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Submission + - Amazon CEO Wants To Put Ads In Your Alexa+ Conversations (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy sees an opportunity to deliver ads to users during their conversations with the company’s AI-powered digital assistant, Alexa+, he said during Amazon’s second-quarter earnings call Thursday. “People are excited about the devices that they can buy from us that has Alexa+ enabled in it. People do a lot of shopping [with Alexa+]; it’s a delightful shopping experience that will keep getting better,” said Jassy on the call with investors and Wall Street analysts. “I think over time, there will be opportunities, as people are engaging in more multi-turn conversations, to have advertising play a role to help people find discovery, and also as a lever to drive revenue.”

[...] Amazon has made Alexa+ free for Prime customers (who pay $14.99 a month) and added a $20-a-month subscription tier for Alexa+ on its own. Jassy suggested on Thursday that Alexa+ could eventually include subscription tiers beyond what’s available today — perhaps an ad-free tier. Up until now, ads have only appeared in Alexa in limited ways. Users may occasionally see a visual ad on Amazon’s smart display device, the Echo Show, or hear a pre-recorded ad in between songs on one of Alexa’s smart speakers. But Jassy’s description of an AI-generated ad that Alexa+ delivers in a multistep conversation, which could help users find new products, is uncharted territory for Amazon and the broader tech industry. Marketers have expressed interest in advertising in AI chatbots, and specifically Alexa+, but exactly how remains unclear. [...] Jassy is betting that users will talk to Alexa+ more than Alexa, which could drive more advertising and more shopping on Amazon.com. However, early reviews of Alexa+ have been mixed. Amazon has reportedly struggled to ship some of Alexa+’s more complicated features, and the rollout has been slower than many expected.

There’s a lot to figure out before Amazon puts ads in Alexa+. Like most AI models, Alexa+ is not immune to hallucinations. Before advertisers agree to make Alexa+ a spokesperson for their products, Amazon may have to come up with some ways to ensure that its AI will not offer false advertising for a product. Jassy seems enthusiastic about making advertising a larger part of Amazon business. Amazon’s advertising revenue went up 22% in the second quarter, compared to the same period last year. Delivering ads in AI chatbot conversations may also raise privacy concerns. People tend to talk more with AI chatbots compared to deterministic assistants, like the traditional Alexa and Siri products. As a result, generative AI chatbots tend to collect more information on users. Some users might be unsettled by having that information sold to advertisers and having ads appear in their natural language conversations with AI.

Submission + - Skipping Over-The-Air Car Updates Could Be Costly (autoblog.com)

Submitted by Mr_Blank
Mr_Blank writes: Once a new OTA update becomes available, owners of GM vehicles have 45 days to install the update. After this date, the company will not cover any damages or issues that are caused by ignoring the update. “Damage resulting from failure to install over-the-air software updates is not covered,” states the warranty booklet for 2025 and 2026 models. This same rule applies to all GM’s brands in the USA: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC. However, if the software update itself causes any component damage, that will be covered by the warranty. Owners coming from older GM vehicles will have to adapt as the company continues to implement its Global B electronic architecture on newer models, which relies heavily on OTA updates. Similar policies appear in the owner's manual for Tesla. Software-defined vehicles are here to stay, even if some of them have far more tech glitches than they should—just ask Volvo.

Submission + - Peak Energy just shipped the US's first grid-scale sodium-ion battery (electrek.co)

Submitted by AmiMoJo
AmiMoJo writes: Peak Energy shipped out its first sodium-ion battery energy storage system, and the New York-based company says it’s achieved a first in three ways: the US’s first grid-scale sodium-ion battery storage system; the largest sodium-ion phosphate pyrophosphate (NFPP) battery system in the world; and the first megawatt-hour scale battery to run entirely on passive cooling – no fans, pumps, or vents.

That’s significant because removing moving parts and ditching active cooling systems eliminates fire risk. According to the Electric Power Research Institute, 89% of battery fires in the US trace back to thermal management issues. Peak’s design doesn’t have those issues because it doesn’t have those systems.

Instead, the 3.5 MWh system uses a patent-pending passive cooling architecture that’s simpler, more reliable, and cheaper to run and maintain. The company says its technology slashes auxiliary power needs by up to 90%, saves about $1 million annually per gigawatt hour of storage, and cuts battery degradation by 33% over a 20-year lifespan.

Submission + - Federal judge favor DEI advocates as AI hallucinations made-up case law

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: 'Never seen anything like this': Lawyers bewildered over federal judge's order rife with 'indisputable factual inaccuracies'

"The TRO Order identifies incorrect plaintiffs and defendants; recites allegations that do not appear in the operative complaint and/or are not supported by record evidence; identifies, as quoted excerpts, certain terms that do not appear in the language of [the state bill]; and relies upon the purported declaration testimony of four individuals whose declarations do not appear in the record for this case"

Submission + - For Sale: 1990 Airstream NASA 025 Command Vehicle (hemmings.com) 1

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Imagine pulling into Burning Man driving this?

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own your own NASA vehicle this is the NASA 025 command vehicle. NASA 025 was designed to land crewed missions at Edwards Air Force Base. It is the one and only of its kind ever built. Has only 8240 miles on it as driven from Ohio to California then around the Edwards base

As Edwards AFB is a massive dry lake bed space missions (both public and secret) would often land in remote areas of the base miles from the tower. This vehicle would be the onsite command center complete with communications and atmospheric monitoring.

Submission + - Proton Authenticator is open source 2FA app for Linux, Windows, Mac, and mobile (nerds.xyz)

Submitted by BrianFagioli
BrianFagioli writes: Proton has launched a brand-new two-factor authentication app! Called Proton Authenticator, this cross-platform app is designed to give users full control over their 2FA codes without the usual trade-offs like ads, trackers, or vendor lock-in.

These days, just having a strong password isnâ(TM)t enough. Hackers and data leaks are everywhere, and enabling 2FA is one of the easiest ways to protect your online accounts. While SMS-based 2FA is still common, itâ(TM)s risky. SIM-swapping attacks can render it useless. A proper authenticator app is far more secure because the codes are generated locally and constantly refresh.

What makes Proton Authenticator stand out is that itâ(TM)s not just another app slapped together with a pretty UI. Itâ(TM)s free, open source, and works across all major platforms⦠iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and yes, Linux too. As someone who uses multiple operating systems, I absolutely love the cross-platform support. And the fact that it doesnâ(TM)t cost a dime is a huge win for privacy-minded folks who are sick of being tracked or charged just to protect their data. I plan to use this personally going forward.

Submission + - SPAM: UK Users Need to Post Selfie or Photo ID to View Reddit's r/IsraelCrimes, r/Ukra 1

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Several Reddit communities dedicated to sharing news and media from conflicts around the world now require users in the UK to submit a photo ID or selfie in order to prove they are old enough to view “mature” content. The new age verification system is a result of the recently enacted Online Safety Act in the UK, which aims to protect children from certain types of content and hold platforms like Reddit accountable if they don’t.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - Visa and Mastercard Are Getting Overwhelmed By Gamer Fury Over Censorship (polygon.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In the wake of storefronts like Steam and itch.io curbing the sale of adult games, irate fans have started an organized campaign against the payment processors that they believe are responsible for the crackdown. While the movement is still in its early stages, people are mobilizing with an eye toward overwhelming communication lines at companies like Visa and Mastercard in a way that will make the concern impossible to ignore.

On social media sites like Reddit and Bluesky, people are urging one another to get into contact with Visa and Mastercard through emails and phone calls. Visa and Mastercard have become the targets of interest because the affected storefronts both say that their decisions around adult games were motivated by the danger of losing the ability to use major payment processors while selling games. These payment processors have their own rules regarding usage, but they are vaguely defined. But losing infrastructure like this could impact audiences well beyond those who care about sex games, spokespeople for Valve and itch.io said.

In a now-deleted post on the Steam subreddit with over 17,000 upvotes, commenters say that customer service representatives for both payment processors seem to already be aware of the problem. Sometimes, the representatives will say that they’ve gotten multiple calls on the subject of adult game censorship, but that they can’t really do anything about it. The folks applying pressure know that someone at a call center has limited power in a scenario like this one; typically, agents are equipped to handle standard customer issues like payment fraud or credit card loss. But the point isn’t to enact change through a specific phone call: It’s to cause enough disruption that the ruckus theoretically starts costing payment processors money.

“Emails can be ignored, but a very very long queue making it near impossible for other clients to get in will help a lot as well,” reads the top comment on the Reddit thread. In that same thread, people say that they’re hanging onto the call even if the operator says that they’ll experience multi-hour wait times presumably caused by similar calls gunking up the lines. Beyond the stubbornness factor, the tactic is motivated by the knowledge that most customer service systems will put people who opt for call-backs in a lower priority queue, as anyone who opts in likely doesn’t have an emergency going on. “Do both,” one commenter suggests. “Get the call back, to gum up the call back queue. Then call in again and wait to gum up the live queue.” People are also using email to voice their concerns directly to the executives at both Visa and Mastercard, payment processors that activist group Collective Shout called out by name in their open letter requesting that adult games get pulled. Emails are also getting sent to customer service.

Submission + - OpenAI's ChatGPT Agent Casually Clicks Through 'I am Not a Robot' Test (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: On Friday, OpenAI's new ChatGPT Agent, which can perform multistep tasks for users, proved it can pass through one of the Internet's most common security checkpoints by clicking Cloudflare's anti-bot verification—the same checkbox that's supposed to keep automated programs like itself at bay.

ChatGPT Agent is a feature that allows OpenAI's AI assistant to control its own web browser, operating within a sandboxed environment with its own virtual operating system and browser that can access the real Internet. Users can watch the AI's actions through a window in the ChatGPT interface, maintaining oversight while the agent completes tasks. The system requires user permission before taking actions with real-world consequences, such as making purchases. Recently, Reddit users discovered the agent could do something particularly ironic.

The evidence came from Reddit, where a user named "logkn" of the r/OpenAI community posted screenshots of the AI agent effortlessly clicking through the screening step before it would otherwise present a CAPTCHA (short for "Completely Automated Public Turing tests to tell Computers and Humans Apart") while completing a video conversion task—narrating its own process as it went. The screenshots shared on Reddit capture the agent navigating a two-step verification process: first clicking the "Verify you are human" checkbox, then proceeding to click a "Convert" button after the Cloudflare challenge succeeds. The agent provides real-time narration of its actions, stating "The link is inserted, so now I'll click the 'Verify you are human' checkbox to complete the verification on Cloudflare. This step is necessary to prove I'm not a bot and proceed with the action."

Submission + - SPAM: Distorted sound of the early universe suggests we are living in a giant void

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Hubble tension might be due to our location within a large void. That's because the sparse amount of matter in the void would be gravitationally attracted to the more dense matter outside it, continuously flowing out of the void.

In previous research, we showed that this flow would make it look like the local universe is expanding about 10% faster than expected. That would solve the Hubble tension.
Link to Original Source

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