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Google has agreed to pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the tech giant of systemic racial bias against Black employees, as reported by Reuters. The preliminary settlement was filed earlier this week, but still requires a judge’s approval. The class action suit covers more than 4,000 employees.

Plaintiffs involved in the suit said that Google operates a “racially biased corporate culture” that steers Black employees to lower-level jobs. The suit also accuses the company of paying these employees less than other workers. The complaint goes on to say that Black employees comprised just 4.4 percent of its workforce and around three percent of its leadership in 2021. As a reference, Black Americans make up 14 percent of the population.

The initial plaintiff said that Google denied her promotions and stereotyped her as an “angry” Black woman. She was fired while preparing a report on the company’s alleged racial bias. The suit also alleges that managers denigrated Black employees, saying they weren’t “Googley” enough or lacked “Googleyness.”

Google still denies any wrongdoing, despite agreeing to settle. It has offered no additional comment.

This lawsuit began all the way back in 2022 when the California Civil Rights Department started looking into Google’s treatment of Black female employees. At that time, the plaintiff said that the company claimed to be in favor of increasing diversity, all the while “they were actually undervaluing, underpaying and mistreating their Black employees.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-settles-lawsuit-that-accused-it-of-fostering-systemic-bias-against-black-employees-181505849.html?src=rss 

Now that Apple has to stop collecting fees on non-App Store purchases, Epic is pouncing with a new incentive. Starting today, you’ll get 20 percent back in Epic Rewards when using the company’s payment system for in-app purchases in Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys.

The offer isn’t limited to the App Store, so you’ll get the same 20 percent reward on PC, Android and the web. The reward balance will arrive 14 days after your purchase. You can redeem Epic Rewards inside the company’s games or on the Epic Games Store.

PC gamers who use Epic’s Store also get 20 percent back on all purchases. However, unlike the in-app purchase program, that incentive only runs for a limited time. It expires on August 31.

The rewards follow a legal ruling in Epic’s favor. Last week, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, a federal district judge in Northern California, said Apple violated a previous ruling from 2021. That four-year-old injunction required the iPhone maker to let App Store developers direct users to alternative payment systems, bypassing Apple’s 30 percent fees.

However, after the 2021 ruling, Apple charged a 27 percent commission on external payments. (It was a lower 12 percent for iOS Small Business Program members.) The company also showed “scare screens,” discouraging users from using third-party payment systems due to decreased privacy and security. The judge scolded Apple in her ruling, saying it knew what it was doing and “at every turn chose the most anticompetitive option.”

After the ruling, Epic quickly announced that Fortnite would return to the App Store. Epic said on Friday that it submitted the game for review on Apple’s storefront.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/epic-launches-a-reward-program-to-lure-you-away-from-the-app-store-182027032.html?src=rss 

Arlo is expanding the AI features offered in its subscription security service as part of its new Arlo Secure 6 update. The updated system will offer improved video search, give cameras and doorbells a greater ability to identify possible emergency events and automatically create captions for anything your security system records when it starts rolling out later in May.

As part of Arlo Secure 6, cameras will not only be able to use object-detection to identify things like packages, but also send you a notification when they visually detect a flame. The list of things devices can detect via sound is also expanding to include gunshots, screams, barking and broken glass, making it easier to know when to call for help.

To make it easier to review footage, Arlo is now also using AI to generate captions for the clips your security system captures, that way you don’t need to watch everything to know what’s going on. And when you need to pull up a specific clip, Arlo Secure 6 will let you search for “specific keywords, descriptions, or time ranges” to find what you’re looking for.

Both Google and Amazon have explored similar AI-powered features in their Nest Aware and Ring Home services, automatically identify smoke alarms or letting you search for a specific person or thing in video search. This Secure 6 update makes Arlo’s service more competitive, while focusing on some specifics that neither Google or Amazon offer.

If you’re already pay for an Arlo Secure plan, you should get the new Arlo Secure 6 features starting this month. Arlo offers two versions of its Secure subscription, a Plus plan for either $8 per month (one camera) or $18 per month (unlimited cameras), and a Premium plan for $25 per month.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/arlo-updates-its-security-system-to-caption-what-cameras-see-and-detect-gunshots-183019334.html?src=rss 

Fitness tech company Whoop has announced a pair of new wearables, four years since its last product launch. The devices in question are the Whoop 5.0 and the Whoop MG, both of which require you to take up a subscription when you purchase. For those not aware, Whoop bands aren’t available as standalone devices. A membership unlocks their features.

Both new products are screenless, no-nonsense wearables with an estimated 14-day battery life and 10 times the power efficiency of their predecessor, the Whoop 4.0. The new devices are smaller than the 4.0 too, and both are designed to be worn 24/7 thanks to always-on sensors. The main difference between the Whoop 5.0 and the MG is the latter’s medical-grade ECG capabilities (hence the “MG” in the name) and daily blood pressure readings.

How much functionality you get from your Whoop wearable depends not only on the model you choose, but the membership plan you take up with it. The entry level $199-per-year “One” tier will provide “professional-grade fitness insights” that include the fitness tracker fundamentals, like sleep tracking, step count, heart rate zones and hormonal insights for women. With this plan you get the Whoop 5.0 and a basic charger, as well as a CoreKnit band.

Stepping up to the $239 “Peak” tier nets you everything on Whoop One, as well as real-time stress monitoring and the new Healthspan metric, which assesses your long-term health prospects by measuring your Whoop Age and Pace of Aging, and offers “guided insights and actionable recommendations” accordingly.

The premium tier is called “Life” and is exclusive to Whoop MG users and costs $359 a year. With this you can expect daily blood pressure insights, ECG readings and irregular heart rhythm notifications. Life members also receive a SuperKnit Luxe band and a waterproof wireless charger.

Whoop offers a one-month free trial of its previous Whoop 4.0 membership. You can then choose between the three new membership tiers and the devices attached to them after or before your trial ends. Current members can also choose to upgrade from today.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/whoops-latest-wearables-are-smaller-and-offer-14-day-battery-life-170525375.html?src=rss 

If you’ve ever taken a wrong turn at the Sea of Tranquility and ended up lost in the Ocean of Storms, then you’re in luck, because the Moon is getting GPS, sort of. GMV, a Spanish capital business group with extensive experience in the space sector, has announced a navigation system for the Moon akin to GPS.

The ambitious project, dubbed LUPIN, aims to help astronauts, industrialists and even future settlers navigate more easily across the lunar surface. In a press release for LUPIN, GMV explains part of the problem with current navigation systems on the Moon. “Existing communications also depend upon direct visibility with the Earth, or on the use of relay satellites in lunar orbit. These factors generate communication shadow zones and lag times, and this makes it harder to make immediate decisions,” the company said.

GMV is developing LUPIN together with the European Space Agency, a working partnership that goes back to GMV’s first government contract in 1984. The technology leverages existing Moon-orbiting satellites and signals similar to GPS to help rovers and astronauts find their real-time exact location on the Moon’s surface.

“These are satellite signals that will be used in the same way as GPS signals are used on Earth, although in this case the satellites will be in orbit around the Moon. This system will also be adapted to particular areas of interest (for example, the lunar south pole, the far side of the moon, and permanently shadowed regions),” the company adds.

In a statement to Reuters, the project’s director, Steven Kay, said, “With this software, we bring Europe closer to establishing a presence of humans on the Moon and, potentially, this would be a stepping stone towards Mars exploration or human presence on Mars.”

Engadget has reached out to GMV with questions about LUPIN’s accuracy, underlying technology, and deployment roadmap. We’ll update this article when we hear back.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/spanish-company-gmv-is-bringing-gps-to-the-moon-172005577.html?src=rss 

The AI-generated deepfake of a deceased road rage victim gave his own impact statement in court at the sentencing hearing of the defendent, as reported by NBC News. This is likely the first time the technology has been used in this way.

The idea of using an AI version of the victim, Christopher Pelkey, came from his family, according to a Maricopa County Attorney’s Office spokesperson. Pelkey’s sister said she had been writing the impact statement for two years but found that what she had to say “did not seem like it would do justice” to his memory. Pelkey was shot and killed in 2021 during a road rage incident. 

So the idea of bringing in a deepfake avatar was born. Pelkey’s sister wrote the script, telling CNN that she was sure “it’s what he would think.” Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Todd Lang approved the idea and the family played a video of the AI-generated Pelkey in court. In the video, the avatar actually seemed to ask for leniency when sentencing his killer. The defendant was convicted of manslaughter and endangerment earlier this year.

“To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me: It is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances,” the artificial version of Pelkey said. “In another life, we probably could have been friends. I believe in forgiveness.”

However, the judge issued the maximum sentence of over 10 years in prison. “I heard the forgiveness,” he said about the AI-generated avatar. “I feel like that was genuine, that his obvious forgiveness of Mr. Horcasitas reflects the character I heard about [Pelkey] today.”

The defense has stated that the AI presentation creates a strong issue for appeal. “While judges certainly have latitude as to what to hear, particularly from victims, an appellate court will have to decide if this was error,” defense lawyer Jason Lamm said. The case has already been retried for procedural issues. 

Arizona State University law professor Gary Marchant, who specializes in ethics and emerging technologies, is worried about the legal precedent set here.

“You see that person in the courtroom actually speaking, and in reality, they’re dead and they’re not speaking,” he told NBC News. “So this is an extra jump that I feel is going to get us into dangerous grounds.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/deepfake-of-deceased-man-gives-his-own-impact-statement-in-court-161138506.html?src=rss 

If you sent something you regret in a Google Messages RCS group chat, it looks like you’ll soon be able to delete it for everyone, not just yourself. On Thursday, a Reddit user posted (via 9to5Google) a screenshot of the option in a public beta for Android’s messaging app.

The image from u/seeareeff shows a pop-up menu asking if they want to “Delete for everyone” or “Delete for me.” Until now, the latter has been the app’s only deletion option.

The delete for everyone feature aligns with the RCS’s Universal Profile v2.7. The GSMA finalized that update in June 2024, but it takes time for RCS-enabled apps like Google’s to implement it. In February, a Messages app teardown from 9to5Google showed the change was in the pipeline for Android users.

There are some caveats. First, not everyone using the public beta has seen the option. In addition, the Reddit user who spotted it only saw it in a group chat with 12 people; it wasn’t yet in their one-on-one threads. Finally, 9to5Google‘s app sleuthing from February revealed a limitation you’ll want to remember: Deleted messages “may still be seen by others on older app versions.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/delete-for-everyone-appears-in-the-google-messages-beta-161920211.html?src=rss