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In today's Techpresso:
🚗 Apple secretly worked with China’s BYD
🫠 OpenAI quietly pitches products to US military
👨⚖️ Parents take school to court after student punished for using AI
👋 US 'click to cancel' rule to ban subscription traps
👀 Meta is laying off employees once again
🎁 + 8 other news you might like
🔮 + 6 handpicked research papers and tools
🚗 Apple secretly worked with China’s BYDLINK
Apple worked with Chinese automaker BYD to develop advanced lithium iron phosphate batteries for its electric car project, aiming to enhance battery safety and vehicle autonomy.
The collaboration involved Apple selecting specialized engineers for the project, while BYD provided its expertise in battery manufacturing and early versions of its "Blade" battery technology.
Despite years of collaboration and investment, Apple eventually withdrew from the partnership with BYD and has since abandoned its ambitious car project, facing challenges and high costs.
🫠 OpenAI quietly pitches products to US militaryLINK
OpenAI is exploring military and national security opportunities by partnering with government contractors and modifying its usage policies to allow for defense applications.
The company hired Dane Stuckey as Chief Information Security Officer, who previously worked with Palantir, a firm known for its military projects, indicating a shift towards defense collaboration.
Debate continues about the implications of using AI for military purposes, as OpenAI's involvement in projects like those with the Department of Defense raises ethical concerns.
👨⚖️ Parents take school to court after student punished for using AILINK
A Massachusetts school district was sued by a student's parents after their child was disciplined for using an AI chatbot to finish an assignment, despite no clear rule against it.
The lawsuit claims that the Hingham High School student handbook does not explicitly prohibit artificial intelligence use, which led to the improper punishment of the student, identified as RNH.
The case was taken to the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, focusing on alleged violations of the student's civil rights and naming several school officials as defendants.
👋 US 'click to cancel' rule to ban subscription trapsLINK
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) implemented a "click to cancel" rule requiring businesses to provide easy online cancellation options for subscriptions, aiming to prevent tricky cancellation practices and save consumers time and money.
Key features of the rule demand businesses disclose all subscription terms before payment, ensure cancellation processes mirror sign-up simplicity, and maintain a record of consumer consent for three years.
The rule, which saw significant public and industry feedback, will take effect within 60 to 180 days, with businesses facing penalties for non-compliance, although some raised concerns about the rule's potential costs and legal challenges.
👀 Meta is laying off employees once againLINK
Meta confirmed that several departments faced layoffs on Wednesday, aiming to adjust resource allocation to align with long-term goals, including relocating teams and revising employee roles.
Impacted teams include Reality Labs, Instagram, and WhatsApp, while divisions like Threads, recruiting, and legal operations were unaffected by the restructuring, according to Meta's spokesperson.
Amid these changes, some employees were offered new roles or severance packages, with over a dozen workers informed of their layoff through video calls, receiving six weeks of severance pay.
Other news you might like
Two accused of DDoSing some of the world’s biggest tech companies.LINK
Meta’s AI chief says world models are key to ‘human-level AI’ — but it might be 10 years out.LINK
Prada and Axiom Space reveal new spacesuits for NASA's moon mission.LINK
Winamp deletes entire GitHub source code repo after a rocky few weeks.LINK
Google wants to put the consequences of its Epic antitrust ruling on pause during appeal.LINK
Boston Dynamics is supercharging Atlas humanoid robot with AI skills.LINK
iPhone users can now identify spam calls easily.LINK
New world record for wireless data is 9000 times faster than 5G.LINK
Latest research and tools
Surface tablets with Qualcomm SoC: designed as AI PCs, these tablets are intended to run machine learning models more efficiently but have shown underwhelming performance in third-party benchmark tests.LINK
OpenVMM: a new Virtual Machine Monitor for Windows and Linux platforms, written in Rust, aiming to improve system performance and security.LINK
Automated smooth Nth order derivatives of noisy data: a Python package that calculates smooth derivatives of non-uniformly sampled time series data, using Bayesian filtering to provide accurate, noise-resistant results up to any specified derivative order.LINK
Greenmask 0.2: a tool for anonymizing databases by backing up, anonymizing, generating synthetic data, and restoring without changing the database schema, designed for ease of use, customization, and reliability with a Docker sandbox for trial.LINK
Citizen: a Node.js web application framework for creating fast, scalable websites without extensive customization, supporting MVC architecture, and catering to building server-side applications, SPAs, or RESTful APIs with simplified configuration and management.LINK
Sample what you can't compress: image auto-encoders without GANs: this paper demonstrates that image auto-encoders can effectively compress images without using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs).LINK
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