Robots let ChatGPT touch the real world thanks to Microsoft

reader comments 50 with Share this story Last week, Microsoft researchers announced an experimental framework to control robots and drones using the language abilities of ChatGPT, a popular AI language model created by OpenAI. Using natural language commands, ChatGPT can write special code that controls robot movements. A human then views the results and adjusts […]

New Windows 11 update puts AI-powered Bing Chat directly in the taskbar

Enlarge / The “new Bing” running directly from the Windows 11 taskbar. reader comments 39 with Share this story Microsoft is adding support for Bing Chat and the other “new Bing” features to the Windows taskbar as part of 2023’s first major Windows 11 feature update. Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay announced the updates […]

The Download: making Bitcoin greener, and Elon Musk’s chatbot plans

Last year, Ethereum went green. The second-most popular crypto platform transitioned to proof of stake, an energy-efficient framework for adding new blocks of transactions, NFTs, and other information to the blockchain.  When Ethereum completed the upgrade, known as “the Merge,” in September, it reduced its direct energy consumption by 99%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin continues to consume […]

Ethereum moved to proof of stake. Why can’t Bitcoin? 

Bitcoin mining, the computationally intensive process by which bitcoin is created and accounted for, has become a global concern. After China cracked down on bitcoin mining in mid-2021, miners sought out other areas of the world where energy was cheap, but not always clean. In places like Kazakhstan, miners put pressure on the power grid, […]

LastPass says employee’s home computer was hacked and corporate vault taken

Leon Neal | Getty Images reader comments 39 with Share this story Already smarting from a breach that put partially encrypted login data into a threat actor’s hands, LastPass on Monday said that the same attacker hacked an employee’s home computer and obtained an unencrypted vault available to only a handful of company developers. Although […]

Coding summit to bring Python programmers to the deep south

Waihōpai, Invercargill will become a hub of coding conversation later in the year as the Kiwi PyCon, the national conference dedicated to the Python programming language takes place. The New Zealand Python User Group (NZPUG), which is organising Kiwi Pycon, says the conference will bring together developers, engineers, scientists, educators, entrepreneurs, and Python enthusiasts from […]

SpaceX unveils “V2 Mini” Starlink satellites with quadruple the capacity

Enlarge / SpaceX’s V2 Mini Starlink satellites. reader comments 44 with Share this story With Starlink speeds slowing due to a growing capacity crunch, SpaceX said a launch happening as soon as today will deploy the first “V2 Mini” satellites that provide four times more per-satellite capacity than earlier versions. Starlink’s second-generation satellites include the […]

The Download: police drones, and the Supreme Court’s web cases

In the skies above Chula Vista, California, where the police department runs a drone program 10 hours a day, seven days a week, it’s not uncommon to see an unmanned aerial vehicle darting across the sky.  Chula Vista is one of a dozen departments in the US that operate what are called drone-as-first-responder programs, where […]