The swift growth of artificial intelligence technology could put the future of humanity at risk, according to most Americans surveyed in a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday. From the report: More than two-thirds of Americans are concerned about the negative effects of AI and 61% believe it could threaten civilization. [...] The Reuters/Ipsos poll found that the number of Americans who foresee adverse outcomes from AI is triple the number of those who don't. According to the data, 61% of respondents believe that AI poses risks to humanity, while only 22% disagreed, and 17% remained unsure.

Designers are using Unreal Engine to create virtual renditions of architectural projects that were never fully realized, such as the Hillside Sample Project by Neoscape and Safdie Architects, showcasing Moshe Safdie's original vision for Montreal's Habitat 67 housing complex. The interactive 3D models offer exceptional detail of the structures and highlight the potential of real-time 3D renditions for pitching architectural concepts. Engadget reports: A young Safdie designed Habitat 67 for Montreal's 1967 World's Fair, also known as Expo 67. It was meant to combine the advantages of suburbia (such as gardens and multi-level housing) with the affordability and density of apartments. The affordability didn't pan out, and Safdie ended up producing a smaller-scale version for the fair. Habitat 67 ultimately launched Safdie's career, though, and it's still one of the better-known landmarks in the city.

You have a few options for exploring the complex. You can watch a video if you just want a quick overview, but you can also navigate a 3D space using either Google Chrome or a downloadable app. The interactive models let you either roam freely or have Safdie guide you through the project with narration at key points.

Google mistakenly released a test version of its Personal Safety app that includes a new feature called "Dashcam" on select Android devices. As the name suggests, it allows users to record video and audio while driving in the event of an accident or unexpected situation, with automatic recording triggered when connecting to a specific Bluetooth device and videos automatically deleted after three days unless saved. 9to5Google reports: Once available, the feature can be launched through a new "Dashcam" shortcut in the "Be prepared" section of the home page. Here, you can begin recording manually or view your recent videos. While Dashcam is recording, your phone is still fully usable, including for navigating with Google Maps. Alternatively, you can save power by locking your screen, and the recording will continue. More importantly, Google has built this feature to work without you needing to think much about it. When setting up, you can choose to have recordings begin automatically when you connect to a particular Bluetooth device (e.g., your car stereo or infotainment system) and end when you disconnect.

To conserve storage space, your recordings are automatically deleted after three days unless you save them. Additionally, the app says that the videos themselves are compressed, averaging "30 MB per minute," with a maximum recording length of 24 hours. Overall, this feature seems to be impressively well thought out and looks essentially ready to launch. Using a smartphone as a dashcam also makes quite a bit of sense, as your phone probably has a better camera than some cheaper dashcams would offer. It's unclear if this feature will be available on other phones with Google's Personal Safety or exclusive to Pixel phones.

Montana is now the first U.S. state to ban TikTok after Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed legislation to ban the app from operating in the state. Reuters reports: Montana will make it unlawful for Google and Apple's app stores to offer the TikTok app within its borders. The ban takes effect Jan. 1, 2024. TikTok, which has over 150 million American users, is facing growing calls from U.S. lawmakers and state officials to ban the app nationwide over concerns about potential Chinese government influence over the platform. Gov. Gianforte, a Republican, said the bill will further "our shared priority to protect Montanans from Chinese Communist Party surveillance."

Montana, which has a population of just over 1 million people, said TikTok could face fines for each violation and additional fines of $10,000 per day if they violate the ban. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2024. The ban will likely face numerous legal challenges that it violates the First Amendment free speech rights of users. An attempt by then President Donald Trump to ban new downloads of TikTok and WeChat through a Commerce Department order in 2020 was blocked by multiple courts and never took effect. The legislation that Gianforte signed also generally prohibits "the use of all social media applications that collect and provide personal information or data to foreign adversaries on government-issued devices," adds Reuters.

It's unclear if the bill signed today would effectively ban all social media in Montana, since most social media networks collect such information and share it with entities in foreign countries.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Hey, did you hear? Verizon has incredibly, out of the goodness of its heart, revealed new phone plans that don't include "bloated" service bundles. How thoughtful! There's just one catch: they're kinda less expensive, except not really, because things that used to be included are now an extra $10 per month each.

On the surface, the new plans sound simpler than the current Get More, Play More, etc. There are two options -- an expensive one and a bit less expensive one -- and you add the extra services you want, like the Disney / Hulu bundle or Apple Music Family a la carte. That's nice in theory, but if you're switching from one of the current unlimited plans, it's very likely you'll need to pay more if you want the same things you used to get included in your monthly rate. [...] On top of all that, these plans are just plain confusing. There's an old plan called "Welcome Unlimited" and a new plan called "Unlimited Welcome." Great, makes perfect sense. Also, Verizon is still playing its cute little game of not including "Ultra Wideband" mid-band 5G on its lower-tier plan, only the much slower "Nationwide" version, which is largely just LTE dressed up as 5G.

Big tech companies accounting for more than 5% of a telecoms provider's peak average internet traffic should help fund the rollout of 5G and broadband across Europe, according to a draft proposal by the telecoms industry. From a report: The proposal is part of feedback to the European Commission which launched a consultation into the issue in February. The deadline for responses is Friday. Alphabet's Google, Apple, Facebook-owner Meta, Amazon, Netflix and TikTok would most likely be hit with fees, according to industry estimates. Google, Apple, Meta, Netflix, Amazon and Microsoft together account for more than half of data internet traffic.

The document, which was reviewed by Reuters and has not been published, was compiled by telecoms lobbying groups GSMA and ETNO. They represent 160 operators in Europe, including Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Telecom Italia. Telecom operators have lobbied for years for leading technology companies to help foot the bill for 5G and broadband roll-out, saying that they create a huge part of the region's internet traffic. This is the first time they have tried to define a threshold for who should pay.

About 80 percent of new cars sold in Norway are battery-powered. As a result, the air is cleaner, the streets are quieter and the grid hasn't collapsed. The New York Times: Last year, 80 percent of new-car sales in Norway were electric, putting the country at the vanguard of the shift to battery-powered mobility. It has also turned Norway into an observatory for figuring out what the electric vehicle revolution might mean for the environment, workers and life in general. The country will end the sales of internal combustion engine cars in 2025. Norway's experience suggests that electric vehicles bring benefits without the dire consequences predicted by some critics. There are problems, of course, including unreliable chargers and long waits during periods of high demand. Auto dealers and retailers have had to adapt. The switch has reordered the auto industry, making Tesla the best-selling brand and marginalizing established carmakers like Renault and Fiat.

But the air in Oslo, Norway's capital, is measurably cleaner. The city is also quieter as noisier gasoline and diesel vehicles are scrapped. Oslo's greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 30 percent since 2009, yet there has not been mass unemployment among gas station workers and the electrical grid has not collapsed. Some lawmakers and corporate executives portray the fight against climate change as requiring grim sacrifice. "With E.V.s, it's not like that," said Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian E.V. Association, which represents owners. "It's actually something that people embrace." Norway began promoting electric vehicles in the 1990s to support Think, a homegrown electric vehicle start-up that Ford Motor owned for a few years. Battery-powered vehicles were exempted from value-added and import taxes and from highway tolls. The government also subsidized the construction of fast charging stations, crucial in a country nearly as big as California with just 5.5 million people. The combination of incentives and ubiquitous charging "took away all the friction factors," said Jim Rowan, the chief executive of Volvo Cars, based in neighboring Sweden. The policies put Norway more than a decade ahead of the United States. The Biden administration aims for 50 percent of new-vehicle sales to be electric by 2030, a milestone Norway passed in 2019.

IBM and Google are giving $150 million for quantum-computing research at the University of Chicago and the University of Tokyo as the U.S. and Japan try to stay ahead of a fast-rising China. From a report: Quantum computers are a hot area of research because they could help solve problems that classical computers alone can't, such as modeling how a drug molecule interacts with the body's proteins or how batteries work at an atomic scale. China has invested heavily in quantum computing, which also has possible military applications in cryptology and materials for weapons. U.S. researchers said Chinese laboratories have shown progress recently -- often touted in state media -- and are competitive in some areas. However, quantum-computing specialists say more basic study is needed before anyone can be sure the technology delivers real-world benefits.

The U.S.-Japan partnership is an example of how scientific research with implications for security and economic growth is increasingly split between China and a U.S.-led camp that includes allies such as Japan and Western European nations. "We have to count on our allies more for primary research," said Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan. Until recently, he said, the U.S. was too lax in allowing Chinese students to work at American universities in advanced scientific fields. "We were funding them. We were not only funding them, we were training them, educating them to come back and compete against us," he said.

Amazon introduced an updated slate of Echo devices and pledged to bring ChatGPT-style artificial intelligence to Alexa-powered gadgets. From a report: For more than a year the digital assistant has been using a home-built set of large language models -- the foundational networks that enable ChatGPT and rival technologies -- to help summarize text gathered from the web and make Alexa more conversant in various languages, Dave Limp, Amazon's senior vice president of Devices & Services, said in an interview. New, more conversational capabilities will "roll out incrementally," he said. "It's not years away, but there are some things that we have to solve." Amazon on Wednesday announced four updated Alexa devices:

The Echo Pop, which takes the company's spherical, fabric-covered Echo Dot smart speaker and slices it in half. The semi-spherical device, which sells for $40, comes with technology borrowed from Amazon's eero router subsidiary that can extend the range of home Wi-Fi

A revamped Echo Show 5, which pairs Alexa with a 5-inch screen. Amazon says the $90 speaker is 20% faster than the prior generation and has clearer sound.

An updated edition of the Echo Show 5 Kids comes with a year of Amazon's Kids+ subscription with age-appropriate audiobooks, videos and games. It will sell for $100.

A new version of Amazon's Echo Buds loses the noise-cancelling feature of previous editions, but, at $50, comes in at less than half the price. The buds let users listen to music and summon Alexa on the go.

According to S&P Global Mobility, the average age of light vehicles on the road in the U.S. is now at an all-time high of 12.5 years, up three months from 2022. Two decades ago, their average was 9.7 years. Axios reports: The impact: The transition from gas to electric cars will take decades.

It'll likely take until at least 2050 -- and possibly longer -- before most gas-powered cars are off the road, Campau says.

Of note: EV longevity is going in the opposite direction. Their average age fell from 3.7 years in 2022 to 3.6 years in 2023, in part due to an upswing in new purchases.

By the numbers: About 6.6% of battery-powered EVs bought between 2013-2022 have left the passenger fleet, compared with 5.2% of non-EVs -- but [...] it's too early to know why. EVs generally come with an 8-year, 100,000-mile warranty -- but early evidence suggests they last longer than that, according to an analysis by Recurrent, which tracks battery data. Carmakers say electric cars should last 15 to 20 years, but modern EVs haven't been around long enough to validate that claim. The report projects that there will be fewer than 100 million passenger cars on the road within the next 18-24 months -- a low not seen since 1978. By 2028, at least 7 in 10 vehicles on the road will be pickups, SUVs or crossovers.

Apple has registered a wordmark for "xrOS" in New Zealand, the first time the company has indirectly revealed both the name of the operating system for its upcoming headset and the official font and styling that accompanies it. From a report: Spotted by Parker Ortolani, the xrOS wordmark registered with the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office shows that Apple will use its San Francisco typeface in xrOS marketing, just as it does for macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS. "xrOS" is meant to stand for "extended reality." Extended reality represents both the augmented and virtual reality functions the headset will support. The name was already confirmed by internal Apple sources last year via Bloomberg, and Apple has also been trademarking xrOS in several countries through a hidden shell company.

Alphabet's Google on Tuesday said it would delete accounts that had remained unused for two years starting December, in a bid to prevent security threats including hacks. From a report: The company said that if a Google account had not been used or signed into for at least two years, it might delete the account and content across Google Workspace, which includes Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet and Calendar, as well as YouTube and Google Photos. The policy change only applies to personal Google Accounts and not to those for organizations like schools or businesses. In 2020, Google had said it would remove content stored in an inactive account, but not delete the account itself. Starting Tuesday, Google will send multiple notifications to the account email address and recovery mail of the inactive accounts before deletion.

Vodafone said Tuesday it would cut 11,000 jobs over three years, as the telecom company unveiled a turnaround plan to revive its fortunes following years of poor performance. From a report: The job cuts would affect the firm's UK headquarters and operations in other countries, Vodafone added in a statement. "Our performance has not been good enough," CEO Margherita Della Valle said.

"We will simplify our organization, cutting out complexity to regain our competitiveness." Two decades ago, Vodafone was the world's biggest mobile telecom group, having bought Germany's Mannesmann in 2000 in the largest takeover in history. The deal was valued above $190 billion. But the company, which has businesses in 21 countries and partnership agreements with local operators in another 46 locations, has struggled to retain market share. Vodafone employs 104,000 people worldwide, according to its latest annual report. Apart from the United Kingdom, it is a major provider of mobile networks in Germany, Spain, Italy and parts of Africa.

Hasselblad is discontinuing its H-series medium format DSLRs to focus exclusively on mirrorless models. "The move leaves Pentax and Ricoh as the biggest remaining names in the rapidly diminishing DSLR space," notes Engadget. "Hasselblad's last H series launch was the H6D system in 2016." From the report: "While we have been feeling this sting for over the last 18 months with lack of product, today we received official notice that the full product line of the Hasselblad H system has been officially discontinued," Capture Integration wrote. "All [H system] products are now officially out of stock and Hasselblad will no longer take orders for anything in the H line." The article continued, "The H system is still very strong and working in so many studios today. However, it's time to look at replacements. We can't even order new battery grips today." The vendor notes that future repairs will likely take longer and grow in difficulty.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: One of the UK's leading gambling brands allegedly paid blogs advising new mothers to recommend its online casino games and link to its website, in a tactic that has been condemned as "predatory" by leading mental health and addiction experts. Coral struck deals with parenting bloggers to embed links in posts offering tips, including on how to relieve the stress of caring for a new baby. One post, ostensibly about baby food recipes, said: "If as a mum you can't leave the house, then why not consider bingo online? "You can click here to play Bingo online at Coral -- this momentary break from childcare can prove beneficial."

The Advertising Standards Authority's (ASA) guidelines state that gambling adverts must not be "socially irresponsible," including presenting betting as a way to relieve loneliness or depression. Another parenting blog recommended "opulent games of online roulette that are easy to learn and can provide some handy winnings too." The ASA guidelines also state that gambling must not be presented as a "solution to financial concerns." A further three parenting blogs posted parenting articles that also contained segments recommending online casino or bingo and linking to the Coral website. A source familiar with the arrangements said Coral had paid the bloggers to include the links.

Entain, which owns Coral, said the articles including links to the Coral website had been posted between 2014 and 2016, before it bought Ladbrokes Coral in 2018. On Tuesday, the company said it would try to get them taken down as soon as possible, although they remained live on Sunday. The source, who used to work for a company that arranged such deals with bloggers, said Coral staff had read the articles and signed them off before publication. [...] Only one of the blog posts disclosed that links contained in the article were the result of a sponsorship or affiliate marketing arrangement. The Guardian has chosen not to name the blogs because the authors could not be reached for comment. The source said the practice was chiefly aimed at manipulating Google's search results by creating an association between women and online casino and bingo games.

Google has agreed to an $8 million settlement with Texas over deceptive ads for its Pixel 4 smartphone, in which radio DJs were hired to provide testimonials without being given the phone to use. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made the announcement last week. Ars Technica reports: At issue was Google's trustworthiness as an advertiser after the tech giant "hired radio DJs to record and broadcast detailed testimonials about their personal experiences with the Pixel 4," but then "refused to provide the DJs with a phone for them to use," Paxton said. The tech giant had previously settled claims from the Federal Trade Commission and six other states for approximately $9 million, and Paxton seemed proud that his "settlement recovers $8 million for the State of Texas alone."

Paxton said that "if Google is going to advertise in Texas, their statements better be true." He decided to take action to hold Google "accountable for lying to Texans for financial gain," saying that large companies should not expect "special treatment under the law." "Texas will do whatever it takes to protect our citizens and our state economy from corporations' false and misleading advertisements," Paxton said.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: ACE, the world's leading anti-piracy coalition, is facing an unexpected setback after Google removed a page that advises 'pirates' where they can watch content legally. The removal is the result of an erroneous takedown notice from a competing anti-piracy organization and was likely triggered by an ACE domain name seizure. [...] After the "Watch Legally" page was removed from Google search, visitors see the following note [here] at the bottom of the results.

In response to a recent takedown notice, Google removed ACE's "Watch Legally" page for alleged copyright infringement. This action was taken at the behest of Indian anti-piracy outfit AiPlex. The ACE page was repeatedly flagged by AiPlex in recent weeks. In this notice, for example, it's accused of distributing a pirated copy of the film 'Virgin Bhanupriya,' together with sites such as foumovies.pw, afilmyhit.cafe, and yomovies.bid. Why AiPlex flagged a page that's designed to drive traffic to legal services is unclear.

AI technology should not be considered an "inventor" by U.S. patent law, Google argues in a new filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. From a report: USPTO is currently soliciting comments on AI technologies and inventorship -- asking people, among other things, how AI is being used in creating inventions and whether its contributions would qualify it for treatment as a joint inventor. Questions posed by USPTO include: "If an AI system contributes to an invention at the same level as a human who would be considered a joint inventor, is the invention patentable under current patent laws? Are there situations in which AI-generated contributions are not owned by any entity and therefore part of the public domain?"

Mobile-phone operators in Nigeria including MTN Group and Airtel Africa will stop providing dedicated text message services to banks until the lenders pay 120 billion naira ($259 million) in arrears. From a report: The operators will disconnect the so-called Unstructured Supplementary Service Data based on their contracts with the lenders, Gbenga Adebayo, chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria said in a telephone interview on Monday. Some banks will be disconnected as early as today, he said. The service is crucial for the poor in Africa's most-populous nation, where as many as 40% don't have bank accounts. USSD is used for financial transactions such as transfers, bill payments and airtime recharges. For two years, Nigeria's mobile network operators and banks haven't been able to agree on the appropriate USSD pricing model, the mode of collection and liability for unremitted fees from the lenders. The telecom operators say arrears have risen from 42 billion naira in 2021. The industry regulator and the Central Bank of Nigeria intervened in the dispute that year leading to an agreement for a flat fee of 6.98 naira per transaction.

Amazon plans to bring ChatGPT-style product search to its web store, rivaling efforts by Microsoft and Google to weave generative artificial intelligence into their search engines. From a report: The e-commerce giant's ambitions appear in recent job postings reviewed by Bloomberg News. One listing seeking a senior software development engineer says the company is "reimagining Amazon Search with an interactive conversational experience" designed to help users find answers to questions, compare products and receive personalized suggestions. "We're looking for the best and brightest across Amazon to help us realize and deliver this vision to our customers right away," the company said in the listing, which was posted on its jobs board last month. "This will be a once in a generation transformation for Search." Another posted job would be part of "a new AI-first initiative to re-architect and reinvent the way we do search through the use of extremely large scale next-generation deep learning techniques."