Twitter-killer Threads hits 10 million sign ups after 7 hours

Threads, the long-awaited Twitter rival from Meta, has launched - with 10 million people signing up in the first few hours. Built by the firm's Instagram team, it's billed as a home for "sharing text updates and joining public conversations". Its release couldn't be more aggressively timed, coming days after another controversial move by Twitter's incendiary…

ShinyShiny snippets: Elon Musk among those calling for halt in AI training

Key figures in artificial intelligence want training of powerful AI systems to be suspended amid fears of a threat to humanity. They have signed an open letter warning of potential risks, and say the race to develop AI systems is out of control. Twitter chief Elon Musk is among those who want training of AIs…

ShinyShiny snippets: Microsoft’s Bing to incorporate ChatGPT’s AI

Microsoft has announced a new version of its search engine Bing, which incorporates the latest in artificial intelligence. The overhaul deploys OpenAI's ChatGPT technology, which has taken the world by storm since its launch last year. The move is by far the biggest threat Google has seen to its dominance in web search - and…

ShinyShiny snippets: Tech giants announce disappointing financial results

Three of Silicon Valley’s largest companies posted disappointing financial results on Thursday, compounding concerns about a slowdown in the tech sector. Recession fears have hit both corporate and consumer spending globally, leading to the likes of Apple, Alphabet and Amazon all signalling a tough recovery from the highs of 2021. Alphabet, the parent company of…

ShinyShiny snippets: Why M3GAN is the perfect AI ‘monster’

M3GAN is Hollywood's latest attempt to turn AI into a horror genre. Pic: Universal There is no shortage of robot uprising fiction in the Western canon (see: the works of Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick; classics like “The Terminator”; family-friendly spins like “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”). It’s a conceit that…

ShinyShiny snippets: Microsoft to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide

Microsoft will cut 10,000 jobs in the latest round of staff redundancies to hit the tech industry. It will affect up to 5% of its global workforce and cost the business $1.2bn (£972m) in severance and reorganisation costs. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said that while customer spending had grown during Covid, more people were…

ShinyShiny roundup: Goodbye Google Stadia

Google has just released the last ever game for the Stadia platform, ahead of its shutdown today (January 18). After much speculation, Google confirmed that the Stadia would be shutting down last September, with the cloud gaming service set to shut up shop today. Ahead of the shutdown though, Google has released one last game…

ShinyShiny snippets: Apple Watch guilty of infringing Masimo patent

Apple infringed on one of medical technology company Masimo's pulse oximeter patents when it launched Apple Watch models that use light sensors to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood, an International Trade Commission (ITC) judge ruled on Tuesday. Masimo, which designs pulse oximetry devices, has been embroiled in an ongoing battle with Apple…