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Taiwan is shifting its trade strategy by using its leading position in advanced semiconductor manufacturing as a geopolitical tool. The island announced restrictions on semiconductor shipments to South Africa, citing national‑security concerns, after tensions rose over South Africa’s decision to move Taiwan’s embassy following a meeting with China’s president. Taiwan’s move echoes a broader pattern of leveraging chip exports amid a heightened global trade war, while China has condemned the curbs as an attempt to destabilize the global chip supply chain and undermine the one‑China principle.Weiterlesen

YouTube said it will offer a limited pilot program that lets creators whose channels were removed for spreading Covid‑19 or election misinformation in 2020 return to the platform. Alphabet’s lawyers argue the earlier bans were driven by political pressure and that the current community guidelines have evolved. The company framed the change as a commitment to free expression and noted it will stop using third‑party fact‑checkers. Lawmakers, particularly from the House Judiciary Committee, have praised the move as a step back from censorship, while Google continues to face antitrust scrutiny.Weiterlesen

Google has introduced Mixboard, an experimental AI‑powered moodboard creator that lets users generate and edit visual boards with natural‑language prompts. Built on the Gemini 2.5 Flash model, the tool can produce images from text descriptions, combine uploaded pictures, and quickly regenerate alternatives. Mixboard is currently available in public beta in the United States and offers a canvas similar to popular design collaboration platforms. Users can explore ideas for home décor, event planning, or simply create entertaining visual collections, all without needing graphic‑design expertise.Weiterlesen

Major League Baseball announced that the Automated Ball‑Strike System (ABS), a robot umpire technology using Hawk‑Eye cameras and a private 5G network, will be used for home‑plate calls beginning in the 2026 season. The system, tested in minor‑league games, spring training and the 2025 All‑Star Game, will operate only when a player challenges a call. Each team receives two challenges per game, and only the pitcher, catcher or batter may request a review. The move aims to provide a more accurate and consistent strike zone while preserving the role of human umpires for non‑challenged calls.Weiterlesen

Google announced that its AI Mode, the AI‑powered conversational search experience, is now available to Spanish‑language users. The rollout brings the Gemini‑based chat interface, image uploads, and deep‑topic exploration to a broader market, following a previous expansion that added AI Mode to dozens of countries. Google also highlighted parallel product updates, including conversational photo editing for Android and the wider availability of its Google AI Plus subscription. The move underscores Google’s rapid deployment of generative AI across its services.Weiterlesen

California Senator Scott Wiener is championing a new AI safety bill, SB 53, after his earlier proposal, SB 1047, was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom. The legislation would require major AI firms earning over $500 million to publish safety reports on their most advanced models and establish protected channels for employee concerns. Anthropic has endorsed the bill, while OpenAI and some industry groups argue that federal standards should apply. The bill also proposes a state‑run cloud computing cluster, CalCompute, to support AI research beyond Big Tech. Wiener argues that state action is essential as he doubts federal progress on AI safety.Weiterlesen

Ryan Salva, the manager for Google’s developer tools, explains how AI-powered solutions like Gemini CLI and Gemini Code Assist are reshaping software development. He highlights findings from Google’s latest developer survey, noting a surge in AI tool adoption around the release of new reasoning models. Salva describes his own workflow, which blends terminal‑based AI commands with traditional IDEs, and emphasizes the shift toward using AI for requirements drafting and code generation. While he sees the IDE’s role diminishing over time, he envisions developers evolving into architects who guide AI rather than write every line of code themselves.Weiterlesen

OpenAI announced plans to add five new data centers across the United States under its Stargate program, partnering with Oracle and SoftBank. The expansion will bring total U.S. capacity close to seven gigawatts and includes sites in Texas, New Mexico, Ohio, and a yet‑to‑be‑named Midwest location. Oracle will operate the flagship Abilene facility, while SoftBank’s SB Energy backs two of the new sites. The project is tied to broader U.S. AI competitiveness goals, with expectations of thousands of jobs and additional collaborations with Nvidia and international partners.Weiterlesen

Microsoft has rolled out Gaming Copilot, a beta AI assistant designed to help gamers, on PC today and plans to bring it to the Xbox mobile app next month. The tool appears in the Windows Game Bar overlay and offers voice‑enabled tips, recommendations and real‑time assistance for players 18 and older in every region except China. It will later expand to handhelds such as the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox consoles. By leveraging Bing search data and player activity, Gaming Copilot aims to streamline gameplay guidance while Microsoft explores ways for creators, and even its own Muse AI model, to enrich the experience.Weiterlesen

The European Commission’s €2 trillion seven‑year budget aims to boost autonomy, competitiveness and resilience, yet it fails to allocate specific funding for open source software. Open source underpins much of Europe’s digital infrastructure, offering transparency, security and flexibility. Critics argue that omitting dedicated support undermines the EU’s digital sovereignty goals and conflicts with recent legislation such as the Cyber Resilience Act and AI Act. Proposals for an EU Sovereign Tech Fund and greater emphasis in the European Competitiveness Fund seek to address this gap, warning that without investment Europe risks dependence on foreign technologies.Weiterlesen

Google is bringing its Gemini AI to televisions, beginning with TCL's QM9K series. Unlike the existing Google Assistant, Gemini offers full conversational interactions, helping users discover content, summarize shows, and answer educational questions. The rollout signals a broader push for AI-driven living‑room experiences, with competitors like Microsoft, Samsung, LG, and Amazon also advancing their own smart‑TV assistants.Weiterlesen

A new study led by Nikta Gohari Sadr reveals that major AI language models, including GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Haiku, Llama 3, DeepSeek V3, and the Persian‑tuned Dorna, perform poorly on the Persian cultural practice of taarif, correctly handling only 34 to 42 percent of scenarios compared with native speakers' 82 percent success rate. The researchers introduced TAAROFBENCH, a benchmark that tests AI systems on the nuanced give‑and‑take of polite refusals and insistence. The findings highlight a gap between Western‑centric AI behavior and the expectations of Persian speakers, raising concerns about cultural missteps in global AI applications.Weiterlesen

Google announced that its AI Mode, an advanced chatbot feature within Google Search, is now available in Spanish across all countries that support the service. The rollout follows earlier language additions—including Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Brazilian Portuguese—demonstrating the company’s rapid expansion of AI-driven search capabilities. Spanish speakers will be able to ask complex questions in their native language, enhancing the conversational experience beyond traditional search results.Weiterlesen

Major League Baseball announced that it will roll out the Automated Ball‑Strike (ABS) challenge system for the 2026 season. The technology uses a network of cameras to record every pitch, allowing players to challenge a ball‑or‑strike call instantly. Each team will start a game with two challenges and can earn an extra one in extra innings if needed. ABS has been tested at the Triple‑A level and was used in recent spring training and the All‑Star Game, marking a significant step toward greater accuracy in baseball officiating.Weiterlesen

Microsoft says it has achieved a breakthrough in cooling AI processors by using a micro‑fluidic system that channels coolant through tiny etched channels on the chip. The approach, which the company claims can deliver up to three times better cooling and cut silicon temperature rise by roughly 65 percent, could enable higher performance, tighter server packing and modest sustainability gains. Microsoft highlights the potential for more aggressive overclocking, reduced data‑center latency and improved waste‑heat utilization, positioning the innovation as a step toward more efficient AI workloads.Weiterlesen

Apple announced that its upcoming domestic‑extremism thriller, The Savant, will not launch as planned, offering no new release date. The company issued a statement saying it has decided to postpone the series and thanked viewers for their understanding. Industry observers note the move mirrors recent cautious actions by other media firms, such as Disney’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! after a controversial joke and the earlier cancellation of The Problem With Jon Stewart, suggesting Apple may be avoiding potential controversy surrounding the show’s subject matter.Weiterlesen

Figma has unveiled updates that let artificial‑intelligence models interact directly with its design platform. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) server now supports Figma Make, allowing AI agents to retrieve the underlying code behind prototypes instead of just visual renderings. The expansion supports tools from Anthropic, Cursor, Windsurf and Visual Studio Code, and enables remote access from AI coding assistants, browser‑based models and integrated development environments. Upcoming features include a Design Snapshot that turns Make snapshots into editable layers and an AI‑prompt editing mode currently in testing.Weiterlesen

Tesla’s effort to roll out a robotaxi service in California has sparked confusion among state regulators. Although the company touts a driver‑less future, the vehicles currently operating have safety drivers and lack the required permits for fully autonomous testing or commercial use. Emails between Tesla and officials reveal a back‑and‑forth over clarifying the service’s true nature, with the automaker avoiding direct answers. Regulatory agencies, including the California DMV and the NHTSA, note that Tesla has not applied for the necessary authorizations, intensifying scrutiny of the company’s autonomous‑vehicle roadmap.Weiterlesen