Students adapt smart glasses to identify strangers on the street, Open AI raises $6.6 billion
Two students have made a pair of smart glasses with facial recognition technology to discover the private information of strangers. In a video demonstration, one of the Harvard students is shown using the technology to quickly discover details about the woman sitting near him at a train station in Boston. “Wait, are you Betsy?” he asks her. Betsy is a complete stranger and he hasn’t heard of her until seconds before. Sky News
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— AnhPhu Nguyen (@AnhPhuNguyen1) September 30, 2024
OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has raised $6.6bn in its latest funding round, as investors including its early backer Microsoft continue to bet big on artificial intelligence (AI). The deal gave the tech company a value of $157bn (£118bn) – similar to investment bank Goldman Sachs and more than most of America’s biggest companies – making it one of the most valuable start-ups in the world. OpenAI said the money would allow it to stay at the cutting edge of AI research. BBC
Oura on Thursday unveiled the fourth generation of its popular smart ring. The Oura Ring 4 arrives just under three years after its predecessor’s debut. Despite the gap, the new wearable largely refines — rather than reinvents — the experience. The most notable hardware change is the slimmer profile, an odd thing to say about what was already an extremely compact device. The big difference is found on the inside of the ring, as the formerly raised sensors are now recessed, creating a more consistent — and, hopefully, comfortable — experience. Tech Crunch
World leaders at the next AI summit will focus on the impact on the environment and jobs, including the possibility of ranking the greenest AI companies, it has been announced. Rating artificial intelligence companies in terms of their ecological impact is among the proposals under consideration, while other areas being looked at include the effect on the labour market, giving all countries access to the technology, and bringing more states under the wing of global AI governance initiatives. France will host the next global summit on 10 and 11 February. The Guardian
WhatsApp has announced it is rolling out new filters and backgrounds for users to personalize their video calls. The popular chat platform said the new effects are designed to make video conversations “more engaging” and give them a “more personal touch.”
The update includes 10 filters and 10 backgrounds that users can apply to improve their video calling experience. Filters range from classic options like “Black & White” and “Vintage TV” to more artistic effects such as “Light leak” and “Prism light.” MacRumors
A new initiative at Microsoft looks to address ‘pain points’ with developers, specifically calling out to those who have skipped Xbox for other platforms. With Xbox firmly behind PlayStation and Nintendo in the current console race, it’s perhaps not surprising that some multi-platform games have delayed Xbox ports to a later date, or in some cases, skipped the console entirely. The reality, however, appears to be more complicated than just sales. As seen with Black Myth: Wukong, it’s sometimes unclear why games are held back months before arriving on Xbox. Metro
