Here is the top trending news from the world of technology. News that every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
In a first, Chinese government official will now drive Tesla vehicles
Government officials in China’s Jiangsu province will now be driving Tesla’s Model Y. That’s because Jiangsu province has included Tesla in its government procurement list, making it the official vehicle of the government or state level officials. Tesla is probably the first foreign owned electric vehicle company to achieve this distinction, which clearly shows that Musk’s efforts to win over the Chinese government is paying off. Musk had even paid a surprise visit to China in April this year when he met some of the top officials of the Chinese government. Overall, Tesla’s inclusion in the government procurement list will come as a major shot in the arm for the company as it tries to stave off the competition from China’s home-grown competitor BYD.
2)
YouTube’s updated Eraser Tool eliminates copyrighted music from Videos
YouTube has rolled out an all new improved and updated Eraser Tool that will allow creators to get rid of the copyrighted music from their videos while keeping the remaining part of the audio intact. Till now this tool was in beta testing and often gave inaccurate results during the testing phase. While the newer version certainly seems to be better in spotting and removing the copyrighted music, it may not always give perfect results. This is especially in the case of complex music track. It is, therefore, recommended that creators should review the final edit before uploading the video. Nonetheless, the all-new improved eraser tool could prove to be a great boon for creators who want to spare themselves from getting into the terrain of copyright violation.
3)
Musk’s xAI could add more powerful features to its Grok Chatbot
If rumours are to be believed then several new features are coming to Grok Chatbot, allowing it to deeply integrate with X platform. These new features include the ability to ask Grok about specific ‘X’ account and accessing Grok through a pop-up on the side of the screen while continuing to use other features of X. Placing chatbot in the sidebar is actually a standard thing, even Google and Microsoft place their chatbots in the sidebar; as it makes them more accessible. It is important to remember that these are mere rumors. But there is every possibility that Musk’s AI company may plan to add more teeth to its chatbot to keep pace with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
4)
French startup leapfrogs OpenAI by launching its own advanced voice assistant
A French startup Kyutai has surprised everyone by launching its advanced voice assistant, much before OpenAI’s imminent launch of voice assistant in ChatGPT. Called Moshi, it has the ability for real-time conversation (similar to Alexa and Google Assistant), which is its most unique feature. It is powered by Kyutai’s in-built LLM Helium 7B Model and speak in various accents as well as boast 70 different emotional and speaking styles. Another great feature about Moshi is that it can think and speak as well as listen and talk all at the same time. However, Moshi is still in experimental mode and its general availability is limited. To use Moshi, you’ll have to join the wait list.
5)
Alleged Suicide of Robot in South Korea sparks nation-wide debate
Last week, a very strange incident caused a national debate in South Korea. A humanoid robot working at South Korea’s Gumi City Council committed what many are calling a ‘suicide.’ Media reports in the country claim that too much of workload may have caused the robot to take this extreme step, after it was found unresponsive at the office stairwell. Eyewitnesses say that before it got disintegrated it was behaving strangely, continuously circling in one place. The robot was working as a civil servant at the Gumi City Council since 2023. Its main job included collecting documents but its job wasn’t restricted to a single floor. Rather it navigated the entire building and even operated an elevator. Kindly note that this incident is still under investigation.