Microsoft has disabled the Israeli Defense Ministry’s access to certain services and subscriptions, after finding evidence that the ministry used the tech company’s cloud services to surveil Gaza citizens. WSJ adds: The software company made the move after an internal investigation indicated Israel’s Defense Ministry used Microsoft’s Azure cloud services for surveillance, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company probe is ongoing. “As employees, we all have a shared interest in privacy protection, given the business value it creates by ensuring our customers can rely on our services with rock solid trust,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a blog post Thursday on Microsoft’s company website.

Smith said Microsoft’s investigation was guided by the company’s “longstanding protection of privacy as a fundamental right.” Microsoft opened the probe after the Guardian, the British news organization, reported in August that Israel used Azure to store data on Gaza civilians and surveil them. The issue has been the source of protests at the company.

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On a post on its blog this morning, Spotify announced it is doing something to combat the glut of AI-generated music on its streaming platform. According to the company, bad actors and content farms that “push ‘slop’ into the ecosystem” are going to be dealt with. Spotify says it has already removed over 75 million such tracks in the last year, and bigger changes are coming.

Over the next few months, Spotify says it will crack down on musical impersonators, implement a new spam filtering system, and work with others in the music business to develop an industry standard for AI disclosures in music credits.

How Spotify’s AI music policy will work

According to Spotify, the availability of AI tools has allowed the easy creation of musical deepfakes—AI impersonations of existing artists, in other words. The company says it will remove tracks that “impersonates another artist’s voice without their permission—whether that’s using AI voice cloning or any other method.”

The ban includes both tracks for which the person uploading is explicitly presenting themselves as another artist and tracks labeled as an “AI version” of another artist—unless the track was made with the original artist’s permission, of course.

Spotify is also targeting mass uploads, duplicates, SEO hacks, artificially short track abuse, and other spammy abuses of its platform. The company’s new spam filter will be rolled out this fall and will identify uploaders and tracks engaging in these tactics, then “tag them and stop recommending them.” The end goal, according to Spotify, is to prevent bad actors from generating royalties that could be otherwise paid out to professional artists and songwriters.

Spotify’s working on an AI music labeling standard

Spotify has also pledged to help develop an overarching industry standard for disclosure of how artificial intelligence is used in the production of music. Labeling AI in music credits is a much more complex issue than Spotify’s other new initiatives: all kinds of technology are used in music production, and there’s a huge continuum between a track that’s generated entirely from a prompt and using auto-tune on a slightly off-pitch vocal.

Spotify says the effort requires “broad industry alignment” so it’s working with companies like Labelcamp, NueMeta, Revelator, and SonoSuite through music industry standardization company DDEX to develop an industry standard for AI labeling.

There’s still more to be done, though

Spotify’s new initiatives don’t ban AI music, or require it to be labeled. The company says it wants to treat all music “equally, regardless of the tools used to make it,” which seems to leave space for Spotify to continue promoting obviously AI-generated music playlists like “Jazz for Study” and “Lo Fi Chill” that consist mainly of “artists” like The Midtown Players, ourchase, and The Tate Jackson Trio that have all the signs of being AI-creations, but are officially “verified” by Spotify.

To be fair to the music streaming service, I did a similar search for AI playlists and musicians a few months ago, and it’s marginally more difficult to find now than it was then, but until Spotify stops filling its own playlists with AI-generated glurge, its pledge to fight “AI slop” rings hollow.

Anker has opened up pre-orders for the Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro home theater system after teasing the product at IFA. This is being done via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter and prices start at $3,000, which is an early bird discount from the eventual $5,000 price tag.

The Nebula X1 Pro is something of an all-in-one home theater system, as it includes a 4K projector, a soundbar, a subwoofer and satellite speakers. It boasts a unique design, with the subwoofer floating inside a spring-type assembly system to avoid transferring vibrations. The soundbar speakers fold out to the left and right of the projector and two wireless satellite speakers allow for surround sound.

The system supports Dolby Atmos and offers IP43 protection from light rain and dust. This makes it a great projector for outdoor get togethers, which is assisted by a retractable power cable, a telescopic handle and rolling wheels on the bottom.

The motorized lens allows for an easy setup and the speakers can be used to stream audio without any accompanying video. It even comes with a pair of wireless microphones for getting the crowd pumped up before movie night. In other words, this is a portable party machine.

This is a refinement of the pre-existing Nebula X1 projector, which we absolutely loved. We said that it offers “the clearest, most vivid image quality” that we ever experienced with a projector. That also costs $3,000, but features a less expansive speaker system. The audio quality with the original projector was “very respectable” but will likely pale in comparison to a full Dolby Atmos system with satellite speakers and the like.

The Nebula X1 Pro has already sailed past its funding goal, so it’s definitely coming. Deliveries are expected to go out this December.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/anker-opens-pre-orders-for-its-nebula-x1-pro-projector-system-184635440.html?src=rss

Cloudflare announced plans Thursday to launch NET Dollar, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin designed to enable autonomous AI agents to conduct instant financial transactions. The company says the stablecoin will support microtransactions and pay-per-use models as AI agents take over tasks like booking flights and ordering groceries. BrianFagioli comments: A U.S. dollar-backed cryptocurrency from Cloudflare feels unusual to me, and I’m still surprised by it. The decision shows just how much the Internet is shifting in response to artificial intelligence.

CEO Matthew Prince said, “For decades, the business model of the Internet ran on ad platforms and bank transfers. The Internet’s next business model will be powered by pay-per-use, fractional payments, and microtransactions — “tools that shift incentives toward original, creative content that actually adds value.” He added that by using its global network, Cloudflare aims to “help modernize the financial rails needed to move money at the speed of the Internet.”

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The proposed federal budget would see drastic cuts made to most of the agencies that fund science. The sheer magnitude of the cuts—including a 40 percent slashing of money going to the National Institutes of Health—would do severe harm to biomedical researchers and the industries that serve or rely on them. And, ultimately, that is likely to do harm to all of us.

In today’s issue of Science, some researchers have attempted to put numbers on those indirect effects that fall within that “ultimately” category. They’ve identified which grants wouldn’t have been funded had similar cuts been made earlier in this century and tracked the impact that likely had on drug patents. Their conclusion: Development of roughly half the newly approved drugs relied on work that was funded by a grant that would need to be cut.

From grants to drugs

It’s uncertain whether the proposed budget cuts will go through. At the moment, Congress is looking to fund most science agencies at levels similar to their current budgets. Should cuts eventually happen, then it’s also difficult to predict how they’ll be spread among the more than 20 institutes that make up the NIH (a number that the administration also wants to see reduced via consolidation). So, the researchers make a big simplifying assumption: Every institute within the NIH will take a 40 percent hit to its budget.

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I recently took a trip to Europe, hopping across a few countries that all spoke languages I didn’t understand. As such, in order to interpret menus, signs, and packaging, I needed to translate the text back into English. While you might assume you need to use a specific translator app of choice to get this done, you really only need one thing: your iPhone’s camera.

I, along with all of the people I traveled with, have an iPhone, so I assumed all of us knew about this trick. To my surprise, however, nobody in my party knew about this. So, I’m here to make sure your next international trip is a bit easier.

Translate text with your iPhone’s camera

The next time you need to translate some text in front of you, instead of heading for Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, or even Apple’s own Translate app, just open your Camera app. Frame up the text in the middle of the viewfinder and give your iPhone a moment to “think.” If all goes well, you should see a yellow frame appear around the text, and a new button appear in the bottom right of the viewfinder—or top right, if you’re holding your iPhone in landscape.

Tap this button, and iOS will cut out the selected text, and zoom in to bring it into focus. Now, tap the “Translate” button that appears in the bottom left (or top left in landscape), wait a moment, and presto: The text is replaced by your target language. As you might guess, for me, that’s English, but the feature will translate into whichever system language your iPhone is currently set to.

Credit: Lifehacker

For many applications, this translation is enough. But there’s more you can do with this. If you need to share that translated text somewhere, you can tap the translation to pull up a Translate mini window. Here, you can copy the translation so you can paste it wherever you’d like. You’ll also be able to have iOS read either the translation or original text out loud, add the translation to your favorites, or open the translation in the Translate app.

This hidden perk is part of the iPhone’s larger Live Text feature, which uses OCR (optical character recognition) to identify text in images. Live Text allows you to select text both in images and within the camera’s viewfinder for easy copy and pasting. And, since iOS 16, it allows you to translate that text directly within the camera as well. Since it’s powered by the Translate app, it supports the languages the app does, which includes:

• Arabic

• Chinese (Mandarin, Simplified)

• Chinese (Mandarin, Traditional)

• Dutch

• English (UK)

• French

• German

• Hindi

• Indonesian

• Italian

• Japanese

• Korean

• Polish

• Portuguese (Brazil)

• Russian

• Spanish (Spain)

• Thai

• Turkish

• Ukrainian

• Vietnamese

If this feature isn’t working for you, it’s likely not turned on. To check, head to Settings > Camera, then ensure “Show Detected Text” is enabled.

Other ways to translate on iPhone

This is far from the only way to translate other languages on your iPhone. As previously mentioned, iOS comes with a built-in Translate app, which has its own Camera function as well. But with iOS 26, there’s a new translation feature that works seamlessly as you use your iPhone: Live Translate.

As the name suggests, Live Translate can translate conversations in real time. This works in Messages with text, but also during FaceTime and phone calls when talking to someone in another language. If you have a compatible pair of AirPods, you can even use this feature when talking to someone in person: You’ll hear their words translated in your ears, and they’ll see your words translated on your iPhone’s display.

Nintendo recently announced that the next mainline Fire Emblem game is coming in 2026, and it looks like the company has another take on the popular strategy series to tide you over while you wait. Fire Emblem Shadows is a new mobile spin-off that combines the series’ tactics gameplay with some of the social dedication mechanics popularized by games like Among Us, and it’s available to download now.

Shadows follows groups of heroes — the typical collection of royals, rogues and anime archetypes — navigating an underground labyrinth. “Players choose to take on the role of either a disciple of light, aiming to find their way through the labyrinth, or a disciple of shadow,” Nintendo writes.”After the initial battle, players vote to determine who they believe is the treacherous disciple of shadow. The outcome of the vote affects whether the next battle is more favorable or more challenging.”

Unlike a typical Fire Emblem match, though, you don’t have direct control over your characters during battles. Instead, you can see the path they’ll take through a map and are tasked with deploying spells that hurt enemies, heal heroes or offer other buffs while they move. The gameplay-style makes the whole thing feel hands-off and even a little boring in early battles, but it’s possible that could change with more difficult foes. You also earn upgrades as you play, and Nintendo is selling a season pass that unlocks premium rewards while you work your way through either of Fire Emblem Shadows’ two plots.

While Nintendo’s push into mobile games has slowed in recent years, the company has fairly consistently updated its original spin-off, Fire Emblem Heroes, since it was released in 2017. That game offered a take on the series’ gameplay that hewed closer to the original, just with a gacha-style lottery system for unlocking new characters. If it proves popular, it seems likely Fire Emblem Shadows will see the same level of support.

Fire Emblem Shadows is available to download for free on iOS and Android.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/fire-emblem-shadows-mixes-in-a-little-social-deduction-with-its-tactics-182907183.html?src=rss

ChatGPT already tries to answer all your questions. Now it’s trying to answer questions before you ask them. OpenAI’s new feature for its AI chatbot is ChatGPT Pulse, a summary of personalized updates. The blog post explaining Pulse positions it as a bulletin to start the day based on asynchronous research done by ChatGPT.

Users can direct Pulse toward or away from particular topics, and the summaries will also draw on chat history and, if connected, your Gmail and Google Calendar. The examples OpenAI gave for what Pulse recommendations might look like were “follow-ups on topics you discuss often, ideas for quick, healthy dinner to make at home that evening, or next steps toward a longer-term goal such as training for a triathlon.”

For now, ChatGPT Pulse is available for Pro tier subscribers to test. However, OpenAI aims to eventually roll the feature out to all users.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-introduces-personalized-daily-summaries-with-chatgpt-pulse-181532935.html?src=rss

With AI chatbots growing in popular usage, it was only a matter of time before large numbers of people began applying them to the stock market. In fact, at least 1 in 10 retail investors now consult ChatGPT or other AI chatbots for stock-picking advice, according to a Reuters report published Thursday.

Data from a survey by trading platform eToro of 11,000 retail investors worldwide suggests that 13 percent of individual investors already use AI tools like ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini for stock selection, while about half say they would consider using these tools for portfolio decisions.

Unlike algorithmic trading, where computers automatically execute thousands of trades per second, investors are using ChatGPT as an advisory tool in place of human experts. They type questions, read the AI model’s analysis, and then manually decide whether to place trades through their brokers.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: OpenAI released a new benchmark on Thursday that tests how its AI models perform compared to human professionals across a wide range of industries and jobs. The test, GDPval, is an early attempt at understanding how close OpenAI’s systems are to outperforming humans at economically valuable work — a key part of the company’s founding mission to develop artificial general intelligence or AGI.

OpenAI says its found that its GPT-5 model and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.1 “are already approaching the quality of work produced by industry experts.” That’s not to say that OpenAI’s models are going to start replacing humans in their jobs immediately. Despite some CEOs’ predictions that AI will take the jobs of humans in just a few years, OpenAI admits that GDPval today covers a very limited number of tasks people do in their real jobs. However, it is one of the latest ways the company is measuring AI’s progress towards this milestone. GDPval is based on nine industries that contribute the most to America’s gross domestic product, including domains such as healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and government. The benchmark tests an AI model’s performance in 44 occupations among those industries, ranging from software engineers to nurses to journalists.

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