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Europe agrees to the first comprehensive AI regulations in history

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Europe agrees to the first comprehensive AI regulations in history

The first comprehensive artificial intelligence regulations in history were reached by European Union negotiators on Friday, opening the door for legal supervision of this technology that has the potential to revolutionize daily life and inspire fears of existential threats to humankind.

A tentative political agreement for the Artificial Intelligence Act was signed by negotiators from the European Parliament and the bloc’s 27 member nations, despite significant disagreements on contentious issues such as police use of facial recognition surveillance and generative AI.

Just before midnight, European Commissioner Thierry Breton tweeted, “Deal!” “The EU is the first continent to establish explicit guidelines for the application of AI.”

This week’s protracted closed-door negotiations yielded the outcome; the first round lasted 22 hours, and the second round began on Friday morning.

The pressure was on officials to win support for the flagship legislation politically. However, civil society organizations met it with a cold reception while they awaited the resolution of technical issues that will need to be resolved in the upcoming weeks. They claimed that not enough was done to shield humans from the dangers of artificial intelligence.

Daniel Friedlaender, head of the European office of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, a lobby group for the tech industry, said that “today’s political deal marks the beginning of important and necessary technical work on crucial details of the AI Act, which are still missing.”

When the EU released the first draft of its rulebook in 2021, it jumped ahead of everyone else in the world in the race to develop AI safeguards. However, the recent surge in generative AI has forced European officials to hurriedly update a proposal that was positioned to become a global model.

Brando Benifei, an Italian lawmaker who is co-leading the body’s negotiation efforts, told The Associated Press late Friday that while the European Parliament will still need to vote on the act early in the next year, that is now merely a formality because the deal has been reached.

When asked if it had everything he wanted, he replied via text, “It’s very very good.” “Overall, very good, but obviously we had to accept some compromises.” The proposed law, which would not go into full force until 2025 at the latest, would impose severe fines for infractions of up to 35 million euros ($38 million), or 7% of a company’s worldwide sales.

The ability of generative AI systems, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to produce text, photos, and music that resemble human speech has taken the world by storm. However, concerns have been raised about the risks that this quickly advancing technology poses to jobs, privacy, copyright protection, and even human life itself.

Though they’re still catching up to Europe, the United States, United Kingdom, China, and international coalitions like the Group of Seven major democracies have now jumped in with their own proposals to regulate AI.

Strong and comprehensive rules from the EU “can set a powerful example for many governments considering regulation,” said Anu Bradford, a Columbia Law School professor who’s an expert on EU law and digital regulation. Other countries “may not copy every provision but will likely emulate many aspects of it.”

According to her, AI businesses that must abide by EU regulations will probably carry some of those duties outside of the EU. “After all, it is not efficient to re-train separate models for different markets,” she said.

The original intent of the AI Act was to reduce the risks associated with particular AI functions according to a risk scale that ranged from low to unacceptable. Legislators, however, pushed for its expansion to include foundation models—the sophisticated systems that serve as the basis for general-purpose AI services like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard chatbot.

These systems, also referred to as large language models, are trained using enormous collections of text and photos that are taken directly from the internet. Unlike traditional AI, which processes data and performs tasks according to preset rules, they enable generative AI systems to produce something original.

The businesses creating foundation models will need to create technical documentation, adhere to EU copyright regulations, and specify the training materials. Extra attention will be paid to the most sophisticated foundation models that present “systemic risks.” This will include evaluating and reducing those risks, disclosing significant events, implementing cybersecurity safeguards, and disclosing their energy efficiency.

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Apple has revealed a revamped Mac Mini with an M4 chip

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A smaller but no less powerful Mac Mini was recently unveiled by Apple as part of the company’s week of Mac-focused announcements. It now has Apple’s most recent M4 silicon, enables ray tracing for the first time, and comes pre-installed with 16GB of RAM, which seems to be the new standard in the age of Apple Intelligence. While the more potent M4 Pro model starts at $1,399, the machine still starts at $599 with the standard M4 CPU. The Mac Mini is available for preorder right now and will be in stores on November 8th, just like the updated iMac that was revealed yesterday.

The new design will be the first thing you notice. The Mini has reportedly been significantly reduced in size, although it was already a comparatively small desktop computer. It is now incredibly small, with dimensions of five inches for both length and width. Apple claims that “an innovative thermal architecture, which guides air to different levels of the system, while all venting is done through the foot” and the M4’s efficiency are the reasons it keeps things cool.

Nevertheless, Apple has packed this device with a ton of input/output, including a 3.5mm audio jack and two USB-C connections on the front. Three USB-C/Thunderbolt ports, Ethernet, and HDMI are located around the back. Although the USB-A ports are outdated, it’s important to remember that the base M2 Mini only featured two USB-A connectors and two Thunderbolt 4 ports. You get a total of five ports with the M4. You get an additional Thunderbolt port but lose native USB-A.

Depending on the M4 processor you select, those Thunderbolt connectors will have varying speeds. While the M4 Pro offers the most recent Thunderbolt 5 throughput, the standard M4 processor comes with Thunderbolt 4.

With its 14 CPU and 20 GPU cores, the M4 Pro Mac Mini also offers better overall performance. The standard M4 can have up to 32GB of RAM, while the M4 Pro can have up to 64GB. The maximum storage capacity is an astounding 8TB. Therefore, even though the Mini is rather little, if you have the money, you can make it really powerful. For those who desire it, 10 gigabit Ethernet is still an optional upgrade.

Apple has a big week ahead of it. On Monday, the company released the M4 iMac and its first Apple Intelligence software features for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. (More AI functionality will be available in December, such as ChatGPT integration and image production.) As Apple completes its new hardware, those updated MacBook Pros might make their appearance tomorrow. The business will undoubtedly highlight its newest fleet of Macs when it releases its quarterly profits on Thursday.

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Apple Intelligence may face competition from a new Qualcomm processor

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The new chip from Qualcomm (QCOM) may increase competition between Apple’s (AAPL) iOS and Android.

During its Snapdragon Summit on Monday, the firm unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform, which includes a new, second-generation Oryon CPU that it claims is the “fastest mobile CPU in the world.” According to Qualcomm, multimodal generative artificial intelligence characteristics can be supported by the upcoming Snapdragon platform.

Qualcomm, which primarily creates chips for mobile devices running Android, claims that the new Oryon CPU is 44% more power efficient and 45% faster. As the iPhone manufacturer releases its Apple Intelligence capabilities, the new Snapdragon 8 platform may allow smartphone firms compete with Apple on the AI frontier. Additionally, Apple has an agreement with OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, to incorporate ChatGPT-4o into the upcoming iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.

According to a September Wall Street Journal (NWSA) story, Qualcomm is apparently interested in purchasing Intel (INTC) in a deal that could be valued up to $90 billion. According to Bloomberg, Apollo Global Management (APO), an alternative asset manager, had also proposed an equity-like investment in Intel with a potential value of up to $5 billion.

According to reports, which cited anonymous sources familiar with the situation, Qualcomm may postpone its decision to acquire Intel until after the U.S. presidential election next month. According to the persons who spoke with Bloomberg, Qualcomm is waiting to make a decision on the transaction because of the possible effects on antitrust laws and tensions with China after the election results.

According to a report from analysts at Bank of America Global Research (BAC), Qualcomm could expand, take the lead in the market for core processor units, or CPUs, for servers, PCs, and mobile devices, and get access to Intel’s extensive chip fabrication facilities by acquiring Intel. They went on to say that Qualcomm would become the world’s largest semiconductor company if its $33 billion in chip revenue were combined with Intel’s $52 billion.

The experts claimed that those advantages would be outweighed by the financial and regulatory obstacles posed by a possible transaction. They are dubious about a prospective takeover and think that Intel’s competitors may gain from the ambiguity surrounding the agreement.

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iPhone 16 Pro Users Report Screen Responsiveness Issues, Hope for Software Fix

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Many iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max users are experiencing significant touchscreen responsiveness problems. Complaints about lagging screens and unresponsive taps and swipes are particularly frustrating for customers who have invested $999 and up in these devices.

The good news is that initial assessments suggest the issue may be software-related rather than a hardware defect. This means that Apple likely won’t need to issue recalls or replacement units; instead, a simple software update could resolve the problem.

The root of the issue might lie in the iOS touch rejection algorithm, which is designed to prevent accidental touches. If this feature is overly sensitive, it could ignore intentional inputs, especially when users’ fingers are near the new Camera Control on the right side of the display. Some users have reported that their intended touches are being dismissed, particularly when their fingers are close to this area.

Additionally, the new, thinner bezels on the iPhone 16 Pro compared to the iPhone 15 Pro could contribute to the problem. With less protection against accidental touches, the device may misinterpret valid taps as mistakes, leading to ignored inputs.

This isn’t the first time Apple has faced challenges with new iPhone models. For instance, the iPhone 4 experienced “Antennagate,” where signal loss occurred depending on how the device was held, prompting Steve Jobs to famously suggest users hold their phones differently. Apple eventually provided free rubber bumpers to mitigate the issue.

To alleviate the touchscreen problem, using a case might help by covering parts of the display and reducing the chances of accidental touches triggering the rejection algorithm. The issue appears on devices running iOS 18 and the iOS 18.1 beta and does not occur when the phone is locked. Users may notice difficulties when swiping through home screens and apps.

Many are hopeful that an upcoming iOS 18 update will address these issues, restoring responsiveness to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max displays.

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