Wants to keep specs members only

AMD has hit a brick wall in its bid to boost its open-source Linux graphics driver.

The US company has been trying to get permission from the HDMI Forum, which controls the HDMI standard, to add HDMI 2.1+ features to its driver. HDMI 2.1+ allows for super-fast and high-quality video and audio over a single cable.

According to Phoronix the HDMI Forum has said no to AMD, leaving Linux users in the lurch. AMD has been struggling to fix a bug that stops Linux users from enjoying 4K@120Hz or 5K@240Hz via HDMI 2.1 for three years.

The problem is that the HDMI Forum has made its specs private, meaning only members can access them. AMD and the X.Org Foundation, a group that supports open-source graphics, have been begging the HDMI Forum to let them use the specs for their open-source driver. AMD's Linux engineers have worked hard to develop a solution that meets the HDMI Forum's demands.

However, the HDMI Forum has rejected AMD's proposal, saying it does not allow open-source implementations of HDMI 2.1+. This means that AMD can't fix the HDMI bug in Linux with a new driver, so HDMI 2.1+ features will not work with open-source drivers. Linux users will have to use DisplayPort instead, another cable that supports high-speed video and audio.

They are cheaper and better, and we can't compete so they are "insecure"

The US President, Joe Biden, is trying to stop cheap and cheerful Chinese smart cars from coming to America. The US government says it is looking into the "security implications" of letting China sell its intelligent cars, claiming that it can collect data about the drivers.

The investigation could lead to new rules stopping China from using fancy technology in electric cars and other connected vehicles to spy on drivers and their details. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Chinese can make the cars cheaper and better and ship them over to the US, where poor people can drive them. The "officials" are suddenly worried that features like driver assistance technology could be used to snoop on Americans.

Of course, if that is true, then there is nothing to stop the US government from using the same technology in US cars to snoop on people in China or its citizens at home.

While the action falls short of banning Chinese imports, Biden said he is taking unheard-of steps to protect Americans' data.

"China is determined to rule the future of the car market, including by using dodgy practices," Biden said in a statement on Thursday. "China's policies could flood our market with their vehicles, posing risks to our national security. I'm not going to let that happen on my watch."

The move is more likely to have been a tit-for-tat reaction to the fact that China has slapped wide-ranging limits on American cars and other foreign vehicles and has nothing to do with any security risk.

High taxes imposed by the Trump administration and carried on by Biden have effectively prevented Chinese car makers from entering the US market. Still, US officials and industry bosses worry that Chinese companies might choose to swallow the extra costs as China relies more on exports. Chinese car makers are looking to make more vehicles abroad, with EV giant BYD announcing plans for its first European plant last year.

Ford boss Jim Farley said his company and others would have trouble competing on EVs with Chinese car makers, who have gone from having no EV market share in Europe two years ago to about 10 per cent.

John Bozzella, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation boss representing major car makers, said proposed US environmental rules could let China get "a stronger grip on America's electric vehicle battery supply chain and eventually our car market."

The European Union, worried about rising imports from China, started a trade investigation last year into Chinese handouts for electric vehicles. The investigation is still going on.

Claims to have created the missing link

Software King of the World, Microsoft, has unveiled a new Windows API to provide game developers with a seamless way to integrate super-resolution AI-upscaling features from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel.

Writing in his bog Volish programme manager Joshua Tucker describes Microsoft’s new DirectSR API as the “missing link” between games and super-resolution technologies, promising a “smoother, more efficient experience that scales across hardware.”

The API enables multi-vendor SR [super resolution] through a common set of inputs and outputs, allowing a single code path to activate various solutions, including Nvidia DLSS Super Resolution, AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution, and Intel XeSS.

The idea is that developers will be able to support this DirectSR API rather than have to write code for every upscaling technology.

The blog post follows the recent spotting of an “Automatic Super Resolution” feature in a test version of Windows 11, which pledged to “use AI to make supported games play more smoothly with enhanced details.” The feature now appears to plug into existing super-resolution technologies like DLSS, FSR, and XeSS rather than offering a Windows-level alternative.

Microsoft has announced that the new API will be available soon via a preview version of its Agility SDK.

It plans to offer a “sneak peek” of how DirectSR can be used during a developer session at the upcoming Game Developers Conference (GDC). The session, scheduled for 21 March, will include representatives from Microsoft, Nvidia, and AMD.

So you will forget all about the car vapourware 

Jobs' Mob Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has announced plans to reveal more about his AI ambitions later this year. Yep, he is so confident about his AI plans that he plans to announce the plans one of these days.

Cook reckons the iPhone maker sees "incredible breakthrough potential for generative AI," and that's why they're currently throwing money at it. This will unlock "transformative opportunities for users regarding productivity, problem-solving and more."

While rivals such as Microsoft and Alphabet's Google have been quickly rolling out generative AI, which can generate human-like responses to written prompts, Apple has been dragging its feet having dropped the ball and been mocked by everyone outside the Tame Apple press who could use a sporting analogy.

However, Cook has assured the Tame Apple Press that its super, cool, and innovative AI is already at work behind the scenes in Apple's products but promised there would be more news on explicit AI features later this year.

But just in case they were concerned that their favourite company had already dropped the ball on AI, Cook assured them that AI abilities were secretly hidden in Apple gear – it is just that Apple fans could not see it yet.

"Every Mac powered by Apple silicon is a competent AI machine. There's no better computer for AI today," Cook boasted.

The somewhat empty announcement might have something to do with Jobs’ Mob’s other “next big thing” project – the intelligent car was scrapped this and its Vision Pro gear turned out to be an expensive turkey, which is being returned by users.  

And women seeking abortions

The FBI uses a sneaky trick to unmask criminals who use their phones to do evil deeds or women who stand against the “handmaiden laws” of their state.

The spooks are asking tech giants like Google, Apple, and Facebook to hand over data from their push notifications - the messages that pop up on your screen when you get a new email, message, or update.

The Washington Post found that the feds have filed at least 130 warrants for this data in 14 states. They use it to link suspects to dodgy apps that let them chat anonymously, like Wickr.

There's no hiding from the FBI - they can track down the users by their "push tokens", which are unique codes that identify each app and device. Even if you turn off your notifications, you're still not safe.

Some people might think this is a clever way to catch Kiddy fiddlers and terrorists, but others are worried that the FBI could abuse this power. They could spy on innocent people who are just exercising their rights, like protesters or women who want abortions in states which have degrees insisting women are baby-producing enslaved people.

Apple fanboys are a soft target

Apple fanboys are being targeted by a .scam that uses Calendly, a popular online meeting tool, to trick them into installing nasty malware.

According to  Krebs on Security, The fraudsters pretend to be big-shot investors who want to chat about crypto deals. They target Apple fanboys because they are famous for having more money than sense. But when Apple victims click the link to join the video call, they download a sneaky Mac-based script that gives the hackers complete control of their expensive toys and wallets.

The scam is linked to a gang of North Korean cyber-criminals called BlueNoroff, who are part of the notorious Lazarus group. They have been robbing banks, casinos, and crypto firms for years, using clever tricks and tools to bypass security.

 One of their tricks is to use the "Add Custom Link" feature of Calendly to plant their malicious links on event pages. This way, they can lure unsuspecting crypto enthusiasts into their trap.

Time for another witchhunt 

The fake penis experts and phoney doctors at Wikipedia have taken time out from trying to make Fudzilla and Mike Magee disappear and decided to downgrade CNN, claiming its reporting is not significant any more.

Wikipedia editor’s mothers let them stay up all night to debate whether Cnet was a real news organisation after one of them read a story about AI-generated content being used by the organisation. Like most Wackypedia “debates”, the issue was not the subject but whether the editors thought they were more important than the news agency they were knifing.

For those who came in late, Wackypedia keeps a page called “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” that includes a chart featuring news publications and their reliability ratings from Wikipedia’s perspective.

After the CNET news broke in January 2023, Wikipedia editors started a discussion thread about the publication on the Reliable Sources project page.

“CNET, usually regarded as an ordinary tech RS [reliable source], has started experimentally running AI-generated articles, which are riddled with errors,” wrote a Wikipedia editor named David Gerard.

However, Gerard’s central problem was that not only had CNET’s use of AI been limited, but neither he nor any of the other Wackypedia editors had ever seen any AI-generated news.

But that never let Wikipedia editors conduct a good old-fashioned witch hunt, mainly if it would make them feel important.

After other editors agreed, they began downgrading CNET’s reliability rating.

Wikipedia’s Perennial Sources list currently features three entries for CNET broken into three time periods: (1) before October 2020, when Wikipedia considered CNET a “generally reliable” source; (2) between October 2020 and the present. When Wikipedia notes that the site was acquired by Red Ventures in October 2020, “leading to a deterioration in editorial standards” and saying there is no consensus about reliability; and (3) between November 2022 and January 2023, when Wikipedia considers CNET “generally unreliable” because the site began using an AI tool “to generate articles riddled with factual inaccuracies and affiliate links rapidly.”

A CNET spokesperson said, "CNET is the world’s largest provider of unbiased tech-focused news and advice. We have been trusted for nearly 30 years because of our rigorous editorial and product review standards. It is important to clarify that CNET is not actively using AI to create new content. While we have no specific plans to restart, any future initiatives would follow our public AI policy.”

So, like many things, it is just something that is taking place in Wackypedia editor’s heads.

Disclaimer: Wackypedia has twice debated if Fudzilla existed and decided that we don’t after a debate led by one guy who listed his expertise as being a fake penis expert and another without a degree who claimed to be a doctor.

Why couldn't they get it to start?

Self-professed Apple fanboy and Xiaomi boss Lei Jun is stunned after the fruity cargo cult pulled out of the car market.

Lei says Steve Jobs was his hero, saying that the 1984 book Fire in the Valley made him want to start his own company. So it was no surprise that in March 2021, Xiaomi said it was getting into the EV game, following Jobs' Mob's 2014 decision to have a go at making a car.

At the time, Xiaomi said it would eventually splash $10 billion over ten years to offer "quality smart electric vehicles." The logic was that if Apple were so keen on the idea, eventually, every phone maker would create cars.

But now Jobs' Mob's comedy car plans are in the bin, with the US tech company moving staff to AI projects instead.

However, Lei said that Xiaomi made a "strategic choice" to invest in EVs and that the company was sticking to the project despite the fact Apple could not pull it off.

In December, Lei told state TV that Xiaomi threw 3,400 engineers and 10 billion Chinese ($1.4 billion) at the company's prototype car. He said the overall investment was 10 times higher than car makers usually spend on new models.

In late December, the smartphone maker showed off its first EV, the SU7 electric sedan. The car made its first public show at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.

Home deliveries could start as soon as the year's second quarter, Xiaomi group president Weibing Lu told CNBC. The company hasn't said how much it costs, but Lei said a proper release would come "very soon".

The company aimed for the posh market, which Lu said was a good start because of Xiaomi's experience selling phones to "20 million rich users".

Chinese buyers snapped up EVs quickly in recent years, helping companies like BYD and Li Auto make record-high sales. But Xiaomi will try to get into the world's biggest EV market just as the pace of growth starts to slow down, and other EV makers get stuck in nasty price wars to get more market share.

What must be shocking Lei is that his company can now turn products around faster than Apple and get them into the shops. The student has eclipsed the master.

Workers' rights snub

The EU parliament confirmed yesterday that it would kick out Amazon lobbyists for ignoring the rights of those slaving away in Amazon warehouses.

A group of MEPs demanded the move in anger at what they say is Amazon's refusal to talk to them about the plight of those toiling in its sheds.

According to a report in Politico, Amazon was asked to attend an employment committee hearing on "Working Conditions in Amazon Warehouses" on 23 January but could not be bothered, saying they didn't have enough time (it was washing its hair, could not get a babysitter, or there was something good on TV).

After that, the committee wrote a letter to Parliament President Roberta Metsola asking the company's lobbyists to be barred from the building.

The letter said that the committee thought it was unfair for members to be hassled by Amazon while at the same time being denied by the same firm the right to speak up for European citizens and look into claims of abuse of those same citizens.

Amazon hit back at this action, saying it was "very disappointing" as the company had several times suggested that the EU visit one of its warehouses and see how happy everyone was.  

The statement denies the committee's claim that a visit to a German warehouse was turned down in December. The dates suggested by the committee fell during the busy season of December, and the statement says that different dates were offered after the seasonal rush.

The statement continued: "We remain ready to host the Committee at our sheds, including in Germany, Poland or elsewhere in the EU if they take up our offer."

The public row can be seen against the background of the ongoing and rising attempts to rein in big tech in the EU and in the US - attempts that have become more urgent in the face of changes in generative AI.

Also rising are tensions between warehouse workers and bosses across Amazon fulfilment centres in the UK, Europe and US.

Strikes happened last year during Black Friday in various EU places, and workers at UK fulfilment centres walked out in January and February this year in chase of higher hourly pay and more union power.

US media claims it is black and white

Google boss Sundar Pichai apologised for the company's Gemini fiasco, calling the AI app's dodgy responses about race unacceptable and promising to sort it out.

Google pulled the plug on its Gemini image creation tool last week after it upset the US Right by creating photos of women or people of colour when asked to make images of Vikings, Nazis, and the Pope.

As expected, red-faced white guys at Fox News accused the AI of being "woke" and "anti-white." Fox always has a problem with Google, which it claims has a lefty bias.

But the AI scandal worsened when Gemini made dodgy text responses, such as saying Elon Musk's impact on society was the same as Adolf Hitler's.

Most companies offering AI tools like Gemini put up barriers to stop abuse and bias, especially after other blunders. For example, image generation tools from companies like OpenAI have been slammed when they made mostly images of white people in posh jobs and showed Black people in subservient roles.

In fact, in this case, it has been suggested that Google was doing its best to reverse a bias against black people in the AI, and it backfired (particularly when you put something into a historical context). Some of the issues are that Google has been pressured to move faster in the generative AI race as Vole and OpenAI steal the lead.

Pichai ruled out anything deliberate or having a woke agenda. He knew that some of its responses were unacceptable and Google cocked it up.

Pichai said the company has already made progress in fixing Gemini's barriers.

 "Our teams have been working non-stop to sort out these issues. We're already seeing a big improvement on many requests," he said.

"No AI is perfect, especially at this new stage of the industry's development, but we know the bar is high for us, and we will keep at it for however long it takes. And we'll look into what happened and ensure we fix it for good," he said.

Pichai said that even as Google learnt from what went wrong, it should also build on the product and technical announcements we've made in AI over the last few weeks.

That includes significant advances in underlying models, such as Google's 1 million long-context window breakthrough and our open models, which have been well received.

The Gemini mistakes are a fixable technical problem, and Pichai's note to staff Tuesday night shows that the company is working on it.