Dan Huttenlocher, SM 84, PhD 88, leads the way up to the eighth floor of Building 45, the recently completed headquarters of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. Theres an amazing view of the Great Dome here, he says, pointing out a panoramic view of campus and the Boston skyline beyond. The floor features a high-end event space with an outdoor terrace and room for nearly 350 people. But it also serves an additional purposeluring people into the building, which opened last January. The event space wasnt in the original building plan, says Huttenlocher, Schwarzmans inaugural dean, but the point of the building is to be a nexus, bringing people across campus together. Launched in 201920, Schwarzman is MITs only college, so called because it cuts across the Institutes five schools in a new effort to integrate advanced computing and artificial intelligence into all areas of study. We want to do two things: ensure that MIT stays at the forefront of computer science, AI research, and education, Huttenlocher says, and infuse the forefront of computing into disciplines across MIT. He adds that safety and ethical considerations are also critical. To that end, the college now encompasses multiple existing labs and centers, including the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), and multiple academic units, including the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. (EECSwhich was reorganized into the overlapping subunits of electrical engineering, computer science, and artificial intelligence and decision-makingis now part of both the college and the School of Engineering.) At the same time, the college has embarked on a plan to hire 50 new faculty members, half of whom will have shared appointments in other departments across all five schools to create a true Institute-wide entity. Those faculty memberstwo-thirds of whom have already been hiredwill conduct research at the boundaries of advanced computing and AI. We want to do two things: ensure that MIT stays at the forefront of computer science, AI research, and education and infuse the forefront of computing into disciplines across MIT. Dan Huttenlocher The new faculty members have already begun helping the college respond to an undeniable reality facing many students: Theyve been overwhelmingly drawn to advanced computing tools, yet computer science classes are often too technical for nonmajors who want to apply those tools in other disciplines. And for students in other majors, it can be tricky to fit computer science classes into their schedules. Meanwhile, the appetite for computer science education is so great that nearly half of MITs undergraduates major in EECS, voting with their feet about the importance of computing. Graduate-level classes on deep learning and machine vision are among the largest on campus, with over 500 students each. And a blended major in cognition and computing has almost four times as many enrollees as brain and cognitive sciences. Weve been calling these students computing bilinguals, Huttenlocher says, and the college aims to make sure that MIT students, whatever their field, are fluent in the language of computing. As we change the landscape, he says, its not about seeing computing as a tool in service of a particular discipline, or a discipline in the service of computing, but asking: How can we bring these things together to forge something new? The college has been the hub of this experiment, sponsoring over a dozen new courses that integrate computing with other disciplines, and it provides a variety of spaces that bring people together for conversations about the future of computing at MIT. More than just a nexus for computing on campus, the college has also positioned itself as a broad-based leader on AI, presenting policy briefs to Congress and the White House about how to manage the pressing ethical and political concerns raised by the rapidly evolving technology. Right now, digital technologies are changing every aspect of our lives with breakneck speed, says Asu Ozdaglar, SM 98, PhD 03, EECS department head and Schwarzmans deputy dean of academics. The college is MITs response to the ongoing digital transformation of our society. Huttenlocher, who also holds the title of Henry Ellis Warren (1894) Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and coauthored the book The Age of AI: And Our Human Future with Henry Kissinger and Eric Schmidt, has long been exploring such issues. He started programming computers back in middle school in Connecticut in the 1970s on an ASR 33 teletype machine, and eventually he studied at the University of Michigan as a double major in cognitive psychology and computer science, exploring speech recognition and visual perception. AI work back then was relatively disconnected from the physical world, he says. Being interested in the perceptual side of things was kind of an outlier for what was going on in AI then. When he looked at grad schools in the 1980s, only MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and Stanford were doing significant work in AI, he says: I applied to those three schools and figured if it didnt work out, Id get a job. It worked out, of course. He headed to Cambridge and gravitated to MITs AI Lab in Technology Square, where he first worked on speech recognition and then transitioned into computer vision, at the time still in its infancy. After earning his PhD, he served simultaneously as a computer science professor at Cornell and a researcher at Xerox PARC, flying between New York and the burgeoning Silicon Valley, where he worked on computer vision for the digital transformation of copiers and scanners. In academia, you have more curiosity-driven research projects, where in the corporate world you have the opportunity to build things people will actually use, he says. Ive spent my career moving back and forth between them. Along the way, Huttenlocher gained administrative experience as well. He was a longtime board member and eventual chair of the MacArthur Foundation, and he also helped launch Cornell Tech, the universitys New York Citybased graduate school for business, law, and technology, serving as its first dean and vice provost. When Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of the investment firm Blackstone Group, gave $350 million to MIT to establish a college of computing in 2018, he was eager to return to the Institute to lead it. The fact that MIT was making a bold commitment to become a broad-based leader in the AI-driven ageand that it was cutting across all of its schoolswas exciting, he says. Schwarzman College took shape through task forces involving more than 100 MIT faculty members. By the fall of 2019 a plan had been nailed down, and Huttenlocher was in place as director with EECS head Ozdaglar named deputy dean of academics. I never believed that everybody wants to do computer science at MIT, she says. Students come in with a lot of passions, and its our responsibility to educate these bilinguals, so they are fluent in their own discipline but also able to use these advanced frontiers of computing. Ozdaglars background is in using machine learning to optimize communications, transportation, and control systems. Recently she has become interested in applying machine-learning algorithms to social media, examining how the choices people make when sharing content affect the informationand misinformationrecommended to them. This work builds on her longstanding interdisciplinary collaborations in the social sciences, including collaborations with her husband, economics professor (and recent Nobel laureate) Daron Acemoglu. I strongly feel that to really address the important questions in society, these old department or disciplinary silos arent adequate anymore, she says. The college has enabled me to work much more broadly across MIT and share all that Ive learned. Ozdaglar has been a driving force behind faculty hiring for the college, working with 18 departments to bring on dozens of scholars at the forefront of computing. In some ways, she says, its been a challenge to integrate the new hires into existing disciplines. We have to keep teaching what weve been teaching for tens or hundreds of years, so change is hard and slow, she says. But she has also noticed a palpable excitement about the new tools. Already, the college has brought in more than 30 new faculty members in four broad areas: climate and computing; human and natural intelligence; humanistic and social sciences; and AI for scientific discovery. In each case, they receive an academic home in another department, as well as an appointment, and often lab space, within the college. Asu Ozdaglar, SM 98, PhD 03, Schwarzmans deputy dean of academics, in the lobby of the new headquarters building. That commitment to interdisciplinary work has been built into every aspect of the new headquarters. Most buildings at MIT come across as feeling pretty monolithic, Huttenlocher says as he leads the way along brightly lit hallways and common spaces with large walls of glass looking out onto Vassar Street. We wanted to make this feel as open and accessible as possible. While the Institutes high-end computing takes place mostly at a massive computing center in Holyoke, about 90 miles away in Western Massachusetts, the building is honeycombed with labs and communal workspaces, all made light and airy with glass and natural blond wood. Along the halls, open doorways offer enticing glimpses of such things as a giant robot hanging from a ceiling amid a tangle of wires. Lab and office space for faculty research groups working on related problemswho might be from, say, CSAIL and LIDSis interspersed on the same floor to encourage interaction and collaboration. Its great because it builds connections across labs, Huttenlocher says. Even the conference room does not belong to either the lab or the college, so people actually have to collaborate to use it. Another dedicated space is available six months at a time, by application, for special collaborative projects. The first group to use it, last spring, focused on bringing computation to the climate challenge. To make sure undergrads use the building too, theres a classroom and a 250-seat lecture hall, which now hosts classic Course 6 classes (such as Intro to Machine Learning) as well as new multidiscipline classes. A soaring central lobby lined with comfortable booths and modular furniture is ready-made for study sessions. For some of the new faculty, working at the college is a welcome change from previous academic experiences in which they often felt caught between disciplines. The intersection of climate sustainability and AI was nascent when I started my PhD in 2015, says Sherrie Wang, an assistant professor with a shared appointment in mechanical engineering and the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, who is principal investigator of the Earth Intelligence Lab. When she hit the job market in 2022, it still wasnt clear which department shed be in. Now a part of Schwarzmans climate cluster, she says her work uses machine learning to analyze satellite data, examining crop distribution and agricultural practices across the world. Its great to have a cohort of people who have similar philosophical motivations in applying these tools to real-world problems, she says. At the same time, were pushing the tools forward as well. AI impact papersIn the fall of 2023, MIT began providing seed funding to teams of MIT faculty and researchers to explore how generative AI will transform peoples lives and work.As generative AI evolves at an exceptionally rapid pace, MIT has a responsibility to help humanity pursue a future of AI innovation that is broadly beneficial and mitigates potential harm, President Sally Kornbluth observed when announcing the publication of the first set of resulting white papers. A deep understanding of the societal impact of AI is a vital part of this effort, and MIT faculty have an extraordinary breadth of knowledge and insight to contribute.To date, MIT has published preprints of 39 white papers on a wide range of topics. Browse them all at https://mit-genai.pubpub.org/. Among other researchers, she plans to collaborate with Sara Beery, a CSAIL professor who analyzes vast troves of visual, auditory, and other data from a diverse range of sensors around the world to better understand how climate change is affecting distribution of species. AI can be successful in helping human experts efficiently process terabytes and petabytes of data so they can make informed management decisions in real time rather than five years later, says Beery, who was drawn to the colleges unique hybrid nature. We need a new generation of researchers that frame their work by bringing different types of knowledge together. At Schwarzman, there is a clear vision that this type of work is going to be necessary to solve these big, essential problems. Beery is now working to develop a class in machine learning and sustainability with two other new faculty members in the climate cluster: Abigail Bodner, an assistant professor in EECS and Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (whose work uses AI to analyze fluid dynamics), and Priya Donti, assistant professor in EECS and LIDS (who uses AI and computing to optimize integration of renewable energy into power grids). Theres already a core course on AI and machine learningan on-ramp for people without prior exposure who want to gain those fundamentals, says Donti. The new class would be for those who want to study advanced AI/ML topics within the context of sustainability-related disciplines, including power systems, biodiversity, and climate science. The class on machine learning and sustainability would be part of Common Ground for Computer Education, an initiative cochaired by Ozdaglar and involving several dozen faculty members across MIT to develop new classes integrating advanced computing with other disciplines. So far, says Ozdaglar, it has generated more than a dozen new courses. One machine-learning class developed with input from nine departments provides exposure to a variety of practical applications for AI algorithms. Another collaboration, between computer science and urban studies, uses data visualization to address housing issues and other societal challenges. Julia Schneider 26, a double major in AI and mathematics, took the Common Ground class on optimization methods, which she says demonstrated how computer science concepts like shortest-path algorithms and reinforcement learning could be applied in other areas, such as economics and business analytics. She adds that she values such classes because they blend her two areas of study and highlight multidisciplinary opportunities. Even faculty who are leading researchers in this area say I cant read fast enough to keep up with whats going on. Dan Huttenlocher Natasha Hirt 23, MEng 23, came to MIT thinking that computer science was peripheral to her major in architecture and urban planning. Then she took a course with building technology professor Caitlin Mueller on structural optimization and designand it changed the trajectory of her MIT career. That led her to Interactive Data Visualization and Society, a Common Ground class, and several interdisciplinary classes combining computer science and field-specific knowledge. She says these provided the perfect introduction to algorithms without delving too much into math or coding,giving her enough working knowledge to set up models correctly and understand how things can go wrong. They are teaching you what an engine is, what it looks like, and how it works without actually requiring you to know how to build an engine from scratch, she says, though she adds that the classes also gave her the opportunity to tinker with the engine. Shes now working on masters degrees in both building technology and computation science and engineering, focusing on making buildings more sustainable by using computational tools to design novel, less material-intensive structures. She says that Common Ground facilitates an environment where students dont have to be computer science majors to learn the computational skills they need to succeed in their fields. And thats the intent. My hope is that this new way of thinking and these educational innovations will have an impact both nationally and globally, Ozdaglar says. The same goes for recent papers MIT has commissioned, both on AI and public policy and on applications of generative AI. As generative AI has spread through many realms of society, it has become an ethical minefield, giving rise to problems from intellectual-property theft to deepfakes. The likely consequence has been to both over- and under-regulate AI, because the understanding isnt there, Huttenlocher says. But the technology has developed so rapidly its been nearly impossible for policymakers to keep up. Even faculty who are leading researchers in this area say I cant read fast enough to keep up with whats going on, Huttenlocher says, so that heightens the challengeand the need. The college has responded by engaging faculty at the cutting edge of their disciplines to issue policy briefs for government leaders. First was a general framework written in the fall of 2023 by Huttenlocher, Ozdaglar, and the head of MITs DC office, David Goldston, with input from more than a dozen MIT faculty members. The brief spells out essential tasks for helping the US maintain its AI leadership, as well as crucial considerations for regulation. The college followed that up with a policy brief by EECS faculty specifically focusing on large language models such as ChatGPT. Others dealt with AIs impact on the workforce, the effectiveness of labeling AI content, and AI in education. Along with the written documents, faculty have briefed congressional committees and federal agencies in person to get the information directly into the hands of policymakers. The question has been How do we take MITs specific academic knowledge and put it into a form thats accessible? Huttenlocher says. On a parallel track, in July of 2023 President Sally Kornbluth and Provost Cynthia Barnhart, SM 86, PhD 88, issued a call for papers by MIT faculty and researchers to articulate effective road maps, policy recommendations, and calls for action across the broad domain of generative AI. Huttenlocher and Ozdaglar played a key role in evaluating the 75 proposals that came in. Ultimately, 27 proposalsexploring the implications of generative AI for such areas as financial advice, music discovery, and sustainabilitywere selected from interdisciplinary teams of authors representing all five schools. Each of the 27 teams received between $50,000 and $70,000 in seed funds to research and write 10-page impact papers, which were due by December 2023. Given the enthusiastic response, MIT sent out another call in the fall of 2023, resulting in an additional 53 proposals, with 16 selected in March, on topics including visual art, drug discovery, and privacy. As with the policy briefs, Huttenlocher says, we are trying to provide the fresher information an active researcher in the field would have, presented in a way that a broader audience can understand. Even in the short time the college has been active, Huttenlocher and Ozdaglar have begun to see its effects. Were seeing departments starting to change some of the ways they are hiring around degree programs because of interactions with the college, Huttenlocher says. There is such a huge acceleration of AI in the worldits getting them to think with some urgency in doing this. Whether through faculty hiring, new courses, policy papers, or just the existence of a space for high-level discussions about computing that had no natural home before, Huttenlocher says, the college hopes to invite the MIT community into a deeper discussion of how AI and other advanced computing tools can augment academic activities around campus.MIT has long been a leader in the development of AI, and for many years it has continued to innovate at the cutting edge of the field. With the colleges leadership, the Institute is in a position to continue innovating and to guide the future of the technology more broadly. The next step, says Ozdaglar, is to take that impact out into the world.

When to watch the New Orleans Saints vs. Green Bay Packers?Monday, Dec. 23, at 8:15 p.m. ET (5:15 p.m. PT).Where to watch:The Saints-Packers game will be shown on ABC and ESPN. See at Sling TV Carries ESPN or ABC for $40 or $45 per month Sling TV See at Sling TV See more details See at YouTube TV Carries ESPN and ABC for $83 per month YouTube TV See at YouTube TV See more details See at Fubo Carries ESPN and ABC for $80 per month Fubo See at Fubo See more details See at Hulu Carries ESPN and ABC for $83 per month Hulu Plus Live TV See at Hulu See more details See at DirecTV Stream Carries ESPN and ABC for $87 per month DirecTV Stream See at DirecTV Stream See more details It's win-and-in for Green Bay tonight. If the 10-4 Packers can beat the 5-9 Saints tonight at home at Lambeau Field, then they'll punch their ticket to the NFC Playoffs. The Packers can't overlook the Saints, who must leave the climate-controlled confines of the Superdome for a December road trip to Green Bay while starting backup rookie QB Spencer Rattler, as they eye next Sunday's huge road test against the 13-2 Vikings.The Saints and Packers kick offtonight at8:15 p.m. ET (5:15 p.m. PT) on ABC and ESPN.Looking for the ManningCast? The Manning brothers have the night off; Peyton and Eli won't return until next month for a Wild Card game.If you don't have a cable or satellite TV subscription, you can watch Monday Night Football tonight with a live TV streaming service. Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers can clinch a playoff spot tonight with a win at home against the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. John Fisher/Getty ImagesHow to watch MNF without cableYou can watch the game tonight with a live TV streaming service. The good news for football fans is that ABC and ESPN are available on all five major streaming services.The other option is to use an over-the-air antenna connected to your TV to watch on ABC. The best part about antennas is that there are no streaming or monthly fees required, although you will need to make sure youhave good reception. Sling TV/CNET Sling TV's Sling Orange plan includes ESPN but not ABC, and the Blue plan includes ABC (in only in a handful of markets) but not ESPN. Each plan costs $45 a month in the areas with ABC and $40 elsewhere. The combined Orange-and-Blue plan costs $55 or $60 a month. Read our Sling TV review. See at Sling TV Sarah Tew/CNET YouTube TV costs $83 a month after a recent price hike and includes ESPN and ABC. Right now, the first three months are discounted to $60 a month.Plug in your ZIP code on YouTube TV's welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area. Read our YouTube TV review. See at YouTube TV Fubo Fubo's basic Essential plan costs $80 a month and includes ESPN and ABC. Fubo is currently offering the first month for $45. You canclick hereto see which local channels you get. Read our Fubo review. See at Fubo Hulu Plus Live TV costs $83 and includes ESPN and ABC. On its live news page, you can enter your ZIP code under the "Can I watch local news in my area?" question at the bottom of the page to see which local channels you get. Read our Hulu with Live TV review. See at Hulu Directv stream DirecTV Stream's basic $87-a-month plan includes ESPNand ABC. You can use its channel lookup tool to confirm that ABC is available where you live. Read our DirecTV Stream review. See at DirecTV Stream All of the live TV streaming services above allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out ourlive TV streaming services guide.

It's been a stressful time to have student loans. Between payment pauses and the courts disputing the legality of the Biden administration's SAVE repayment plan, there's a lot of uncertainty about what'll happen next. Elaine Rubin, a higher education policy expertAs a student loan expert with more than 15 years of experience in the industry, I understand the uncertainty. I've witnessed my fair share of program changes, but I've never been through a period more complicated and tumultuous than the policy tug-of-war we've seen over the past two years.With so many factors up in the air, how should you approach your student loan repayment strategy?You can't control the fate of debt relief programs or income-driven repayment plans, but there are steps you can take to regain control of your student loans. Here are five things you can do right now and one thing you shouldn't do. Review your student loan balanceDo you know how much you owe in total on your student loans? You might have an idea (or think you do), but it's important to check.Many borrowers I've worked with are surprised to find they owe more than they initially borrowed when it's time to start repayment. This is because most loans, except subsidized ones, begin accruing interest from the moment they are disbursed. Outstanding interest, which has not been capitalized or added to your loan, is listed separately from the principal balance. To fully understand your loan balance, it's important to carefully review your statements.If you know who your student loan servicer is, you can log into your online account to check your balance. If you're not sure, you can find out by logging into your Federal Student Aid account and visiting the My Aid page.Read more:5 Ways to Pay Off Your Student Loans Even Faster Get ready to restart paymentsIf you are enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education Plan, your loans have been in an administrative forbearance since this summer due to the plan's legal challenges. You haven't been able to make payments, and your interest rate has been set to zero. This payment hold is temporary, and I expect it to end soon.If you haven't done so already, reevaluate your monthly budget to accommodate your student loan payments.Compare all income-driven repayment optionsIf you're worried about SAVE disappearing or looking to adjust your budget to include your monthly loan payments, it's a good idea to explore all available repayment plans. You can use the US Department of Education's Loan Simulator to estimate your payments and check eligibility for specific plans. This tool will let you explore available income-driven payment options.Update: The department recentlyrestored the Pay as You Earn and Income-Contingent Repayment options, two IDR plans that were previously phased out. You can now apply for them online (if you're eligible). Look into the PSLF buyback programThe Public Service Loan Forgiveness program offers debt cancellation for teachers, nurses and other public service employees who work in a qualifying job for 10 years and make 120 payments on their loans. If you're enrolled in SAVE and were close to reaching your 120 total payments, the recent payment pause may have delayed your forgiveness. In this case, you might benefit from the PSLF buyback program.The PSLF buyback program lets you "buy back" months where your loans sat on hold during a forbearance period but only if doing so brings you to 120 total payments.For example, let's say you had already made 115 qualifying payments before your loan entered the SAVE Plan forbearance. You could apply for the PSLF buyback program to buy back five of the months where your loans were in forbearance to reach the 120-payment requirement. You'll apply for the program online, and once approved, you'll have 90 days to pay off what you owe for the number of months you buy back. So, if your monthly payment was $100, you'd need to pay $500 to receive forgiveness.You'll need to also make sure you meet all other PSLF eligibility criteria, such as working for a qualifying employer and having the correct loan type. If you think you're eligible and want to confirm your payment count, you can find qualifying payment amounts in yourStudentAid.gov account. Expert tip: If you qualify for forgiveness through the buyback program, you will not pay any federal taxes on the forgiven amounts through 2025. However, certain states may tax student loan forgiveness. Pay interest while you're still in schoolIf you're still in college, your student loans likely haven't entered repayment yet. While it's difficult to predict what repayment options will be available in the future, there are proactive steps you can take now.One recommendation is to pay off any interest that accrues while you're still in school. Even small contributions can help reduce the overall cost of your loans in the long run.If your federal student loan hasn't yet entered repayment, you won't be eligible to enroll in a repayment plan yet. Repayment starts six months after graduation or if your enrollment drops below half-time, unless you enroll in another program, like graduate school, before the grace period ends. Don't count on forgivenessMany borrowers have turned to income-driven repayment plans to reduce their monthly payments and potentially qualify for student loan forgiveness. However, forgiveness is not guaranteed, especially as legal challenges continue to threaten the SAVE repayment plan. Programs like PSLF and forgiveness under the Income-Based Repayment Plan carry less risk, since they would require congressional action to be altered or eliminated.That said, it's always wise to plan for full repayment of your student loans, regardless of any current potential forgiveness opportunities. More student loan advice

Fortnite is about to get more punk. The phenomenally popular battle royale game already had some big crossovers this year, with Marvel, Fallout and even the NBA, and it's about to bring the two main characters from Cyberpunk 2077 into the game.Skins for iconic rockstar-turned-revolutionary Johnny Silverhand, played by Keanu Reeves, as well as the female version of the game's protagonist, V, will be available for purchase Monday night in the Fortnite shop,Eurogamer reports. No pricing has been set yet, but each skin will likely cost 1,500 V-Bucks, or approximately $12, as detailed in images found by data miners of the game. There will also be accessories available to purchase along with the skins.The official Fortnite X account posted about the crossover on Sunday with a message saying, "We're expecting some guests from Night City."This will be the second time Reeves has been available to play as a character in Fortnite. Back in 2019, the battle royale game had a crossover with the John Wick franchise, which added the in-game skin for the title character, as well as adding a replica of Wick's house to the map.These crossovers with franchises, celebrities and other entities can last for an entire season, which can be in play for up to 10 weeks, or in some cases, only for a day. Fortnite developer Epic Games hasn't provided details about the Cyberpunk crossover yet, so it's unclear how long the skins will be available for purchase.While in-game purchases are what makes Fortnite worth billions of dollars, those purchases also landed publisher Epic Games in trouble with the federal government. The company settled with the Federal Trade Commission in 2023 over years of unwanted purchases made in the game that affected thousands of individuals. Earlier this month, payments totaling $245 million were sent out to those affected as part of the settlement. Watch this: Best Gaming Consoles of 2024 03:37

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is suing Walmart and payroll service provider Branch Messenger for alleged illegal payment practices for gig workers. The bureau says Walmart was opening direct deposit accounts using Spark delivery drivers social security numbers without their consent. The accounts also can come with intense fees that, according to the complaint, would add either 2 percent or $2.99 per transaction, whichever is higher. It also says Walmart repeatedly promised to provide drivers with same-day payments through the platform starting in July 2021 but never delivered on that.The Bureau alleges that for approximately two years starting around June 2021, defendants engaged in unfair, abusive, and deceptive practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, including by requiring Spark Drivers to receive their compensation in Branch Accounts, opening Branch Accounts for Spark Drivers without their informed consent or, in many instances, on an unauthorized basis, and making deceptive statements about Branch to Spark Drivers.Walmart made false promises, illegally opened accounts, and took advantage of more than a million delivery drivers, said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in a statement. Companies cannot force workers into getting paid through accounts that drain their earnings with junk fees. The agency sued both companies in the US District Court for the District of Minnesota.Spark delivery workers have been complaining about Walmarts Branch Messenger account requirements for years, which forced workers to use these accounts with no option to direct deposit to a preferred credit union or local bank. Walmart allegedly told workers theyd be terminated if they didnt accept the Branch accounts.

Last month, AI founders and investors told TechCrunch that were now in the second era of scaling laws, noting how established methods of improving AI models were showing diminishing returns. One promising new method they suggested could keep gains was test-time scaling, which seems to be whats behind the performance of OpenAIs o3 model but it comes with drawbacks of its own.Much of the AI world took the announcement of OpenAIs o3 model as proof that AI scaling progress has not hit a wall. The o3 model does well on benchmarks, significantly outscoring all other models on a test of general ability called ARC-AGI, and scoring 25% on a difficult math test that no other AI model scored more than 2% on.Of course, we at TechCrunch are taking all this with a grain of salt until we can test o3 for ourselves (very few have tried it so far). But even before o3s release, the AI world is already convinced that something big has shifted.The co-creator of OpenAIs o-series of models, Noam Brown, noted on Friday that the startup is announcing o3s impressive gains just three months after the startup announced o1 a relatively short timeframe for such a jump in performance.We have every reason to believe this trajectory will continue, said Brown in a tweet.Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said in a blog post on Monday that o3 is evidence that AI progress will be faster in 2025 than in 2024. (Keep in mind that it benefits Anthropic especially its ability to raise capital to suggest that AI scaling laws are continuing, even if Clark is complementing a competitor.)Next year, Clark says the AI world will splice together test-time scaling and traditional pre-training scaling methods to eke even more returns out of AI models. Perhaps hes suggesting that Anthropic and other AI model providers will release reasoning models of their own in 2025, just like Google did last week.Test-time scaling means OpenAI is using more compute during ChatGPTs inference phase, the period of time after you press enter on a prompt. Its not clear exactly what is happening behind the scenes: OpenAI is either using more computer chips to answer a users question, running more powerful inference chips, or running those chips for longer periods of time 10 to 15 minutes in some cases before the AI produces an answer. We dont know all the details of how o3 was made, but these benchmarks are early signs that test-time scaling may work to improve the performance of AI models.While o3 may give some a renewed belief in the progress of AI scaling laws, OpenAIs newest model also uses a previously unseen level of compute, which means a higher price per answer.Perhaps the only important caveat here is understanding that one reason why O3 is so much better is that it costs more money to run at inference time the ability to utilize test-time compute means on some problems you can turn compute into a better answer, Clark writes in his blog. This is interesting because it has made the costs of running AI systems somewhat less predictable previously, you could work out how much it cost to serve a generative model by just looking at the model and the cost to generate a given output.Clark, and others, pointed to o3s performance on the ARC-AGI benchmark a difficult test used to assess breakthroughs on AGI as an indicator of its progress. Its worth noting that passing this test, according to its creators, does not mean an AI model has achieved AGI, but rather its one way to measure progress towards the nebulous goal. That said, the o3 model blew past the scores of all previous AI models which had done the test, scoring 88% in one of its attempts. OpenAIs next best AI model, o1, scored just 32%.Chart showing the performance of OpenAIs o-series on the ARC-AGI test.(Image credit: ARC Prize)But the logarithmic x-axis on this chart may be alarming to some. The high-scoring version of o3 used more than $1000 worth of compute for every task. The o1 models used around $5 of compute per task, and o1-mini used just a few cents.The creator of the ARC-AGI benchmark, Franois Chollet, writes in a blog that OpenAI used roughly 170x more compute to generate that 88% score, compared to high-efficiency version of o3 that scored just 12% lower. The high-scoring version of o3 used more than $10,000 of resources to complete the test, which makes it too expensive to compete for the ARC Prize an unbeaten competition for AI models to beat the ARC test.However, Chollet says o3 was still a breakthrough for AI models, nonetheless.o3 is a system capable of adapting to tasks it has never encountered before, arguably approaching human-level performance in the ARC-AGI domain, said Chollet in the blog. Of course, such generality comes at a steep cost, and wouldnt quite be economical yet: you could pay a human to solve ARC-AGI tasks for roughly $5 per task (we know, we did that), while consuming mere cents in energy.Its premature to harp on the exact pricing of all this weve seen prices for AI models plummet in the last year, and OpenAI has yet to announce how much o3 will actually cost. However, these prices indicate just how much compute is required to break, even slightly, the performance barriers set by leading AI models today.This raises some questions. What is o3 actually for? And how much more compute is necessary to make more gains around inference with o4, o5, or whatever else OpenAI names its next reasoning models?It doesnt seem like o3, or its successors, would be anyones daily driver like GPT-4o or Google Search might be. These models just use too much compute to answer small questions throughout your day such as, How can the Cleveland Browns still make the 2024 playoffs?Instead, it seems like AI models with scaled test-time compute may only be good for big picture prompts such as, How can the Cleveland Browns become a Super Bowl franchise in 2027? Even then, maybe its only worth the high compute costs if youre the general manager of the Cleveland Browns, and youre using these tools to make some big decisions.Institutions with deep pockets may be the only ones who can afford o3, at least to start, as Wharton professor Ethan Mollick notes in a tweet.Weve already seen OpenAI release a $200 tier to use a high-compute version of o1, but the startup has reportedly weighed creating subscription plans costing up to $2,000. When you see how much compute o3 uses, you can understand why OpenAI would consider it.But there are drawbacks to using o3 for high-impact work. As Chollet notes, o3 is not AGI, and it still fails on some very easy tasks that a human would do quite easily. This isnt necessarily surprising, as large language models still have a huge hallucination problem, which o3 and test-time compute dont seem to have solved. Thats why ChatGPT and Gemini include disclaimers below every answer they produce, asking users not to trust answers at face value. Presumably AGI, should it ever be reached, would not need such a disclaimer.One way to unlock more gains in test-time scaling could be better AI inference chips. Theres no shortage of startups tackling just this thing, such as Groq or Cerebras, while other startups are designing more cost-efficient AI chips, such as MatX. Andreessen Horowitz general partner Anjney Midha previously told TechCrunch he expects these startups to play a bigger role in test-time scaling moving forward.While o3 is a notable improvement to the performance of AI models, it raises several new questions around usage and costs. That said, the performance of o3 does add credence to the claim that test-time compute is the tech industrys next best way to scale AI models.

USB-C is great, but the ports can be fragile and vulnerable to damage. This breakaway accessory eliminates the chances of damaging your port.

The LG S95TR soundbar impresses with its immersive audio quality and a host of standout features, making it a top-tier choice for home entertainment.

Identity theft concept with thumb print and red scanner lights over black backgroundgettyIf safeguarding your identity from theft is a top priority, freezing your credit is one of the smartest actions you can take. This straightforward but highly effective measure stops creditors from viewing your credit report without your direct authorization. By cutting off access to your credit file, you create a strong barrier that makes it far more difficult for criminals to misuse your personal details to open accounts or secure loans under your name.Secure Your Credit with a Freeze TodayThink of a credit freeze as a virtual lock on your financial profile. Once in place, it restricts access to your credit report entirely, preventing unauthorized parties from exploiting your Social Security number or credit information.When your credit is frozen, lenders cannot check your credit score, which renders your Social Security number and credit details useless to would-be fraudsters. In essence, a credit freeze acts as a barrier, preventing criminals from opening new lines of credit or accounts in your name.If your personal information has already been compromised, freezing your credit can be a vital step to stop thieves from exploiting your identity further. The good news is that lifting the freeze is quick and straightforward. You can easily lift the freeze whenever needed, using the personal PIN issued by the credit bureau, allowing access to your credit report for loan or credit card applications. While it might seem like an extra step, the process is free and takes just a few minutesan incredibly small effort for such a substantial benefit.Please remember freezing your credit is entirely free. There are no hidden fees or costs involved, so there is no reason to delay taking this critical step to secure your financial future.Another important thing is that freezing your credit does not affect your credit score. The freeze simply restricts access to your credit report without changing your existing accounts or their status. Your existing creditors and authorized entities can still conduct "soft" credit inquiries, which have no effect on your credit score. These checks are often used for account reviews or pre-approved offers, ensuring that freezing your credit will not interfere with your existing financial activities.MORE FOR YOUWhy Choose a Credit Freeze Over a Fraud Alert?While fraud alerts can provide some level of security, they are far less effective than a credit freeze. A fraud alert is temporary, lasting only one year, and does not block identity thieves from accessing your credit report. It merely notifies creditors that your information could be compromised. A credit freeze, by contrast, offers stronger, more comprehensive protection, blocking unauthorized access altogether.Your Credit with the Main Credit BureausFollow these steps to place a credit freeze with the three primary credit bureaus:Equifax: Freeze your credit with Equifax hereExperian: Freeze your credit with Experian hereTransUnion: Freeze your credit with TransUnion hereDo not forget about Innovis, the fourth credit bureau that is often overlooked. Freezing your credit with Innovis follows a process similar to the three major bureaus and is completely free. Click here to freeze your credit with Innovis.Do Not Forget About the National Consumer Telecommunications and Utilities ExchangeProtecting your identity goes beyond the major credit bureaus. The National Consumer Telecommunications and Utilities Exchange (NCTUE) is an important organization you should also keep in mind. Many mobile phone providers and utility companies rely on NCTUE for credit checks. This means that even if your credit is frozen with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, identity thieves could still use your information to open accounts through these providers.You can safeguard yourself by placing a freeze on your NCTUE account. The process involves verifying your Social Security number and other details, but it is typically automated and straightforward. Once your account is frozen, your NCTUE credit report will be secured, adding another layer of protection against fraud. To freeze your NCTUE report, you can call their toll-free number at 1-866-349-5355 or attempt to do it online here: NCTUE Freeze (though some users report that the link may not always function smoothly).Secure Your Bank Accounts With A ChexSystems FreezeAnother key step in protecting your identity is freezing your report with ChexSystems, a consumer reporting agency that banks use to evaluate applicants for checking and savings accounts. Freezing your ChexSystems report blocks unauthorized access to your financial data, helping to minimize the risk of fraud.Keep in mind that freezing your ChexSystems report only protects your banking information. For complete protection, it is essential to also freeze your credit with the major bureaus. You can freeze your ChexSystems report here.Stop Pre-Approved Credit Offers With Opt-Out PrescreenYou can take additional precautions by opting out of pre-approved credit offers. These offers, while convenient, can be a goldmine for scammers if they gain access to your mail. To opt out, you can call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT or visit OptOutPrescreen.com.Prevent Employment Fraud with myE-Verify's Self LockThe Department of Homeland Security's Self Lock service is another valuable resource for protecting your identity. This service allows you to lock your Social Security number, preventing it from being used fraudulently for employment purposes. If someone attempts to use your locked Social Security number, it triggers a mismatch in the system, flagging the activity as suspicious. The lock remains in effect for one year and can be conveniently renewed each year. To learn more or set up a lock, visit Self-Lock Freeze.Protect Your Social Security Benefits From FraudCreating an online account with the Social Security Administration (SSA) is a proactive step to protect your benefits and personal information. Through your SSA account, you can track your earnings history, review future benefits, and stay informed with key updates.Be wary of fraudulent calls or emails claiming to be from the SSA. They will never issue threats of arrest or request immediate payment. If you are unsure about the legitimacy of a communication, log in to your SSA account or call their official number to verify.Take Control of Your Identity TodayFreezing your credit is a straightforward yet powerful way to safeguard yourself against identity theft. By limiting access to your credit report, you greatly reduce the chances of criminals opening accounts in your name. Combine this with other measuressuch as freezing ChexSystems, locking your Social Security number, and securing your SSA accountto build a comprehensive shield against identity theft.Do not wait for fraud to happentake these steps today and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing your identity is secure.

The Zeigarnik Effect traps you in a loop of unresolved feelings. Understanding why they linger helps ... [+] you break free and take action.gettyHave you ever found yourself thinking about a past relationship, long after youve moved on? Perhaps a breakup felt unresolved, or there was a conversation you never got to finish. If this sounds familiar, you might be experiencing the Zeigarnik Effecta psychological phenomenon that explains why unfinished emotional business tends to linger, particularly when it comes to matters of the heart.This term originates from psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, who discovered that people are more likely to remember unfinished tasks than completed ones. Relationships mirror this phenomenon when unresolved emotions or unanswered questions remain in your mind far longer than those from relationships that ended with a sense of closure.But why does this happen? And more importantly, how can you move forward? Here are three reasons unresolved feelings persist, and actionable steps to help you find closure.1. Incomplete Emotional ProcessingWhen a relationship ends abruptly or without closure, it often leaves unresolved emotional threads that can feel like an open loop in your mind. This lack of resolution taps into the brains natural drive for cognitive closure, which according to 2014 study, is the innate desire to resolve ambiguity and make sense of unfinished experiences.When relationships end without clarity, the unresolved elements can lead to mental loopingreplaying conversations, analyzing arguments or imagining alternative outcomes. These repetitive thought patterns often feel compulsive and emotionally draining, as the brain attempts to complete an incomplete narrative.MORE FOR YOUHowever, finding closure isnt always contingent on external factors, such as receiving an apology or a final conversation with the other person. The human brain is remarkably adaptable and capable of creating resolution internally. With intentional effort, you can address these emotional loose ends on your own.Processing emotions fullyby acknowledging them, exploring their roots and reframing the narrativehelps to close the mental loop. This doesnt erase the memories or negate their significance, but it reduces their emotional intensity. By actively engaging in this process, you free yourself from the grip of unfinished business, creating space for emotional growth and healing.2. The Need For ResolutionWhen a relationship ends, it often leaves behind unanswered questions like, What went wrong? or Could we have tried harder? These lingering thoughts reflect our innate need for resolution, which is frequently complicated by ambiguity or the inaccessibility of answers.Unresolved endings can leave individuals yearning for clarity, even when its unattainable. A former partner may be unwilling to provide explanations, or the reasons for the breakup might be too complex to untangle. Yet, the mind clings to the belief that further reflection will eventually bring closure, creating a mental loop that is both emotionally draining and counterproductive.This cycle keeps individuals tethered to the past, hindering personal growth and limiting their ability to embrace new opportunities or relationships. While the pursuit of clarity is instinctual, it often acts as a barrier to moving forward.Breaking free requires reframing your understanding of closure. Accept that you may never have all the answers and focus on finding peace in your own narrative. True closure comes not from external validation but from within.3. Emotional InvestmentDeep emotional connections in relationships often involve significant investments that dont just disappear after a breakup. A 2020 study published in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, suggests that small positive moments, like shared activities or laughter, build emotional capital, which helps buffer against relationship difficulties by reducing reactivity to partner transgressions and strengthening bonds.These shared experiences, trust and vulnerability create lasting emotional ties, making it challenging to let goespecially when unresolved issues persist. These attachments can feel even more profound when the emotional investment was initially meant to protect the relationship from disruption.Beyond the emotional capital, the routines, memories and habits intertwined with the relationship become deeply embedded in daily life. This often leads individuals to revisit past interactions, replay conversations or wonder about alternate outcomes. The difficulty of moving on is further heightened by the grief of losing a part of ones identity that was deeply connected to the relationship such as shared dreams, specific roles or envisioned futures.Detaching from these bonds begins with acknowledging their significance. Letting go isnt about erasing the past but about honoring the emotional depth while accepting its conclusion.Allow yourself to grieve and understand that the lingering feelings are natural. Gradually, you can redirect that emotional energy toward yourself and future opportunities. Releasing the attachment means choosing to reinvest in your own growth while carrying forward the lessons of the relationship with compassion and strength.Closure isnt always straightforward, especially when ambiguity surrounds the end of a relationship. However, there are certain mindset shifts that you can work on to regain emotional balance and move forward.Here are some actionable strategies to help you process unresolved feelings and cultivate your own sense of closure.1. Acknowledge the unfinished business. Before you can move on, you need to acknowledge whats still weighing on you. Are there specific feelings or situations that you havent fully processed? Make time to reflect on these, whether through journaling, talking to a trusted friend, or even therapy. Acknowledging whats left unresolved helps you begin to untangle the emotional knots.2. Get comfortable with the unknown. Sometimes closure doesnt come with all the answers we expect. In relationships, we often want clear reasons or explanations for why things ended the way they did. But reality isnt always so neat. Getting comfortable with ambiguity can be liberating. Accepting that not everything has to make sense or have a tidy conclusion allows you to let go of the need for perfection and move on.3. Write your own closure. One effective way to address unresolved emotions is to write a letternot necessarily to the other person, but to yourself. Write down everything you wish you had said, everything youre feeling now, and everything youve learned. The act of writing can be therapeutic, helping you process emotions and feel heard, even if its only in your own words.4. Practice Forgiveness. Whether its forgiving yourself or the other person, forgiveness is crucial in finding closure. Holding onto anger or regret can keep you mentally stuck. Even if you cant forget what happened, choosing to release negative emotions allows you to free yourself from unresolved feelings. A 2023 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that positive forgivenessreleasing negative emotions like anger or resentmentimproves mental health by reducing rumination. Conversely, reduced unforgiveness, or holding onto grudges less, was linked to improved physical health, likely because it reduces stress and its harmful physical effects.5. Create a ritual of letting go. If youre struggling to move on, it might help to create a physical or symbolic act of closure. This could be as simple as burning a letter or keeping a small personal memento of the relationship and then deciding to release it. The key is that the ritual allows you to mark the end of that chapter, both emotionally and symbolically, helping you move forward.6. Practice self-compassion. Its easy to blame yourself for not getting closure or for not being able to get over someone quickly. But its important to be kind to yourself. Relationships are complicated, and emotional wounds take time to heal. Treat yourself with the same compassion you would offer a friend going through a similar situation. Be patient with your process.Wondering if you have the resources to combat the Zeigarnik Effect? Take the Coping Strategies Scale test to understand your coping style and take appropriate action.