“Billionaire Elon Musk has announced plans to build a $20 billion chip plant in Austin, Texas” reports a local news station:

Musk announced on Saturday night during a livestream on his social media platform X that the plant, called “Terafab,” will be built near Tesla’s campus and gigafactory in eastern Travis County. The long-anticipated project is a joint venture between Musk-owned properties Tesla, SpaceX and xAI… The Terafab plant is expected to begin production in 2027.

Musk “has said the semiconductor industry is moving too slow to keep up with the supply of chips he expects to need,” writes Bloomberg — quoting Musk as saying “We either build the Terafab or we don’t have the chips, and we need the chips, so we build the Terafab.”

Musk detailed some specific plans, including producing chips that can support 100 to 200 gigawatts a year of computing power on Earth, and chips that can support a terawatt in space, but gave no timelines for the facility or its output… The facility is expected to make two types of chips, one of which will be optimized for edge and inference, primarily for his vehicle, robotaxi and Optimus humanoid robots. The other will be a high-power chip, designed for space that could be used by SpaceX and xAI… Musk said he expects xAI to use the vast majority of the chips.

During the presentation, Musk also unveiled a speculative rendering of a future “mini” AI data center satellite, one piece of a much larger satellite system that he wants SpaceX to build to do complex computing in space. In January, SpaceX requested a license from the Federal Communications Commission to launch one million data center satellites into orbit around Earth. Musk said that the mini satellite he revealed would have the capacity for 100 kilowatts of power. “We expect future satellites to probably go to the megawatt range,” Musk said.

Raising money to build and launch AI data centers in space is one of the driving forces behind SpaceX’s planned IPO later this year. SpaceX is expected to raise as much as $50 billion in a record-setting IPO this summer which could value it at more than $1.75 trillion, Bloomberg News reported earlier.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A new bill proposed in California “goes after big tech companies” writes Semafor. Supported by Y Combinator, Cory Doctorow , and the nonprofit advocacy group Fight for the Future, it’s called the “BASED” act — an acronym which stands for “Blocking Anticompetitive Self-preferencing by Entrenched Dominant platforms.”

As announced by San Francisco state representative Scott Wiener, the bill “will restore competition to the digital marketplace by prohibiting any digital platform with a market capitalization greater than $1 trillion and serving 100 million or more monthly users in the U.S., from favoring their own products and services on the platforms they operate.”

More from Scott Wiener;s announcement:

For years, giant digital platforms like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta have used their immense power to promote their own products and services while stifling competitors — a practice also known as self-preferencing. The result has been higher prices, diminished service, and fewer options for consumers, and less innovation across the technology ecosystem.
Self-preferencing also locks startups and mid-sized companies out of the online marketplace unless they play by rules set by their competitors. As a new generation of AI-powered startups seeks to enter the marketplace, their success — and public access to the innovations they produce — depends on their ability to compete on an even playing field.

“Anticompetitive behavior is everywhere on the internet,” said Senator Wiener, “from rigged search results, to manipulative nudges boosting the ‘house’ product, to anti-discount policies that raise prices, to the dreaded green bubble that ‘breaks’ the group chat. When the world’s largest digital platforms rig the game to favor their own products and services, we all lose. By prohibiting these anticompetitive practices, the BASED Act will protect competition online, empower consumers and startups, and promote innovations to improve all our lives.”

The announcement includes a quote from Teri Olle, VP of the nonprofit Economic Security California Action, saying the act would “safeguard merit-based market competition. This legislation stands for a simple principle: owning the stadium doesn’t mean that you get to rig the game.”
Some conduct prohibited by the proposed bill includes
Manipulating the order of search results to favor a provider’s products or services, irrespective of a merit-based process,
Using non-public data generated by third-party sellers — including sales volumes, pricing, and customer behavior — to develop competing products that are subsequently boosted above the third-party sellers’ product…

And the announcement also notes that “under the terms of the bill, providers could not prevent consumers from obtaining a portable copy of their own data or restrict voluntary data sharing (by consumers) with third parties.”

Read on for reactions from DuckDuckGo, Proton, Yelp, Y Combinator, and Cory Doctorow.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shared this report from the tech-news blog Neowin:

Apple appears to have temporarily prevented apps, including Replit and Vibecode, from pushing new updates. Apple seems bothered by how apps like Replit present vibe-coded apps in a web view within the original app. This process virtually allows the app to become something else. And the new app isn’t distributed via the App Store, but it still runs on the user’s device… [S]uch apps would also bypass the App Store Review process that ensures that apps are safe to use and meet Apple’s design and performance standards…
According to the publication (via MacRumors), Apple was close to approving pending updates for such apps if they changed how they work. For instance, Replit would get the green light if its developers configure the app to open vibe-coded apps in an external browser rather than the in-app web view.

Vibecode is also close to being approved if it removes features, such as the ability to develop apps specifically for the App Store.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The developer behind the open-world RPG Crimson Desert has issued an official apology after players discovered several instances of AI-generated art in the game. Pearl Abyss posted on X that it released the game with some 2D visual props that were made with “experimental AI generative tools” and forgot to replace them before launch.

Just a day after Crimson Desert’s launch, players took to social media to post reports of potential generative AI usage. Pearl Abyss said on X that “following reports from our community, we have identified that some of these assets were unintentionally included in the final release.” Now, the game’s Steam page has an AI generated content disclosure, which says that, “generative AI technology is used in a supplementary capacity during the creation of some 2D prop assets” which are later replaced.

Moving forward, Pearl Abyss said it will conduct a “comprehensive audit of all in-game assets and are taking steps to replace any affected content.” The developer said that these updated assets will roll out in upcoming patches, and that the team would internally review how it communicates with its player base to provide more “transparency and consistency.”

Pearl Abyss isn’t the only developer to fail to disclose the use of AI-generated assets in its games. Late last year, Sandfall Interactive was stripped of its Game of the Year and Debut Game awards from the Indie Game Awards for the use of generative AI in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for placeholder textures that were mistakenly left in the game. Like Pearl Abyss, Arc Raiders’ developer Embark Studios is going back and replacing AI-generated material in its game after some backlash from its player base.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/crimson-desert-developer-apologizes-and-promises-to-replace-ai-generated-art-183716439.html?src=rss

It was 60 years ago when William Shatner — born in 1931 — portrayed Captain Kirk in the TV series Star Trek. Shatner turns 95 today — and celebrated by posting a picture of himself smoking a cigar.

“At 95, I’m still smokin’!” Shatner joked, adding that in life he’d learned two things. “Never waste a good cigar. Never trust anyone who says you should ‘act your age.'”

For more celebrations, Paramount’s free/ad-supported streaming platform Pluto TV announced a “Trek TV takeover birthday celebration” that will run through April 3rd, according to TrekMovie.com, with marathon of Star Trek movies and TV shows — and even that time he was roasted on Comedy Central. (“Freeâ½ My favorite price!” Shatner quipped on X.com.)

Shatner still remains a popular celebrity, even travelling to space five years ago on a Blue Origin flight past the Kármán line. Since then he’s led a cruise to Antarctica — and even performed an alternate take of Captain Kirk’s final scene on the Jimmy Fallon show.

And this week Shatner (along with hundreds of thousands attendees) appeared at Orlando’s MegaCon — and shared stories about his life with Orlando Weekly:

Shatner: Last month, I was on board a cruise ship, and they said the only thing I had to do over the next three days, “before we let you go home,” is sing “Rocket Man.” So I thought, “I’m not going to sing ‘Rocket Man’ the same way that what’s-his-name did. … So, I looked at the song very carefully to see if I could find what actors call a throughline. What is the character signing? What is he signing about? And so I look through all of these weird lyrics, and all of a sudden, the word sticks out to me: “alone.” So I say to the band members, “OK, let’s make this song about being alone in space.” And I work on it with the band and the musicians, and again on a Saturday night, I perform the number, and 4,000 people stand up and applaud “Rocket Man.” And they won’t let me off the stage, again and again. Four times, I get a standing ovation, wild.

And that’s the progression for me, of science fiction for me, as exemplified by this song. The song went from superficial to something of depth and meaning… It touched people enough for them to stand up and applaud, and I realized that is the story of science fiction… Science fiction with all its great technology has evolved into great storytelling that reaches people in a manner that is very difficult for other types of drama to do.

Shatner answered questions from Slashdot readers in 2002 (“My life is my statement…”) and again in 2011. (“I used to try to assemble computers way back when and they came out looking like a skateboard…”)

And judging by his X.com posts, Shatner is now involved in early testing of the site’s upcoming digital payment system X Money.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Elon Musk has announced the Terafab project, a joint venture between Tesla, SpaceX and xAI, to build the “largest chip manufacturing facility ever.” In his usual grandiose fashion, Musk claims Terafab is the next step towards harnessing the power of the sun and creating a “galactic civilization.”

Musk, CEO of all three companies, announced plans for the Terafab in a livestream on X. As the name implies, the project’s ultimate goal is to produce a terawatt of computing power each year so that it can match the companies’ growing demand for chips. Musk explained during the livestream that he’s grateful to existing supply chain partners like Samsung, TSMC and Micron, but the current capacity of chip manufacturers only adds up to about two percent to what Tesla and SpaceX needs in terms of future computing power needs.

“We either build the Terafab or we don’t have the chips,” Musk said during the event. “And we need the chips so we’re going to build the Terafab.”

The Terafab project, estimated to cost at least $20 billion, will start with the Advanced Technology Fab in Austin, Texas, where Tesla is already headquartered. Musk said that the two types of chips will be produced in the Terafab: one for terrestrial purposes, like to power Full Self-Driving or Optimus robots, and another more high-powered, durable chip to be used in space. If you’re wondering what Musk has in store for space, the SpaceX CEO filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to launch a million satellites to create an “orbital data center” earlier this year. As promising as this sounds, it’s worth noting that Musk has previously overpromised and underdelivered on other projects, like the Hyperloop, a $40,000 Cybertruck and fully autonomous driving.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/elon-musk-announces-terafab-project-he-claims-will-be-the-largest-chip-manufacturing-facility-ever-171718545.html?src=rss

CNN looks at “the Magic AI fitness mirror,” a new product “watching you, and giving you feedback automatically,” while sometimes playing footage of a recorded personal trainer.

Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland describes CNN’s video report:

CNN says the device “tracks form, counts reps, and corrects technique in real-time — and it doesn’t go easy on you.” (Although the company’s CEO/cofounder, Varun Bhanot, says “we’re not trying to completely replace personal trainers. What we are providing is a more accessible alternative.”)

CNN call the company “more a computer-vision firm than a fitness company, building the tech for this mirror from the ground up.” CEO Bhanot tells CNN he’d hired a personal trainer in his 20s to get fit, but “Going through that journey, I realized how old-fashioned personal training was. Dumbbells were still dumb. There was no data or augmentation for the whole process!”

“The AI fitness and wellness market is already huge — and it’s growing,” CNN adds. “In 2025 the global market was worth $11 billion, according to [market research firm] Insightace Analytic. By 2035, this market is expected to reach just shy of $58 billion. And Magic AI is far from alone. Form, Total, Speediance, and Echelon, to name a few, are all brands vying for a slice of this market.

Even the most purely physical of activities — exercising your body — now gets “enhanced” with AI accessories…

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

“Google is beginning to replace news headlines in its search results with ones that are AI-generated,” reports the Verge:

After doing something similar in its Google Discover news feed, it’s starting to mess with headlines in the traditional “10 blue links,” too. We’ve found multiple examples where Google replaced headlines we wrote with ones we did not, sometimes changing their meaning in the process. For example, Google reduced our headline “I used the ‘cheat on everything’ AI tool and it didn’t help me cheat on anything” to just five words: “‘Cheat on everything’ AI tool.” It almost sounds like we’re endorsing a product we do not recommend at all.

What we are seeing is a “small” and “narrow” experiment, one that’s not yet approved for a fuller launch, Google spokespeople Jennifer Kutz, Mallory De Leon, and Ned Adriance tell The Verge. They would not say how “small” that experiment actually is. Over the past few months, multiple Verge staffers have seen examples of headlines that we never wrote appear in Google Search results — headlines that do not follow our editorial style, and without any indication that Google replaced the words we chose. And Google says it’s tweaking how other websites show up in search, too, not just news.

The good news, for now, is that these changed headlines seem to be few and far between, and they’re not yet the kind of tripe we’ve seen in Google Discover. (For example, Google Discover told me this week that the PlayStation Portal was getting a 1080p streaming mode, when it actually got a higher bitrate mode instead.) Compared to that and other lying Google Discover headlines like “US reverses foreign drone ban” — on a story reporting the opposite — the nonsense headlines we’re seeing in Google Search are downright tame.

The article points out that Google “originally told us its AI headlines in Google Discover were an experiment too. A month later, it told us those AI headlines are now a feature…”

“Google confirmed that the test uses generative AI, but claimed that ‘if we were to actually launch something based on this experiment, it would not be using a generative model and we would not be creating headlines with gen AI’…”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

CNBC reports:

Amazon has acquired Rivr, a Swiss robotics company developing machines for “doorstep delivery,” the company confirmed Thursday… It announced the deal in a notice sent to third-party delivery contractors… “We believe this technology, when working alongside your [delivery associates], has the potential to further improve safety outcomes and the overall customer experience, particularly in the last steps of the delivery process….” In its notice to delivery service partner owners, Amazon said Rivr’s technology, which includes a four-legged robot on wheels, will allow it to research and test how the devices can be integrated into delivery operations, including “helping [delivery associates] carry packages from delivery vehicles to customer doorsteps.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The 1980s brought us so many terrific films, including director Russell Mulcahy’s sword-and-sorcery fantasy action film Highlander, starring Christopher Lambert as an immortal Scotsman who must battle others like him to the death until just one remains. The film spawned two direct sequels and two TV series (one live action, one animated), and a planned reboot has been kicking around Hollywood since 2008. But the original still stands tall as the best of the bunch, 40 years later.

(Spoilers below because it’s been 40 years.)

Screenwriter Gregory Widen was a college student at UCLA when he wrote the first draft of what would become Highlander for a screenwriting class. It was originally entitled Shadow Clan and partially inspired by Ridley Scott’s 1977 film about two swordsmen engaged in a longstanding feud (The Duelists). Combine that with Widen’s visits to Scotland and the Tower of London, with its impressive display of historical armor, and Widen had all he needed for his tale of dueling Immortals secretly living among us. He sold that first draft for $200,000—a princely sum for a college student—and a few revisions later, Highlander was ready for filming.

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