Irdeto has confirmed the launch of a new technology designed as a “watermarking solution” to act as a bulwark against gaming leaks.

TraceMark for Games comes from the same company responsible for the contentious Denuvo digital rights management system, with the new release able to add markers to video game content to act as invisible identifiers.

These tags allow content to be traced back to the source, as already utilized across media output such as sports broadcasts, TV shows, and movies.

Irdeto, the digital platform cybersecurity firm, has placed faith in the qualities of TraceMark, taking the view it will act as a deterrent to dissuade individuals from leaking game content when accessing early play tests, beta, or reviews.

Its features include flexible watermark generation to match specific requirements, with quick and easy deployment to the user’s consumer base and a wide range of devices and platforms.

Irdeto positions TraceMark for Gaming as the solution for clients to “enjoy peace of mind throughout the content lifecycle, from development to distribution.”

What’s the problem with hacks and leaking?

The video game industry has been beset with hacks and leaks in recent times, with even non-disclosure agreements being broken as was the case with Skate when early content surfaced. Grand Theft Auto VI is another prominent title to be impacted, with hacks resulting in leaks of the long-awaited release, undermining the official release more than a year later.

TraceMark isn’t being presented as a cure for all ills on leaks, nor does it claim to be. It most likely won’t have a significant impact on the unwanted, unauthorized flow of content from headline gaming titles but for the early stages and development of many new releases, it could prove to be a useful tool.

TraceMark for Gaming will be supported by Windows, Xbox, iOS, and Switch.

Image credit: Ideogram AI

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Hackers have targeted the esports final of online shooter game Apex Legends, causing significant disruption to the closing stages of the North American tournament.

The competition was thrown into disarray after unwanted cheats were deployed in-game with clips shared by pro players, showing their consternation toward the outside interference.

Apex Legends is a free-to-play, team-based battle royale shooter developed by EA-owned Respawn Entertainment, the studio synonymous with Star Wars: Jedi Survivor.

As the action was unfolding, Apex pro player Noyan “Genburten” Ozkose announced his game was being hacked with cheats used on his profile. A video clip from the player’s Twitch livestream showed a cheat program’s settings menu appear, resulting in a frantic Genburten outburst, “I’m getting hacked, I’m getting hacked!”

The malicious actors were witnessed repeatedly typing into the chat box from his account, “by Destroyer2009 & R4ndom” and “Apex hacking global series.”

Another high-profile player, ImperialHal, shared a similar response to the experience of the cyber attack.

Official reaction to the hack on Apex Legends

A comment was made on the X account of Apex Legends, late on Sunday night.

“Due to the competitive integrity of this series being compromised, we have made the decision to postpone the NA finals at this time. We will share more information soon.”

At present, the origin of the hack is unknown, whether Apex Legends’ servers or game may have been exploited, or if the incident has stemmed from its Easy Anti-Cheat software, with online suspicion of a possible remote code execution (RSE) attack.

We have investigated recent reports of a potential RCE issue within Easy Anti-Cheat. At this time – we are confident that there is no RCE vulnerability within EAC being exploited. We will continue to work closely with our partners for any follow up support needed

— Easy Anti-Cheat (@TeddyEAC) March 18, 2024

This attack appears to have come from an outside source, but players have previously broken protocol to insert cheat modes into the game. Due to concerns around this issue, Apex streamer Lindsey “LuluLuvely” has implored developers at Respawn to urgently fix an “out of control” cheating situation, suggesting the kernel-level anti-cheat system doesn’t go far enough.

This hacking controversy surfaced just days after EA disposed of around 23 staff working on Apex Legends, as part of a cut to the workforce also impacting an estimated 200 QA testers on the game.

Image Credit: Apex Legends/EA

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Playstack and LocalThunk have confirmed their highly popular roguelike deckbuilder Balatro has exceeded one million sales, less than a month after its release.

The poker-inspired title launched for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on 20 February, proving to be an instant smash hit after it grossed $1 million in just eight hours.

A press release from Playstack, via its parent company Tru Fin, confirmed Balatro has been its “fastest selling game to date” with Harvey Elliott, company CEO stating, “We’re incredibly grateful for the support and enthusiasm from players worldwide.”

“The game’s success is a testament to the quality and creativity that the indie sector can deliver, proving that even in uncertain times, innovative games can thrive. We extend our deepest thanks to every player who has joined us on this adventure.”

Developer LocalThunk posted on Steam to express gratitude for the landmark achievement.

“I’m so grateful to all the players and people that have made this happen. I still can’t grasp the response to this game, and I am overjoyed that so many people have been able to have fun with my silly creation. I’m so fortunate that I can continue working on my passion as a career. Thank you!”

This morning Balatro hit a momentous milestone…

ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD!

We still have some fun things planned for the future, but for now… pic.twitter.com/S7PEb0qjeG

— Balatro (@BalatroGame) March 18, 2024

What recognition had Balatro received?

Balatro has gained a sought-after “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on gaming marketplace Steam, achieved thanks to more than 17,000 positive reviews in addition to a commendable rating of 90 on Metacritic, the reputable critic aggregator.

The game also enjoys a rank of 10th in peak CCU (concurrent users) among all Steam games with the ‘roguelike’ tag, listed in between Warm Snow (44.7k CCU) and Hades (37.7k CCU).

On the ‘roguelike deckbuilder” tag, Balatro is second to the free-to-play roguelike battle royale title Gene Shift Auto, which is not necessarily considered to be a deck-building game, and listed above games such as Slay the Spire (33k CCU) and Backback Battles (36.5k CCU).

Image credit: Balatro/X

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Image credit: Ideogram

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xAI has confirmed the open release of its Grok artificial intelligence (AI) model, detailing the weights and architecture of the system. 

Elon Musk’s company detailed the Grok-1 version as a “314 billion parameter Mixture-of-Experts model trained from scratch by xAI.” In addition, the San Francisco-based startup outlined how the model had been instructed on a large volume of text data rather than tailored toward any specific task.

No training code is required, as users can head directly to Git Hub to get started with the large language model (LLM). 

In an effort to solicit input from the research community on potential enhancements, companies like xAI can make their LLMs either fully open-source or available through limited open-source releases.

Grok has also been available to premium subscribers on X, the prominent social media platform formerly known as Twitter before Musk’s takeover.

What is the legal dispute between Elon Musk and OpenAI?

Last week, the billionaire announced xAI would open-source Grok at a time when he is embroiled in a bitter legal battle with rival firm OpenAI, which he was previously associated with as a co-founder.

Musk, 52, walked away to take a different direction in AI development and now he has sued the maker of ChatGPT and its incumbent CEO, Sam Altman, for allegedly reneging on its original purpose to build AI for the benefit of humanity and not for the pursuit of profit.

In response, OpenAI has rebuked the legal action, stating it is based on “convoluted – often incoherent – factual premises”, in a court filing as part of the counterclaim.

An official blog post that accompanied an email to company employees appeared to dismiss the early influence and impact of Musk on Open AI. 

The firm implored it has stayed true to its mission “to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity, which means both building safe and beneficial AGI”, “every step of the way”.

It was penned collectively by Altman, Greg Brockman, John Schulman, Ilya Sutskever, and Wojciech Zaremba, and detailed how the firm had raised less than $45 million from Musk, despite his pledge to bring in up to $1 billion in funding.

Image source: x.ai

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Apple could be set to introduce a touchscreen for the iMac, in what would be a reversal of a long-standing policy.

A report indicated an updated patent application has been lodged, revealing an iMac design complete with a pivot stand. An iMac like this would become more portable and easier to use if you need the device to move with you.

In the Microsoft Surface Studio, we could already have the ‘model’ for a touchscreen iMac, which would appear to be a good fit to modify this design for Apple and take on a rival product. A rehash of a previous Apple product seems unlikely, as the tech giant tends not to go to its back catalog for design inspiration.

If the company opts for a similar design to the Surface Studio, it becomes a natural fit for creatives, given how popular Apple’s existing range of static computers and laptops are with those tasked with video editing and other creative roles.

Time for Apple to test the market with touchscreen

In 2016, Apple’s SVP of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, made a firm remark, dismissing the prospect of a touchscreen product, “Can you imagine a 27-inch iMac where you have to reach over the air to try to touch and do things? That becomes absurd.”

Almost a decade later — now could well be the time to test the market and the popularity of such a release following in-house experimentation. It could also steal a march on Microsoft, which hasn’t followed up with a new version of the Surface Studio since 2020.

A touchscreen iMac would genuinely be a new addition to Apple’s family of devices with enough appeal to make an impact. The updated patent provides encouragement, but hopefully, more information will follow soon on what could be an exciting new venture for Apple.

Image credit: Ideogram

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New Unreal Engine pricing and licensing is coming in late April

Get ALL the details in our blog: https://t.co/yidori2Bqq pic.twitter.com/zb4une6lOu

— Unreal EngineGDC (@UnrealEngine) March 12, 2024

Image credit: Epic Games

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According to reports in the Washington Post, former president Donald Trump asked Elon Musk if he would be open to buying his Truth Social network.

A conversation is said to have taken place last summer, months after the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire had closed a $44 billion deal for the Twitter social media platform, which he went on to rename ‘X,’ as part of an ongoing drive to deliver “an everything app.”

The official website describes Truth Social as “America’s Big Tent’ social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating based on political ideology.

What was discussed between Trump and Musk?

Two sources indicated dialogue did take place between the prominent figures, but not to the extent that a deal was likely or even if there was any genuine interest from Musk. They are also said to have discussed politics and business.

With a clear line of communication established, it is an intriguing situation — with the most recent conversation said to have taken place earlier this month. Key Republican donors were also present at the Palm Beach, Florida sitting. Still, Musk is on record as saying that he is “not donating money to either candidate for US President.”

When quizzed on his links to Truth Social and the sojourn to Florida, Musk only stated that he had “never been to Mar-a-Lago,” Trump’s estate and residence in Palm Beach.

Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of the social media site, did not respond to the claims but instead rebuked the Washington Post, the source of the inquiry. Shannon Devine, the Trump Media spokeswoman, stated, “We heard Trump and Musk were actually discussing buying the Washington Post, but they decided it had no value.” 

Interestingly, Trump has not actively posted on X since his account was reinstated. One reason is that he wants to create and keep financial value for his Truth Social site, which he is said to diligently monitor. The presidential candidate for the upcoming election is keen to push and promote the network, telling advisers that he wants to break the news on the platform as a means to bring in more users.

As things stand, it remains an uphill task for Truth Social to secure a breakthrough in the crowded social media space.

Image credit: Ideogram

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Google has confirmed restrictions on its Gemini chatbot in relation to responses to queries on crucial general elections to take place this year, including the race for the White House.

The Alphabet-owned company is taking steps to control the dissemination of misinformation (and to prevent it as much as possible) by limiting the output of its generative AI assistant. Images, video, and audio have recently been created to maliciously impact the democratic process or for electioneering purposes.

Concerns around the spread of such content have led to governments sitting around the table, often with the involvement of the big tech firms, to find solutions to the challenges and regulate the overall AI landscape.

For the upcoming US presidential election later this year, Google previously stated it would be taking action, and that has materialized. If you attempt to ask Gemini about the face-off between incumbent President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, it will respond with:

“I’m still learning how to answer this question. In the meantime, try Google Search”.

A Google spokesperson was quoted by Reuters on the motivation for limiting their chatbot service.

“In preparation for the many elections happening around the world in 2024 and out of an abundance of caution, we are restricting the types of election-related queries for which Gemini will return responses.”

What other elections are taking place, and what has already happened?

Crucial national polls are set to take place worldwide, in addition to the US.

The UK’s general election will take place later in the year, with a date still not fixed, while important elections will take place in South Africa and India, the world’s largest democracy.

In the case of the latter, tech companies have been prompted to secure government approval before releasing AI software that is “unreliable” or still in development.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan blasted fake AI-powered audio, which had the potential to incite trouble on the streets, while deepfake electioneering saw the return of the feared dictator Suharto for the recent election in Indonesia, with a video address to the electorate.

Google’s collective focus on this issue will have been sharpened recently after its CEO Sundar Pichai sent an internal memo to staff, stressing Gemini errors were “completely unacceptable” after the artificial intelligence (AI) app embroiled the company in controversy.

The tech giant suspended its image creation function on Gemini after it generated offensive and historically inaccurate results.

Image credit: Ideogram

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Elon Musk has confirmed X is on its way to your smart TV, in the next stage of the social media platform’s ambition to develop into an app for everything.

It appears the Tesla billionaire has Netflix, Amazon Prime and other streaming services in his sights with the rollout of the new medium for X. In recent days, Musk replied “Coming soon” to a post indicating you will soon be able to watch long-form X videos on a TV app.

A report has suggested the launch will first be hosted on Samsung TVs as well as Amazon’s Fire TV platform.

Coming soon https://t.co/JlnlSL7eS9

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 9, 2024

What will X TV look like?

X on TV will not be rivalling the heavyweight streamers with its offerings immediately but it is likely to have some similarities to those platforms, with an initial focus on video hosting like YouTube, whilst it could aim to later bid for live events and other forms of entertainment, as found on Netflix or Amazon Prime to establish itself within the market.

In the ongoing diversification of X, since Musk completed his takeover of Twitter, it was announced in December 2023 that his Grok AI chatbot would be opened up to premium subscribers on the app. It also has Twitch in its crosshairs with the hosting of monetized live streams.

X has also introduced audio and video calling, now available to all users on Android and iOS. Any user of the social media platform can receive a call but only paid users can make a call.

This targeted upscaling is likely to be influenced to some extent by WeChat, the Chinese app which acts as a one-stop shop combining social media and instant messaging with a mobile payment functionality and more.

Musk has frequently remarked on his intentions to deliver “the everything app,” when he acquired Twitter.

He stated, “In the months to come, we will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world. The Twitter name does not make sense in that context, so we must bid adieu to the bird.”

Featured image: Ideogram

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As far as extolling the virtues of artificial intelligence (AI) goes, in tandem with promoting a strong, vibrant brand identity, Microsoft appears to have dropped a masterclass on how not to do it.

The US tech giant has been ridiculed after a developer shared what some called a “hideous” AI image, with significant potential to go viral on social media.

The Microsoft update from its Windows Develop account on X was intended to detail support information when migrating from UWP to WinUI 3 platforms but it appears something has been lost, in transit perhaps?

What's supported when migrating from UWP to WinUI 3

WinUI 3 and the Windows App SDK are new technologies and, when compared to UWP, there are some features that aren't supported. This topic lists which features are supported before you attempt migration.https://t.co/oLF44YayNv pic.twitter.com/2yQ6u9MGxe

— Windows Dev Docs (@WindowsDocs) March 11, 2024

An AI image depicted the movement of boxed goods from one large vehicle to another, to represent the named platforms.

However,  it is fair to say the reaction online has ranged from amusement to mockery.

Microsoft met with derision over AI image

One Twitter user, @oacoello_ stated, “Microsoft UWP app development is as lazy as this AI image.” Another fired back with “That image is hideous. Don’t use AI for this.”

@douglascamata was sharp in his commentary, opining “Running too short in cash to get a human designer to do properly illustrate this? The worst is that MS thought that this would be accepted on the internet without becoming an instant meme and source of mockery.”

Then in a rather scathing and succinct critique, @pyke_64 unleashed the rebuke, “If this is a sign of the quality of your upscaling tech for PC, don’t bother.”

That is just a selection of the responses on X, alone.

Please tell me where I can get those versions of Windows pic.twitter.com/kcXr8doItL

— Bronze (@Bronze87415846) March 12, 2024

It may have been intended as an informal or fun image to accompany the developer information, serving a purpose but the impact has been an unwanted one from a brand and PR perspective.

Image: @WindowsDocs/X

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Covariant has announced the launch of an artificial intelligence (AI) program with a difference, described as what is “basically a large language model (LLM), but for robot language.”

Peter Chen, co-founder and CEO of the Berkeley, California-based company spoke to TechCrunch to introduce RFM-1, and the aim of “giving robots human-like reasoning capabilities.”

A press release detailed the full development of the foundation model which Covariant wants to utilize to deliver the next phase of robotics beyond carrying out fairly basic, repeated tasks.

RFM-1 has been delivered thanks to a vast collection of data gathered from Covariant’s Brain AI program, which has been harnessed with customer consent to build up a ChatGPT for robots.

“The vision of RFM-1 is to power the billions of robots to come,” said Chen.

“We at Covariant have already deployed lots of robots at warehouses with success, but that is not the limit of where we want to get to. We really want to power robots in manufacturing, food processing, recycling, agriculture, the service industry and even into people’s homes.”

Very excited to share what our research team at Covariant has been working on: RFM-1, our latest Robotics Foundation Model. Built on top of high-quality multimodal data the Covariant robotics fleet has collected over the years, this project embodies our commitment to pushing the… pic.twitter.com/RoVh55BVKR

— Rocky Duan (@rocky_duan) March 11, 2024

Will human job functions be impacted?

With human-like reasoning, comes risks to human functions. There will be significant challenges to come, in line with the advances of AI. If robots are to be scaled up for human job roles like those listed above, companies like Covariant will need to be part of the conversation as to how the human workforce can be upskilled and prepared for a different future.

Chen tried to allay fears on just what is meant by human-like reasoning, in this instance it’s the ability of the robots to process real-time information and choose the best course of action for the relevant task.

The CEO tempered that his firm is not quite at the stage they are ultimately aiming for.

“We do like a lot of the work that is happening in the more general-purpose robot hardware space,” Chen explained.

“Coupling the intelligence inflexion point with the hardware inflexion point is where we will see even more explosion of robot applications but a lot of those are not fully there yet, especially on the hardware side. It’s very hard to go beyond the staged video. How many people have interacted with a humanoid in person? That tells you the degree of maturity.”

Image credit: Covariant.AI

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The European Commission’s use of Microsoft software is in breach of data protection laws.

Following a probe by the European Union’s (EU) privacy regulator, the bloc’s executive body was also made aware that it had failed to put in place adequate safeguards for the transfer of personal data to non-EU states.

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) announced its findings after the investigation began in May 2021. The infringements relate to several data protection rules.

“In particular, the Commission has failed to provide appropriate safeguards to ensure that personal data transferred outside the EU/EEA are afforded an essentially equivalent level of protection as guaranteed in the EU/EEA,” wrote the EDPS.

“Furthermore, in its contract with Microsoft, the Commission did not sufficiently specify what types of personal data are to be collected and for which explicit and specified purposes when using Microsoft 365.”

The EEA, or European Economic Area, consists of the 27 EU countries and Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. The EU has data accords in place with 16 countries, including Argentina, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the US.

In its investigation, the #EDPS @W_Wiewiorowski has found that the @EU_Commission has infringed several key data protection rules when using Microsoft 365. In its decision, the EDPS imposes corrective measures on the Commission. Read Press Release:https://t.co/XsMDnsfSGk pic.twitter.com/shvufa3KUx

— EDPS (@EU_EDPS) March 11, 2024

European Commission response to EDPS censure

The European Commission has been instructed to cease all data flows through its use of Microsoft 365 to the tech giant parent company and any of its associated firms that may be located outside the EU or any jurisdiction where there is no data agreement in place.

A deadline of 9 December 2024 has been set for the EC to comply with the order.

Wojciech Wiewiórowski, the European Data Protection Supervisor, spoke on what EU bodies expect to have the relevant protections in place.

“It is the responsibility of the EU institutions, bodies, offices, and agencies (EUIs) to ensure that any processing of personal data outside and inside the EU/EEA, including in the context of cloud-based services, is accompanied by robust data protection safeguards and measures, he stressed.

“This is imperative to ensure that individuals’ information is protected.”

Image credit: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels

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Reddit is seeking a valuation of up to $6.4 billion in its upcoming flotation on the New York Stock Exchange.

The social media platform’s IPO is inching closer. The launch, under the ticker RDDT, is expected by the end of this month, making it one of the most-anticipated listings in recent times.

Reddit is a San Francisco-based mega-website that combines elements of social media, message boards, and news aggregation. It was founded in June 2005 by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, who sold the platform to Condé Nast the following year. Huffman left the company in 2009 before returning as CEO in 2015.

The company wants to sell around 22 million shares, priced between $31 and $34 each, raising up to $748 million in the process, as detailed in a corporate filing posted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

Background to Reddit IPO

A March IPO launch was mooted back in January, and now that is coming to fruition. The offering has been in the making for two years and is considered a major test of the market for new listings.

Reddit plans to invite users and moderators to the party, with 1.76m shares set aside (8% of the IPO) for those who have built up the platform to this point, as well as board members and their family and friends.

The mega-site is said to have 100,000 active communities, with 500 million unique visitors hosted in December 2023 alone.

Its recent prospectus detailed OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s holding of 8.7% of the company’s share stock, making him the third-largest shareholder of Reddit. This puts him in a position to profit significantly from the IPO. Still, further to that, it questions the platform’s future direction with such a prominent link to one of the leading figures in artificial intelligence (AI).

The prospectus included Reddit’s plans to utilize opportunities presented by AI. Still, some have questioned at what cost with a general user expressing fears on the future direction of travel for the site, with concerns going public will irrevocably change the platform.

“When the most important customers shift from (users) to shareholders, the product always (suffers).

“It becomes ‘what can we do this quarter to squeak out an additional point of revenue,’ instead of ‘how can we make this product better’.”

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FanDuel is set to arrive in Washington D.C. following displeasure at the performance of GambetDC in the city.

The number one sports gambling brand in the United States recently confirmed expansion to its 22nd state in a partnership with the NFL side, Carolina Panthers. The brand will now enjoy further growth in a prominent jurisdiction.

Thanks to local legislation, FanDuel’s arrival in the District will make it the only sportsbook available to gamblers throughout the city.

In a letter to the DC City Council, the Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) discussed the GambetDC venture’s poor results and the rationale for confirming OLG’s approval for “Intralot’s request to select FanDuel as a new subcontractor” for the lottery’s sports wagering platform.

Intralot Inc. is the existing lottery and sports gambling system vendor in partnership with OLG. Together, they introduced GambetDC, but it has not been a successful operation, with a lackluster performance record exacerbated by various complaints.

In a January meeting of the Lottery office and the council, D.C. Council Committee on Business and Economic Development (CBED) Chair Kenyan McDuffie encapsulated the lack of satisfaction with GambetDC.

“I’ve heard from many residents about their unease with the district’s woeful performance on sports betting,” he stated.

“I absolutely share those same sentiments, from issues around usability, customer service, and seriously declining revenue. We know the current model simply is not working,” added McDuffie on the venture, which has delivered $8.5 million in taxes to the District since its launch in May 2020.

During the same sitting, the OLG chairman intimated Intralot was ready to bring in a subcontractor, with FanDuel mooted, although no date has yet been penciled in for when the new service will go live.

“FanDuel’s industry-leading offering will ensure that the District maximizes tax revenue under its existing contracts this year while delivering a best-in-class experience for 18+ residents,” said Suarez.

What is the current sports betting landscape in Washington, DC?

At present, GambetDC is available digitally and at kiosks at lottery retailers. It will be replaced by FanDuel offerings, including all branding and kiosks, at 63 lottery retailers.

Existing betting operators in the city can only offer their digital services within a limited zone around their retail partner’s location. For example, BetMGM has a partnership agreement with the Washington Nationals, allowing users to have a flutter at their platforms around Nationals Park. Still, this offering is geofenced from the rest of DC.

Image credit: Pierre Blache/Pexels.

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Steam Deck OLED has displayed a slight burn-in effect at 1500 hours, or 750 hours at maximum HDR brightness, reports TechSpot.

The report advised users set to clock up 1000 hours of single game time, on titles containing static UI elements, to pay attention to the possible impact of burn-in, and to take measures to mitigate the issue.

One quick fix to stop the onset of burn-in is to reduce the use of HDR as well as to turn down brightness as much as possible.

What is burn-in?

The burn-in effect is when the most used pixels on the screen burn out leaving a ‘ghost image’ on the screen, of frequently displayed graphics. It happens when a still image is left on an OLED panel for too long, after extensive play on a device.

How does Steam Deck burn-in compare to rival devices?

Can burn-in be totally avoided? Not unless you are going to refrain from sustained gaming.

That isn’t an option so what is being done about it? Manufacturers are increasingly evolving their products to meet challenges and this one is pertinent to gaming. Although there has been progress in reducing burn-in on OLED screens, it is an inherent issue.

In testing such devices, YouTubers such as Wulff Den and The Phawx have reported Valve’s handheld gaming device will start to show image retention difficulty after around 1000 to 1500 hours of use.

By comparison, the Nintendo Switch OLED took approximately 3600 hours of gameplay to show minor burn-in.

Some will say this is more than twice the time of its competitor, but it is not exactly a like-for-like case.

Many Steam Deck handsets will take longer to display any burn-in with its capacity of 1000 nits peak brightness, or at 600 for reduced SDR play. This performs favourably to the Switch OLED with its output of 350 nits for brightness which will clearly take longer for the pixels to fade.

Image credit: SteamDeckHQ/X

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Elon Musk has indicated his artificial intelligence (AI) startup xAI will open-source Grok, its chatbot rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

The Tesla billionaire was once closely associated with OpenAI as a co-founder, but he walked away years ago to follow his own path in AI development, with a bitter fallout ensuing. Musk has taken legal action against his former company and its incumbent CEO, Sam Altman, for allegedly reneging on its original purpose to build AI for the benefit of humanity and not for the pursuit of profit.

In December 2023, Grok was rolled out to premium subscribers on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, with the inclusion of a real-time feature exhibiting a thorough understanding of current events.

The AI assistant was described as “snarky and anti-woke” as part of a perceived agenda to challenge political correctness in digital spaces.

This week, @xAI will open source Grok

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2024

How has Open AI responded to Elon Musk’s claims?

In recent days, OpenAI fired a sharp rebuke at Musk in response to his lawsuit, whilst dismissing the extent of his early involvement and influence within the most valuable AI startup.

An official blog post, penned collectively by Altman, Greg Brockman, John Schulman, Ilya Sutskever, and Wojciech Zaremba detailed how it had raised less than $45 million from Musk, despite his pledge to bring in up to $1 billion in funding.

OpenAI stated how it received more than $90 million from other donors to develop its research, seeking to place Musk on the fringes of its journey.

In response to his claims, the company implored it has remained true to its mission “to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity, which means both building safe and beneficial AGI”, “every step of the way”.

Another contentious aspect of the disagreement is the counter-claim Musk wanted OpenAI to merge with Tesla or to give him full control.

This is an intriguing, meaningful lawsuit in the overall landscape, which is likely to have a bearing on the balance of power in the AI race, as well as its direction.

Featured image: Midjourney

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Microsoft has detailed an update on the ongoing cyber attack it has been subjected to from suspected Russian state-sponsored hackers.

Using information obtained during a hit last year, the group known as Midnight Blizzard has targeted Microsoft’s internal systems, the tech giant said in an official blog post.

The company has also shared the latest information with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, in a fresh filing posted on Friday.

“In recent weeks, we have seen evidence that Midnight Blizzard is using information initially exfiltrated from our corporate email systems to gain, or attempt to gain, unauthorized access,” Microsoft wrote.

“This has included access to some of the company’s source code repositories and internal systems. To date we have found no evidence that Microsoft-hosted customer-facing systems have been compromised.”

What was the initial Midnight Blizzard cyber attack on Microsoft?

In a targeted recon mission, Midnight Blizzard (also known as Nobelium) was able to access a legacy system account using a password-spraying attack.

Although the malicious activity was discovered on 12 January, it is believed the cyberattack commenced in late November 2023, leaving the American multinational tech giant to play catch-up on the serious incident.

Now, Microsoft is facing further intrusion with the hackers “ attempting to use secrets of different types it has found,” as the company detailed an increase in the volume of the attacks. It stated password sprays had increased almost 10-fold in February, beyond the significant rate experienced in January this year.

This is a sophisticated, organized cyber attack that shows no sign of abating, as detailed in the statement.

“Midnight Blizzard’s ongoing attack is characterized by a sustained, significant commitment of the threat actor’s resources, coordination, and focus. It may be using the information it has obtained to accumulate a picture of areas to attack and enhance its ability to do so.”

“This reflects what has become more broadly an unprecedented global threat landscape, especially in terms of sophisticated nation-state attacks.”

Microsoft has insisted it remains committed to the ongoing investigation of Midnight Blizzard’s activities.

The hacker collective is believed to be working at the behest of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, known by its native initials, SVR.

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A survey has found employees are willing to pay 44% more for workers skilled in artificial intelligence (AI) for the IT sector and 41% more for staff working in research and development.

The study was conducted by Access Partnership on behalf of Amazon Web Services, with the key outcome being a scarcity of AI-skilled staff across various industry areas. In response, employers are willing to increase remuneration to future-proof their workforce.

4,664 employers and 14,896 workers across several Asia-Pacific markets, including Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, and Indonesia, were polled.

The findings detailed India as willing to provide the greatest increase across the region, offering a 54% salary spike, compared to an average of 33%, for workers who attain the relevant AI knowledge.

In sales and marketing, employers are prepared to splash out a further 39% increase, the same in business operations, whilst in finance, the figure stands at 37%.

What would employers get in return for higher salaries?

The AWS survey outlined there would be no ‘giveaway’ in salary gains for Asia-Pacific workers, which is expected to be proportional to increases in productivity as part of AI implementation.

Employers believe AI can boost productivity by more than half (51%) if fully leveraged across all functions, with staff on board with this aim. Those questioned said AI can increase productivity up by 50%.

On improvements to daily activity, 64% of employers stated task automation with 60% citing improved workflow and outcomes. A further 59% believe communication would be enhanced and 49% said innovation and creativity would be harnessed.

IT, business operations, and finance were identified as key departments to gain from the rollout of AI with scores of 91%, 89%, and 88%, respectively.

In terms of the departments that would benefit most from AI, 91% pointed to IT, while 89% and 88% highlighted business operations and finance, respectively.

The vast majority, 93%, believe AI skills will have a positive impact on their careers, acting as a catalyst for improvements such as better job satisfaction and faster career progression. 83% want to develop the requisite AI skills, including 87% of Gen Z workers and 79% of Gen X.

In a further breakdown, 68% of the workforce aged 55 or above, baby boomers, are ready to take on AI upskilling if presented with the opportunity.

Image credit: John Guccione/Pexels

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An analyst has urged caution on the artificial intelligence (AI) token market, warning the recent surge in prices could be fuelled more by hype, rather than its actual value.

In a report compiled by David Han, a research analyst at Coinbase, the long-term viability of the tokens was questioned, due to key factors. Intense competition within the market and technical issues were flagged as realistic obstacles in the way of AI tokens, further along the road.

At present, the proliferation of AI across many industries is driving the price up but Han believes the current values attributed could be overstated, without sustainable conditions to maintain the status even in the short-term future.

$26 Billion market capitalization for AI crypto

The report examines the claims made by crypto-based platforms of the potential to make a significant impact on the AI landscape, but questions remain. This caution comes despite landmark returns for heavyweight firms in the tech space.

Nvidia, the world’s largest supplier of chips used in AI, has enjoyed a 15% spike in its shares this week, as part of an overall boom.

The total value of AI crypto projects has already exceeded $26 billion this year, with CoinGecko underlining 37% of these gains have occurred in the last seven days. That would be grounds for serious optimism for some, but Coinbase has urged restraint on future prospects and the bold claims of prosperity raised by crypto platforms.

Han was cognizant of the upcoming regulatory challenges and wider market dynamics stacked against AI tokens as well as pointing to the technical difficulty presented by decentralized networks, which are the main idea of crypto AI projects.

“AI tokens generally benefit from strong associated performance in both the broader crypto market as well as related AI news headlines,” said the analyst.

“Rapid changes in AI make us cautious of bold claims that crypto-focused platforms are uniquely positioned to disrupt the industry, making the path towards long-term and sustainable value accrual to most AI tokens uncertain in our view, especially for those on a fixed token model,” Han continued.

So far in 2024, AI tokens such as Akash and Render have performed better than the overall crypto market, with respective gains of 146% and 99%, comparing favorably to the not-insignificant 54% increase in Bitcoin.

Image credit: Ideogram

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