Chinese Technology Bans in the US Market #1788

December 20, 2024PodcastKirk

In today’s show, I explore the controversies surrounding Chinese technology firms in the U.S., the FAA’s drone ban, and the latest in AI with Google’s Gemini 2.0. I dive into the critical security debates, industry advancements, and the implications of government policies on tech and consumer trust. Stay tuned for an insightful blend of tech updates and thoughtful analysis!”

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Meta’s AI Video Editing Features Are Coming To Instagram Next Year

December 19, 2024AI, MetaInstagramJenThorpe

Earlier this year, Meta previewed Movie Gen, an AI video tool that looked impressively realistic (at least in the sample clips it released.) At the time, though, Meta said it was still a research project with no immediate plans to make the features available to users, Engadget reported.

But now it seems that Movie Gen could arrive on Instagram sooner than later. Instagram’s top exec Adam Mosseri posted a short video previewing the kind of seamless AI edits that will eventually be possible, saying that the company is “hoping to bring this to Instagram next year.”

In the clip, Mosseri says that Meta is “working on some really exciting AI tools” for video creators. “You should be able to do anything you want with your videos,” he says. “You should be able to change your outfit, or change the context in which you’re sitting, or add a chain — whatever you can think of.”

The Verge reported: Instagram is planning to introduce a generative AI editing feature next year that will allow users to “change nearly any aspect of your videos.”

The tech is powered by Meta’s Movie Gen AI model according to a teaser posted by Instagram head Adam Mosseri, and aimed to provide creators with more tools to help transform their content and bring their ideas to life without extensive video editing or manipulation skills.

Mosseri says the feature can make adjustments using a “simple text prompt.” The announcement video includes previews of early research AI models that change Mosseri’s outfit, background environments, and even his overall appearance — in one scene transforming him into a felt puppet.

Meta unveiled its Movie Gen AI video generator in October, which promises to “preserve human identity and motion” in the videos it creates or edits. The announcement was made months after similar models from competitors like OpenAI’s Sora and Adobe Firefly Video model, the latter of which is already powering beta text-to-video editing tools inside Premier Pro.

Gizmodo reported: One common complaint about Instagram, and social media in general, is that it breeds insecurity by presenting an unrealistic impression of other people’s lives as being better than they really are — the best moments only.

And heavy editing of physical appearances is known to contribute to body dissatisfaction even when people know what they are seeing is not the full picture. Instagram is soon going to make that situation somewhat worse by allowing users to completely transform their videos using generative AI.

In a teaser shared by Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, was able to completely transform his appearance, in one shot turning himself into a felt puppet, and in another transporting Mosserri from his office to a snowy mountain range with a furry coat. In another, he was able to place a hippo behind him that jumps around and looked into the camera.

In my opinion, I think that Meta’s Movie Gen AI model might make some people who see it feel inadequate about their bodies, and will not want to put up videos of themselves.

SCOTUS Will Hear A Challenge That Could Lead To TikTok Ban

December 18, 2024SCOTUS, TikTokSecurityJenThorpe

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court confirmed it would review whether a federal law that could ban or force a sale of TikTok is unconstitutional, ArsTechnica reported.

The announcement came just one day after TikTok and its owner ByteDance petitioned SCOTUS for a temporary injunction to halt the ban until the high court could consider what TikTok claimed is “a massive and unprecedented speech restriction” ahead of a change in the US presidential administrations.

“We’re pleased with today’s Supreme Court order,” TikTok said in a statement. “We believe the Court will find the TikTok ban unconstitutional so the over 170 million Americans on our platform can continue to exercise their free speech rights.”

But while SCOTUS agreed to review the key question that remains for TikTok — whether the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act violates the First Amendment — the court declined to order the injunction that TikTok sought.

“Considering the applications for an injunction pending review presented to The Chief Justice and by him referred to the Court is deferring pending oral argument,” court’s announcement said.

TechCrunch reported: The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that it will hear ByteDance and TikTok’s challenge to a law that would ban the social network in the U.S. unless the social network divests from Chinese ownership by January 19.

On January 10, the Supreme Court justices will hear arguments about whether the sell-or-ban law violates the First Amendment. It is unknown how quickly the court will come to a decision.

The two companies asked the Supreme court on Monday to block the law. Last week, ByteDance and TikTok filed an emergency motion asking an appeals court to temporarily block the law in order to give the Supreme Court a chance to assess the case.

The social network may also get a lifeline from President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to save TikTok, it’s worth noting that TikTok CEO Shou Chew reportedly met with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, according to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

The Verge reported:The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments on whether a bill that could ban TikTok violates the First Amendment, The arguments will take place on January 10th, just over a week before a potential ban could take effect.

While the outcome is far from guaranteed, SCOTUS’ decision to take up the case is a small win for TikTok, which is barreling toward expulsion from the US unless the court throws out or pauses the law, or its China-based parent company ByteDance agrees to sell it in time.

The law at the center of the case, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, seeks to prohibit apps like TikTok from being owned by companies in a list of foreign adversary countries.

In my opinion, it sounds like SCOTUS is going to take a close look whether or not banning or forcing a sale of TikTok is unconstitutional.

Meta Fined $263M Over 2018 Security Breach

December 17, 2024MetaSecurityJenThorpe

Meta has been fined €251 million (around $263 million) in the European Union for a Facebook security breach that affected millions of user, which the company disclosed back in September 2018, TechCrunch reported.

The penalty, issued on Tuesday by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) enforcing the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), is far from being the largest GDPR fine Meta has been hit with since the regime came into force over five years ago. Still, it is notable as its a substantial sanction for a single security incident.

The breach dates back to July 2017, when Facebook rolled out a video upload function that included a “View as” feature, which let the user see their own Facebook pages a it would be seen by another user.

On Tuesday, the Irish regulator issued its final decisions on two inquiries it had opened into the 2018 incident: One decision covers Meta’s breach notification, as the GDPR requires prompt and comprehensive reporting of major security incidents, while the other concerns rules on data protection by design and default.

The Irish Data Protection Commission fines Meta €251 million. From the press release:

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has today announced its final decisions following two inquires into Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (‘MPIL’). These own-volition inquires were launched by the DPC following a persona data breach, which was reported by MPIL in September 2018.

This data breach impacted approximately 29 million Facebook accounts globally, of which approximately 3 million were based in the EU/EEA. The categories of personal data affected included: user’s full name; email address; phone number; location; place of work; date of birth; religion; gender; posts on timelines; groups of which a user was a member; and children’s personal data.

The breach was remedied by MPIL and its US parent company shortly after its discovery.

Reuters reported: The lead European Union data privacy regulator for Meta fined the social media giant 251 million euros ($263.5 million) on Tuesday for a 2018 Facebook security breach that affected 29 million users.

Meta notified Ireland’s Data Protection Commission at the time that cyber attackers had exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code that impacts the “View As” feature that lets users see what their own profile looks like to someone else.

Meta remedied the breach shortly after its discovery, DPC said. Of the 29 million Facebook accounts impacted globally, about 3 million were based on the EU and European Economic Area.

The DCP is the lead EU regulator for most of the top U.S. Internet firms due to the location of their EU operations in Ireland.

In my opinion, it seems like the DCP is displeased with Meta’s inability to prevent Facebook users from being hacked by cyber attackers.

Google DeepMind Unveils Veo 2: A Next-Gen Video AI #1787

December 17, 2024PodcastKirk

Google DeepMind introduces Veo 2, a cutting-edge video-generating AI capable of producing 4K, two-minute clips—significantly surpassing OpenAI’s Sora in resolution and duration. While Veo 2’s capabilities are currently capped at 720p and eight seconds within Google’s VideoFX tool, broader access is planned through Google’s Vertex AI as the technology scales.

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Social Media Given ‘Last Chance’ To Tackle Illegal Posts

December 16, 2024smartphone, Social MediaSocial MediaJenThorpe

Online platforms must begin assessing whether their services expose users to illegal material by 16 March 2025 or face financial punishments as the Online Safety Act (OSA) begins taking effect, BBC reported.

Ofcom, the regulator enforcing the UK’s internet safety law, published its final codes of practice for how firms should deal with illegal online content on Monday.

Platforms have three months to carry out risk assessment identifying potential harms on their services or they could be fined up to 10% of their global turnover.

Ofcom head Dame Melanie Dawes told BBC News this was the “last chance” for industry to make changes.

Under Ofcom’s rules, platforms need to identify if, where and how illegal content might appear on their services and ways they will stop it reaching users.

Many large tech firms have already brought in safety measures for teenage users and controls to give parents more oversight of their social media activity in a bid to tackle dangers for teens and pre-empt regulations.

For instance, on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, users under the age of 18 cannot be discovered in search or messaged by accounts they do not follow.

The Guardian reported: Social media platforms have a “job of work” to do in order to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act and have yet to introduce all the measures needed to protect children and adults from harmful content, the communications regulator said.

Ofcom on Monday published codes of practice and guidance that tech companies should follow to comply with the act, which carries the threat of significant fines and closure of sites if companies breach it.

The regulator said many of the measures it is recommending are not followed by the largest and riskiest platforms.

Every site and app in scope of the act — from Facebook, Google and X to Reddit and OnlyFans – now has three months to assess the illegal risk of content appearing on the platform.

CNBC reported: The U.K. officially brought its sweeping online safety law into force on Monday, paving the way for stricter supervision of online safety law into force Monday, paving the way for massive fines for technology giants like Meta, Google, and TikTok

OfCom, the British media and telecommunications watchdog, published its first-edition codes of practice and guidance for tech firms laying out what they should be doing to tackle illegal harms such as terror, hate, fraud and child sexual abuse on their platforms.

The measures form the first set of duties imposed by the regulator under the Online Safety Act, a sweeping law requiring tech platforms to do more to combat illegal content online.

In my opinion, it sounds like the UK’s regulator is intent on making sure that children – and adults – who use social media should be protected from seeing thing that do not belong online.

Apple Plans Thinner, Foldable iPhones To Revive Growth

December 15, 2024AppleAppleJenThorpe

Apple is preparing a series of major design and format changes to its lineup of iPhones and potentially other products, in a bid to revive growth after years of largely incremental upgrades, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Starting next year, Apple plans to introduce an iPhone that will be thinner than the approximately 8-millimeter profile of current models, said people familiar with the company’s plans. The model is intended to be cheaper than other Pro models, with a simplified camera system to reduce costs.

The company is also planning two foldable devices, the people said. A larger device, intended to serve as a laptop, would have a screen that unfolds to be nearly as large as some desktop monitors, at about 19 inches. A smaller model would unfold to a display size that would be larger than an iPhone 16 Pro Max, intended to serves as a foldable iPhone, the people said.

Both foldable designed have been in development for years, but some key parts weren’t ready. Major challenges included improving the hinge, a mechanism that allows the device to fold and unfold, and the display cover, a flexible material protecting the foldable screen.

Engadget reported: The Magic Mouse has gone a long time without any major changes to its design beyond things like dropping the AA batteries and gaining a USB-C port, but Apple is now reportedly planning an overhaul.

In the Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman reports that Apple has started working on prototypes for a more modern version of the Magic Mouse, which was first released way back in 2009.

While some users have loved the Magic Mouse for its gesture controls, other aspects like its nonergonomic design and its underside charging port have been the subject of complaints for years. We don’t know exactly what the redesign will bring, but it’d be great to see those things finally addressed.

According to Gurman, “Apple is looking to create something that’s more relevant, while also fixing longstanding complaints — yes, including the charging port issue.” It could still be a while before we see the new Magic Mouse, though. Gruman notes that it could take another year to 18 months to get it ready for market.

TechCrunch reported: The next big upgrade to Apple’s mobile devices could be foldability, according to multiple reports published Sunday.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is aiming to launch two foldable devices in the next few years. There’s a larger model with a 19-inch screen that could compete with desktop monitors, as well as a smaller model that would serve as a foldable iPhone, with a larger screen than the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

In my opinion, it appears that Apple is intending on upgrading some of its products. It is unclear when those products will hit the market.