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Sales of the companys cars are flagging, but investors are focusing on the potential of autonomous driving and Mr. Musks ties to President-elect Donald J. Trump.

Charles really loves his mostly-older Apple gear, but 2025 is going to be a year of change. Here's how he gets work done at AppleInsider.The AppleInsider weekend news hub and Zoom/podcasting studio.I only develop and write stories for AppleInsider on the weekends, hence my Weekend Editor title. As a result, I have a pretty modest setup and workflow compared to most of the full-timers.Versatility for travel is one of my key requirements, since I am on the road at various times of the year. Even when I'm at home, I'm often in a cafe or occasionally doing local radio as a "computer guru," or on Zoom teaching online tech classes. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

ODAs contribution to Billionaires Row, the 175,000-square-foot 126 East 57th Streetresidential tower, is advancing towards an anticipated completion date in 2025. Progress was updated recently on the 175-unit building, which stands out thanks to its pixilated facade and copper-mirror entry portal framing a six-story atrium.ODA's Executive Director,Eran Chen,lauded its elevation of the human scale, playfulness, and appeal to young professionals at the start of construction in August 2022.Gabellini Sheppard is designing itsinteriors. ODA is recently behind another 336-unit design in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn also slated for a 2025 completion.

Even if it wasnt the strongest year for Xbox exclusive games (and some of those exclusives had their issues), Game Pass was still an extremely good deal for console owners. Mostly, its the variety; the subscription service continues to offer a great mix of new blockbuster releases, along with smaller indie games and older titles to round out the package. This year had everything from Call of Dutys big coming-out party on Game Pass to a stop-motion adventure game to an expansion to one of last years biggest RPGs.Here are nine great games to check out if youre a new subscriber or just looking for something new to play.Call of Duty: Black Ops 6Now that Activision Blizzard is under the Microsoft umbrella, the publishers biggest franchise is part of Game Pass. And Black Ops 6 is the first new release to debut on the subscription service. That includes all of the games various modes: the cinematic single-player campaign, and multiplayer outings like Zombies. Image: Bethesda SoftworksFallout: New VegasAmazons live-action Fallout show had seemingly everyone thinking about a return to the wasteland, and Game Pass is a great way to jump in since it has every game in the series from Fallout 3 on. Theres a lot to choose from but Id recommend New Vegas. Not only does Sin City offer up a great location for a Fallout game but its also going to be a big part of the upcoming second season of the show.If youre looking for something a little more laid back, Harold Halibut might be just the thing. A fairly traditional adventure game, Harold Halibut sets itself apart with a slow and steady pace, a fascinating sci-fi world, a dry but charming sense of humor, and stunning visuals featuring real stop-motion animation. Its the kind of game where you really want to slow down anyways, to soak in all of the small details.One of the best puzzle games of the last few years is now on Game Pass. Humanity seems a little weird at first, as you control an ethereal Shiba Inu in order to guide mindless swaths of humans through increasingly complex mazes. But once you get accustomed to the way things work, Humanity offers up some of the most satisfying brain teasers youre likely to find. Plus, the ghost dog sure is cute.Reception has been mixed on this one, but its definitely worth checking out. The Great Circle blends together elements of adventure games and immersive sims, with the whip-cracking style of Indiana Jones. That makes it something of an acquired taste, but if that just so happens to be your taste, well, the flavor is delicious.Nine SolsIn a great year for roguelike action games, Nine Sols still manages to stand out thanks to combat thats so good it completely makes up for an underwhelming story. Its the kind of action that really rewards being patient and learning to parry, which makes it all the more satisfying when you win a bout. As the wait for Silksong continues to drag on, Nine Sols could be just the thing to fill in the gap.If youve somehow finished the sprawling fantasy RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio, there are thankfully plenty of excellent older titles from developer Atlus to check out. And this year, Persona 3 which originally launched on the PS2 and helped usher the series into a new era of popularity got an excellent remake that helps bring it in line with its more modern successors.The original Hellblade was as terrifying as it was uncomfortable and that hasnt changed with the sequel. Instead, the developers at Ninja Theory have expanded the scale, improved the action, and somehow made the horror elements even scarier. Its also a rare short blockbuster game, something you can complete in around 10 hours.The first major expansion for Starfield is a good excuse to jump back into this sci-fi universe. While I wish Shattered Space was a little weirder and leaned more into the cosmic horror side of things, its still unlike anything else in the main storyline. The expansion is also largely self-contained, so you can spend your time exploring one big planet instead of constantly jumping around the galaxy.

Ive finally had a chance to test out the new hybrid powerhouse from Canon, the R5 Mark II. The camera comes with much-improved autofocus powered by the new Digic X processor, new eye-controlled autofocus, a backside illuminated sensor capable of faster readout and better low-light performance, and stunning video specs like recording in 8K internally with Canon Log 2 color profile.But as much as those specs sound impressive (and they are), using the R5 Mark II also brought back so many memories Ive made with previous 5D cameras that have been a huge part of my professional and personal life for well over 15 years, specifically the 5D Mark II.In this review video, I decided to try something a little bit different. Instead of going through every single one of the specs and pixel-peeping every photo Ive taken over the past month, Ive picked the top three photos that have taught me something about the new Canon R5. Let us know what you think about the new format.

OpenAI has laid out plans to become a for-profit company. In a blog post published on Friday, OpenAIs board said it will replace the companys existing structure with one that puts control into the hands of its for-profit arm.Going into 2025, OpenAI plans to become a Public Benefit Corporation(PBC), which is a for-profit company meant to operate for the good of society. This division will run and control OpenAIs operations and business, while OpenAIs nonprofit will retain a stake in the business but lose its oversight role.The nonprofit will operate separately with its own leadership team and staff to pursue charitable initiatives in sectors such as health care, education, and science. The board said the structure will allow OpenAI to raise the necessary capital to build toward artificial general intelligence while also creating one of the best resourced non-profits in history. OpenAIs competitors, including Anthropic and Elon Musks xAI, also operate as PBCs.RelatedRumors about OpenAIs transition into a for-profit company have been swirling for months as the company looks for ways to appeal to investors and raise money to keep its data-hungry AI models up and running. In September, Bloomberg reported that CEO Sam Altman would receive around a 7 percent equity stake as part of OpenAIs plans to become a for-profit company, something Altman reportedly denied.Thehundredsof billionsofdollars that major companies are now investing into AI development show what it will really take for OpenAI to continue pursuing the mission, the board wrote. We once again need to raise more capital than wed imagined. Investors want to back us but, at this scale of capital, need conventional equity and less structural bespokeness.Under the structure outlined by OpenAIs board, the nonprofit would get shares in the PBC at a fair valuation determined by independent financial advisors. Concerns about keeping OpenAIs nonprofit board in control boiled over last year, when its members ousted Altman but later reinstated him. Even with these plans to switch to a for-profit, OpenAI could have a fight on its hands. Last month, Elon Musk filed a motion to stop OpenAI from becoming a for-profit company, while Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg similarly asked California Attorney General Rob Bonta to block the transition.

The monopolization of any industry into the hands of a few giant companies has always been a matter of concern. Now, even artificial intelligence (AI) has fallen prey to these circumstances. Such monopolization of AI raises concerns like the concentration of power and resources, data monopoly and privacy, lack of transparency, and accountability. Furthermore, biases from those limited groups of developers could lead to discrimination. To address these critical issues, researchers from Imperial College London, Newcastle University, FLock.io, and the University of Hong Kong have developed an innovative solution, AIArena, a blockchain-based platform that can decentralize AI training.Traditionally, AI training has been relying on centralized approaches. Large companies possess the means and resources to collect data, henceforth monopolizing AI easily. This limits the innovative development of AI because of the restricted access to data and resources. Because of this centralized nature, entire systems can fail, leading to a massive security risk. Hence, there is a need for a new kind of method that can decentralize AI training in a fair and transparent manner and invite diverse, innovative contributions.The proposed solution, AIArena, where people worldwide can work together to create and improve AI models, uses blockchain technology to ensure transparency and legitimacy. The methodology includes the following key components:Blockchain Infrastructure: A record of all activities on the platform is recorded on the blockchain to ensure transparency. Also, the interactions between the participants are governed by a smart contract, which self-executes based on predefined rules.Federated Learning Framework: Contributors use their own data to improve the model performance. The platform ensures that only the updated model configurations are stored on the platform and not the data. Updates keep aggregating iteratively, which enhances the models global performance.Incentive Mechanism: Contributors earn tokens for their participation, whether they provide data, computational resources, or valuable model updates. These tokens are then used for token-based participation in certain tasks like becoming a validator.Consensus Protocols for Model Updates: Before the platform accepts the upgraded model, it needs to be validated to ensure no malicious content is uploaded. This helps maintain the models integrity as it gets updated globally.AIArena was tested and validated by implementing a public blockchain testnet and evaluating several AI tasks. The validation results showed that AIArena is feasible in real-world applications, suggesting the viability of its approach toward decentralized AI training in addressing challenges related to centralized AI development.In conclusion, AIArena proposes a transformative solution to the challenges of centralized AI training through blockchain-based transparency and federated learning for privacy-preserving collaboration. It is well poised to create an equitable, decentralized ecosystem where data and computational resources can be shared securely by various stakeholders, ensuring that problems with data silos, security risks, and a lack of transparency do not become a bottleneck for progress. Its novel incentive mechanism and robust architecture exhibit great potential for scalable, secure, and inclusive AI development. While this idea is relatively easy to implement, AIArena offers promising foundations for democratizing AI training and, thus, broad collaboration within different industries requiring fairness, security, and transparency.Check out the Paper. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitter and join ourTelegram Channel andLinkedIn Group. Dont Forget to join our60k+ ML SubReddit. Afeerah Naseem+ postsAfeerah Naseem is a consulting intern at Marktechpost. She is pursuing her B.tech from the Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Kharagpur. She is passionate about Data Science and fascinated by the role of artificial intelligence in solving real-world problems. She loves discovering new technologies and exploring how they can make everyday tasks easier and more efficient. [Download] Evaluation of Large Language Model Vulnerabilities Report (Promoted)

Apples Photos app got a major redesign in iOS 18, and not all of the changes have been well received. Fortunately, Apples listened to feedback and has made five key changes to Photos in iOS 18.2.#1: Video interface changesPhotos app in iOS 18.1 (left) and iOS 18.2 (right)One controversial change to videos in iOS 18 is that they would initially play with borders, and you had to tap to make them go full-screen.Now in iOS 18.2, videos are automatically full-screen by default. Theres no need to tap, and no weird zooming in and out effect.You can still tap to hide interface elements and get a cleaner view, but its essentially a lot more like how videos worked pre-iOS 18.#2: Disable auto-looping videosNot a fan of having your videos automatically loop? Apple now provides a choice.Inside Settings Photos theres a new toggle: Loop Videos.Its still on by default, but if you hate the looping behavior, a quick flip of the switch will change that.#3: Swipe to go backWhen navigating the various Collections offered by iOS 18s Photos app, you previously had to hit the back button in the top-left corner to go back. This was especially a pain on larger iPhones.In iOS 18.2, a swipe gesture has been added for navigating out of a Collection view. This works just like in every other Apple app, where you swipe right from the left side of the screen to go back to your previous view.#4: Frame-by-frame video scrubbingSometimes you want to go super granular with a video, and now you can in iOS 18.2. Support for frame-by-frame scrubbing has been added, accompanied by a new millisecond reading for the timestamp as you scrub.#5: Clearing historyThe number of Utilities in the Photos app has gotten long in iOS 18, and there are a couple options you might not be aware of:Recently ViewedRecently SharedBoth of these albums provide a recent history of your activity. They let you quickly see what youve recently viewed and also items youve shared with others.In iOS 18.2, for the first time you can clear the history in both of these albums.To remove an individual item, you can long-press it and remove it from the pop-up menu. Or, theres also a Remove All option from the albums three-dot menu in the top-right corner.iOS 18.2 Photos changes: wrap-upiOS 18 was a major redesign for one of Apples most popular apps, so its unsurprising that users have had trouble adapting to some changes. Its good to see Apple respond to users feedback and implement some quality-of-life upgrades in iOS 18.2 that make Photos work better than before.What do you think of the Photos changes? Let us know in the comments.Best iPhone accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Apple is planning a big smart home push in 2025 that will come with at least three product launches. One of those devices is a brand new smart display product Ive been calling the HomePad. Here are three reasons you may want to put HomePad in every room of your house.Apple Photos slideshowsMark Gurman writes that the HomePad can turn into a slideshow display for [users] photos.Digital photo frames are nothing new, but theyve always come with a key barrier that kept me from investing: the requirement to manually send photos to the frame.Users of third-party services like Google Photos can get around this, but as an Apple Photos user, theres never been an effortless way to get my photos on to a digital frame.HomePad will be the first product that can do that.My wife and I would love to have more photos represented in our home, but arent great about getting photos printed and framed. Putting a HomePad in every room will provide the benefit of different surprise and delight moments as the device surfaces special memories from the past.Siri with Apple IntelligenceHeres Gurman again: [Apple] expects most people to use their voice to interact with the device, relying on the Siri digital assistant and Apple Intelligence. The hardware was designed around App Intents, a system that lets AI precisely control applications and tasks, which is set to debut in the coming months.Apples existing HomePod hardware doesnt support Apple Intelligence, so its stuck with the legacy version of Siri (at least for now).Siris transition to the Apple Intelligence era has been messy, but this springs iOS 18.4 update will bring big changes.The forthcoming App Intents system will give Siri access to hundreds of new in-app actions, so it can do things it never could before. Where Siri often fell short of user expectations previously, with iOS 18.4, the promise is that it will be the truly intelligent assistant we always wanted.Putting HomePads in every room will provide access to this powerful new Siri from wherever you are. And the more that Siri can do, the more likely users are to grow dependent on the assistant.Budget-friendly price tagApple seems to have learned from its mistake with the first HomePod, whose premium price tag made widespread home adoption a hard sell.Reportedly the HomePads cost will [approach] the cost of competitors products.Likely that puts the price tag in the $150-200 range. Not inexpensive, but definitely on the low end for an Apple product.One main compromise to hit a lower price is that the screen may be smaller than desired, with a roughly 6-inch square display. But that smaller form factor should make the price point easier to hit, and provide another reason to buy multiple HomePads.Apples new smart home push will create a unique opportunity for the company to sell multiple units of the same product to users.That was true with HomePod and HomePod mini, and to a lesser extent the Apple TV 4K. But with the HomePad, and future Apple security camera and doorbell products, it will be even more of a trend.Do you expect to buy the HomePad? Will you get multiple units? Let us know in the comments.Best HomeKit smart home accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel