Musk changes tune on EV tariffs, Google’s AI Overviews tells people to eat rocks!
Tesla boss Elon Musk says he opposes US tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), just days after President Joe Biden quadrupled levies on EVs imported from China. “Neither Tesla nor I asked for these tariffs”, the multi-billionaire told a technology conference in Paris via video link. Mr Musk’s comments are at odds with a warning he made in January that Chinese car makers would “demolish” competitors from other countries if there were no trade barriers. Last week, the White House said new measures, including a 100% tariff on EVs from China, were a response to unfair policies and intended to protect US jobs. BBC
The family of Michael Schumacher have won their legal action against the publisher of a magazine that printed an artificial intelligence-generated interview with the multiple Formula One champion. The German celebrity magazine Die Aktuelle promoted on its cover in April 2023 the words: “Michael Schumacher, the first interview!” It also wrote “it sounds deceptively real”, with the supposed quotes attributed to Schumacher generated by AI. Sabine Kehm, the family spokesperson, told the Associated Press by email on Thursday that legal action was successful. Guardian
Google’s artificial intelligence-powered search results have claimed that Barack Obama is a Muslim and told people to eat rocks, in the latest high-profile case of the company’s AI systems misfiring. Users of the search engine’s new “AI overviews” have shared multiple examples of the new feature displaying incorrect or potentially dangerous examples, days into its launch. In one case, the AI claimed that Mr Obama was America’s only Muslim president. In others it told people to put glue on pizza if cheese does not stick to the base and said it was healthy to eat one rock a day. Telegraph
UK scientists have discovered a new planet that could potentially support human life and it isn’t that far away… relatively speaking. The temperature on Gliese 12b is around 42C which means it could be liveable. In fact, it is one of the few known planets where humans could theoretically survive. “It’d be uncomfortable for a human but the way we define ‘habitability’ is that liquid water could exist on the surface of the planet, which in this case it could,” says Larissa Palethorpe from University of Edinburgh. Sky News
Rumors started circulating earlier this year claiming Amazon was working on improving Alexa by giving it new generative AI features. Since then, we haven’t heard much about it until very recently when CNBC spoke to people familiar with the project’s development . They didn’t reveal exactly what the AI will be able to do, but they did mention the tech giant’s goals. Amazon wants its developers to create something “that holds up amid the new AI competition,” referring to the likes of ChatGPT. Tech Radar
More details have emerged about the MacBook-like foldable Apple has supposedly been working on. A new report from Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimates that Apple could ship more than 1 million devices with a 20-inch folding display in 2026, a shift from his previous projection that it would start shipping in 2027. Even though past rumors suggest that Apple will go with a 20-inch display, Kuo says that Apple is also considering an 18.8-inch panel. The Verge
