Google has responded to allegations that it “censored” searches about Donald Trump after Elon Musk baselessly claimed the company had imposed a “search ban” on the former president. The issues, Google explained, were due to bugs in its autocomplete feature. But Musk’s tweet, which was viewed more than 118 million times, nonetheless forced the search giant to publicly explain one of its most basic features.
“Over the past few days, some people on X have posted claims that Search is ‘censoring’ or ‘banning’ particular terms,” Google wrote in a series of posts on X. “That’s not happening.”
Though Google didn’t name Musk specifically, over the weekend the X owner said that “ Google has a search ban on President Donald Trump.” The claim appeared to be based on a single screenshot of a search that showed Google suggested “president donald duck” and “president donald regan” when “president donald” was typed into the search box.
The same day, Donald Trump Jr. shared a similar image that showed no autocomplete results relating to Donald Trump for the search “assassination attempt on.” Both Trump Jr. and Musk accused the company of “election interference.”
Over the past few days, some people on X have posted claims that Search is “censoring” or “banning” particular terms. That’s not happening, and we want to set the record straight.
The posts relate to our Autocomplete feature, which predicts queries to save you time. Autocomplete…
— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) July 30, 2024
In its posts Tuesday, Google explained that people are free to search for whatever they want regardless of what appears in its autocomplete suggestions. It added that “built-in protections related to political violence” had prevented autocomplete from suggesting Trump-related searches and that “those systems were out of date.”
Likewise, the company said that the strange suggestions for “president donald” were due to a ”bug that spanned the political spectrum.” It also affected searches related to former President Barack Obama and other figures.
Finally, the company explained that articles about Kamala Harris appearing in search results for Donald Trump is not due to a shadowy conspiracy, but because the two— both of whom are actively campaigning for president — are often mentioned in the same news stories. That may sound like something that should be painfully obvious to anyone who has ever used the internet, but Musk’s post on X has fueled days of conspiracy theories about Google’s intentions.
Musk’s post, which questioned whether the search giant was interfering in the election, was particularly ironic considering that the X owner came under fire the same weekend for sharing a manipulated video of Kamala Harris without a label, a violation of his company’s own policies.
While Google’s statements didn’t cite Musk’s post directly, the company pointed out that X’s search feature has also experienced issues in the past. “Many platforms, including the one we’re posting on now, will show strange or incomplete predictions at various times,” the company said.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-dismisses-elon-musks-claim-that-autocomplete-engaged-in-election-interference-214834630.html?src=rss
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has determined that Amazon is responsible for hazardous or defective products sold by third-party retailers through its platform. The CPSC unanimously decided that more than 400,000 products sold through the Fulfilled by Amazon program represent a "substantial product hazard," and that the tech giant is legally responsible for their recall. It also said that Amazon failed to properly notify buyers about the faulty products and did not encourage buyers to return or destroy those items.
Today's decision is several years in the making, with the CPSC initially suing Amazon in July 2021. This investigation centered on carbon monoxide detectors that did not function correctly, hair dryers that did not have electrocution safeguards and children's sleepwear that did not meet federal flammability standards. Under the decision and order issued by the agency, Amazon must submit plans to notify customers about these faulty products and take steps for getting them returned or destroyed.
We've reached out to Amazon for comment and will update this post if we hear from the retailer.
The Department of Justice took similar actions against eBay in recent months. In September 2023, the department sued eBay after environmentally unsafe materials were put up for sale on the retailer, and in January 2024, the company paid $59 million for a DoJ settlement over pill press machines.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cpsc-says-amazon-is-responsible-for-hazardous-items-from-third-party-sellers-213334907.html?src=rss
Cigarette butts pose a huge risk to the world’s oceans and can be a pain to clean up by hand especially on public spaces like beaches. A group of Italian scientists have built a quadruped robot that can identify litter and pick up the smaller bits with its leg mounted vacuums.
VERO, the vacuum equipped quadruped robot, is a four-legged device designed to look for and clean up litter on a variety of terrains. VERO was designed and built by a team of researchers from the Dynamic Legged Systems lab at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa, according to USA Today.
The group published a paper back in April on VERO’s development and effectiveness in the Journal of Field Robotics. The research paper states that cigarette butts are a serious concern. Discarded butts release toxic chemicals and microplastics into the ocean as they break down. It’s also the “second most common undisposed waste worldwide, in terrains that are hard to reach for wheeled and tracked robots.”
VERO is designed for picking up this common type of small litter. An operator sets up a field target for the robot to traverse. Then it slowly walks the entire length of the target while identifying litter with a special neural network and onboard cameras. The quadruped robot has a “convolutional neural network for litter detection” that can target litter and pick it up with one of four leg mounted vacuums, according to IEEE Spectrum.
Cleaning up beaches also can be a challenge because the sand makes it hard to lug wheeled trash bins or heavy receptacles over the terrain. The researchers conducted tests on “six different outdoor” scenarios to show VERO’s proficiency at navigating difficult terrain. It can steady itself while picking up trash with an Intel RealSense depth camera mounted on its chin.
The robot didn’t get every piece of trash in its initial test but it still picked up 90 percent of the cigarette butts identified in testing. That’s 90 percent less waste that ends up in the ocean.
There don’t seem to be any plans to implement VERO just yet. The researchers say VERO’s design could be programmed and engineered to do other tasks like spraying crops, looking for weaknesses in infrastructure and helping with construction projects.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/this-vacuum-robot-dog-can-find-and-suck-up-trash-with-its-feet-203952526.html?src=rss
OpenAI has started rolling out its advanced Voice Mode feature. Starting today, a small number of paying ChatGPT users will be able to have a tete-a-tete with the AI chatbot. All ChatGPT Plus members should receive access to the expanded toolset by the fall of this year.
In an announcement on X, the company said this advanced version of its Voice Mode "offers more natural, real-time conversations, allows you to interrupt anytime, and senses and responds to your emotions."
We’re starting to roll out advanced Voice Mode to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users. Advanced Voice Mode offers more natural, real-time conversations, allows you to interrupt anytime, and senses and responds to your emotions. pic.twitter.com/64O94EhhXK
Support for voice conversations arrived last September in ChatGPT and the more advanced version got a public demo in May. ChatGPT-4o uses a single multimodal model for the voice capabilities rather than the three separate models used by its previous audio solution, decreasing the latency in conversations with the chatbot.
OpenAI drew a lot of criticism at the May demo for debuting a voice option that sounded uncannily like Scarlett Johansson, whose acting career included voicing AI character Samantha in Spike Jonze's film Her. The release date for advanced Voice Mode was delayed shortly after the backlash. Even though the company insisted that the voice actor was not imitating Johansson's performance, the similar-sounding voice was since taken out.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-rolls-out-advanced-voice-mode-and-no-it-wont-sound-like-scarjo-200426358.html?src=rss
Spotify users who don't pay for a subscription can once again see lyrics for any song they listen to on the service. Back in May, the company began a wider rollout of a test that it initiated last fall, requiring a paid subscription to see lyrics to any track. Free users could still follow along with the words, but only for three songs a month. Now, Spotify is removing the restriction so free users can see all the lyrics they need to with no cap on viewing them.
“At Spotify, we’re always testing and iterating. This means availability of our features can vary across tiers and between markets and devices," a Spotify spokesperson told Engadget. "Over the coming weeks, we’ll be expanding Lyrics availability for Spotify Free users so more people can enjoy viewing more lyrics, globally.”
As you might expect, the initial move to cap access to lyrics for free users drew backlash earlier this year. Perhaps Spotify thought doing so was a way to push people to its revised subscription tiers that start at $11 a month for music streaming. CEO Daniel Ek explained during the company's most recent earnings call this month that plans were in motion to improve what's offered to free users. It seems that list of updates included bringing back full access to lyrics.
"We are prioritizing enhancements in our free product pipeline that based on existing performance in certain markets," Ek said on the call. "Further additional improvements will be integrated into our free experience in the coming months."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-lyrics-are-back-for-free-users-175200293.html?src=rss
The Senate has passed two major online safety bills amid years of debate over social media’s impact on teen mental health. The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act, also known as COPPA 2.0, passed the Senate in a vote of 91 - T3.
The bills will next head to the House, though it’s unclear if the measures will have enough support to pass. If passed into law, the bills would be the most significant pieces of legislation regulating tech companies in years.
KOSA requires social media companies like Meta to offer controls to disable algorithmic feeds and other “addictive” features for children under the age of 16. It also requires companies to provide parental supervision features and safeguard minors from content that promotes eating disorders, self harm, sexual exploitation and other harmful content.
One of the most controversial provisions in the bill creates what’s known as a “duty of care.” This means platforms are required to prevent or mitigate certain harmful effects of their products, like “addictive” features or algorithms that promote dangerous content. The Federal Trade Commission would be in charge of enforcing the standard.
The bill was originally introduced in 2022 but stalled amid pushback from digital rights and other advocacy groups who said the legislation would force platforms to spy on teens. A revised version, meant to address some of those concerns, was introduced last year, though the ACLU, EFF and other free speech groups still oppose the bill. In a statement last week, the ACLU said that KOSA would encourage social media companies “to censor protected speech” and “incentivize the removal of anonymous browsing on wide swaths of the internet.”
COPPA 2.0, on the other hand, has been less controversial among privacy advocates. An expansion of the 1998 Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act, it aims to revise the nearly 30-year-old law to better reflect the modern internet and social media landscape. If passed, the law would prohibit companies from targeting advertising to children and collecting personal data on teens between 13 and 16 without consent. It also requires companies to offer an “eraser button” for personal data to delete children and teens’ personal information from a platform when “technologically feasible.”
The vote underscores how online safety has become a rare source of bipartisan agreement in the Senate, which has hosted numerous hearings on teen safety issues in recent years. The CEOs of Meta, Snap, Discord, X and TikTok testified at one such hearing earlier this year, during which South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham accused the executives of having “blood on their hands” for numerous safety lapses.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-senate-just-passed-two-landmark-bills-aimed-at-protecting-minors-online-170935128.html?src=rss
Meta has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to the state of Texas in order to resolve a lawsuit that accused the company of illegally using facial recognition technology. The suit alleges that Meta used this tech to collect the biometric data of millions of Texans without consent. The agreement marks the largest financial settlement ever paid out to a single state.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2022 and was the first big case brought under the state’s Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act, which was put into place back in 2009. A provision of this law mandates up to $25,000 per violation and Texas accused Meta of violating the statute “billions of times” via photos and videos that users uploaded to Facebook that were tagged without consent.
Additionally, the original suit could have led to an additional $10,000 per alleged violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. In other words, Meta just saved itself a bunch of money, considering the sheer number of alleged violations and a maximum financial penalty of $35,000 each.
🚨BREAKING NEWS: We have secured a $1.4 billion settlement with Meta to stop the company’s practice of capturing and using the personal biometric data of millions of Texans without the authorization required by law.
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) July 30, 2024
A spokesperson for Meta told Reuters that it’s happy the matter is settled and that the company is "exploring future opportunities to deepen our business investments in Texas, including potentially developing data centers.” The company, however, continues to deny any wrongdoing, though it has shut down its automated facial recognition system.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking something of a victory lap, declaring in an official statement that the state is fully committed to “standing up to the world’s biggest technology companies and holding them accountable for breaking the law and violating” privacy rights. Texas and Meta reached this settlement just weeks before a court trial was set to begin.
“Facebook will no longer take advantage of people and their children with the intent to turn a profit at the expense of one’s safety and well-being,” Paxton said when the suit was originally filed. “This is yet another example of Big Tech’s deceitful business practices and it must stop.”
This isn’t the first time Meta has had to issue a large payout to a state regarding the alleged collection of biometric data. The company agreed to pay Illinois $650 million back in 2020 to settle a similar class action suit. That suit alleged that the company had violated a privacy law that requires companies to get explicit consent before collecting biometric data from users. Once again, Meta denied any wrongdoing.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-will-pay-14-billion-to-texas-settling-biometric-data-collection-suit-165451338.html?src=rss
When I attended the first hands-off briefing for Star Wars Outlaws at Summer Game Fest 2023, I left Ubisoft’s demo room on a high, thinking this could be the piece of media that finally pulls me into the Star Wars universe. I loved the focus on a solo protagonist, Kay Vess, and her cute merqaal pet, Nix. I adored the fact that developers said the game would tell a cohesive, linear story, rather than throwing players into an unfocused open world and calling it AAA. I was eager to get my hands on it.
Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to access two different previews of Star Wars Outlaws, and my initial excitement has been tempered. It’s not completely extinguished, but the slices that I’ve played have reinforced a bloaty vibe underpinned by unclear navigation and generic combat. I still think Star Wars Outlaws is a pretty game with interesting character designs and environments, but I’m now less hopeful about everything else it’s offering — you know, the elements that haven’t been plucked directly out of the existing Star Wars universe.
Ubisoft
The sections I’ve played of Star Wars Outlaws span cosmic dogfights, parkour levels in metal-lined space stations and military bases, and stealth missions against roaming Stormtroopers and interstellar criminal factions. I also hopped on a speeder and had a great time flying over the dunes of Toshara with Nix on the back of my bike; one thing I’m definitely looking forward to in the full game is entering hovercraft races.
As for the bits I actually played, I would describe the overall theme as confusing. I encountered a head-scratching moment in the first minutes of my initial preview at Summer Game Fest 2024 in June: I crawled through a busted, rocky base and found myself at the mouth of a cliffside cave, the mountain too steep to climb down and the ground too far away for a leap of faith. I stood there and searched for an indication of where to go next, scanning the scenery from side to side and top to bottom, but nothing jumped out. So, I jumped.
This was the incorrect move, and I died and reset. After searching the edge of the cave for a few more minutes and second-guessing whether I was in the proper location, a Ubisoft spokesperson pointed out a strip of coiled metal high above my head — literally as far up as Kay’s field of view would go and blended in with the foliage. An inconspicuous white label identified it as an interactable object, but the entire thing was incredibly easy to miss. I pushed R3 on the controller and hooked onto it with my grappling gun, feeling incredibly dumb. Unfortunately, this was a repeated experience (and feeling) throughout the preview levels.
Engadget
One of the selling points of Star Wars Outlaws is its parkour-style mechanics, where Kay climbs metal grids, slides along shallow ledges by her fingertips and uses her grappling hook to swing across gaps. However, these mechanics are hit-or-miss, draining the flow from any attempted parkour action. The climbable grids are highlighted in a dull yellow that doesn’t exactly stand out against rusted metal walls, and even when Kay jumps directly to them, she sometimes fails to connect. This happened to me during both previews, in different sections of the game, and the second instance led me to think the grid wasn’t actually climbable at all. I wasted a good chunk of time farting around the affected area before considering another jump to the grid. It worked, but the loop left me frustrated.
I don’t mind some enmeshed, not-obvious traversal points in my games, but Star Wars Outlaws seems to take this idea too far.
Navigating the environments was also weirdly challenging. I got lost in multiple areas in my previews, even with a responsive HUD and highlighted objective markers on the screen the whole time. The little yellow indicator was difficult to follow through maze-like settlements filled with similar-looking stalls, stairwells and hallways, and tracking objectives only got harder once blaster fights broke out. I never want to wonder where the hell I’m supposed to be going in the middle of intense combat, but Star Wars Outlaws served up this situation multiple times.
Ubisoft
I enjoyed some sections of the game just fine, particularly the final mission that I played. On the icy planet Kijimi, I snuck into a protected, two-story ballroom on a mission to steal an object in the center of the space. Nix is always by Kay’s side and he can be instructed to collect shinies, flip switches, and distract or attack enemies, and I made him do all of these things during this mission. The stealth mechanics in Star Wars Outlaws are straightforward — crouch to be sneaky — and enemies are generally oblivious unless you’re directly in their line of sight. In rooms with two enemies, it’s best to send Nix after one guard while silently taking down the other, and then finish off the attacked, disoriented foe as Nix scurries away. I employed this tactic to great success, and even once a blaster battle broke out anyway, I had a good time lobbing grenades and landing headshots in this level.
My time on Kijimi gives me hope that maybe I just need a few uninterrupted hours with Star Wars Outlaws for the game to really click. I’m intrigued by its reputation system, where players can track their standing with various interstellar criminal networks, altering the level of access Kay will have with the associated areas and characters. Hacking doors and safes involves a screwdriver and a little rhythm game, and the process is satisfying every time. The speeder controls well and I’m stoked to try out some actual races once I practice a little more. Space battles are dizzying and perfectly serviceable. Nix is adorable in every situation. There’s plenty to look forward to here, but I can’t forget the frustration that’s seemingly built into the climbing mechanics, grappling hook and nav system.
Ubisoft
I’m concerned that Star Wars Outlaws has fallen victim to classic AAA bloat, offering a big universe of mediocre experiences, some of them half-functional and the rest lacking depth or innovation. In the game’s previews, there are hints that this is the case. As always though, I’m prepared to be surprised.
If I had advice for anyone interested in Star Wars Outlaws — and this still includes me, just barely — it would be this: Look up. Like way up.
Apple’s AirPods Pro high-end earbuds are on sale via Amazon for just $180. That’s a discount of nearly 30 percent and nearly matches a record-low price. This deal is for the most-recent second-generation device.
There’s a reason why these earbuds are the crown jewel of Apple’s lineup. They are just that good. The AirPods Pro easily made our list of the best wireless earbuds. We called them a “huge improvement over the previous models” and called out the stellar sound quality and active noise cancellation. The transparency mode is more natural-sounding than rival products and the new swipe gesture works better than one would think.
We also heaped praise in our official review on the included charging case. We loved the built-in speaker, which helps locate the earbuds and alerts users to a low battery. The battery life is on-point, with six hours for the earbuds and 30 hours with repeated trips to the charging case. There’s multipoint connectivity, IPX4 water-resistance and a simulated spatial audio. Did we mention they also sound fantastic, particularly for earbuds?
On the downside, Apple loves money. The case features a lanyard loop, for instance, but it’ll cost you $13 to get an official lanyard. The original price is also extremely high, at $250, though this deal alleviates some of that frustration.
These aren’t the only Apple earbuds currently on sale via Amazon. The regular third-gen AirPods are available for $130, instead of $170. Also, the second-gen OG AirPods are available for just $70, which is one heck of a deal.
It's the middle of summer for those of us in the northern hemisphere, which means many of us are getting out and about to make the most of the warm weather. But there's little worse than finding yourself mid-hike or with several more acts to go at a festival only to find your phone is out of juice. To help you stay in touch with friends and share envy-inducing photos on Instagram, you might need a portable charger, and a solid Anker options is currently on sale.
The Anker 334 MagGo Battery with a 10,000mAh capacity is 21 percent off at $31.49. It typically costs $40.
This model is a strong choice for iPhone users as it's MagSafe-compatible. According to Anker, you'll be able to charge an iPhone 15 Pro 1.7 times over and an iPhone 15 Pro Max 1.2 times thanks to its decently sized battery. The company also suggests that the power bank could add up to 22 hours of video playback time to an iPhone 14.
The power bank delivers 7.5W of wireless charging. It's unlikely to easily budge from the back of your iPhone as it has 10N of magnetic force, which is more than Apple's own MagSafe charger.
On the downside, you'll need a compatible device to use this. The Anker 334 MagGo Battery only works with the iPhone 12 and later models. If you have a case that isn't MagSafe-compatible, you'll need to remove that first too. In addition, wireless charging is slower than simply plugging your phone in, but that's perhaps less of a concern when you're off camping for a weekend.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-snag-an-anker-10k-magsafe-power-bank-now-for-32-143426995.html?src=rss