AP Technology
AP-Technology
Siemens announces $285 investment in US manufacturing
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Siemens plans to invest $285 million in manufacturing in the United States, the tech company said Thursday, including two new facilities in California and Texas. The U.S. is the largest market for the company. The recent investments in the company’s U.S. manufacturing footprint and the planned acquisition of Altair, a Michigan-based software company, marks a larger $10 billion investment in the U.S. by the company.
Ariane 6 rocket roars skyward carrying a French military reconnaissance satellite
PARIS (AP) — An Ariane 6 rocket has roared skyward with a French military reconnaissance satellite aboard in the first commercial flight for the European heavy-lift launcher. The rocket took off smoothly Thursday from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, quickly disappearing into thick clouds. Video images beamed back from the rocket showed the Earth’s beautiful colors and curvature. The rocket’s mission was to deliver the CSO-3 military observation satellite into orbit at an altitude of around 800 kilometers (500 miles). It was the first commercial mission for Ariane 6 after its maiden flight in July 2024.
Utah becomes the first state to pass legislation requiring app stores to verify ages
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah has become the first state to pass legislation requiring app stores to verify users’ ages and get parental consent for minors to download apps to their devices. The bill headed to the desk of Gov. Spencer Cox has pitted Facebook and Instagram operator Meta against app store giants Apple and Google over who should be responsible for verifying ages. Similar bills have been introduced in at least eight other states in the latest fight over children’s digital safety. The proposals targeting app stores come after legal fights over laws requiring social media platforms to verify the ages of users.
Albania shuts down TikTok for a year amid concerns over violence among children
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — The Albanian Cabinet has decided to shut down TikTok for 12 months, blaming the video-sharing platform for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children. Education Minister Ogerta Manastirliu says officials are in contact with TikTok on installing filters like parental control and the inclusion of the Albanian language in the application. The minister said authorities had conducted 1,300 meetings with some 65,000 parents who “recommended and were in favor of the shut down or limiting the TikTok platform.” The Cabinet initiated the move last year after a teen stabbed another teenager to death in November after a quarrel that started on TikTok.TikTok did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the government’s decision.
Angry Birds, Frogger and others are finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The World Video Game Hall of Fame has revealed its 12 finalists for 2025. Members of the public have a week to vote for their favorites online. The finalists are: Age of Empires, Angry Birds, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Defender, Frogger, Golden Eye, Golden Tee, Harvest Moon, Mattel Football, Quake, NBA 2K and Tamagotchi. The World Video Game Hall of Fame honors games that have achieved longevity, geographical reach and have influenced game design and pop culture. The Class of 2025 will be enshrined May 8 at the Hall of Fame’s new space inside The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.
Google leans further into AI-generated overviews for its search engine
Google is updating its ubiquitous search engine with the next generation of its artificial intelligence technology as part of an effort to provide instant expertise amid intensifying competition from smaller competitors. The company announced Wednesday that it will feed its Gemini 2.0 AI model into its search engine so it can field more complex questions involving subjects such as computer coding and math. Google is also going to begin rolling out an “AI mode” option that will result in even more AI Overviews. When search is in AI mode, Google says the overviews are likely to become more conversational and sometimes head down online corridors that result in falsehoods.
Digg to relaunch with focus on ‘humanity and connection’
Before Reddit there was Digg, which popularized up- and down-votes on online posts. Now the founders of both platforms — social media veterans Kevin Rose and Alexis Ohanian — are relaunching the early Reddit rival with a focus on “humanity and connection” they hope will be boosted by the use of artificial intelligence. The new Digg will launch as a website and mobile app in the coming weeks.
Judge denies Elon Musk’s request to block OpenAI for-profit conversion but welcomes trial
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge has denied Elon Musk’s request for a court order blocking OpenAI from converting itself to a for-profit company. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said late Tuesday she could expedite a trial to consider Musk’s claims. The billionaire Trump adviser is suing for breach of contract over what he said was the betrayal of its founding aims as a nonprofit. OpenAI says it was always about competition. The ChatGPT maker says it welcomes the court’s decision. Musk’s attorney says he is pleased that the court has offered an expedited trial.
AI pioneers who channeled ‘hedonistic’ machines win computer science’s top prize
Teaching machines in the way that animal trainers mold the behavior of dogs or horses has been an important method for developing artificial intelligence and one that was recognized Wednesday with the top computer science award. Two pioneers in the field of reinforcement learning, Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton, are the winners of this year’s A.M. Turing Award, the tech world’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Research that Barto, 76, and Sutton, 67, began in the late 1970s paved the way for some of the past decade’s AI breakthroughs. At the heart of their work was channeling so-called “hedonistic” machines that could adapt their behavior in response to positive signals.
US charges Chinese hackers and government officials in a broad cybercrime campaign
WASHINGTON (AP) — China is denying the U.S. Justice Department’s accusations against 12 Chinese nationals charged in connection with global cybercrime campaigns targeting dissidents, news organizations, U.S. agencies and universities. The Justice Department announced a set of criminal cases Wednesday. The indictments add new detail to what U.S. officials say is a booming hacking-for-hire ecosystem in China in which private companies and contractors are paid by the Chinese government to target victims of particular interest to Beijing. The U.S. says the arrangement is meant to provide Chinese state security forces cover and deniability. A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry on Thursday called the U.S. “hypocritical” and pointed to U.S. cyberattacks on China.
