphaFold 3 can predict the structure of all of life's molecules. Previous versions of the model could only predict the structures of proteins. AlphaFold 3 can model DNA, RNA, and ligands. It shows a 50% improvement in prediction accuracy compared to its previous models. DeepMind is making the AlphaFold Server research platform, powered by AlphaFold 3, to some researchers for free for academic and noncommercial use.