Category: Uncategorized

Elon Musk’s platform may be hell, but it’s also where huge amounts of reputational and social wealth are invested. All of that is in peril.

Anil Ananthaswamy / Nature: DeepMind unveils DeepNash, an AI agent that matches human experts in the board game Stratego by combining game theory and model-free deep reinforcement learning  —  Anil Ananthaswamy is the author of Through Two Doors at Once, among other books.  His next is on the mathematics of machine learning.

Elon Musk / @elonmusk: Ye’s Twitter account is suspended after he tweeted a picture of a swastika merged with a Star of David; Elon Musk replied, saying he violated Twitter rules  —  @TheeAleexJ @kanyewest I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.

Olivia Solon / Bloomberg: TikTok and Bumble plan to use StopNCII.org’s database of hashes of nude images and videos to block revenge porn; Meta has been using it since last year  —  The UN’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence is on now, and “revenge porn” is in focus.  But first…  Today’s must-reads:

Never miss a delivery. These WIRED-tested picks will help you keep tabs on your front porch from anywhere.

Tony Romm / Washington Post: US House committee report details how fintech companies, like Blueacorn, allegedly disbursed billions in fraudulent PPP loans, while collecting billions in fees  —  Little-known firms such as Blueacorn and Womply allegedly collected taxpayer-funded fees as they overlooked signs of grift …

These weatherproof devices can keep a watchful eye on your property and let you get on with life.

Cameras can offer peace of mind, but choose carefully when you’re inviting one into your home.

Jay Peters / The Verge: Epic makes RealityScan app, which lets users scan real-life objects to turn them into 3D models, available for free on iOS, after a limited beta launch in April  —  Epic Games’ RealityScan app, which lets you scan real-life objects and turn them into 3D models for video games or other […]

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch: Parler’s owner says it “has mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale of Parler”, after announcing the deal in October  —  Despite a joint statement between Ye (fka Kanye West) and Parler in October noting that the two had reached an agreement for the rapper to buy …

A small device shaped like Pac-Man can move on the surface of water and around obstacles without a motor

An AI has learned to deceive human opponents in the war-themed board game Stratego, which involves imperfect information and a huge number of possible game scenarios

When we press our temples to soothe an aching head or rub an elbow after an unexpected blow, it often brings some relief. It is believed that pain-responsive cells in the brain quiet down when these neurons also receive touch inputs, say scientists at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research, who for the first time […]

Growing quickly requires giving up some control. It’s investors’ responsibility to make sure that happens.

Imagine entering a 3D virtual story world that’s a digital twin of an existing physical space but also doubles as a vessel to dream up speculative climate stories and collective designs. Then, those imagined worlds are translated back into concrete plans for our physical spaces. Five multidisciplinary teams recently convened at MIT — virtually — […]

In a world powered increasingly by clean energy, drilling for oil and gas will gradually give way to digging for metals and minerals. Today, the “critical minerals” used to make electric cars, solar panels, wind turbines, and grid-scale battery storage are facing soaring demand — and some acute bottlenecks as miners race to catch up. […]

An analysis of 20 million LinkedIn profiles sheds light on the power of casual relationships.

Every organization across the supply chain should rely on retailers’ forecasts of end-customer demand.

Andrew Liszewski / Gizmodo: Disney unveils FRAN, an AI tool that helps TV or film producers make an actor look older or younger without the need for complex and expensive visual effects  —  With just a few clicks, actors can look younger or older without the need for expensive visual effects.  —  Alerts

The company is vying for an edge in an increasingly crowded field that seeks to let people control machines with their minds.

In a bid to keep its two-day delivery promise, the fast-moving tech giant entered the risk-averse air cargo business—with some bumps along the way.

Nilay Patel / The Verge: In a rare interview, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew explains how US data will be kept out of China through “Project Texas”, discusses “booktok”, algorithms, and more  —  The 40-year-old Chew was funny and relaxed for most of the interview, even if many of his answers sounded straight …

Associated Press: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says the company does not plan to stop selling “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America”, an antisemitic film promoted by Kyrie Irving  —  Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Wednesday the company does not have plans to stop selling the antisemitic film …

Sara Fischer / Axios: Mark Zuckerberg says Apple’s policies that let the company unilaterally control which apps can be installed are not sustainable and cause a conflict of interest  —  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday added to the growing chorus of concerns about Apple, arguing that it’s …

Protesters are calling for China to ease restrictions most nations have already ditched. But the country faces a fraught path toward normalcy.

The Heliconia hacking tool exploited vulnerabilities in Chrome, Windows Defender, and Firefox, according to company security researchers.

Law enforcement says that in some scenarios a lethal robot is the only way to protect public safety. Experts say the policy will harm communities of color.

A gliding sensor inspired by Javan cucumber seeds could be used for environmental monitoring, and then quickly biodegrade, leaving no waste behind

Jon Swartz / MarketWatch: Box reports Q3 revenue of $250M, up 12% YoY, and billings of $258.2M, up 12% YoY, and forecasts Q4 revenue between $255M and $257M, vs. $259.3M est.  —  Software company reports sales just $100,000 shy of $250 million and expects to top the mark in fourth quarter, but neither hits analysts’ […]

Thomas Germain / Gizmodo: Pathmatics: Apple’s Twitter ad purchases grew from $989K in October to $1M+ in November; on November 28, Elon Musk said Apple “mostly stopped” Twitter ads  —  Musk tweeted that Apple had all but stopped buying ads on Twitter.  The iPhone maker’s ad purchases had actually increased, according to an ad analytics […]

A simple device made of plastic and rubber can be controlled using ripples in water to move around obstacles

In May 2022, the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) payload onboard a small CubeSat satellite was launched into orbit 300 miles above Earth’s surface. Since then, TBIRD has delivered terabytes of data at record-breaking rates of up to 100 gigabits per second — 100 times faster than the fastest internet speeds in most cities — via an […]

To clear the way for planting wheat in November, a farmer in Punjab, India, sets aflame the leftover straw, or stubble, of a harvested rice paddy crop in October. The burning residue fills the air with carbon monoxide, ozone, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) that will make it harder to breathe for days afterward and […]

Sponsor content from EY-Parthenon.

Earlier this year, astronomers were keeping tabs on data from the Zwicky Transient Facility, an all-sky survey based at the Palomar Observatory in California, when they detected an extraordinary flash in a part of the sky where no such light had been observed the night before. From a rough calculation, the flash appeared to give […]

What today’s businesses can learn about pricing strategies and consumer trust.

Advice on what to say — and what not to — along with sample email templates.

Nikkei Asia: Sources detail Huawei’s plans to stealthily build a domestic chip supply chain with partners in Beijing, Wuhan, Qingdao, and Shenzhen, investing over $55.8B  —  Battered by sanctions, Huawei leads the way in stealthily building a domestic semiconductor supply chain

Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg: Emboldened by FTX’s collapse, the disgraced founders of Terra, Celsius, and Three Arrows Capital have reemerged, offering their thoughts on SBF, FTX, and more  —  Welcome to Bloomberg Crypto, our twice-weekly look at Bitcoin, blockchain and more.  If someone forwarded this to you, sign up here.

Financial Times: SpaceX’s Starlink increases the price for new Ukrainian customers to $700, far above the $385 cost from earlier in 2022; monthly subscriptions rise to $75  —  Cost of communications devices made by Elon Musk-owned SpaceX set to rise due to Russian assault on electricity grid

Austen Roberson’s favorite class at MIT is 2.S007 (Design and Manufacturing I-Autonomous Machines), in which students design, build, and program a fully autonomous robot to accomplish tasks laid out on a themed game board. “The best thing about that class is everyone had a different idea,” says Roberson. “We all had the same game board […]

The sale bonanzas may be over, but many of the same discounts are alive, including on phones, office chairs, and kitchenware.

Kaya Yurieff / The Information: Pinterest says it is ending the creator rewards program that it launched in 2021, which offered cash bonuses when creators completed certain goals  —  Pinterest is ending its creator rewards program, which offered cash bonuses when creators completed goals such as hitting certain engagement metrics, The Information is first to […]

Christiana Loureiro / The Block: IBM and Maersk’s blockchain-enabled supply chain offering TradeLens, launched in 2018, will shut down in Q1 2023; Maersk blames a lack of industry collaboration  —  – The companies made a viable platform but couldn’t get a global collaboration going.  —  Danish shipping company Maersk …

While biologists still aren’t exactly sure how it works, a new study closes in on why the insects that pester Savannah animals zig when anything zags.

The EX90 ushers in a new era of lidar-driven safety tech for Volvo. But if it’s nearly the same as the Polestar 3 underneath, how can the brand stand out?

A biodegradable glider based on the seeds of the Javan cucumber, which float for long distances, could be used to monitor the environment without leaving polluting e-waste

Ashley Capoot / CNBC: CrowdStrike reports Q3 revenue up 53% YoY to $581M, vs. $574M est., subscription customers up 44% YoY to 21,146; stock drops 17% on weaker-than-expected growth  —  – CrowdStrike shares dropped 18% after the company reported third-quarter results that beat estimates but said new revenue growth was weaker than expected.

He has his own Instagram account. He stars as the featured profile picture on MIT Admission’s Facebook page. When MIT’s Campus Preview Weekend 2022 came around, he joyfully opened his arms widely to welcome the admitted Class of 2026 at a campus photo booth. You can find him everywhere on campus, from murals and posters […]

Ditch the lofty purpose statements and lengthy slide decks.