Jeff Bezos space company Blue Origin postponed the inaugural launch of its first orbital rocket, New Glenn, early Monday morning after experiencing an unspecified issue with one of the vehicles subsystems.While delays like this happen all the time in spaceflight, this one once again puts the timing of the much-anticipated launch in question. According to Eric Berger at Ars Technica, the company got deep enough into the countdown that Blue Origin would likely need at least 48 hours to reset the rocket for launch.On top of that, conditions in the Atlantic Ocean are expected to worsen this week, and Blue Origin is trying to land New Glenns booster on a drone ship similar to how Elon Musks SpaceX often recovers the core of its Falcon 9 rockets.New Glenns success is crucial to Blue Origin, as the company is trying to enter a heavy-lift market currently dominated by SpaceX. Up until now, Blue Origin has been primarily focused on launching tourists and science experiments to sub-orbital space in its much smaller New Shepard rocket. New Glenn is supposed to help unlock new business for Blue Origin, which already has contracts to deliver payloads to space with NASA, the Space Force, Amazons Project Kuiper, and more.Blue Origin has been preparing to launch New Glenn for a few weeks now, and finally rolled the 320-foot-tall rocket out to its launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 9. At that point, the company was targeting a launch on January 12. But over the weekend, the company pushed that target date back one day in order to increase the odds of successfully landing New Glenns booster.New Glenns three-hour launch window began at 1AM ET on January 13. The company loaded propellant into the rocket. But it got stuck troubleshooting the unspecified subsystem issue and pushed the launch time back multiple times before calling it off. (Berger reported that it had to do with ice clogging a line that helps vent gas away from the rocket.) Blue Origin has said the primary goal for New Glenns first launch is to reach orbit safely, and that anything beyond that is icing on the cake. Should New Glenn reach orbit, the rocket will be carrying a demonstrator of its Blue Ring spacecraft, which the company wants to use as a building block for a larger space-based economy.

Results of ReduceArtefact Studio blends midcentury and Caribbean influences for pared-back addition, Triangle HouseByPaige Davidson January 13, 2025Interiors, International (Lorenzo Zandri)SHARENestled within a cul-de-sac in Epsom, England, the Triangle House by London-based architecture firm,Artefact Studiostands out from an otherwise neutral street with its unique color palette. The home is an addition to a quiet brick house from the 1950s, filled with several ambitions: to incorporate a bathroom, bedroom, and office/music room; extend the living space; and take better advantage of the new garden, redone by Phenomena whose palms and exotic plants set the scene. The architects realized the brief with dramatic design punches, inspired by the clients Caribbean heritage. The new wing adds fun and flair to the home while working with the preexisting homes ethos, midcentury roots, and awkward plot. Triangle House draws immediate intrigue through the facade, where the additions eggshell colored, street-facing exterior lies pressed up against the original minimalistic midcentury brick house. The two facades are connected by a canopy composed of a blue triangle acting as support for red and white beams.Read more about the house on aninteriormag.com. United Kingdom

Seonna Hong, Rest as an Act of Defiance (2024), acrylic, oil pastel, and tape on raw canvas, 51 x 65 inches. Image courtesy of The Jaunt and Hashimoto Contemporary, shared with permissionFind Resources and Support for L.A. Artists Affected by the WildfiresJanuary 13, 2025ColossalColossalA series ofwildfireshave ravaged Los Angeles during the past week, claiming more than 12,000 structures and two dozen lives. Numerous artists and arts workers across the region are devastated by the loss of homes and studioseven entire careers worth of work. As fires continue and Los Angeles residents begin to comprehend the scale of the disaster, support for those affected is urgently needed.Whether youre seeking assistance or would like to learn how you can help, weve compiled a list of resources to get you started. Many of these link to further spreadsheets and donation sites, managed by both organizations and individuals, which receive updates on a regular basis as new opportunities emerge.Relief Funding and GrantsAdolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation Emergency GrantPainters, printmakers, and sculptors who have maintained a practice for a decade or longer may receive a one-time grant of up to $15,000 in assistance in light of a catastrophic event. Typical grants range from $5,000 to $7,000.Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+)$3,000 emergency relief grants are available for individual craft artists using traditional or folk materials and who have public-facing practices, who have recently experienced a disruptive emergency or disaster.Artists Fellowship One-Time Emergency AidNeed-based financial assistance is available to professionalvisual artists and their families or dependents in the event of sickness, natural disaster, bereavement, or unexpected extreme hardship. The fellowship notes that professional artists make their livelihood through sales as reported on a Schedule C with a U.S. Federal tax return and that a demonstrated exhibition history is ideal.Rauschenberg Emergency Medical Grants for ArtistsThese grants provide need-based funding to artists who have experienced unexpected mental health, medical, or dental emergencies. The grant is open to artists in the visual arts, choreography, and a category called film/video/electronic/digital arts. Applicants cannot have earned more than $75,000 average gross income for their last two tax filings, or $150,000 for joint filers.Application closes at 5:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, January 14. Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency GrantUrgent grants are available for visual and performing artists who have sudden and unanticipated opportunities to exhibit or present with insufficient time to seek other sources of funding. Grants range from $500 to $3,000.FundraisersHelp LAs Artists and Art Workers Start Over on GoFundMeOrganized by Ariel Pittman, senior director of Various Small Fires, along with a team of volunteers, this GoFundMe aims to raise $500,000 to support the L.A. arts community.Hashimoto Contemporary Los Angeles Fire Relief FundraiserMore than twenty artists have donated original works and limited edition prints as prizes for the drawing. Each entry will qualify you for a chance to win one work. Entries close at 12:00 a.m. PT on January 15. Winners will be drawn at 12:00 p.m. PT on January 16, during a live event on Hashimoto Contemporarys Instagram Stories. 100 percent of proceeds will be donated to a 501(c)3 assisting with community support. Purchase tickets.Fire Fundraisers ListThis running list compiles active GoFundMe campaigns and other ways to support individuals who have been affected by the fires.Anat Egbi Poster Sale to Support Alex EganEganis one of many who lost his home and studio. The artist was in the final days of completing works for his forthcoming solo show with Anat Egbi, set to open at the end of January. All of the works were burned in the fire. 100% of proceeds from the poster sale support the artist.Further resourcesA running list of resources to help artists impacted by the fires, including mutual aid like art supply donations, storage, donation campaigns, and general relief funding.A list of resources and ways to support artists and art workers in L.A., including mutual aid, regional and federal relief aid, and fundraisers for both individuals and the community.Los Angeles Homeless Services AuthorityGeneral resources to support those affected by the fires, including temporary housing, where to donate, access to food, health and medical, animal evacuation, and more.Next article

The Labour governments 50-step artificial intelligence (AI) plan sets out a series of measures to develop the UK as a powerhouse for artificial intelligence.Some of these steps, such as building sovereign AI capabilities, involve vast supercomputer investments. Although this work has already begun, with new facilities such as Bristols Isambard-AI and the Dawn supercomputer in Cambridge, the government wants to increase high-performance computing (HPC) capacity 20-fold by 2030.Data from Tussells public sector AI procurement tracker shows that while the headline figures for investment in HPC capacity to support AI look promising, the total invested is skewed by one immense contract.Tussell calculated that 2.4bn worth of AI contracts were awarded in the UK public sector between 2018 and 2024. However, it seems this figure is not as big as the hype surrounding generative AI (GenAI) would suggest, with Tussell reporting that nearly half of that total stems from a single contract between the Met Office and Microsoft in 2021, worth 1bn.It also reported that 2.4bn represents roughly 2.5% of the total value of all IT services and software contracts awarded by the public sector between January 2018 and October 2024. According to Tussell, this shows that while there is a lot of excitement around AI, it has not filtered into public procurement in a meaningful way.Beyond the computing capabilities required to power machine learning and AI inference workloads, Jacob Beswick, director of AI governance at Dataiku, believes there is some confusion over data ownership and an inability to share data in a meaningful way across the public sector.In his experience having previously been UK government assistant director for AI adoption and regulation, and before that, assistant director for industrial strategy at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy it is almost impossible to find out who in the public sector actually uses AI.There are also questions as to what data exists, who has ownership of that data and who can access it, according to Beswick, along with power dynamics between central departments pushing an AI agenda and departmental autonomy.He said there are data silos between departments and within departments, such as between different hospitals and NHS trusts, which hampers attempts not just to create effective AI models, but to create a generally digital, data-driven service.Looking at the governments five-year plan to build out computing and AI capabilities, Amanda Brock, CEO of Open UK, said: Making the UK a global IT superpower is more than about AI and infrastructure. There are longstanding challenges around talent, funding and education that would need to be addressed to reverse that trend.I doubt these initiatives will make the UK irresistible to AI firms. Does the government think it has the right level of skills and experience to do this itself?Similarly, Ivana Bartoletti, founder of think tank Women Leading in AI and global chief privacy and AI governance officer at Wipro, believes there should be more focus on AI skills.There needs to be an emphasis on AI skills, extending beyond technical expertise to wider literacy and management skills, she said. Equipping business leaders to understand how AI can concretely solve their problems and enhance productivity, by leveraging employee insights, will be essential for widespread adoption.Bartoletti believes businesses need to move away from fearing AI and take more of an AI partnership mindset.One of the steps in the governments AI opportunities action plan is to identify AI growth zones, which it said would consider regional growth opportunities. The governments goal is to take into account local growth plans and align with its industrial strategy for the digital and technology sector.The location of AI growth zones must also be considered in relation to the energy requirements of the computing facilities these sites will require.Shweta Singh, assistant professor of information systems and management at the University of Warwick, pointed out that AI appears to be heavily focused on London and the south-east, despite the governments ambitions to build out AI growth zones.While growth zones aim to spread benefits, historically, tech innovation has often been concentrated in specific regions like London or the south-east, leaving others behind, she said.Singh also claimed the UKs AI strengths are weakened by its reliance on foreign AI firms, such as Google-owned DeepMind, which raises concerns about domestic innovation and intellectual property retention.While the general consensus from industry commentators is largely positive, the big challenge facing the government when it comes to utilising AI more effectively in the public sector is funding.Its tough to see where funding for new technology would come from, particularly as the chancellor reiterates that departmental budgets are already tight, said Dataikus Beswick.Implementing a robust digital and AI strategy requires proper levels of funding. As Beswick noted, if they are not centrally funded, funding for public sector AI initiatives will have to come from individual departmental budgets.Thats a tough sell for ministers already faced with making large amounts of savings, he added.Read more about UK AIUK Defence Committee urges MoD to embrace AI: Defence Committee outlines changes it thinks the Ministry of Defence should make to realise the battlefield advantages of artificial intelligence.UK government looks to rewrite copyright rules for AI training: Labour has begun a consultation looking at how creators of original content can be compensated for AI training that uses their work.

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Samsung's Galaxy S23 is part of the new Galaxy Compensation Scheme. Photographer: Angel ... [+] Garcia/Bloomberg 2023 Bloomberg Finance LPAfter 12 months of staggeringly high trade-in prices for old phones, Samsung is doubling down on its trade-in pricing with a new money-back scheme for Galaxy devices.The Korean company announced today that it will launch a new trade-in program that doesnt require the purchase of a new handset. The Galaxy Easy Compensation scheme will pay Korean Galaxy phone owners money for their old device, with values fluctuating depending on the condition. Crucially, no purchase of a new phone is needed.Samsung says that it will grade used phones on three scales; excellent, good, and recycle, with payouts adjusted depending on which category the used phone falls into. The company hasnt released pricing for phones yet, but the list of accepted devices might give us some insight.Galaxy S23Galaxy S22Galaxy S21Galaxy S20Galaxy Galaxy Z Fold5Galaxy Fold4Galaxy Fold3Galaxy Z Flip5Galaxy Flip4Galaxy Flip3These are all newer phones that were released in the last five years and, crucially, theyre all still within their update window. They all receive some combination of security patches and operating system updates. The scheme, which launches on January 14th, is only available in Korea for now, with expansion to other countries planned for the future.MORE FOR YOUIn recent sales, Samsung has valued some of these phones highly when trading in for a new device. For example, the company was offering $800 for the Galaxy S22 Ultra when buying the Z Fold 6. It will be interesting to see what the Korean company will pay for these devices when a new phone isnt being bought.It seems that Samsung is planning to resell these devices, with the announcement explicitly stating that the company plans to purchase used smartphones that customers do not use and use them for future resale. Presumably, this means the recovered handsets will be refurbished.Samsung Wants To Ditch Android's ReputationI dont know how much value there is in a five-year-old Galaxy S20, but I can see newer handsets still fetching a decent price. Especially with Samsungs new seven-year guarantee of software support. This also explains why Samsung extended software support last year to at least four years of updates for devices released after 2019.Samsung is clear, it wants its Galaxy phones to be as valuable as iPhones, regardless of how old the device is. Samsung Electronics plans to preserve the market value of Galaxy smartphones, the press release explains. That is a tall order for any Android phone.With that said, the Korean company may be inching closer to rehabilitating the image of Android handsets in the public consciousness. Recent data from Sell Cell revealed that Samsung phones are depreciating at a slower rate with every release. For example, the Galaxy S22 series lost on average 66.7% of its value in the 12 months after launch. However, the Galaxy S23 only lost 61% in the same time frame, which is a 5.6% improvement.A dedicated trade-in portal, which officially states what a phone is worth from Samsungs position, adds some security to buyers who typically see the price of their expensive phones crater as new handsets are launched. But that security depends on what Samsung is willing to pay for said devices. We will have to see if Samsung maintains that high pricing for old phones when a new device isnt bought.

Something to look forward to: Apple is reportedly gearing up to launch several new products this year, beginning with updated 13-inch and 15-inch iPad Air models, as well as the entry-level iPad 11. Additional devices expected to debut include a revamped iPhone SE, the next-generation Mac Pro, and an all-new HomePod. In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman revealed that the new 13-inch and 15-inch iPad Air models will be powered by the M4 chip, the same processor found in the MacBook Pro and iMac launched last year. Another upcoming iPad, the iPad 11, is expected to launch around the same time. While it is unlikely to feature major design changes compared to the iPad 10, it will come equipped with the A17 Pro SoC and 8GB of RAM.Apple is also planning to roll out several AI features to its current-generation iPads. According to Gurman, Apple Intelligence will be available on all eligible iPad models following the release of the iPad 11. These features will require at least an M1 chip or the A17 Pro, meaning only the latest iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad mini will qualify for the update.The 13-inch and 15-inch models of the M4 MacBook Air are also expected to launch this year. Reports suggest that they are already in production, codenamed J713 and J715, respectively, indicating a possible release in the first half of the year. Following the launch of the M4 MacBook Air, Apple will reportedly shift its focus to the M5 MacBook Pro, although no details about the new model are available yet.The next-generation iPhone SE is also slated to debut this year, featuring an updated design, a faster processor, and integration with Apple Intelligence features. Additionally, the company is expected to refresh the Mac Studio with new hardware sometime in 2025. Another product in development is an entry-level iPad Magic Keyboard, aimed at improving productivity for iPad users.Apple's ambitions for the smart home market in 2025 are also coming into focus. The company is reportedly working on a new smart home hub equipped with a 7-inch display. The device will integrate Siri and Apple Intelligence features to assist with household tasks and facilitate video calls. Initially planned for a March release, the product may take longer to reach the market. // Related Stories

In response to new export restrictions placed on AI GPUs, Nvidia posted a scathing blog criticizing the outgoing Biden-Harris administration. The administrations Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Diffusion largely targets China with restrictions on AI GPUs, according to Newsweek.Nvidia disagrees. While cloaked in the guise of an anti-China measure, these rules would do nothing to enhance U.S. security. The new rules would control technology worldwide, including technology that is already widely available in mainstream gaming PCs and consumer hardware. Rather than mitigate any threat, the new Biden rules would only weaken Americas global competitiveness, undermining the innovation that has kept the U.S. ahead, wrote Nvidias vice president of government of affairs Ned Finkle.Recommended VideosNvidias comment on hardware that is available in mainstream gaming PCs is interesting. Nvidia makes some of the best graphics cards you can buy, but the new restrictions are largely focused on AI. In particular, large-scale AI chip orders. According to the rule, restrictions kick in on chip orders with collective computation power up to roughly 1,700 advanced GPUs, noting that the overwhelming majority of orders are under that mark and, therefore, not subject to restrictions.Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming Focus Taiwan reports that 18 of the U.S. key allies arent subject to any restrictions, either. These tier-one countries include Taiwan, Germany, Canada, Japan, Norway, and the United Kingdom, among others. Tier-three countries see the heaviest restrictions, including countries like China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia.As an interim rule, the restrictions arent enforceable for 120 days, and they wont fully go into effect for a year. Nvidia says that it looks forward to a return to policies that strengthen American leadership with the upcoming Trump administration. As the first Trump Administration demonstrated, America wins through innovation, competition, and by sharing our technologies with the world not by retreating behind a wall of government overreach, the blog post reads.In addition to AI chip restrictions, the new rule also places restrictions on closed-weight models. These are AI models that have some proprietary weights and include models like GPT-4 thats behind the wildly popular ChatGPT. The Biden administration says that the new rules wont place any restrictions on open-weight models.With mere days left in the Biden-Harris administration and a generous 120-day window for public comment on the new rules, its hard to imagine that these AI restrictions will remain in place. Nvidia certainly doesnt want them to, saying that global progress is now in jeopardy while praising the first Trump administration for laying the foundation for Americas current strength and success in AI.Editors Recommendations

Lawyers representing the class action said that Apple excluded potential rivals from competing for customers on devices running its iOS operating system by forcing developers to sell their apps exclusively through its own App Store and charging commissions of 30% for purchases.

chips and dip Biden administration puts quotas on global AI chip sales While close US allies get unrestricted AI chip access, the rest of the world has numerical limits. Benj Edwards Jan 13, 2025 11:18 am | 1 Credit: SEAN GLADWELL via Getty Images Credit: SEAN GLADWELL via Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreOn Monday, the US government announced a new round of regulations on global AI chip exports, dividing the world into roughly three tiers of access. The rules create quotas for about 120 countries and allow unrestricted access for 18 close US allies while maintaining existing bans on China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.AI-accelerating GPU chips, like those manufactured by Nvidia, currently serve as the backbone for a wide variety of AI model deployments, such as chatbots like ChatGPT, AI video generators, self-driving cars, weapons targeting systems, and much more. The Biden administration fears that those chips could be used to undermine US national security.According to the White House, "in the wrong hands, powerful AI systems have the potential to exacerbate significant national security risks, including by enabling the development of weapons of mass destruction, supporting powerful offensive cyber operations, and aiding human rights abuses."The new rules build on previous chip controls from September 2022 and October 2023. The regulations will take effect in 120 days, extending into the incoming Trump administration.A game of numbersThe new regulations set specific numerical limits on AI chip exports. While first-tier countries (the 18 key US allies) face no restrictions, countries in the second tier can receive up to 50,000 so-called "advanced computing chips," with the possibility to double that cap to 100,000 if they sign technology security agreements with the US.For most buyers, orders up to 1,700 advanced chips will not require licenses or count against these national capsa policy designed to speed up purchases by universities, medical institutions, and research organizations.The Commerce Department also announced two new verification systems for trusted buyers. Companies based in allied nations can apply for "Universal Verified End User" (UVEU) status, allowing them to deploy up to 7 percent of their global AI computing capacity in individual countries. Companies outside restricted nations can seek "National Verified End User" status to purchase computing power equivalent to 320,000 advanced GPUs over two years.According to Reuters, Cloud service providers received special consideration under the rules. Companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon can apply for global authorizations to build data centers, bypassing country quotas after meeting security and human rights requirements. However, US-headquartered providers must maintain at least 50 percent of their AI computing power inside the US, with no more than 25 percent outside tier-one countries.The rules also introduce controls on AI model weightsthe neural network files that determine how AI models work. The regulations restrict transfers of these weights for "closed-weight" models to non-trusted actors while allowing unrestricted sharing of open-weight model information.Nvidia respondsNvidia wasted no time reacting to the news on Monday, calling the regulations "sweeping overreach" that restricts technology found in common gaming PCs. Others in the tech industry are not pleased with the regulations, either. Last week, Oracle warned that chip export restrictions could push the global AI and GPU market toward Chinese competitors.Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo disagrees with that position, according to Reuters, and connected the new chip export rules to maintaining US technological leadership. "The US leads AI nowboth AI development and AI chip design, and it's critical that we keep it that way," she said.Benj EdwardsSenior AI ReporterBenj EdwardsSenior AI Reporter Benj Edwards is Ars Technica's Senior AI Reporter and founder of the site's dedicated AI beat in 2022. He's also a tech historian with almost two decades of experience. In his free time, he writes and records music, collects vintage computers, and enjoys nature. He lives in Raleigh, NC. 1 Comments