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Author: Febin Mathew

Febin Mathew, Co-Founder & Editor at ReturnByte, reports on modern technology advanced including AI & Robotics. He has been helping people figure out their tech to make informed choices. Being a creative expressionist, he loves capturing aesthetic visuals that build narratives. For leisure, he loves gaming, riding motorcycles and hiking. Follow him @febinmathew7 on Instagram
Anthropic AI 

Websites claim that AI startup Anthropic is circumventing their anti-scraping regulations and protocols.

Febin Mathew,

A freelancer has accused Anthropic, the AI startup responsible for the Claude large language models, of disregarding the “do not crawl” robots.txt protocol to scrape data from its websites. Additionally, iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens stated that Anthropic has violated the website’s policy against using its content for AI model training. Freelancer CEO Matt Barrie described Anthropic’s ClaudeBot as the most aggressive scraper, with the company’s crawler allegedly generating 3.5 million visits to his website in just four hours. Wiens also reported that Anthropic’s bot accessed iFixit’s servers a million times…

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Amazon Gaming 

Amazon releases the first teaser for its upcoming Yakuza adaptation

Febin Mathew, , ,

Amazon has unveiled a teaser video for its upcoming live action adaptation of SEGA’s Yakuza games, Like A Dragon: Yakuza, at San Diego Comic-Con. The video showcases the intricate inking process of Kazuma Kiryu’s famous dragon tattoo, as well as glimpses of Kamurocho’s nightlife, key characters from the series, and the underground fight club featured in the games. The teaser concludes with a scene of a shirtless Kiryu entering a circle of spectators cheering and placing bets on his upcoming match. When the company announced the show in June, it…

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OpenAI's new Voice Mode for ChatGPT will soon be available to a select group of Plus subscribers, featuring real-time, natural AI conversations. (Unsplash) AI 

Details inside: ChatGPT Voice Mode to be launched for paid subscribers next week

Febin Mathew

OpenAI’s highly anticipated Voice Mode for ChatGPT is finally being released to a select group of Plus subscribers after a two-month delay for further refinement. Enabling sound mode is immediate OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently delivered an update to X (formerly Twitter) indicating that the Alpha rollout of Voice Mode will begin next week for Plus subscribers. This randomly delivered response hints at an impending but limited release, initially targeted at a select group of users. OpenAI had originally aimed to start this alpha phase in late June, but extended…

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Screenshot from Uber Eats News 

CrowdStrike’s $10 Uber Eats card offer to teammates and partners was flagged for fraud.

Febin Mathew

According to a report from TechCrunch, a significant portion of the world was affected by a CrowdStrike outage last week, resulting in numerous blue death screens. The cybersecurity company attempted to make amends by offering Uber Eats gift cards, but faced difficulties in the rollout process. CrowdStrike apparently tried to send “teammates and partners” a $10 Uber Eats gift card on Tuesday. According to a TechCrunch source who received the message, the gift card was an attempt to apologize for the global shutdown, which is locking down the computer systems…

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Reddit AI 

Search engines powered by AI that refuse to pay are unable to index Reddit content

Febin Mathew, , ,

When Reddit announced last month that it would prevent unauthorized data scraping from its platform, many immediately thought of AI. However, now that the new policy is in place, it seems that not only chatbot creators are being affected. In addition to Brave and Google, other major search engines are also being blocked by the popular forum. Google reportedly has a $60 million annual deal with Reddit, but a Reddit spokesperson explained to ReturnByte that the lack of search results is due to Google’s competitors not meeting the company’s AI…

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Humble Games Gaming 

Humble Games allegedly terminates all employees

Febin Mathew,

All 36 employees at Humble Games have been laid off, according to reports. Former staff members took to social media to share news of the layoffs. Humble Games, owned by media giant Ziff Davis, which also owns IGN, Eurogamer, and GamesIndustry.biz, confirmed a “restructure” in a LinkedIn post, but did not disclose the exact number of jobs affected. A Humble Games PR representative also confirmed to ReturnByte that the company will not be closing its doors as a result of today’s restructuring. He added that the studio will continue to…

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Samsung is expanding its AI-powered features, first seen in the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6, to older Galaxy models, enhancing user experience with advanced photography and editing tools. (HT Tech) AI 

Samsung plans to introduce AI capabilities to older Galaxy models: See which phones could receive the upgrade

Febin Mathew

Samsung has revealed plans to expand the latest AI capabilities, first seen on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6, to a wider selection of its smartphones. The update will cover devices like the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy Z Flip 5, Fold 5, and various older models, as stated in a post on Samsung’s South Korea community forum. New features powered by artificial intelligence New functions powered by Galaxy AI include various camera and editing tools. These include the Flex video camera and Auto Zoom features that were first…

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Amazon Prime Video's latest update aims to simplify navigation and improve content discovery with a redesigned home screen, AI-powered recommendations, and a refreshed user interface. (Unsplash) AI 

Amazon Prime Video to undergo significant redesign: Streamlined navigation, AI recommendations, and additional features

Febin Mathew

Amazon Prime Video in India is rolling out a major update to its streaming platform, with the goal of making navigation easier and enhancing content discovery. The update, currently being implemented, is anticipated to be accessible to all users in the next few weeks. This revamp is a direct response to customer suggestions for a more user-friendly streaming experience. Content forward navigation and new items Prime Video’s home screen redesign brings a content-forward navigation bar with purpose-built items like “Home,” “Movies,” “TV Shows,” and “Live TV.” Additionally, a new “Prime”…

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Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget Gadgets 

Meta’s AI assistant will be available on Quest headsets in the US and Canada.

Febin Mathew

Meta’s AI-powered assistant has been available on Ray-Ban smart glasses for a while now, but it will finally be introduced to Quest headsets next month. The assistant will remain in experimental mode and will only be accessible to users in the US and Canada. Meta announced this update along with the Llama 3.1 and new Meta AI capabilities. Users who get the assistant in August can test its hands-free controls. The company said Meta AI will replace the current technology used in Voice Commands on Quest, so it will control…

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Reuters / Reuters AI 

Meta’s latest move in the AI competition is Llama 3.1

Febin Mathew, , ,

Meta revealed on Tuesday the launch of Llama 3.1, the newest iteration of its advanced language model that is said to be on par with competitors from OpenAI and Anthropic. This update follows the introduction of Llama 3 just three months ago, which was integrated into Meta AI, a chatbot present on Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as powering Meta’s smart glasses. Meanwhile, OpenAI and Anthropic have also unveiled updates to their AI models, indicating that the competition in Silicon Valley’s AI sector remains fierce. Meta said the…

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(REUTERS / Reuters) AI 

Condé Nast Alleges Plagiarism by AI Search Startup Perplexity, Reports Say

Febin Mathew, ,

Condé Nast, the media giant behind popular magazines like The New Yorker and Vogue, has issued a cease-and-desist letter to AI search startup Perplexity. The letter, sent on Monday, orders Perplexity to halt the use of Condé Nast content in its AI-generated responses, alleging plagiarism. The move makes Condé Nast the latest in a growing list of publishers to oppose unauthorized use of their content by AI companies, and comes a month after similar moves by Forbes. Perplexity and Condé Nast did not immediately respond to ReturnByte’s request for comment.…

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Nvidia developing 'B20' AI chip for China market to comply with U.S. export controls, collaborating with Inspur. (REUTERS) AI 

Sources say Nvidia is developing a special version of its new flagship AI chip for the Chinese market.

Febin Mathew

Four sources familiar with the matter have revealed that Nvidia is developing a version of its latest flagship AI chips specifically for the China market, ensuring compatibility with existing U.S. export controls. In March, the AI chip giant announced its “Blackwell” chip line, which is set to go into mass production later this year. The new processors combine two squares of silicon that are the same size as the company’s previous offering. Within the series, the B200 is 30 times faster than its predecessor in some tasks, such as providing…

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ASSOCIATED PRESS News 

Delta cancels over 1,000 flights due to CrowdStrike outage repercussions

Febin Mathew,

According to Reuters, the ongoing CrowdStrike outage, which began on Thursday, continues to wreak havoc as Delta had to cancel an additional 1,250 flights yesterday, in addition to the 3,500 already scrapped. This has resulted in tens of thousands of Delta passengers being left stranded, waiting for new flights that may take days to secure. Many travelers have been forced to cancel or reschedule their trips as the airline has not announced when it will return to normal operations. Delta has scratched a third of scheduled flights for a total…

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RNG Party Games Gaming 

Echoes of the Emergent, a visually stunning Playdate exclusive, captivated me with its beauty and storytelling

Febin Mathew

Despite my love for both reading and video games, I have never been drawn to visual novels until now. The announcement of Echoes of the Emergent caught my attention a few months ago with its description as “a personal journey through a shattered post-apocalyptic world.” The gritty aesthetic and melancholic atmosphere compelled me to preorder it, and now that I have finally experienced it, I am truly impressed. Echoes of the Emergent is a Playdate exclusive from RNG Party Games, the same team that made Bloom. It begins with its…

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NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Space 

Pure sulfur crystals on Mars accidentally discovered by NASA’s Curiosity rover

Febin Mathew,

For the first time, NASA scientists have discovered pure sulfur on Mars thanks to the Curiosity rover accidentally revealing a cluster of yellow crystals while driving over a rock. The area appears to be abundant in sulfur, marking an unexpected find as previous observations only showed sulfur within minerals on the Red Planet. NASA notes that elemental sulfur forming in such conditions has not been linked to the history of this location before. Curiosity broke open the rock on May 30 while driving through an area known as the Gediz…

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Raven Software / Activision Gaming 

The FTC shares your frustration over the Xbox Game Pass price hike

Febin Mathew, , , ,

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) expressed concerns in a letter to the US Appeals Court about Microsoft’s recent changes to its Xbox Game Pass service following its acquisition of Activision. The FTC highlighted a price increase for the Game Pass Ultimate, now costing $20 a month, which is $3 more than before and a 17 percent year-over-year increase. The agency described these changes as “exactly the sort of consumer harm” they were worried about. In addition, the agency drew attention to Microsoft’s decision to end the $11 console Game Pass…

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Nagpur Police adopts SIMBA, an AI tool by Staqu, to enhance crime detection and public safety. (Staqu) AI 

Here’s how SIMBA, an AI system, is assisting Indian police in crime detection

Febin Mathew

The Nagpur Police has partnered with Gurugram-based startup Staqu Technologies to implement a new AI tool called SIMBA, following the success of their previous collaboration on CrimeGPT with the Uttar Pradesh police. SIMBA is designed to improve crime detection capabilities in Nagpur by utilizing advanced AI technology. SIMBA’s AI capabilities SIMBA, short for Surveillance, Investigation, Monitoring and Big-data Analytics, integrates advanced generative artificial intelligence to provide instant insights from various data sources, including CCTV feeds, images and audio related to crime and criminals. SIMBA, built on Staqu’s own JARVIS platform,…

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Airtel introduces new 5G data booster packs with unlimited 5G data for its customers. (Bloomberg) News 

Details of Airtel’s new 5G data booster plans featuring unlimited data and customizable pricing released

Febin Mathew

Bharti Airtel has launched new 5G data booster packs to complement its existing 1GB and 1.5GB daily data plans, following in the footsteps of Reliance Jio. The goal is to improve Airtel’s data services for its users. Airtel 5G Data Booster Packs Details Airtel’s new data booster packs come in three tiers priced at Rs. 51, Rs. 101 and Rs. 151. These packs offer 3GB, 6GB and 9GB of 4G data respectively, while also offering unlimited 5G data. Customers can activate these packages alongside their existing plans, in which case…

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