GM is using AI models and a new mini factory to build and test cheaper EV battery cells in half the time.
Users who sideloaded outdated builds of the Fitbit app to avoid being forced to switch to Google Health have found it no longer works. Android Authority reports that a new prompt is appearing for some users that can’t be bypassed without updating the Fitbit app, which forces moving to Google Health anyway.
When Googlebooks launched last week, Galaxy phones couldn’t use features linking the laptops to Android 17 phones. Mishaal Rahman confirmed on Reddit that an update is rolling out now adding support. Read our first Googlebook impressions here, and look out for my detailed thoughts on the Android side of things later today.
The state just released the complete version of a redacted suit first filed in January, with specifics on harmful conversations including encouraging one user to starve themselves. Character.AI has faced repeated lawsuits over the issue, some of which it has settled, and added restrictions on teen usage. State AG Russell Coleman told The Verge:
“If the United States is going to lead the world in developing AI, it can’t be with graphic and dangerous chatbots that prey on children.”
Publishing staffers told Wired that bots are being used to make cover art, emails, rejection letters, copy for back covers, and marketing materials, including AI-generated promotional videos. While the unhappy staffers have expressed legal, ethical, and environmental AI concerns to execs, these are reportedly being dismissed as “the cost of doing business.”
A four-episode Naruto x Ninkū crossover anime has been announced, supervised by both Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto and Ninkū creator Koji Kiriyama. There’s no release date, but it’s “now in production,” and you can check out the teaser trailer below. Kishimoto says he’s also working on a new Naruto manga called Shadow Rising, with more details coming in December.
Despite multiple Ukrainian strikes hitting Yandex servers in Russia, a thread by antibot4navalny, which has long tracked state-sponsored social media campaigns and troll farms, explains that the Cloudflare “Bot Traffic” chart many people have cited is really about automated web crawlers operated by Yandex accessing the web.
It’s not connected to “bots” posting on social media, and Russian bot/crawler traffic overall continues to be about the same as normal. Still, are you noticing any difference in the posts and comments you’ve seen online?
At Comic-Con this weekend, it was revealed that Peacock’s adaptation is set to begin filming in 2027. Very little is known about the show, but Universal Global Television’s Kelsey Balance said more details are coming “very soon, within the next few weeks.”
The president of the Signal Foundation refused to say whether she thinks AI doomerism is “hype or real” and passed on a bunch of other questions we never get to hear. But she did concede that AI has a “bro culture” problem and that she’d probably choose a bear in the woods over an AI with all her passwords. (Though both are bad.)
I’m pretty militant about keeping my unread count under control, but it’s hard to stay on top of things. As I’m writing this, I have 144 unread emails. That pales in comparison to my friend Abel’s 11,425, and my wife’s staggering 23,166. Where do you fall on the spectrum? Are you all in on inbox zero? Or have you just given up?
A last-minute report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple’s smart home hub will be called HomeView, not HomePad and will ship in mid november. He says it won’t be an iPad-like experience with an App Store, and will offer a much more limited experience.
