Hello friends,
Most of the tech press is still rehashing WWDC, but I have some really interesting non-Apple tech news for you today. My big story is a Pew Research Center survey about how people encounter news on social media. And it's not good news, but not for the reason you might expect. We also have a possible legitimate use for Blockchain to protect artists and a guy who's going to let a chatbot make decisions if he's elected mayor.
Enjoy!
Tom
FREE PREVIEW WEEK CONTINUES! All subscribers get every issue every day to see what the whole week looks like for paid subscribers.
Big Story
"How Americans Get News on TikTok, X, Facebook, and Instagram | Pew Research Center" https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/06/12/how-americans-get-news-on-tiktok-x-facebook-and-instagram/
Despite my repeated cautions against the practice, half of US adults sometimes get news from social media. Well, damn. I guess I also sometimes get news from social media.
Pew Research Center investigated the ways in which people in the US encounter news on the four major platforms: TikTok, X, Facebook, and Instagram.
X is the only platform where most users say keeping up with the news is a reason they use the platform. The majority of users of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok say news is not a reason they use the platform. And here's where it gets interesting. On all platforms, the majority of users say they see news. Mostly, they see other people expressing opinions or making jokes about news. They see that more often than actual news posts.
When they get news, it most often comes from influencers, not people they know or journalists. People on Facebook and Instagram are more likely to get their news from friends and family than people on X or TikTok. Journalists are seemingly last, though they are a more common source of news on X than on the other platforms.
Most know that what they see sometimes seems inaccurate. In fact, a quarter or more of users on each platform say they extremely or fairly often see inaccurate news.
And Pew always likes to ask people if they're Republicans and Democrats and then correlate that. I don't always like to pay too much attention to that part, but this is interesting to me. Democrats are more skeptical of news they see on X, while Republicans are more skeptical of news they see on Facebook.
So, what's my takeaway? People in the US don't want to see news on social media, but they do, and it's mostly inaccurate. Also, while journalists are present, people are not using them for their news as often. Seems like a bad situation to me. I don't have an idea of what to do about it other than spreading the word to people that they should probably make sure they get news elsewhere than social media. And I think if there is a role for the government, it's fostering an easy way for platforms to cut down on bots, which amplify bad information quite a bit. It's also notable that despite all its turmoil, the journalists have not abandoned X.
More Stories
"X is officially making likes (mostly) private for everyone" https://www.engadget.com/x-is-officially-making-likes-mostly-private-for-everyone-035837613.html
X Engineering, a source of information about what X is about to do that seems reliable, announced that this week the platform will make likes private for all users. You will be able to see which posts you have liked; others will not. You will not be able to see who liked other people's posts. You will be able to see who liked your own posts. So the author of a post could still out someone for liking a post, but the general internet cannot.
"Wacom's found a use for blockchain - and it will protect your art from AI | Creative Bloq" https://www.creativebloq.com/ai/wacom-has-found-a-use-for-blockchain-and-it-will-protect-your-art-from-ai
I know you think I'm naive in my never-ending quest to find a legitimate use for blockchain, but humor me.
Wacom Yuify is in beta testing with Adobe. It lets an artist record ownership of their work on a blockchain and therefore control uses of their image.
The idea is you make your image in the compatible software, say Photoshop, and export it as a JPEG or PNG to Yuify. Yuify adds a micro-mark of nondestructive pixels to the image linked to a record on its blockchain. Artists can then use the License Builder tool in Yuify to set what terms need to be met in order to use the image. That can include paying license fees, etc.
This is not a preventative measure against piracy, but it is a way to show human authorship and ownership.
Wacom Yuify is available as a plugin for Photoshop, and a beta version is coming for Rebelle 7 shortly and for Clip Paint Studio at the end of June. And no, you don't need to use a Wacom device to take advantage of it.
"Arm wants to destroy all Copilot+ PCs, here's why | Windows Central" https://www.windowscentral.com/hardware/cpu-gpu-components/heres-why-arm-holdings-wants-qualcomm-to-destroy-all-copilot-pcs-one-week-before-they-ship-to-customers
Yes, Arm has called on Qualcomm to destroy all its Snapdragon X chips. The ones in the Copilot+ PCs set to ship June 18.
No, it does not seem likely that this will happen.
Here's what's up.
Qualcomm bought a chip design company called Nuvia in 2021. Nuvia had a license with Arm to design cores for server CPUs. Arm says that license was terminated when Qualcomm began using the designs in non-server chips. Arm subsequently sued Qualcomm, and a trial is set to begin in Delaware in December. Qualcomm says it has a broader license to use Arm designs than Nuvia had, so it's covered. Arm argues that it would have negotiated a different license with Qualcomm if it had Nuvia's design when those licenses were first signed. While Arm has asked for all chips with Nuvia designs to be destroyed (including car chips and other non-Snapdragon X chips), it has not sought a legal injunction, so Qualcomm doesn't have to comply. What I do expect to happen is that the two companies come to a new licensing arrangement with Qualcomm paying Arm more money.
"MediaTek reportedly preps Arm processors for Windows laptop — will arrive as Qualcomm's exclusivity deal expires | Tom's Hardware" https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/mediatek-reportedly-preps-arm-processors-for-windows-laptop-will-arrive-as-qualcomms-exclusivity-deal-expires
"Exclusive: MediaTek designs Arm-based chip for Microsoft's AI laptops | Reuters" https://www.reuters.com/technology/mediatek-designs-arm-based-chip-microsofts-ai-laptops-say-sources-2024-06-11/
Meanwhile, Qualcomm's exclusive deal with Microsoft to provide Arm-based chips that can run Windows expires this year. Sources tell Reuters that Taiwan's MediaTek, maker of 36% of the smartphone SoCs out there, plans to issue an Arm-based chip capable of running Windows. This will go alongside its existing Arm-based chips for ChromeOS. It also reportedly will include an integrated Nvidia graphics card, something Qualcomm will not be offering.
"Waymo issues software and mapping recall after robotaxi crashes into a telephone pole - The Verge" https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/12/24175489/waymo-recall-telephone-pole-crash-phoenix-software-map
Waymo issued a "recall" of its software after one of its unoccupied vehicles hit a telephone pole at 8 miles an hour in Phoenix last month. The recall just means it has alerted the NHTSA that its 672 cars have updated software to correct for the issue. The vehicle hit a pole in an alley that had nothing but a yellow line to mark where a line of telephone poles were level with the road. The software treated it as a low damage situation, so the software update has upgraded that. Waymo has issued one previous recall in February after two of its vehicles inaccurately predicted the movement of a towed vehicle.
For Context
"Is Slop A.I.’s Answer to Spam? A Phrase Emerges for Bad Search. - The New York Times" https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/11/style/ai-search-slop.html
The New York Times says that "slop" is being used by many people to refer to low-grade AI material. Now we know.
"Beijing wants more outfits like Temu teeming everywhere • The Register" https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/12/china_ecommerce_expansion_policy/
This looks to me like China transitioning into a service economy. As its hardware manufacturers slowly migrate to India, Vietnam, and elsewhere, it intends to replace them with e-commerce.
"An AI Bot Is (Sort of) Running for Mayor in Wyoming | WIRED" https://www.wired.com/story/ai-bot-running-for-mayor-wyoming/
Victor Miller is running for Mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming. He has promised that if elected, he will use his Virtual Integrated Citizen or VIC chatbot to make all his decisions. VIC was created on ChatGPT. When Miller registered for the ballot, he just put down Vic as the candidate name. He argues this is legal since the statute says he just has to put down what people generally call him and people call him Vic. The state says he needs to use first and last names. OpenAI says the bot violates its policy against political campaigning. Miller says if OpenAI removes the bot, he'll use Meta's Llama 3 for VIC. Miller is running against incumbent Patrick Collins.
"Salesforce, Microsoft Face New AI Graphics Rival From Databricks - Bloomberg" https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-12/databricks-launches-ai-graphics-competitor-to-salesforce-microsoft
Databricks adding AI visualization puts it up against Microsoft and Salesforce. I find tools notable when they come to these kinds of businesses and especially when all the major competitors start to employ them.
"Elon Musk drops suit against OpenAI and Sam Altman" https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/11/elon-musk-drops-suit-against-openai-and-sam-altman.html
The judge was about to hear OpenAI's request for dismissal on Wednesday. This is the one over breach of contract even though there was no formal contract.
Interesting Reads
"Apple is promising personalized AI in a private cloud. Here’s how that will work. | MIT Technology Review" https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/06/11/1093577/apple-is-promising-personalized-ai-in-a-private-cloud-heres-how-that-will-work/
"The world’s on the verge of a carbon storage boom | MIT Technology Review" https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/06/12/1093477/the-worlds-on-the-verge-of-a-carbon-storage-boom/
"My favorite iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and watchOS 11 features that flew under the radar at WWDC 2024" https://www.engadget.com/my-favorite-ios-18-ipados-18-and-watchos-11-features-that-flew-under-the-radar-at-wwdc-2024-113044069.html
"Here are the apps Sherlocked by Apple during WWDC 2024 - 9to5Mac" https://9to5mac.com/2024/06/12/here-are-the-apps-sherlocked-by-apple-during-wwdc-2024/
"Is the Web Getting Meaner? No, It Just Feels That Way - Bloomberg" https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-12/is-the-web-getting-meaner-no-it-just-feels-that-way?embedded-checkout=true