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Rainbow Reflection

Here's How Generative AI Depicts Queer People

WIRED investigates how artificial intelligence tools, like OpenAI’s Sora, currently portray members of the LGBTQ community. Hint: It’s a lot of purple hair.
Internal Strife

Apple Store Employees Say Coworkers Were Disciplined for Supporting Palestinians

Backchannel

He Emptied an Entire Crypto Exchange Onto a Thumb Drive. Then He Disappeared

Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI Can Re-Create Human Voices—but Won’t Release the Tech Yet

Voice Engine is a new text-to-speech AI model for creating synthetic voices. OpenAI has said a wide release would be too risky.

How to Resist the Temptation of AI When Writing

Follow these tips to produce stronger writing that stands out on the web even in the age of AI and ChatGPT.

The White House Puts New Guardrails on Government Use of AI

Vice President Kamala Harris says new rules for government AI deployments, including a requirement that algorithms are checked for bias, will “put the public interest first.”

Inside the Creation of the World’s Most Powerful Open Source AI Model

Startup Databricks just released DBRX, the most powerful open source large language model yet—eclipsing Meta’s Llama 2.

Social Media

TikTok Shop’s Era of Super Subsidies Is Ending

The app’s shopping features won over sellers and shoppers by offering deals that can seem too good to be true. Now TikTok is raising sellers fees, which may translate into higher prices.

Screen Time for Kids Is Fine! Unless It's Not

Two new books offer radically different approaches to how people should think about smartphones and social media.

Meta Kills a Crucial Transparency Tool At the Worst Possible Time

CrowdTangle helps researchers track disinformation, but Meta will close it down before the US election. The tool's cofounder, Brandon Silverman, says it's time to force companies to share data.

Reddit Stock Surges on Its First Day of Trading

The home of memestocks is now publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange as RDDT, in the first major social media IPO in five years.

Startups and Tech Culture

Here’s Proof the AI Boom Is Real: More People Are Tapping ChatGPT at Work

Despite recent warnings that generative AI is overhyped, new data from Pew Research Center shows a rapid increase in the number of people who have used ChatGPT at work.

Bug Zappers Are Swarming on Amazon

Amazon listings for low-cost tech products can send shoppers down a rabbit hole of weird brand names, duplicate listings, and suspect reviews. Data from Fakespot shows bug zappers are ascendant.

‘$5,000 to Save a Life Is a Bargain’

As Sam Bankman-Fried’s downfall sends effective altruism into a spiral of self-doubt, the idealist quant Elie Hassenfeld is still helping Silicon Valley richies give away hundreds of millions each year.

The Deaths of Effective Altruism

Sam Bankman-Fried is finally facing punishment. Let’s also put his ruinous philosophy on trial.

Blockchain and Cryptocurrency

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

A US judge has sentenced Sam Bankman-Fried, one-time crypto wunderkind, to 25 years behind bars.

The Science of Crypto Forensics Survives a Court Battle—for Now

A jury convicted Roman Sterlingov of money laundering this month. His defense team says it will appeal, saying the crypto-tracing technique at the heart of the case is “pseudoscience.”

Craig Wright Is Not Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto, Judge Declares

A surprisingly fast ruling at the end of a six-week trial in the UK High Court ends Craig Wright's campaign to be recognized as the inventor of Bitcoin.

What’s Behind the Bitcoin Price Surge? Vibes, Mostly

The price of bitcoin has climbed to a new all-time high. But assigning the cryptocurrency a value is anything but trivial.

Policy and Telecoms

Oregon's Breakthrough Right-to-Repair Bill Is Now Law

Companies will no longer be allowed to use software checks to verify replacement parts in a major step forward for the right-to-repair movement.

The EU Targets Apple, Meta, and Alphabet for Investigations Under New Tech Law

The probes are the first to take place under Europe’s landmark Digital Markets Act—and add to Apple’s mounting antitrust woes.

The Apple Antitrust Case and the ‘Stigma’ of the Green Bubble

The US government's Apple lawsuit leans on the social cost of not owning an iPhone, an unusual argument for antitrust.

4 Internal Apple Emails That Helped the DOJ Build Its Case

The Department of Justice alleges in its antitrust lawsuit that internal Apple emails show the company intentionally locks in users, forcing them to spend more money.

Computers and Software

One Man’s Army of Streaming Bots Reveals a Whole Industry’s Problem

A rare case in Danish court shows how automated clicks and fake accounts can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars on Apple Music and Spotify. Experts say it’s the tip of the iceberg.

JavaScript Runs the World—Maybe Even Literally

In defense of a much-mocked programming language.

Google Filing Reveals It Slashed Spending on Acquisitions in 2023

As interest rates and antitrust pressure climbed in 2023, Alphabet made no major acquisitions for the first time in years. Apple, Amazon, and Meta also curbed dealmaking.

The One Part of the Vision Pro That Apple Doesn’t Want You to See

Apple’s latest series of Vision Pro demos carefully obscures one important hardware feature.

Transportation

The Baltimore Bridge Collapse Is About to Get Even Messier

Closing the city’s seaport will send shockwaves across global shipping. Supersize container ships pose a growing risk to bridges and other infrastructure when things go wrong.

Here Comes the Flood of Plug-In Hybrids

New US emissions rules mean more plug-in hybrid cars are on the way. The electric vehicle tech is clean—but has a catch.

BMW’s Vision Neue Klasse X Has a Car-Wide Screen and a ‘Joy’ Brain

The German automaker exposes what the next generation of BMW EVs will look like inside and out—including better batteries, a fancy new central computer, and a massive new windscreen display.

EVs With Built-In Camera Drones Have Already Landed in China

Still the stuff of concepts and flights of fancy in the West, automakers on the other side of the world are putting copters in their cars.

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