Artificial Intelligence

The US Patent and Trademark Office Banned Staff From Using Generative AI

The US Patent and Trademark Office banned the use of generative artificial intelligence for any purpose last year, citing security concerns with the technology as well as the propensity of some tools to exhibit “bias, unpredictability, and malicious behavior,” according to an April 2023 internal guidance memo obtained by WIRED through a public records request….

A US Ban on Investing in Chinese AI Startups Could Escalate Under Trump

The more certain short-term impact is that US investors who are still interested in Chinese AI startups will have to do a whole lot more due diligence. The Treasury Department is not setting up a new government committee like CFIUS that will review every transaction investors submit, and is instead asking them to do their…

Some of Substack’s Biggest Newsletters Rely On AI Writing Tools

Substack does not have an official policy governing the use of AI. One of Substack’s cofounders, Hamish McKenzie, has described the generative AI boom as a sea change that writers will need to confront, regardless of their personal views on the tech: “Whether you’re for or against this development ultimately doesn’t matter. It’s happening,” he…

The First Entirely AI-Generated Video Game Is Insanely Weird and Fun

Minecraft remains remarkably popular a decade or so after it was first released, thanks to a unique mix of quirky gameplay and open world building possibilities. A knock-off called Oasis, released last month, captures much of the original game’s flavor with a remarkable and weird twist. The entire game is generated not by a game…

The AI Machine Gun of the Future Is Already Here

Amid a rising tide of low-cost weaponized adversary drones menacing American troops abroad, the US military is pulling out all the stops to protect its forces from the ever-present threat of death from above. But between expensive munitions, futuristic but complicated directed energy weapons, and its own growing drone arsenal, the Pentagon is increasingly eyeing…

I Went Birding With the World’s First AI-Powered Binoculars

For bird identification when the Bird ID setting is active, the AX Visio uses a modified version of Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Merlin Bird ID’s extensive bird database. The Mammals ID, Butterfly ID, and Dragonfly ID settings on the binoculars are powered by the Sunbird database. However, while mammals and flying insects can currently only…

What Donald Trump’s Win Will Mean for Big Tech

The most raucous cheers of the night were prompted by Trump’s promise to fire Gary Gensler, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a regulatory agency that has brought a volley of lawsuits against crypto businesses under the Biden administration. Separately, Trump has promised to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the creator of darknet…