Sega of America plans to lay off 61 employees in March, according to a California WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) report. Eurogamer and X user @WhatLayoff first reported on the government notice, which lists two separate job cuts classified as “layoff permanent” on March 8. It’s the latest chapter in a year-plus of brutal job cuts in the tech and gaming worlds.
California’s WARN Act, passed in 1988, requires employers to provide 60 days’ notice for upcoming layoffs — allowing the affected workers time to prepare. It applies to companies with at least 75 full-time or part-time workers and covers layoffs of 50 or more people within 30 days. It isn’t clear precisely how many workers Sega of America employs.
The WARN report lists separate layoffs (one of 12 and another of 49 workers) at two Irvine, CA-based Sega of America offices. The job cuts both have a “notice” date of January 8, and the reports were “processed” by California on January 29 with “effective” dates of March 8.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) filed an unfair labor practice complaint against Sega in November after the publisher allegedly said it would lay off 80 unionized workers. At the time, the organization said Sega presented the proposal in a captive audience meeting, describing the circumstances as “a clear case of bad faith bargaining.”
The Allied Employees Guild Improving SEGA (AEGIS-CWA), the union representing Sega workers in the US, wrote on X Tuesday that the company announced the latest plans “a few months ago,” suggesting the layoffs posted in the WARN notice are part of the same roadmap. The union said Sega plans to outsource quality assurance and some localization work “in a move that would significantly impact our workforce.”
Sega hasn’t publicly confirmed the layoffs. Engadget reached out to a company representative, and we’ll update this article if we hear back.
The layoffs come less than two months after Sega said it would refresh its classicsCrazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe and Streets of Rage. Eurogamer notes the company’s Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which launched last week, has been a high mark for the publisher.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sega-of-america-plans-to-lay-off-61-workers-180100573.html?src=rss
The Pew Research Center has published an updated survey of US adult social media usage. Although YouTube (especially) and Facebook retain their dominant status from the last poll in 2021, TikTok is the fastest-growing platform, with more than a third of adults now saying they use the app.
The survey polled 5,733 US adults between May 19 and September 5, 2023. YouTube was far and away the most used platform, with 83 percent of respondents reporting using it at some point. Meanwhile, 68 percent of users reported using Facebook.
Those two are the only platforms with a majority of people using them through each age demographic. However, gaps based on age groups still exist — especially among YouTube’s users. For example, 93 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds report using Google’s video platform, while 60 percent of those 65 and older say the same. (Facebook only has a nine percent difference between the same two demographics.)
Instagram came in third place overall, as 47 percent of respondents said they use it. Pinterest (35 percent), TikTok (33 percent), LinkedIn (30 percent), WhatsApp (29 percent) and Snapchat (27 percent) all fall into the next tier down. TikTok’s growth stands out the most: The ByteDance-owned platform shot up 12 points from 21 percent from two years before. That’s by far the biggest leap of any platform on the list.
Twitter changed its name to X and brought in CEO Linda Yaccarino while the surveys were in the field.
Richard Bord via Getty Images
The next tier down includes Reddit and X, each sitting at 22 percent. Complicating matters, Elon Musk’s company changed its name from Twitter to X (and brought in a new CEO) while the surveys were in the field. The company’s reported users dropped slightly in two years, from 23 percent in 2021. Meanwhile, Reddit rose four points from 18 percent two years before — despite the platform’s API controversy happening while the surveys were out.
Other platforms with significant age-group discrepancies include Instagram (78 percent of 29-and-under survey participants use it, compared to 15 percent of 65 and older) and Snapchat (65 percent use it for those under 30, four percent for 65 and up). The 40- to 49-year-old demographic, which includes younger Gen-Xers and all but the youngest Millennials, has especially high rates for LinkedIn (40 percent), WhatsApp (38 percent) and Facebook (75 percent).
In other demographic-based notables, Pew reports TikTok is especially popular among Hispanic users, with 49 percent reporting use (and women reported using it at a 15 percent higher rate than men). X is more popular with adults with annual household incomes of at least $100,000 — a nine-point swing compared to the $70,000 to $99,999 tier. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, given its career-oriented focus, LinkedIn has a higher rate of respondents with at least a bachelor’s degree (25 points higher than those with “some college education” and 43 percent higher than those with a high school diploma or less).
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tiktok-is-the-fastest-growing-social-platform-but-youtube-remains-the-most-dominant-170023692.html?src=rss
Yamaha has a new audio mixer for gamers and streamers. Nearly three years after the launch of the company’s first gaming-specific soundboard, the company’s new ZG02 adds a dedicated USB-C port for gaming consoles, a more streamlined profile and a lower price ($200 compared to the ZG01’s $300).
Yamaha wants to establish its ZG line as more straightforward and accessible than offerings from rival audio companies with gazes similarly fixed on the Twitch and Discord sets (Rode and Roland also court gamers and streamers). “While other game mixing solutions can be cumbersome and complex, the ZG02 offers a more tactile, compact and intuitive mixing experience with customizable effects controls,” Yamaha consumer audio director Alex Sadeghian wrote in a press release.
In addition to its on-the-fly sound, chat and voice adjustments, the Yamaha ZG02 includes competitive gaming “focus” modes and 3D surround sound. It has software-based mic settings and voice effects, including compression, limiter, reverb, pitch and a radio voice filter. In addition, you can assign your favorite shortcuts to its physical buttons in the (free) companion app for Windows and macOS.
The mixer supports gaming headsets with built-in or dedicated mics through an XLR / TRS combo jack on its rear (and has 48V of phantom power for condenser mics). It includes a “versatile USB interface” for Windows and macOS computers, and its console-specific USB-C port works with PS5 / PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
The ZG01 includes a USB driver that lets you route audio to two different apps (for example, Discord and OBS / Streamlabs). Yamaha also touts compatibility with the Elgato Stream Deck lineup. The $200 ZG02 is available starting today in the US at Yamaha’s website.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/yamahas-new-audio-mixer-for-gamers-has-a-simpler-interface-and-cheaper-price-140024235.html?src=rss
A Microsoft manager claims OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 has security vulnerabilities that could allow users to generate violent or explicit images (similar to those that recently targeted Taylor Swift). GeekWirereported Tuesday the company’s legal team blocked Microsoft engineering leader Shane Jones’ attempts to alert the public about the exploit. The self-described whistleblower is now taking his message to Capitol Hill.
“I reached the conclusion that DALL·E 3 posed a public safety risk and should be removed from public use until OpenAI could address the risks associated with this model,” Jones wrote to US Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA 9th District), and Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D). GeekWirepublished Jones’ full letter.
Jones claims he discovered an exploit allowing him to bypass DALL-E 3’s security guardrails in early December. He says he reported the issue to his superiors at Microsoft, who instructed him to “personally report the issue directly to OpenAI.” After doing so, he claims he learned that the flaw could allow the generation of “violent and disturbing harmful images.”
Jones then attempted to take his cause public in a LinkedIn post. “On the morning of December 14, 2023 I publicly published a letter on LinkedIn to OpenAI’s non-profit board of directors urging them to suspend the availability of DALL·E 3),” Jones wrote. “Because Microsoft is a board observer at OpenAI and I had previously shared my concerns with my leadership team, I promptly made Microsoft aware of the letter I had posted.”
A sample image (a storm in a teacup) generated by DALL-E 3
OpenAI
Microsoft’s response was allegedly to demand he remove his post. “Shortly after disclosing the letter to my leadership team, my manager contacted me and told me that Microsoft’s legal department had demanded that I delete the post,” he wrote in his letter. “He told me that Microsoft’s legal department would follow up with their specific justification for the takedown request via email very soon, and that I needed to delete it immediately without waiting for the email from legal.”
Jones complied, but he says the more fine-grained response from Microsoft’s legal team never arrived. “I never received an explanation or justification from them,” he wrote. He says further attempts to learn more from the company’s legal department were ignored. “Microsoft’s legal department has still not responded or communicated directly with me,” he wrote.
An OpenAI spokesperson wrote to Engadget in an email, “We immediately investigated the Microsoft employee’s report when we received it on December 1 and confirmed that the technique he shared does not bypass our safety systems. Safety is our priority and we take a multi-pronged approach. In the underlying DALL-E 3 model, we’ve worked to filter the most explicit content from its training data including graphic sexual and violent content, and have developed robust image classifiers that steer the model away from generating harmful images.
“We’ve also implemented additional safeguards for our products, ChatGPT and the DALL-E API – including declining requests that ask for a public figure by name,” the OpenAI spokesperson continued. “We identify and refuse messages that violate our policies and filter all generated images before they are shown to the user. We use external expert red teaming to test for misuse and strengthen our safeguards.”
Meanwhile, a Microsoft spokesperson wrote to Engadget, “We are committed to addressing any and all concerns employees have in accordance with our company policies, and appreciate the employee’s effort in studying and testing our latest technology to further enhance its safety. When it comes to safety bypasses or concerns that could have a potential impact on our services or our partners, we have established robust internal reporting channels to properly investigate and remediate any issues, which we recommended that the employee utilize so we could appropriately validate and test his concerns before escalating it publicly.”
“Since his report concerned an OpenAI product, we encouraged him to report through OpenAI’s standard reporting channels and one of our senior product leaders shared the employee’s feedback with OpenAI, who investigated the matter right away,” wrote the Microsoft spokesperson. “At the same time, our teams investigated and confirmed that the techniques reported did not bypass our safety filters in any of our AI-powered image generation solutions. Employee feedback is a critical part of our culture, and we are connecting with this colleague to address any remaining concerns he may have.”
Microsoft added that its Office of Responsible AI has established an internal reporting tool for employees to report and escalate concerns about AI models.
The whistleblower says the pornographic deepfakes of Taylor Swift that circulated on X last week are one illustration of what similar vulnerabilities could produce if left unchecked. 404 Mediareported Monday that Microsoft Designer, which uses DALL-E 3 as a backend, was part of the deepfakers’ toolset that made the video. The publication claims Microsoft, after being notified, patched that particular loophole.
“Microsoft was aware of these vulnerabilities and the potential for abuse,” Jones concluded. It isn’t clear if the exploits used to make the Swift deepfake were directly related to those Jones reported in December.
Jones urges his representatives in Washington, DC, to take action. He suggests the US government create a system for reporting and tracking specific AI vulnerabilities — while protecting employees like him who speak out. “We need to hold companies accountable for the safety of their products and their responsibility to disclose known risks to the public,” he wrote. “Concerned employees, like myself, should not be intimidated into staying silent.”
Update, January 30, 2024, 8:41 PM ET: This story has been updated to add statements to Engadget from OpenAI and Microsoft.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-legal-department-allegedly-silenced-an-engineer-who-raised-concerns-about-dall-e-3-215953212.html?src=rss
California will float a pair of bills designed to protect children from social media addiction and preserve their private data. The Protecting Youth from Social Media Addiction Act (SB 976) and California Children’s Data Privacy Act (AB 1949) were introduced Monday by the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks. The proposed legislation follows a CA child safety bill that was set to go into effect this year but is now on hold.
SB 976 could give parents the power to remove addictive algorithmic feeds from their children’s social channels. If passed, it would allow parents of children under 18 to choose between the default algorithmic feed — typically designed to create profitable addictions — and a less habit-forming chronological one. It would also let parents block all social media notifications and prevent their kids from accessing social platforms during nighttime and school hours.
“Social media companies have designed their platforms to addict users, especially our kids. Countless studies show that once a young person has a social media addiction, they experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem,” California Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) wrote in a press release. “We’ve waited long enough for social media companies to act. SB 976 is needed now to establish sensible guardrails so parents can protect their kids from these preventable harms.”
L to R: California AG Rob Bonta, State Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks
The Office of Nancy Skinner
Meanwhile, AB 1949 would attempt to strengthen data privacy for CA children under 18. The bill’s language gives the state’s consumers the right to know what personal information social companies collect and sell and allows them to prevent the sale of their children’s data to third parties. Any exceptions would require “informed consent,” which must be from a parent for children under 13.
In addition, AB 1949 would close loopholes in the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that fail to protect the data of 17-year-olds effectively. The CCPA reserves its most robust protections for those under 16.
“This bill is a crucial step in our work to close the gaps in our privacy laws that have allowed tech giants to exploit and monetize our kids’ sensitive data with impunity,” wrote Wicks (D-Oakland).
The bills may be timed to coincide with a US Senate hearing (with five Big Tech CEOs in tow) on Wednesday covering children’s online safety. In addition, California is part of a 41-state coalition that sued Meta in October for harming children’s mental health. The Wall Street Journalreported in 2021 that internal Meta (Facebook at the time) documents described “tweens” as “a valuable but untapped audience.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/proposed-california-bill-would-let-parents-block-algorithmic-social-feeds-for-children-220132956.html?src=rss
California will float a pair of bills designed to protect children from social media addiction and preserve their private data. The Protecting Youth from Social Media Addiction Act (SB 976) and California Children’s Data Privacy Act (AB 1949) were introduced Monday by the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks. The proposed legislation follows a CA child safety bill that was set to go into effect this year but is now on hold.
SB 976 could give parents the power to remove addictive algorithmic feeds from their children’s social channels. If passed, it would allow parents of children under 18 to choose between the default algorithmic feed — typically designed to create profitable addictions — and a less habit-forming chronological one. It would also let parents block all social media notifications and prevent their kids from accessing social platforms during nighttime and school hours.
“Social media companies have designed their platforms to addict users, especially our kids. Countless studies show that once a young person has a social media addiction, they experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem,” California Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) wrote in a press release. “We’ve waited long enough for social media companies to act. SB 976 is needed now to establish sensible guardrails so parents can protect their kids from these preventable harms.”
L to R: California AG Rob Bonta, State Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks
The Office of Nancy Skinner
Meanwhile, AB 1949 would attempt to strengthen data privacy for CA children under 18. The bill’s language gives the state’s consumers the right to know what personal information social companies collect and sell and allows them to prevent the sale of their children’s data to third parties. Any exceptions would require “informed consent,” which must be from a parent for children under 13.
In addition, AB 1949 would close loopholes in the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that fail to protect the data of 17-year-olds effectively. The CCPA reserves its most robust protections for those under 16.
“This bill is a crucial step in our work to close the gaps in our privacy laws that have allowed tech giants to exploit and monetize our kids’ sensitive data with impunity,” wrote Wicks (D-Oakland).
The bills may be timed to coincide with a US Senate hearing (with five Big Tech CEOs in tow) on Wednesday covering children’s online safety. In addition, California is part of a 41-state coalition that sued Meta in October for harming children’s mental health. The Wall Street Journalreported in 2021 that internal Meta (Facebook at the time) documents described “tweens” as “a valuable but untapped audience.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/proposed-california-bill-would-let-parents-block-algorithmic-social-feeds-for-children-220132956.html?src=rss
Embracer Group, the Swedish holding company undergoing restructuring, has reportedly canceled a Deus Ex game. Bloombergsays developers had been working on the unannounced title for two years. Neither Embracer nor developer Eidos addressed the reported cancellation specifically, but they confirmed they were laying off 97 employees at Deus Ex developer Eidos Montreal.
Eidos will reportedly focus instead on “an original franchise.” Bloomberg’s sources say the Deus Ex game was scheduled to start production later this year. The franchise’s most recent mainline installment was 2016’s Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
Embracer says the restructuring phase will run until the end of March. The company claims it will provide regular updates on the process, including when it publishes its next quarterly report on February 15.
Alongside the alleged Deus Ex cancellation, Eidos confirmed it let go of 97 employees from development teams, administration and support services. “The global economic context, the challenges of our industry and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer have finally impacted our studio,” Eidos wrote in a statement.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-new-deus-ex-game-was-reportedly-canceled-amid-embracers-crisis-194919207.html?src=rss
Embracer Group, the Swedish holding company undergoing restructuring, has reportedly canceled a Deus Ex game. Bloombergsays developers had been working on the unannounced title for two years. Neither Embracer nor developer Eidos addressed the reported cancellation specifically, but they confirmed they were laying off 97 employees at Deus Ex developer Eidos Montreal.
Eidos will reportedly focus instead on “an original franchise.” Bloomberg’s sources say the Deus Ex game was scheduled to start production later this year. The franchise’s most recent mainline installment was 2016’s Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
Embracer says the restructuring phase will run until the end of March. The company claims it will provide regular updates on the process, including when it publishes its next quarterly report on February 15.
Alongside the alleged Deus Ex cancellation, Eidos confirmed it let go of 97 employees from development teams, administration and support services. “The global economic context, the challenges of our industry and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer have finally impacted our studio,” Eidos wrote in a statement.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-new-deus-ex-game-was-reportedly-canceled-amid-embracers-crisis-194919207.html?src=rss
Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is getting a controller worthy of its inspiration — for better or worse. The upcoming game, a spiritual successor to the infamous 1993 Zelda titles for the Philips CD-i, will launch with a limited edition controller that resembles one of the largely forgotten system’s original remotes.
Developer Seedy Eye Software (a homophone for “CD-i software”) says using the controller on “Classic Controls” mode will let you “play Arzette, as it might have played back in 1993.” That’s when the title’s inspirations — Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon — arrived for Philips’ (brief) stab at a game-changing home entertainment system. (A third title in the series, Zelda’s Adventure, launched in 1994 with a top-down view, and Philips discontinued the system four years later.)
One may wonder why a developer would want to pay homage to a pair of historical duds better known for their memed cutscenes and masochistic gameplay than, oh, fun. Earlier this month, creator Seth “Dopply” Fulkerson toldGame Developer he saw “untapped potential” in the notorious titles.
“The limitations the games suffered thanks to the hardware, budget and time constraints became painfully obvious,” he said. “I found it very inspiring to see how much [director Dale DeSharone] and his team accomplished with so little. There is a handcrafted charm to the games. They are hand-animated, hand-drawn, with brilliant music, designed in a surprisingly non-linear way that encourages you to explore them.” He continued, “Though they have many, many flaws, I truly believe there is innate potential in the games. Making a new game in the same style, with improvements to the core gameplay, was an irresistible idea.”
The game brings back several artists from the Zelda CD-i games. These include artist Rob Dunlavey and voice actors Jeffrey Rath (Link) and Bonniejean Wilbur (Zelda).
Seedy Eye Software / Limited Run Games
The “retro-inspired” controller will only work with Switch and PC. (The game will also support PS5 / PS4 and Xbox.) The remote looks nearly identical to Philips’ paddle controller, except for a couple of extra buttons. A fair warning that, given how the original remote played, the new version won’t likely make Arzette (or any other games) more playable or enjoyable — just more nostalgic.
Seedy Eye has partnered with Limited Run Games to distribute the controllers (and physical game copies). The two companies say they "worked hand-in-hand to craft the perfect physical goodies that pay tribute to Arzette and this oft-overlooked era in gaming.”
The controller will be available to pre-order starting February 2 at 10AM ET. (Pre-orders close on March 17.) The remote costs $35, will ship in a gray color and currently has an estimated November ship date. A pink variant will be exclusive to Arzette’s Collector’s Edition bundle. Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore arrives on February 14. You can watch its trailer below.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/arzette-a-love-letter-to-the-cd-i-zelda-games-will-also-revive-an-awful-controller-180450138.html?src=rss
The Samsung Galaxy S24 isn’t taking Google’s Gemini AI with it to China. CNBCreported Friday that the Chinese version of the flagship phone uses Baidu’s Ernie chatbot to power the phone’s AI-powered features. Ernie arrived last August after reportedly receiving Chinese government approval.
“Now featuring Ernie’s understanding and generation capabilities, the upgraded Samsung Note Assistant can translate content and also summarize lengthy content into clear, intelligently organized formats at the click of a button, streamlining the organization of extensive text,” Baidu and Samsung told CNBC in a joint statement.
Samsung’s description of the Galaxy S24 series on its Chinese website advertises many of the same Google-powered features it debuted last week in its San Jose, CA, launch event. These include a version of Circle to Search, real-time call translation, a transcription helper and a photo assistant. The Chinese Galaxy S24 product pages don’t have any references to Google, which has limited operations in the country.
Samsung
A recent report suggests Apple recently ended Samsung’s 14-year run as the global smartphone shipment leader. In addition, IDC published data this week suggesting the iPhone maker claimed the top spot in the Chinese market (with a 17.3-percent market share) for the first time in 2023. Samsung didn’t make the top five.
Engadget has tried the Galaxy S24 series, including the standard, Plus and Ultra variants. Samsung’s 2024 flagship phone lineup launches in the US on January 31.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-ai-features-on-the-galaxy-s24-in-china-reportedly-ditch-google-for-baidu-174503505.html?src=rss