Microsoft made a big splash yesterday with new ChatGPT-powered upgrades to its Bing search engine and Edge browser. Today, in what feels unlikely to be a coincidence, Google responded, presenting several AI-enhanced features for Search, Maps, and Translate during an event in Paris and giving a preview of its own “Bard” AI chatbot.
However, investors may not have been impressed — or they were scared off by an embarrassing AI flub — as the stock price for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, dropped after the presentation.
Now, we’re waiting to see what’s revealed during the first Nintendo Direct presentation of 2023 that’s scheduled for 5PM ET.
Meanwhile, in the world of politics, President Joe Biden once again railed against Big Tech in his Second State of the Union address. “Pass bipartisan legislation to strengthen antitrust enforcement and prevent big online platforms from giving their own products an unfair advantage,” Biden said and went on to call for legislation to protect children from data tracking and targeted advertising.
And now, here’s a silly tweet to start your day (click through to the tweet it’s quoting for the context):
Stay tuned, as we continue to update this list with the most important news of today: Tuesday, February 8th, 2023.
Most people can tweet again, but Twitter still has issues
For an hour and a half, many people were unable to post.
Sonos CEO says Amazon, Google aren’t ‘doing anything interesting’ in audio
And he doesn’t sound particularly impressed by Apple’s second-generation HomePod, either.
Now Twitter Blue subscribers can write 4,000-character tweets
The company has introduced its longest limit ever, but only for paying subscribers.
- JBig tech switched up the US’ first ‘right to repair’ bill just before it was signed into law.
A trade group that represents Apple, Google, Samsung, and HP asked Governor Kathy Hochul to make sweeping changes that would water down New York’s landmark bill.
You can see how they essentially rewrote chunks of the legislation thanks to documents obtained by Grist.
- VGet it together Fitbit!
Once again, Fitbit isn’t working as it should. Things fell apart Monday morning, with thousands of users asking each other on social media if the Fitbit app was completely borked. A fix was pushed out, only for the same issues to crop up on Tuesday.
It’s now Wednesday and things still aren’t working right for a handful of users. DownDetector shows it’s not nearly as bad today, but it’s the principle of the matter.
Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown hits Canada, but not the US — yet
Users can pay extra to add up to two people they don’t live with.
- NHere I am on CNBC talking about Google’s very hard path ahead.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai is an extremely smart and thoughtful guy, but think about how hard his set of choices is right now: he has to roll out chatbot AI search in order to make investors happy, but rolling that out will instantly cause legal, ethical, and regulatory chaos, all while simultaneously increasing the costs of search and reducing the profits of web advertising. Yikes!
(Also, to be clear, I meant the end of this era of Google. Forgive me, it was 8am and I was in a hotel room in Bellevue.)
- MBard 0, Bing 1.
Google held an AI event this morning, but investors apparently aren’t impressed (just check out this stock graph). It probably hasn’t helped that Bard, its chatbot search tool, made a pretty embarrassing error in a demo. Microsoft’s stock is doing well since it announced a ChatGPT-powered version of Bing yesterday, by the way.
Top: Google’s stock over the past week. Bottom: Microsoft’s stock over the past week. Data: Yahoo Finance / Apple Stocks - JThe big League of Legends midseason tournament is headed to London.
The Mid-Season Invitational, or MSI, pits top League teams from all across the world, and it’s one of my favorite gaming events of the year. MSI takes place over the course of many days in May, and you can buy tickets starting later this month.
‘MetaBirkins’ NFT creator loses trademark fight with Hermès
A jury found the digital tokens paired with pictures of handbags weren’t protected speech.
- ADid Bowser write this email?
Today’s Nintendo Direct got one student at California State University Fullerton so worked up that they accidentally triggered a police threat response.
Campus police said they emailed a professor anonymously asking to cancel class because of a “once-in-a-lifetime event that would occur.”
The person must have been referring to the possibility of the Advance Wars remakes finally launching since Nintendo Directs happen pretty frequently.
- RSatya Nadella explains why Microsoft is taking on Google now.
You’ve seen the presentations, so you know what Microsoft and Google have shown when it comes to AI chatbot search.
Now take 20 minutes and see what Satya Nadella said on Decoder about Microsoft’s big plans for OpenAI and ChatGPT.
Chrome’s new update is the first version you can’t run on Windows 7
Chrome 110 introduces biometric authentication to autofill passwords on computers and custom default error pages for web apps.
The making of surprise hit Hi-Fi Rush
Director John Johanas explains how the rhythm action game was inspired by everything from Radiohead to the Dreamcast.
Where are the good Android apps for Mastodon?
Searching for the ideal Mastodon app can mean frustration and a return to the old iOS versus Android clash.
MSI Titan GT77 HX review: Intel’s most powerful laptop chip, tested
The Core i9-13980HX is the most powerful CPU Intel has ever made, and it earns its stripes here.
How to watch the February 2023 Nintendo Direct
The stream will be around 40 minutes and will hopefully include updates on Zelda, Metroid, and Pikmin.
Google’s AI chatbot Bard makes factual error in first demo
The mistake highlights the biggest problem of using AI chatbots to replace search engines — they make stuff up.
How to watch Google’s Live from Paris search and AI event
Google is divulging big search and AI news in Paris and will be livestreaming it on Wednesday, February 8th, at 8:30AM ET / 5:30AM PT.
- EThe battle over AI has just begun.
Microsoft and Google just announced AI-powered search tools, and Chinese companies are already catching on.
While ecommerce giant Alibaba tells CNBC that it’s working on a ChatGPT rival, gaming company NetEase similarly says it has goals to develop a generative AI product. It’s going to be a long year.
Tesla’s ‘Master Plan 3’ is coming March 1st, Elon Musk says
Get ready for ‘the path to a fully sustainable energy future for Earth,’ Musk tweets, teasing his third such plan, which will be revealed during the company’s Investor Day.
Google shows off new AI search features, but a ChatGPT rival is still weeks away
Google scrambles for AI clout but is outshone by Microsoft.
The best TVs to buy for the Super Bowl
Samsung, LG, Hisense, TCL, and other TV makers are making some truly excellent 4K sets that are more than ready for the big game.
Google is adding some new features for EVs with built-in Google Maps
Google Maps will now suggest charging stops on shorter trips, include a ‘very fast’ filter for charging station searches, and will show you in search results when a place has a charging station on-site.
Google is still drip-feeding AI into search, Maps, and Translate
After Microsoft revealed a ‘copilot’ chat AI experience it’s testing for Bing and Edge, Google mostly focused on AI enhancements boosting ‘visual search’ in Lens and new Translate features.
Google Maps’ Immersive View is now available across five cities
It’s being rolled out in London, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Tokyo first, with more cities expected in the coming months.
- JLaptops equipped with RTX 40 series GPUs are now available.
PC Gamers rejoice: you can finally get your hands on laptops that contain Nvidia’s immensely powerful GeForce RTX 4080 and 4090 mobile GPUs. Some of the new launches have been specifically designed for creative professionals, identifiable by an Nvidia Studio badge.
Don’t need all that power? No sweat, as RTX 4070, 4060, and 4050 powered Laptops will arrive later on February 22nd.
- RGreen light.
Microsoft’s first shot across the bow in the new AI search wars rang out yesterday afternoon, and now it’s Google’s turn. We know it already uses AI and machine learning, but what’s new for that technology in Google’s tools?
(Update — we did find out. Google has set its stream to private, but you can see the chatbot demo here and Google’s other AI search news here.)
- TElon Musk’s ‘Master Plan 3’ is coming.
Will Tesla’s plan include sharks? Lasers? Sharks using lasers to ignite a controlled fusion reaction that brings on the singularity? Anything’s possible with the boy billionaire. We’ll find out March 1st.
Biden rallies against Big Tech in State of the Union address
The president called for stricter privacy protections and for Congress to strengthen US antitrust law.
Microsoft thinks AI can beat Google at search — CEO Satya Nadella explains why
AI is coming for your browser, your social media, and your operating system, too.
Google announces ChatGPT rival Bard, with wider availability in ‘coming weeks’
Google is working on a competitor to OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT. The ‘experimental conversational AI service’ is called Bard and is only being tested by a limited group.