The Cross Heads

Startup will brick $800 emotional support robot for kids without refunds

Startup Embodied is closing down, and its product, an $800 robot for kids ages 5 to 10, will soon be bricked. Embodied blamed its closure on a failed “critical funding round.” On its website, it explained: We had secured a lead investor who was prepared to close the round. However, at the last minute, they […]

December 10, 2024 | robots, Smart Home, Tech | No comments

AI company trolls San Francisco with billboards saying “stop hiring humans”

Artisan CEO Jaspar Carmichael-Jack defended the campaign’s messaging in an interview with SFGate. “They are somewhat dystopian, but so is AI,” he told the outlet in a text message. “The way the world works is changing.” In another message he wrote, “We wanted something that would draw eyes—you don’t draw eyes with boring messaging.” So […]

December 10, 2024 | agi, AI, AI and jobs, AI human replacement, AI workers, Arisan.ai, Artisan, Biz & IT, bluesky, Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, machine learning | No comments

Micron’s $6B CHIPS funding should have more strings attached, critics say

Advocates: Micron needs to explain what a “good job” is But while Neuffer joined Harris’ and the Commerce Department’s chorus, praising the award for creating “high-paying American jobs,” bolstering US national and economic security, and fueling “innovation for years to come,” communities are raising questions. Advocates with Jobs to Move America (JMA)—who are organizing ahead […]

December 10, 2024 | Chips Act, chips and science act, memory chips, Micron, micron technology, Policy, semiconductor | No comments

Location data firm helps police find out when suspects visited their doctor

The intake form “was included in an email thread between a Fog representative and Bryan Kimbell, chief human trafficking investigator at the Office of the Attorney General in Georgia,” according to 404 Media. Services like Fog Data Science have triggered concerns about how police might use location tracking to prosecute abortions. “For several thousand dollars […]

December 10, 2024 | fog data science, location data, Policy | No comments

Amazon starts selling Hyundai cars, more brands next year

Fear not—there’s no one-click option, so no one should be in any danger of absent-mindedly buying a brand-new Palisade. Instead, there’s a “Begin Purchase” button, at which point you can choose to pay the entire amount or finance the purchase. Here is a huge difference to the traditional dealership experience: There’s no negotiation, no browbeating […]

December 10, 2024 | Amazon, Amazon Autos, Cars, hyundai | No comments

The Talos Principle: Reawakened adds new engine, looks, and content to a classic

Are humans just squishy machines? Can an artificially intelligent robot create a true moral compass for itself? Is there a best time to play The Talos Principle again? The answer to at least one of these questions is now somewhat answered. The Talos Principle: Reawakened, due in “Early 2025,” will bundle the original critically acclaimed […]

December 10, 2024 | AI ethics, Croteam, Gaming, puzzles, Talos principle, the Talos principle | No comments

AMD’s trusted execution environment blown wide open by new BadRAM attack

If a VM has been backdoored, the cryptographic attestation will fail and immediately alert the VM admin of the compromise. Or at least that’s how SEV-SNP is designed to work. BadRAM is an attack that a server admin can carry out in minutes, using either about $10 of hardware, or in some cases, software only, […]

December 10, 2024 | AMD, Biz & IT, cloud computing, Security, sev-snp | No comments

Avian flu cases are on the upswing at big dairy farms

Rankin pointed to an analysis that looked at 39 different viral outbreaks in birds from 1959 to 2015, where a low pathogenic avian influenza became a highly pathogenic one. Out of those, 37 were associated with commercial poultry operations. “So it’s a very clear relationship between the increasing pathogenicity of this virus and its relationship […]

December 10, 2024 | avian flu, dairy cattle, H5N1, Health, syndication | No comments

We’ve got a lavish new trailer for Star Trek: Section 31

Paramount+ dropped a teaser at San Diego Comic-Con in July that opened with a flashback to the young Philippa, musing via voiceover about how an emperor “can only be loyal to duty” to ensure that the empire stays strong. But the rest was largely devoted to Yeoh swanning about in fabulous outfits while her fellow […]

December 10, 2024 | Culture, entertainment, Michelle Yeoh, paramount plus, Star Trek Section 31, streaming television, Trailers, TV trailers | No comments

In a not-so-subtle signal to regulators, Blue Origin says New Glenn is ready

Blue Origin said Tuesday that the test payload for the first launch of its new rocket, New Glenn, is ready for liftoff. The company published an image of the “Blue Ring” pathfinder nestled up against one half of the rocket’s payload fairing. “There is a growing demand to quickly move and position equipment and infrastructure […]

December 10, 2024 | blue origin, new glenn, Science, Space | No comments

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