IT News Review by Control F5 Software: Researchers explore how to build shape-shifting robots
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Researchers explore how to build shape-shifting robots, T-1000-style
Researchers have developed tiny robots that can work together as a shape-shifting entity and even go from a solid state to a "fluid" one - a concept that should be familiar to anyone who remembers the robotic assassin T-1000 from "Terminator 2".
A team led by Matthew Devlin of UC Santa Barbara described the work in a paper recently published in the journal Science, writing that the vision of "cohesive collectives of robotic units that can arrange themselves into virtually any shape with any physical properties ... has long intrigued both science and fiction."
Lenovo unveils solar-powered laptops with foldable screen
Lenovo has unveiled a laptop with a foldable screen and one that can get extra battery life from solar power.
These laptops are only concepts, meaning they are not commercially available. Lenovo, the world's largest PC maker, has a history of showcasing super concepts, with some becoming reality.
For example, Lenovo has pitched the idea of a rollable laptop - one in which the screen rolls to the top to increase the size of the display. The company will start selling such a laptop this year.
1,000 musicians release silent album in protest at UK's proposed changes to AI copyright law
A group of musicians hope the sound of their collective silence will speak volumes to UK lawmakers.
More than 1,000 artists - including Kate Bush, Imogen Heap, Annie Lennox, Cat Stevens and Hans Zimmer - have released a silent album entitled "Is This What We Want?" in response to the UK government's proposed changes to copyright law.
The pair claim that the changes, proposed late last year, would "allow artificial intelligence companies to build their products using other people's copyrighted works - music, artwork, text and more" - without a license.Meta apologizes and fixes error that caused violent video recommendations on Reels
Meta is apologizing for a technical error after some users reported seeing violent and graphic videos in their Instagram Reels feed.
"We have fixed an error that caused some users to see content in their Instagram Reels feed that should not have been recommended," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. "We apologize for the error."
Numerous Instagram users have reported seeing Reels in their feed that showed people being beaten or killed, including many that the platform labeled "sensitive content."
New Infinix concepts use solar power to charge your phone
Chinese handset brand Infinix showed off a phone at MWC with an integrated solar panel on the back, as well as a solar-charging phone case. Both are in concept stage, but the demo units were functional.
Infinix calls this technology SolarEnergy-Reserving and it uses perovskite solar cells. These cells are thinner and cheaper to produce than traditional silicon solar cells. They are coupled with a system that helps regulate voltage called Maximum Power Point Tracking.
Apple might not launch a truly "modernized" Siri until 2027
Apple is striving to rebuild Siri for the era of generative artificial intelligence, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who says the tech giant may not release "a truly modernized and conversational version of Siri" until iOS 20 launches in 2027.
This doesn't mean there won't be any major Siri updates until then. A new version of Siri will reportedly debut in May - eventually incorporating all the Apple Intelligence features the company announced nearly a year earlier.
Samsung's first Pro Series Gen 5 PCIe SSD Pro Series PCIe SSD arrives in March
The first Gen 5 PCIe PCIe SSDs from the likes of Seagate and Crucial started hitting the market almost two years ago, but Samsung has been conspicuously absent with its own model. That will change in March, with the arrival of the Samsung 9100 Pro series, its first pure consumer-ready PCIe Gen 5 SSD built with NVMe 2.0.
At launch, it will be available in 1TB (starting at $199.99), 2TB ($299.99) and 4TB ($549.99) M.2 capacities, with or without heatsinks. An 8TB configuration, a first for Samsung NVMe SSDs, is scheduled for the second half of 2025.
According to the figures, the 9100 Pro's theoretical maximum random read and write speeds - 2,200,000 and 2,600,000 input-output operations per second (IOPS) - are at least twice as fast as Samsung's latest-generation 980 Pro, a PCIe Gen4 SSD.Inception launches a new type of AI model
Inception, a Palo Alto startup founded by Stanford computer science professor Stefano Ermon, says it has developed a new artificial intelligence model based on "diffusion" technology. Inception calls it a diffusion-based large language model, or "DLM" for short.
Generative artificial intelligence models can be divided into two types: large language models (LLMs) and diffusion models. LLMs are used for text generation. Diffusion models, which power AI systems such as OpenAI's Midjourney and Sora, are mainly used to create images, video and audio.
The Inception model offers the capabilities of traditional LLMs, including code generation and query answering, but with significantly faster performance and reduced computational costs, according to the company.
Artificial intelligence robots could be key to caring for Japan's aging population
Recently, in Tokyo, an artificially intelligent robot leaned over a man lying on his back, gently placed one hand on his knee and the other on his shoulder, and turned him on his side - a maneuver used to change diapers or prevent bedsores in the elderly.
The 150 kg (330 lb) artificial intelligence-based humanoid robot, called AIREC, is a prototype of the future "caregiver" for Japan's rapidly aging population and chronic shortage of elderly care workers.
China's Honor announces $10 billion investment in artificial intelligence devices
Chinese smartphone maker Honor will spend $10 billion over the next five years on AI development for its devices as it prepares for a public listing, its CEO James Li said Sunday.
The Shenzhen-based company aims to expand from being primarily a smartphone company and develop AI-powered PCs, tablets and wearable devices, Li said in a speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Amazon is preparing to launch new Alexa hardware this fall
Amazon is preparing to introduce a new range of hardware along with an AI-enhanced Alexa. In an interview with Bloomberg, CEO Andy Jassy hinted at the upcoming devices, describing them as "new" and "beautiful" with a planned launch this fall.
The announcement follows the announcement of Alexa Plus, an enhanced version of the voice assistant designed for more natural conversations and expanded capabilities. According to Amazon, "nearly every" Alexa device will be compatible with Alexa Plus, with the exception of some older Echo models. The new service will be available for $19.99 per month, but will be included with a Prime subscription.
Flora introduces an AI-powered "Infinite Canvas" for creative professionals
AI tools can generate stories, images and even short films with a simple prompt. However, according to Flora founder and CEO Weber Wong, most of these tools are designed by non-creatives for non-creatives, offering only the illusion of creativity rather than genuine artistic control.
Wong aims to change that with Flora, a newly launched startup dedicated to creating artificial intelligence-based tools tailored for creative professionals. This week, Flora debuted a bold manifesto that rejects the idea of AI creative tools as mere generators of uninspired content. Instead, Flora positions itself as a powerful tool capable of fundamentally reshaping the creative process.
Anthropic presents a hybrid model of AI with enhanced reasoning
Anthropic has unveiled its latest innovation in artificial intelligence - a hybrid reasoning model designed to generate faster responses while offering the option to present its thought process step-by-step. This new model aims to strengthen Anthropic's position in the competitive landscape of generative artificial intelligence, where American tech companies are battling each other as well as Chinese firms such as DeepSeek and Alibaba.
The Claude 3.7 Sonnet model, which the Amazon- and Google-backed company calls its most advanced yet, is now available in all Claude plans, including Free, Pro, Team and Enterprise. However, its unique "extended thinking" mode is exclusive to paid subscribers.
TikTok to invest $8.8 billion in data centers in Thailand
ByteDance's TikTok will invest $8.8 billion in data centers in Thailand over five years, Helena Lersch, TikTok's vice president for public policy, said Friday at an event in Bangkok.
It was not immediately clear whether the investment includes the $3.8 billion deal announced last month by Thailand's investment board.
OpenAI unveils GPT-4.5 "Orion", its most advanced AI model to date
OpenAI has officially launched the GPT-4.5, known by its codename Orion. As the company's largest model to date, GPT-4.5 has been developed with significantly greater computational resources and training data than its predecessors.
Despite its size, OpenAI clarifies in a recently published whitepaper that GPT-4.5 is not considered a resolution model.
Starting Thursday, subscribers to OpenAI's premium ChatGPT Pro plan, which costs $200 per month, will have early access to GPT-4.5 within ChatGPT as part of a research preview.Meta will introduce a paid subscription for AI Chatbot
Meta is preparing to launch a paid subscription service for its artificial intelligence chatbot, Meta AI, a source familiar with the plans told Reuters on Thursday.
The test phase is expected to begin in the second quarter of this year, though the company does not anticipate significant revenue from the subscription service until at least next year.
Meta AI, introduced in September 2023, functions as a virtual assistant powered by advanced language models, capable of reasoning and generating responses.
Digital rights activists file complaints in Europe over Meta's targeted ads
Online rights activists have lodged complaints with data protection authorities in several European countries about the targeted advertising practices of US software firm Meta, the Eko group said on Thursday.
The group said it had filed complaints with watchdogs in Norway, Germany and Spain after collecting evidence that Facebook's parent company did not listen to users' explicit requests to opt out of data collection and targeted ads.
Summary compiled using a monitoring feed provided by Control F5 Software.
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