Tech Roundup: E.U. AI Act, Microsoft Recall & More

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

• E.U. countries vote to approve the landmark E.U. AI Act, agreed in December 2023, to ensure "trust, transparency and accountability" and "foster the development and uptake of safe and trustworthy AI systems"; to take effect in June 2024.
• HP announces plans to resurrect the "Omni" branding it first coined for its business-oriented laptops introduced in 1993; to retire the Spectre and Dragonfly brands in the process.
• Meta faces criticism for approving AI-manipulated Facebook ads during India's election that spread disinformation and incited religious violence.
• Google has preemptively paid damages to the U.S. government, an unusual move aimed at avoiding a jury trial in the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit accusing the company of stifling competition in the digital advertising business, according to a report from Reuters.
• Jolla, maker of Android variant Sailfish OS, details plans for a privacy-focused AI device and assistant called Jolla Mind 2.
• Microsoft debuts new Surface Pro laptop hybrid with optional OLED display, 5G support and a Flex keyboard with haptic feedback; unveils the 13.8" and 15" Surface Laptop with new Qualcomm chips, up to 22 hours of battery, Wi-Fi 7 and support for three 4K external monitors.
• Microsoft launches Recall for Windows 11, an AI-powered search tool for Copilot+ PCs (computers with an integrated neural processing unit, or NPU, capable of at least 40 trillion operations per second) that keeps track of users' actions and gives them an explorable timeline of their virtual activity; also brings AI-powered image creation and editing with Cocreator. (The Recall feature has stoked privacy and security concerns, prompting worries that it could be misused by bad actors to steal sensitive information. While Microsoft pointed to several measures the company says it has implemented to protect user privacy and security, these assurances have done little to assuage an outpouring of concern from several quarters.)
• Apple releases software update for iOS and iPadOS to fix a mysterious bug that resurfaced old, deleted photos after installing iOS 17.5; says it's due to a "rare issue where photos that experienced database corruption could reappear in the Photos library even if they were deleted" and says the deleted images that were restored either resided locally or could have persisted after restoring backups.
• Google says it is "taking swift action" to remove AI Overviews on certain queries "where appropriate under our content policies" following reports that the AI-generated answers are spreading falsehoods, conspiracies and misleading answers; notes that "many of the examples we've seen have been uncommon queries, and we've also seen examples that were doctored or that we couldn't reproduce." (The development comes as a new study revealed that 52% of OpenAI ChatGPT's answers to programming questions are incorrect, with users overlooking the misinformation in the ChatGPT answers 39% of the time. As companies race to dominate the AI space, it's also worth keeping in mind that AI is frequently unreliable.)
• Instant messaging client ICQ announces plans to discontinue service on June 26, 2024, after 28 years; recommends users migrate to messaging platforms from parent company VK such as VK Messenger and VK WorkSpace.
• Google adds a new feature to YouTube that lets users sing, whistle or hum to their Android devices to search music; adds the ability to allow participants in a Chat space to send or forward emails directly to that space, and debuts "adaptive audio" in Google Meet to let users join a virtual meeting "using multiple laptops in close proximity without awkward echos and audio feedback."
• Device repair company iFixit dissolves its repair collaboration with Samsung after a two-year period after it fails to deliver on providing a repair-friendly ecosystem for Galaxy devices due to it having "consistently faced obstacles that made us doubt Samsung’s commitment to making repair more accessible"; comes as a new report from 404 Media reveals that Samsung requires all independent repair stores to "immediately disassemble" devices that have parts "not purchased from Samsung" and share users' name, contact information and phone identifiers in exchange for selling them repair parts.

• Google launches password sharing for family members via Password Manager; increases the Play Store's app price limit to $999.99 or the local equivalent, a 150% jump from the previous price limit of $400 set in October 2015.
• X (formerly Twitter) makes Likes private and removes the Likes tab from profiles; says "public likes are incentivising the wrong behavior" and that "many people feel discouraged from liking content that might be 'edgy' in fear of retaliation from trolls, or to protect their public image."
• Caller ID company Truecaller partners with Microsoft's Azure AI Speech to let its AI Assistant users create an AI version of their voice to answer calls based on a recorded clip.
• Amazon is reportedly planning to launch a more conversational Alexa with generative AI features later in 2024, and charge a monthly subscription to offset the cost, according to CNBC.
• Microsoft adds new feature to Edge browser for enterprise customers that prevents users from sharing screenshots with competitors, relatives and journalists; showcases a new AI feature for Edge to translate spoken content via real-time dubbing and subtitles on YouTube, LinkedIn, Coursera and others.
• The Browser Company introduces an AI-powered Call Arc feature in Arc Search that lets users place a phone call to get answers to queries on the go.
• Music streamer Spotify announces plans to discontinue Car Thing dashboard accessory on December 9, less than a year after it went on sale, without offering refunds; begins rolling out a new bespoke font called Spotify Mix across its digital portfolio.
• X rival Bluesky adds options to send direct messages and says it's working on adding support for messages with images and end-to-end encryption.
• Chinese smartphone maker Honor becomes one of the first device makers after Samsung to include Google's Gemini and Imagen 2, powered by Google Cloud, in its upcoming devices, as Google brings Magic Editor and other AI tools to all Android and iOS users for free via Photos.
• Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp tests option to create AI-generated profile pictures using text-based prompts.
• ByteDance-owned TikTok says it limits the spread of videos from state-affiliated media outside their home countries and that disrupted 15 influence operations in 2024, including from China; launches its Symphony AI suite for brands to let marketers write scripts, produce videos, and enhance current assets using generative AI.
• Google unveils a new AI-powered ad format that shows shoppers how items of clothing would look on different skin tones and body types; plans to test search and shopping ads in its AI Overviews.
• Google updates its Pay mobile payment service with options to view credit card benefits, expanded support for Buy now, pay later services for more merchant sites and Android apps across the U.S., and fill in card details with a fingerprint, face scan or PIN; adds new perks to the Google Play Points rewards program with early access new games and VIP experiences at gaming and entertainment events.
• Google announces plans for Umoja, the first subsea fiber-optic cable connecting the continents of Africa and Australia, to "help increase the reach and reliability of digital connectivity for Africa."
• Sixteen companies, including Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Amazon, xAI and IBM commit to safe AI development at the AI Seoul Summit 2024 over emerging risks associated with the rapid rollout of the technology.
• Microsoft launches Copilot Extension for GitHub, letting developers build third-party skills into Copilot, Team Copilot for Microsoft Teams, Loop, and Planner to help run meetings, manage projects and assign tasks, and custom copilots called Agents to help automate businesses processes; announces the general availability of Azure AI Studio and its Phi-3 models, including Phi-Silica, a 3.3 billion parameter model that will be embedded on all Copilot+ PCs, and adds a new Advanced Paste feature to PowerToys for Windows 11 that can convert clipboard content on the fly AI-generated summaries and translations.
• Microsoft announces Windows Volumetric Apps as a way to bring 3D Windows desktop applications to the Meta Quest virtual reality headsets; adds native version control to File Explorer by integrating systems like Git and support for 7-Xip and TAR compression.
• Adobe adds generative AI tools to Lightroom, including Firefly-powered Generative Remove to let users "paint" over unwanted objects.
• The U.S. Department of Justice sues to break up Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, over claims that "Live Nation relies on unlawful, anti-competitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters, and venue operators," resulting in more fees and reduced choices for ticketing services; Live Nation says it's "absurd to claim that Live Nation and Ticketmaster wield monopoly power."
• Meta, Coinbase, Match, Kraken, Ripple and others form a new Tech Against Scams coalition to fight "pig butchering" ploys with better industry coordination.
• Sonos unveils US$ 449 Ace noise-canceling headphones headphones with support for support spatial audio, lossless audio and dynamic head tracking in a bid to expand beyond speakers and take on rivals like Apple and Bose.
• Apple files a counter lawsuit in the E.U. challenging a €1.8 billion fine levied by the regulators for thwarting fair competition from music-streaming rivals by forbidding them to tell users about cheaper subscription prices.
• Google objects to Epic Games' proposed changes that would, among other things, allow third-party app stores to be distributed via Google Play for six years and enable users to port over their app libraries; says they would "undermine the privacy, security, and overall experience of consumers, developers and device manufacturers."