hightechz.net

Apple is suing a former employee on the Apple Watch team who left to join Oppo, alleging that he “conspired to steal Apple’s trade secrets relating to Apple Watch and to disclose them to his new employers.” Ahead of starting his new job at Oppo, the employee, Dr. Chen Shi, attended “dozens” of meetings with technical members on the Apple Watch team to learn about their work and downloaded 63 documents “from a protected Box folder” that he loaded onto a USB drive, according to the lawsuit. Shi allegedly sent a message to Oppo saying that he was working to…

Trump revealed the news during a briefing about the World Cup. | Photographer: Annabelle Gordon/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Image The US is investing $8.9 billion into Intel, but most of the funds come from money that the government was supposed to pay the embattled chipmaker anyway. In an announcement on Friday, Intel said the federal government will fund its investment using the remaining $5.7 billion in grants it hasn’t yet received under the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act, in addition to the $3.2 billion received as part of the Secure Enclave program. President Donald Trump confirmed the investment during a press briefing…

Netflix has already faced backlash over the use of AI in  What Jennifer Did, director Jenny Popplewell’s 2024 true crime documentary that seemingly used AI-generated images in place of real archival photos. That documentary stood out as a shining example of gen AI’s ability to distort reality in situations where people are specifically looking to be told the truth about something.  Now the streamer is taking steps to avoid similar problems.  This week, Netflix published a post on its Partner Help Center hub detailing its guiding principles regarding gen AI and the situations in which it is ok with production…

Bluesky will block access from Mississippi IP addresses in response to a new state law requiring age verification and parental consent for underage users. The decision, outlined in a blog post, will stand until courts decide the fate of the law. “Mississippi’s approach would fundamentally change how users access Bluesky,” says the post, in ways that rules like the UK’s Online Safety Act (which Bluesky complies with) don’t. The law, HB 1126, “would block everyone from accessing the site — teens and adults — unless they hand over sensitive information, and once they do, the law in Mississippi requires Bluesky…

Meta is partnering with Midjourney to “license their aesthetic technology” for use in its own models and products, Meta’s new chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, announced on Friday. The partnership involves a “technical collaboration between our research teams,” Wang said, suggesting the deal involves more than simply using Midjourney’s existing product across Meta services. Wang didn’t specify the terms of arrangement. Meta spokesperson Ashley Gabriel declined to comment and pointed to Wang’s posts. Midjourney didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.  Meta has been investing heavily in its AI “superintelligence” efforts as of late to catch up to rivals like…

The Splinter Cell: Deathwatch animated series finally has a release date and a proper trailer, but Netflix already wants you to start thinking about what else it has coming down the pipeline. During this year’s Anime NYC convention, Netflix announced that Deathwatch is slated to debut on October 14th, and the series has added The Sandman‘s Kirby Howell-Baptiste to its cast. Howell-Baptiste will voice Zinnia McKenna, an agent working alongside Sam Fisher (Liev Schrieber) as they’re hunted by squads of trained killers. Though it’s brief, Deathwatch‘s new trailer gives you a pretty solid sense of the series’ slick and brutal…

Microsoft has started testing another handheld-friendly addition to its Xbox app, allowing PC gamers to quickly install and launch third-party apps like browsers, gaming utilities, and even rival storefronts. A new “My apps” feature is being tested in the Xbox app for Windows 11, and it looks like another way to avoid having to launch the main Microsoft Store or hunt for downloads online if you’re on a gaming PC. “My apps is a new tab within the Xbox PC app’s library that allows players to locate, view, and download third-party applications and most commonly used storefronts,” explains Devin Dhaliwal, a product manager for Xbox experiences. “By consolidating gaming apps in one location, this feature…

Bungie CEO Pete Parsons has announced that he’s leaving the company one decade after taking on the role. In an update on Thursday, Parsons wrote that he has “decided to pass the torch” to longtime Bungie developer Justin Truman. Parsons has worked at Bungie for over 20 years and led the studio through the launch of Destiny 2 in 2017, along with the release of its major expansion pack, The Final Shape. In 2022, Sony Interactive Entertainment purchased Bungie for $3.6 billion. The studio has since contended with the layoffs of hundreds of workers and delayed its extraction shooter Marathon…

The NFL and Microsoft have extended their arrangement that makes Surface tablets a familiar fixture on gameday sidelines, but naturally, now there’s an AI-powered twist on top. While Tom Brady is no longer actively putting those slates in danger of destruction, they do have something to offer to coaches and players. Microsoft touts a GitHub Copilot-based feature that filters plays to make strategy calls based on the situation, and a Microsoft 365 Copilot-based dashboard that sorts spreadsheets for analysts in the booth to filter through game data quickly. Along with their multiyear contract extension, Microsoft and the NFL announced that…

Sony announced a $50 price increase on all PlayStation 5 “slim” models in the US starting tomorrow, August 21st. The upcoming prices for a PS5 Digital Edition, the standard PS5, and the PS5 Pro are $499.99, $549.99, and $749.99, respectively; however, you can avoid paying the higher prices by picking up a PS5 at Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart today. The disc-based PS5 is already sold out at Amazon, and your options may get even more limited the longer you wait. As of right now, you can get the PS5 Digital Edition for around $449 at Amazon, Best Buy,…