Here is the top trending news from the world of technology. News that I feel every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
‘Legacy Blue Checks’ have disappeared from Twitter
Several high-profile celebrities and organizations saw their legacy blue checks disappearing from Twitter accounts on Thursday. This is the result of the shift in existing policies under the new owner Elon Musk. These blue checkmarks verified the accounts’ authenticity and denoted that the account indeed belonged to a said personality or organization. These high-profile personalities and organizations will now have to pay hefty fees of $8 a month to retain and for keeping their blue check intact. However, not all are happy with Musk’s decision and many celebrities have openly said that they won’t avail the Twitter Blue services. Concerns have been raised whether the removal of free verification process might increase the risk of misinformation and impersonation of celebrities and organization.
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2)
Google makes a Big AI Push
DeepMind, the artificial intelligence startup acquired by Alphabet way back in 2014, will now integrate with Google’s internal AI team Google Brain. This integration will result in the formation of a new AI vertical called Google DeepMind. DeepMind’s CEO Demis Hassabis will serve as the CEO of this new AI vertical. Google’s CEO Sunar Pichai said in a blog post that this consolidation will “significantly accelerate our progress in AI.” Ever since ChatGPT’s integration with Bing, Google has been clamouring hard to cope with unexpected challenge to its search engine business. Although Google came out with the teaser of its own AI chatbot Brad, its responses and accuracy were found to be unimpressive.
3)
SpaceX’s Starship Explodes Moments after Launch
The much-anticipated test launch of SpaceX’s Starship rocket ended up in a failure on Thursday as the rocket exploded moments after its successful launch. The gigantic rocket, which is also the world’s largest rocket, successfully took off from its launch base in Boca Chica, Texas. Following the take-off, the starship capsule was scheduled to separate from the first-stage rocket booster within three minutes of launch. However, the separation failed to occur the rocket blew-up. Despite the setback, Musk tweeted that the next Starship launch will happen in next few months. The Starship’s success is key to SpaceX’s ambitious interplanetary mission that aims to build a human colony on the red planet.
4)
Michael Schumacher’s Family to Sue Tabloid for AI Generated Interview
A leading German tabloid published a cover story on April 15th carrying an exclusive interview with legendary Formula One driver Michael Schumacher. But the only problem with this interview was that it was an AI generated interview. The German tabloid claimed that this is the Schumacher’s first interview since his ill-fated accident in 2014. However, this claim and the AI generated interview did not go too well with Schumacher’s family who are now planning to sue the German tabloid. Schumacher hasn’t made a single public appearance after suffering a severe brain injury due to a fatal accident caused while enjoying ski trip in French Alps in 2013. Schumacher, who is widely considered as the greatest Formula one driver ever, even spent considerable time in coma following the accident.