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Artistic representation of Lignosat wooden satellite. | Art: KyotoU/Gakuji Tobiyama
In a first for the world, scientists launched a satellite made from wood into space. As it orbits the planet from some 250 miles away, researchers will study whether wood is sturdy enough for space.
Called LignoSat, after the Latin word for wood, the satellite launched (https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=crs-31) Monday night aboard a SpaceX mission bound for the International Space Station. It’ll eventually be released into orbit, where instruments will measure how the wood fares under the harsh conditions of space over six months.
“With timber, a material we can produce by ourselves, we will be able to build houses, live and work in space forever,” Takao Doi, an astronaut and professor at Kyoto University, told Reuters.
Scientists in Japan are set to test the world’s first...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24288643/first-wood-satellite-launch-spacex-international-space-station)
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images
Elon Musk’s America PAC can move forward with its $1 million giveaways to voters (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/24/24278088/elon-musk-doj-america-pac-million-dollar-sweepstakes-petition) after a Philadelphia judge declined an emergency petition from District Attorney Larry Krasner to block them.
During a hearing earlier on Monday, a representative for the political action committee said prize winners are not randomly selected (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287952/elon-musk-philadelphia-america-pac-hearing-random) and are actually chosen to be paid spokespeople for the PAC, which supports former President Donald Trump, The Associated Press reported. Musk previously advertised the selection as random (https://x.com/america/status/1847851986495881434), but the fine print of the petition that applicants need to sign to enter the giveaway doesn’t mention it.
Krasner accused the PAC of running an illegal lottery (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/28/24281752/elon-musk-pennsylvania-election-2024-lottery-lawsuit) and deceptively marketing the prize selections as random, even though...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24288183/musk-million-dollar-voter-giveaway-america-pac-philadelphia)
Image: GM
GM is claiming the number two spot in EV sales (https://news.gm.com/home.detail.html/Pages/topic/us/en/2024/nov/1104-evsales.html) in the US for the third quarter of this year, selling 32,000 electric vehicles. The automaker produces EVs across multiple brands running on the same platform, like Chevy’s Silverado, Blazer, and Equinox (https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/12/24070558/gm-chevy-equinox-ev-price-range-trim-model-date) EVs, as well as the GMC Hummer EV and the Cadillac Lyriq.
GM says it has sold a total of 370,000 EVs in North America since 2016, including 300,000 in the US specifically. Tesla is still the undisputed leader, with more than 5 million vehicles sold since 2008.
In an email with The Verge, GM’s executive director of finance and sales communications James Cain wrote that sales have accelerated since the company built a dedicated EV platform (formerly known as Ultium (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/8/24265416/gm-ultium-ev-battery-platform-discontinued-lfp)) and began producing battery...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287933/gm-no-2-ev-sales-october-2024)
Image: Epic Games
Epic Games is trying to make music collaborations a larger part of its always-changing virtual world.
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24288014/fortnite-chapter-2-remix-snoop-dogg-times-square-music)
Finding lost luggage might soon be a little easier. | Image: Apple
Apple will be introducing a new feature to its Find My app that allows you to temporarily share the location of a lost AirTag with “an airline or a trusted person,” according to MacRumors, which is testing the second developer beta release of iOS 18.2. The feature could make it easier for airport staff to locate a missing piece of luggage if Find My indicates it’s nearby.
In iOS 18.2 the Find My app now has a “Share Item Location” option that creates a link that can be sent to anyone, not just your trusted contacts. On Apple devices, the link will open the Find My app, allowing someone else to see the location of the AirTagged item. On non-Apple devices, the link will instead open a web page with a map showing the item’s last known...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24288045/apple-ios-find-my-airtag-airline-luggage-temporary)
Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr loves the idea of government speech regulations, and he especially loves the idea that he will be the one to impose them in a future Trump administration.
That’s the short version.
Here’s the slightly longer, dumber version: Kamala Harris made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Funs6yyEw) over the weekend, triggering an FCC broadcast TV policy known as the “equal time rule (https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/political_programming_fact_sheet.pdf)”. NBC, no stranger to FCC rules, did the legally required thing and offered Trump his own appearance on the network later in the weekend. Everything should be settled... but here’s Carr, calling for the government to punish NBC.
Seriously! Here’s Carr appearing on Fox Business this morning, threatening to revoke NBC’s broadcast license in...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287708/nbc-snl-kamala-harris-equal-time-rule-fcc-brendan-carr-speech-police)
Cath Virginia / The Verge
Microsoft has been testing a new AI-powered Xbox chatbot, and now Xbox Insiders can try it out for the first time. I exclusively revealed the existence (https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/2/24118728/microsoft-xbox-ai-chatbot-testing) of this new “Xbox Support Virtual Agent” earlier this year, and Microsoft now says (https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/11/04/support-virtual-agent-is-here-to-help-for-xbox-insiders-today/) it’s designed “to help Xbox players more efficiently solve their support-related gaming issues.”
Xbox Insiders in the US can start trying out this new Xbox AI chatbot at support.xbox.com (https://support.xbox.com/), and it will answer questions around Xbox console and game support issues. “We value the feedback from Xbox Insiders for this preview experience and any feedback received will be used to improve the Support Virtual Agent,” says Megha Dudani, senior product manager lead at Xbox.
Image: Microsoft
This is...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24288066/microsoft-xbox-chatbot-ai-support)
Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge
Apple’s second iOS 18.2 developer beta includes a new feature for update’s integration with ChatGPT: users will be able to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus from the Settings menu, 9to5Mac reports.
ChatGPT Plus is OpenAI’s paid version of ChatGPT, offering features like (https://openai.com/chatgpt/pricing/) more messages with its GPT-4o model, for $19.99 per month. If you end up using ChatGPT a lot within iOS — you’ll be able to track in Settings (https://www.macrumors.com/2024/11/04/ios-18-2-beta-2-siri-chatgpt-limit/) if you approach the daily free limit of ChatGPT’s more powerful capabilities — the upgrade could be worth it.
It’s unclear if Apple is taking a cut of those subscriptions made from Settings. Apple and OpenAI didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Apple is also reportedly in talks with Google on an integration with Google’s Gemini (https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/30/24189262/apple-intelligence-google-gemini-deal-iphone-mac-ipad-openai-chatgpt)....
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24288015/apple-ios-18-2-upgrade-to-chatgpt-plus-settings)
Image: Nick Barclay / The Verge
Meta will now allow US government agencies and contractors to use its open-source Llama AI model for “national security applications.” In an announcement on Monday (https://about.fb.com/news/2024/11/open-source-ai-america-global-security/), the company said it’s working with Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Oracle, and others to make Llama available to the government.
Under Meta’s “acceptable use policy,” (https://www.llama.com/llama3/use-policy/) people can’t use the latest Llama 3 model for “military, warfare, nuclear industries or applications, espionage.” However, as explained by Meta, this update opens the door for the US military to use Llama to do things like “streamline complicated logistics and planning, track terrorist financing or strengthen our cyber defenses.”
Meta says Oracle has already started building on Llama to “synthesize”...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287951/meta-ai-llama-war-us-government-national-security)
Image: Amazon
Amazon’s Prime Video is getting a new generative AI-powered feature to help catch you up on a show. The new tool, called X-Ray Recaps, can create text summaries of “of full seasons of TV shows, single episodes, and even pieces of episodes,” the company says in a blog post (https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/entertainment/amazon-prime-video-x-ray-recaps).
X-Ray Recaps will be accessible from the detail page of a show or in X-Ray while you’re watching something. The tool “analyzes various video segments, combined with subtitles or dialogue, to generate detailed descriptions of key events, places, times, and conversations,” Amazon says. Amazon has also applied “guardrails” to help the feature avoid sharing spoilers and to keep summaries concise.
Image: Amazon
X-Ray Recaps, which is are beta, are coming...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287955/amazon-prime-video-ai-x-ray-recaps)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images
A representative of Elon Musk’s America PAC said the winners of its $1 million voter sweepstakes aren’t randomly selected. The people who are awarded the checks are chosen to be paid “spokespeople” for the pro-Trump PAC, lawyer Chris Gober testified in a Philadelphia court on Monday, as reported by the Associated Press (https://apnews.com/article/musk-million-sweepstakes-lottery-pennsylvania-krasner-4f683c48eb7dcc57f183e54ef16e7320).
Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner sued Musk and his PAC (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/28/24281752/elon-musk-pennsylvania-election-2024-lottery-lawsuit) over the contest, alleging it’s an illegal lottery that violates Pennsylvania state laws. “Though Musk says that a winner’s selection is ‘random,’ that appears false because multiple winners that have been selected are individuals who have shown up at rallies in Pennsylvania,” the suit read. America PAC’s response confirms Krasner’s allegation that the...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287952/elon-musk-philadelphia-america-pac-hearing-random)
Illustration: The Verge
This weekend, X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, announced (https://x.com/XEng/status/1852934762144698736) it’s “starting to launch” a controversial change to how blocking works on its platform. Company owner Elon Musk first revealed (https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/23/24252438/x-blocked-users-view-public-posts) the change in September, which will allow people you’ve blocked to continue to see your posts, and, as noted by TechCrunch, your following and followers lists.
Musk claimed that stopping people from seeing your public posts “makes no sense,” but due to a post-Musk change that stops logged-out users from scrolling even a public profile, this could make it easier for blocked users to continue harassing someone.
In October, X’s engineering account argued that people who block others could say harmful things about the blocked person who wouldn’t know...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287585/x-twitter-block-change-view-public-posts)
Photo: Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto via Getty Images
The New York Times Tech Guild went on strike at 12:01AM ET today, reports The Washington Post. The guild represents (https://nytimesguild.org/tech-contract-campaign/) over 600 software engineers, product managers, data analysts, and designers for the media company. Its strike leaves the company bereft of crucial technical expertise just one day before Election Day, when the Times’ crucial backend systems will be under very heavy stress.
The guild has been bargaining since 2022 for its first union contract with the company. Negotiations between it and the Times hit logjams over things like a “just cause” provision that prevents the company from firing workers unless it’s for something like misconduct, as well as pay increases, pay equity, and return-to-office policies, reports the Times. T...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287600/new-york-times-tech-guild-strike-before-presidential-election)
Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge
Riot Games’ investment into its Vanguard system is paying off.
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24283482/valorant-is-winning-the-war-against-pc-gaming-cheaters)
Photo illustration by The Verge / Photo: GM
GM’s Baris Cetinok is committed to building a custom experience to rival that of Apple and Google.
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/24285581/gm-software-baris-cetinok-apple-carplay-android-auto-google-cars-evs-decoder-podcast)
The first wooden satellite launched into space
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24288643/first-wood-satellite-launch-spacex-international-space-station
Judge declines to block Musk’s $1 million voter giveaways
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24288183/musk-million-dollar-voter-giveaway-america-pac-philadelphia
GM says it has become the No. 2 seller of EVs in the US
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287933/gm-no-2-ev-sales-october-2024
Snoop Dogg’s Times Square concert showed the ambitious future of music in Fortnite
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24288014/fortnite-chapter-2-remix-snoop-dogg-times-square-music
Apple will let you share lost AirTag info with an airline
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24288045/apple-ios-find-my-airtag-airline-luggage-temporary
Here’s FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr sucking up to Donald Trump by threatening to take NBC off the air
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287708/nbc-snl-kamala-harris-equal-time-rule-fcc-brendan-carr-speech-police
You can now try out Microsoft’s new AI-powered Xbox chatbot
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24288066/microsoft-xbox-chatbot-ai-support
Apple will let you upgrade to ChatGPT Plus right from Settings in iOS 18.2
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24288015/apple-ios-18-2-upgrade-to-chatgpt-plus-settings
Meta AI is ready for war
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287951/meta-ai-llama-war-us-government-national-security
Prime Video will let you summon AI to recap what you’re watching
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287955/amazon-prime-video-ai-x-ray-recaps
Elon Musk’s PAC admits $1 million voter giveaways aren’t ‘random’
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287952/elon-musk-philadelphia-america-pac-hearing-random
X is allowing people you’ve blocked to see your posts
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287585/x-twitter-block-change-view-public-posts
The New York Times Tech Guild is on strike
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287600/new-york-times-tech-guild-strike-before-presidential-election
Valorant is winning the war against PC gaming cheaters
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24283482/valorant-is-winning-the-war-against-pc-gaming-cheaters
GM software boss: we have ‘high conviction’ ditching CarPlay is the right path
https://www.theverge.com/24285581/gm-software-baris-cetinok-apple-carplay-android-auto-google-cars-evs-decoder-podcast