Technology

Grok, Elon Musk’s ChatGPT competitor, temporarily refused to respond with “sources that mention Elon Musk/Donald Trump spread misinformation,” according to xAI’s head of engineering, Igor Babuschkin. After Grok users noticed that the chatbot had been given instructions to not respond with those results, Babuschkin blamed an unnamed, ex-OpenAI employee at xAI for updating Grok’s system prompt without approval.In response to questions on X, Babuschkin said that Grok’s system prompt (the internal rules that govern how an AI responds to queries) is publicly visible “because we believe users should be able to see what it is we’re asking Grok.” He said “an employee pushed the change” to the system prompt “because they thought it would help, but this is obviously not in line with our values.” ...

On Friday, the Space Force published a picture taken last year from a camera mounted on the secretive X-37B space plane while high above the Earth. Space.com notes that the “one other glimpse” of the plane in space was while it was “deploying from Falcon Heavy’s upper stage” during its December 2023 launch.The Space Force says it snapped the photo during experimental “first-of-kind” aerobraking maneuvers “to safely change its orbit using minimal fuel.” The Air Force said in October this would involve “a series of passes using the drag of Earth’s atmosphere,” and that once complete, it would resume its other experiments before de-orbiting.This is the X-37B’s seventh mission; its sixth, which concluded in November 2022, lasted about two-and-a-half years (or 908 days) and was its longest m...

Elon Musk tweeted Saturday that federal workers would soon get an email “requesting to understand what they got done last week.” According to the New York Times, the email from the Office of Personnel Management went to agencies across the federal government that afternoon, including the FBI, State Department, and others, with a deadline for response by 11:59PM ET on Monday. However, the message lacked a detail from Musk’s tweet, according to the Times, where he said, “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” which a number of lawyers have said would be illegal. The Washington Post reports that experts said it “may be asking some recipients to violate federal laws,” and Sam Bagenstos, a University of Michigan law professor quoted by the Times, said, “There is zero basis in th...

Apple is readying its MacBook Air line for an update to M4 chips in March, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter. With the slim laptops’ spec bump, the MacBook line’s M4 transition will be complete.Gurman didn’t provide timing beyond that the laptops are coming next month, but as usual before it launches a product, Apple is “preparing its marketing, sales and retail teams for the debut” and letting its retail stock of the laptops clear out. Both the 13-inch and 15-inch models are expected to come at the same time, like last year.Since the Apple Silicon transition, the MacBook Airs have largely shared specs with the low-end MacBook Pro, just packed into a slimmer laptop with omissions like fewer ports and no cooling fan. The base model 14-inch Pro starts wit...

Protecting your personal information online starts with understanding the language of the internet. We'll break down five essential tech terms that directly affect your online privacy, from the secretive Dark Web to the nuances of email etiquette. Learning these concepts will equip you to navigate the internet more securely.Stay tuned for more in this series as we dive deeper into privacy-related tech terms and other essential concepts, answering the top questions we get from readers like you!GET THE LATEST TECH TERMS, SECURITY ALERTS, TOP TECH TIPS, AND DIGITAL TRENDS STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX. SIGN UP FOR KURT’S CYBERGUY REPORT—IT'S FREE! People working on their laptops  (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)The Dark WebA hidden internet below the surfaceBeneath the familiar internet you browse ev...

Hades II just received its second major update as part of its early access development, which was a great excuse for me to jump back in. Since its initial release, I’ve logged more than 30 hours and actually held myself back from playing much more – I don’t want to get tired of the game before it hits 1.0 – but with the new update, I wanted to see what’s new and try to beat the new final boss on my very first run.Sadly, I haven’t even been able to see what the boss is yet. I did make it to the update’s new region, but I got destroyed by a dangerous miniboss. Still, I’ve still been really impressed with what Supergiant Games has added since May to make what’s already a very good game even better.Image: Supergiant GamesThe big additions are impressive. Hades II initially launched with six...

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 72, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, hope you like gadgets, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about Hasan Piker and calculator apps and car thieves and the real economics of YouTuber life, using my month of Paramount Plus to watch Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Yellowjackets, replacing my big podcast headphones with the Shure SE215 in-ear headphones, switching all my reading out of the Kindle ecosystem for increasingly obvious reasons, and taking copious notes on Kevin Kelly’s 50 years of travel tips.I also have for you Apple’s slightly confusing latest smartphone, a couple of new things to watch this weekend, the best new Xbox game in ...

Join Fox News for access to this content You have reached your maximum number of articles. Log in or create an account FREE of charge to continue reading. By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News' Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. Please enter a valid email address. Having trouble? Click here. There is a futuristic city designed and built from the ground up in Japan to test the latest technologies.It's called Woven City, and it's a bold experiment by Toyota to transition from being just an automaker to a broader mobility company focused on the future of movement. Far from a traditional testing ground, this is a fully functional urban environment designed for real people to live, work and play while c...

Une souris extrait la langue de la cavité buccale d’une autre souris inanimée, à Los Angeles, le 30 juillet 2024. DR. GUANGWEI ZHANG Aucun animal n’est aussi scruté que la souris de laboratoire. Depuis le début du XXe siècle, Mus musculus est devenue sinon la meilleure amie de l’homme, du moins celle du scientifique. Ce compagnonnage coûte la vie à des millions de rongeurs chaque année et sauve celle de milliers d’humains, sans doute bien davantage. Chacun peut se faire son idée sur la question, labourée par les comités d’éthique. Deux articles publiés simultanément dans la revue Science, vendredi 21 février, l’un par l’université de Californie à Los Angeles (UCLA), l’autre par l’université de Californie du Sud (USC), également à Los Angele...

Comment qualifier la rupture de l’ordre institutionnel en cours aux Etats-Unis ? Pour l’historien américain Timothy Snyder (université Yale), il faut bien se rendre à cette évidence : c’est un coup d’Etat, sans guillemets, qui est en cours de l’autre côté de l’Atlantique. C’est même, dit-il, le premier du genre conduit grâce à la prise de contrôle des systèmes d’information d’un Etat. Lire aussi l’éditorial | Les Etats-Unis de Donald Trump, une menace pour la démocratie en Europe Lire plus tard « Deux douzaines de jeunes gens vont de bureau en bureau, habillés en civil et armés uniquement de clés USB, écrit M. Snyder dans une tribune du 12 février. En usant d’un jargon technique et de vagues références à des ordres venus...