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Meta’s decision to shut down CrowdTangle, an analytics tool that was an “invaluable” resource to the research community, is drawing fresh scrutiny from European Union regulators. The EU Commission, which had already raised concerns about the social network’s plan to discontinue the tool ahead of global elections in 2024, is now pressing Meta for more details about its work with researchers.

The EU Commission previously cited the impending shutdown of CrowdTangle as part of a broader investigation into the company’s handling of disinformation campaigns and election-related policies. Now, just days after CrowdTangle was shut off despite pleas from researchers and civil society organizations to keep it online through the end of the year, regulators are pointedly reminding Meta of its “obligation” under the Digital Services Act (DSA) to allow outside researchers access to its data.

“The Commission is requesting Meta to provide more information on the measures it has taken to comply with its obligations to give researchers access to data that is publicly accessible on the online interface of Facebook and Instagram, as required by the DSA, and on its plans to update its election and civic discourse monitoring functionalities,” the EU Commission wrote in a statement. “Specifically, the Commission is requesting information about Meta’s content library and application programming interface (API), including their eligibility criteria, the application process, the data that can be accessed and functionalities.”

Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has previously pointed to the Meta Content Library as a replacement for CrowdTangle. But access to the Meta Content Library is much more tightly controlled, and researchers have said it doesn’t replicate all of CrowdTangle’s functionality.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/eu-regulators-question-meta-about-the-shutdown-of-crowdtangle-175641308.html?src=rss 

Texas Instruments is the latest recipient of CHIPS Act funds. The 2022 law, signed by President Biden to boost domestic silicon production in the face of increasing Chinese chip imports, will award TI $1.6 billion in grants. The company will also receive $3 billion in loans and tax credits that could amount to $6 to $8 billion.

The effort is expected to create over 2,000 US manufacturing jobs at Texas Instruments’ new plants and “thousands of indirect jobs” for construction, suppliers and supporting industries. TI says it expects to receive another $10 million to fund workforce development.

TI’s grant money will go towards three chip fabs already under construction in Texas and Utah. The plants will produce 300mm silicon wafer chips under the bill’s $2 billion minimum set aside for legacy chips. The CHIPS Act primarily focuses on cutting-edge silicon, like those increasingly used for AI. TI’s production will go towards less advanced processors for things like smartphones, appliances and national defense. GlobalFoundries was awarded $1.5 billion for legacy silicon production in February. With Friday’s awarding of funds for TI, the government has now met its minimum quota for legacy chips.

Bloomberg notes that China has recently boosted its investments in legacy chips. Along with creating US jobs, the CHIPS Act was designed to curtail China’s influence as silicon becomes more of an essential global resource. Other recipients include Intel ($8.5 billion), TSMC ($6.6 billion) and Samsung ($6.4 billion).

Texas Instruments said it will spend around $40 billion in Utah and Texas, including two more factories in Sherman, TX. However, those aren’t expected to be operational until after 2030. For the CHIPS Act, the Commerce Department prioritizes projects that can be completed by the decade’s end, leaving those delayed plants without federal funding.

The $280 billion CHIPS Act passed in 2022 with 64 votes in the Senate and 243 in the House. The bill included $39 billion in subsidies for domestic chip manufacturing, 25 percent tax credits for manufacturing costs and $13 billion for workforce training.

After the bill passed in 2022, Biden said it would “strengthen our national security by making us less dependent on foreign sources of semiconductors.” He noted that it included “guardrails to ensure that companies receiving tax payer dollars invest in America and that union workers are building new manufacturing plants across the country.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/texas-instruments-awarded-16-billion-in-chips-act-funding-for-domestic-silicon-production-180039388.html?src=rss 

The castle construction game Tiny Glade that’s got the Internet uttering a collective “Awwwww, ain’t that cuuuute?” has a release date. Wholesome Games announced today in a new trailer that Tiny Glade will be released on September 23 on Steam. If you can’t wait that long or just wanna get a head start on your virtual village, a demo is available right now on the game’s Steam page.

Tiny Glade is a sandbox building game that seems to go against the competitive grain of most construction games. City building and construction games are fun, but maintaining a huge, virtual metropolis can get harrowing sometimes. You’re just trying to relax at the end of a hard day by playing a game and before you know it, you’re stressing over things like sewer taxes, industrial zones and giant monster attacks.

Tiny Glade is carving out its own space in the building game genre by eliminating all those annoying municipal obstacles and just letting you build something simply for the joy of building it. You can construct huge towering castles or just an adorable little British hamlet that would look like the perfect setting for an Elizabethan-era love story.

The level of detail that you can control is stunning as well. As you move your cursor to build a brick wall or tiled roof, you can see every individual piece pop out of thin air and gradually pile up into your imaginative creations. Everything you can click in your model village can be altered, added or decorated. There are tools to alter the terrain so you can create hills or smooth out the land and add a pristine pond with lily pads, trees and even wildlife like ducks.

Best of all, you don’t have to worry if your hours of creation are in danger of being sacked and torn down by invading hordes or warring factions. Based on this trailer, it looks like Tiny Glade is the relaxing gaming equivalent of taking a long, warm bath.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-adorable-building-game-tiny-glade-is-coming-to-steam-on-september-23-165958935.html?src=rss 

Here’s some bad news for those longing to run over civilians in a monster truck while in virtual reality. The VR-focused remake of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is “on hold indefinitely,” according to reporting by IGN.

This refresh was announced three years ago and was originally to be a Quest 2 title. Here we are, deep in the lifecycle of the Quest 3, and nothing. In other words, the news isn’t exactly surprising. This doesn’t mean the project will never come to fruition, but the words “on hold indefinitely” doesn’t inspire us with hope.

“GTA: San Andreas is on hold indefinitely while we both focus on other projects,” Meta Quest VR’s official YouTube account confirmed in the comments of an unrelated trailer. “We look forward to working with our friends at Rockstar in the future.”

The VR remake was first announced during the Facebook Connect event in October 2021. That’s right. The original announcement occurred before the Meta branding. At that time, the company described GTA: San Andreas VR as “a project many years in the making.” It looks like three more years on top of that didn’t help to create a finished product.

It’s worth noting that we never even got any screenshots or in-game footage. There hasn’t even been a trailer. However, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg likely played a build at some point, because he once wrote “this new version” of the game will “offer players an entirely new way to experience this iconic open world in virtual reality.”

There has been no reason given as to the indefinite hold. It’s likely been an extremely expensive undertaking to translate the game into VR, and this is at a time when reports indicate that the market is shrinking. So that could be it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/meta-puts-grand-theft-auto-san-andreas-vr-on-ice-170702048.html?src=rss 

It’s Friday, which means it’s once again time for us to round up all the gadget and tech gear discounts that are catching our eye. Our latest selection includes all-time lows on Sony’s still-excellent WH-1000XM4 headphones, both sizes of Apple’s latest MacBook Air, the adorable Nintendo Switch Lite, and a handful of wireless earbuds and gaming accessories we recommend in our various buying guides. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still buy today.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/take-150-off-a-set-of-sony-noise-canceling-headphones-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-171225186.html?src=rss