Monday, December 30, 2024

Johns Hopkins and Stanford researchers say they trained robots with videos to perform surgical tasks with the skill of human doctors, even correcting mistakes (Mark Johnson/Washington Post)

Mark Johnson / Washington Post:
Johns Hopkins and Stanford researchers say they trained robots with videos to perform surgical tasks with the skill of human doctors, even correcting mistakes  —  Robots have been trained to perform surgical tasks with the skill of human doctors, even learning to correct their own mistakes during surgeries.



Elon Musk's new political influence may make it harder for regulators and politicians worldwide to resist Space X's Starlink, which added 20+ nations in 2024 (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Elon Musk's new political influence may make it harder for regulators and politicians worldwide to resist Space X's Starlink, which added 20+ nations in 2024  —  The billionaire SpaceX CEO has the US President-elect's ear.  Governments worldwide are waking up to that power.



How cloud computing, AI, and geopolitics could shape the evolution of ransomware, which could cost victims $265B annually by 2031, as the AIDS Trojan turns 35 (Ryan Browne/CNBC)

Ryan Browne / CNBC:
How cloud computing, AI, and geopolitics could shape the evolution of ransomware, which could cost victims $265B annually by 2031, as the AIDS Trojan turns 35  —  Ransomware is now a billion-dollar industry.  But it wasn't always that large — nor was it a prevalent cybersecurity risk like it is today.



2024 was a big year for Windows on ARM, and fierce competition between Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm promises to make 2025 an exciting year for Windows laptops (Tom Warren/The Verge)

Tom Warren / The Verge:
2024 was a big year for Windows on ARM, and fierce competition between Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm promises to make 2025 an exciting year for Windows laptops  —  With rumors of Nvidia entering the CPU market, 2025 might be an even bigger year for Microsoft's Arm efforts.



Sunday, December 29, 2024

Netflix's foray into live sports caps off a strong year, with its share price up 90%+ in 2024, but the stock's rich valuation sets a high bar for follow-up act (Dan Gallagher/Wall Street Journal)

Dan Gallagher / Wall Street Journal:
Netflix's foray into live sports caps off a strong year, with its share price up 90%+ in 2024, but the stock's rich valuation sets a high bar for follow-up act  —  Foray into live sports caps a strong year, but stock's rich valuation sets a high bar for follow-up act



Mexico plans to launch an app in January 2025 that will let Mexican migrants warn relatives and alert the nearest consulate if US immigration agents detain them (Russell Contreras/Axios)

Russell Contreras / Axios:
Mexico plans to launch an app in January 2025 that will let Mexican migrants warn relatives and alert the nearest consulate if US immigration agents detain them  —  - “I have personally attended several open meetings where the key message is to tell our fellow citizens that they are not alone and will not be alone," De la Fuente said.



US politicians fully embraced influencers in 2024, blurring lines between punditry and journalism and paving the way for lawmakers to become creators themselves (Makena Kelly/Wired)

Makena Kelly / Wired:
US politicians fully embraced influencers in 2024, blurring lines between punditry and journalism and paving the way for lawmakers to become creators themselves  —  Politicians fully embraced the creator economy in 2024, blurring the lines between punditry and journalism.



Sources and documents detail OnlyFans' journey from an obscure, porn-free site to an adults-only platform fueled by erotic performers and celebrity influencers (Reuters)

Reuters:
Sources and documents detail OnlyFans' journey from an obscure, porn-free site to an adults-only platform fueled by erotic performers and celebrity influencers  —  OnlyFans is among the world's most successful social media platforms - but a secretive one.  Reuters traces its journey from an obscure …



Saturday, December 28, 2024

Finland, Canada, the US, and other countries are testing tech for passport-free travel, including facial recognition and a "digital travel credential" (Matt Burgess/Wired)

Matt Burgess / Wired:
Finland, Canada, the US, and other countries are testing tech for passport-free travel, including facial recognition and a “digital travel credential”  —  Smartphones and face recognition are being combined to create new digital travel documents.  The paper passport's days are numbered—despite new privacy risks.



A look at Google's pressure-filled 2024 under Sundar Pichai, notching some AI wins with new Gemini models and navigating product mishaps, layoffs, and more (Jennifer Elias/CNBC)

Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
A look at Google's pressure-filled 2024 under Sundar Pichai, notching some AI wins with new Gemini models and navigating product mishaps, layoffs, and more  —  Google's blowout earnings report in April, which sparked the biggest rally in Alphabet shares since 2015 and pushed …



Analysis: mentions of deepfakes or AI-made content in X's Community Notes were more correlated with new image generation model releases than elections in 2024 (Clara Murray/Financial Times)

Clara Murray / Financial Times:
Analysis: mentions of deepfakes or AI-made content in X's Community Notes were more correlated with new image generation model releases than elections in 2024  —  The panic over AGI disinformation in this year's political cycle seems to have been overblown  —  Around this time last year …



What to expect in 2025: increased hype around AI agents, new generative AI-powered gadgets, better weather forecasts due to Google DeepMind's GenCast, and more (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
What to expect in 2025: increased hype around AI agents, new generative AI-powered gadgets, better weather forecasts due to Google DeepMind's GenCast, and more  —  Weather forecasts will get smarter, EVs could get pricier, crypto will be for everyday investors and AI will be everywhere



Russian cryptocurrency payment network A7 expands to Africa, as Moscow builds an alternative payments system amid western sanctions after its Ukraine invasion (Financial Times)

Financial Times : Russian cryptocurrency payment network A7 expands to Africa, as Moscow builds an alternative payments system amid weste...