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| Welcome to Inside Tech! Here are today's top stories: - U.S. probe finds Chinese spy balloon used American-made tech.
- Government announces $42B high-speed internet expansion across the U.S.
- Microsoft launches free generative AI coursework.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | A Chinese spy balloon that crossed the U.S. earlier this year was equipped with American-made surveillance technology, according to The Wall Street Journal. The balloon, which was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean in February, carried sophisticated equipment for collecting audio-visual data. More: - According to the Journal, U.S. officials believe the balloon collected data during its eight-day flight but did not transmit it back to China.
- Debris analysis of the balloon revealed a combination of off-the-shelf U.S. gear, some for sale online, along with specialized Chinese sensors, according to unnamed U.S. officials.
- The gear was capable of capturing transmissible photos, videos, and other data, suggesting that the craft was for spying and not weather monitoring as claimed by China.
- The news contradicts a prior NBC News report that China was able to transmit the collected information in real time.
Zoom out: - The Biden administration has chosen not to publicly share the findings of the investigation, prompting criticism from Congress.
- Earlier this month, President Biden called the balloon "more embarrassing than it was intentional" for Chinese leadership.
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| 2 | | The news: The U.S. government has announced over $42B in federal funding to expand high-speed internet access across the country, targeting the digital divide in underserved areas. Why it matters: It's one of the biggest-ever infusions of federal money for bringing disconnected businesses and households online. Currently, 8.5 million homes and small businesses, representing more than 7% of the country, lack broadband internet access, defined as minimum download speeds of 25 megabits per second and upload speeds of 3 Mbps. What's next: The funds, already allotted by Congress and managed by the Department of Commerce, will be doled out over the next two years through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. States and territories can begin applying for funds from July 1, with 20% of the award opening up upon approval. What the numbers say: The fresh funding will be allocated based on the FCC's updated broadband maps that show connectivity gaps. Each state will receive at least $107M, with 19 states receiving over $1B. U.S. territories were also promised at least $25M. Texas is set to get over $3.3B, the largest award, while California may take in more than $1.8B. 
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| 3 | | The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is preparing to file a major antitrust lawsuit against Amazon's online marketplace in the coming weeks, according to Bloomberg. The FTC is expected to accuse Amazon of leveraging its market power to favor sellers who use its logistics services and punish those who don't. More: - The complaint, which has been honed over several months, would represent the FTC's most significant challenge to Amazon so far.
- The agency has collected evidence suggesting that Amazon disadvantages sellers who don't use its services.
- It also has looked into the algorithm Amazon uses to select sellers for the "Buy Box," according to Bloomberg.
- A settlement is possible before formal charges are filed. However, FTC Chair Lina Khan, known for her strong position on Big Tech, may push for Amazon's restructuring or breakup.
Zoom out: - Earlier this month, the FTC sued Amazon over its Prime service, accusing the company of enrolling millions of consumers into the subscription without their consent and making it difficult for them to cancel.
- The FTC is also probing Amazon's $1.7B acquisition of Roomba maker iRobot.
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| 4 | | Inflection, a startup focused on creating personal AI assistants, has raised a hefty $1.3B funding round led by Microsoft, Bill Gates, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and new investor Nvidia. The Palo Alto-based company is now valued at $4B. More: - The startup was co-founded in 2022 by Hoffman, DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, and former DeepMind researcher Karén Simonyan. It's now raised a total of $1.525B.
- The funds will be used to further develop Inflection's first product, an AI-powered assistant called Pi.
- According to Inflection, Pi stands for "personal intelligence," offering a more supportive, personal experience than other AI models.
- Inflection recently revealed the large language model powering Pi. Called Inflection-1, it's comparable in size and capabilities to ChatGPT's GPT-3.5 and can perform well on middle- and high-school-level exams.
- Pi can be accessed through multiple platforms, including the web (heypi.com), a phone app (initially available for iOS), WhatsApp, SMS messages, Facebook messages, and Instagram DMs.
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| 5 | | Apple has made the fourth betas of its iPhone and iPad software updates available to public beta testers. Non-developers can now try out iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6 ahead of their official release in July. More: - While iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6 offer the usual bug fixes and performance improvements, it does appear to set the stage for the launch of iMessage Contact Key Verification.
- The feature is designed to help Apple users facing "extraordinary digital threats" confirm the identity of their message recipients and protect against interception or eavesdropping by outsiders.
- Users enrolled in Apple's free beta testing program can now access the beta by navigating to Settings > General > Software Update > Beta Updates, and selecting the iOS 16 Public Beta option.
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| 6 | | Microsoft has launched an AI training program in partnership with subsidiary LinkedIn, offering free coursework and certification on generative AI. The AI Skills Initiative is said to offer "the first Professional Certificate on Generative AI in the online learning market." More: - The coursework, initially available in English through LinkedIn's training platform, covers introductory AI concepts and responsible AI frameworks.
- Once they complete the course, participants will receive a Career Essentials certificate.
- Microsoft also plans to provide a trainer toolkit for educators interested in teaching AI courses.
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- PayPal is introducing tap to pay for Venmo and Zettle businesses on Android in the U.S.
- Chinese search engine giant Baidu announced that its latest AI model, Ernie 3.5, performed better than OpenAI's ChatGPT and GPT 4 in certain benchmark and Chinese language tests.
- Sony is intensifying its Web3 and blockchain technologies exploration with a $3.5M investment in Startale Labs, a Japanese Web3 tech company.
- Firecube Studios has unofficially brought back Clippy, the Microsoft Office assistant, through a new app that leverages OpenAI's GPT 3.5 language model.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. She has written the Inside AI newsletter since 2019. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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