Rosie Perper / CoinDesk: Sotheby’s launches a curated, peer-to-peer secondary NFT marketplace on its Metaverse platform, fully on-chain via the Ethereum and Polygon networks — Sotheby’s Metaverse will now offer a curated, peer-to-peer marketplace via the Ethereum and Polygon networks.
Mastodon announces a new onboarding experience that makes mastodon.social the default server choice, instead of requiring users pick from thousands of instances (Emma Roth/The Verge)
Emma Roth / The Verge: Mastodon announces a new onboarding experience that makes mastodon.social the default server choice, instead of requiring users pick from thousands of instances — Mastodon is making it easier for newcomers to create an account on the platform. On Monday, the decentralized network announced …
Machine recycles scrap aluminium directly into vehicle parts
A machine that moulds scrap aluminium into automotive parts could help speed up production of electric vehicles while cutting down the industry’s dependence on aluminium mining and extraction
MIT faculty tackle big ideas in a symposium kicking off Inauguration Day
Big ideas took the stage on Monday morning, ahead of the inauguration of MIT’s 18th president, Sally Kornbluth. As final preparations were underway on Killian Court for the afternoon’s ceremonies, members of the MIT community gathered to welcome Kornbluth with an academic symposium exploring the theme “Where Big Ideas Come From — and Why They […]
“Join us in something important and new”
Sally Kornbluth made a resounding call today for the entire MIT community to join together and address the “global crises” of the current era, including climate change, in her inaugural address as the Institute’s 18th president. “I hope to inspire you to join us in something important and new,” Kornbluth said in remarks delivered to […]
The measuring tape heard round the world
On a recent evening at MIT, over a hundred people gathered at Boynton Hall for a conversation with Amgen Professor of Biology Emerita Nancy Hopkins and journalist Kate Zernike. The topic of discussion was Zernike’s book, “The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science,” which made its official debut at the end […]
How Tech Is Transforming Entry-Level, Customer-Facing Jobs
Takeaways from a survey of more than 800 customer service reps.
Is Your Company as Strategically Aligned as You Think It Is?
A recent analysis of more than 500 employees across 12 organizations found that actual strategic alignment was two to three times lower than perceived alignment.
Reducing Information Overload in Your Organization
Don’t let overcommunication tank productivity.
Tesla’s Magnet Mystery Shows Elon Musk Is Willing to Compromise
The EV maker said it will expunge rare earths from its vehicles’ motors, suggesting Tesla engineers will have to get creative.
The High-Stakes Scramble to Stop Classified Leaks
AI tools? A porn filter, but for Top Secret documents? Just classifying less stuff? US lawmakers are full of ideas but lack a silver bullet.
‘Everybody’s So Creative!’ and the Rise of the Recipe Reactions
The sheer volume of horrendous recipes on TikTok has led to the emergence of a whole new brand of influencer.
NewsGuard finds 49 websites populated by generative AI posing as news outlets with generic names like News Live 79; some feature falsehoods and programmatic ads (Davey Alba/Bloomberg)
Davey Alba / Bloomberg: NewsGuard finds 49 websites populated by generative AI posing as news outlets with generic names like News Live 79; some feature falsehoods and programmatic ads — The news-rating group NewsGuard has found dozens of news websites generated by AI chatbots proliferating online …
An interview with AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, who recently left Google after over a decade to speak about AI’s risks, on regrets, quitting the company, and more (Cade Metz/New York Times)
Cade Metz / New York Times: An interview with AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, who recently left Google after over a decade to speak about AI’s risks, on regrets, quitting the company, and more — For half a century, Geoffrey Hinton nurtured the technology at the heart of chatbots like ChatGPT. Now he worries it will […]
Earnings from Meta, Amazon, Google, and Intel were better than expected, sparking hope that the post-pandemic hangover is fading, but sales growth still lags (Meghan Bobrowsky/Wall Street Journal)
Meghan Bobrowsky / Wall Street Journal: Earnings from Meta, Amazon, Google, and Intel were better than expected, sparking hope that the post-pandemic hangover is fading, but sales growth still lags — Shares rise on better-than-expected results, but growth lags behind what Microsoft, Amazon and Google did in past
How to Choose a Router (2023): Tips, Technical Terms, and Advice
How much speed do you need? And what’s a MU-MIMO? We decipher the jargon and explain what to look for.
Carmakers and IP experts raise concerns over the rising dominance of Chinese companies like Huawei when it comes to 4G, 5G, and Wi-Fi standard essential patents (Financial Times)
Financial Times: Carmakers and IP experts raise concerns over the rising dominance of Chinese companies like Huawei when it comes to 4G, 5G, and Wi-Fi standard essential patents — Led by Huawei, Chinese groups are filing patents around the tech that enables products to access the internet
An interview with Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian about the unit finally turning a profit in Q1 2023, in part by making its data center operations more efficient (Jordan Novet/CNBC)
Jordan Novet / CNBC: An interview with Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian about the unit finally turning a profit in Q1 2023, in part by making its data center operations more efficient — – Google said this week that its cloud unit finally turned profitable in the first quarter. — Since ex-Oracle exec Thomas …
Sources describe how Meta managers built up “kingdoms” as headcount doubled, and how layoffs led to falling morale and lower confidence in Zuckerberg (Naomi Nix/Washington Post)
Naomi Nix / Washington Post: Sources describe how Meta managers built up “kingdoms” as headcount doubled, and how layoffs led to falling morale and lower confidence in Zuckerberg — Roiled by waves of layoffs and a costly investment in the metaverse, many insiders say the Facebook founder has lost his vision — and the trust […]
Underwater writing technique lets you draw patterns in liquids
Now there is a way to use ink to write words or patterns in liquid, much as you might write on a solid surface, and the letters could conceivably last a very long time
Cryptographers bet cash on when quantum computers will beat encryption
It is thought that quantum computers will eventually be able to crack the encryption methods we use today, but exactly when this will happen is an open question. Now, one cryptographer has started a betting pool
With music and merriment, MIT celebrates the upcoming inauguration of Sally Kornbluth
MIT’s campus spilled over with good cheer yesterday during a community-wide celebration marking the upcoming inauguration of MIT President Sally Kornbluth on Monday. In a day of activities that truly had something for everyone, MIT community members and their families enjoyed an array of student performances, amusement park rides, exhibits hosted by MIT’s departments and […]
How Reality May Be a Sum of All Possible Realities
Richard Feynman’s path integral is a powerful prediction machine and a philosophy. Physicists still struggle to figure out how to use it, and what it means.
5 Best Linux Laptops (2023): Repairable, Budget, Powerful
Whether you want a beast of a machine with dedicated graphics or a light, easy-to-upgrade PC, we have the perfect rig for you.
Apple, Google, and Microsoft Just Fixed Zero-Day Security Flaws
Firefox gets a needed tune-up, SolarWinds squashes two high-severity bugs, Oracle patches 433 vulnerabilities, and more updates you should make now.
An interview with Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn on investing $100M+ in 100+ AI startups and why he thinks he failed to steer AI development toward human safety (Reed Albergotti/Semafor)
Reed Albergotti / Semafor: An interview with Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn on investing $100M+ in 100+ AI startups and why he thinks he failed to steer AI development toward human safety — Jaan Tallinn used the fortune he made selling Skype in 2009 to invest in AI companies like Anthropic and DeepMind …
The creator of the GPT4Free GitHub project, which allows free access to GPT-4 and GPT-3.5, says OpenAI is demanding he take the repo down or face a lawsuit (Avram Piltch/Tom’s Hardware)
Avram Piltch / Tom’s Hardware: The creator of the GPT4Free GitHub project, which allows free access to GPT-4 and GPT-3.5, says OpenAI is demanding he take the repo down or face a lawsuit — GPT4Free uses other sites’ connections to OpenAI. — Anyone can use ChatGPT for free, but if you want to use GPT4 […]
11 Best Retro Game Consoles (2023): Evercade, Polymega, Analogue Pocket, and Controllers
From the stylish Evercade to the old-school Sega Genesis Mini, these machines will have you bleeping, blooping, and blasting back to the good old days.
Smartphone Sales Take a Tumble
Plus: Amazon kills off its fitness wearables while Apple shores up its products’ health-tracking capabilities.
How to Use the Apple Shortcuts App on iPhone, iPad, or Mac (2023)
Make your life easier. With Apple’s app, you can trigger a series of automated tasks with a single tap or Siri voice command.
A Brazilian federal judge lifts Telegram’s ban in the country for refusing to hand over neo-Nazi data, saying a complete ban of the service “is not reasonable” (Reuters)
Reuters: A Brazilian federal judge lifts Telegram’s ban in the country for refusing to hand over neo-Nazi data, saying a complete ban of the service “is not reasonable” — Brazil’s second instance appeals court lifted on Saturday the suspension of the encrypted messaging app Telegram …
Microsoft’s Canva-like web app Designer, which leverages user-created content and OpenAI’s text-to-image DALL-E 2 to ideate designs, launches in public preview (Kyle Wiggers/TechCrunch)
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: Microsoft’s Canva-like web app Designer, which leverages user-created content and OpenAI’s text-to-image DALL-E 2 to ideate designs, launches in public preview — Microsoft Designer, Microsoft’s AI-powered design tool, today launched in public preview with an expanded set of features.
Wikimedia won’t comply with the Online Safety Bill’s age checks of its UK readers or contributors, citing the foundation’s “commitment to collect minimal data” (BBC)
BBC: Wikimedia won’t comply with the Online Safety Bill’s age checks of its UK readers or contributors, citing the foundation’s “commitment to collect minimal data” — Wikipedia will not comply with any age checks required under the Online Safety Bill, its foundation says.
Deadly Heat Threatens the Well-Being of 1 Billion People in India
Increasingly severe heat waves will imperil the country’s development goals, slow economic growth, and heighten health risks, new research shows.
How to Remove Your Personal Info From Google’s Search Results
Maybe you don’t want your phone number, email, home address, and other details out there for all the web to see. Here’s how to make them vanish.
Ooni Volt 12 Review: Fast and Convenient
Ooni’s first electric pizza oven is a fast and convenient (but tiny) pizza revelation.
A look at livestream shopping in China, where an estimated $500B in goods were sold on apps like Douyin in 2022, an 8x jump since 2019, amid regulatory scrutiny (Vivian Wang/New York Times)
Vivian Wang / New York Times: A look at livestream shopping in China, where an estimated $500B in goods were sold on apps like Douyin in 2022, an 8x jump since 2019, amid regulatory scrutiny — Star sellers can amass huge followings and eye-popping fortunes, through a format that mixes consumerism and entertainment.
A WSJ columnist used Synthesia, ElevenLabs, and ChatGPT to create an AI clone that could trick her bank’s voice biometric system, make a TikTok, and more (Joanna Stern/Wall Street Journal)
Joanna Stern / Wall Street Journal: A WSJ columnist used Synthesia, ElevenLabs, and ChatGPT to create an AI clone that could trick her bank’s voice biometric system, make a TikTok, and more — Our columnist replaced herself with AI voice and video to see how humanlike the tech can be. The results were eerie.
Jack Dorsey criticized Elon Musk’s leadership of Twitter on Bluesky and refused to take responsibility for the acquisition, claiming “it all went south” (Washington Post)
Washington Post: Jack Dorsey criticized Elon Musk’s leadership of Twitter on Bluesky and refused to take responsibility for the acquisition, claiming “it all went south” — The former CEO issued his strongest criticism yet of Musk’s takeover of the social media site
President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea visits MIT
President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea visited MIT on Friday, participating in a roundtable discussion with Institute leaders and faculty about biomedical research and discussing the fundamentals of technology-driven innovation clusters. South Korea, Yoon noted in his remarks, has highly regarded educational institutions, hospitals, and research facilities, along with robust legal and business systems. […]
Docs and sources: OpenAI closed a $10.3B+ funding round at a $27B-$29B valuation; investors include Microsoft, Tiger Global, Sequoia, a16z, and Founders Fund (TechCrunch)
TechCrunch: Docs and sources: OpenAI closed a $10.3B+ funding round at a $27B-$29B valuation; investors include Microsoft, Tiger Global, Sequoia, a16z, and Founders Fund — OpenAI, the startup behind the widely used conversational AI model ChatGPT, has closed new funding, TechCrunch has learned.
Filing and sources: drone delivery startup Zipline is raising a $330M Series F at a ~$4.2B valuation, up from its $2.7B valuation for its Series E in June 2021 (Forbes)
Forbes: Filing and sources: drone delivery startup Zipline is raising a $330M Series F at a ~$4.2B valuation, up from its $2.7B valuation for its Series E in June 2021 — The funding, revealed in a filing, shows that the logistics company priced a $330 million Series F funding round in April.
Sources: the US DOJ discovered the SolarWinds breach in late May 2020, months before its public disclosure in December 2020, but was unaware of its significance (Kim Zetter/Wired)
Kim Zetter / Wired: Sources: the US DOJ discovered the SolarWinds breach in late May 2020, months before its public disclosure in December 2020, but was unaware of its significance — In May 2020, the US Department of Justice stumbled upon Russian hackers in its network, but did not realize the significance of what it […]
Fluent answers from AI search engines are more likely to be wrong
AI search engines like Microsoft’s Bing Chat often fail to provide citations to back up statements, or cite information incorrectly – and this is more likely when answers sound more convincing
J-PAL North America announces six new evaluation incubator partners to catalyze research on pressing social issues
J-PAL North America, a regional office of MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), has announced six new partnerships with government agencies and leading nonprofits through the State and Local Evaluation Incubator and the Housing Stability Evaluation Incubator, launched in August 2022. These collaborators span the contiguous United States and represent a wide range of […]
Infusing Digital Responsibility into Your Organization
Four strategies based on in-depth studies of 12 large European firms.
Sweden’s Northvolt Electric Battery Maker: A Startup with a Mission
Can Northvolt make greener batteries for a better world and a bigger profit?
How Banks Can Finally Get Risk Management Right
SVB was a cautionary tale.
Dark Mode’s Shadowy Promises
Light-on-dark displays tap into society’s deepest fears about technology’s ills. But reducing screen light isn’t the same as putting your device away.
An Ominous Heating Event Is Unfolding in the Oceans
Average sea surface temperatures have soared to record highs, and stayed there. It’s a worrying signal of an ocean in crisis.