Tensions

—Will Douglas Heaven Thirteen years ago, as an assignment for a journalism class, I wrote a stupid short story about a man who eats luxury cat food. This morning, I sat and watched as a generative AI platform called Lore Machine brought my weird words to life. Lore Machine analyzed the text, extracted descriptions of the characters and locations mentioned, and then handed those bits of information off to an image-generation model. An illustrated storyboard popped up on the screen. As I clicked through vivid comic-book…

Last Thursday, the Biden administration announced it would investigate the security risks posed by Chinese-made smart cars, which could “collect sensitive data about our citizens and our infrastructure and send this data back to the People’s Republic of China,” the statement from White House claims. While many other technologies from China have been scrutinized because of security concerns, EVs have largely avoided that sort of attention until now. After all, they represent a technology that will greatly help the world…

The Carnival Radiance cruise ship at the Avalon, California, harbor on May 19, 2023.Aaronp/bauer-griffin | Gc Images | Getty ImagesCarnival announced Tuesday it would reroute cruise itineraries for a dozen ships scheduled to transit the Red Sea as tensions rise in the Middle East."Given recent developments and in close consultation with global security experts and government authorities, the company has made the decision to reroute itineraries for 12 ships across seven brands, which were scheduled to transit the Red Sea…

Gabriela Cowperthwaite is the first to admit her new film, I.S.S., is out of step with her career to date.The director of Blackfish (a documentary about the cruel treatment of orcas in captivity, Children of the Underground (about a covert network built to smuggle families away from abusive partners) and Our Friend (a true story of friendship in the face of terminal cancer), Cowperthwaite might be expected to focus on tales inspired by real events. Instead, an unrealized love for thrillers, horror and blockbusters took…

China, one of the world's largest producer of rare earth metals that is used in practically every kind of electronics and EVs, is banning the tech that is used in production of rare earth magnets. This is in response to the escalating tensions between China and the US and its allies…

When OpenAI's board made the shocking decision to fire Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman on the Friday before Thanksgiving, it offered little detail beyond a statement that the leader of the artificial intelligence startup was not “consistently candid” with its directors.The statement, devoid of any details, was the opening volley in a power struggle that played out almost entirely behind closed doors. Privately, Altman and the board jockeyed over what to say publicly and when, according to people familiar with the…

When OpenAI’s board made the shocking decision to fire Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman on the Friday before Thanksgiving, it offered little detail beyond a statement that the leader of the artificial intelligence startup was not “consistently candid” with its directors.The statement, devoid of any details, was the opening volley in a power struggle that played out almost entirely behind closed doors. Privately, Altman and the board jockeyed over what to say publicly and when, according to people familiar with the…

As tensions continue to mount in Hollywood over the Israel-Hamas war, United Talent Agency has dropped actor Susan Sarandon as a client after comments she made about the conflict.Sarandon came under criticism earlier this month for her remarks at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York. The actor, who has starred in movies including “Thelma & Louise” and “Dead Man Walking,” called for a cease-fire, according to the New York Post. “There are a lot of people that are afraid, that are afraid of being Jewish at this time,…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain In 2024, the youngest of Japan's baby boomers will turn 75. The boomers are called the "bunched" generation in Japan because they were born in a short spurt in the late 1940s, in the aftermath of the end of the second world war. The sheer size of this cohort has made it a lightning rod for many of…

Striking SAG-AFTRA members picket with striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) workers outside Warner Bros. Studio on July 17, 2023 in Burbank, California.Photo: Mario Tama (Getty Images)The performers of SAG-AFTRA and the writers of WGA were already feeling disgusted with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers; that’s why both unionsare now on strike, fighting for fair work contracts. In Hollywood, the picket lines themselves have now become part of the battle.Threads Needs These Five Missing Features…