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Apple shows off AI features at annual conference

Apple unveiled its AI technology, called Apple Intelligence, on Monday, which will be integrated across its suite of apps, as it aims to become the face of generative AI for consumers and gain an edge over rival Microsoft. The company…

Some US families opt to raise teens sans social media

WESTPORT, Connecticut —  Kate Bulkeley’s pledge to stay off social media in high school worked at first. She watched the benefits pile up: She was getting excellent grades. She read lots of books. The family had lively conversations around the…

Netflix’s recipe for success includes ‘secret sauce’ spiced with tech savvy

LOS GATOS, California —  Although its video streaming service sparkles with a Hollywood sheen, Netflix still taps its roots in Silicon Valley to stay a step ahead of traditional TV and movie studios. The Los Gatos, California, company, based more…

US lawmakers call for scrutiny of NewsBreak app over Chinese origins

WASHINGTON AND LONDON —  Three U.S. lawmakers have called for more scrutiny of NewsBreak, a popular news aggregation app in the United States, after Reuters reported it has Chinese origins and has used artificial intelligence tools to produce erroneous stories….

AI ‘gold rush’ for chatbot training data could run out of human-written text

Artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT could soon run out of what keeps making them smarter — the tens of trillions of words people have written and shared online. A new study released Thursday by research group Epoch AI projects that…

22 Chinese nationals sentenced to prison in Zambia for cybercrimes

LUSAKA, Zambia —  A Zambian court on Friday sentenced 22 Chinese nationals to long prison terms for cybercrimes that included internet fraud and online scams targeting Zambians and other people from Singapore, Peru and the United Arab Emirates. The Magistrates…

NASA launches first crewed flight of Boeing Starliner spacecraft to ISS

The new Boeing Starliner has lifted off with NASA astronauts headed to the International Space Station, or ISS. After two previous attempts, the Starliner was launched at 10:52 a.m. local time Wednesday from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral,…

LogOn: Swarms of drones can be managed by one person

The U.S. military says large groups of drones and ground robots can be managed by a single person without added stress to the operator. In this week’s episode of LogOn, VOA’s Julie Taboh reports the technologies may be beneficial for…

Many Americans still shying away from EVs despite Biden’s push, poll finds

Washington —  Many Americans still aren’t sold on going electric for their next car purchase. High prices and a lack of easy-to-find charging stations are major sticking points, a new poll shows. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they…

South Africa’s first retrofitted electric minibus taxi exceeds expectations

Minibus taxis are everywhere in South Africa, and all of them run on gasoline. But engineers at one university are hoping to change that as they are getting better-than-expected results from their all-electric minibus taxi. Vicky Stark has the story…