Update 5/31/24: Spotify now says it will offer refunds to Car Thing owners after the backlash to its initial announcement. On its FAQ page for the Car Thing, it now has a “How can I request a refund?” section. If you have one, you must “contact customer support with proof …

Artificial intelligence-powered chatbots like ChatGPT feel ubiquitous, but are they? Despite the hype—model updates, controversy, and weird applications galore—AI chatbots see less use than the public is led to believe. A new study reveals that most age groups neglect to leverage chatbots in their day-to-day lives and that a surprisingly …

Dozens of malware-infested apps have turned the Google Play store into a minefield, according to security experts. With more than 5.5 million downloads total, the apps—which appear at first glance to be perfectly mundane bits of software—have allowed threat actors to access Android users’ banking credentials and other sensitive data.Researchers …

NASA has teamed up with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and IBM’s research and development arm to create an artificial intelligence-powered weather and climate model. The Prithvi-weather-climate foundational system leverages 44 years of meteorological, Earth surface, solar radiation, and atmospheric data to offer a high-resolution view of current and future climate …

The European Space Agency’s long-delayed ExoMars mission is back on track with a little help from NASA. The US space agency has signed an agreement to offer launch services and lander components for the mission. With NASA’s help, the European Space Agency (ESA) hopes to get the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin …

OpenAI’s big announcement Monday morning is GPT-4o, a faster, multimodal successor to its famed ChatGPT. The new model uses existing large language model (LLM) infrastructure to respond to audio, visuals, and text in real time, both verbally and on-screen. While ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise users will have full access to …

Renewables provided a record 30% of the world’s energy needs in 2023, according to Ember, an independent climate think tank tracking global energy sources and consumption since 2000. While aggressive wind and solar policies have enabled regions like Brazil, China, and the Netherlands to quickly shift their grids toward cleaner …

The rapid proliferation of generative artificial intelligence is making it hard to know what’s real on the internet. More than any other company, ChatGPT maker OpenAI is driving this change. It has promised tools to identify AI content, and it’s finally delivering. Developers can now apply to help test its …

Some people are walking around with 200 million pixels in their pockets, but a recently launched space telescope doesn’t need nearly that many. NASA partnered with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) to produce a new X-ray imaging chip called Resolve for the XRISM satellite. It has a whopping 36 pixels—not …

The business landscape today typically involves fast-paced efficiency. It’s almost a requirement now to have tools to support your day-to-day professional life. If you’ve been going without the help of Microsoft Office’s flagship suite of apps, this is probably a good time to pick it up. For a limited time, …