Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images The co-CEO of Waymo, Tekedra Mawakana, raised eyebrows this week when she suggested that society was ready for one of the company’s self-driving taxis to kill someone. “You know, we don’t say ‘whether,” she said Monday at TechCrunch’s Disrupt summit. “We say ‘when.’ And we plan… Continue reading Beloved Bodega Cat Reportedly Killed by Driverless Waymo
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Immediately After Ditching Its Nonprofit Roots, OpenAI Is Already Preparing to Go Public
Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Yoshikazu Tsuno/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images OpenAI’s extraordinary private valuation of $500 billion simply wasn’t enough. After completing its restructuring into a for-profit corporate entity this week, Reuters reports that OpenAI is already setting plans into motion to become a publicly traded company. The move will almost certainly skyrocket… Continue reading Immediately After Ditching Its Nonprofit Roots, OpenAI Is Already Preparing to Go Public
ICE Is Now Wandering the Streets, Scanning People’s Faces to Check If They’re Citizens
Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images The United States’ anti-immigration regime already boasts an impressive arsenal of surveillance towers, cloud data bases, and automated visa systems. Adding to that panopticon is the personal phone of every Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agent currently prowling… Continue reading ICE Is Now Wandering the Streets, Scanning People’s Faces to Check If They’re Citizens
A New Paper Tested AI’s Ability to Do Actually Online Freelance Work, and the Results Are Damning
Getty / Futurism Your pesky remote freelancers demanding more money as inflation soars? You could try replacing them with AI agents instead — but it probably won’t work out well. New research highlighted by Wired shows how these AI models designed to automate tasks — if not entire jobs — turn out to be incredibly… Continue reading A New Paper Tested AI’s Ability to Do Actually Online Freelance Work, and the Results Are Damning
American Obesity Rates Are Now Falling, and It’s Almost Certainly Because of Ozempic
Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images For decades, the obesity rate among Americans trended inexorably higher, to a peak of 39.9 percent in 2022. But now, new data from Gallup’s National Health and Well-Being Index shows that something extraordinary has happened: that longstanding trend has reversed, with the obesity rate falling back… Continue reading American Obesity Rates Are Now Falling, and It’s Almost Certainly Because of Ozempic
Amazon Accused of Trapping Drivers in AI Panopticon
Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Kevin Carter / Getty Images As work goes, it was a pretty typical shift for Johnny. An Amazon delivery driver, today’s route took his small cargo van through the wooded hills of Big Bear Lake, the rural outskirts of San Bernardino, California. There was just one caveat: his… Continue reading Amazon Accused of Trapping Drivers in AI Panopticon
AI Is Causing a Grim New Twist on the Dunning-Kruger Effect, New Research Finds
Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images People who are the worst at doing something also tend to severely overestimate how good they are at doing it, while those who are actually skilled tend to not realize their true talent. This galling cognitive bias is called the Dunning-Kruger effect, as you’re probably familiar… Continue reading AI Is Causing a Grim New Twist on the Dunning-Kruger Effect, New Research Finds
Amazon Denies That AWS Just Went Down Again After Mass Layoffs
Photo by Leonie Asendorpf / picture alliance via Getty Images Staff at Amazon are still reeling from a fresh round of layoffs that saw thousands of corporate workers lose their job as execs appeared to sacrifice employees for their topline. In a memo to all Amazon workers, Beth Galetti, the company’s senior vice president of… Continue reading Amazon Denies That AWS Just Went Down Again After Mass Layoffs
Mysterious Interstellar Visitor Reaches Perihelion Today
Getty Images Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, which has intrigued astronomers since its discovery in July, is expected to reach its closest distance to the Sun — or its perihelion, coming within just 126 million miles of our star — today. And according to outspoken Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, it’s the perfect moment to find out whether… Continue reading Mysterious Interstellar Visitor Reaches Perihelion Today
New Law Would Prevent Minors From Using AI Chatbots
Getty / Futurism A proposed bipartisan bill would seek to bar minors from interacting with AI chatbots, marking a forceful attempt to subject AI companies to federal regulation over concerns about minors and AI safety. Titled the GUARD Act, the bill was brought on Tuesday by senators Josh Hawley of Missouri (R) and Richard Blumenthal… Continue reading New Law Would Prevent Minors From Using AI Chatbots