Kalakshar US

As the US gears up for the 2024 presidential election, OpenAI shares its plans on suppressing misinformation related to elections worldwide, with a focus set on boosting the transparency around the origin of information. One such highlight is the use of cryptography — as standardized by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity — to encode the provenance of images generated by DALL-E 3. This will allow the platform to better detect AI-generated images using a provenance classifier, in order to help voters assess the reliability of certain content.

This approach is similar to, if not better than, DeepMind’s SynthID for digitally watermark AI-generated images and audio, as part of Google’s own election content strategy published last month. Meta’s AI image generator also adds an invisible watermark to its content, though the company has yet to share its readiness on tackling election-related misinformation.

OpenAI says it will soon work with journalists, researchers and platforms for feedback on its provenance classifier. Along the same theme, ChatGPT users will start to see real-time news from around the world complete with attribution and links. They’ll also be directed to CanIVote.org, the official online source on US voting, when they ask procedural questions like where to vote or how to vote.

Additionally, OpenAI reiterates its current policies on shutting down impersonation attempts in the form of deepfakes and chatbots, as well as content made to distort the voting process or to discourage people from voting. The company also forbids applications built for political campaigning, and when necessary, its new GPTs allow users to report potential violations.

OpenAI says learnings from these early measures, if successful at all (and that’s a very big “if”), will help it roll out similar strategies across the globe. The firm will have more related announcements in the coming months.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-lays-out-its-misinformation-strategy-ahead-of-2024-elections-022549912.html?src=rss 

Almost a year since Microsoft launched its ChatGPT-powered Bing Chat — which is now just called Copilot — the company is announcing its next major AI moves. First, it’s launching Copilot Pro, a $20 monthly subscription that gives power users access to the latest ChatGPT releases, as well as access to Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps and other new features. Additionally, the Copilot iOS and Android apps are now available to everyone, following a limited launch last month.

And that’s not all! Microsoft also introduced Copilot GPT, a new feature that will let you tweak Copilot around specific topics like “fitness, travel, cooking and more,” according to Microsoft EVP and Windows head Yusuf Mehdi. Copilot Pro users will also be able to create their own Copilot GPTs eventually. (And yes, the name is certainly confusing, but this appears to be Microsoft’s version of OpenAI’s standalone GPTs.)

Microsoft says that Copilot Pro users will have access to GPT-4 Turbo at peak times starting today, and eventually they’ll be able toggle between different GPT models. The subscription also grants you better AI image creation, which will be faster and deliver higher image quality, with optional landscape formatting. It’s also worth noting that Copilot Pro is $20 a month per user — plan to shell out more if multiple people in your household need access. 

While Copilot and Microsoft’s onslaught of AI announcements throughout 2023 led to plenty of publicity — it actually made us care about poor old Bing again! — it remains to be seen if it actually ends up being useful to general users. That may explain the rush to monetize Copilot for power users so quickly. Copilot queries are expensive, both in terms of computation power and energy use, so Microsoft needs a way to actually recoup some of those costs from its most aggressive users. The company also needs to make good on its $13 billion investment in OpenAI, which gave it a 49 percent stake in the AI firm (and once again raised regulatory scrutiny).

Given how strongly linked they are, it’s no wonder Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was instrumental in getting OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman re-instated as CEO, following a dramatic battle with the company’s board of directors.

Alongside Copilot Pro, Microsoft says that Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now widely available to small companies with its “Business Premium” and “Business Standard” subscriptions. The pricing hasn’t changed from its earlier enterprise launch, though: It’s still $30 a month per person (except now you can buy between 1 and 299 seats).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-copilot-pro-is-a-20-monthly-subscription-for-advanced-ai-features-234847522.html?src=rss 

Ubisoft is revamping its games subscription service by offering a premium multi-platform plan and adding a less-expensive tier on PC. The company is merging Ubisoft+ Multi-Access and PC Access into Ubisoft+ Premium. The new PC tier is called Ubisoft+ Classics. Ubisoft says there will be no automatic changes for existing PC Access subscribers, whose plan will remain the same at current pricing.

Ubisoft+ Premium will run you $18 per month (that’s $1 more per month than Game Pass Ultimate, fact fans). It includes access to the premium versions of Ubisoft games, all expansions and monthly rewards. Most importantly, you’ll be able to play new Ubisoft games on the day they drop. Select games will be available in early access too. For instance, if you sign up now, you can immediately check out Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which Ubisoft won’t officially release until January 18.

What’s more, an Ubisoft+ Premium subscription works across Xbox, PC and Amazon Luna. So you might chip away at Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on your PC during the work day (we won’t tell your boss), continue where you left off on your Xbox after dinner and then wind down for the day by flying around on the back of an ikran on your phone when you’re in bed.

Alongside the Ubisoft+ Premium shake up, the company has unveiled Ubisoft+ Classics on PC. This includes access to a collection of “popular back-catalog and live games” for $8 per month. Titles available include Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Siege and Watch Dogs: Legion. It’s worth noting that PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers have access to the Ubisoft+ Classics lineup at no extra cost.

Ubisoft’s head of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, says that Ubisoft+ has outperformed the publisher’s expectations in terms of membership numbers. “We’ve seen millions of players since launch, and they’ve enjoyed over 600 million hours of play,” Tremblay told the Ubisoft blog. Tremblay added that the company decided to introduce Ubisoft+ Classics as “we think it’s a strong offer at the price point, and the catalog will only grow as we keep adding games to it as time goes on, so players can discover even more of our worlds.”

While the pricing of the respective services may be off putting for some, it’s worth bearing in mind that Microsoft sold the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft in an attempt to appease regulators (it worked). Back in August, Ubisoft said the agreement meant that its subscribers will eventually be able to stream Activision Blizzard games. Ubisoft hasn’t yet shared a timeline for adding those titles to its service. “We’re working on the offering right now to make sure it’s the best possible experience for our subscribers, and we’ll have more to share later,” Tremblay said.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-now-comes-in-two-flavors-and-costs-up-to-18-per-month-210443888.html?src=rss