GoKawiil
Tech News
Alibaba is issuing new shares to raise approximately $10.20 billion, with proceeds earmarked for further investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure and technology. The move comes as the company continues to pour capital into AI development amid intense competition among Chinese and global tech giants.
Alibaba priced an 80 billion Hong Kong dollar (about $10.2 billion) placement of 710 million new shares at HK$112.70 each, sold to non-U.S. investors and set to close Wednesday. The company says all proceeds will go toward expanding its AI infrastructure and broader AI capabilities. Shares fell as much as 10% in Hong Kong trading following the announcement.
Shodan, a search engine that indexes internet-connected devices rather than web pages, has surpassed 3 million registered users worldwide. Its user base now includes 89% of Fortune 100 companies, five of the top six cloud providers, and more than 1,000 universities.
Cognitive scientist Anthony Chemero's book 'Intertwined Creatures' argues that much of the current discussion about whether AI can be conscious rests on flawed, outdated notions of human cognition itself. He contends that Western philosophy's traditional model of mind as a detached, disembodied thinker is wrong, and instead proposes that human cognition is embodied, dynamic, and fundamentally shaped by social and environmental interaction.
Researchers extracted mitochondria from a blind woman's leg muscles and injected them into the vitreous fluid of both eyes, after a February brain bleed had damaged her optic nerve and retina and eliminated her pupils' response to light. The procedure, described in an unreviewed preprint posted August 10, caused no inflammation or adverse effects and briefly restored some pupillary light response, though the effect faded within about four weeks and vision was not recovered.
A commentary argues that government contracts, grants and procurement rules for frontier technologies—space, AI and quantum computing—are quietly locking in dominant suppliers rather than fostering open competition. The authors point to the space sector, where repeated launch contracts to the same firms like SpaceX build data and performance advantages that make it harder for rivals to break in, and warn similar patterns are emerging in AI and quantum funding decisions.
A developer created Varkos, an AI-driven companion mod for Skyrim that can fight, loot, fetch items, and carry out multi-step commands in real time using local inference instead of cloud-based LLM calls. The project aims to fix the latency and weak world-interaction problems common in existing AI NPC dialogue systems, while giving Varkos a persistent personality that evolves with shared gameplay experiences.
OpenAI has rolled out a version of ChatGPT tailored for teenage users, prompting renewed scrutiny over how the company safeguards younger users from harmful content. Critics and safety advocates are questioning whether the age-specific controls are sufficient given ongoing concerns about AI chatbots' interactions with minors.
Android Auto mirrors a driver's phone onto a compatible car display for navigation, music, messaging, and apps, working over USB or wirelessly. Android Automotive OS, in contrast, runs natively on the vehicle's own hardware without requiring a connected phone at all.
Mophie has released four new PowerStation Plus power banks in Standard and Signature finishes, each available in 5000mAh and 10000mAh capacities. Every model includes at least one integrated, non-retractable USB-C cable, with the top-tier Signature 10K version offering two braided cables and support for charging three devices simultaneously. Prices range from $29.95 to $59.95 on Amazon.
Promotional material for the upcoming film 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' has drawn scrutiny online after fans spotted visual inconsistencies suggesting the use of generative AI tools. Some observers argue the oddities are more likely the result of conventional Photoshop editing rather than AI generation, leaving the true cause unconfirmed.
Apple's iOS settings allow drivers to customize or silence Siri's behavior during CarPlay use, including disabling announced messages, skipping reply confirmations, and preventing Siri from stopping mid-sentence due to background noise. Options are found under Notifications, Accessibility, and Apple Intelligence & Siri menus in the iPhone's Settings app.