A $5.93 mobile phone holder seemed like a gamble worth taking for Michelle Zhang. During the past year, she has become a regular shopper on the cut-price ecommerce app Temu, mostly purchasing home and kitchen appliances. “Things on Temu are usually less than half of their prices on Amazon, and you don’t have to purchase… Continue reading Temu Is Burning Cash to Challenge Shein and Amazon on Black Friday
Author: Wired Magazine
Climate Activists Tell the EV Industry to Fix Its Filthy Supply Chain
Saturday’s demonstrators targeted South Korean auto giant Hyundai. In addition to criticizing the company’s reliance on coal-powered steel plants, which a report from climate groups linked to 506 pollution-related premature deaths in 2021, they also denounced the company’s reported labor practices. Last December, a Reuters investigation found undocumented children working in the automaker’s supply chain… Continue reading Climate Activists Tell the EV Industry to Fix Its Filthy Supply Chain
Secretive White House Surveillance Program Gives Cops Access to Trillions of US Phone Records
A little-known surveillance program tracks more than a trillion domestic phone records within the United States each year, according to a letter obtained by WIRED, sent by US senator Ron Wyden to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Sunday, challenging the program’s legality. According to the letter, a surveillance program now known as Data Analytical… Continue reading Secretive White House Surveillance Program Gives Cops Access to Trillions of US Phone Records
Meet Emmett Shear, OpenAI’s ‘Highly Intelligent, Socially Awkward’ Interim CEO
“I’m skeptical. If Twitch serves as a precursor of what’s to come in AI, we can expect a lot of opaque policies and missed opportunities,” argues Joost van Dreunen, a New York University business professor and author of One Up, a book on the global games business. “Twitch has succeeded almost in spite of its… Continue reading Meet Emmett Shear, OpenAI’s ‘Highly Intelligent, Socially Awkward’ Interim CEO
OpenAI Staff Threaten to Quit Unless Board Resigns
OpenAI was in open revolt on Monday with more than 600 employees signing an open letter threatening to leave unless the board resigns and reinstates Sam Altman as CEO, along with cofounder and former president Greg Brockman. Altman was controversially fired by the board on Friday. “The process through which you terminated Sam Altman and… Continue reading OpenAI Staff Threaten to Quit Unless Board Resigns
How OpenAI’s Bizarre Structure Gave 4 People the Power to Fire Sam Altman
Venture capitalists and employees could now get some return on the money or sweat that they invested in the company—but the nonprofit’s board still maintained ultimate say over the for-profit business through several new legal provisions, according to OpenAI. The directors’ primary fiduciary duty remained to uphold its mission of safe development of artificial general… Continue reading How OpenAI’s Bizarre Structure Gave 4 People the Power to Fire Sam Altman
30 Gifts for a Digital Detox (2023): Analog Gift Ideas From WIRED
We’ve all got a friend or family member who isn’t the best texter, isn’t on social media, or isn’t all that thrilled that everything seems to be connected to the internet these days. For the phone-notification-hating, captcha-test-spurning loved one in your life, show them you’re thinking of them this holiday season in a totally analog… Continue reading 30 Gifts for a Digital Detox (2023): Analog Gift Ideas From WIRED
The Real Reason EV Repairs Are So Expensive
“If you’re replacing a damaged battery with a new one, suddenly, once you’ve added in the other costs in terms of labor and hire cars,” says Mark Fry, an engineering manager at Thatcham Research, “it’s just not always economical to repair the car.” A spokesman for the Association for British Insurers adds that there are… Continue reading The Real Reason EV Repairs Are So Expensive
Taiga Orca jet ski: Fast, Furious and Eco-Friendly
That said, launching myself off the thing was more difficult than I expected. The Orca handled sharp corners very well, and as long as you can keep your grip on the handle it’s possible to stay on. I did manage to fall off one time, but it took quite a lot of sharp turns and… Continue reading Taiga Orca jet ski: Fast, Furious and Eco-Friendly
21 Home Depot Black Friday Deals (2023): Tools, Grills
Take a gander at these early Home Depot Black Friday deals and get a lead on the masses who’ll be ready to crowd the digital gates before the Thanksgiving turkey even gets cold. Winter means, for more of us than not, spending a lot more time at home than we’d otherwise choose to spend. Vacations… Continue reading 21 Home Depot Black Friday Deals (2023): Tools, Grills