Category: Technology

For one night only, Disney’s breakout Star Wars series is coming to cable TV. Ahead of the premiere of the third season of The Mandalorian on March 1st, Disney announced today it would air the show’s debut episode, “Chapter 1: The Mandalorian,” on February 24th. If you somehow haven’t seen the series before, you can catch the episode that started it all on ABC, Freeform or FX. All three stations will air the 41-minute debut at 8PM ET/PT.

If you’ve managed to avoid spoilers for The Mandalorian until now, first of all, great job; it couldn’t have been easy. Second, we won’t ruin the surprise, but the debut episode is a great taste of what made the first season of the series feel so special. It has a bit of everything that people came to love about The Mandalorian, including witty dialogue, fun action set pieces and, of course, a certain cute alien.

This isn’t the first time Disney has brought a Disney+ exclusive to TV. The company previously aired two episodes of Andor on ABC, Freeform and FX when it seemed that series was struggling to find an audience. Considering the company recently lost $1.5 billion on its streaming services, bringing The Mandalorian to broadcast TV makes a lot of sense as an effort to attract subscribers to Disney+.

 

The age of generative AI is upon us, and this week alone Google and Microsoft made major announcements around their respective products for the masses. While Google unveiled an “experimental conversational AI service” called Bard yesterday, Microsoft had a fuller slate of news to share at its event in Redmond, WA today. Through a partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Microsoft is adding more advanced AI conversation models to power updates to Bing and Edge. 

The company’s keynote today happened at breakneck pace, with demos whizzing by so quickly there was barely enough time to make sense of the updates. Thankfully, I was able to briefly check out a full demo here with Dena Saunders from Bing Engineering. It was nice to see everything at a more comprehensible pace, but it was unfortunately restricted to a set of scripted examples. I’ll be getting access to the preview through my own whitelisted accounts in a bit so I will be updating this post with my personal impressions, but for now, I can break down at least what the updates look like on a demo computer.

In general, there are four new areas of change coming to Bing (and we’ll get to Edge later): Search, Answers, Chat and Create. The first update is the new search box. Instead of your typical long, one-line bar, there is now a box more similar to those on Twitter or Facebook that prompts you to ask Bing anything. The character limit is now 1,000. The idea is to make the process of looking for answers something more conversational — similar to Google’s approach for years now. 

When you submit your query, results are now displayed a bit differently. On the left is a column with your typical “answers” just like how you see it on Bing now. On the right, however, is a box that explains how the system found those answers. I initially thought this was similar to what Google does in its “About this search” panels, but I was wrong. This box is a home for the AI and fills up with text that appears in real time, complete with animation and a “Stop responding” button in case you don’t have the patience to see the AI’s explanation. 

The third and fourth parts are the more interesting updates. Chat, for example, is a new way you can get solutions to the problems you’re looking to solve. You can access the Chat page from the Bing results page by tapping the Chat button above the answers or by scrolling up (swiping down on touchscreens). 

This story is developing, please refresh for updates.

 

You can add Zoom to the long list of major tech companies that have laid off employees in recent times. It’s letting go around 1,300 employees, which equates to 15 percent of the workforce.

In a note to staff, CEO Eric Yuan indicated that the company expanded its headcount too quickly after Zoom’s pandemic-driven boom — it tripled in size in the space of two years. “We didn’t take as much time as we should have to thoroughly analyze our teams or assess if we were growing sustainably, toward the highest priorities,” Yuan wrote.

He noted that even though many folks have returned to the office, people and companies are still relying on Zoom. That said, Yuan said that amid a rocky economic climate, “we need to take a hard — yet important — look inward to reset ourselves so we can weather the economic environment, deliver for our customers and achieve Zoom’s long-term vision.”

Yuan said he was taking accountability for the layoffs. He’s reducing his salary for the upcoming fiscal year by 98 percent and the executive team will forego 20 percent of their base salaries. All will forfeit their corporate bonuses for fiscal year 2023 (i.e., the 2022 calendar year).

Zoom employees in the US who are being let go will receive up to 16 weeks’ salary and healthcare coverage, their earned fiscal year 2023 bonus, stock option vesting for six months and help to find a new job. The company said laid-off workers outside the US will get similar support based on local laws.

Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Dell and Spotify are among the other major tech companies that have this year announced sweeping layoffs or plans to let go more staff than they originally planned. We’re keeping a running tally of the big tech layoffs of 2023, which is becoming an increasingly sobering list.

 

Microsoft’s use of AI on the web will extend beyond smarter Bing searches. The company is updating its Edge browser with an “AI-powered copilot” that assists with everyday tasks. Integration with the new Bing can help you get the key takeaways from a document, compare content and even draft posts (such as on LinkedIn) with a specific format, length or tone.

The revised interface revolves around a new sidebar. You can use a chat feature in this space to ask questions like you would with Bing, while a compose option helps you write new content using prompts. You can also expect a new look.

Both Bing and the updated Edge are based around a new AI model, Prometheus, built with the help of OpenAI. While it draws some lessons from the popular ChatGPT conversational AI, it’s billed as more powerful and optimized for search. Microsoft also claims it’s a “responsible” platform where protections against abuse and errors exist at every level.

The new Edge is available now in preview form. While Bing is the highlight of Microsoft’s AI announcements, the new browser clearly plays an important role. The AI capabilities theoretically give Edge an advantage over Chrome, Safari and other browsers. Of course, how long any lead lasts is uncertain. Google is holding an event tomorrow (February 8th) that may shed light on its bid to rival ChatGPT, and it won’t be surprising if AI-driven search is part of that strategy.

 

A former product manager at Coinbase has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in what’s believed to be the first crypto-related insider trading case in the US. Ishan Wahi initially pleaded not guilty last year.

Federal prosecutors claim that, on at least 14 occasions, Wahi shared confidential information with his brother Nikhil Wahi and friend Sammer Ramani about cryptocurrencies that Coinbase was planning to let its users trade so the pair could buy them in advance. Once Coinbase announced that it would list the tokens, their values rose. Nikhil Wahi and Ramani are said to have then sold the assets to make a profit. The scheme allegedly generated north of $1.5 million in ill-gotten gains.

Ramani has not been apprehended. Nikhil Wahi pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy charge in September and was last month sentenced to 10 months in prison. Ishan Wahi faces a prison sentence of between 36 and 47 months as part of his plea deal, according to Reuters. He’ll be sentenced in May.

Along with the criminal charges, Wahi faced a civil lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission. He asked a judge this week to dismiss the suit, having claimed that the cryptocurrency tokens in question are not securities, meaning they would not be subject to SEC regulation.

 

Now that Microsoft has launched its Teams Premium service, it’s shaking up the free offering for work — and not everyone will be happy. The company is retiring the existing Teams Free version for small business in favor of the similarly-titled Teams (free) on April 12th, and legacy data won’t carry over. Your office will have to pay for at least the Teams Essentials plan ($4 per user per month) to preserve chats, meetings, channels and other key info.

As Windows Centralexplains, the new Teams (free) tier will require a new account. Data in the old app, now rebadged as Teams Free (classic), will be deleted. Anything you haven’t saved by then will be gone, including shared files you haven’t downloaded.

We’ve asked Microsoft for comment. This won’t affect personal use, but it could prove to be a headache for small firms that previously relied on the free Teams to coordinate. They’ll either have to start paying or they’ll lose access to past discussions, not to mention deal with the headache of recreating their channel setups. This won’t necessarily lead customers to switch to alternatives like Slack, particularly if they’re heavily invested in Microsoft’s ecosystem. It might, however, prompt outfits to reevaluate their plans if they can’t justify many paid services.

 

Microsoft’s oft-forgotten search engine is about to get a new lease on life. As expected, the tech giant announced on Tuesday that it is partnering with OpenAI to enhance Bing with the company’s AI technology. However, Microsoft also had a surprise up its sleeve: the next release of Bing will feature a new next-generation large language model the company claims is “much more powerful” than ChatGPT and designed specifically to excel at search. The new Bing offers a chat function and an expanded search bar that allows you to input up to a thousand characters. 

Underpinning the search engine is a new proprietary technology Microsoft is calling the Prometheus Model. Among the benefits of Prometheus are more relevant search results, according to the company. Microsoft claims the model will also make using Bing safer and allow the company to update search results more quickly.    

Developing…

 

Microsoft’s set to make an AI-related announcement today at 1pm ET, but it will not be streaming the keynote to the public. Not to worry, though, we’re here at the event in Redmond and will be liveblogging all the news the company is sharing today. After Google unveiled its ChatGPT rival Bard yesterday, Microsoft revealed it had been planning today’s event all along, without disclosing many details beyond telling us to expect information about “exciting projects.” Thanks to a tweet from OpenAI’s Sam Altman, though, we can at least guess that generative AI is on the agenda, if not the star of the show. We’ll be starting this liveblog around 12:30pm ET, with myself (Cherlynn Low) on text and our head of video Brian Oh taking pictures. See you soon!

 

TikTok is, once again, facing an uncertain future. The company has spent the last two years quietly negotiating with US government officials in order to avoid an outright ban. But that process has now stalled, and calls for a ban have only intensified.

Next month, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, his first Congressional appearance. Many lawmakers have called for a more sweeping ban, and will likely quiz Chew about TikTok’s alleged risks to national security, and its parent company’s Chinese ownership.

TikTok has long denied that it’s a threat, and downplays its ties to China. But now the company is also trying a new tactic to prove it has nothing to hide: its Transparency and Accountability Center. The company first introduced the idea in 2020, but the actual facility didn’t open until recently due to COVID-related delays. Last week, the company took a handful of reporters on a tour of the center as part of a new charm offensive as it tries to fend off regulators and the looming prospect of more bans in the United States.

The first thing you notice when you walk in is that, despite being dedicated to “transparency,” there are no windows in the space, which is housed in an office park near TikTok’s Culver City US HQ. Instead, visitors are greeted with neon-lit signs and big, interactive displays dedicated to explaining various aspects of the app.

The company hopes visitors will walk away with a better understanding of how the app operates and, perhaps, less suspicion. “We really do understand the critique that big media, big tech, plays as it relates to how algorithms work, how moderation policies work and the data flows of the systems,” says TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas. “A lot of these are unprecedented levels of transparency that we’re providing.”

What you’ll actually learn by touring the center, though, largely depends on how much you already know about TikTok when you walk in the door. It’s primarily dedicated to explaining the app’s content moderation policies, and how it handles recommendations, both of which have been heavily scrutinized.

There are two interactive exhibits: a “moderation station,” where visitors can play the role of a TikTok content moderator, and another room that’s meant to “demystify” the app’s vaunted recommendation algorithm.

In the moderation room, you can watch sample videos — presented in an interface similar to what TikTok’s actual content moderators see — and try your hand at judging which ones violate the app’s rules. Meanwhile, the room next door is dedicated to “the algorithm.” It’s more of an illustrated FAQ that offers fairly broad explanations to high-level questions about how the app recommends content. The content is more detailed than TikTok’s extremely vague in-app explanations, but that’s not saying much. For example, under the heading “What information does TikTok use to create personalized experiences?” it explains that users’ interactions with content are tracked to inform the underlying recommendation model. That might be useful info if you know nothing about how algorithms work, but it doesn’t tell you very much about TikTok.

Each explanation is also accompanied by a visualization and a snippet of “simulated code” — the company tightly controls who can view the app’s actual source code — to illustrate what’s happening at various stages of the recommendations process. But again, this felt like it was more designed for people who know nothing about TikTok rather than those who are trying to understand the nuances of its algorithm. There is a space at the transparency center, a server room behind a neon “LATC” sign, where auditors can enter and — after heavy security — dig into TikTok’s actual source code. But the vast majority of visitors to the center will never make into that room.

Overall, I can see how the tour might be a worthwhile exercise for lawmakers, who too often show they know shockingly little about how the internet works. But it also feels a bit performative, and I can’t help but remember Facebook’s infamous “war room” tour, when it invited reporters to visit a conference room dedicated to safeguarding elections only to shut it down a month later.

To be clear, TikTok does intend for the transparency center to be a permanent fixture. And the company plans to open more of them in other locations around the world. But while these facilities may help Boomer lawmakers and regulators understand what TikTok is, I’m not sure they will be able to dispel the perception that there’s something else, something more secretive, going on within the company. It’s one thing to illustrate how TikTok’s algorithm works at a high level, but it’s another to prove that something isn’t happening.

It’s notable, then, that TikTok’s Transparency Center doesn’t address some of the biggest concerns that have been raised about TikToK: its relationship with parent company Bytedance and whether the Chinese government could somehow take advantage of the relationship to advance its interests. “If you fundamentally distrust the autocratic Chinese government, and how it uses its relationship with large Chinese-based corporations to extend its influence around the world, then all the promises TikTok can pile up are not going to completely allay your anxiety about TikTok,” Paul Barrett, the deputy director of NYU’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, told Engadget.

TikTok does, however, have a plan to address government concerns that it could be a national security threat. The company has been locked in negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for more than two years over its future in the US. And it struck a deal with Oracle last year to safeguard US user data as part of this effort, known as “Project Texas,” to reassure US officials.

Until now, TikTok has been fairly tight-lipped about Project Texas and its dealings with CFIUS. But now that those talks have stalled — despite TikTok claiming it’s addressed every concern raised by regulators — the company has been cautiously sharing more details about its arrangements with Oracle.

Reporters who attended the tour were given an overview of the plan, but were asked not to directly quote the executives who described it.

Central to the plan is a new US subsidiary called TikTok US Data Security (USDS), which will have an independent board of CFIUS-approved directors with national security and cybersecurity backgrounds. On the TikTok side, there will be two executives running the US subsidiary, who will report to the board.

Meanwhile, all US user data will be housed within Oracle’s Cloud infrastructure with strict controls to prevent unauthorized access and to keep most data from leaving. (Some data about what US users are doing will inevitably have to leave in order to, for example, allow people to interact with content and users from other countries.) Oracle will also review TikTok’s entire source code, as will a separate, outside auditor. Future app updates will also be inspected by Oracle, which will take over responsibility for sending updates to the app stores. Oracle will also monitor TikTok’s recommendation algorithm and content moderation systems. The US government, via CFIUS, will continue to have visibility and oversight into what USDS is doing on an ongoing basis.

TikTok says they are confident these steps address every issue that’s been raised about what TikTok could potentially be doing. Executives also point out that the company has already dedicated an astonishing amount of money — $1.5 billion — and resources to Project Texas. If all that’s good enough for CFIUS, they say, it should be good enough for Congress.

Whether lawmakers will be satisfied with any scenario that allows TikTok to operate in the United States without being fully divested from ByteDance, though, remains to be seen. “They [TikTok] can make all of these arrangements, and put in place all these safeguards, almost to infinity,” Barrett says. “And it’s not clear to me that that would satisfy China hawks in the United States.”

That’s partly because TikTok is a convenient punching bag for lawmakers who want to appear tough on China. But there are also legitimate reasons to be concerned about TikTok. ByteDance recently fired four employees who accessed the personal data of an American journalist who had reported on the company. TikTok also has a history of taking, at best, a heavy handed approach to content moderation that some have equated with censorship favorable to the Chinese government.

According to TikTok, Project Texas will ensure neither scenario can happen again. But the fact that it already has will undoubtedly lead to further questions about just how deep the company’s commitment to transparency and accountability really is.

 

Today is Safer Internet Day and Google is marking the occasion by revealing features designed to, well, make it safer to do things on the internet. The company says that, in the coming months, it will blur explicit images in search results for all users as a default setting, even if they don’t have SafeSearch switched on. SafeSearch filtering is already the default for signed-in users under the age of 18.

However, you’ll be able to adjust the settings if you’re signed in, aged 18 or over and you’d prefer to see butts and stuff in search results (the filter is designed to blur violent images as well). According to screenshots that Google shared, the blur setting will mask explicit images, but not text or links. The filter setting covers up all three.

Meanwhile, Google is adding another layer of protection to the built-in password manager on Chrome and Android. The company says that if a user has a supported computer, they’ll have the option to require biometric authentication before filling a saved password into a form. Google noted that folks can also use the feature to “securely reveal, copy or edit passwords” they have saved in the password manager without having to punch in their main password first.

The company says it’s bolstering privacy protections in the Google app for iOS too. Soon, you’ll be able to secure the app using Face ID to keep prying eyes away from your data.