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Ireland’s data privacy regulator is investigating Elon Musk’s X. The country’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) said on Friday (via Reuters) that it’s opening an inquiry into the social platform’s use of European users’ public posts to train its Grok AI chatbot. In this case, Ireland handles EU regulation enforcement because X’s European headquarters are in Dublin.

The DPC said it will probe “the processing of personal data comprised in publicly-accessible posts posted on the ‘X’ social media platform by EU/EEA users.” Under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules, Ireland has the legal muscle to fine X up to four percent of its global revenue.

“The purpose of this inquiry is to determine whether this personal data was lawfully processed in order to train the Grok LLMs,” Ireland’s DPC said.

If this sounds familiar, the DPC took X to court in 2024, seeking an order to stop it from training Grok on EU user data without consent. That followed a platform policy change in July that let the social site use public posts to train its AI chatbot. However, Ireland’s data regulator ended the legal proceedings weeks later, saying the company had agreed to permanently limit its use of EU users’ personal data in Grok. The DPC hasn’t specified why it now believes the company may be violating GDPR rules.

The DPC’s last fine against the company (then known as Twitter) was a €450,000 penalty in 2020 for failing to notify the regulator about a data breach within the 72-hour window.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/irelands-privacy-regulator-is-investigating-xs-use-of-public-data-to-train-grok-182010855.html?src=rss 

It hasn’t been that long since the Pixel Watch 3 dropped, but excitement is already building for the follow-up device. An industry leaker who goes by OnLeaks, whose real name is Steve Hemmerst, has partnered with 91mobiles to publish images and a video render of the upcoming smartwatch

Surprise, it looks like a Pixel Watch. It maintains the iconic circular design, though does look a bit thicker than the previous model. The screen bezels appear to be slightly slimmer. Otherwise, the design remains mostly unchanged. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

However, there are some minor hardware changes that allude to new features. The watch is missing the four pins at the back, which suggests that it could support wireless charging. The Pixel Watch 3 charges via a USB-C port. Also, there are two buttons on both sides of the speaker. We don’t know what they do. It’s also possible that the added thickness could be hiding a bigger battery, which would be much appreciated.

Google’s next smartwatch is expected to launch later this year, likely alongside the Pixel 10 series. We don’t have too many concrete details regarding specs, but reports have indicated that it will include a new chipset. The Pixel Watch 3 uses a Snapdragon W5 Gen 1. Some rumors have suggested that the company is developing an in-house Tensor chip for Pixel Watches, but that might not be ready until the Watch 5.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/the-pixel-watch-4-could-be-thicker-and-offer-wireless-charging-164555210.html?src=rss 

GPT-4, OpenAI’s first big upgrade to ChatGPT months after unleashing it on the world, is on its way out. A changelog the company published on Thursday said the model will be retired from ChatGPT on April 30. GPT-4o, which has been available since last May, will fully replace it.

Despite GPT-4’s significance in modern AI’s brief but world-changing history, its sunsetting isn’t a great loss for customers. OpenAI says GPT-4o improves on it in writing, coding and STEM. Recent upgrades have boosted the newer model further, enhancing its instruction following, problem-solving and conversational flow. The company describes the multimodal GPT-4o as the “natural successor” to the soon-to-be-retired GPT-4.

Despite its upcoming removal from ChatGPT, API users will still be able to access GPT-4 after April 30.

The announcement comes as OpenAI reportedly prepares a slew of new models for launch. Reverse engineer Tibor Blaho posted images on Friday (via TechCrunch) that seemingly confirm that o3, o4-mini and GPT-4.1 (including nano and mini offshoots) models are in the pipeline. In February, the company introduced a research preview of GPT-4.5, a better, more natural conversationalist that will serve as a stepping stone to GPT-5.

OpenAI’s release notes included a nod to the role GPT-4 played in the company’s development. “GPT‑4 marked a pivotal moment in ChatGPT’s evolution,” the notes read. “We’re grateful for the breakthroughs it enabled and for the feedback that helped shape its successor. GPT‑4o builds on that foundation to deliver even greater capability, consistency and creativity.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-prepares-to-send-gpt-4-out-to-pasture-163643868.html?src=rss 

Maybe you’re in a position where you suddenly need a new laptop to see you through the rest of the school year. Perhaps you’ve got a bigger tax return than expected and you want to treat yourself. Or it may be that you’re a long-time Windows user and fancy a change. Whatever reason you might have for being interested in a MacBook Air, we’ve got another one. The M4 MacBook Air is back on sale for $949. That’s $50 or five percent off.

That deal is available for the sky blue and starlight colorways of Apple’s laptop. But there’s not terrible news if you prefer the midnight (black) look — that variant will run you just $5 more at $954.

This deal is for the base model of the M4 MacBook Air. It’s a 13-inch laptop with 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage.

The M4 MacBook Air arrived several weeks ago and it instantly became our top picks for both the best MacBook overall and the best laptop for most people, supplanting the previous model in both categories. We gave it a score of 92 in our review.

We appreciated the light and thin design, excellent keyboard and touchpad, fast performance and the terrific battery life. The 13-inch model we tested (and the one that’s on sale here) ran for 18 hours and 15 minutes while playing HD video. Our only real qualms with the M4 MacBook Air are that it could use more ports and the display (while otherwise great) has a relatively paltry refresh rate of 60Hz.

One of the best things about the M4 MacBook Air is that Apple actually lowered the starting price for this generation of the laptop to $999 from $1,099 for the M3. That’s a very welcome change. The current $50 (or $45) discount makes things even sweeter.

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-apple-m4-macbook-air-is-back-on-sale-for-50-off-143801604.html?src=rss 

WhatsApp just rolled out a dozen new features. Most of these are small, but they add up to a fairly substantial software update. Let’s go over some of the more notable additions.

Chats now allow for tappable reactions, which is basically like adding a thumbs up to someone else’s reaction. Group chats feature an indicator that lets users know how many people are actually online. This will be right underneath the group name. Solo conversations now offer the ability to create an event, complete with an RSVP mechanic. This event can also be pinned in the chat.

There are a couple of chat tools just for iPhone users, including the ability to scan and send documents directly from the app. Users can also now set WhatsApp as the default messaging and calling app on iPhones.

Calls finally have their own dedicated tab, which is where folks go to make calls, share call links and manage their history. Users can also add someone from a video call directly from a chat thread. Video calls now offer a pinch to zoom feature, but only on iPhones. WhatsApp also says it has updated its technology for smoother video calls.

Channel admins can now record and share short videos with followers and there are voice message transcripts available on the Channels tab. Finally, admins can share QR codes that link directly to the channel.

WhatsApp says that more features and updates are on the way, so we’ll let you know when new stuff drops. The app has been busy lately. It’s been testing reply threads and has finally added a long-requested drafts feature.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/whatsapp-just-got-a-bunch-of-new-features-including-document-scanning-151607441.html?src=rss 

The next time you conclude a conversation with ChatGPT, it will save what you said to memory, even if you don’t ask it explicitly to do so. “We have greatly improved memory in chatgpt — it can now reference all your past conversations!” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote on Thursday in an X post spotted by The Verge. “This is a surprisingly great feature imo, and it points at something we are excited about: ai systems that get to know you over your life, and become extremely useful and personalized.”

OpenAI has been working on improving ChatGPT’s memory since 2023 when the company began testing custom instructions, a feature that allows users to set preferences that ChatGPT will consider in future conversations. For example, you can tell the chat bot you have a family of four, and it will remember that detail when you ask for it dinner recipes. At the start of last year, OpenAI began allowing users to tell ChatGPT to remember specific details from chats. With this latest update, ChatGPT will remember both you tell it to and insights it gleans from your conversations. 

“The more you use ChatGPT, the more useful it becomes. New conversations build upon what it already knows about you to make smoother, more tailored interactions over time,” OpenAI says of the feature. The company is currently rolling out the update to users of its $200 per month Pro plan and $20 per month Plus tier. Team, Enterprise and Edu users can expect to gain access “in a few weeks.” OpenAI did not say when it would roll out the update to free users. 

If you don’t want ChatGPT to save your conversations with it, you can disable the feature through the settings menu. “If you’ve already opted out of memory, ChatGPT won’t reference past conversations by default,” says OpenAI. You can also use the Temporary Chat feature on a case by case basis for conversations you don’t want ChatGPT to save to memory. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/chatgpt-can-now-remember-all-your-past-conversations-134642785.html?src=rss 

When Nintendo launched the Switch 2, it also revealed that it was going release upgraded versions of several existing Switch games, including both Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. It also revealed that games for the upcoming console will cost you more than what you’re usually paying for games now. If you were hoping that the $70 price tag for the upgraded Breath of the Wild will at least include its DLC Expansion Pack, though, you’re unfortunately out of luck. The company has told IGN that you will have to pay an extra $20 for the game’s DLC season pass. 

“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition does not include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass DLC. That DLC is available as a separate purchase,” a spokesperson told the publication. 

To be clear, you don’t have to buy the new version if you don’t want to. The Switch 2 has backwards compatibility, and you can play your old copy of the game if you still have it — it was released way back in 2017 — and its DLC at no additional cost. If you own a copy for the first Switch and want to enjoy the new version’s enhanced framerates and resolution, as well as HDR support, you can purchase an upgrade pack for $10. But if you’re buying the Switch 2 version new, then you’ll have to be prepared to pay $90 to get the base game and its DLC.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-70-switch-2-version-of-breath-of-the-wild-wont-even-come-with-dlc-140032303.html?src=rss