TikTok is removing videos that promote Osama bin Laden
TikTok is investigating how a video written by former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden surfaced on its platform. The video, ‘Letter to America’, criticises US government’s presence in Middle East and support for Israel. TikTok said it’s actively and aggressively removing the content on X and is investigating how it got onto its platform.
The best gaming and entertainment gifts for the holiday season
Microsoft has introduced a new hybrid Xbox Wireless Controller that lets users play games on both Xbox One and PlayStation Vita. The controller can be used to play games that were initially developed for PC or consoles. It also includes DualSense, which allows games to be played on the big screen for which they were designed.
A music tool created tracks using voices from famous singers
YouTube is testing a new AI-generated deepfake feature, Dream Track, that can produce songs from any artist in the style of nine artists including Alec Benjamin, John Legend and Charlie Puth. It can also work as a backing track. The tool is powered by Google’s DeepMind’s music generation model called Lyria. A backing track can be made using the software.
The dockworkers in Sweden are boycotting the ports to stop the unloading of Teslas
Swedish transport workers’ union Chairman Tommy Wreeth said, “It’s a fight to protect our model, not just for the Tesla workers.” The Swedish labour system is based on collective bargaining agreements, which Tesla is reluctant to embrace. Wreeth added that it’s very important to protect the model as it’s a fight for the model, not just for Tesla workers.
The first Crispr medicine has been approved
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved a therapy for patients with sickle cell disease that uses CRISPR gene editing. The therapy is called Casgevy and will be used for patients with Alpha thalassemia, a blood disorder related to sickle cell disease. In the trial, 54 participants received Casgevy and 42 patients participated for long enough to provide interim results.
Apple’s vow to support the messaging system could possibly kill the mobile phone
Apple said that support for Rich Communications Standard (RCS) will be added to iOS in the later half of next year. RCS is a new messaging standard based on the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act, which requires firms to make their services interoperable with other platforms. RCS allows users to share photos and videos, as well as read receipts, among other things.
The creators of TikTok have been challenged by shorter shorts with music-making artificial intelligence
YouTube has rolled-out a new feature called Dream Track that can auto-generate music tracks from text or hummed tunes. Called ‘Lyria’, the feature was created by Google’s DeepMind. Users can enter prompts like ‘a ballad about how opposites attract, upbeat acoustic’ to create a track. When a track is changed, it’ll carry a SynthID watermark that is inaudible to the naked ear.
There is an experimental evaluation of a diabetes prevention programme
A study found that a structured diet and physical activity programme can help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. The study, which analysed data from the US, Canada, and New York, did not look into whether participants went onto develop type 2 diabetes, but even small drops in blood sugars have been found to improve cardiovascular health.
The classroom has been Builderalld to explain how LLMs could change education
US’ Arizona State University has created a toolbox for its faculty members to use LLMs in education. After an initial narrow release for testing, ASU launched a toolbox in October that enables its faculty members toexperiment with LLMs in education through a web interface. An assistant was created based on GPT-4 in April by an education technology firm.
The weather forecaster by DeepMind is superior to a global standard
DeepMind’s graph neural network (GNN) model GraphCast has outperformed HRES and other standard weather forecasts on 90% of weather predictions, a study said. “In the troposphere, which is…part of the atmosphere closest to surface that affects us all the most, GraphCast outperforms HRES on more than 99% of the 12,00 measurements we’ve done,” DeepMind’s Remi Lam said.