Geek Guy

Category: Global IT News

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever believes superintelligent AI will be ‘unpredictable’

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever spoke on a range of topics at NeurIPS, the annual AI conference, Friday afternoon before accepting an award for his contributions to the field. Sutskever gave his predictions for “superintelligent” AI, AI more capable than humans at many tasks, which he believes will be achieved at some point. Superintelligent AI will…

Kalshi CEO admits enlisting influencers to dis Polymarket in a now-deleted podcast segment

Kalshi’s CEO, Tarek Mansour, confirmed on a podcast interview that his employees did ask social media influencers to promote memes about the FBI’s raid on the home of his arch rival, the CEO of Polymarket.  Both of these companies offer competing events-betting markets, a new kind of betting industry where people wager about the outcomes…

What failed before might succeed now — or fail again — and other startup bets

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week in startup news, we have some contrarian bets, funding rounds from all around the world, new VC funds, and a final word of warning. Most…

See what Google’s Project Astra AR glasses can do (for a select few beta testers)

Google has released a prototype of Project Astra’s AR glasses for testing in the real world. The glasses are part of Googles long-term plan to one day have hardware with augmented reality and multimodal AI capabilities. In the meantime, they will be releasing demos to get the attention of consumers, developers, and their competition. Along…

Biden administration races to approve clean energy loans before Trump takes over — here’s who is benefiting

The Department of Energy (DOE) is on a loan-approval spree in the lead-up to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, and the winners are all companies manufacturing clean energy solutions on U.S. soil. Companies like Stellantis and Samsung, Rivian, and most recently, EVgo. Trump has promised to cancel any unspent federal dollars under President Joe Biden’s Inflation…

EVgo secures $1.25 billion loan amid Biden’s rush to approve clean energy loans

Electric vehicle charging startup EVgo is the latest company to secure funds from the U.S. Department of Energy as the Biden administration races to approve clean energy loans before Donald Trump takes over.  Trump has promised to cancel any unspent funds from Biden’s bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act, including the $7,500 tax credit for new EV…

Google’s NotebookLM now lets you to talk to its AI podcast hosts

A few months ago, Google’s NotebookLM note-taking app debuted an Audio Overviews feature that generates a podcast with AI virtual hosts based on information you have shared with the app. Now, NotebookLM is rolling out the ability for users to interact with the AI podcast hosts. The idea behind Audio Overviews and the AI hosts…

The federal crash-reporting rule Tesla opposes could be on the chopping block

The Trump transition team wants to end a federal rule requiring automakers to report crashes when advanced driver-assistance or autonomous driving technology is engaged, Reuters reports. Federal safety agencies would lose the ability to investigate and regulate the safety of vehicles with automated-driving systems should the rule — which went into effect in 2021 —…

Liquid AI just raised $250M to develop a more efficient type of AI model

Liquid AI, an AI startup co-founded by robotics luminary Daniela Rus, has raised $250 million in a Series A led by AMD. Per Bloomberg, the round values Liquid AI at over $2 billion. Liquid AI aims to build general-purpose AI systems powered by a relatively new type of AI model called a liquid neural network. Liquid…

Sam Altman and Jeff Bezos are the latest billionaires to donate $1M to Trump fund

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Jeff Bezos’ Amazon plan to donate $1 million each to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, according to reports from Fox and the Wall Street Journal.  TechCrunch has confirmed Altman’s plans to personally commit the money, which is not coming directly from OpenAI.    The donations from the billionaires follow plans by…

OpenAI blames its massive ChatGPT outage on a ‘new telemetry service’

OpenAI is blaming one of the longest outages in its history on a “new telemetry service” gone awry. On Wednesday, OpenAI’s AI-powered chatbot platform, ChatGPT; its video generator, Sora; and its developer-facing API experienced major disruptions starting at around 3 p.m. Pacific. OpenAI acknowledged the problem soon after — and began working on a fix.…

WatchGuard CISO on What MSPs Need to Know to Stay Secure in 2025

Security vendor WatchGuard has deep channel connections and years of expertise in network security, endpoint protection, and other specialties. WatchGuard Chief Information Security Officer Corey Nachreiner spoke with Channel Insider to discuss the emerging technology and impending threats MSPs must consider for themselves and their clients as the calendar turns to a new year. Supporting…

How to Create Microsoft Copilot Use Cases for Clients

Organizations of all sizes are continuously looking to AI and machine learning to automate processes and enhance efficiency. The big players in the AI space are creating all-encompassing AI tools to meet the needs of enterprises and create value for their customers. One of those tools is Microsoft’s Copilot solution, which can be used for…

Thoughtworks Signs Strategic Collaboration Agreement with AWS to Accelerate Generative AI Adoption and Address Industry Challenges in Asia Pacific

Thoughtworks, a global technology consultancy that integrates strategy, design and engineering, today announced it has signed a strategic collaboration agreement (SCA) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help enterprises across Asia Pacific develop generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) solutions that drive operational efficiencies. This will help Thoughtworks’ clients in industries across automotive, energy, financial services, healthcare,…

WhatsApp lets you select specific people within a group to start a group call without disturbing anyone

WhatsApp announced that it had added new video calling features just before the holidays, including participant selection for group video calls, better resolution, and a revamped call tab on the desktop. This is another step from Meta in making WhatsApp a viable option for both personal and work calls instead of using Google Meet or…

As AI-fueled disinformation explodes, here comes the startup counterattack

With disinformation on the rise, especially given the explosion of AI, companies are just as vulnerable to its effects as individuals. Refute is a London-based startup that detects and responds to disinformation on behalf of these commercial entities. It’s now raised a £2.3 million ($2.9 million) pre-seed round led by UK investors Playfair and Episode 1.…

Texas AG is investigating Character.AI, other platforms over child safety concerns

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday launched an investigation into Character.AI and 14 other technology platforms over child privacy and safety concerns. The investigation will assess whether Character.AI — and other platforms that are popular with young people, including Reddit, Instagram and Discord — conform to Texas’ child privacy and safety laws. The investigation…

Microsoft debuts Phi-4, a new generative AI model, in research preview

Microsoft has announced the newest addition to its Phi family of generative AI models. Called Phi-4, the model is improved in several areas over its predecessors, Microsoft claims — in particular math problem solving. That’s partly the result of improved training data quality. Phi-4 is available in very limited access as of Thursday night: only…

Fleet Space raises $100M to scale satellite-enabled mineral prospecting tech

Late-stage deals in space have been on the decline this year, but one notable exception is Fleet Space Technologies’ $100 million Series D.  The Adelaide, Australia-based startup raised the new funding to accelerate the development of ExoSphere, a platform to enable real-time mineral prospecting from space. The company currently has two satellites in low Earth…

SonicWall Partners with CrowdStrike to Protect SMBs with New MDR Offering

Recently, SonicWall announced that it would be partnering with CrowdStrike to deliver a new Managed Detection and Response (MDR) offering to bring enterprise-grade security to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). SonicWall and CrowdStrike bring together services and products SonicWall’s trusted Managed Security Services (MSS) combines with CrowdStrike’s Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) capabilities from the…

Tesla’s loss is Zoox’s gain

Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson told the crowd at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 that he didn’t think Tesla would launch a robotaxi ride-hailing service in California (or anywhere else) next year, despite what Elon Musk had claimed. The “fundamental issue is they don’t have technology that works,” he said at the time. But it seems that…

Nearly half of US teens are online almost constantly, Pew study finds

Nearly half of teens in the U.S. are online almost constantly, and the platform they’re using the most is YouTube, a new study from the Pew Research Center has found. The center reports that 46% of teens say they’re online “almost constantly,” and 90% of teens it surveyed said they use the Google-owned video platform,…

ChatGPT: Everything you need to know about the AI-powered chatbot

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm since its launch in November 2022. What started as a tool to supercharge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth with 300 million weekly active users. 2024 has been a big year for OpenAI, from its…

Itron marks ‘significant milestone’ of 50th Temetra deployment in Australia

Itron’s meter data collection and management solution to help Aqwest improve cisibility of water consumption and losses Energy, water, smart city, IIoT and intelligent infrastructure services company Itron, which is “innovating new ways for utilities and cities to manage energy and water”, marks a significant milestone with the 50th deployment of its Temetra solution in…

Itron marks ‘significant milestone’ of 50th Temetra deployment in Australia

Itron’s meter data collection and management solution to help Aqwest improve cisibility of water consumption and losses Energy, water, smart city, IIoT and intelligent infrastructure services company Itron, which is “innovating new ways for utilities and cities to manage energy and water”, marks a significant milestone with the 50th deployment of its Temetra solution in…

Video: How To Inquire About Being Acquired With ABM Technology Group

Zac Paulson, Director of Product and Strategy at North Dakota-based ABM Technology Group, sits down with Channel Insider: Partner POV host Katie Bavoso to explain the process behind selling his former business TrueIT to Advanced Business Methods, a legacy copy and print company. During his tenure as CEO of TrueIT, Paulson says his managed services…

Honeywell’s Phoenix Controls introduces new platform for ‘safer, more efficient operations’ in critical environments

Phoenix Controls’ Critical Spaces Control Platform and mobile app will automate airflow, temperature and humidity COMPANY NEWS: Phoenix Controls, a Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) business that provides precision airflow control solutions for critical environments, announced today the launch of the Critical Spaces Control Platform. The platform uses automation to direct airflow via a specialised venturi valve…

Atturra Announced Go-Live of Key Microsoft Dynamics SIS Modules at Brisbane Grammar School

COMPANY NEWS:  Atturra, a leading technology services provider, has announced the successful launch of the first four modules of the Scholarion™ Student Information System (SIS) at Brisbane Grammar School (BGS). These modules—People and Profiles, Student Location and Activity Tracking, Communications Management, and Resource Management represent a major milestone in modernising BGS’s student information systems.

Atturra Announced Go-Live of Key Microsoft Dynamics SIS Modules at Brisbane Grammar School

COMPANY NEWS:  Atturra, a leading technology services provider, has announced the successful launch of the first four modules of the Scholarion™ Student Information System (SIS) at Brisbane Grammar School (BGS). These modules—People and Profiles, Student Location and Activity Tracking, Communications Management, and Resource Management represent a major milestone in modernising BGS’s student information systems.

Atturra Announced Go-Live of Key Microsoft Dynamics SIS Modules at Brisbane Grammar School

COMPANY NEWS:  Atturra, a leading technology services provider, has announced the successful launch of the first four modules of the Scholarion™ Student Information System (SIS) at Brisbane Grammar School (BGS). These modules—People and Profiles, Student Location and Activity Tracking, Communications Management, and Resource Management represent a major milestone in modernising BGS’s student information systems.

Atturra Announced Go-Live of Key Microsoft Dynamics SIS Modules at Brisbane Grammar School

COMPANY NEWS:  Atturra, a leading technology services provider, has announced the successful launch of the first four modules of the Scholarion™ Student Information System (SIS) at Brisbane Grammar School (BGS). These modules—People and Profiles, Student Location and Activity Tracking, Communications Management, and Resource Management represent a major milestone in modernising BGS’s student information systems.

AWS Driving Customer Value in 2025 with Partner Program Enhancements

Recently, AWS announced new initiatives at its re:Invent 2024 event to change how partners engage with AWS and provide enhancements that focus on helping partners grow their relevance, reach, and relationships with their customers. The new initiatives are focused on partners of all sizes and aim to guide these partners on maximizing co-sell opportunities with…

Spotless, Ventia and senior executives in Court for alleged price fixing cartel for services at Defence bases

The competition watchdog the ACCC has started civil cartel proceedings in the Federal Court against two companies – Spotless Facility Services Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Downer EDI Limited – ASX: DOW) and Ventia Australia Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Ventia Services Group Limited ASX: VNT) – and four senior executives, for alleged price fixing…

Spotless, Ventia and senior executives in Court for alleged price fixing cartel for services at Defence bases

The competition watchdog the ACCC has started civil cartel proceedings in the Federal Court against two companies – Spotless Facility Services Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Downer EDI Limited – ASX: DOW) and Ventia Australia Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Ventia Services Group Limited ASX: VNT) – and four senior executives, for alleged price fixing…

Spotless, Ventia and senior executives in Court for alleged price fixing cartel for services at Defence bases

The competition watchdog the ACCC has started civil cartel proceedings in the Federal Court against two companies – Spotless Facility Services Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Downer EDI Limited – ASX: DOW) and Ventia Australia Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Ventia Services Group Limited ASX: VNT) – and four senior executives, for alleged price fixing…

Spotless, Ventia and senior executives in Court for alleged price fixing cartel for services at Defence bases

The competition watchdog the ACCC has started civil cartel proceedings in the Federal Court against two companies – Spotless Facility Services Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Downer EDI Limited – ASX: DOW) and Ventia Australia Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Ventia Services Group Limited ASX: VNT) – and four senior executives, for alleged price fixing…