The Download: Google’s AI Overviews nightmare, and improving search and rescue drones

May 31, 2024
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Why Google’s AI Overviews gets things wrong When Google announced it was rolling out its artificial intelligence-powered search feature earlier this month, the company promised that “Google will do the googling for you.”The…

Spain bans Meta from launching election features on Facebook, Instagram over privacy fears

May 31, 2024

Meta has been banned from launching features on Facebook and Instagram that would have collected data on voters in Spain using the social networks ahead of next month’s European Elections. The local data protection authority, the AEPD, has used emergency powers to protect local users’ privacy. Meta confirmed to TechCrunch it has complied with the […]

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Stripe curbs India ambitions over regulatory changes

May 31, 2024

Stripe, the global fintech giant, said on Friday that it will temporarily move to an invite-only model for new account sign-ups in India, “a tough decision” it is making as it navigates the country’s evolving regulatory landscape. In a statement posted on its website, Stripe said that businesses in India will no longer be able […]

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Why are Google’s AI Overviews results so bad?

May 31, 2024
MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more here. When Google announced it was rolling out its artificial intelligence-powered search feature earlier this month, the company promised that “Google will do the googling for you.” The new feature,…

What’s next for bird flu vaccines

May 31, 2024
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.  Here in the US, bird flu has now infected cows in nine states, millions of chickens, and—as of last week—a second dairy worker. There’s no indication that the…

Voice cloning of political figures is still easy as pie

May 31, 2024

The 2024 election is likely to be the first in which faked audio and video of candidates is a serious factor. As campaigns warm up, voters should be aware: voice clones of major political figures, from the President on down, get very little pushback from AI companies, as a new study demonstrates. The Center for […]

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