Benj Edwards /

Recent stories by Benj Edwards

1. First “Miss AI” contest sparks ire for pushing unrealistic beauty standards

   Influencer platform's controversial contest awarded prizes to three nonexistent people.

   Benj Edwards – Jul 11, 2024 9:45 pm UTC

2. Intuit’s AI gamble: Mass layoff of 1,800 paired with hiring spree

   Intuit CEO: "Companies that aren’t prepared to take advantage of [AI] will fall behind."

   Benj Edwards – Jul 11, 2024 3:37 pm UTC

3. OpenAI board shake-up: Microsoft out, Apple backs away amid AI partnership scrutiny

   Microsoft gives up non-voting observer board role; Apple rethinks a planned similar position.

   Benj Edwards – Jul 10, 2024 3:17 pm UTC

4. Why 1994’s Lair of Squid was the weirdest pack-in game of all time

   The HP 200LX included a mysterious maze game called Lair of Squid. We tracked down the author.

   Benj Edwards – Jul 9, 2024 3:05 pm UTC

5. Researchers craft smiling robot face from living human skin cells

   Human cells isolated from juvenile foreskin are flexible enough to grin when moved.

   Benj Edwards – Jun 28, 2024 3:14 pm UTC

6. OpenAI’s new “CriticGPT” model is trained to criticize GPT-4 outputs

   Research model catches bugs in AI-generated code, improving human oversight of AI.

   Benj Edwards – Jun 27, 2024 7:40 pm UTC

7. AI-generated Al Michaels to provide daily recaps during 2024 Summer Olympics

   AI voice clone will narrate daily Olympics video recaps; critics call it a "code-generated ghoul."

   Benj Edwards – Jun 27, 2024 3:30 pm UTC

8. Toys “R” Us riles critics with “first-ever” AI-generated commercial using Sora

   AI-generated commercials are here, and critics are displeased—but human work is still key.

   Benj Edwards – Jun 26, 2024 4:58 pm UTC

9. Researchers upend AI status quo by eliminating matrix multiplication in LLMs

   Running AI models without floating point matrix math could mean far less power consumption.

   Benj Edwards – Jun 25, 2024 10:27 pm UTC

10. Music industry giants allege mass copyright violation by AI firms

    Suno and Udio could face damages of up to $150,000 per song allegedly infringed.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 24, 2024 6:44 pm UTC

11. Anthropic introduces Claude 3.5 Sonnet, matching GPT-4o on benchmarks

    Claude 3.5 Sonnet is a speedy mid-sized entry in a new family of AI models.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 20, 2024 9:04 pm UTC

12. Ex-OpenAI star Sutskever shoots for superintelligent AI with new company

    Safe Superintelligence, Inc. seeks to build hypothetical AI far beyond human capability.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 20, 2024 2:06 pm UTC

13. Runway’s latest AI video generator brings giant cotton candy monsters to life

    New Gen-3 Alpha AI video generator can create detailed humans and surreal situations.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 18, 2024 9:41 pm UTC

14. Softbank plans to cancel out angry customer voices using AI

    Real-time voice modification tech seeks to reduce stress in call center staff.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 18, 2024 5:09 pm UTC

15. Retired engineer discovers 55-year-old bug in Lunar Lander computer game code

    A physics simulation flaw in text-based 1969 computer game went unnoticed until today.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 14, 2024 6:04 pm UTC

16. “Simulation of keyboard activity” leads to firing of Wells Fargo employees

    With worker surveillance on the rise, vendors sell devices to fake keyboard and mouse movement.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 13, 2024 8:51 pm UTC

17. Report: Apple isn’t paying OpenAI for ChatGPT integration into OSes

    Apple thinks pushing OpenAI’s brand to hundreds of millions is worth more than money.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 13, 2024 5:20 pm UTC

18. Turkish student creates custom AI device for cheating university exam, gets arrested

    Elaborate scheme involved hidden camera and an earpiece to hear answers.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 12, 2024 8:52 pm UTC

19. New Stable Diffusion 3 release excels at AI-generated body horror

    Users react to mangled SD3 generations and ask, "Is this release supposed to be a joke?"

    Benj Edwards – Jun 12, 2024 7:26 pm UTC

20. Apple and OpenAI currently have the most misunderstood partnership in tech

    Apple's AI moves are nothing new for a company that has integrated outside tech for decades.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 11, 2024 5:29 pm UTC

21. Apple unveils “Apple Intelligence” AI features for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS

    Apple debuts new catchall AI branding, generative features during WWDC 2024 keynote.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 10, 2024 7:15 pm UTC

22. DuckDuckGo offers “anonymous” access to AI chatbots through new service

    DDG offers LLMs from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Mistral for factually-iffy conversations.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 6, 2024 4:39 pm UTC

23. Ex-OpenAI staff call for “right to warn” about AI risks without retaliation

    Open letter argues for AI whistleblower provisions due to lack of government oversight.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 4, 2024 9:52 pm UTC

24. Zoom CEO envisions AI deepfakes attending meetings in your place

    Eric Yuan told The Verge that "digital twins" are the future of work.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 4, 2024 7:23 pm UTC

25. Nvidia jumps ahead of itself and reveals next-gen “Rubin” AI chips in keynote tease

    "I'm not sure yet whether I'm going to regret this," says CEO Jensen Huang at Computex 2024.

    Benj Edwards – Jun 3, 2024 5:13 pm UTC

26. Journalists “deeply troubled” by OpenAI’s content deals with Vox, The Atlantic

    "Alarmed" writers unions question transparency of AI training deals with ChatGPT maker.

    Benj Edwards and Ashley Belanger – May 31, 2024 9:56 pm UTC

27. Google’s AI Overview is flawed by design, and a new company blog post hints at why

    Google: "There are bound to be some oddities and errors" in system that told people to eat rocks.

    Benj Edwards – May 31, 2024 7:47 pm UTC

28. Tech giants form AI group to counter Nvidia with new interconnect standard

    "Ultra Accelerator Link" aims to connect high-performance GPUs and servers.

    Benj Edwards – May 30, 2024 8:42 pm UTC

29. OpenAI board first learned about ChatGPT from Twitter, according to former member

    Helen Toner, center of struggle with Altman, suggests CEO fostered "toxic atmosphere" at company.

    Benj Edwards – May 29, 2024 3:54 pm UTC

30. OpenAI training its next major AI model, forms new safety committee

    Amid criticism, OpenAI's new "safety" team includes CEO; GPT-5 may be farther off than expected.

    Benj Edwards – May 28, 2024 4:05 pm UTC

31. EmTech Digital 2024: A thoughtful look at AI’s pros and cons with minimal hype

    At MIT conference, experts explore AI's potential for "human flourishing" and the need for regulation.

    Benj Edwards – May 23, 2024 4:38 pm UTC

32. Gordon Bell, an architect of our digital age, dies at age 89

    Bell architected DEC's VAX minicomputers, championed computer history, mentored at Microsoft.

    Benj Edwards – May 21, 2024 6:53 pm UTC

33. New Windows AI feature records everything you’ve done on your PC

    Recall uses AI features "to take images of your active screen every few seconds."

    Benj Edwards – May 20, 2024 9:43 pm UTC

34. OpenAI on the defensive after multiple PR setbacks in one week

    Sexy voices, departing employees, and NDA rumors have challenged the AI company.

    Benj Edwards – May 20, 2024 8:51 pm UTC

35. Google unveils Veo, a high-definition AI video generator that may rival Sora

    Google's video-synthesis model creates minute-long 1080p videos from written prompts.

    Benj Edwards – May 15, 2024 8:51 pm UTC

36. Virtual Boy: The bizarre rise and quick fall of Nintendo’s enigmatic red console

    How Nintendo took a gamble on a new kind of gaming experience in the '90s.

    Benj Edwards and Jose Zagal – May 15, 2024 11:00 am UTC