In a likely attempt to satisfy current shareholders and deal with increased content production and licensing costs, Netflix is increasing pricing for most of its plans, worldwide.Netflix is increasing prices for subscriptions in 2025.Users can expect to pay even more for their Netflix subscriptions in 2025, as Netflix has raised prices across the board. Virtually every Netflix plan, from the low-cost ad-supported subscription option to the premium plan, will see a substantial increase in pricing. The change applies to multiple countries, as well, directly impacting a large number of consumers.The company's cheapest ad-supported plan will increase to $7.99 per month, up from the previous $6.99. The standard ad-free plan, meanwhile, will go from a monthly price of $15.49 to $17.99. The price of the premium tier will be a whole $2 higher $24.99, instead of the usual $22.99. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Amazon is ramping up its deals on Apple this week, with fresh price drops on AirPods, AirTags, MacBooks and more. We've rounded up the best offers to save you money in 2025.Save up to $300 on Apple devices at Amazon - Image credit: Apple, Amazon.A single AirTag is down to $22.99 at Amazon this Tuesday, along with a steep discount on an upgraded 14-inch MacBook Pro with 1TB of storage and the 14C CPU/20C GPU M4 Pro chip.We're following the deals (and dozens more) in our Apple Price Guide, with top offers from the sale handpicked by our team and broken down by category below. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

January 22: Little New Year in northern China (2025); Day of Unity of UkraineCetshwayo565 Eutychius of Constantinople was arrested after he refused Byzantine emperor JustinianI's order to adopt the tenets of the Aphthartodocetae, a sect of non-Chalcedonian Christians.1273 MuhammadII became Sultan of Granada after his father's death in a riding accident.1879 Anglo-Zulu War: The Zulu forces of King Cetshwayo (pictured) achieved a decisive victory at the Battle of Isandlwana.1973 The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Roe v. Wade struck down laws restricting abortion during the first two trimesters of pregnancy.2006 Evo Morales was inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country's first indigenous president.2012 Croatia held a referendum in which it voted to become a member of the European Union.Christian Ramsay (d.1839)Vito Cascio Ferro (b.1862)S.Vithiananthan (d.1989)Ursula K. Le Guin (d.2018)More anniversaries: January 21January 22January 23ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii recorded the highest annual jump in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels since its records began in 1958. Alexandros Maragos via Getty ImagesEarth has broken another greenhouse gas emissions record: The levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere above Hawaii made an unprecedent jump in 2024, according to a new analysis by the Met Office, the United Kingdoms national climate and weather service.Between 2023 and 2024, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose by 3.58 parts per million (ppm), to reach a total of 427 ppmthe largest increase between calendar years, as measured by Hawaiis Mauna Loa Observatory, since records began 67 years ago.Scientists say that a safe concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide is 350 ppm and that keeping this number below 430 ppm is essential for limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as directed in the Paris Agreement.The new numbers signal that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are not only risingtheyre doing so faster than ever, as the scientists involved in the analysis write in Carbon Brief.Were still going in the wrong direction, says Richard Betts, a climate scientist at the Met Office who worked on the analysis, to New Scientists Michael Le Page.The Mauna Loa Observatory is one of the longest-running carbon dioxide monitors in the world. While its data reveal trends in global atmospheric carbon dioxideover long time periods, the scientists note that its year-to-year measurements can fluctuate as a result of localized phenomena, such as fires. Case in point: Satellites calculated the annual rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide to be 2.9 ppm over the same perioda lower number than Mauna Loa recorded, but still the second largest jump on record, after 2015 to 2016. The Mauna Loa atmospheric baseline observatory in Hawaii Susan Cobb / NOAA ResearchScientists suggest the rise is the result of a year filled with major wildfires, record-breaking fossil fuel emissions and ongoing deforestation. Wildfires alone released billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmospherea study published in October found that carbon emissions from forest fires increased by 60 percent globally between 2001 and 2023. An El Nio event was also in progress for part of the year, bringing warmer and drier weather to an already warming planet.These trends are not compatible with any of the pathways set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit), the team writes in Carbon Brief. In fact, 2024 was the first calendar year warm enough to cross that threshold. Though a single year above that marker does not mean the world breached the Paris Agreement, many top climate scientists predict temperatures will rise to at least 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.The Met Office analysis also forecasts a further rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations for 2025. You could regard [these findings] as another nail in the coffin of 1.5C, says Betts to New Scientist. Thats now vanishingly unlikely.Still, scientists say the work underscores the need to take climate action. Countries have agreed to the 1.5C global warming limit not out of convenience but out of necessity to limit harm and suffering of people, Joeri Rogelj, director of research at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment who was not involved in the analysis, says in a statement. Even if we are on track to surpass 1.5C, these reasons dont change and only make a stronger case for focused action on reducing greenhouse gas pollution.Betts offers some hope to the Guardians Damian Carrington: Even if it looks like we wont meet the ambitious Paris goal of 1.5C, it is still worth making every effort to limit the rise. 1.5C is not a cliff-edge after which all is lost. There are lots of solutions already available without any new inventions. This must be extra motivation to work even harder.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Climate Change, Fossil Fuels, Global Warming, New Research, Weather, Wildfire

Konvoy's latest report shows that funding for gaming-related startups was curiously low in Q4 2024, as were VC deals.Read More

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn MorePerplexity has launched an aggressive bid to capture the enterprise AI search market, unveiling Sonar, an API service that outperforms offerings from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic on key benchmarks while also undercutting their prices.The move signals a significant shift in the AI landscape, as Perplexity now valued at $9 billion directly challenges larger competitors by making its real-time, web-connected search capabilities available to developers and enterprises.The companys dual-tier strategy offering both a lightweight Sonar service and a more robust Sonar Pro version targets different segments of the growing AI integration market.Perplexitys Sonar Pro outperforms major AI competitors in the SimpleQA benchmark, which measures response accuracy. (Credit: Perplexity)Sonars real-time advantage: Bringing fresh data to enterprisesZoom has already integrated Sonar into its AI Companion 2.0 product, allowing users to access real-time information without leaving video conferences a capability that could reshape how businesses conduct remote meetings and research.The pricing structure appears to be designed to disrupt the market. Sonars base tier costs $5 per 1,000 searches plus minimal token fees, while Sonar Pro, despite higher token costs, offers doubled citation density and multi-search capabilities for complex queries.What sets Sonar apart is its real-time web connection, a feature absent in many competing APIs that rely solely on training data. This approach could prove particularly valuable for enterprises requiring current information, although it may face challenges in applications requiring deterministic outputs.Perplexitys two-tier API offering shows the feature differences between Sonar Pro (left) and the base Sonar service (right), with Pro featuring enhanced citation capability and support for complex queries. (Credit: Perplexity)Disruptive pricing: Affordable AI search for the enterprise marketThe launch comes at a pivotal moment in the AI industry, when companies are increasingly seeking ways to integrate AI search capabilities into their products. With recent benchmarks showing Sonar Pro achieving an 85.8 F-score on the SimpleQA benchmark significantly outperforming GPT-4o and Claude Perplexity appears positioned to capitalize on growing enterprise demand for accurate, citation-backed AI responses.The timing of this launch comes as Perplexity demonstrates significant market momentum, having just secured a $500 million funding round led by Institutional Venture Partners, which valued the company at $9 billion. This strategy could prove particularly effective as enterprises increasingly prioritize AI tools that provide verifiable, current information over black-box solutions.For technical decision makers, Sonars launch represents a new option in the AI toolkit, particularly for applications requiring real-time information access and citation tracking. However, the true test will be whether Perplexity can maintain its performance edge and pricing advantage as larger competitors inevitably adjust their strategies.Daily insights on business use cases with VB DailyIf you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI.Read our Privacy PolicyThanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.An error occured.

Bambu Lab, the company behind my favorite 3D printers, has given itself one hell of a week. Now, Ive got answers to some of my burning questions, answers which you might also hopefully appreciate. But first, some backstory.Since last Thursday, some creators have pledged not to buy Bambu printers anymore, even removed some of their 3D models from its online repository, after the company revealed it would add a new proprietary authentication mechanism that could keep you from using third-party tools to remote control your printer. While youd still be able to stick a file on an SD card and physically put it into your printer or use Bambus proprietary cloud, the old way of printing remotely from a third-party slicer would be no more unless you downloaded a new proprietary Windows and Mac Bambu Connect desktop app to be the middleman between your slicer and Bambus hardware.Unauthorized third-party software will be prohibited from executing critical operations BambuWhile Bambu was clear early on that this would be an optional update, one you could simply choose not to install, the company also positioned it as a necessary one to secure printers against remote hacks. Some owners immediately saw that as a potential bridge to enshittification, however.They noted how Bambu printers can already detect if youre using an official roll of filament and imagined a future where Bambu can keep you from using third-party filament at all. They noted how Bambu already seems to be planning a subscription service for its print farm software, one that requires regular cloud activations and imagined a future where your Bambu printer stops working if you dont pay up. Bambu has denied these and many other such fears in a subsequent setting the record straight blog post, and explained that its new tool doesnt require internet access or a user account and has also backpedaled very slightly, pledging to offer an at-your-own-risk Developer Mode that maintains local access to your printer without any new proprietary authentication at all. Unfortunately, that mode may also disable your ability to access your printer via the cloud. Meanwhile, Bambu didnt do itself any favors by keeping people from using the Wayback Machine to scrutinize its changing statements, by allegedly censoring criticism of the company on its subreddit, and by claiming that the developer of Orca Slicer was working with Bambu on a seamless way to continue to print directly from his popular third-party slicer when they had not actually pledged their support. It has also not helped confidence that Bambus own security around its new Bambu Connect app is such that hackers have already extracted its private key and authentication certificate, or that users have discovered that Bambu gives itself the right to block new print jobs until a printer has finished automatically downloading firmware updates in its Terms of Use.Anyhow, I think the real question here is: are these changes a stepping stone to more enshittification, or at least more of a walled garden, or not? Here are the questions I sent Bambu and the answers I got, via spokesperson Nadia Yaakoubi:1) Will Bambu publicly commit to never requiring a subscription in order to control its printers and print from them over a home network?For our current product line, yes. We will never require a subscription to control or print from our printers over a home network. However, there might be specific business scenarios in the future that require exceptions, i.e a 3DP vending machine, but these would apply to entirely different applications and customer needs. If such a product line is introduced, we will clearly communicate this before its launch.1b) If not, why not?N/A.1c) Will Bambu publicly commit to never putting any existing printer functionality behind a subscription?Yes.2) Will Bambu publicly commit to never restricting the use of third-party filament in any way, shape, or form?For our current product line, yes. We have no plans to restrict the use of third-party filament in any way.3) Will Bambu publicly commit to never monitor files and prints transmitted between users and their printers over a home network?Lets be clear about how this works:LAN mode: Nothing is transmitted through our servers.Cloud mode: Users control their privacy through incognito printing. When enabled, no print history is recorded, and files are not stored in the cloud.Cloud features: For features like re-printing, files are temporarily stored in the cloud to allow users to access their print history. Under no circumstances do we look into the print file/model without the explicit consent of our customers.Bambu has additionally agreed to add a new Developer mode. Some users are concerned that this move is just temporary and that Bambu can simply remove the developer mode and claim that it was too much of a security risk or say that not enough users opted to use it to justify keeping it around. 4) Will Bambu publicly commit to permanently keep the Developer mode with local MQTT, livestream and FTP and never remove it in any future update or shipping batch ofthe X1, P1, A1, and A1 Mini?Yes. However, if a severe security issue arises in the future, we may need to make adjustments to address it. Users can always choose whether to update their printer firmware or not.5) Will Bambu publicly commit to offering and keeping the local Developer mode available in any future printers it releases?We cannot commit to features for non-existent future printers.However, we will clearly communicate all relevant details before customers make their purchase decisions.6) Will Bambu publicly commit to its current and future printers permanently being remotely controllable over LAN without user account or Internet access?For current models: Yes. For future products, while we aim to retain this functionality, we believe committing to a specific technical approach indefinitely is not responsible. However, we will clearly communicate all relevant details before customers make their purchase decisions.Bambu has announced that Bambu Connect will integrate with third-party slicers like Orca, but some users are confused why an app like Bambu Connect is required at all when you could instead add more secure authentication to the printer itself, with industry standard practices like having the printer generate a secure token/API key instead of creating a proprietary middleman authentication app.7) Did Bambu consider and reject interoperable ways of securing its printers, like tokens?Yes.7b) Will Bambu commit to changing its authentication system to an interoperable one? If Bambu did reject interoperable secure authentication systems, why?If software communicates and interacts with our cloud system, it is reasonable for us to have a say in how it operates. As highlightedin our blog post, unauthorized third-party software has created ongoing challenges to the stability of our cloud services and machines for a long time. While we trust that most developers act with good intentions, users are often unaware of the hidden complexities within such software and the security requirements. This lack of transparency of all software makes interoperable secure authentication systems insufficient to fully resolve these issues. Our goal is to safeguard the entire Bambu Lab product ecosystem, providing every user with confidence that our products are secure and easy to usefree from concerns about complex network configurations. And with the changes done, we are one step closer to integrate third-party access in a secure way.8) Is it true that the developer of Orca Slicer was not actually working with Bambu on the integration and that Bambu announced their involvement without approval?We have been in ongoing discussions with SoftFever, the developer of Orca Slicer, since January 14 regarding the firmware update and potential integration into the new release. Work with might be ambiguous. To be more specific, messages were exchanged, files were sent, and their receipt was confirmed along with an indication that they would be reviewed.9) Will Panda Touch and similar accessories continue to work under Developer Mode?We guarantee keeping the port/channel open, but implementations are up to third-party developers.9b) Is Bambu answering that companys questions?Since the release, we have received many inquiries from third-party software developers, including BigTreeTech, viadevpartners@bambulab.com. We are currently in the process of finalizing our response. Its worth noting that we warned third party developers in ablog postfrom March 2024:If youre developing a device that controls the entire printer, including heating elements and motion systems, please do not expect long-term support unless it has been approved by us in advance. This is especially applicable to for-profit organizations.10) Will you allow users to roll back to the old firmware, for reasons like if they accidentally upgrade without understanding the limitations?Yes. Firmware rollback was and always will be available.11) Does the private key leaking change any of your plans?No, this doesnt change our plans, and weve taken immediate action.

On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Ross Ulbricht, who ran the dark web marketplace Silk Road under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts. Ulbricht has been serving a life sentence without parole since 2015, when he was convicted of multiple charges, including the distribution of narcotics.The Silk Road marketplace, which was only accessible through the Tor network, became one of the most prevalent early commercial uses of Bitcoin. Buyers and sellers traded in illicit drugs, forged passports, and more. In the intervening years, Ulbricht became a cause celebr for a certain segment of the right-wing, particularly in the crypto crowd that embraced Trump last year. To his supporters, Ulbrichts life sentence is unusually punitive. Similar offenses have garnered much more lenient sentences for instance, Blake Benthall, who operated Silk Road 2.0, was sentenced to time served and three years of probation. Ulbrichts lieutenant, Thomas Clark, also known as Variety Jones, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year. Although the criminal offenses were nonviolent in nature, the judge who sentenced Ulbricht took into account multiple deaths attributable to drugs bought through the Silk Road. Throughout his trial, Ulbricht denied that he had committed the crimes at issue. Because law enforcement had arrested him with his laptop open, they had access to all his files, which included the code of the website, private messages between him and employees of the Silk Road, and a diary whose entries corresponded to OKCupid messages tied to Ross Ulbrichts real identity.

LatestMachine LearningFine-Tuning LLMs with Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) 0 like January 21, 2025Share this postAuthor(s): Ganesh Bajaj Originally published on Towards AI. This member-only story is on us. Upgrade to access all of Medium.Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) allows LLMs to learn directly from the feedback received on its own response generation. . By including human preferences into the training process, RLHF enables the development of LLMs which are more aligned with user needs and values.This article is about the core concepts of RLHF, its implementation steps, challenges, and advanced techniques like Constitutional AI.Image Taken from Deeplearning.ai: Generative AI with LLM courseAgent: LLM acts as the agent whose job is to generate text. Its objective is to maximize alignment of its generation with human preferences like like helpfulness, accuracy, relevance, and non-toxic.Environment: The environment is the LLMs context window the space in which text can be entered via a prompt.State: The state is the current context within the context window which model considers to generate next token/action. It includes the prompt and the text generated up to the current point.Action: The LLMs action is generating a single token (word, sub-word, or character) from its vocabulary.Action Space: The action space comprises the entire vocabulary of the LLM. The LLM chooses the next token to generate from this vocabulary. The size of Read the full blog for free on Medium.Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming asponsor. Published via Towards AITowards AI - Medium Share this post

How AI is Transforming Evaluation Practices 0 like January 21, 2025Share this postAuthor(s): Mirko Peters Originally published on Towards AI. This post explores the transformative effects of advanced data integration and AI technologies in evaluation processes within the public sector, emphasizing the potential, challenges, and future implications of these innovations.This member-only story is on us. Upgrade to access all of Medium.Source: Data & Analytics YouTube ChannelWhen I first stumbled upon the complexities of blending diverse data sources, I felt like I was trying to solve a puzzle where pieces came from entirely different sets. This revelation led me down a fascinating path exploring how todays technology reshapes our understanding of massive, intertwined data landscapes. As I dived deeper, I realized that this wasnt just about managing data; it was about transforming how we evaluate public policies and services in a digitally driven age. This post unpacks the integral role of AI, machine learning, and other tech advancements in honing our evaluation practices.Source: Mirko Peters Challenges in Data Integration [Napkin.AI]When I think about the challenges we face in the realm of data, a vivid image comes to mind: a jigsaw puzzle scattered across a table. Each piece represents a different type of data. Some are traditional databases, while others emerge from social media, online surveys, and various digital sources. The task at hand is clear: we must find a way to fit these pieces together to see the whole picture.The integration of data is not just about quantity; its Read the full blog for free on Medium.Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming asponsor. Published via Towards AITowards AI - Medium Share this post