December 20, 2024

Pairing live support with accurate AI outputs

A live agent spends hours each week manually documenting routine interactions. Another combs through multiple knowledge bases to find the right solution, scrambling to piece it together while the customer waits on hold. A third types out the same response they’ve written dozens of times before. These repetitive tasks can be draining, leaving less time…

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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OneScreen.ai brings startup ads to billboards and NYC’s subway

May 31, 2024

When Alex Ewing was a kid growing up in Purcell, Oklahoma, he knew how close he was to home based on which billboards he could see out the car window. Now, as the CEO of OneScreen.ai, he’s helping startups like fintech Ramp and technical recruiter Karat advertise on billboards and beyond. “I think billboards are […]

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SpaceX sent Starship to orbit — the next launch will try to bring it back

May 30, 2024

SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket could take to the skies for the fourth time on June 5, with the primary objective of evaluating the second stage’s reusable heat shield as the vehicle tries to safely reenter the atmosphere for the first time. CEO Elon Musk“ said on his social media platform X that “There are many […]

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