Monday’s top tech news: an ultra year for tech?

Microsoft is holding a special in-person event at its Redmond headquarters tomorrow, where it’s expected to announce a ChatGPT version of Bing. OpenAI powers ChatGPT and now CEO Sam Altman is posing for a selfie with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, confirming tomorrow is all about AI. With rumors of the unannounced GPT-4 powering Microsoft’s ChatGPT integration, it looks set to be an interesting day ahead. The Verge will be covering everything live as it happens.

Scam hunter Coffeezilla decided to see if influencer Dillon Danis really meant what he said about feeling bad about people who got NFT scammed. So he set up an obviously-fake NFT project to see if Danis would promote it.

Personally, my favorite part of this was discovering the going rate for NFT project promotion. It’s very cheap!

Following the launch of the new HomePod last week, Apple has pushed out a 16.3.1 update for its HomePod and tvOS software. The release notes are sparse: “general performance and stability improvements.”

But one Reddit thread points to this being a fix to reports of new HomePods getting stuck on configuring after failing to update to 16.3 (Apple shipped them with 16.0). According to the thread, Apple Support confirmed this issue is widespread and that 16.3.1 should provide a fix.

Elon Musk’s decision to use stainless steel for his long-delayed Cybertruck could push steel development forward, as one metallurgist told The New York Times. Or it could be a death trap for drivers and passengers alike.

Tesla has shared virtually no details about how it will overcome the challenges of working with stainless steel, which include safety. The steel used in most cars is designed to crumple in a crash, absorbing energy and protecting passengers. Stainless steel does not crumple as easily, exposing passengers to more of the force from impact.

Respawn and EA’s battle royale shooter celebrates its fourth anniversary with a 16th season, dubbed “Revelry.” It arrives as its mobile version meets an untimely end, and players ask for changes to keep things fresh.

Polygon has more details, including a reclassification of the game’s characters, a playlist of rotating alternate modes, and bot matches to help new players get their feet wet when it launches on February 14th.

Now that Paramount Plus and Showtime are becoming Paramount Plus with Showtime, parent company Paramount Global is reportedly planning to flood the new service with spinoffs of its Dexter and Billions series.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Showtime is considering up to four new shows connected to Billions — two of which might be titled Millions and Trillions — as well as a Dexter prequel with the possibility of more spinoffs focused on other characters from the serial killer franchise.

All memes aside, Bloomberg reporter Isaiah Poritz says closing arguments are scheduled today in the “first ever NFT trademark jury trial in Manhattan.”

French luxury designer Hermès International SA is suing Mason Rothschild, the creator of “MetaBirkin” NFTs that are based on its iconic handbags. While Hermès views the collection as a ripoff, Rothschild says they’re art, and everyone else is wondering how NFTs are still a thing.

We’re back and will have our normal coverage today.

However, our thoughts are also with everyone affected by the disaster in Turkey and Syria where a pair of earthquakes, measured at 7.8 and 7.5, have reportedly killed over 2,300 people and left many trapped. The Associated Press, CNN, New York Times, and Reuters have the latest updates.

The Last of Us Episode 5 will be available two days early on Friday, February 10th via HBO Max and HBO On Demand. It seems HBO isn’t keen on pitting its latest darling against the USA’s biggest sporting event, despite the game adaptation’s impressive viewership figures.

Saturday Night Live had Pascal step into the shoes of Nintendo’s titular Italian plumber for a skit combining the mushroom-dominated worlds of Mario Kart and The Last of Us.

The premise works surprisingly well, and if this were an actual show, I’d totally watch it.