Apple was granted a patent today for a “Light Recognition Module for Determining a User of a Computing Device” — aka an infrared light and scanner that could log you in to a MacBook or iMac.
Unfortunately, there’s no implication that this is actively on its way: the patent was filed back in 2019. We’ve gotten notches on MacBooks since then, and there’s no Face ID in sight.
The crackdown is coming. Search Engine Land spotted the latest test, which tells users to unblock ads or they’ll be blocked from watching any videos. A previous test showed a warning saying people could watch three videos before being blocked.
YouTube spokesperson Oluwa Falodun previously told us:
We take disabling playback very seriously, and will only disable playback if viewers ignore repeated requests to allow ads on YouTube.
[Search Engine Land]
“Everything done will pay respect to the past and present of Italy,” Elon Musk wrote in an X post this morning. Does the Italian government know this? Does Mark Zuckerberg? I know where I’m putting my money.
Meanwhile, Musk also mentioned needing shoulder surgery, which would certainly delay a fight. “Recovery will only take a few months,” Musk wrote.
Wait, sorry, my mistake: 900 is a “Scrabble-record audience,” according to Slate.
I love Scrabble, but there’s a dude asleep in bed right now who has over 1,000 concurrents.
-Yaccarino said she has “autonomy” under Elon. “[He] focuses on new technology ... and I’m responsible for the rest.”
-She demurred on the Musk v Zuckerberg fight. “We’ll see if that cage match really does happen.”
-But she said Elon really is training for it. “I’ve had a front row seat of witnessing that.”
-As for Threads, she thinks Meta’s rival is skating to where the puck already is. “They may be building to what Twitter was ... and we’re focused on what X will be.”
An analyst asked on yesterday’s earnings call, and Iger swore, “It’s just, it’s not something that we obsess about.”
And yet, he did have one hesitation worth sharing:
Obviously, anyone who wanted to speculate about these things would have to immediately consider the global regulatory environment.
“I’ll say no more than that,” Iger added.
Nothing, except for all the work they’ve been doing for years. At least, that seems to be the takeaway from what Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC today.
“We view AI and ML as fundamental core technologies. And they are virtually embedded in every product that we build,” Cook said.
“On a research basis, we’ve been doing research for on AI and machine learning, including generative AI, for years,” he added.
