Happy Wednesday,
And hello, free subscribers! Because of the US holiday on Thursday, I'm sending the free edition out early this week.
I think the Proton expansion is getting very interesting. If you'd like a free, actually secure service that doesn't make you the product, read on! We also have a couple of interesting Wall Street Journal articles about teachers using AI grading software and tech companies starting to lock up direct power arrangements from nuclear power plants for data centers.
Enjoy!
Tom
Big Story
Proton Docs is a privacy-focused answer to Google Docs and Microsoft Word - The Verge
Proton just launched an online collaborative document service called Proton Docs. You'll be able to access it through the Proton Drive service, which is free up to 5GB with an unlimited individual plan for €9.99. Family and Business plans are also available. Like everything from Proton, Proton Docs is end-to-end encrypted in real time. It offers real-time collaborative editing, comments, sharing with anyone, and multimedia support, and works on the web, optimized for the desktop. Proton says it will add more features over time and plans to have all the features Google Docs offers eventually. Code for Proton Docs will be open-sourced too for independent security audits.
The product is a result of Proton acquiring the company Standard Docs in April, though if you're a Standard Docs user, good news: that product will remain available.
Proton started with secure and private email but now also offers VPN, calendar, a password manager, file storage, and now docs. It has more than 100 million user accounts and more than 500 employees.
Proton recently restructured to have a non-profit foundation as its majority shareholder. Proton AG will continue to be a for-profit business, but the foundation will make sure privacy and security remain the priority at the company. Proton does not sell user information. The foundation will also continue Proton's practice of giving funding grants to privacy projects like Tor, GrapheneOS, and the European Digital Rights Network. This is similar to how Mozilla and OpenAI are structured.
The Proton Foundation's Board of Trustees includes Sir Tim Berners-Lee, you know, the guy who made the web happen; Dr. Andy Yen, a fellow CERN scientist who is CEO of Proton and helped found it; Dingchao Lu, who was Proton's first employee; Antonio Gambardella, director of the non-profit FONGIT, whose mission is to support innovation and economic development; and Professor Carissa Véliz, a professor in ethics at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford and a leading expert on privacy issues.
I'm a fan of Proton though I don't yet pay for its services. At this point, I may have to. The offerings are becoming too compelling not to. If they do a spreadsheet, if I'm not already in, that will bring me in.
Five More Stories
Teachers Use AI to Grade Papers. Is It Any Good? - WSJ
There are a few scare stories out there about students using AI to cheat in school. In practice, most teachers I've talked to say it's not hard to spot when this happens, and it doesn't seem to happen at a higher rate than previous forms of cheating like buying papers online. This story from Sara Randazzo talks about teachers using generative models to speed up grading student papers.
Products trained specifically for grading offer to generate a numeric score and offer critiques on things like topic sentences, arguments, and other elements, especially for English and history. It's not considered to be good enough for grading though one product called Class Companion notes teachers can improve the models by overriding the grades and training them on what the grade should be. The tools can help counter inevitable human bias as well. Most teachers are using the tools as suggestions and adjusting the feedback to be kinder and include human nuance. Although some teachers say they give the feedback straight to the students. Everyone agrees final grades should be determined by the teacher, not the bot. In fact, MagicSchool AI intentionally does not develop ways for its product to grade.
This is going to cause an uproar. Parents + AI + Teachers = outrage. But if handled responsibly, it can be a big help. Students can get faster feedback and improve faster. Teachers can focus on aiding the students instead of the more tedious parts of the job like marking up answers. The teachers who aren't using this responsibly need to be held accountable, but the tools are not the problem in those cases. A productive parent-teacher organization will work to set reasonable guidelines to let students and teachers take the best advantage of these tools.
Tech Industry Wants to Lock Up Nuclear Power for AI - WSJ
The owners of around one-third of US nuclear power plants are in talks with tech companies to provide direct power to data centers. AWS, for example, is near a deal with Constellation Energy, the largest owner of nuclear power plants. These deals would let companies get zero-emission energy sources. The deals risk raising prices for consumers as they remove reliable energy sources from the public grid. Because of resistance to new nuclear plants, the shortfall would likely be made up with natural gas burning sources, increasing emissions elsewhere. Data centers in the US are estimated to need between 4 and 9% of the current electricity generation by 2030. Governments and power authorities need to work to balance the power needs from these companies with the development of sustainable new sources, including wind power and possibly nuclear.
This dual-screen laptop swings horizontally — and quotes the Whole Earth Catalog - The Verge
The Acemagic X1 is a laptop with a second screen that swings out horizontally from the main display on a hinge. You can position it side by side with the main screen or swing it all the way around to be a screen on the back of the screen. It also has the quote, “Stay hungry, Stay foolish,” engraved in real gold on the left side of the keyboard. The quote is attributed to Steve Jobs, who said it when he quoted the Whole Earth Catalog in a commencement speech in 2005. If Acemagic rings a bell, they recently had to apologize for shipping mini PCs with preinstalled malware. No price and release date. But I do love the idea of the swinging display hinge even if I don't quite feel confident in the maker of this particular one.
Meta’s Threads hits 175 million users one year after launch - The Verge
Brazil authority suspends Meta's AI privacy policy, seeks adjustment | Reuters
Meta drops '3D Gen' bomb: AI-powered 3D asset creation at lightning speed | VentureBeat
Meta is changing its policy for the most-moderated word on its platforms
Lots of Meta stories to acknowledge today:
On July 5 Threads will be a year old and the company says it now has 175 million users. The Verge's sources say execs are thinking about bringing ads to the platform sometime next year. So you're ad-free on Threads for a while still. But not forever.
Brazil ordered Meta to amend its privacy policy to not use personal information to train its generative models and other AI products.
Meta announced Meta 3D Gen, which can generate 3D models from text prompts, useful for game designers.
And Meta is ending a blanket ban on the Arabic word "shaheed," which is sometimes translated as "martyr" but can have multiple meanings. The Oversight Board criticized Meta for banning all uses of the word. The use of the word with other signals will still be considered when removing content.
Apple Leak Confirms Four iPhone 16 Models With Same A18 Chip - MacRumors
New Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 leaks hint at fresh design and several spec bumps | TechRadar
So, these two stories were tippy-top of Google News this morning and I just had to note what I think of that. The first is a perfectly reliable leak that Apple would come out with four new iPhones later this year, all using a new A series chip. I believe that. I also am not surprised by that. It's what Apple usually does. So why is this such a big traffic driver? I don't get it. It's like saying the National Football League is rumored to hold a football game on the first Sunday in September. Then there's a leak of photos of the Galaxy Z Flip that we're expecting to hear actual announcements about on July 10. The leak shows no change to the look or size. Why is this so high up? I get why you report it, but why the massive interest in telling people things won't change much? I know. I am an old man shaking my fist at a cloud. But still.
Five For Context
Apple’s Phil Schiller to reportedly join OpenAI’s board - The Verge
Apple's App Store head gets a non-voting seat on the nonprofit foundation's board. That means he can attend board meetings and listen, but that's it. Microsoft got the same kind of seat last year.
Netflix has reimagined Minesweeper and it's out now
Netflix has a super cool polished version of Minesweeper. Underwater mines? Sure, why not?
Indian social network Koo is shutting down as buyout talks collapse | TechCrunch
Another homegrown Indian social platform bites the dust.
DJI expands into e-bikes and drive systems - The Verge
Smart diversification of DJI into bikes. Taking their battery and motor expertise in an interesting direction. And possibly a direction that wouldn't run afoul of US import restrictions.
Alphabet Shutters Mineral, Licenses Ag Tech to Berry Producer Driscoll's - Bloomberg
This caught my eye because I buy Driscoll blueberries all the time and I think it's notable to see a food business buying tech from Alphabet.
Five Interesting Reads
The Underground Network Sneaking Nvidia Chips Into China - WSJ
China leading generative AI patents race, UN report says | Reuters
Study reveals why AI models that analyze medical images can be biased
Neobank Vexi has high approval rates for underbanked families in Mexico - Rest of World