Tech Roundup: E.U. AI Safeguards, Google I/O 2023 & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• The E.U. drafts new AI safeguards that prohibits mass facial recognition programs in public places, predictive policing algorithms that aim to identify future offenders using personal data, and "indiscriminate scraping of biometric data from social media or CCTV footage to create facial recognition databases" as regulatory scrutiny creeps up.
  
• Google integrates generative AI features to Search (AI Snapshots), Workspace (Duet AI for Google Workspace) and Android at Google I/O, as it debuts Pixel 7a, Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet devies; opens Bard to all users globally barring Canada and the E.U. (alongside extending its capabilities through third-party extensions, similar to ChatGPT Plugins); launches a dedicated Labs page to allow users to sign up and test Google's early ideas for features and products; previews Wear OS 4; updates its Find My Device network to proactively alert users about unknown trackers, including support for Apple's AirTags and others; and partners with Adobe to bring the latter's Firefly technology to Bard and take on Microsoft and OpenAI.
• Google releases MusicLM, a new experimental AI tool that can turn text descriptions into music; unveils Duet AI for Google Cloud and Android Studio Bot, an AI-powered collaborator that offers code assistance a la GitHub Copilot, and showcases a new translation service that redubs video in a new language while also synchronizing the speaker's lips with words they never spoke using AI.
• Google teases Project Tailwind, an AI-centric notebook that can automatically organise and summarise notes and synthesise key topics and questions; showcases Project Gameface, a "new open source hands-free gaming mouse that enables people to control a computer's cursor using their head movement and facial gestures."
• Chinese authorities arrest a man for using ChatGPT to write and spread fake news articles, marking one of the first known instances of an arrest related to misuse of artificial intelligence in the nation.
• Truecaller announces plans to make its caller ID service available globally over WhatsApp and other messaging apps later this month to help users spot potential spam calls.
• Microsoft's LinkedIn to shut down InCareer, its local jobs app in China, by August 9, 2023, citing fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate.
• Twitter to purge accounts that have had "no activity at all for several years" as it hopes to put more usernames back into rotation; mulls a lower-cost verification plan for small businesses that doesn't cost US$ 1,000 a month, as Elon Musk names NBCU ad exec Linda Yaccarino new CEO.
• Microsoft-owned GitHub overhauls code search and code view on the platform to "enable developers to quickly search, navigate and understand their code, put critical information into context, and ultimately make them more productive."
• Music streaming platform SoundCloud launches a new toll called Fans that lets artists engage with fans who contribute significantly to their earnings.
• Google announces partnership with Android hardware manufacturers, including Samsung, to ensure a consistent and uniform implementation of Android 14's background APIs, as the company prioritises continuous updates over once-a-year platform upgrade.
• Meta tests paying Facebook creators based on public Reels' performance, instead of ad earnings, and plans to roll out a similar performance-based payout model to Instagram in the coming weeks; partners with Stripe to let Singapore-based users pay businesses within WhatsApp, after launching merchant payments in India and Brazil.
• Amazon announces Amazon Anywhere, which lets third-party app users buy related physical products while in the app.
• Meta unveils ImageBind, an open source AI model combining text, audio, visual, depth, thermal and movement data.

• Global tablet shipments fall 18% YoY to 31.7M in Q1 2023, the lowest shipment volume since Q1 2020. according to Canalys; Apple leads with 12.35 million shipments, down 17% YoY, for a 38.9% share.
• Apple to launch Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro video and audio editing apps for the iPad for a US$ 4.99 monthly subscription on May 23, 2023.
• Twitter gains the ability to respond to a specific message in direct messages; launches support for encrypted messages on the platform, but limits it to verified users.
• Uber adds the ability to book flights on its platform in the U.K. in its race to become to a travel super app.
• Disney announces plans to combine Disney+ and Hulu into one consolidated streaming service before 2024; the services to still be available as separate apps.
  
• Google's YouTube tests a new "For You" section on channel homepages to "recommend a mix of different content types from that channel based on the videos they've already watched"; also runs a limited test that prevents users from accessing its service on the web if ad blockers are enabled.
• Italy's antitrust agency AGCM opens a probe into Apple for alleged abuse of its market dominance by exempting its own apps from anti-tracking settings introduced in iOS and macOS two years ago.
• News aggregation app Artifact takes on Twitter and Substack by letting users follow writers.
• Amsterdam-based Fairphone unveils user-repairable wireless headphones Fairbuds XL for €249.
• Tinder plans to scrub social handles from profiles and discourage users from posting on other platforms private conversations with their matches as part of a series of updated community guidelines that the company claims will "reinforce authenticity, respect and inclusivity."
• Reddit to allow users to upload NSFW images from desktops in adult communities, days before Imgur's new policy banning explicit content from the platform on May 15 goes into effect.
• Google launches App Streaming on ChromeOS, allowing users to mirror their phone screens on Chromebooks via PhoneHub; brings a new "Perspectives" filter to Search results to highlight content from platforms like Reddit, TikTok and YouTube.
• Pinterest streamlines its Pins format to allow users to share image and video content and include other features like links, music, text overlay and stickers.
• Indian streaming service JioCinema introduces a Premium subscription plan, offering content from studios like HBO, for ₹999 per year.
• OpenAI begins rolling out web browsing and over 70 third-party plugins in beta to all ChatGPT Plus users.