The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Celebration Dial is a watch that defies expectations, delivering a burst of color and whimsy that feels almost rebellious within Rolexs typically reserved design language. Introduced during Watches & Wonders Geneva in 2023, this limited-run piece caught the attention of collectors and casual enthusiasts alike, myself included. Its a design that drew me in for its sheer audacitya Rolex that isnt afraid to be playful while staying true to the brands hallmark craftsmanship.Designer: RolexA Dial That Redefines Fun in WatchmakingThe dial is where the magic happens. Against a light turquoise background, a medley of colorful circular motifs scatters across the surface like confetti at a celebration. The palette of pink, blue, yellow, red, and green feels joyous, a stark contrast to the monochromatic or subdued tones Rolex is better known for. Each shape appears almost suspended, creating a dynamic visual effect that feels alive. This dial breaks free from the traditional confines of luxury watch design with its creative and vibrant elements.Whats remarkable is how the design manages to balance fun with sophistication. While the colors and shapes seem random at first glance, theres an undeniable sense of order and precision to the arrangement. Its as if every bubble was meticulously placed to ensure harmony, reflecting Rolexs careful craftsmanship. Even the traditional hour markers and hands, with their polished steel finish, feel at home here, grounding the whimsical design in functionality.For me, the Celebration Dial represents a moment of unrestrained creativity in an industry often obsessed with tradition. Its a watch that doesnt take itself too seriously yet never compromises on quality. Its this duality that makes it so irresistible.The Oyster Perpetual Line: A Legacy of Simplicity and InnovationThe Celebration Dial is part of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual collection, a cornerstone of the brands lineup. Introduced in 1931, the Oyster Perpetual line has long been a symbol of Rolexs commitment to innovation and simplicity. As the first waterproof wristwatch equipped with a self-winding mechanism, it set the standard for durability and reliability.Over the decades, the Oyster Perpetual has remained a favorite for its timeless design and versatility. Whether worn in a boardroom or on a beach, its a watch that adapts seamlessly to any setting. The line has always leaned towards understated elegance, which is why the introduction of the Celebration Dial feels so groundbreaking. Its a reminder that even a brand as storied as Rolex isnt afraid to take risks.Available in three sizes31mm, 36mm, and 41mmthe Celebration Dial caters to a wide audience. Each size offers the same vibrant design, ensuring that the watchs charm isnt lost regardless of wrist size. Powered by Rolexs Caliber 3230 and 2232 movements, these watches boast impressive power reserves of 70 and 55 hours, respectively. The technical specs are as solid as youd expect from Rolex, but here they serve as a backdrop to the real star: that unforgettable dial.The Celebration Dial: A Personal ConnectionWhen I first saw the Celebration Dial, I was struck by how un-Rolex it felt, and yet, how perfectly it fit within the brands ethos. This is a watch that challenges the idea of what a Rolex should be, and in doing so, it opens the door to a new kind of collectorsomeone who values individuality as much as heritage.Sadly, the Celebration Dial is now discontinued, a fact that stings every time I think about it. I truly wanted one for my collection, not just for its design but for what it represents. Acquiring one now means venturing into the gray market, where prices have tripled. I had the chance to try this watch when I stumbled upon one at a Rolex boutique in a European airport, but it was only for demonstration and not for sale. The price at the time would have come to the amount of $5,863 tax-free, adding another layer of frustration to its unattainability. Its a sobering reminder of how fleeting such moments of creativity can be in the world of luxury watches.The Broader Appeal of the Oyster PerpetualThe Celebration Dial is just one chapter in the Oyster Perpetuals long and storied history. For many, the Oyster Perpetual represents the entry point into the world of Rolex. Its a model that embodies the brands core values without the added complexities of complications like a date function or chronograph. In this simplicity lies its charm.But simplicity doesnt mean boring. Over the years, Rolex has introduced subtle updates to the Oyster Perpetual, from the bright lacquered dials of 2020 to the vibrant Celebration Dial of 2023. These moments of experimentation breathe new life into the collection, proving that even the most established designs can evolve.The Oystersteel case, known for its durability and resistance to corrosion, ensures that these watches are as practical as they are beautiful. Combined with a water resistance of 100 meters and a robust Oyster bracelet, the Oyster Perpetual is built to withstand the rigors of daily wear. Its this combination of form and function that has cemented its status as a modern classic.A Reflection on Design and CraftsmanshipWhat makes the Celebration Dial so compelling is how it bridges the gap between art and engineering. On one hand, its a playful, almost childlike design that brings joy to anyone who sees it. On the other hand, its a precision instrument crafted to the exact standards for which Rolex is known.This duality is what sets Rolex apart. Few brands can balance innovation and tradition with such finesse. The Celebration Dial is a bold departure, but its also a natural evolution for a brand that has never been afraid to push boundaries. Whether its the introduction of the first waterproof case in 1926 or the colorful dials of the modern era, Rolex has always understood the importance of staying relevant without losing sight of its roots.For me, the Celebration Dial is more than a watch; its a reminder of why I fell in love with watches in the first place. Its about more than timekeeping or status; its about design, creativity, and the stories we tell through the objects we choose to wear. This is a watch that makes you smile every time you look at it, and in a world that often feels too serious, thats no small feat.The Future of Playful Watch DesignThe Celebration Dial may be gone, but its impact will linger. Its a watch that dared to be different, and in doing so, it captured the imagination of collectors around the world. I cant help but wonder whats next for Rolex and whether well see more designs that embrace this sense of fun and energy.In many ways, the Celebration Dial feels like a turning point. Its proof that even the most traditional brands can evolve, and its a reminder that luxury doesnt have to mean serious. Sometimes, it can be as simple as a burst of color on a dial. And while I may never own one, Ill always admire what this watch represents: a celebration of creativity, craftsmanship, and the joy of watchmaking.The post A Burst of Color: The Discontinued Rolex Celebration Dial and Its Playful Artistry first appeared on Yanko Design.

Although its no longer in the business of making consumer products, let alone smartphones, there is little doubt that Nokia was once a giant in the design industry. It flooded the mobile market with dozens of phone designs, some of which have reached both fame and infamy. That was just the tip of the iceberg, however, since like any company with decades of history, it has collected quite a pile of concepts, prototypes, and experiments, many of which never saw the light of day.The newly opened Nokia Design Archive revealed a lot of these old ideas that floated around the Finnish giants halls, some of which might have just been too early for their time. Some of those concepts may have seemed odd or even impractical a decade or two ago but are, oddly enough, todays latest trends. Still, there were plenty of odd concepts and designs coming from Nokias vault, and here are 10 of the strangest ones that never made the cut, for better or worse.Designer: Nokia (via Aalto Universitys Nokia Design Archive)3G Device: Dawn of the Mobile WebRemember a few years back how the tech world was all hyping up 5G and how it broke down the barriers of communication over the Internet? If so, you can probably imagine all the buzz around 3G in the early 2000s, promising the power of the Web under the fingertips. Of course, the old SMS and GPRS phones of those days were hardly capable of taking advantage of this new technology, so it fell on the likes of Nokia to design a brand new world of mobile devices for it.The company made a few concepts that put the use of 3G at the forefront and, curiously, many of these ditched the traditional T9 keypad that was still in wide use back in those days. The elongated and egg-shaped forms of these concepts and prototypes are, of course, alien to our modern design tastes and wouldnt fit most of the Webs uses today. Its still interesting that, even as early as then, Nokia was already playing around with all-screen designs that predated even the iPhone.Human Form Concept: Bend and Twist Like the 80sAs if an all-screen phone wasnt already outrageous back in those days, Nokia also toyed with the idea of a smartphone that wasnt made of metal and glass. Or at least not the ones were used to even today. As if trying to mimic the human bodys ability to contort, this Human Form concept used a flexible display to offer more intuitive ways to use a phone.The devices squid-like shape might already be too narrow for even scrolling through social media comfortably, but the twisting and bending gestures are hardly intuitive. It also requires even more muscle strength to pull off, which would immediately alienate a lot of users. Thankfully, weve moved past that obsession with using purely physical gestures as our brains evolved to consider swiping and pinching to feel almost like second nature.Foldable Messaging Devices: The TXTing GenerationSocial media might be considered the bane of society today, but there was a time when texting was the practice that was frowned upon by grownups. Never mind the almost indecipherable abbreviations and acronyms, the ironically anti-social behavior seemed to isolate teens from their surroundings even as they connect to an even wider network that crosses geographical borders.Of course, these are exactly the kind of people that Nokia was catering to, so its no surprise that it tried to design devices that focused primarily on messaging. Rather than forcing people to type with a limited number of keys, the foldable devices put a full QWERTY keyboard at their disposal. That said, it left very little room for a decent display, so youre practically left with a pager-like reading experience in exchange.Fun Camera: Before Action Cams Were FunIt wasnt until around the 2010s that smartphone cameras actually started to pose a threat to point-and-click shooters. Before then, people would still prefer actual cameras, no matter how inconvenient they were to take out of your purse or bag. It was certainly no fun, which is probably why Nokia tried to design a standalone camera that made it easier to capture moments, even in low-res images.The pear-shaped device had a few quirky details that made it feel like a cross between an action cam and a retro camera. For example, there is a display but its use is for checking the cameras stats. The large hole at the top is actually a viewfinder for eyeballing those shots. The rather colorful designs and whimsical shape of the Fun Camera made it clear that it was targeted at a younger audience, though that activity predated the social video craze that would later take the Internet by storm.Dual-Screen Phone: When Foldables Were Still a Distant DreamWe might now have foldable phones, but there was a time when few could even imagine having more than just one simple, rectangular screen in their pocket. Not Nokia, of course! It already envisioned the need for two screens even before dual-screen laptops and phones would enter mainstream consciousness.That said, this dual-screen concept looked more like something designed for media consumption than a regular phone. Its default landscape orientation made it easy to enjoy content and maybe even tap away on a virtual keyboard. Using it as a phone, however, might be less enjoyable, which is probably why it would have never succeeded in an age when people actually used their mobile phones as phones.Laptop Concepts: Serious WorkNokia might be best known for smartphones and networking equipment, but it certainly didnt limit itself to those categories. It explored almost every industry possible that could benefit from its expertise, particularly those thatinvolved mobile computing. Of course, that meant laptops, and Nokia apparently had a few ideas for those.Yes, it would actually launch its own line of laptops eventually, but those were more on the conventional side of design. Here were seeing laptops with their touchpads above the keyboard, laptops with a second display above the keyboard, and even two-piece laptops. Sounds familiar? There are now laptops available commercially from major PC brands, making you wonder if Nokia would have succeeded in that space too.Hypercard: Digital Wallet Came Too SoonYou can now use your smartphones these days for anything from paying for groceries to hopping on trains, but there was a time when that kind of digital convenience was pretty inconceivable. Even today, some find it difficult to part with a physical representation of their money, even if its just a thin piece of plastic.Once upon a time, Nokia wanted to meet these people halfway with a Hypercard device that seemingly stored all kinds of cards youd normally have in your wallet, from money cards to loyalty cards. It was pretty much the digital equivalent of a cardholder but still distinct from a phone. It could give some people a bit of assurance, even if meant doubling the things they had in their pockets.Aeon: Early Modular Phone DreamsIf theres one ideal smartphone design that has yet to become a reality, its the dream of a truly modular phone. Project Ara, the LG G5, and now the HMD Fusion all have their interpretation of a modular phone, but theirs was definitely not the only one nor the first. Nokia also had its vision, and it was only conceptualized as a wearable device.The Aeon concept device has two unequal parts, both with touchscreens, and both are able to function independently from each other. It would be possible to take the lower part, which could display a T9 keypad or some other touch UI, and put it on a pendant or other wearable accessory. Unsurprisingly, the idea never caught on, and we still dream of that future of ever-expanding phones.Medallion: Questionable Fashion SenseWearables are technically supposed to be more than just smartwatches, but its only now that we seem to break out into more categories like smart rings. Theres definitely a lot more potential in this market segment, but few are taking the risks to jump into them, and probably for good reason. If you dont pull them off properly, youll end up with something thats more tech than wearable anyway.Nokias Medallion concept is one such example. Theyre supposed to be small displays you can wear around your neck like a necklace, or on your wrist like, well, a smartwatch. But beyond the novelty of displaying a favorite character or photo, they dont do much. Even worse is how the concept looks less like fashionable accessories and more like uncomfortable collars. Given Nokias other fashion-oriented phone designs, it probably doesnt come as a surprise.Morph: The Shape-Changing WearableOne of the more recent concepts that made a buzz on the Web is Morph, the pinnacle of wearable tech and flexible mobile devices. It was practically a phone that you could wrap around your wrist as a wide bracelet, but then also unfold into a large tablet. It was hi-tech, fashionable, and practically improbable.Even today, we dont have the technology to implement any of these designs in a satisfying way, as demonstrated by the Huawei tri-fold Mate XT and the bendable Motorola prototype. Perhaps in a decade well look back at this particular design and chuckle at how old-fashioned the idea was, and its definitely one of Nokias most ambitious and oddest concepts of late. Sadly, we will never see its fruition, at least under the Nokia brand, now that it, too, is just a part of history.The post The Strangest Nokia Designs: Top 10 Concepts That Never Launched first appeared on Yanko Design.

I've calculated that my S25 Ultra upgrade will cost only 450, but I'm still on the fence about it

The company that kicked off the AI chatbot craze now wants AI to do more than just talk.

MacworldWe love the Apple Watch Ultra 2, so we were rather happy to see it on sale for $739 at Amazon. Thats a $60 discount for one of the best-featured smartwatches around.At $739, this isnt the best price weve seen for the Ultra 2, but then again, its only $20 away. Unless you want to wait a few months to get it at its all-time low of $719, nows a good time to add it to your cart.In our review of the Apple Watch Ultra 2, we gave it a four-star rating, appreciating the bright screen and the slick operating system, as well as how great it is for tracking sports and random workouts. Ultimately, the Watch Ultra 2 is the best smartwatch Apple has made yet, we wrote. The rugged build will survive any of your outdoorsy activities, even withstanding long swimming sessions and dives. The watch will keep track of your location, help you get to your destination, and tell you how your workout went, whether youre at the gym, cycling, or hiking.It also comes with advanced sensors that can detect irregular heart rhythms, know when you take a fall, and more. Thankfully, the battery life on this model is vastly better than on the first model, which is obviously something youll need when youre off the grid.So go ahead and order your very own Apple Watch Ultra 2 for $739 while you still can.Go on adventures with the Ultra 2Buy now at Amazon

MacworldAnyone who follows Apple and its business decisions knows that the company is in a constant growth mindset. Apple has taken that mindset further with its new Miami Worldcenter store, which features a huge garden surrounding the store with plants and flora inspired by the multicultural Latin American influence of Miami. And to top off (literally) the stores biophilic design, the roof also doubles as a garden.The Miami Worldcenter store is built using regionally sourced timber and other low-carbon materials. The store uses 100 percent renewable energy and is carbon neutral. Mother Nature would approve. The video below shows an aerial view of the store grounds and its roof garden.Even though retailers are shutting down stores left and right, Apple is opening its 10th store in the Miami area, and the company is going big with this store. It features a dedicated space for Apple Vision Pro demos; the first ever Apple Pickup station in an Apple Store where customers can pick up orders made online; and Today at Apple and Made for Business events. The store opens on Friday, but if youre not in the Miamo area, check out these photos.Interior shot of Apple Store Miami Worldcenter.AppleThe Apple Store Miami Worldcenterr features the first Apple Pickup station, where customers can pick up online orders.AppleThe Apple Vision Pro demo room at Apple Store Miami Worldcenter.AppleToday at Apple and Made for Business session will be held at the new store.Apple

Apple and Google now face regulatory probes in the ailing UK market, where the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) hasconfirmedit intends to investigate both companys mobile ecosystems under new digital market laws. This is separate from anongoing UK probeinto mobile browsers and cloud gaming that also affects the two companies.The CMA intends to look into the operating systems, app stores, and web browsers of Apple and Google to see whether they should be given Strategic Market Status. If they meet that grade, they will be subject to rules dictated by the CMA. Those dictates could extend further even than European demands have gone under the Digital Markets Act, withhuge fines for any non-compliance.For example, the UK regulator might be able to force Apple and Google to open up access to key functionality for use by app developers or force Apple to open up app distribution to third-party services on its platforms.What will the investigation explore?The CMA plans to look at:The extent of competition between and within mobile ecosystems and what barriers prevent rivals from offering products and services on Apples and Googles platforms.Possible leveraging of Apples and Googles market power to favor their own apps and services.Potential exploitative conduct, such as forcing unfair terms and conditions on developers.The concern is that Apple and Google together dominate the mobile industry, which means they exert considerable influence over much of the content, services and technological development provided on a mobile device, the CMA said.Thats true, of course, as the big US tech success stories build the operating systems developers use to provide apps and services on the platforms. Given the extensive quantity of personal data gathered by mobile devices, the privacy argument both companies will use in their defense is a viable one.What the CMA wantsNewly appointed CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said: The operating systems, apps and browsers installed on our phones and tablet devices act as our gateway into the digital world, whether that is communicating with our friends and loved ones, buying from businesses or accessing creative content. More competitive mobile ecosystems could foster new innovations and new opportunities across a range of services that millions of people use, be they app stores, browsers or operating systems.In the fantasy economics at play here, the CMA argues that better competition could boost growth in the UK, enabling UK businesses to offer new and innovative types of product and services on Apples and Googles platforms and introduce innovative new products and services.Saying the quiet part out loud, the regulator suggests these amazing innovations could include AI products and services and new types of super apps accessed through a mobile browser. The latter is likely music to the ears of Elon Musk, who has long dreamed of turning X into such a service. It must also be noted thatAI is certainly part of the intention here; this likely ends with a full-front battle regarding user data privacy.What Apple saidApple, of course, doesnt agree that the ecosystem it created from scratch, armed with nothing but a handful of iMacs and a Unix-based operating system is anti-competitive. Apple believes in thriving and dynamic markets where innovation can flourish, the company said.Not for the first time, Apple also argued (correctly) that it faces,competition in every segment and jurisdiction where we operate, and our focus is always the trust of our users.It took pains to note that its platform-based ecosystem delivers big benefits to the UKs anemic economy. In the UK alone, the iOS app economy supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and makes it possible for developers big and small to reach users on a trusted platform, the company said.Apple CEO Tim Cook made similar arguments when he visited the UK to meet King Charles and speak to the incumbent Prime Minister. The implication, of course, is that regulations that damage the trust between consumers and the brand will threaten existing digital business and further harm consumers and the UK economy. Some might see this as a warning against deep state interference in something as complex as OS development.Perhaps dialog will help?We will continue to engage constructively with the CMA as their work on this matter progresses, the Apple statement said. Well see how it goes.What happens next?The CMA now intends to speak with a range of stakeholders, including device manufacturers, software developers and user groups. It also intends to gather evidence from Apple and Google before reaching a decision by the end of October 2025. Anyone with an interest in these investigations is invited to comment until Wednesday 12 February, the CMA said. If thats you, you canprovide your own insights to the UK regulator via this website.With investigations extendingacross its businessin almost every key market, Apple will certainly hope forsupport from the home nation it has delivered so much economic benefit to, as the alternative will be fundamental changes in its business. The latter, I feel, has become inevitable at this point, and Id argue that the company should switch to establish new business models that it can control before it is forced to adapt to business structures over which it has none.Its noteworthy that newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump s already pushing back on European efforts to regulate US tech firms. These are American companies whether you like it or not, Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. They shouldnt be doing that. Thats, as far as Im concerned, a form of taxation. We have some very big complaints with the EU.I expect the UK should anticipate slaps with the same stick.You can follow me on social media! Join me onBlueSky, LinkedIn,Mastodon, andMeWe.

A lawsuit in California accuses Linkedin of using private messages on its platform to train AI models, according to the BBC.The lawsuit alleges that in August 2024, the Microsoft-owned social network allegedly introduced a new privacy setting that automatically enrolled users in a program that allowed their personal data to be used for AI training.Linkedin also reportedly tried to cover it up a month later. In a comment to the BBC, a spokesperson for Linkedin called the accusations false and unfounded.According to Linkedin, the company has not enabled the sharing of user data for AI learning in the UK, the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

MIT Technology Reviews Whats Next series looks across industries, trends, and technologies to give you a first look at the future. You can read the rest of themhere.Jan Liphardt teaches bioengineering at Stanford, but to many strangers in Los Altos, California, he is a peculiar man they see walking a four-legged robotic dog down the street.Liphardt has been experimenting with building and modifying robots for years, and when he brings his dog out in public, he generally gets one of three reactions. Young children want to have one, their parents are creeped out, and baby boomers try to ignore it. Theyll quickly walk by, he says, like, What kind of dumb new stuff is going on here?In the many conversations Ive had about robots, Ive also found that most people tend to fall into these three camps, though I dont see such a neat age division. Some are upbeat and vocally hopeful that a future is just around the corner in which machines can expertly handle much of what is currently done by humans, from cooking to surgery. Others are scared: of job losses, injuries, and whatever problems may come up as we try to live side by side.The final camp, which I think is the largest, is just unimpressed. Weve been sold lots of promises that robots will transform society ever since the first robotic arm was installed on an assembly line at a General Motors plant in New Jersey in 1961. Few of those promises have panned out so far.But this year, theres reason to think that even those staunchly in the bored camp will be intrigued by whats happening in the robot races. Heres a glimpse at what to keep an eye on.Humanoids are put to the testThe race to build humanoid robots is motivated by the idea that the world is set up for the human form, and that automating that form could mean a seismic shift for robotics. It is led by some particularly outspoken and optimistic entrepreneurs, including Brett Adcock, the founder of Figure AI, a company making such robots thats valued at more than $2.6 billion (its begun testing its robots with BMW). Adcock recently told Time, Eventually, physical labor will be optional. Elon Musk, whose company Tesla is building a version called Optimus, has said humanoid robots will create a future where there is no poverty. A robotics company called Eliza Wakes Up, with ties to the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, is taking preorders for a $420,000 humanoid called, yes, Eliza.In June 2024, Agility Robotics sent a fleet of its Digit humanoid robots to GXO Logistics, which moves products for companies ranging from Nike to Nestl. The humanoids can handle most tasks that involve picking things up and moving them somewhere else, like unloading pallets or putting boxes on a conveyor.There have been hiccups: Highly polished concrete floors can cause robots to slip at first, and buildings need good Wi-Fi coverage for the robots to keep functioning. But charging is a bigger issue. Agilitys current version of Digit, with a 39-pound battery, can run for two to four hours before it needs to charge for one hour, so swapping out the robots for fresh ones is a common task on each shift. If there are a small number of charging docks installed, the robots can theoretically charge by shuffling among the docks themselves overnight when some facilities arent running, but moving around on their own can set off a buildings security system. Its a problem, says CTO Melonee Wise.Wise is cautious about whether humanoids will be widely adopted in workplaces. Ive always been a pessimist, she says. Thats because getting robots to work well in a lab is one thing, but integrating them into a bustling warehouse full of people and forklifts moving goods on tight deadlines is another task entirely.If 2024 was the year of unsettling humanoid product launch videos, this year we will see those humanoids put to the test, and well find out whether theyll be as productive for paying customers as promised. Now that Agilitys robots have been deployed in fast-paced customer facilities, its clear that small problems can really add up.Then there are issues with how robots and humans share spaces. In the GXO facility the two work in completely separate areas, Wise says, but there are cases where, for example, a human worker might accidentally leave something obstructing a charging station. That means Agilitys robots cant return to the dock to charge, so they need to alert a human employee to move the obstruction out of the way, slowing operations down.Its often said that robots dont call out sick or need health care. But this year, as fleets of humanoids arrive on the job, well begin to find out the limitations they do have.Learning from imaginationThe way we teach robots how to do things is changing rapidly. It used to be necessary to break their tasks down into steps with specifically coded instructions, but now, thanks to AI, those instructions can be gleaned from observation. Just as ChatGPT was taught to write through exposure to trillions of sentences rather than by explicitly learning the rules of grammar, robots are learning through videos and demonstrations.That poses a big question: Where do you get all these videos and demonstrations for robots to learn from?Nvidia, the worlds most valuable company, has long aimed to meet that need with simulated worlds, drawing on its roots in the video-game industry. It creates worlds in which roboticists can expose digital replicas of their robots to new environments to learn. A self-driving car can drive millions of virtual miles, or a factory robot can learn how to navigate in different lighting conditions.In December, the company went a step further, releasing what its calling a world foundation model. Called Cosmos, the model has learned from 20 million hours of videothe equivalent of watching YouTube nonstop since Rome was at war with Carthagethat can be used to generate synthetic training data.Heres an example of how this model could help in practice. Imagine you run a robotics company that wants to build a humanoid that cleans up hospitals. You can start building this robots brain with a model from Nvidia, which will give it a basic understanding of physics and how the world works, but then you need to help it figure out the specifics of how hospitals work. You could go out and take videos and images of the insides of hospitals, or pay people to wear sensors and cameras while they go about their work there.But those are expensive to create and time consuming, so you can only do a limited number of them, says Rev Lebaredian, vice president of simulation technologies at Nvidia. Cosmos can instead take a handful of those examples and create a three-dimensional simulation of a hospital. It will then start making changesdifferent floor colors, different sizes of hospital bedsand create slightly different environments. Youll multiply that data that you captured in the real world millions of times, Lebaredian says. In the process, the model will be fine-tuned to work well in that specific hospital setting.Its sort of like learning both from your experiences in the real world and from your own imagination (stipulating that your imagination is still bound by the rules of physics).Teaching robots through AI and simulations isnt new, but its going to become much cheaper and more powerful in the years to come.A smarter brain gets a smarter bodyPlenty of progress in robotics has to do with improving the way a robot senses and plans what to doits brain, in other words. Those advancements can often happen faster than those that improve a robots body, which determine how well a robot can move through the physical world, especially in environments that are more chaotic and unpredictable than controlled assembly lines.The military has always been keen on changing that and expanding the boundaries of whats physically possible. The US Navy has been testing machines from a company called Gecko Robotics that can navigate up vertical walls (using magnets) to do things like infrastructure inspections, checking for cracks, flaws, and bad welding on aircraft carriers.There are also investments being made for the battlefield. While nimble and affordable drones have reshaped rural battlefields in Ukraine, new efforts are underway to bring those drone capabilities indoors. The defense manufacturer Xtend received an $8.8 million contract from the Pentagon in December 2024 for its drones, which can navigate in confined indoor spaces and urban environments. These so-called loitering munitions are one-way attack drones carrying explosives that detonate on impact.These systems are designed to overcome challenges like confined spaces, unpredictable layouts, and GPS-denied zones, says Rubi Liani, cofounder and CTO at Xtend. Deliveries to the Pentagon should begin in the first few months of this year.Another initiativesparked in part by the Replicator project, the Pentagons plan to spend more than $1 billion on small unmanned vehiclesaims to develop more autonomously controlled submarines and surface vehicles. This is particularly of interest as the Department of Defense focuses increasingly on the possibility of a future conflict in the Pacific between China and Taiwan. In such a conflict, the drones that have dominated the war in Ukraine would serve little use because battles would be waged almost entirely at sea, where small aerial drones would be limited by their range. Instead, undersea drones would play a larger role.All these changes, taken together, point toward a future where robots are more flexible in how they learn, where they work, and how they move.Jan Liphardt from Stanford thinks the next frontier of this transformation will hinge on the ability to instruct robots through speech. Large language models ability to understand and generate text has already made them a sort of translator between Liphardt and his robot.We can take one of our quadrupeds and we can tell it, Hey, youre a dog, and the thing wants to sniff you and tries to bark, he says. Then we do one word changeYoure a cat. Then the thing meows and, you know, runs away from dogs. And we havent changed a single line of code.

After weeks of buzz, OpenAI has released Operator, its first AI agent. Operator is a web app that can carry out simple online tasks in a browser, such as booking concert tickets or filling an online grocery order. The app is powered by a new model called Computer-Using AgentCUA (coo-ah), for shortbuilt on top of OpenAIs multimodal large language model GPT-4o.Operator is available today at operator.chatgpt.com to people in the US signed up with ChatGPT Pro, OpenAIs premium $200-a-month service. The company says it plans to roll the tool out to other users in the future.OpenAI claims that Operator outperforms similar rival tools, including Anthropics Computer Use (a version of Claude 3.5 Sonnet that can carry out simple tasks on a computer) and Google DeepMinds Mariner (a web-browsing agent built on top of Gemini 2.0).The fact that three of the worlds top AI firms have converged on the same vision of what agent-based models could be makes one thing clear. The battle for AI supremacy has a new frontierand its our computer screens.Moving from generating text and images to doing things is the right direction, says Ali Farhadi, CEO of the Allen Institute for AI (AI2). It unlocks business, solves new problems.Farhadi thinks that doing things on a computer screen is a natural first step for agents: It is constrained enough that the current state of the technology can actually work, he says. At the same time, its impactful enough that people might use it. (AI2 is working on its own computer-using agent, says Farhadi.)Dont believe the hypeOpenAIs announcement also confirms one of two rumors that circled the internet this week. One predicted that OpenAI was about to reveal an agent-based app, after details about Operator were leaked on social media ahead of its release. The other predicted that OpenAI was about to reveal a new superintelligenceand that officials for newly inaugurated President Trump would be briefed on it.Could the two rumors be linked? OpenAI superfans wanted to know.Nope. OpenAI gave MIT Technology Review a preview of Operator in action yesterday. The tool is an exciting glimpse of large language models potential to do a lot more than answer questions. But Operator is an experimental work in progress. Its still early, it still makes mistakes, says Yash Kumar, a researcher at OpenAI.(As for the wild superintelligence rumors, lets leave that to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to address: twitter hype is out of control again, he posted on January 20. pls chill and cut your expectations 100x!)Like Anthropics Computer Use and Google DeepMinds Mariner, Operator takes screenshots of a computer screen and scans the pixels to figure out what actions it can take. CUA, the model behind it, is trained to interact with the same graphical user interfacesbuttons, text boxes, menusthat people use when they do things online. It scans the screen, takes an action, scans the screen again, takes another action, and so on. That lets the model carry out tasks on most websites that a person can use.Traditionally the way models have used software is through specialized APIs, says Reiichiro Nakano, a scientist at OpenAI. (An API, or application programming interface, is a piece of code that acts as a kind of connector, allowing different bits of software to be hooked up to one another.) That puts a lot of apps and most websites off limits, he says: But if you create a model that can use the same interface that humans use on a daily basis, it opens up a whole new range of software that was previously inaccessible.CUA also breaks tasks down into smaller steps and tries to work through them one by one, backtracking when it gets stuck. OpenAI says CUA was trained with techniques similar to those used for its so-called reasoning models, o1 and o3.Operator can be instructed to search for campsites in Yosemite with good picnic tables.OPENAIOpenAI has tested CUA against a number of industry benchmarks designed to assess the ability of an agent to carry out tasks on a computer. The company claims that its model beats Computer Use and Mariner in all of them.For example, on OSWorld, which tests how well an agent performs tasks such as merging PDF files or manipulating an image, CUA scores 38.1% to Computer Uses 22.0% In comparison, humans score 72.4%. On a benchmark called WebVoyager, which tests how well an agent performs tasks in a browser, CUA scores 87%, Mariner 83.5%, and Computer Use 56%. (Mariner can only carry out tasks in a browser and therefore does not score on OSWorld.)For now, Operator can also only carry out tasks in a browser. OpenAI plans to make CUAs wider abilities available in the future via an API that other developers can use to build their own apps. This is how Anthropic released Computer Use in December.OpenAI says it has tested CUAs safety, using red teams to explore what happens when users ask it to do unacceptable tasks (such as research how to make a bioweapon), when websites contain hidden instructions designed to derail it, and when the model itself breaks down. Weve trained the model to stop and ask the user for information before doing anything with external side effects, says Casey Chu, another researcher on the team.Look! No handsTo use Operator, you simply type instructions into a text box. But instead of calling up the browser on your computer, Operator sends your instructions to a remote browser running on an OpenAI server. OpenAI claims that this makes the system more efficient. Its another key difference between Operator, Computer Use and Mariner (which runs inside Googles Chrome browser on your own computer).Because its running in the cloud, Operator can carry out multiple tasks at once, says Kumar. In the live demo, he asked Operator to use OpenTable to book him a table for two at 6.30 p.m. at a restaurant called Octavia in San Francisco. Straight away, Operator opened up OpenTable and started clicking through options. As you can see, my hands are off the keyboard, he said.OpenAI is collaborating with a number of businesses, including OpenTable, StubHub, Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber. The nature of those collaborations is not exactly clear, but Operator appears to suggest preset websites to use for certain tasks.While the tool navigated dropdowns on OpenTable, Kumar sent Operator off to find four tickets for a Kendrick Lamar show on StubHub. While it did that, he pasted a photo of a handwritten shopping list and asked Operator to add the items to his Instacart.He waited, flicking between Operators tabs. If it needs help or if it needs confirmations, itll come back to you with questions and you can answer it, he said.Kumar says he has been using Operator at home. It helps him stay on top of grocery shopping: I can just quickly click a photo of a list and send it to work, he says.Its also become a sidekick in his personal life. I have a date night every Thursday, says Kumar. So every Thursday morning, he instructs Operator to send him a list of five restaurants that have a table for two that evening. Of course, I could do that, but it takes me 10 minutes, he says. And I often forget to do it. With Operator, I can run the task with one click. Theres no burden of booking.