Vauxhall owner says car plants could close, Record labels sue AI start-ups
The owner of the Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroën brands has warned its car plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton could close unless market demand for electric vehicles and “stupid” regulatory conditions change. The UK managing director of Stellantis said the company did not want to shut operations in the UK but it would make a decision in “less than a year” in the face of unreasonable government sales quotas and lack of consumer incentives in relation to VAT on vehicles and electricity. The Guardian
The world’s biggest record labels are suing two artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups over alleged copyright violation in a potentially landmark case. Firms including Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Records say Suno and Udio have committed copyright infringement on an “almost unimaginable scale”.They claim the pair’s software steals music to “spit out” similar work and ask for compensation of $150,000 (£118,200) per work…Songs cited in the Udio lawsuit include Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You and My Girl by The Temptations. BBC
Apple AirPods Pro and AirPods Pro 2 are to get a new, useful feature this autumn, according to code found in the latest firmware. The latest beta build includes includes a mode for owners to manually adjust the strength of noise cancellation on Apple’s best ANC earbuds. AirPods Pro models already offer an adaptive audio mode, which allows them to automatically adjust noise cancellation based on your surroundings – much like rivals such as the Sony WF-1000XM5. However, bar activating the mode, you can’t currently tailor it to suit your own tastes. T3.com
Nvidia has suffered a sharp slump since a brief stint as the world’s most valuable company, with more than $550bn (£433bn) wiped off its valuation. The poster child of the artificial intelligence revolution slid nearly 7pc on Monday as its market capitalisation dropped to $2.91 trillion (£2.29 trillion). It also recently became the third company to achieve a market valuation of more than $3 trillion. Many investors are thought to be taking profits after the semiconductor manufacturer’s valuation surged. Telegraph
China’s lunar probe has returned to Earth, making the country the first to bring back samples from the moon’s far side. The re-entry capsule of the Chang’e probe touched down in the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia at about 2pm Beijing time (7am UK time), carrying lunar soil collected earlier in June. At the start of the month, the probe had successfully landed at the moon’s South Pole, in the Aitken Basin, a gigantic impact crater that always faces away from Earth. Sky News
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is one of the biggest highlights in the motoring calendar, offering the chance to see legendary cars and drivers in action alongside the industry’s hottest new metal. This year’s Festival of Speed runs from Thursday 11 July to Sunday 14 July, and it’s shaping up to be a memorable weekend. Tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday have already sold out, and Thursday is said to be “limited”. The theme is ‘Horseless to Hybrid’, with exhibits celebrating 130 years of technological progress. The central sculpture will carry an electric car for the first time, as MG celebrates its centenary with the new Cyberster. Autocar
