By thinking about recommendation as a generative problem, you can tackle it from new angles and use LLMs to better understand user intent.Read More

Swave Photonics, a holographic display company, has raised $28.27 million in funding as it prepares components for AI-powered smart glasses.Read More

Rumors that viral Elon Musk fanboy Adrian Dittmann is actually a fake online persona used by Musk himself have been reignited following fresh evidence linking the pair. Internet sleuths are pointing to a string of recent activity from Dittmanns X account and alleged 4Chan posts that feature unexplained X admin permissions and similarities with Musks voice and mannerisms.On Wednesday, a 4chan user identifying themself as Adrian Dittmann posted a screenshot of a post from Musk that displayed interface options that suggest hes not an ordinary user.The posts from the user identified as Adrian Dittmann, which were made on 4chans far-right /pol/ board, have since been deleted. While theres nothing to confirm that the 4Chan poster is the same Dittmann on X, the image in the screenshot would have either been taken by Musk himself, or manipulated to falsely include these admin permissions.Additional speculation that Musk is masquerading as Dittmann comes from an X Spaces call hosted by right-wing influencer Laura Loomer on December 29th. After Dittmann joined the call, other X users noted that the account sounded eerily similar to Musk. Similarities between their speech patterns have been raised before following Dittmanns previous X Spaces appearances, including several instances where he refers to Musk in first person, and another where Musk and Dittmann interacted directly to dispel the rumors.Dittmanns parasocial behavior and diehard support of Musk have fueled rumors that the persona is actually the Tesla CEO for over a year. Musks daughter has backed the speculation on several occasions. While Dittmann has previously denied being Musk during an appearance on Infowars, the X account, which JournalistTaylor Lorenz notes is eligible for Xs monetization program, has since leaned into the speculationafter attracting thousands of followers.The 4Chan posts were made following Musk in-fighting with hardline anti-immigration Republicans over H-1B visa crackdowns. The fight led to Musk lashing out at his opponents on X, who accused him of demonetizing or suspending them. Dittmann has popped up during this saga to make peace between factions, and his posts on 4chan are, unsurprisingly, defenses of Musks moderation on X.Theres currently no conclusive evidence that confirms Musk behind the Dittmann account on X that frequently responds to his own posts and defends his actions. It wouldnt be the first time that Musk has used a weird burner account, having previously roleplayed as one of his own children to test X posts. If he isnt Dittmann, then theres a real Adrian Dittmann out there praising Musk for being an amazing father who gets lots of sex.

Diffusion Policies in Imitation Learning (IL) can generate diverse agent behaviors, but as models grow in size and capability, their computational demands increase, leading to slower training and inference. This challenges real-time applications, especially in environments with limited computing power, like mobile robots. These policies need many parameters and denoising steps and, thus, are unsuitable for use in such scenarios. Although such models can be scaled with greater amounts of data, their large computational cost poses a significant limitation.Current methods in robotics, such as Transformer-based Diffusion Models, are used for tasks like Imitation Learning, Offline Reinforcement Learning, and robot design. These models rely on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) or transformers with conditioning techniques like FiLM. While capable of generating multimodal behavior, they are computationally expensive due to large parameters and many denoising steps, slowing training and inference, making them impractical for real-time applications. Additionally, Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) models face issues like expert collapse and inefficient capacity use. Despite load-balancing solutions, these models struggle to optimize the router and experts, leading to suboptimal performance.To address the limitations of current methods, researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and MIT introduced MoDE, a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) Diffusion Policy designed for tasks such as Imitation Learning and robot design. MoDE improves efficiency by using noise-conditioned routing and a self-attention mechanism for more effective denoising at various noise levels. Unlike traditional methods that rely on a complex denoising process, MoDE computes and integrates only the necessary experts at each noise level, reducing latency and computational cost. This architecture enables faster and more efficient inference while maintaining performance, achieving significant computational savings by utilizing only a subset of the models parameters during each forward pass.The MoDE framework employs a noise-conditioned approach where the routing of experts is determined by the noise level at each step. It uses a frozen CLIP language encoder for language conditioning and FiLM-conditioned ResNets for image encoding. The model incorporates a sequence of transformer blocks, each responsible for different denoising phases. By introducing noise-aware positional embeddings and expert caching, MoDE ensures that only the necessary experts are used, reducing computational overhead. The researchers conducted extensive analyses of MoDEs components, which provide useful insights for designing efficient and scalable transformer architectures for diffusion policies. Pretraining on diverse multi-robot datasets allows MoDE to outperform existing generalist policies.Researchers conducted experiments to evaluate MoDE on several key questions, including its performance compared to other policies and diffusion transformer architectures, the effect of large-scale pretraining on its performance, efficiency, and speed, and the effectiveness of token routing strategies in different environments. The experiments compared MoDE with prior diffusion transformer architectures, ensuring fairness by using a similar number of active parameters, and tested it on both long-horizon and short-horizon tasks. MoDE achieved the highest performance in benchmarks such as LIBERO90, outperforming other models like Diffusion Transformer and QueST. Pretraining MoDE boosted its performance, demonstrating its ability to learn long-horizon tasks and its efficiency in computational use. MoDE also showed superior performance on the CALVIN Language-Skills Benchmark, surpassing models like RoboFlamingo and GR-1 while maintaining higher computational efficiency. MoDE outperformed all baselines in zero-shot generalization tasks and demonstrated strong generalization capabilities.In conclusion, the proposed framework improves performance and efficiency using a combination of experts, a Transformer, and a noise-conditioned routing strategy. The model outperformed previous Diffusion Policies, requiring fewer parameters and reduced computational costs. Therefore, this framework can be used as a baseline to improve the models scalability in future research studies. Future studies can also discuss the application of MoDE across other domains because it has thus far been possible to continue scaling up while maintaining high-performance levels in machine learning tasks.Check out the Paper and Model on Hugging Face. 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. Divyesh Vitthal Jawkhede+ postsDivyesh is a consulting intern at Marktechpost. He is pursuing a BTech in Agricultural and Food Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He is a Data Science and Machine learning enthusiast who wants to integrate these leading technologies into the agricultural domain and solve challenges. Follow us on X (Twitter) to get regular AI Research and Dev Updates here...

Marvel Rivals developer NetEase has issued an apology to disgruntled players who it unfairly banned for cheating.In a post on Discord, NetEase admitted it had mistakenly flagged as cheaters some who were playing in compatibility layer programs, even though they were not using cheating software. This, unfortunately, resulted in false bans, although NetEase failed to say how many.We sincerely apologize for this situation and want to assure you that we do not and will not ban players who are playing fairly and without cheating, NetEase said.The developer said it had made a list of affected players and lifted their bans. We have identified the specific reasons behind these false bans and have compiled a list of affected players, it said. We have lifted these bans and want to express our heartfelt apologies for the inconvenience this has caused.NetEase went on to insist it is investing in improving its anti-cheat, and called on players to report cheaters if they encounter them. Heres the rest of the statement in full:Our mission is to provide all players with a fair, just, and enjoyable gaming environment. Therefore, preventing and identifying cheaters is one of our top priorities. We have invested significant manpower and resources to improve the speed and accuracy of our detection systems. With any ongoing detection system, there is always room for improvement. We appreciate your assistance in helping us tackle this challenge. If you encounter any cheating behavior, please report it immediately; our reporting system will respond promptly. If you believe you have been wrongly banned, you can appeal to our customer support team, and we will review your case and respond in a timely manner. You can reach the support team via either in-game or in Discord!Thank you for your understanding and support! The news comes ahead of Marvel Rivals Season 1 and the arrival of Fantastic Four playable characters, teased with a first-look image and set for a trailer of their own next week.Fantastic Four are coming to Marvel Rivals. Image credit: NetEase / Marvel.Marvel Rivals is a smash hit for NetEase, securing 10 million players in just three days and 20 million in two weeks. The free-to-play superhero team-based PvP shooter launched on December 6 across PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, and while Sony and Microsoft do not make player numbers public, Steam makes Valve stats available.On Steam, Marvel Rivals peaked over its launch weekend with 480,990 concurrent players, which was enough to put it in the top five most-played games on Valve's platform. Its the 20th highest concurrent player number ever seen on Steam, ahead of the likes of Helldivers 2, Grand Theft Auto 5, and Destiny 2.Marvel Rivals launched with Season 0, with Season 1 set for January 9 according to the in-game battle pass countdown timer. Check out IGNs Marvel Rivals Review to find out what we think. And keep an eye on the latest Marvel Rivals codes for free skins, and vote on the strongest Marvel Rivals characters in our community tier list.Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

2025 has brought with it a new slate of works now in the public domain and there are some iconic creations on the list.In the U.S., the length of copyright protection for works published before 1978 is 95 years. That means works from 1929 and sound recordings from 1924 are open to all in the U.S. from January 1, 2025. Thats all films, books, songs, and art published during the Roaring 20s now without copyright protection.Duke Law Schools Center for the Study of Public Domain has a helpful roundup, but highlights include the original character of Tintin by Herg as he appeared in the Le Petit Vingtime magazine comic strip Les Aventures de Tintin, The Karnival Kid (Mickey Mouse's first talking appearance and the debut of his signature white gloves), and Alfred Hitchcocks first sound film, Blackmail.The most notable inclusion, however, is the original Popeye (who didnt eat spinach to gain strength), as he appeared in the Thimble Theatre comic strip Gobs of Work, created by E. C. Segar. Everything that he says, all of his characteristics, his personality, his sarcasm... thats public domain, Jennifer Jenkins, director of Dukes Center for the Study of the Public Domain, told NPR. The spinach, if you want to be on the safe side, you might want to wait.Popeye in his first appearance in 1929.January 1, 2024 saw the first iteration of Mickey Mouse enter the public domain, and just a day later a Steamboat Willie horror film was announced. Winnie the Pooh's Tigger also entered the public domain last year as the character first appeared in A.A. Milne's The House in Pooh Corner in 1928. Tigger subsequently appeared in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, the sequel to Rhys Waterfield's child-ruining horror flick. Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 3 is in the works.But 2025 is of particular interest because 1929 was the first year for film with sound. So it comes as no surprise to see there are a number of Popeye horror films already in the works. Popeye the Slayer Man is one, ITN Studios' Popeye, which is reportedly raunchy as well as gory, is another. Perhaps we'll also get a Tintin slasher in the coming years.2026 will see works from 1930 lose their copyright, including the earliest versions of Betty Boop, Mickey Mouse's dog Pluto, teen detective Nancy Drew, and Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Buying a home is, undeniably, a stressful processaccording to a 2023 survey by Redfin, 59 percent of Americans reported that buying a home is more stressful than dating. Respondents ranked it as the third most stressful life event, after going through a divorce and finding a new job. Another 2018 survey found that nearly 40 percent of Americans say that buying a new home was the "most stressful event in modern life."Luckily, you don't have to go through it alone. Whether you are looking to buy, rent, or sell, a real estate agent is a helpful ally to help you navigate the process. Of course, the guidance of a real estate agent comes at a cost. Real estate agents are paid through a commission fee during your real estate transaction, which is to say a percentage of the sale price of the home you're buying.If this is your first time buying, selling, or renting a homeor it's been a while since you've worked with a real estate agenthere's what you need to know about the cost of real estate commissions. Related StoriesWhat Does the Real Estate Agent Commission Cover?The real estate commission, essentially, is the real estate agent's pay. It covers the time and skills used throughout the home-buying processeverything from house showings to negotiating buying prices to researching listings on the multiple listing service (MLS), which is a database used by real estate agents to share information that is not public-facing.Who Pays the Commission?The answer to this question recently changed! On August 17, 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) implemented new rules about who pays a real estate agent's commission. In the past, the home sellers were the ones to pay the commission fees to lighten the financial load on buyers (after all, it's the seller in this situation who is, in theory, the person making a profit). But now, after industry-wide changes, that's no longer the default. Today, sellers can decide to cover the realtor's fee or let the buyers eat the cost. Sellers will also no longer be able to share the commission percentage the buyer's agent will be paid on the MLS. This change is meant to protect buyers from real estate agents who would purposely steer their clients to listings offering higher commission fees.Related StoryHow Much Is a Typical Commission?Generally, real estate agent commission fees are between five percent and six percent, according to the NAR. For example, the organization reports that, for a home sold at $431,000 as of Q3 2023, the commission would range between $21,550 and $25,860. According to the business data resource Statista, the average commission percentage in 2023 was 5.46 percent.Typical doesn't mean always, however. The bottom line is that this fee is determined by the free market. There are no set laws or legal standards when it comes to commissions. The NAR reported that in 2020, commission fees fell to a new low of 4.94 percent on average. Commissions may also exceed six percent depending on the market. It will be interesting to see the long-term effects of the August 2024 legal changes and how they affect commission rates going forward.Are Real Estate Agent Commission Fees Negotiable?Yes, but you'll need to settle that before you sign your representation agreement (more on that below). The NAR notes that commissions can come in many formatsnot just a percentage of a sale. Options include a flat fee approach or a reduced service/discounted fee model. (For example, if you're selling a home, since marketing dollars typically come from the commission fee, you may be able to negotiate a deal in which your realtor charges a smaller commission but does not do as much advertising of your listing.) The only hard and fast rule, according to the NAR, is that compensation must be clearly defined and not open-ended or a range.Related StoryAnything Else I Need to Know About Commission Fees?Another change that was implemented in the NAR's 2024 updates is that potential home buyers now need to sign a representation agreement committing to working exclusively with that agent before they tour a home together. This holds whether they're doing in-person or virtual tours. As Cara Ameer, a realtor working in California and Florida, explains, "A buyer's agreement is a written employment agreement to work with an agent for the services they will be providing you and also outlines the buyer's responsibilities and obligations to their agent as part of the agreement. It will stipulate how the agent is to be compensated and by whom as well as the fee they are charging for their services. As a result of the nationwide practice changes, the agent's fee must be a specific amount. It cannot be a range, left blank, or stated as 'to be determined based on the property purchased.'"Depending on what type of property you are looking to buy, and where you are looking, fee structures may differ. In markets where there's less demand for rental properties, rental agents typically work with landlords to have the property owner cover commission fees. And those purchasing empty lots can expect a higher commission fee, anywhere from 5-20 percent. Finally, if you are not happy with your real estate agent, you have optionsspecifically, the terms outlined in your exclusivity contract, which states that you and the agent are working together for a specific period. Ameer explains, "There is no minimum timeframe in which you have to have a buyer representation agreement signed forit could literally be for one day, a few days, a week, a couple of weeks, a couple of months. Some states do have a maximum timeframe these buyer agreements are in place for. In California, for example, it is a maximum of three months." In other words, if things aren't working out, you can wait until the time specified in the contract runs out, and then sign with a new broker.Just be aware that many contracts list specific conditions under which they can be exited. "There is often a protection period after termination of the agreement though that allows the agent to receive compensation if the buyer ends up buying a property that they showed them or introduced to them during the time they worked together," Ameer explains. "So, you want to make sure you understand what a post-cancellation protection period looks like. This is important because if you decide to break up with your agent after youve seen a property covered by your buyers agreement and make an offer with another agent, you could be obligated to pay compensation to the original agent you signed a buyer representation agreement with."Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.

Apple is expected to release an all-new iPhone 17 Air model this year, prioritizing form over function. A new supply chain report today reiterates what to expect from the iPhone 17 Air size and pricing, but it also says Samsung is already hard at work on its copycatThe latest on the iPhone 17 Air The report comes from Sisa Journal, a South Korean news outlet that doesnt have a long-term established track record of Apple rumors. Nonetheless, the report corroborates a few previously reported tidbits about the iPhone 17 Air. First, the report says the device will measure 6.25mm thick. This aligns with previous reporting and would make the iPhone 17 Air Apples thinnest iPhone ever. The current iPhone 16 models measure 7.80mm thick, while the iPhone 16 Pro models measure 8.25mm. Apples thinnest iPhone to date is the iPhone 6, which measured 6.90mm thick. Todays report also corroborates previous reporting from The Wall Street Journal and says the iPhone 17 Air will serve as the replacement for the Plus model in Apples lineup. As such, it will reportedly retain the same starting price at $899. Finally, the story says Samsung has already fired up its photocopiers and is working on a Galaxy S25 Slim model to be released this year. The report suggests that Samsung belatedly planned this device after the first rumors of the iPhone 17 Air surfaced last year. Samsungs work on a Galaxy S25 Slim has also been corroborated by other outlets.As a refresher, the iPhone 17 Air is expected to feature a 6.6-inch display with ProMotion support for refresh rates up to 120Hz. It will reportedly feature a single 48MP camera on the back combined with a 24MP front-facing camera. Inside, the iPhone 17 Air will reportedly pack an A19 chip rather than the A19 Pro paired with 8GB of RAM. You can keep up with all the latest iPhone 17 Air rumors in our dedicated guide. The device will reportedly be released later this year, likely in September alongside the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup. (via MacRumors)My favorite iPhone accessories: Add 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

Shane Snider, Senior Writer, InformationWeekJanuary 3, 20252 Min Readheliography / Stockimo via Alamy Stock PhotoA federal appeals court this week ruled that the Federal Communications Commission and Biden administration overstepped their authority by reviving net neutrality rules last year.The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel said the FCC was wrong to label broadband as a telecommunications service instead of an information service. The distinction was the basis for giving FCC power to wield net neutrality rules.Under the rules, which were struck down during the first Trump administration, broadband internet providers could not block or throttle internet access or speed up access to certain websites that pay higher fees. Net neutrality proponents say the rules ensure open and fair access to the internet, while detractors say the rules stifle innovation and weaken competition.Net neutrality was first approved in 2015 under the Obama administration and struck down the first Trump administration in 2017. In a down-the-line partisan vote, the FCC restored the rules last April.Democratic FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel urged Congress to take action against Thursdays court decision.Consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an internet that is fast, open, and fair, Rosenworcel said in a statement. With this decision it is clear that Congress now needs to heed their call, take up the charge for net neutrality, and put open internet principles in federal law.Related:In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Tim Wu, a Columbia law professor and consultant for the Biden Administrations competition and antitrust policy, disagreed with the courts ruling.When Congress passed the Telecommunications Act in 1934, it clearly wanted the American people to enjoy non-discriminatory, low-cost communications services. Finding otherwise is blatant judicial activism that puts corporate interests over American democracy, he wrote.Republican FCC commissioner Brendan Carr applauded the courts decision, deriding the FCCs nearly limitless power over the internet as a utility under Title II of the Communication Act.Rather than focusing on a broadband agenda that would bridge the digital divide, the Biden Administration chose to waste time and resources imposing these unnecessary command and control regulations, Carr said in a statement. I am pleased that the appellate court invalidated President Bidens internet power grab by striking down these unlawful Title II regulations. But the work to unwind the Biden Administrations regulatory overreach will continue.Related:In the published opinion, the judges wrote that the action to restore net neutrality resurrected the FCCs heavy-handed regulatory regime.Tim Wood, net neutrality advocate and general counsel of Free Press, scoffed at the courts ruling.Its rich to think of Donald Trump and Elon Musks hand-picked FCC chairman characterizing light-touch broadband rules as heavy-handed regulation, while scheming to force carriage of viewpoints favorable to Trump on the nations broadcast airwaves and social media sites, Wood said in a statement. With this ruling, the 6th Circuit has for now denied the public the internet access service that it deservesRead more about:RegulationAbout the AuthorShane SniderSenior Writer, InformationWeekShane Snider is a veteran journalist with more than 20 years of industry experience. He started his career as a general assignment reporter and has covered government, business, education, technology and much more. He was a reporter for the Triangle Business Journal, Raleigh News and Observer and most recently a tech reporter for CRN. He was also a top wedding photographer for many years, traveling across the country and around the world. He lives in Raleigh with his wife and two children.See more from Shane SniderNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

David Fincher had his idea for the Harry Potter film series rejected because it was too creepy.The 62-year-old filmmaker met with Warner Bros. executives to explore the possibility of overseeing the beloved wizarding franchise but ultimately his vision was deemed too dark.He told Variety: I was asked to come in and talk to them about how I would do Harry Potter.I remember saying, I just dont want to do the clean Hollywood version of it. I want to do something that looks a lot more like Withnail and I, and I want it to be kind of creepy.The Fight Club director explained producers didnt consider his take on the franchise as they had something more wholesome in mind for the adaptations of the J.K. Rowling novels.He added: They were like, We want Thom Browne schooldays by way of Oliver.Warner Bros.Warner Bros.loading...READ MORE: Every David Fincher Movie, Ranked From Worst to BestFincherhas previously worked on adaptations of books including Gone Girland The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo but he wasnt concerned about the popularity of the novels when he took on the jobs.He said: Is there a built-in audience? Thats somebody elses job. Those books get sold to movie studios when its shown that theres a built-in audience, so Im usually coming into the food chain after its been decided that this is something tasty. I was interested in Gone Girl in spite of the fact that it was a bestseller ... I liked the idea of punishment for our narcissistic leanings as it relates to finding a mate.With Dragon Tattoo, Im much more fond of Chinatown and the shoe leather in that than I am in any hacker thing. But I loved this broken girl whos given a chance to do research with this guy that shes not quite so sure about. And I dont even know that hes kind to her; I think he just treats her the way you want to be treated, and for her, this is so revelatory.And if youve ever been to Sweden, youre talking about a country about the size of California with the population of L.A. County. Theres a lot of room in them thar hills for serial killers and for dumping bodies. And I loved the idea of really, truly getting winter across in an investigation.When it came to directing the thriller movie Zodiac, his 2007 chronicle of the 35-year investigation into the Zodiac killings, the filmmaker admitted he had long been fascinated by the true-crime tale.He said: [The Zodiac killer] was a boogeyman when I was a seven year old, and I was kind of going through the process the main character was going through what happened? I felt kindred to that.Get our free mobile appThe Wizarding World of Harry Potter Ministry of MagicHere is a first look at the new Harry Potter themed land coming to Universals Epic Universe theme park, set to open in 2025.Filed Under: David Fincher, Harry PotterCategories: Movie News