If you're reading this, you probably already know thatMagSafetechnology is a pretty handy feature. You can use it to wirelessly charge your phone, attach a wallet to the back of your phone, use it as a combination phone stand and power bank, and more.To put it simply: MagSafe makes phone charging fun and far more convenient. But with plenty of accessories on the market, it can be hard to know what is and isn't worth your cash. That's why we've tested plenty options on the market, so you can find the most useful MagSafe accessories for your lifestyle.What are the best MagSafe accessories right now?Our picks for the best MagSafe accessories overall are Anker's 3-1 MagGo Wireless Qi2 Charger and Casely's Grippy Mount. Keep reading for more top MagSafe accessories, including battery packs, phone stands, car mounts, wallets, and more.The best MagSafe accessories of 2024 Show less View now at Casely Pros Strong magnetic hold Easy to use Cons A bit pricey Sometimes hard to remove off of surfaces Casely MagSafe Grippy Mount Best MagSafe accessory for taking photos and videos If you're a content creator or you just like to take photos and videos during solo outings, this MagSafe mount is a handy gadget to have in your MagSafe accessory repertoire. You can easily stick your phone to any clean, flat, and glossy surface and instantly create a mount for your iPhone. When I tested the Casely Grippy Mount, I was surprised by how strong the magnetic hold was, even when I stuck it to a cheap, over-the-door mirror. It's a nifty option for mounting your phone for streaming or for taking it out on solo endeavors to help shoot content hands-free.Customers on Casely's website said that they liked the Grippy Mount's strong magnetic grip and hold, plus the ability to use their phone hands-free for photo, video, or entertainment purposes.Casely Grippy Mount features: Available in several colors | Compatible with iPhone 12 & newer (requires MagSafe case) | Fastens phone to any clean, flat, glossy surface (like mirrors and windows) | Allows for easy hands-free photo and video shooting, plus browsing Show Expert Take Show less Show less View now at Amazon Pros Travel-friendly 3-in-1 charging Foldable design Stand feature Wall adapter included Cons A bit bulky Limited color options Pricey For iPhone only Anker MagGo 3-1 Wireless Charging Station Best 3-in-1 MagSafe wireless charger Anker's MagGo 3-1 Wireless Charging Station for iPhone is still a wireless charging dream almost 7 months after my initial purchase, and it's also ZDNET's pick for best wireless charger. This MagSafe charger features 15W charging, offers a stand component for my iPhone, charges all of my Apple devices at once, and folds up easily for quick transport and storage. It also comes with a wall adapter, which isn't always a guarantee.I first purchased this Anker charger after ZDNET's Sabrina Ortiz tested it last year. I was looking for a safe and functional 3-1 charger that would cut down the amount of cords I needed to pack while traveling. This is it. Unveiled at CES 2023, this 3-1 is truly worth your money if you own an Apple Watch and a pair of AirPods too and want a great charger for at home and on the go. Ortiz said that the charging speed on this charger is comparable to individual cords with respective wall adapters, even when charging simultaneously. "Whether I was charging one device or three, I noticed that the devices were charging at a comparable speed to when I normally had them plugged into their respective wall chargers," she wrote in her review.I can concur based on my personal use, too. This stand charges up all of my devices quickly, and I love how easy it is to pack up to take on a trip. Even though this Anker charger is on the pricier side, costing $110, it's worth it thanks to its function and duality. It also frequently goes on sale. Compared to other options on the market, I think this 3-in-1 pick offers immense value because it can be used at home or on the go with ease, especially if you can grab it on sale.Verified Amazon customers give this Anker charger a 4.6/5 stars and said they liked the compactness and convenience of this design as well as the easy to use setup, foldability, and magnetic strength. However, some customers said the simultaneous charging wasn't consistent.Author's Note: The Anker MagGo 3-1 charger in white is on sale for $82 (save $28) at Amazon upon the latest publication.Anker MagGo 3-1 Wireless Charging Station features: Compatability: iPhone (any with MagSafe), Wireless Earbuds, Apple Watch |Color:White or Black | Foldable | Easy for travel | Comes with wall adapter Show Expert Take Show less Show less View now at Belkin Pros Qi2 charging Minimal warming Kickstand to prop phone Fits snug on iPhone Several color options Strong magnetic grip Recently upgraded design Clear battery indicator lights Cons Fun colors only sold by Apple Not the sleekest option Belkin Boostcharge Pro Qi2 Magnetic Power Bank 5k Best MagSafe battery pack This Belkin battery pack is not only an upgraded version of a good original, but it's also ZDNET's pick for the best MagSafe battery pack right now.I really liked the first iteration of this battery pack, and I like the newly upgraded Qi2 version even more. This new model has the USB-C connector on the side instead of the bottom of the pack, making it easier to use your phone standing upright while the pack is charging. Instead of the charging indicator lights being on the side, they're now more visible, located on the back of the pack. This model is also a tad slimmer and lengthier than its predecessor, making it easier to transport.And while this Belkin pack is a true embodiment of a classic brick-style battery booster, there is still a place in my heart for it because it just works so well. Similarly to many options on our Best MagSafe battery pack list, it provides 5,000mAh of extra juice to your phone, which is a standard capacity for many MagSafe packs. Its design, though simple, fits snugly against my phone (no bumping onto the lip of my camera lens) and remains secure.Its secure grip and competitive battery speak for themselves. I took this pack to a Yankees game, to several late-night outings, to work, and even on errands, and I am impressed with the charging. You can expect between a 25-30% battery boost in about an hour to your phone.What's more is that it comes with a built-in stand that easily swings in and out -- no folding required -- and while I originally thought this would be useless, I rather enjoyed being able to prop my phone up whenever. Perhaps the best thing about this Belkin pack is that it comes in a few fun colors, a nice feature many competitors still haven't matched.Like the previous iteration, this pack is still not the slimmest design I've ever seen. But the newly upgraded design offers a more comfortable and sleek user experience that feels great in the hand and doesn't feel as boxy as the pack really is. Overall, I'm impressed with the new shape and think it was a much-needed facelift.Apple is the only retailer that sells the blue, green, pink, and sand color options right now (as well as black), which is a bit of a downside. On the flip side, Belkin only carries the black and white iterations as well as the 8k and 10k models. Regardless, Redditors who own this battery pack really like the intentional upgrades.Some Redditors saidthat this is a great pack to replace Apple's discontinued battery pack, too.Belkin Boostcharge Pro Qi2 Magnetic Power Bank 5K features: Capacity: 5,000mAh|Charging Port: USB-C |Power button: Yes | Available in a few colors (some Apple exclusive) Show Expert Take Show less Show less Telesin MagSafe Neck Mount Best MagSafe accessory for shooting video hands-free If you shoot video from your POV frequently, consider a MagSafe accessory that will amp up your functionality. This MagSafe neck mount from Telesin does just that. ZDNET's senior reviews editor Kerry Wan was able to try one out while covering the iPhone 16 launch in California a few weeks ago, and immediately purchased one."I recently got this POV MagSafe mount, and it's perfect for hands-free video shooting. Saw dozens of content creators at Apple Park using it a few weeks ago," he said.Verified Amazon customers said that they liked the easy and simple setup of the Telesin neck mount, and said that they enjoyed using it to shoot video from their POV, or to just keep using their phone hands-free. One customer said she even enjoys using this neck mount to use her phone while walking her dogs.Telesin MagSafe Neck Mount features: Portrait and Landscape compatible | Multi-functional shooting modes (landscape, portrait, overhead, and low angle, which allows you to play with a wide range of POV scenarios) | Extended pole for viewing while shooting | Enhanced Dual-Ear + Strap for added stability | Dual-sided phone grip Show Expert Take Show less Show less View now at Best Buy Pros RFID protection Large card capacity Doubles as stand Premium feel Strong magnetic hold Slim design Cons Expensive Limited color options Adds some weight to phone May be too bulky for some Journey Ezmo MagSafe Wallet and Stand Best MagSafe wallet Journey's Ezmo MagSafe wallet is the perfect balance of style and function, and it's ZDNET's current pick for best MagSafe wallet. With enough space to hold five cards, it indeed resembles a classic wallet and not just a cardholder. The Ezmo wallet also doubles as a phone stand, so you can watch your favorite entertainment on the go or keep your phone screen visible at your desk. The stand has adjustable viewing angles in both portrait and landscape modes.It's made of vegan leather and comes in four traditional color options (black, dark brown, navy blue, and dove gray). The Ezmo MagSafe wallet also features a protective lining with RFID technology to safeguard your cards' information while preventing them from becoming demagnetized.I tested the Ezmo wallet for several weeks in my everyday activities, including my commute from New Jersey to New York City. When evaluating MagSafe wallets, I always look for easy and seamless access to my NJ Transit card, which I need to grab and put away quickly. Thanks to the notch on the front of the Ezmo wallet, I can store my transit card in the front. It's easy to slide out, so I highly recommend choosing one with a front-notch option if you're looking for a commuter-friendly wallet.I also like how the Ezmo MagSafe wallet provides enough space for five cards and even folded cash. It's perfect for holding my debit card, work badge, and other incidentals like paper train tickets.The phone stand was nice, too. I enjoyed being able to prop my phone up while at the office. I even found myself using the back half of the wallet as a makeshift grip on the train, which added some extra stability. Although it's a pricier option, I think it's well worth the investment due to its multi-functionality and excellent quality, especially if you use your MagSafe wallet daily. The Ezmo wallet is also available in a tracking version -- the LOC8 MagSafe Finder Wallet and Stand -- if you're prone to losing things frequently.Current users on the Journey website said they liked the slim profile, smart design, larger card capacity, and sleek material -- so much so that the wallet has a 5/5-star rating online, with one customer noting that it "does it all really well."Journey Ezmo wallet and phone stand features:Multi-functional| RFID protection | Built-in lock to prevent card slippage |Dimensions: 66 mm x 102.5 mm x 12.5 mm |Card capacity: Up to 5 cards Show Expert Take Show less Show less View now at Moft Pros Slim Great for those needing small capacity options Great color options Fairly priced Cons Small capacity Hard to dislodge certain cards Moft Snap on Phone Stand and Wallet Best minimalist MagSafe card holder If you don't need a larger capacity to store your favorite cards, cash, or other incidentals, a card holder is probably a better bet. While Moft markets their Snap on Phone Stand and Wallet as a wallet, it's definitely more of a card holder. Based upon my own testing, I've only ever been able to squeeze two cards into this holder, and most of the time prefer to just use it for one important card (often my NJ Transit SmartLink card).The design of this holder is very sleek and minimalist, but it's available in a wide-range of color options and costs only $30. While there's for sure cheaper wallet options out there, this is really fairly priced considering the dual function you get with the stand and card holder combo, plus the quality material and construction. Most other wallet options are often upwards of $35, so Moft has competitively priced a great MagSafe accessory, in my opinion.I have used this card holder countless times, and it is my favorite option when I am traveling with only one card that I need accessible. I find it easy to remove and insert cards from this wallet, though occasionally, it can be tricky to quickly pull out two cards without a hassle, which isn't the biggest deal unless you're rushing to make the train in the morning like me. Regardless, I have gifted this three times since being able to test one for ZDNET, and think it's a great option to add to your MagSafe collection.Moft Snap on Phone Stand and Wallet features: Thin profile and design | Works in Floating, Portait, and Landscape modes | Compatible with other Moft accessories, like the MagSafe battery pack | Compatible with iPhone 12+ and MagSafe compatible phone cases Show Expert Take Show less Show less Pros Adjustable height Sturdy base Good use of the platform with the addition of MagSafe Cons MagSafe connector costs extra Twelve South HiRise Pro for MacBook Best MagSafe accessory for a tidy desk Jason Cipriani, a former ZDNET contributor, has been using the non-pro version of Twelve South's HiRise for MacBook for about a year with no complaints. It did exactly what it's designed to do: get his laptop off of my desk and at eye level while freeing up some desk space. Underneath his laptop, Cipriani placed a wireless charging station, making use of the free space.However, with the HiRise Pro, Twelve South built a MagSafe charging pad directly into the leather-covered base. That means you no longer need a separate charging station under your laptop. Instead, attach a MagSafe charger -- which isn't included with the HiRise Pro -- to the bottom of the base and route the power cable to a nearby outlet.Twelve South HiRise Pro for MacBook features:Leather-covered base with MagSafe | Puts your MacBook at eye level, or up to 6 inches off your desk | Holds your laptop in place Show Expert Take Show less What is the best MagSafe accessory? Our favorite MagSafe accessories off style, function, and added features like kickstands and more. Maybe you're looking for a battery pack to boost your phone or a handy place to store your metro card. We've got you covered with top-tested accessory picks from Casely, Belkin, Moft, and more.MagSafe accessoryPrice*TypeCasely MagSafe Grippy Mount $25Grippy mount for photo and video opportunities.Anker MagGo 3-1 Wireless Charging Station$1103-1 MagSafe Wireless charging dock. Belkin Boostcharge Pro Qi2 Magnetic Power Bank 5k$60Portable MagSafe battery pack with kickstand. Telesin MagSafe Neck Mount$28MagSafe neck mount designed for video shooting.Journey Ezmo MagSafe Wallet and Stand$70MagSafe wallet for card and cash storage.Moft Snap on Phone Stand and Wallet$30MagSafe card holder and stand combo.Twelve South HiRise Pro$100Laptop stand with MagSafe wireless charging.*MSRP at the time of publication Which MagSafe accessory is right for you? Any of the MagSafe accessories on this list are great picks -- it just depends on what you are looking for, the price you are willing to spend, and what devices you currently have.Choose this MagSafe accessory...If you want...Casely MagSafe Grippy Mount A MagSafe content creation tool. Anker MagGo 3-1 Wireless Charging StationA seamless way to charge your devices, without all the wires. Belkin Boostcharge Pro Qi2 Magnetic Power Bank 5kAn easy way to boost your phone on-the-go. Telesin MagSafe Neck MountA hands-free option to easily record video. Journey Ezmo MagSafe Wallet and StandMagSafe storage for cards and cash.Moft Snap on Phone Stand and WalletA minimalistic, MagSafe card holder option. Twelve South HiRise ProA desk optimizer that strategically places your laptop and phone in the right place for easy charging and an organized space. Factors to consider when choosing a MagSafe accessory: As someone who regularly tests MagSafe accessories and gear, these are the three most critical things to keep in mind while you shop, both to ensure you nab the best products and avoid spending your cash on useless junk.Compatibility: This is the most important factor to keep in mind. Make sure that your iPhone is compatible with the accessory you are looking to purchase and that you keep an eye out for other requirements (often hidden in the fine print), like needing a MagSafe phone case. If you're not an iPhone user, be sure to find options to make your device MagSafe compatible (it's easy), and again, watch for compatibility when checking out. Always read full product descriptions before you add to your cart, trust me.Price: Probably the most obvious thing to keep in mind is the cost. MagSafe accessories can be really handy and helpful, but only if they're within your budget or worth the long-term investment. Otherwise, they may be an unnecessary expense or something that winds up sitting in a drawer for several years before being tossed out. Try to keep a reasonable budget for yourself when shopping, and remember that the best products aren't always the most expensive items on the market, and it's always a good idea to check out sale events.Use case: This ties into the bullet above, but keeping your use case in mind while shopping for MagSafe gear is critical to avoid buying junk that you throw out or give away down the line. For something to be worth the money you spend on it, it has to bring added value and fix a current problem you're experiencing with your phone. If you only need a card holder to store your transit card, you don't necessarily need to splash out on a pricier wallet option that holds more cards and cash. Try to stay reasonable with yourself to avoid spending unnecessary cash and contributing to more tech waste. How did we choose these MagSafe accessories? ZDNET only recommends products we ourselves have used or researched extensively so we can speak to each product's value, function, and overall user experience. While rounding up this list of MagSafe accessories (of which, we've tested every product included), here's a few things we kept in mind to guide our selections accordingly.Functionality: From laptop stands to car mounts, there's a diversity of MagSafe use cases on this list. We considered user experience and overall functionality in each product we spotlighted. Keep in mind that we've gone hands-on with many other MagSafe accessories like wallets, chargers, and battery packs, and you can check out our full, in-depth best of lists if you're looking for a few more options.Price: Accessorizing your mobile device is a lot like customizing a purse or a bedroom. You have essential items like cases and chargers, as well as nonessential add-ons like grips, stands, mounts, and more. The beauty of accessorizing is you can take it as little or as far as you'd like and spend as little or as much as you're comfortable with. While most accessories remain under the $100 mark, there are several items like MagSafe charging stations that can easily push over that limit. We made sure to consider numerous types of accessories across varying price points and their overall value compared to what you'll pay. We think every item on this list is worth the money if it's the type of product you're looking for, but ultimately, the total cost spent on accessorizing with MagSafe is up to you.Best List picks:The accessory options included in this list are certainly not the only options available on the market and are definitely not the only MagSafe accessories that we've tried. Since ZDNET has already extensively tested many MagSafe accessories across several categories, including MagSafe wallets, battery packs, wireless chargers, and more, we considered the top-ranking picks selected for those lists to ensure congruency on our site and to maintain the authority in our picks. What is MagSafe? MagSafe was originally developed as a safety feature for MacBook charging cords, but it's now built into iPhone 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 models for use with a range of accessories.The system uses a series of magnets around the iPhone's internal charging coil that sense other compatible devices and hold them securely. The magnets are specifically designed for the MagSafe system to protect your iPhone from damage. Which iPhone models have MagSafe? All current iPhone models, including the iPhone 14, iPhone 15, and newly released iPhone 16, feature MagSafe charging. Older iPhones, such as the iPhone 12 and 13 also feature MagSafe technology. Some charging cases for Apple's AirPods, such as the latest AirPods Pro, also have MagSafe built in. Is MagSafe the same as Qi? The two systems work on the same wireless charging principles, but the key difference is that Qi chargers don't use magnets for alignment. Qi chargers need a near-perfect alignment for optimal speeds. The MagSafe system eliminates the hassle of positioning and repositioning your devices on the charger by using magnets to properly align the charging puck and iPhone's internal charging coils, giving you consistent, fast charging every time. Is MagSafe charging better than cable charging? It's a personal preference. Both cable charging and wireless charging boost your phone effectively. But with a cable, you must ensure you're near an outlet or alternative power source when recharging your phone.With MagSafe, you can experience wire-free charging at home and even purchase abattery packfor power on the go. So, if you're a mobile a lot, we recommend a MagSafe battery pack to keep your iPhone charged while you travel. For certain situations or environments, a cable may be preferred. Why should I bother with MagSafe accessories? MagSafe capabilities can enhance your user experience and your iPhone's functionality. Besides creating simpler, more efficient wireless charging, MagSafe technology opens the door for various accessories such as wallets, car vent clips and mounts, fitness mounts, power banks, grips and key ring accessories, and more to widen the iPhone experience and make your life as efficient as possible. Are there alternative MagSafe accessories to consider?Yes, the market is flooded with MagSafe accessory options; by all means, the ones we've included aren't your only options. Check out a few other picks we'd recommend below.ZDNET Recommends

Threads users have a lot to celebrate this week.

How to solve today's Wordle.SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesLooking for Thursdays Wordle hints, clues and answer? You can find them here:At last, dearest Wordlers, we have come to Friday. Most of the time I complain that time flies by too quickly, but for whatever reason this past week has moved at a strangely slow pace. I cant put my finger on why. Thats the thing about time. Its really all in our heads. Entropy occurs. We age. The earth revolves around the sun. Day and night repeat. But time itself is as abstract a notion as any our human brains can conceive of, and reading about space-time doesnt help much, at least for those of us whose brains are not suited for math.Mine, for instance, is better with words and language than with physics and mathematics, though I find it all fascinating. Whats the point of life if not to learn and experience? Anyways, theres a Wordle to solve. Lets solve it!P.S. Its 2XP Friday, so double your pointspositive or negativeif you play Competitive Wordle!How To Solve Todays WordleThe Hint: A precious jewel, found only in the sea.The Clue: This Wordle has two vowels in a row.Okay, spoilers below!...The Answer:Today's WordleCan you solve todays phrase?Play NowScreenshot: Erik KainWordle AnalysisEvery day I check Wordle Bot to help analyze my guessing game. You can check your Wordles with Wordle Bot right here. I was lucky today, though theres a cruel irony even in my success. I was using todays Wordle as an opening guess with some frequency recently, but due to some changes in my life circumstances, I decided not to anymore. Still, when my first guess came back with PEAR all in yellow, I had to try. Sure enough, PEARL was the Wordle. If things had been different, perhaps Id have guessed this in just one today. Cest la vie.Competitive Wordle ScoreI get 2 points for guessing in two and another for beating the Bot, who took three tries today. Thats 3 points, doubled for 2XP Friday for a whopping 6. Huzzah! (Had I guessed in 1, Id have gotten 3 points +1 for beating the Bot x2 for a total of 8. Oh well!)How To Play Competitive WordleGuessing in 1 is worth 3 points; guessing in 2 is worth 2 points; guessing in 3 is worth 1 point; guessing in 4 is worth 0 points; guessing in 5 is -1 points; guessing in 6 is -2 points and missing the Wordle is -3 points.If you beat your opponent you get 1 point. If you tie, you get 0 points. And if you lose to your opponent, you get -1 point. Add it up to get your score. Keep a daily running score or just play for a new score each day.Fridays are 2XP, meaning you double your pointspositive or negative.You can keep a running tally or just play day-by-day. Enjoy!Todays Wordle EtymologyThe word pearl comes from the Middle English perle, which was borrowed from Old French perle. This, in turn, likely derives from the Medieval Latin perla, meaning "a pearl" or "something round," which may be related to the Latin word perna, meaning "leg," due to the leg-of-mutton shape of some bivalve shells that produce pearls.Let me know how you fared with your Wordle today on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog where I write about games, TV shows and movies when Im not writing puzzle guides. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.

Light powers the new age of photonic-based computing.Teresa FosterConnectivity defines computing. Our ability to interconnect data resources and repositories across services that stem from the backbone of the cloud fabric is the natural evolution of the pre-millennial networking age. That was a time (back in the eighties and into the nineties) when we used to talk about hubs and switches working across local and wide area networks with awe and appreciation. The connections that we now form in the cloud can be traced down to the applications that now enjoy interconnectedness and, ultimately, to the connections that exist across silicon wafers and electronic circuits.Some of those standards are changing. The application connection points remain comparatively static (although, yes, AI is changing everything), but the way we forge and fuse connectivity is changing as a result of optical technologies and photonics i.e. the use of light to change what was once an electronic connection point into a photonics-based connection capable of working at much faster speeds using far less power and with increased responsiveness.What Is Photonics?We have detailed the mechanics of this potential paradigm shift before in relation to research and development work carried out by NTT Corporation. The companys Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) approach is engineered around photonics technology for ultra-high capacity, ultra-low latency and ultra-low power consumption. Its worth remembering that as we stand today, the vast majority of our devices still do use electronics to process and transmit information.In contrast and as a branch of optics science, photonics is all about the creation, detection and management of light through various types of modulation, switching, application and sensing to enable photonics-based microprocessors i.e. light-based chips capable of performing high-speed arithmetic calculations that are even said to pave the way towards optical quantum computers.Conscientiously working to evolve these technologies (some of which we still need to finish building the hardware for, let alone start thinking about how the software constructs and functionalities will work), NTT says it is taking an altruistic approach to the R&D by making sure its work helps create a more sustainable society for all going forwards.MORE FOR YOUSome of its latest work in this arena sees the application of NTTs All-Photonics Network (APN) to advance cloud-based endoscopy capabilities and remote production. NTT and Olympus Corporation (yes, the one you know for cameras, but that also makes microscopes, thermometers and endoscopes) have announced the creation of a cloud endoscopy system utilizing the NTT IOWN APN with what is said to be an ability to solve the associated network issues that arise in cloud-based medical technology at this level.For those without a biological science bent (and the squeamish who would prefer not to think about such things if given the option) an endoscope is a medical device in which a flexible tube is inserted into the natural openings of the body to perform an examination and obtain tissue samples. Today, endoscopes are used increasingly more often due to the equipments low level of invasiveness and high level of safety.This reference to cloud-based endoscopy here means this use of Olympus' endoscopes to perform image processing, which has been conventionally processed within the endoscopic equipment, on a remote [private] cloud. This has been difficult to achieve with conventional technology for a lot of reasons, but networking strength and performance being among the key factors. NTT says its IOWN APN technology makes it possible to process images in real-time on the cloud and that this use case helps establish a reference model for the commercialization of cloud endoscopy systems in the immediate future.Jitsuyouka: Commercialization & UsefulnessIf that commercialization point sounds a little flaky or fanciful, it perhaps shouldnt i.e. NTT founds and centralizes a good deal of its research and development around the concept of Jitsuyouka, which quite literally translates into English as commercial development for usefulness, but NTT tempers that definition with a need for products and services to benefit society as well.According to NTT, [Today], current endoscopes handle all functions within the endoscope device, making performance limitations and maintainability an issue. In addition, it is expected that more cases in the future will require flexible feature improvements and updates based on new user needs, such as real-time remote diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, NTT and Olympus are developing an endoscopy system in which functions with high processing loads, such as image processing, can be done on the cloud.By sharing the processing load with graphical processing units in the cloud-located datacenters, users can receive the latest functions through software updates and enable real-time remote diagnosis and treatment by sharing video information across multiple hospitals. To build a cloud endoscopy system, NTT and Olympus have started demonstration experiments centered on IOWN APN to solve technical problems in the network. In this demonstration experiment, the companies will construct an experimental environment in which an actual endoscope and a GPU server are connected by IOWN APN, using it as a starting point to carry out further verifications. NTT says it will consider expanding use cases, such as promoting the use of other medical devices on the cloud, based on the knowledge gained from current experiments.NTT researchers have also developed a lineup of on-site construction, maintenance and operation technologies essential for the commercial introduction of four-core multi-core optical fiber optical transmission lines, which enable a single communication optical fiber to have four times the capacity of current optical fibers. This achievement is expected to accelerate the practical application of four-core MCF optical transmission lines in inter-datacenter optical communications, where the demand for optical fiber cores continues to grow exponentially and in submarine optical transmission sections, where optical fiber mounting space in optical cables is limited.Making Moonshots MatterLooking ahead, NTT invests $3.6 billion in its global scientific research and technology R&D initiatives annually. A lot of that investment capital - obviously - comes from its existing customer base, so one wonders how the company balances the need to be seen building technology that works in the here and now, while, equally, also showing evidence of technology progression for a future age weve yet to even enter in many industrial segments and spheres.As a real world (out of this world) example, NTT R&D is developing technology that will enable wireless cable-free power transmission connectivity to happen through Lunar regolith (moondust, to you and me) so that we might one day be able to power rover vehicles on the surface of the moon. Not useful yet, but most people would agree that this is pretty amazing. At the same time, the company is helping to build extreme networking connections through undersea cables that have infinitesimally small delays. Its an application that works really well for video conferencing and even for football (sorry, soccer) commentators to present in synch around the globe. Definitely very useful.There arent many technology firms focused on developing network solutions that span moonshots and penalty shots, but theres sometimes a different attitude towards innovation in the Far East where NTT originates, so this duality is possibly perceived with more credibility on home soil first. Whatever next, electronic toilets? Thats old news, we need to look to the stars.Sake kegs.Teresa Foster

A laptop keyboard and ChatGPT on App Store displayed on a phone screen are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on October 1, 2024.Jakub PorzyckiNurPhoto/Getty ImagesBy Harry BoothNovember 21, 2024 12:53 PM ESTFor over a decade, companies have bet on a tantalizing rule of thumb: that artificial intelligence systems would keep getting smarter if only they found ways to continue making them bigger. This wasnt merely wishful thinking. In 2017, researchers at Chinese technology firm Baidu demonstrated that pouring more data and computing power into machine learning algorithms yielded mathematically predictable improvementsregardless of whether the system was designed to recognize images, speech, or generate language. Noticing the same trend, in 2020, OpenAI coined the term scaling laws, which has since become a touchstone of the industry.This thesis prompted AI firms to bet hundreds of millions on ever-larger computing clusters and datasets. The gamble paid off handsomely, transforming crude text machines into today's articulate chatbots.But now, that bigger-is-better gospel is being called into question.Last week, reports by Reuters and Bloomberg suggested that leading AI companies are experiencing diminishing returns on scaling their AI systems. Days earlier, The Information reported doubts at OpenAI about continued advancement after the unreleased Orion model failed to meet expectations in internal testing. The co-founders of Andreessen Horowitz, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm, have echoed these sentiments, noting that increasing computing power is no longer yielding the same "intelligence improvements."What are tech companies saying?Though, many leading AI companies seem confident that progress is marching full steam ahead. In a statement, a spokesperson for Anthropic, developer of the popular chatbot Claude, said we haven't seen any signs of deviations from scaling laws. OpenAI declined to comment. Google DeepMind did not respond for comment. However, last week, after an experimental new version of Googles Gemini model took GPT-4os top spot on a popular AI-performance leaderboard, the companys CEO, Sundar Pichai posted to X saying more to come.Read more: The Researcher Trying to Glimpse the Future of AIRecent releases paint a somewhat mixed picture. Anthropic has updated its medium sized model, Sonnet, twice since its release in March, making it more capable than the companys largest model, Opus, which has not received such updates. In June, the company said Opus would be updated later this year, but last week, speaking on the Lex Fridman podcast, co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei declined to give a specific timeline. Google updated its smaller Gemini Pro model in February, but the company's larger Gemini Ultra model has yet to receive an update. OpenAIs recently released o1-preview model outperforms GPT-4o in several benchmarks, but in others it falls short. o1-preview was reportedly called GPT-4o with reasoning internally, suggesting the underlying model is similar in scale to GPT-4.Parsing the truth is complicated by competing interests on all sides. If Anthropic cannot produce more powerful models, weve failed deeply as a company, Amodei said last week, offering a glimpse at the stakes for AI companies that have bet their futures on relentless progress. A slowdown could spook investors and trigger an economic reckoning. Meanwhile, Ilya Sutskever, OpenAIs former chief scientist and once an ardent proponent of scaling, now says performance gains from bigger models have plateaued. But his stance carries its own baggage: Suskevers new AI start up, Safe Superintelligence Inc., launched in June with less funding and computational firepower than its rivals. A breakdown in the scaling hypothesis would conveniently help level the playing field.They had these things they thought were mathematical laws and they're making predictions relative to those mathematical laws and the systems are not meeting them, says Gary Marcus, a leading voice on AI, and author of several books including Taming Silicon Valley. He says the recent reports of diminishing returns suggest we have finally hit a wallsomething hes warned could happen since 2022. I didn't know exactly when it would happen, and we did get some more progress. Now it seems like we are stuck, he says.Have we run out of data?A slowdown could be a reflection of the limits of current deep learning techniques, or simply that there's not enough fresh data anymore, Marcus says. Its a hypothesis that has gained ground among some following AI closely. Sasha Luccioni, AI and climate lead at Hugging Face, says there are limits to how much information can be learned from text and images. She points to how people are more likely to misinterpret your intentions over text messaging, as opposed to in person, as an example of text datas limitations. I think it's like that with language models, she says.The lack of data is particularly acute in certain domains like reasoning and mathematics, where we just don't have that much high quality data, says Ege Erdil, senior researcher at Epoch AI, a nonprofit that studies trends in AI development. That doesnt mean scaling is likely to stopjust that scaling alone might be insufficient. At every order of magnitude scale up, different innovations have to be found, he says, noting that it does not mean AI progress will slow overall.It's not the first time critics have pronounced scaling dead. At every stage of scaling, there are always arguments, Amodei said last week. The latest one we have today is, were going to run out of data, or the data isnt high quality enough or models cant reason., ...Ive seen the story happen for enough times to really believe that probably the scaling is going to continue, he said. Reflecting on OpenAIs early days on Y-Combinators podcast, company CEO Sampost on X from Marcus saying his predictions of diminishing returns were right, Altman posted saying there is no wall. Though there could be another reason we may be hearing echoes of new models failing to meet internal expectations, says Jaime Sevilla, director of Epoch AI. Following conversations with people at OpenAI and Anthropic, he came away with a sense that people had extremely high expectations. They expected AI was going to be able to, already write a PhD thesis, he says. Maybe it feels a bit.. anti-climactic.A temporary lull does not necessarily signal a wider slowdown, Sevilla says. History shows significant gaps between major advances: GPT-4, released just 19 months ago, itself arrived 33 months after GPT-3. We tend to forget that GPT three from GPT four was like 100x scale in compute, Sevilla says. If you want to do something like 100 times bigger than GPT-4, you're gonna need up to a million GPUs, Sevilla says. That is bigger than any known clusters currently in existence, though he notes that there have been concerted efforts to build AI infrastructure this year, such as Elon Musks 100,000 GPU supercomputer in Memphisthe largest of its kindwhich was reportedly built from start to finish in three months.In the interim, AI companies are likely exploring other methods to improve performance after a model has been trained. OpenAIs o1-preview has been heralded as one such example, which outperforms previous models on reasoning problems by being allowed more time to think. This is something we already knew was possible, Sevilla says, gesturing to an Epoch AI report published in July 2023.Policy and geopolitical implicationsPrematurely diagnosing a slowdown could have repercussions beyond Silicon Valley and Wall St. The perceived speed of technological advancement following GPT-4s release prompted an open letter calling for a six-month pause on the training of larger systems to give researchers and governments a chance to catch up. The letter garnered over 30,000 signatories, including Musk and Turing Award recipient Yoshua Bengio. Its an open question whether a perceived slowdown could have the opposite effect, causing AI safety to slip from the agenda.Much of the U.S.s AI policy has been built on the belief that AI systems would continue to balloon in size. A provision in Bidens sweeping executive order on AI, signed in October 2023 (and expected to be repealed by the Trump White House) required AI developers to share information with the government regarding models trained using computing power above a certain threshold. That threshold was set above the largest models available at the time, under the assumption that it would target future, larger models. This same assumption underpins export restrictions (restrictions on the sale of AI chips and technologies to certain countries) designed to limit Chinas access to the powerful semiconductors needed to build large AI models. However, if breakthroughs in AI development begin to rely less on computing power and more on factors like better algorithms or specialized techniques, these restrictions may have a smaller impact on slowing Chinas AI progress.The overarching thing that the U.S. needs to understand is that to some extent, export controls were built on a theory of timelines of the technology, says Scott Singer, a visiting scholar in the Technology and International Affairs Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In a world where the U.S. stalls at the frontier, he says, we could see a national push to drive breakthroughs in AI. He says a slip in the U.S.s perceived lead in AI could spur a greater willingness to negotiate with China on safety principles.Whether we're seeing a genuine slowdown or just another pause ahead of a leap remains to be seen. Its unclear to me that a few months is a substantial enough reference point, Singer says. You could hit a plateau and then hit extremely rapid gains.More Must-Reads from TIMEWhy Trumps Message Worked on Latino MenWhat Trumps Win Could Mean for HousingThe 100 Must-Read Books of 2024Sleep Doctors Share the 1 Tip Thats Changed Their LivesColumn: Lets Bring Back RomanceWhat Its Like to Have Long COVID As a KidFXs Say NothingIs the Must-Watch Political Thriller of 2024Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby DecisionContact us at letters@time.com

By Michael Liedtke / APUpdated: November 21, 2024 3:05 AM EST | Originally published: November 21, 2024 12:05 AM ESTU.S. regulators want a federal judge to break up Google to prevent the company from continuing to squash competition through its dominant search engine after a court found it had maintained an abusive monopoly over the past decade.The proposed breakup floated in a 23-page document filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice calls for sweeping punishments that would include a sale of Googles industry-leading Chrome web browser and impose restrictions to prevent Android from favoring its own search engine.A sale of Chrome will permanently stop Googles control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet, Justice Department lawyers argued in their filing.Although regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android too, they asserted the judge should make it clear the company could still be required to divest its smartphone operating system if its oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct.The broad scope of the recommended penalties underscores how severely regulators operating under President Joe Bidens administration believe Google should be punished following an August ruling by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta that branded the company as a monopolist.The Justice Department decision-makers who will inherit the case after President-elect Donald Trump takes office next year might not be as strident. The Washington, D.C. court hearings on Googles punishment are scheduled to begin in April and Mehta is aiming to issue his final decision before Labor Day.If Mehta embraces the governments recommendations, Google would be forced to sell its 16-year-old Chrome browser within six months of the final ruling. But the company certainly would appeal any punishment, potentially prolonging a legal tussle that has dragged on for more than four years.Besides seeking a Chrome spinoff and a corralling of the Android software, the Justice Department wants the judge to ban Google from forging multibillion-dollar deals to lock in its dominant search engine as the default option on Apples iPhone and other devices. It would also ban Google from favoring its own services, such as YouTube or its recently-launched artificial intelligence platform, Gemini.Regulators also want Google to license the search index data it collects from peoples queries to its rivals, giving them a better chance at competing with the tech giant. On the commercial side of its search engine, Google would be required to provide more transparency into how it sets the prices that advertisers pay to be listed near the top of some targeted search results.Kent Walker, Googles chief legal officer, lashed out at the Justice Department for pursuing a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and Americas global technology. In a blog post, Walker warned the overly broad proposal would threaten personal privacy while undermining Googles early leadership in artificial intelligence, perhaps the most important innovation of our time.Wary of Googles increasing use of artificial intelligence in its search results, regulators also advised Mehta to ensure websites will be able to shield their content from Googles AI training techniques.The measures, if they are ordered, threaten to upend a business expected to generate more than $300 billion in revenue this year.The playing field is not level because of Googles conduct, and Googles quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired, the Justice Department asserted in its recommendations. The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages.Its still possible that the Justice Department could ease off attempts to break up Google, especially if Trump takes the widely expected step of replacing Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, who was appointed by Biden to oversee the agencys antitrust division.Although the case targeting Google was originally filed during the final months of Trumps first term in office, Kanter oversaw the high-profile trial that culminated in Mehtas ruling against Google. Working in tandem with Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, Kanter took a get-tough stance against Big Tech that triggered other attempted crackdowns on industry powerhouses such as Apple and discouraged many business deals from getting done during the past four years.Trump recently expressed concerns that a breakup might destroy Google but didnt elaborate on alternative penalties he might have in mind. What you can do without breaking it up is make sure its more fair, Trump said last month. Matt Gaetz, the former Republican congressman that Trump nominated to be the next U.S. Attorney General, has previously called for the breakup of Big Tech companies.Gaetz faces a tough confirmation hearing.This latest filing gave Kanter and his team a final chance to spell out measures that they believe are needed to restore competition in search. It comes six weeks after Justice first floated the idea of a breakup in a preliminary outline of potential penalties.But Kanters proposal is already raising questions about whether regulators seek to impose controls that extend beyond the issues covered in last years trial, andby extensionMehtas ruling.Banning the default search deals that Google now pays more than $26 billion annually to maintain was one of the main practices that troubled Mehta in his ruling.Its less clear whether the judge will embrace the Justice Departments contention that Chrome needs to be spun out of Google and or Android should be completely walled off from its search engine.It is probably going a little beyond, Syracuse University law professor Shubha Ghosh said of the Chrome breakup. The remedies should match the harm, it should match the transgression. This does seem a little beyond that pale.Google rival DuckDuckGo, whose executives testified during last year's trial, asserted the Justice Department is simply doing what needs to be done to rein in a brazen monopolist.Undoing Googles overlapping and widespread illegal conduct over more than a decade requires more than contract restrictions: it requires a range of remedies to create enduring competition, Kamyl Bazbaz, DuckDuckGos senior vice president of public affairs, said in a statement.Trying to break up Google harks back to a similar punishment initially imposed on Microsoft a quarter century ago following another major antitrust trial that culminated in a federal judge deciding the software maker had illegally used his Windows operating system for PCs to stifle competition.However, an appeals court overturned an order that would have broken up Microsoft, a precedent many experts believe will make Mehta reluctant to go down a similar road with the Google case.

KEY TAKEAWAYSChainlink, Microsoft, and Banco Inter aim to enhance Drexs trade finance capabilities using blockchain interoperability.The initiative demonstrates using Chainlinks CCIP to connect Drexs blockchain with global financial systems.Tokenized assets like the eBoL will drive automation, improving supply chain transparency and transaction efficiency.On Tuesday, Chainlink partnered with Microsoft and 7COMm to create a trade finance solution for the second phase of Drex, Brazils central bank digital currency (CBDC).This collaboration includes Brazilian companies like Banco Inter, one of the countrys top digital banks, which contributed to the first phase of Drex by tokenizing public debt securities.Chainlinkautomate supply chain management and improve trade financing within the Drex ecosystem.The initiative integrates Chainlinks Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) to connect Drex with a foreign central bank, ensuring efficient and compatible transaction settlements.As part of this initiative, Chainlinks CCIP will enable interoperability between the Brazilian Central Banks Drex and a foreign central bank, ensuring that transactions are compatible and settled efficiently.Drex Use Cases Whats It Good For?The consortium, featuring Banco Inter, Microsoft, and Chainlink, focuses on automatic transaction settlement for cross-border agricultural commodity trade.Chainlinks CCIP enables Drexs blockchain to interoperate seamlessly with external central bank infrastructures, ensuring frictionless settlements.Chainlink facilitates this process by tokenizing the Electronic Bill of Lading (eBoL) and utilizing supply chain data to trigger payments during the export process.This system also unlocks Delivery versus Payment (DvP) and Payment versus Payment (PvP) mechanisms while ensuring interoperability between Chainlinks blockchain and Hyperledger Besu, the platform used for Drex testing.Chainlink CCIP The Future of dApps?Chainlinks CCIP allows seamless token and data transfers between blockchain networks, offering a unified interface for decentralized applications (dApps).This feature enhances blockchain adoption and integration with existing backend systems while increasing market liquidity and access.For Drex, CCIP connects Hyperledger Besu with other EVM and non-EVM networks, driving interoperability and expanding the ecosystem.Banco Inter leads the implementation of the solution on Drexs platform, aiming to transform Brazils financial market.Bruno Grossi, Head of Emerging Technologies at Banco Inter, sees the project as a milestone that strengthens the market and expands its reach through collaboration with Microsoft and Chainlink Labs.We see collaborating in this project with technology leaders like Microsoft and Chainlink Labs as a transformative opportunity to expand market reach and improve the health of the Brazilian market. Bruno GrossiDrexs Leadership and Vision Could Evolve the IndustryMicrosoft provides cloud infrastructure to support Drexs development and expand access to intelligent financial services.Joo Arago, Microsofts Financial Services Innovation Specialist, emphasized the companys commitment to driving economic growth through Drex.7COMm contributes technical expertise to implement practical and transformative blockchain solutions. Sergio Yamani, 7COMms Director of Innovation, highlighted the transformative potential of CBDCs and blockchain interoperability.By integrating CCIP, the project establishes a new standard for global transactions while promoting transparency, security, and accessibility.This initiative positions Brazil as a global leader in blockchain innovation. This showcases how technology can transform trade finance and strengthen the economy.The advent of CBDCs, the development of blockchain interoperability protocols such as CCIP, and the use of CBDCs for cross-border payments enable a new generation of blockchain trade finance solutions. Bruno GrossiReferencesClick to expand and view referencesChainlink joins Banco Inter, Microsoft and 7Comm consortium to support trade finance use case in phase 2 of Drex pilot (PR News Wire)What is Drex and how it will change your life (Inter)Drex Pilot (Brazilian Government)Add Techreport to Your Google News Feed Get the latest updates, trends, and insights delivered straight to your fingertips. Subscribe now! Subscribe now Cassio Gusson is a journalist passionate about technology, cryptocurrencies, and the nuances of human nature. With a career spanning roles as Senior Crypto Journalist at CriptoFacil and Head of News at CoinTelegraph, he offers exclusive insights on South Americas crypto landscape. A graduate in Communication from Faccamp and a post-graduate in Globalization and Culture from FESPSP, Cassio explores the intersection of governance, decentralization, and the evolution of global systems. View all articles by Cassio Gusson Our editorial processThe Tech Reporteditorial policyis centered on providing helpful, accurate content that offers real value to our readers. We only work with experienced writers who have specific knowledge in the topics they cover, including latest developments in technology, online privacy, cryptocurrencies, software, and more. Our editorial policy ensures that each topic is researched and curated by our in-house editors. We maintain rigorous journalistic standards, and every article is 100% written byreal authors.

KEY TAKEAWAYSBitfinex introduces US Treasury tokenized bonds under El Salvadors regulatory framework.Investors can trade $USTBL tokens, providing exposure to short-term US Treasury Bills, with a 5.02% annual yield.$USTBL operates on the Bitcoin Layer-2 blockchain, enabling instant settlement, approved wallet withdrawals, and over-the-counter trading.On Tuesday, Bitfinex Securities, a tokenization company linked to the Bitfinex exchange, announced the launch of a new public offering for real-world assets (RWA) tokens.This new launch introduces tokenized US Treasury Bills (T-bills) under the legal framework of El Salvador.This way, Bitfinex aims to broaden access to regulated investments in tokenized assets.Tokenized Treasury BillsNexBridge Digital Financial Solutions, a digital asset issuer based in El Salvador, will handle the issuance of $USTBL tokens.$USTBL will expose investors to short-term US T-bills denominated in US dollars.Bitfinex Securities plans to raise at least $30M in the initial token offering from November 19 to 29.Bitfinex announced it would create RWA tokens on Liquid Network, a Bitcoin Layer-2 blockchain maintained by Blockstream.The $USTBL token offers an annual yield of 5.02% until maturity. Bitfinex Securities will allocate the proceeds to the iShares Treasury Bond 0-1 year UCITS exchange-traded fund (ETF), which tracks a US government bond index.Although $USTBL is issued on Liquid Network, investors can only purchase it with Tethers stablecoin $USDT. However, Bitfinex plans to introduce Bitcoin ($BTC) as a payment option in the future.After the subscription period, the token will become available for secondary market trading on Bitfinex Securities, offering instant settlement, withdrawals to approved wallets, and over-the-counter trading.Bitfinex Securities in El SalvadorIn April 2023, Bitfinex obtained the first digital asset service provider license in El Salvador, allowing tokenized stocks and financial securities to be issued and traded. Bitfinex Securities El Salvador S.A. de C.V. officially began operations in January 2024.The company anticipates strong demand for regulated digital asset investment vehicles, particularly after the approval of $BTC ETFs in the US.However, not all of Bitfinexs initiatives in El Salvador have been successful. In May 2024, the company launched a public offering to fund the construction of a Hampton by Hilton hotel near El Salvadors International Airport, aiming to raise $6.25M.The offering used the Airport Hotel SV ($HILSV) token to attract investors interested in the project. Despite Bitfinexs efforts, the offering failed to reach the required minimum of $500K, raising only $342K by the June 2024 deadline. Consequently, Bitfinex Securities issued a full refund to all investors.Merging Traditional Finance and BlockchainBitfinex Securities launch of tokenized US Treasury Bills is a significant step toward merging traditional finance with blockchain technology.Despite previous setbacks, such as the $HILSV token offering, the companys approach to RWA tokenization shows its commitment to innovation.This offering could potentially pave the way for broader acceptance of blockchain-based financial instruments globally.ReferencesAdd Techreport to Your Google News Feed Get the latest updates, trends, and insights delivered straight to your fingertips. Subscribe now! Subscribe now Cassio Gusson is a journalist passionate about technology, cryptocurrencies, and the nuances of human nature. With a career spanning roles as Senior Crypto Journalist at CriptoFacil and Head of News at CoinTelegraph, he offers exclusive insights on South Americas crypto landscape. A graduate in Communication from Faccamp and a post-graduate in Globalization and Culture from FESPSP, Cassio explores the intersection of governance, decentralization, and the evolution of global systems. View all articles by Cassio Gusson Our editorial processThe Tech Reporteditorial policyis centered on providing helpful, accurate content that offers real value to our readers. We only work with experienced writers who have specific knowledge in the topics they cover, including latest developments in technology, online privacy, cryptocurrencies, software, and more. Our editorial policy ensures that each topic is researched and curated by our in-house editors. We maintain rigorous journalistic standards, and every article is 100% written byreal authors.

WTF?! Microsoft recently released the Bing Wallpaper app on the Windows Store, offering users a new, official way to change your desktop wallpaper on a daily basis. The app includes a collection of images from around the world that have been featured on the Bing homepage, but it apparently also brings a series of very questionable hidden perks after being installed on a Windows PC. Some third-party software companies behave like true malware sellers, packing their products with really questionable functionality and hidden payloads. When Microsoft shows the same behavior, however, Windows users tend to react swiftly and in an extremely negative way.According to Windows dev and "reverse engineer by night" Rafael Rivera, Bing Wallpaper is an absolute nightmare for the user's security and privacy. The app automatically installs Bing Visual Search and includes code to decrypt cookies saved in other browsers, Rivera said, and it also brings a "free" geolocation web API to the system.Cool wallpaper, not so cool app...The developer discovered "many" nasty tricks Microsoft integrated in Bing Wallpapers, which include trying to change the browser's settings and set Edge as the default system browser. If the default browser isn't Edge, the app will open the default browser after some time asking to enable the previously installed Microsoft Bing Search for Chrome extension.Rivera provided a list of the forcefully installed extensions users need to block in Chrome or Firefox. The developer straight up defined Bing Wallpaper as a malicious app, pointing to the app's server configuration for people interested in further investigating this malware. There's also a registry key that can apparently force the app to "nuke itself," which sounds like a very nice option to have at this point. // Related StoriesNetizens welcomed the Bing Wallpaper "malware" with open arms, and now they are sharing some very nice comments on Microsoft's latest attempt to bother the Windows userbase. People are saying that this sounds exactly like a thing Microsoft would do, while someone is even evoking a class action lawsuit against the company. If the wallpaper is free, one user said, you are likely the product.At this point, Bing Wallpaper can be considered unwanted, hostile adware at best. Dynamic wallpapers and related desktop customization features are readily available with other, adware-free apps and proper Win32 programs like Dynamic Wallpaper, Wallpaper Engine, and many more. Windows 11 even includes a native feature to change the desktop background every day, so there really is no need to install "official" Bing apps to get the job done.

Facepalm: Large language models have a long, steep hill to climb before they prove trustworthy and reliable. For now, they are helpful in starting research, but only fools would trust them enough to write a legal document. A professor specializing in the subject should know better. A Stanford professor has an egg on his face after submitting an affidavit to the court in support of a controversial Minnesota law aimed at curbing the use of deepfakes and AI to influence election outcomes. The proposed amendment to existing legislation states that candidates convicted of using deepfakes during an election campaign must forfeit the race and face fines and imprisonment of up to five years and $10,000, depending on the number of previous convictions.Minnesota State Representative Mary Franson and YouTuber Christopher Kohls have challenged the law, claiming it violates the First Amendment. During the pretrial proceedings, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison asked the founding director of Stanford's Social Media Lab, Professor Jeff Hancock, to provide an affidavit declaring his support of the law (below).Expert Declaration of Professor Jeff Hancock via CourtListenerThe Minnesota Reformer notes that Hancock drew up a well-worded argument for why the legislation is essential. He cites several sources for his conviction, including a study titled "The Influence of Deepfake Videos on Political Attitudes and Behavior" in the Journal of Information Technology & Politics. He also referenced another academic paper called "Deepfakes and the Illusion of Authenticity: Cognitive Processes Behind Misinformation Acceptance." The problem is that neither of these studies exist in the journal mentioned or any other academic resource.The plaintiffs filed a memorandum suggesting that the citations could be AI-generated. The dubious attributions challenge the declaration's validity, even if they aren't from an LLM, so the judge should throw it out. // Related Stories"The citation bears the hallmarks of being an artificial intelligence 'hallucination,' suggesting that at least the citation was generated by a large language model like ChatGPT," the memorandum reads. "Plaintiffs do not know how this hallucination wound up in Hancock's declaration, but it calls the entire document into question."Click to enlargeIf the citations are AI-generated, it is highly likely that portions, or even the entirety of the affidavit, are, too. In experiments with ChatGPT, TechSpot has found that the LLM will make up quotations that do not exist in an apparent attempt to lend validity to a story. When confronted about it, the chatbot will admit that it made the material up and will revise it with even more dubious content (above).It is conceivable that Hancock, who is undoubtedly a very busy man, wrote a draft declaration and passed it on to an aide to edit, who ran it through an LLM to clean it up, and the model added the references unprompted. However, that doesn't excuse the document from rightful scrutiny and criticism, which is the main problem with LLMs today.The irony that a self-proclaimed expert submitted a document containing AI-generated misinformation to a legal body in support of a law that outlaws that very information is not lost to anyone involved. Ellison and Hancock have not commented on the situation and likely want the embarrassing faux pas to disappear.The more tantalizing question is whether the court will consider this perjury since Hancock signed under the statement, "I declare under penalty of perjury that everything I have stated in this document is true and correct." If people are not held accountable for misusing AI, how can it ever get better?