Meta announced on Tuesday that it will no longer employ fact checkers to moderate content, and instead rely on an army of volunteer users.

From LEDs to fancy OLED models, these are our favorite televisions at every price.

The company is using the carrot of "new features" and the stick of "no more updates for your old PC."

The social networking giant will stop using third-party fact checkers and instead rely on users to add notes to posts. It is likely to please President-elect Trump and his conservative allies.

The Taiwanese Coast Guard said seven Chinese nationals were aboard a ship suspected of causing the damage.

The film, billed by the company as a behind the scenes look at her life, started shooting in December and is slated for theatrical and streaming release this year.

MacworldFollowing a litany of serious errors and numerous complaints, Apple has announced that it will make changes to the way its AI news summaries are presented to users.In December, the BBC complained when Apple Intelligence auto-summarized one of its articles as part of a notification and completely altered its meaning, falsely informing readers that the alleged killer Luigi Mangione had shot himself.The rest of the summary is accurate, but the first clause is wholly false.BBCBBC News is the most trusted news media in the world, a BBC spokesperson said at the time. It is essential to us that our audiences can trust any information or journalism published in our name and that includes notifications.But Apple seemingly did not respond to the complaint and more errors followed. In January the companys AI summarized a BBC article about the World Darts Championship to say that Luke Littler had won the competition, when it hadnt even started. (Funnily enough Littler did go on to become the youngest ever winner, but not until later.) It also incorrectly claimed Rafael Nadal had come out as gay when he had not, again presenting this information as if it came from the BBC.While the BBC appears to be the main sufferer of Apple Intelligences inaccuracies, a New York Times alert was reportedly twisted to suggest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been arrested; he had not.Apple AI notification summaries continue to be so so so bad Ken Schwencke (@schwanksta.com) 2024-11-21T19:22:27.650ZApple has not apologised for the errors, nor has it even explicitly admitted that the AI got these things wrong. But the company has this week acknowledged that Apple Intelligences summaries can be improved, and promised that an imminent software update will do so.Apple Intelligence features are in beta and we are continuously making improvements with the help of user feedback, the company said. A software update in the coming weeks will further clarify when the text being displayed is summarization provided by Apple Intelligence. We encourage users to report a concern if they view an unexpected notification summary.At the moment, the notifications are presented as if they come directly from the news source. At the top they say BBC News (or NYTimes, or whatever), with the official app logo on the left; nowhere does it say that the text has been autogenerated by Apple Intelligence rather than being provided by the app. It would appear that Apple is promising only to label the text more informatively, rather than to make it more accurate although one would hope that work on the latter aspect is ongoing as a matter of routine.For more on this story, and the limitations of AI more generally, read the Macalopes latest column, Apple Intelligence didnt write this headline.

The US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a fresh complaint against Google, alleging that the company acts as the employer of certain contract workers and must negotiate with their union, Reuters reports.The Board has said Google is a joint employer for roughly 50 San Francisco-based content creators hired through IT contractor Accenture Flex.These workers, who joined the Alphabet Workers Union in 2023, should be considered under the tech giants purview, according to the agency, the report said.An administrative judge will now hear the complaint, with the decision subject to review by the NLRBs five-member panel.If the Board confirms Googles status as a joint employer for the Accenture Flex contractors, the tech giant would be compelled to engage in collective bargaining and could be held accountable for breaches of federal labor law.NLRB is also looking into a separate complaint from October, which accuses Google and Accenture Flex of altering working conditions without consulting the union first, according to the report.This follows the NLRBs January 2024 ruling requiring Google to negotiate with employees at YouTube Music an Alphabet subsidiary hired through a different staffing firm. Google has appealed the decision, and a US federal court is scheduled to review the case later this month.Google has faced growing labor challenges, marked by worker protests and layoffs. Last year, the company removed a $15-an-hour minimum wage for contractors and implemented changes aimed at sidestepping union negotiations.Implications for the industryGoogle has stated that it does not have sufficient control over contract workers to qualify as their joint employer, according to the report.The outcome of the case could set a precedent for how contract workers are treated across the tech industry, where companies frequently rely on third-party staffing firms.Companies may need to rethink their mix of employment types and how they engage contract and gig workers, said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst and CEO at Greyhound Research. In a worst-case scenario, this work could be moved to locations where such regulations dont exist. Alternatively, companies might face additional compliance requirements, costs, and audits if the NLRB wins against major corporations.Meanwhile, large corporations may need to adopt a more flexible stance on the issue, as the number of contract and gig workers is expected to grow, Gogia added.A decision against Google could also energize unionization efforts within the tech sector, offering a roadmap for organizing workers in an industry that has traditionally resisted union activity. The topic is also profoundly interlinked with the countrys political climate, Gogia said. If one were to consider the past stand that the Trump administration had on the subject, it is clear that the concept of joint employer may not see the light of day after all.

This is todays edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of whats going on in the world of technology.AI means the end of internet search as weve known itWe all know what it means, colloquially, to google something. You pop a few words in a search box and in return get a list of blue links to the most relevant results. Fundamentally, its just fetching information thats already out there on the internet and showing it to you, in a structured way.But all that is up for grabs. We are at a new inflection point.The biggest change to the way search engines deliver information to us since the 1990s is happening right now. No more keyword searching. Instead, you can ask questions in natural language. And instead of links, youll increasingly be met with answers written by generative AI and based on live information from across the internet, delivered the same way.Not everyone is excited for the change. Publishers are completely freaked out. And people are also worried about what these new LLM-powered results will mean for our fundamental shared reality. Read the full story.Mat HonanThis story is from the latest print edition of MIT Technology Reviewits all about the exciting breakthroughs happening in the world right now. If you dont already, subscribe to receive future copies.Whats next for our privacy?Every day, we are tracked hundreds or even thousands of times across the digital world. All of this is collected, packaged together with other details, and used to create highly personalized profiles that are then shared or sold, often without our explicit knowledge or consent.A consensus is growing that Americans need better privacy protectionsand that the best way to deliver them would be for Congress to pass comprehensive federal privacy legislation.So what can Americans expect for their personal data in 2025? We spoke to privacy experts and advocates about whats on their mind regarding how our digital data might be traded or protected moving forward. Read the full story.Eileen GuoThis piece is part of MIT Technology Reviews Whats Next series, looking across industries, trends, and technologies to give you a first look at the future. You can read the rest of them here.How optimistic are you about AIs future?The start of a new year, and maybe especially this one, feels like a good time for a gut check: How optimistic are you feeling about the future of technology?Our annual list of 10 Breakthrough Technologies, published on Friday, might help you decide. Artificial intelligence powers four of the breakthroughs featured on the list, and I expect your feelings about them will vary widely. Read the full story.James ODonnellThis story is from the Algorithm, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things AI. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday.The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is ready to transform our understanding of the cosmosHigh atop Chiles 2,700-meter Cerro Pachn, the air is clear and dry, leaving few clouds to block the beautiful view of the stars. Its here that the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will soon use a car-size 3,200-megapixel digital camerathe largest ever builtto produce a new map of the entire night sky every three days.Findings from the observatory will help tease apart fundamental mysteries like the nature of dark matter and dark energy, two phenomena that have not been directly observed but affect how objects are bound togetherand pushed apart.A quarter-century in the making, the observatory is poised to expand our understanding of just about every corner of the universe. Read the full story.Adam MannThe Vera C. Rubin Observatory is one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2025, MIT Technology Reviews annual list of tech to watch. Check out the rest of the list, and cast your vote for the honorary 11th breakthroughyou have until 1 April!The must-readsIve combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.1 A Louisiana man has died of bird fluHes the first person known to have died from the virus in the US. (WP $)+ He was over 65 years old and had underlying health conditions. (NYT $)+ The risk of a bird flu pandemic is rising. (MIT Technology Review)2 Meta is shifting towards the rightAppointing Trump ally Dana White to its board is the latest in a string of political moves. (NYT $)+ Mark Zuckerberg has overhauled Metas board in the last five years. (Bloomberg $)+ The company recently donated $1 million to Trumps inaugural fund. (WSJ $)3 The Pentagon is blacklisting Chinas biggest EV battery firmCATL and other companies will be barred from doing business with it. (WP $)+ The US is convinced theyre working with Chinas military. (CNN)4 Nvidia is working on a personal AI supercomputerProject Digits will go on sale in May, priced at a whopping $3,000. (TechCrunch)+ Its based on a super secret chip, apparently. (VentureBeat)+ CEO Jensen Huang has his sights set on humanoid robots, too. (FT $)5 Doctors are turning to AI for note taking during appointmentsIt could save them hours each dayif it doesnt mess up, that is. (FT $)+ Artificial intelligence is infiltrating health care. We shouldnt let it make all the decisions. (MIT Technology Review)6 U-Haul is a treasure trove of personal user dataAnd hackers are exploiting it to dox or hack their victims. (404 Media)7 New York drivers are already trying to evade congestion pricingSubtly obscuring license plates can trick tracking cameras. (New York Post)+ Reaction to the new charge is decidedly mixed. (NY Mag $)+ Why EVs are (mostly) set for solid growth in 2025. (MIT Technology Review)8 Frustrated workers are complaining about their bosses on LinkedInTry this at your own risk. (Insider $)9 Men are notoriously poor at replying to text messages And their failure to communicate could be making them lonely. (The Atlantic $)10 You can now play Doom on a captchWhat better way to prove youre not a bot? (Vice)+ Death to captchas. (MIT Technology Review)Quote of the dayWe have glitches that need stitches.Tech entrepreneur Mike Johns describes his experience of becoming trapped in a malfunctioning self-driving car to the Guardian, nearly causing him to miss a flight.The big storyWhat happens when your prescription drug becomes the center of covid misinformationSeptember 2021By the time Joe Rogan mentioned ivermectin as one ingredient in an experimental cocktail he was taking to treat his covid infection, the drug was a meme. In the weeks leading up to the popular podcasters revelation, the drug had already become a flashpoint in the covid culture wars.But Ivermectin isnt some new or experimental drug: in addition to its use as an anti-parasite treatment for livestock, its commonly employed in humans to treat a form of rosacea, among other things. So for those of us who have been using it for years, its sudden infamy was unexpected and unwelcome. Read the full story.Abby OhlheiserWe can still have nice thingsA place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet em at me.)+ RIP the bar cart, we barely knew you.+ If youve ever wondered what happens to your unclaimed luggage, now youll finally have an answer.+ This motorbike-sized tuna is a thing of beauty. + Happy birthday to the one and only Michael Stipe, who turned 65 over the weekend.

Setapp and CleanMyMac developer MacPaw has launched a new device management solution for small to medium-sized businesses, providing tools to manage fleets of Macs.Managing multiple Macs in a business image credit: MacPawMacPaw is best known for its Setapp bundle of chiefly Mac apps, although in Europe it is working to introduce an iOS equivalent through its own App Store. Alongside the subscription bundle, the company also sells CleanMyMac for individuals, and says that it is this app that has led to the new service.Specifically, MacPaw says that data from the use of CleanMyMac has improved the performance of individual Macs. It's now hoping to bring those performance benefits to Macs across whole organizations. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums