Yin Yang. Symbolic Representation Of The Chinese Philosophic Concept Of A Primordial "Oneness" ... [+] Called Ta Chi. Yang Is The Masculine Active Principle In Nature That Is Exhibited In The Emperor, Light, Heat, Or Dryness. Yin Is The Feminine Passive Principle That Is Exhibited In Earth, Darkness, Cold, Or Wetness. The same nature of complementarity is reflected in the logic of hybrid intelligence in which natural intelligence and artificial intelligence catalyze each other.Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesArtificial intelligence is everywhere. We talk about it, write about it, create with it, and adapt to its growing influence. Even during the holiday seasons typical slowdown, AI remains a topic of lively debate in boardrooms, on social media, and around dinner tables. But the central question remains: so what? Can we answer it by placing the cursor on hybrid intelligence?As we begin this new year, the tantalizing issue is whether AI will be a blessing or a curse. Will we unlock its immense potential for social good, or continue to limit its scope to efficiency and business effectiveness? Will we refuse to use it, or embrace it blindly ? Or will we be able to move beyond an either-or mindset to choose the opportunity of and.The answer for many of the questions that 2025 entails lies not in choosing one approach over another, but in combining the best of them all, and their complementarity. This certainly stands to be proven concerning the power-couple of our two intelligences.Artificial Intelligence and natural intelligence create hybrid intelligence which we can channel it to bring out the best in us and others. In the following we explore the transformative complementarity of human and machine intelligence and provide four actionable ways to harness it for maximum impact.Understanding Hybrid IntelligenceHybrid intelligence is not merely another innovation; it is a mindset. It combines the logical, analytical power of AI with the emotional, ethical, and creative capacities of humans. This alliance can achieve outcomes that neither could accomplish alone.MORE FOR YOUBefore exploring how to leverage HI, lets define its key components:Artificial Intelligence (AI): The computational capabilities of machines to perform tasks requiring human intelligence. AI excels in processing large datasets, recognizing patterns, optimizing systems, and automating repetitive tasks. However, it thrives in structured scenarios and quantifiable problems.Natural Intelligence (NI): The inherent intelligence of humans, encompassing learning, reasoning, creativity, empathy, and ethical judgment. NI shines in ambiguous, complex situations but struggles with repetitive or data-intensive tasks.Hybrid Intelligence (HI): A dynamic partnership where AI enhances human decision-making with precision and scale, while NI ensures adaptability, empathy, value-orientation and ethical oversight. The result is a balanced system that amplifies human potential and leverages AIs efficiency.Using Hybrid Intelligence SystematicallyNow that we understand HIs foundation, lets examine four practical ways to harness this synergy.1. Enhancing Decision-Making In BusinessDecision-making in business often involves navigating complexity and uncertainty. While AI can process massive datasets and identify trends with unparalleled speed, it lacks intuition, empathy, and ethical judgment qualities intrinsic to human decision-makers.How to Leverage HI:AI for Data-Driven Insights: AI can analyze gigantic amounts of data to uncover trends, predict customer behavior, and optimize operations. With these insights, leaders can make evidence-based decisions and minimize biases.NI for Strategic Judgment and Empathy: Human leaders provide the strategic vision and ethical reasoning needed to balance efficiency with social responsibility. For instance, while AI might recommend cost-cutting measures, only humans can assess their impact on employees and communities.By integrating AIs analytical strengths with human judgment, businesses can achieve smarter, more ethical outcomes.2. Driving Innovation And CreativityInnovation thrives at the intersection of logic and imagination. While AI can identify patterns and optimize processes, true breakthroughs often require human creativity and the ability to think beyond boxes and established norms.How to Leverage HI:AI for Inspiration and Pattern Recognition: AI can analyze market trends, consumer behaviors, and industry developments to suggest new opportunities. It can also automate routine tasks, freeing up humans to focus on ideation.NI for Visionary Creativity: Humans bring intuition, experience, and diverse perspectives to elevate AIs suggestions into groundbreaking ideas. Whether designing new products or envisioning bold strategies, human creativity remains essential for transformative innovation.By combining AIs data-driven insights with human ingenuity, hybrid intelligence accelerates innovation that is both practical and visionary.3. Personalizing Customer ExperiencesTodays customers expect personalized interactions across every touchpoint. While AI can analyze data to tailor recommendations, it often lacks the empathy and relational skills needed to build lasting connections.How to Leverage HI:AI for Scalable Personalization: AI can track customer preferences, behaviors, and purchase histories to deliver tailored recommendations at scale. For example, an e-commerce platform might suggest products based on browsing habits.NI for Emotional Intelligence: Humans excel at understanding nuanced customer needs, addressing concerns, and building trust. Through empathetic interactions, customer service teams can provide the human touch that AI cannot replicate.By blending AIs efficiency with human warmth, hybrid intelligence creates customer experiences that are both personalized and authentic.4. Supporting Ethical and Responsible AI DevelopmentAs AI becomes more integrated into society, ethical oversight is critical. Without careful attention, AI systems can perpetuate biases, invade privacy, or cause unintended harm.How to Leverage HI:AI for Bias Detection: AI can identify patterns of bias in datasets and suggest algorithmic adjustments. It can also monitor AI systems for unintended behaviors.NI for Ethical Oversight: Humans establish the ethical guidelines and accountability frameworks that govern AI development. By prioritizing fairness, transparency, and societal impact, human oversight ensures AI serves the greater good.Hybrid intelligence enables the creation of AI systems that are both effective and ethically sound.Solving the HI EquationHybrid intelligence is not just a new buzzword; it is a practical paradigm for progress. By blending AIs computational power with the creativity, empathy, and ethics of humans, HI can drive meaningful advancements in business, innovation, customer experience, and prosocial ethical AI development.As we navigate the complexities of a new year, a fresh choice is on the table. The future belongs to those who embrace the complementarity of AI and NI. By cultivating our hybrid intelligence, we can unlock never imagined opportunities of personal agency, creativity, and positive social impact.

The world today was engineered to be ephemeral and noisy. This is a terrible combination for an investor.On Twitter alone, there are 456,000 messages sent every minute. On Facebook, there are 510,000 comments posted every minute and 293,000 status updates. Outside of social media, there are 16 million text messages sent every minute and 156 million emails.NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 27: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during ... [+] afternoon trading on March 27, 2024 in New York City. Stocks closed out high with the Dow Jones leading closing over 400 points and is on pace to end March with its fifth straight positive month, the longest streak since August 2020 and the S&P snapping a three day streak of losses. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)Getty ImagesFor an investor, the antidote to noise is quality stock analysis. Due diligence requires dozens of hours per equity, and it takes hundreds of hours every year to produce a free newsletter with quality analysis. My firm, the I/O Fund, strives to offer some of the teams best analysis for free, and I believe the consistency and depth of what my firm provides for free is hard to replicate.My firm offers this in the most challenging sector for investors, which is hands-down the tech sector. The tech sector is unusually difficult because it involves many different verticals artificial intelligence, crypto, consumer, media, cloud, and more. Its also the highest risk and highest reward sector in the market. Due to sudden price movements in both directions, the stakes are high. Perhaps I am biased, but quality analysis particularly in the tech sector can be hard to come by.Below are highlights from my free analysis on Forbes during a strong year for AI and crypto. Although numerous investor favorites rose more than 100% during the year, many other popular tech stocks declined significantly. My firm offered our readers clues and insights for the leading stocks in AI semiconductors and software, providing unparalleled depth and quality to our free readers.MORE FOR YOUNvidia to Surpass Apples ValuationRight out the gate in 2024, I expanded on my highly regarded 2021 prediction that Nvidia would surpass Apples valuation within 5 five years; which at the time, this prediction was inconceivable as it would require not only Nvidia to go up more than 300%, but also for the tech leader Apple to plateau.Beth Kindig on X: "$NVDA > $AAPL https://t.co/TxSIAxlWLH" / XI explained why Nvidia would deliver on this prediction a whole 2 years early in the February 2024 analysis, Nvidia Stock Gained $1.5 Trillion To Surpass The FAANGs - Apple Is Next. In the analysis, I pointed out that it was not just the consistency and magnitude of Nvidias multi-billion dollar revenue beats, but the expansion of its margins and earnings as revenue grew >200% for multiple quarters as it approached a $90 billion annualized scale.From that August 2021 prediction to the February 2024 update, Nvidia posted some staggering growth numbers: Data center revenue grew 676% to $18.4 billion. Data center revenue scaled from a $10 billion run rate to a $75 billion run rate in 2.5 years, a feat that took AWS 6 years to accomplish. Nvidias total revenue increased 240% during the period driven by blazing data center growth, versus a 43% increase for Apple, with iPhone revenue rising just 4.5% from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2023. Nvidias quarterly EPS grew nearly 400% during the period, versus just 14% for Apple. Nvidias operating margin increased from 47% to nearly 67%, while Apples expanded from 28% to 34%.My firm provided a handful of reasons that would propel Nvidia to quickly become the worlds most valuable company. This included the long runway for AI accelerators AMDs executives forecast the market to reach $400 billion by 2027 with Nvidia taking the lions share. Nvidias accelerated product roadmap to a one-year release cadence lets it continue to pry away Big Tech capex, while the software opportunity beckons, already reaching a $1B+ run rate. These tailwinds combined with a valuation that was eerily low at the time considering the rapid ascent shares had made through 2023.Supply chain and demand signals point to 2025 being another strong year for Nvidia as Blackwell comes to market, with my firm tracking these data points to assess Nvidias growth potential in the year to come. I published numerous free analyses on Nvidias Blackwell; some of this explaining back in May why there was still room in the stock price as I called out institutional analyst estimates being too low (which later materialized). I also boldly wrote that delays on Blackwell were overblown, and we have gotten yet another confirmation from Nvidias management team at CES that Blackwell is shipping on time. My firms ongoing consistency and accuracy on this stock dating back to 2018 for up to 4,000% returns has been unparalleled premium members received nine real-time buy alerts below $20 in 2021 and 2022; learn more here. Nvidia Q1 Earnings Preview: Blackwell And The $200B Data Center Nvidia Stock: Blackwell Suppliers Shrug Off Delay Ahead Of Q2 Earnings Heres Why Nvidia Stock Will Reach $10 Trillion Market Cap By 2030 Nvidia Stock Is A Buy On Dips Before Blackwell Arrives In 2025 Nvidias Stock Has 70% Potential Upside For 2025Bitcoin to $100K+My firm provided two crucial updates on our game plan for Bitcoin, with his first update from April 2024 increasing our target price zones. At the time, Bitcoin was an overlooked asset compared to the over-hyped Mag 7, yet the asset has delivered superior returns compared to all of the great large-cap tech stocks in this bull cycle, minus Nvidia, while having a low inverse correlation to tech.Utilizing technical analysis and on-chain data in the analysis We Are Raising Our Bitcoin Targets To $106K - $190K, my firm explained that it was now raising its target zones for Bitcoin to $106,000 to $190,000, up from the previous zone of $75,000 to $130,000. Bitcoin was trading in the mid-$60,000 range at the time, as my firm noted that the $42,750 support region holds on any ongoing volatility, then we have no reason to doubt the uptrend in place.My firm provided another update to the Bitcoin thesis at the end of July 2024 in the analysis, Bitcoin Update: Next Stop $100,000; Bitcoin finally surpassed that historic level as 2024 came to a close. My firm explained that Bitcoin had a full corrective pattern in place that ended around $54,000 in early July, which suggests we are in the early stages of the next rally.My firm had systematically been accumulating since the start of this cycle while raising our critical supports along the way below is the history of Bitcoin buy alerts that my firm issued to our subscribers in real-time since early 2023.The I/O Fund sent out numerous buy alerts for BTC below $60,000 since early 2023.Source: I/O FundNotably, my firm assisted readers in capturing immense upside from the two top-performing large-cap tech positions in 2023 and 2024 with Nvidia and Bitcoin; the fact my firm also provided ongoing entries and risk management for these mega-winners should not be understated in terms of the value my firm has delivered. To refer my newsletter to your friends and family, please click here.Meta to Outperform SnapchatIn the January 2024 analysis, Social Media Stocks: One Metric Shows Metas Clear Leadership, I pointed out what separated Meta as a clear social media leader and why Snapchat would struggle with monetization. Since then, Meta shares have risen nearly 65%, while Snapchat has declined -28%.Meta was demonstrating improvements in ad pricing with strong ad impressions growth of >30% in Q2 and Q3 2023, while average revenue per user (ARPU) accelerated in those quarters; whereas Snapchat was struggling to effectively monetize its user base. Additionally, I explained that Meta was much more efficient with spending, maintaining R&D spending below 40% of gross profit while improving ARPU, significantly improving operating margin, and investing in AR/VR and AI technologies. Snapchat was spending around 80% of its gross profit dollars on R&D, a disproportionately high amount on R&D relative to peers while failing to increase ARPU and monetization within its user base.I pointed out that what makes Meta a clear leader is that it can maintain a high level of R&D spend while remaining a cash cow with strong operating cash flow and free cash flow growth, with OCF margin nearing 60% in Q3 2023 and OCF tracking for 50% YoY growth to $75 billion in 2023.In a follow-up analysis in March 2024, Top 3 Ad-Tech Stocks For 2024, I said that Metas key metrics [were] supporting a return to >40% operating margin for the full year and a possible >33% net margin, driven by increasing ad pricing, strong engagement trends and impressions growth, aided by the release of numerous AI features. Q3 2024s results put this prediction very close to coming true, with 9M operating margin at 39.6% and net margin at 35.8%.Amazons Cloud AccelerationIn the February 2024 analysis AI Driving Acceleration For Big 3 Cloud Stocks, I discussed how AI was impacting cloud growth at Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet. For Amazon, I explained that in Q4 2023, AWS finally accelerated in Q4 for the first time in 2 years, with Amazon reporting 13.2% growth in Q4, up just over 1 point from Q3s 12%. However, the more important metric was AWS operating leverage improving in the second half of 2023, with operating income growth at 3x the rate of revenue in Q4.At the time, AWS was generating the majority of Amazons company-wide operating income (67% of 2023) due to its higher operating margin (27% in Q4 2023), which I had said was a trend that can strengthen with AI driving accelerated customer and revenue growth and decreased costs. This has played out, with AWS reporting a 37.8% operating margin in Q3 2024.What I had seen in February 2024 was a combination of increased customer migrations, larger and longer duration contracts, increased incremental revenue QoQ, and opportunities to better monetize the suite via AI. These factors were the necessary ingredients for AWS to show a sustained AI-driven acceleration, even though its quarterly growth rates lagged Azure and Google Cloud. AWS growth has now re-accelerated to 19%.In a follow-up article in May, Amazon Stock: Nearing $2 Trillion Club From AWS Growth & Ads Catalyst, I provided evidence that AWS was a primary contributor to Amazons push to the $2 trillion milestone. I noted that AWS was contributing more than 60% of Amazons total operating income despite contributing less than 20% of total revenue, one reason that corporate gross profit margin has quickly approached 20% and operating margin reached double-digits for the first time ever, at 10.7%. Growth from AI quickly reached a multi-billion dollar run rate, while improvements in operating leverage at AWS aided Amazons bottom line and stock price shares have risen nearly 30% since the February 2024 analysis.Honorable MentionsMy firm was also early to call out a fundamental acceleration for one of 2024s best performing AI stocks, alongside another AI-exposed ad-tech winner and an AI theme that quickly came to the forefront thanks to Nvidia.1) Palantirs Revenue AccelerationIn December 2023, my firm outlined four cloud stocks set to see revenue accelerate in 2024, with Palantir one of the four. My firm had said that Palantir was exhibiting multiple signs of acceleration heading into 2024 with an improved fundamental backdrop driven by increasing AI demand. Palantirs Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) is driving a significant acceleration in its US commercial business, while underlying metrics and the bottom line are rapidly improving: Palantir posted its first GAAP profitable quarter in February and has since reported four consecutive GAAP profitable quarters.My firm explained that revenue growth is poised to accelerate in Q4 and through 2024, boosted by AI demand, a reacceleration in Palantirs US government segment, and continued strength in the US commercial segment stemming from [AIP].Palantirs shares ended 2024 as the S&P 500s best performer with a 341% return.2) Taiwan Semiconductors AI RevenueIn April 2024, my firm discussed Taiwan Semiconductors (TSMC) revenue acceleration stemming from the strength of AI/HPC revenue, with April sales surging after Q1 showed strong advanced node revenue growth and record HPC revenue.My firm discussed how TSMC was riding the enormous wave of demand from Big Tech, with HPC revenue rising 3% QoQ to $8.68 billion in Q1 2024, a fresh record despite the first quarter typically being seasonally weaker. Additionally, my firm said reports of Nvidia and AMD fully booking out TSMCs advanced packaging capacity through the end of 2025 lent to a strong AI-driven outlook.Aprils sales numbers gave my firm confidence that TSMC was on track to land in the upper half of or above the guided range for Q2 revenue it ultimately beat estimates by $500 million, the largest in more than two years.3) AI Power ConsumptionIn June 2024, my firm published a thematic analysis on AI power consumption, and the rising power draw from next-generation GPUs. This analysis was underpinned by the rise of generative AI and surging GPU shipments [which] is causing data centers to scale from tens of thousands to 100,000-plus accelerators, shifting the emphasis to power as a mission-critical problem to solve.My firm explained how Nvidias Hopper and AMDs MI300X accelerators consume 50% to 75% more power than the prior generation, while Blackwell represented up to a 300% increase in power consumption across one generation of GPUs with AI systems increasing power consumption at a higher rate.With power draw now quickly becoming mission-critical for data centers to address due to each generation of GPUs becoming increasingly more powerful than the last, my firm pointed out that this was driving a shift to liquid cooling.For 2025, my firm has worked to identify key Nvidia suppliers with Blackwell on deck to ramp significantly, sharing our in-depth research on the AI networking stack. Sign up to join our upcoming webinar, held every Thursday at 4:30 pm EST, where we discuss buy zones for the stocks we cover plus a special, one-hour 2025 webinar held on January 14th. Learn more here.If you would like notifications when my new articles are published, please hit the button below to "Follow" me.

Editor's take: The Chrome Web Store offers numerous tools for extension developers to publish and promote their creations. However, what it should not enable is the misuse of these tools to provide authors with manipulative tactics that push extensions in unexpected or inappropriate contexts. Despite the forced transition to Manifest V3, Chrome extensions remain as dangerous and malicious as ever. Rogue developers can disguise their creations as legitimate extensions still using the older Manifest V2 technology or exploit Chrome Web Store's translation system to appear in unrelated search results by Chrome users.This latest tactic was recently discovered by security researcher Wladimir Palant, who detailed his findings in an eye-opening post. While searching for the "Norton Password Manager" extension on the Chrome Web Store, Palant encountered numerous seemingly unrelated results. Upon investigating, he uncovered a clever manipulation campaign actively pushing users to install low-quality or even malicious code.The core issue identified by Palant lies in how the Chrome Web Store manages translations and related metadata. Official Chrome Web Store policies explicitly prohibit search result manipulation, yet hundreds of extensions are flagrantly violating these rules to secure undeserved visibility and promotion.Some developers have discovered that the Chrome Web Store search index is shared across all languages, according to Palant. This allows them to "sacrifice" descriptions in less popular languages by embedding them with keyword-packed text. When users search the CWS, these keywords boost the visibility of malicious extensions, even if the extensions are programmed to perform entirely unrelated functions.Palant identified 920 Chrome extensions exploiting this malicious technique to manipulate CWS search results. These extensions can be traced back to a few "clusters," suggesting they were likely created by a small group of developers familiar with the search manipulation trick. // Related StoriesThe researcher reported this issue to Google, highlighting what appears to be a coordinated effort to manipulate the Chrome Web Store search system. Palant noted that Google had already been alerted to keyword spamming practices over a year ago, yet the problematic extensions remain active. Either Google isn't looking, or they don't care at all, Palant said.

Tesla/X CEO Elon Musk seems to believe that training AI models with solely human-made data is becoming impossible. Musk claims that theresa growing lack of real-world data with which to train AI models, including his Grok AI chatbot.Weve now exhausted basically the cumulative sum of human knowledge in AI training, Musk said during an X live-stream interview conducted by Stagwell chairman Mark Penn. That happened basically last year.Recommended VideosMusks comments reflect those of former OpenAI researcher Ilya Sutskever, who predicted last December that the AI industry had reached peak data. Musks solution to this issue synthetic data also mirrors the larger industry. Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta already leverage synthetic data to train their models. The only way to supplement [real-world data] is with synthetic data, where the AI creates [training data], Musk said. With synthetic data [AI] will sort of grade itself and go through this process of self-learning.While the use of synthetic data can offer significant cost savings to companies, some studies suggest that over-reliance on synthetic data can lead to model collapse where the AIs responses become less creative and more biased over time as theyre repeatedly trained on recursively generated data.The lack of human-derived data hasnt stopped X from spinning off its Grok AI feature into its own iOS app on Thursday. The chatbot and image generator, notable for their complete lack of intellectual property or content guardrails, used to only be available to folks shelling out $8 a month for an X premium account. However, the new app is free for anyone to download.Editors Recommendations

Noise-canceling earbuds and headphones are designed to give you the best sound quality possible by eliminating pesky background noise. These are the ambient sounds you hear as you walk down a city street, fire up an air conditioner, or sit idly on a plane, train, or bus. Our team of audio experts has reviewed all kinds of earbuds over the years, but today were going to bring the spotlight back to a classic, the Technics EAH-AZ80 TWS Earbuds.Why, you may be asking? Because now that you can preorder the Technics EAH-AZ100 (just revealed at CES 2025), the Z80 Series is $100 off! We tested these earbuds close to two years ago, and reviewer Simon Cohen said the EAH-AZ80 delivered great sound and comfort for hours of hi-fi listening.Available in black, blue, and silver colorways, the classy-looking AZ80 buds sport 10mm free-edge dynamic drivers that deliver bold, crystal-clear sound quality. From articulate highs to deep, impactful lows, its hard to beat the power and performance on tap with the AZ80. And we havent even mentioned the fact these TWS buds support Sonys LDAC codec (along with SBC and AAC). High-resolution audio never sounded so good!RelatedIf youre constantly on the move, the AZ80s advanced Dual Hybrid ANC System does a phenomenal job at tuning out the ambient noise you dont want to hear. We were also impressed by Technics JustMyVoice technology, which leverages eight onboard mics and wind noise reduction to hone in on your voice. You can also expect up to seven hours of battery life on a full charge, plus an extra 24 hours with a fully charged case.We see great Bluetooth speaker deals all the time, but when it comes to Bluetooth-powered earbuds, its not as easy to find the products worth the spotlight. Fortunately, calling out this great sale on the Technics EAH-AZ80 was a total no-brainer. Save $100 when you purchase these excellent in-ears, and be sure to check out our list of the best Amazon deals and Best Buy deals for even more amazing markdowns on top tech!Editors Recommendations

James Mangold is taking the phrase, A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, quite literally. Mangolds Star Wars: Dawn of the JediMangold, who will direct Dawn of the Jedi, is excited to tell a new story with his co-writer, Beau Willimon.Recommended VideosTo me, the really important aspects are the freedom to make something new, Mangold told MovieWeb in a recent interview. Beau and I, in relation to Star Wars, have been working on a script, and well see what happens.Please enable Javascript to view this contentMany of the recent Star Wars movies ran into problems incorporating legacy characters and franchise mythology. Mangold wants to rely on Star Wars lore as little as possible in his prequel set in the distant past.The Star Wars movie would be taking place 25,000 years before any known Star Wars movies take place, Mangold said. Its an area and a playground that Ive always [wanted to explore] and that I was inspired by as a teenager. Im not that interested in being handcuffed by so much lore at this point that its almost immovable, and you cant please anybody.Dark Horse ComicsLucasfilm first announced MangoldsDawn of the Jedi at 2023s Star Wars Celebration Europe IV. Two other films revealed at the celebration were a Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy-directed feature starring Daisy Ridleys Rey Skywalker and a movie from Lucasfilms Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni. All three films are undated. The Rey Skywalker film was slated for December 2026, but Disney removed it from its release calendar and replaced it with Ice Age 6.The next Star Wars movie will be Jon Favreaus The Mandalorian & Grogu, in theaters on May 22, 2026.Editors Recommendations

Queen Teuta of Illyria held an audience with two Roman ambassadors. When one of them disrespected her, she had the envoy killed.

At an 18th-century inn on the Garden States western edge, the exemplary Jack Rose cocktail is well worth the trip. Until you can getthere, this recipe brings the drinks bright apple flavor home.

Google privacy lawsuit Google loses in court, faces trial for collecting data on users who opted out Judge: Reasonable juror may find Google profited from misappropriation of data. Jon Brodkin Jan 9, 2025 3:06 pm | 4 Credit: Getty Images | Josh Edelson Credit: Getty Images | Josh Edelson Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreA federal judge this week rejected Google's motion to throw out a class-action lawsuit alleging that it invaded the privacy of users who opted out of functionality that records a users' web and app activities. A jury trial is scheduled for August 2025 in US District Court in San Francisco.The lawsuit concerns Google's Web & App Activity (WAA) settings, with the lead plaintiff representing two subclasses of people with Android and non-Android phones who opted out of tracking. "The WAA button is a Google account setting that purports to give users privacy control of Google's data logging of the user's web app and activity, such as a user's searches and activity from other Google services, information associated with the user's activity, and information about the user's location and device," wrote US District Judge Richard Seeborg, the chief judge in the Northern District Of California.Google says that Web & App Activity "saves your activity on Google sites and apps, including associated info like location, to give you faster searches, better recommendations, and more personalized experiences in Maps, Search, and other Google services." Google also has a supplemental Web App and Activity setting that the judge's ruling refers to as "(s)WAA.""The (s)WAA button, which can only be switched on if WAA is also switched on, governs information regarding a user's '[Google] Chrome history and activity from sites, apps, and devices that use Google services.' Disabling WAA also disables the (s)WAA button," Seeborg wrote.Google sends data to developersBut data is still sent to third-party app developers through the Google Analytics for Firebase (GA4F), "a free analytical tool that takes user data from the Firebase kit and provides app developers with insight on app usage and user engagement," the ruling said. GA4F "is integrated in 60 percent of the top apps" and "works by automatically sending to Google a user's ad interactions and certain identifiers regardless of a user's (s)WAA settings, and Google will, in turn, provide analysis of that data back to the app developer."Plaintiffs have brought claims of privacy invasion under California law. Plaintiffs "present evidence that their data has economic value," and "a reasonable juror could find that Plaintiffs suffered damage or loss because Google profited from the misappropriation of their data," Seeborg wrote.The lawsuit was filed in July 2020. The judge notes that summary judgment can be granted when "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Google hasn't met that standard, he ruled.In a statement provided to Ars, Google said that "privacy controls have long been built into our service and the allegations here are a deliberate attempt to mischaracterize the way our products work. We will continue to make our case in court against these patently false claims."In a proposed settlement of a different lawsuit, Google last year agreed to delete records reflecting users' private browsing activities in Chrome's Incognito mode.Google disclosures are ambiguous, judge saysGoogle claimed that the "undisputed facts" show its collection of "data was lawful and consistent with its representations to class members," Seeborg wrote. But in the judge's view, the "various interpretations of these disclosures render them ambiguous such that a reasonable user would expect the WAA and (s)WAA settings to control Google's collection of a user's web app and activity on products using Google's services."Google contends that its system is harmless to users. "Google argues that its sole purpose for collecting (s)WAA-off data is to provide these analytic services to app developers. This data, per Google, consists only of non-personally identifiable information and is unrelated (or, at least, not directly related) to any profit-making objectives," Seeborg wrote.On the other side, plaintiffs say that Google's tracking contradicts its "representations to users because it gathers exactly the data Google denies saving and collecting about (s)WAA-off users," Seeborg wrote. "Moreover, Plaintiffs insist that Google's practices allow it to personalize ads by linking user ad interactions to any later related behaviorinformation advertisers are likely to find valuableleading to Google's lucrative advertising enterprise built, in part, on (s)WAA-off data unlawfully retrieved."Plaintiffs contend that "Google should be disgorged of all its profits derived from serving any ads to (s)WAA-off users. Google "denies that any (s)WAA-off data is saved to a user's marketing profile, which precludes it from personalizing advertising to a WAA-off users." Google says the data is "intended to be shared with only developers through GA4F for their own analysis."Jury can evaluate Googles pseudonymous claimsGoogle, as the judge writes, purports to treat user data as pseudonymous by creating a randomly generated identifier that "permits Google to recognize the particular device and its later ad-related behavior... Google insists that it has created technical barriers to ensure, for (s)WAA-off users, that pseudonymous data is delinked to a user's identity by first performing a 'consent check' to determine a user's (s)WAA settings."Whether this counts as personal information under the law is a question for a jury, the judge wrote. Seeborg pointed to California law that defines personal information to include data that "is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household." Given the legal definition, "a reasonable juror could view the (s)WAA-off data Google collected via GA4F, including a user's unique device identifiers, as comprising a user's personal information," he wrote.As Seeborg wrote, "Google insists that users knew and consented to its tracking practices," specifically the collection of pseudonymous data. Seeborg rejected this claim. To a reasonable user reading Google's disclosures, "it is unclear Plaintiffs were consenting to the data collection at issue," he wrote.Another argument from Google is that plaintiffs have no reasonable expectation of privacy in anonymized, aggregate data. But information doesn't have to be personally identifying in order to be private, and "whether the data collected by Google constitutes personal information is not, as Google suggests, a foregone conclusion," Seeborg wrote.Jon BrodkinSenior IT ReporterJon BrodkinSenior IT Reporter Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry. 4 Comments

At a crosswords Why solving crosswords is like a phase transition German physicist and crossword fan realized the solving process resembled a type of "percolation problem." Jennifer Ouellette Jan 9, 2025 2:55 pm | 4 Finalists competing in a crossword competition in New York City's Bryant Park in 2019 Credit: Rhododendrites/CC BY-SA 4.0 Finalists competing in a crossword competition in New York City's Bryant Park in 2019 Credit: Rhododendrites/CC BY-SA 4.0 Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreMost crossword puzzle fans have experienced that moment where, after a period of struggle on a particularly difficult puzzle, everything suddenly starts to come together, and they are able to fill in a bunch of squares correctly. Alexander Hartmann, a statistical physicist at the University of Oldenburg in Germany, had an intriguing insight when this happened while he was trying to solve a puzzle one day. According to his paper published in the journal Physical Review E, the crossword puzzle-solving process resembles a type of phase transition known as percolationone that seems to be unique compared to standard percolation models.Traditional mathematical models of percolation date back to the 1940s. Directed percolation is when the flow occurs in a specific direction, akin to how water moves through freshly ground coffee beans, flowing down in the direction of gravity. (In physical systems, percolation is one of the primary mechanisms behind the Brazil nut effect, along with convection.) Such models can also be applicable to a wide range of large networked systems: power grids, financial markets, and social networks, for example.Individual nodes in a random network start linking together, one by one, via short-range connections, until the number of connections reaches a critical threshold (tipping point). At that point, there is a phase shift in which the largest cluster of nodes grows rapidly, giving rise to more long-range connections, resulting in uber-connectivity. The likelihood of two clusters merging is proportional to their size, and once a large cluster forms, it dominates the networked system, absorbing smaller clusters.There's also the more recent concept of "explosive percolation," whereby connectivity emerges not in a slow, continuous process but quite suddenly, simply by replacing the random node connections with predetermined criteriasay, choosing to connect whichever pair of nodes has the fewest pre-existing connections to other nodes. This introduces bias into the system and suppresses the growth of large dominant clusters. Instead, many large unconnected clusters grow until the critical threshold is reached. At that point, even adding just one or two more connections will trigger one global violent merger (instant uber-connectivity).Puzzling over percolationOne might not immediately think of crossword puzzles as a network, although there have been a couple of relevant prior mathematical studies. For instance, John McSweeney of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana employed a random graph network model for crossword puzzles in 2016. He factored in how a puzzle's solvability is affected by the interactions between the structure of the puzzle's cells (squares) and word difficulty, i.e., the fraction of letters you need to know in a given word in order to figure out what it is.Answers represented nodes while answer crossings represented edges, and McSweeney assigned a random distribution of word difficulty levels to the clues. "This randomness in the clue difficulties is ultimately responsible for the wide variability in the solvability of a puzzle, which many solvers know wella solver, presented with two puzzles of ostensibly equal difficulty, may solve one readily and be stumped by the other," he wrote at the time. At some point, there has to be a phase transition, in which solving the easiest words enables the puzzler to solve the more difficult words until the critical threshold is reached and the puzzler can fill in many solutions in rapid successiona dynamic process that resembles, say, the spread of diseases in social groups. In this sample realization, black sites are shown in black; empty sites are white; and occupied sites contain symbols and letters. Credit: Alexander K. Hartmann, 2024 Hartmann's new model incorporates elements of several nonstandard percolation models, including how much the solver benefits from partial knowledge of the answers. Letters correspond to sites (white squares) while words are segments of those sites, bordered by black squares. There is an a priori probability of being able to solve a given word if no letters are known. If some words are solved, the puzzler gains partial knowledge of neighboring unsolved words, which increases the probability of those words being solved as well.In other words, the probabilities don't start out with long-range correlations, but those probabilities change as easier words get filled in, leading to an acceleration in filling out neighboring words.If youre a solver that is often frustrated and feel like youre not making any progress, this idea of a phase transition can give you a boost of confidence, McSweeney told New Scientist. You might be a lot closer than you realize to solving the whole thing, as long as you can just get a little bit better and jump over that phase transition point.The next step will be to take a closer look at what's happening as the puzzler approaches the critical threshold. Hartmann wonders if the acceleration in filling in correct squares might behave like physical avalanche systems, such as the grains of sand in a sand pile or hourglass. It's a type of spontaneous phase transition also known as self-organized criticality. The sand pile grows, grain by grain, piling up in the shape of a cone. This makes the pile increasingly unstable until adding just a few more grains causes the pile to collapse in an avalanche, forming a wider stable base as the whole process begins again. And smaller avalanches happen more often than larger ones (a power law).Physicists have applied the notion of self-organized criticality to earthquakes, financial markets, traffic jams, biological evolution, how galaxies are distributed in the universe, and even the brain. We'll have to wait and see whether Hartmann's instinct is correct that it might also describe the process of solving a crossword puzzle.Physical Review E, 2025. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.110.064138 (About DOIs).Jennifer OuelletteSenior WriterJennifer OuelletteSenior Writer Jennifer is a senior reporter at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. 4 Comments