I asked Amko Leenart, director of design for Ford Europe, about why Ford used VW’s woeful controls in both the Explorer and the Capri, and he told me Ford worked with a partner to better the response on the sliders (but wouldn’t tell me how), then admitted that “we tried to improve it a bit—and… Continue reading The Electric Explorer’s Nightmare Launch Shows Everything Ford Gets Right and Wrong About EVs
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Google Says It Won’t Force Gemini on Partners in Antitrust Remedy Proposal
If Google’s generative AI Gemini Assistant chatbot is to surpass OpenAI’s ChatGPT in popularity in the coming years, it may have to do so without some of the promotional partnerships that helped thrust Google search front and center into Americans’ lives. In a US federal court filing on Friday, Google proposed a series of restrictions… Continue reading Google Says It Won’t Force Gemini on Partners in Antitrust Remedy Proposal
Our favorite books we read in 2024
I did a lot of reading in 2024, and was pretty lucky to have (mostly) enjoyed all the books and comics I picked up. That could have made it difficult to choose favorites when it came time to reflect on the year, but there was no question in my mind about which book I loved… Continue reading Our favorite books we read in 2024
Judge finds spyware-maker NSO Group liable for attacks on WhatsApp users
A federal judge in California has agreed with WhatsApp that the NSO Group, the Israeli cybersurveillance firm behind the Pegasus spyware, had hacked into its systems by sending malware through its servers to thousands of its users’ phones. WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta, sued the NSO Group back in 2019 and accused it of… Continue reading Judge finds spyware-maker NSO Group liable for attacks on WhatsApp users
Experts Startled as Teens Stop Doing Drugs
Image by Getty / Futurism Experts are mighty puzzled after finding that teens are abstaining from drugs more than ever before. In the latest update from the University of Michigan’s half-century-long Monitoring the Future study, the school announced that its researchers found a trend of “historically large decreases” in adolescent drug use has only broadened… Continue reading Experts Startled as Teens Stop Doing Drugs
Aging AI Chatbots Show Signs of Cognitive Decline in Dementia Test
These AI models are kind of stupid. Forget-Me-Bots We’ve certainly seen our fair share of demented behavior from AI models — but dementia? That’s a new one. As detailed in a new study published in the journal The BMJ, some of the tech industry’s leading chatbots are showing clear signs of mild cognitive impairment. And,… Continue reading Aging AI Chatbots Show Signs of Cognitive Decline in Dementia Test
Toshiba’s reforms remain unfinished a year after going privateConglomerate turns profit across all segments, but structural challenges persist.
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Elon Musk Endorses Nazi-Linked German Party, Even Though It Opposed Tesla’s Gigafactory
He’s saying the quiet part out loud. Germany First In an incredible mask-off moment, Elon Musk has endorsed Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD, per its German initials) — even though, weirdly, the party is against his business interests. “Only the AfD can save Germany,” the South African-born billionaire wrote on X-formerly-Twitter, quote-tweeting a video from… Continue reading Elon Musk Endorses Nazi-Linked German Party, Even Though It Opposed Tesla’s Gigafactory
Embattled Character.AI Hiring Trust and Safety Staff
Content warning: this story discusses sexual abuse, self-harm, suicide, eating disorders and other disturbing topics. Character.AI, the Google-backed AI chatbot startup embroiled in two lawsuits concerning the welfare of minors, appears to be bulking up its content moderation team in the wake of litigation and heightened public scrutiny. The embattled AI firm’s trust and safety… Continue reading Embattled Character.AI Hiring Trust and Safety Staff
This Tropical Virus Is Spreading Out of the Amazon to the US and Europe
outbreaks of Oropouche virus have flared up in the Amazon for decades, but historically the pathogen has little troubled the rest of the world. But this seems to be changing. In 2024, the virus showed that it can travel. Most of this year’s 11,000-plus cases occurred in Brazil and Peru, where the virus is an… Continue reading This Tropical Virus Is Spreading Out of the Amazon to the US and Europe