Here are the top trending news from the world of technology. News that every tech enthusiast should keep a tab on.
1)
Oops! Google’s AI search does a major Goof up
Google’s AI giving inaccurate responses has once again come under scanner. Apparently, few days back when someone searched for “cheese not sticking to pizza,” Google’s Overview suggested adding “non-toxic glue” to the sauce for extra tackiness. For all those who don’t know, Google’s Overviews feature uses AI to summarize search results. Many speculate the AI might have picked up on a joke or misinformation from sources it was trained on, like Reddit posts. Google has acknowledged the errors and is likely working on improving the accuracy of AI Overviews. This is second time in last few months that Google’s AI tools have caused a major goof up, much to the embarrassment of the search engine giant. Overall, this incident serves yet another reminder that AI models are vulnerable to spreading inaccurate and misleading information.
2)
Copilot & ChatGPT search features face major global outage
Microsoft witnessed a major outage on Thursday, causing problems with search functionality for several services. The outage reportedly stemmed from issues with Microsoft Bing’s API, which many other platforms rely on for search results. Microsoft’s very own Bing search itself had some temporary disruptions, but the bigger impact was felt on Copilot, their AI coding assistant. The web search feature of ChatGPT Plus, a paid tier of the AI chatbot, was also rendered unusable. Third-party search engines like DuckDuckGo and Ecosia were equally unable to display search results for some time. Services began to come back online around mid-morning ET. DuckDuckGo and Ecosia reported recovery by 10:30AM ET, followed by ChatGPT’s web browsing and Microsoft acknowledging they were working on restoring Copilot.
3)
Spotify unveils its own custom font, giving a new look to its app
Spotify collaborated with design firm ‘Dinamo Typefaces’ to make a new custom font called ‘Spotify Mix.’ This new custom will be used across Spotify app, which would give a brand-new look to the streaming app. The music streaming giant claimed that this custom font will better represent their brand, giving a more cohesive and distinctive visual identity across the app and desktop platforms. Overall, this move signifies Spotify’s focus on a more unified brand experience, and the new font is designed to visually represent the platform’s connection to the ever-evolving world of music.
4)
Google Gemini’s YouTube Music extension finally goes live
There is a great news for music lovers who use Google Gemini. The YouTube Music extension for Gemini is finally live now. This means now you can control YouTube Music through Gemini with voice commands. For instance, you can say something like play the song “My Heart Will Go On” or play songs of “Ceolin Dion” and it will start playing the songs on your Android app. This extension will also work on the IOS app. You can also use general commands like “Play rock music” or “Turn on white noise.” The extension isn’t enabled by default. You’ll have to manually activate it. Overall, this integration brings YouTube Music control closer to Gemini users, especially on Android. It’s a good step towards offering a more complete mobile assistant experience.
5)
Google & Meta are looking to strike AI deals with Hollywood studios
There have been reports in the media that Meta and Google are trying to strike deals worth millions of dollars with Hollywood studios. These deals will give both companies access to the rich content owned by the Hollywood studios, like movies and TV shows. They will then use this content to train their AI-powered video generation models. However, reports suggest that popular studios like Netflix and Disney are cautious about giving up control of their intellectual property. There are concerns about how the AI might use the content and potential misuse of likenesses. Overall, this highlights the growing importance of AI and the challenges of navigating its use with copyrighted material.