Tag • #google

chevron_right

OpenAI drops login requirements for ChatGPT’s free version

news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Monday, 1 April - 22:31 · 1 minute

Enlarge (credit: Benj Edwards)

On Monday, OpenAI announced that visitors to the ChatGPT website in some regions can now use the AI assistant without signing in. Previously, the company required that users create an account to use it, even with the free version of ChatGPT that is currently powered by the GPT-3.5 AI language model. But as we have noted in the past , GPT-3.5 is widely known to provide more inaccurate information compared to GPT-4 Turbo , available in paid versions of ChatGPT.

Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT has transformed over time from a tech demo to a comprehensive AI assistant, and it's always had a free version available. The cost is free because " you're the product ," as the old saying goes. Using ChatGPT helps OpenAI gather data that will help the company train future AI models, although free users and ChatGPT Plus subscription members can both opt out of allowing the data they input into ChatGPT to be used for AI training. (OpenAI says it never trains on inputs from ChatGPT Team and Enterprise members at all).

Opening ChatGPT to everyone could provide a frictionless on-ramp for people who might use it as a substitute for Google Search or potentially gain new customers by providing an easy way for people to use ChatGPT quickly, then offering an upsell to paid versions of the service.

Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

chevron_right

Google to destroy billions of private browsing records to settle lawsuit

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Monday, 1 April - 20:54

Suit claimed tech giant tracked activity of people who thought they were privately using its Chrome browser’s incognito mode

Google agreed to destroy billions of records to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked the internet use of people who thought they were browsing privately in its Chrome browser’s incognito mode.

Users alleged that Google’s analytics, cookies and apps let the Alphabet unit improperly track people who set Google’s Chrome browser to “incognito” mode and other browsers to “private” browsing mode.

chevron_right

Google agrees to delete Incognito data despite prior claim that’s “impossible”

news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Monday, 1 April - 19:11

Google agrees to delete Incognito data despite prior claim that’s “impossible”

Enlarge (credit: Anadolu / Contributor | Anadolu )

To settle a class-action dispute over Chrome's "Incognito" mode , Google has agreed to delete billions of data records reflecting users' private browsing activities.

In a statement provided to Ars, users' lawyer, David Boies, described the settlement as "a historic step in requiring honesty and accountability from dominant technology companies." Based on Google's insights, users' lawyers valued the settlement between $4.75 billion and $7.8 billion, the Monday court filing said.

Under the settlement, Google agreed to delete class-action members' private browsing data collected in the past, as well as to "maintain a change to Incognito mode that enables Incognito users to block third-party cookies by default." This, plaintiffs' lawyers noted, "ensures additional privacy for Incognito users going forward, while limiting the amount of data Google collects from them" over the next five years. Plaintiffs' lawyers said that this means that "Google will collect less data from users’ private browsing sessions" and "Google will make less money from the data."

Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

chevron_right

Wearable AI: will it put our smartphones out of fashion?

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 31 March - 11:00 · 1 minute

Portable AI-powered devices that connect directly to a chatbot without the need for apps or a touchscreen are set to hit the market. Are they the emperor’s new clothes or a gamechanger?

Imagine it: you’re on the bus or walking in the park, when you remember some important task has slipped your mind. You were meant to send an email, catch up on a meeting, or arrange to grab lunch with a friend. Without missing a beat, you simply say aloud what you’ve forgotten and the small device that’s pinned to your chest, or resting on the bridge of your nose, sends the message, summarises the meeting, or pings your buddy a lunch invitation. The work has been taken care of, without you ever having to prod the screen of your smartphone.

It’s the sort of utopian convenience that a growing wave of tech companies are hoping to realise through artificial intelligence. Generative AI chatbots such as ChatGPT exploded in popularity last year, as search engines like Google, messaging apps such as Slack and social media services like Snapchat raced to integrate the tech into their systems. Yet while AI add-ons have become a familiar sight across apps and software, the same generative tech is now making an attempt to join the realm of hardware, as the first AI-powered consumer devices rear their heads and jostle for space with our smartphones.

chevron_right

Power grab: the hidden costs of Ireland’s datacentre boom – podcast

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Friday, 29 March - 05:00

Datacentres are part of Ireland’s vision of itself as a tech hub. There are now more than 80, using vast amounts of electricity. Have we entrusted our memories to a system that might destroy them? By Jessica Traynor

chevron_right

Facebook secretly spied on Snapchat usage to confuse advertisers, court docs say

news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Wednesday, 27 March - 20:25

Facebook secretly spied on Snapchat usage to confuse advertisers, court docs say

Enlarge (credit: NurPhoto / Contributor | NurPhoto )

Unsealed court documents have revealed more details about a secret Facebook project initially called "Ghostbusters," designed to sneakily access encrypted Snapchat usage data to give Facebook a leg up on its rival, just when Snapchat was experiencing rapid growth in 2016.

The documents were filed in a class-action lawsuit from consumers and advertisers, accusing Meta of anticompetitive behavior that blocks rivals from competing in the social media ads market.

"Whenever someone asks a question about Snapchat, the answer is usually that because their traffic is encrypted, we have no analytics about them," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (who has since rebranded his company as Meta) wrote in a 2016 email to Javier Olivan.

Read 18 remaining paragraphs | Comments

chevron_right

When a tenner bought you Biba and a shared bedroom | Brief letters

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 27 March - 18:35

Biba secretary types in | Affordable festivals | Questionable internet searches | Who to vote for | Spurs fans spread out

I was that secretary who earned £10 a week ( Microminis, Twiggy and flamingos: the ‘fabulous’ story of Biba, 22 March ). I bought those £3 dresses and had just enough to pay my rent in a shared bedroom in, at that time, unfashionable Notting Hill Gate. The material was often thick and the armholes tight, so you could only wear the dresses a few times before buying another one. Dry cleaning was too expensive. I still have a few Biba pieces.
Lynn Wiseman
Lewes, East Sussex

• Every year you do an excellent festival guide . But almost every year you miss out the country’s most affordable, family-friendly, beautifully sited one. Purbeck Valley folk festival has dance, crafts, fancy dress, therapies, choir, storytelling, pyrotechnics and four days of the best music.
Moira Nunn
Bristol

chevron_right

Google’s Pixel 9 might have three models, adding a small “Pro” phone

news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Wednesday, 27 March - 18:32 · 1 minute

OnLeak's renders of the <a href='https://www.mysmartprice.com/gear/pixel-9-pro-5k-renders-360-degree-video-exclusive/'>Pixel 9 Pro XL</a>, the <a href='https://www.91mobiles.com/hub/google-pixel-9-design-render-exclusive/'>Pixel 9 Pro</a>, and the <a href = 'https://www.91mobiles.com/hub/google-pixel-9-renders-design-exclusive/'>Pixel 9.</a>

Enlarge / OnLeak's renders of the Pixel 9 Pro XL , the Pixel 9 Pro , and the Pixel 9. (credit: OnLeaks / 91Mobiles / MySmartPrice)

When renders of the Pixel 9 came out in January from OnLeaks, we got our first hints that a big change in Google's lineup was afoot. Usually, the company does a big "Pro" phone with three cameras and all the premium features and then a smaller Pixel that gets cut down somewhat, usually with only two cameras. Those January renders showed a big and small phone both with three cameras, indicating the base model Pixel 9 was getting updated to be a "mini-Pro" model—a smaller phone, but still with all the trimmings. The small Pro model still seems to be in the works, but apparently, that's not the base model.

The new render from OnLeaks and 91Mobiles shows a third Pixel 9. This one is the usual cut-down small model with only two cameras. Apparently, the lineup would now be a 6.8-inch "Pixel 9 Pro XL," a "Pixel 9 Pro" at 6.1 inches, and a "Pixel 9" at 6.0 inches.

The base model's design looks just like the other Pixel 9 leaks. The camera bar takes on a new rounded pill shape. The sides switch to a flat metal band, like an iPhone 4/15. The corners of the display and phone body are much more rounded.

Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

chevron_right

Meta and Google accused of restricting reproductive health information

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 27 March - 14:41

Report claims posts on abortion and contraception have been deleted while misinformation on the feeds of social media users in Africa, Latin America and Asia has not been tackled

Meta and Google are accused in a new report of obstructing information on abortion and reproductive healthcare across Africa, Latin America and Asia.

MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes International) and the Center for Countering Digital Hate claim the platforms are restricting local abortion providers from advertising, but failing to tackle misinformation that undermines public access to reproductive healthcare.