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Mark Zuckerberg’s makeover didn’t make people like him, study shows

A study by the Pew Research Center found that Americans’ views of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg skew more negative than positive. While Zuckerberg has sparked chatter in Silicon Valley with his sudden interest in high fashion, the Meta CEO is less popular than President Trump’s right-hand man, Elon Musk, the report found. While about […]

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Trump’s FTC is looking into censorship on tech platforms

The Federal Trade Commission announced on Thursday that it will launch a public inquiry into “censorship by tech platforms,” soliciting comments from people who feel they have been demonetized, banned, or otherwise censored due to their speech or affiliations. “Tech firms should not be bullying their users,” said FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson in a statement. […]

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‘For You’ feeds are not for creators, Patreon says

Patreon has continued on its crusade against algorithmic feeds with its latest State of Create report, a look at trends in the creator economy based on internal data, and it’s an effort creators can get behind. In its survey of 1,000 creators and 2,000 fans, the membership platform reported that 53% of creators think it […]

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Duolingo ‘killed’ its mascot with a Cybertruck, and it’s going weirdly well

Duolingo’s mascot, Duo the owl, is dead. Okay, Duo isn’t really dead (we think), but the language learning app committed so hard to this bit that its CEO, Luis von Ahn, read a eulogy for this beloved green bird on TikTok. As any fiction author could probably tell you, killing everyone’s favorite character is not […]

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YouTube Shorts adds Veo 2 so creators can make GenAI videos

YouTube Shorts is integrating with Google DeepMind’s latest video model, Veo 2, allowing creators to generate AI video clips for their posts. Veo 2 is Google’s response to Sora, OpenAI’s text-to-video generator. YouTube, owned by Google, already allowed creators to generate AI backgrounds for their Shorts with a text prompt through a feature called Dream […]

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Shopify took down Kanye’s swastika T-shirt shop, but another antisemitic storefront still operates

Shopify took down Kanye West’s online store after the musician sold T-shirts with the swastika symbol. West, who also goes by Ye, advertised his online store in a Super Bowl commercial on Sunday, directing viewers to his website, where the only item listed was the swastika T-shirt. Though Shopify removed a policy banning sellers from […]

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Google changed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Maps

Google Maps officially updated the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Monday. Among many other executive orders, President Donald Trump decreed on the day of his inauguration that the Gulf of Mexico would be renamed the Gulf of America. This executive order also reverses an Obama-era move to rename […]

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Is AI making us dumb?

Researchers from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University recently published a study looking at how using generative AI at work affects critical thinking skills. “Used improperly, technologies can and do result in the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved,” the paper states. When people rely on generative AI at work, their effort shifts […]

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Apple Music adds a better-sounding Spatial Audio version of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show

If you want to relive Kendrick Lamar’s headline-making Super Bowl halftime show, Apple Music just dropped a replay of the performance in its surround sound-like Spatial Audio. Because Apple currently sponsors the Super Bowl halftime show, the company has permission to republish these musical spectacles — but this is better than just a YouTube video […]

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Early Meta employee sues for sexual harassment, gender discrimination  

One of Meta’s earliest employees is suing the company for sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation, according to a lawsuit filed this week in the state of Washington. Kelly Stonelake, who spent 15 years at the company and rose to the rank of director, alleges in the lawsuit she faced a cycle of gender-based discrimination […]

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The Beatles won a Grammy last night, thanks to AI

The Beatles’ AI-assisted track “Now and Then” won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance on Sunday night, marking the first time that a song of its kind has taken home the award. No, Paul McCartney did not use AI to create some creepy LennonGPT bot. Instead, he used noise reduction systems to clean up a […]

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How to delete X and move on with your life

As Elon Musk’s X sees a decline in daily active users, some people are deciding to ditch the social network entirely, whether that’s for Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, or perhaps, better yet, nothing at all. Since the Tesla and SpaceX CEO bought Twitter in 2022, numerous alternatives have cropped up, seeking to ensnare people who are […]

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This investor wants you to sign an NDA to build Legos together

Investor, former GitHub CEO, and all-around Tech Guy™ Nat Friedman has posted a strangely enticing offer on X. His post reads, “Need volunteers to come to my office in Palo Alto today to construct a 5000 piece Lego set. Will provide pizza. Have to sign NDA. Please DM.” Thanks to the investigative reporting of my […]

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Mexican president pushes back against Google’s renaming of Gulf of Mexico

Google Maps is planning to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename several American landmarks, including the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. However, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a press conference on Wednesday that Mexico will send a letter to Google questioning its choice to update the body of water’s name. […]

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MoviePass might pivot to crypto

After MoviePass’s historic implosion, subscribers to the “Netflix for movie theaters” were already cautious around the company’s 2023 relaunch. These moviegoers may grow even more skeptical after MoviePass sent out an email blast on Wednesday, which surveyed customers about their interest in web3. “Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain technologies are transforming the business landscape at an unprecedented […]

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ChatGPT’s mobile users are 85% male, report says

The AI bubble hasn’t burst yet, at least when it comes to consumer spending on AI apps. Led by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, overall spending on AI apps jumped to $1.42 billion in 2024, according to app analytics firm Appfigures. This marks a 274% increase from 2023 (the app launched in May of that year). Among tens […]

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Bookshop.org challenges Amazon with new e-book platform

Indie bookstore backer Bookshop.org launched an e-book platform on Tuesday, making it easier for readers to buy e-books without padding Jeff Bezos’ pockets. For years, Amazon’s chokehold and sway in the publishing industry have been so strong that authors and booksellers have accused the company of operating a monopoly. Amazon is dominant in the sale […]

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Who is Liang Wenfeng? DeepSeek founder comes from AI investing

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI lab, has Silicon Valley reeling with its R1 reasoning model, which it claims uses far less computing power than those of American AI leaders — and, it’s open source. The DeepSeek app has shot to the top of the App Store charts this week, dethroning ChatGPT. But who is Liang Wenfeng, […]

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‘PDF to Brainrot’ study tools are a strange iteration on a TikTok trend

Several AI-based study tools are capitalizing on a “PDF to Brainrot” trend, which will read the text of a document you upload over “oddly satisfying” videos, like ASMR clips of mixing paint and cutting soap, or gameplay footage from Minecraft and Subway Surfers. Then students can listen to an automated voice read their textbooks to […]

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