Volkswagen is investing $1 billion in Rivian as part of a new joint venture that will give the German auto giant access to the buzzy California EV company’s software and EV platform. Rivian will receive an additional $4 billion over time, for a total sum of $5 billion. The joint venture will be co-owned by Rivian and VW Group, which oversees brands like Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, and its flagship Volkswagen. The two companies will introduce vehicles developed from the joint venture in the “second half of the decade,” they announced.The new venture was announced in a post from Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, who noted the investment will help the company bring its next generation R2 electric vehicle to market starting in 2026. The R2 is... Continue reading…

Image: Xbox Game Studios / Turn 10 The “delisting” ax is swinging once again, and this time, Forza Horizon 4 is the latest major video game to be cleaved from digital storefronts. Developer Playground Games announced on its site that sales of the 2018 open-world racer are ending due to licensing and partner agreements, and the game will be removed from Microsoft stores and Steam on December 15th, 2024.While the days are numbered for people to still be able to buy the game, the final in-game event will run from July 25th to August 22nd — after which, some achievements linked to the seasonal Festival Playlists will no longer be unlockable.To add a little further confusion, Forza Horizon 4’s DLC is being delisted beginning today. And if you played the game via Xbox Game... Continue reading…

Image: Toys R Us Do you have fond memories of Toys “R” Us, back before private equity helped lay it to waste? If so, I’m really curious what you think of this partially AI-generated video that the zombie brand is calling “the first-ever brand film using OpenAI’s new text-to-video tool, Sora.”OpenAI’s Sora wowed the world in February with photorealistic videos created by generative AI — and again when the company’s CTO refused to say where Sora was getting its training data from. (YouTube is the going theory.) But though OpenAI has reportedly been pitching Hollywood on the tech, one of the first entities to publicly bite is brand management firm WHP Global, which currently licenses the Toys “R” Us brand to stores like Macy’s and is also exploring larger... Continue reading…

Image: The Verge The advanced voice mode for ChatGPT that sparked a tussle with Scarlett Johansson was an important element of OpenAI’s Spring Update event, where it also revealed a desktop app for ChatGPT.Now, OpenAI says it will “need one more month to reach our bar to launch” an alpha version of the new voice mode to a small group of ChatGPT Plus subscribers, with plans to allow access for all Plus customers in the fall. One specific area that OpenAI says it’s improving is the ability to “detect and refuse certain content.”As for the new video and screen sharing capabilities that we saw during the event, OpenAI writes that it will “keep you posted” on a timeline. OpenAI had said it would deliver the new capabilities in “the coming weeks.” Now, the... Continue reading…

An Android phone minus the phone plus two giant cameras. | Image: Adi Robertson / The Verge Xreal is one of the few companies trying to sell mass-market augmented reality headsets without an existing big tech empire. But its latest product isn’t a pair of glasses; it’s a phone-sized Android tablet designed to keep you using them. At last week’s Augmented World Expo (AWE) the company announced the Beam Pro, a combination battery, app repository, and 3D video recorder. It’s a pragmatic solution to a very obvious problem — even if, at first glance, I wish it were weirder.Xreal’s glasses — the Air 2 and Air 2 Ultra — have generally required some kind of third-party device like a phone, laptop, or Steam Deck. (There was a bare-bones control box called the Beam, but it wasn’t a big focus for the company.) The Beam Pro is meant to... Continue reading…

Google might be working on creating artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots that can play a character while interacting with users. These character-focused chatbots can be modelled after a celebrity or be customised by users based on their imagination, according to the report. It is said that these chatbots will be powered by the tech giant's in-house large language model (LLM) Gemini. Unlike the existing Gemini AI chatbot, these customisable bots are said to be designed to have conversations and not just to answer user queries.Google Is Working on Character-Based AI ChatbotsAccording to a report by The Information (via 9to5Google), Google wants to build AI-based chatbots that can be a friend to people instead of a query-solving assistant. The publication stated that the company has been working on building these chatbots for a while now. These will be customisable AI bots “which could be modelled on celebrities or made by users.”The report also highlights that Google could partner with social media influencers to create chatbots based on their personalities. These bots are said to be powered by Gemini, but it is currently unclear whether it would use the Gemini 1.5 Pro or Gemini 1.0 model. It is said to be a standalone project, and it is not being developed for a specific Google platform.However, the report highlights that the company has discussed plans to eventually integrate the chatbots with YouTube.Based on the details shared in the report, it appears that these chatbots could be similar to the AI characters made by Meta. The social media giant partnered with several popular influencers and celebrities such as Kendall Jenner, Charli D'Amelio, MrBeast, Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady, and more, and released their AI characters on the Messenger app. Similar chatbots are also used by recently launched social media platform Butterflies.Character-based chatbots were popularised by the AI platform Character.ai, where users can create AI bots by adding a text prompt describing the character and its personality. The platform lets users interact with characters such as Sherlock Holmes, Tony Stark, Elon Musk, Batman, and more.Apart from these, the platform also offers chatbots made for specific purpose such as a Writing Helper, Story Maker, Dating Coach, and others. Notably, Character.ai uses Google's cloud services and Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) to train its AI models..embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Louisiana has become the latest US state to support cryptocurrency mining, as more regions in the country are warming up to digital assets. A newly signed bill is expected to protect the rights of crypto mining individuals and businesses, who can continue to operate in the state as long as they are in compliance with local regulations. The US crypto market evolving into the largest in the world with its industry size projected to reach the valuation of $23,220 million by the end of the year.Rising Adoption of Crypto Mining Businesses in the USThe governor of Louisiana has signed a bill to foster the growth of businesses related to crypto mining activities in the state, while the state has banned the use of central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. The state of Louisiana is among others in the US that are tailoring laws around crypto that could open job opportunities and revenue streams for the state treasury.Bill HB 488 protects the rights of crypto mining individuals and businesses to continue operations but while being in compliance with local noise ordinances. Businesses conducting crypto mining on a commercial level have been directed to set up shops in the industrial zones located across the state, the bill notes.Furthermore, the bill now restricts all foreign parties from controlling digital mining businesses.Louisiana's support for crypto mining could help generate revenue and also open job opportunities in the state, that reportedly houses over 4.6 million citizens. However, crypto mining is infamous for consuming loads of electricity, disrupting power supply for local residents.The global cryptocurrency mining market was valued at $1.92 billion (roughly Rs. 16,017 crore) in 2022 and is reportedly projected to reach $7 billion (roughly Rs. 58,398 crore) by 2032. As per JP Morgan, the Bitcoin mining sector is reportedly is garnering interest from investors.The states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Florida are taking similar pro-crypto mining steps, while the federal government is working on comprehensive legislation to oversee the overall crypto sector.Crypto Mining in Other CountriesOwing to the electrical load crypto mining businesses put on power grids, several countries have decided to ban their operations. In May, Venezuela banned crypto mining and seized thousands of mining computers.Norway has also cracked down on crypto mining businesses this year in April.Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

The new 8BitDo Ultimate 2C Wireless Controller includes Bluetooth, USB-C, and 2.4GHz connectivity. | Image: 8BitDo 8BitDo announced its latest budget-minded wireless controller today, the Ultimate 2C. For $29.99, it includes features like an extra pair of shoulder buttons to satisfy most PC and Android gamers, Hall effect sticks and triggers to keep problems like the Switch’s notorious “Joy-Con drift” at bay, and three different ways to connect it to a gaming machine with USB-C, a 2.4GHz dongle boasting 1,000Hz polling rates, and Bluetooth.Amazon lists a July 15th release date, and while we haven’t had a chance to go hands-on with it yet, it could be a better bargain than the Ultimate C controllers the company released last year with the same $29.99 price. There is a catch. Unfortunately, the Ultimate 2C’s Bluetooth compatibility only lists support... Continue reading…

The Lifx ceiling light features full-color, tunable white light and an array of effects to light up your home. | Image: Lifx Smart light fixtures are quickly becoming a thing, making it a little easier to add colorful, fun, and useful lighting effects to more areas of your home than you traditionally can with smart light bulbs. While these types of fixtures have been quite pricey, smart lighting company Lifx just announced its new Super Color Ceiling Light starting at just $89.97. The full-color smart LED light fixture offers 2,500 lumens of dimmable light. It works with dynamic lighting effects through Lifx’s app, including a daytime sky with clouds floating by, a night sky with meteors, an invigorating sunrise, and a relaxing sunset.It also has tunable white light ranging from 1,500K to 9,000K, allowing it to work as everything from a soft nightlight to a... Continue reading…

Photo by Michael Tullberg / Getty Images Years after Twitch’s ban, the streamer confirms it was due to messages he sent to a minor on the platform. Continue reading…

Photo by Matt Thomas / San Diego Padres / Getty Images Guy Beahm, better known by his streamer persona Dr Disrespect, said he was banned from Twitch four years ago due to private messages he sent to a minor that “sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate.”Beahm shared details of the ban in a lengthy post to X, marking the first time he’s directly addressed the reason for his removal.“Everyone has been wanting to know why I was banned from Twitch, but for reasons outside of my control, I was not allowed to say anything for the last several years,” Beahm posted on X. “Now that two former twitch employees have publicly disclosed the accusations, I can now tell you my side of the story regarding the ban.”“I should have never entertained these conversations to begin... Continue reading…

In case you were wondering, yes, there will be lots of AI. | Image: Samsung Samsung’s next Unpacked summer launch event will take place on July 10th in Paris, France, the company announced on Tuesday. The animation accompanying the invitation hints at foldables, and the invite itself removes all doubt: “Prepare to discover the power of Galaxy AI, now infused into the latest Galaxy Z series and the entire Galaxy ecosystem.” But we’re also on the lookout for something of a different shape: the Galaxy Ring. Rumors indicate that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 will be fairly minor upgrades, with the Z Flip 6 getting a slightly bigger battery and the Z Fold 6 looking a little boxier. Not the most exciting stuff, but that’s been the story with the past few generations of Samsung’s folding phones.Instead, the more... Continue reading…