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• US Army Says It Could Acquire Targets Faster With 'Advanced AI'

  09-04-2025 23:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The U.S. Army told the government it had a lot of success using AI to "process targets" during a recent deployment. It said that it had used AI systems to identify targets at a rate of 55 per day but could get that number up to 5,000 a day with "advanced artificial intelligence tools in the future." 404 Media: The line comes from a new report from the Government Accountability Office -- a nonpartisan watchdog group that investigates the federal government. The report is titled "Defense Command a
  
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• Anthropic Launches Its Own $200 Monthly Plan

  09-04-2025 22:04 via slashdot.org
  
  Anthropic has unveiled a new premium tier for its AI chatbot Claude, targeting power users willing to pay up to $200 monthly for broader usage. The "Max" subscription comes in two variants: a $100/month tier with 5x higher rate limits than Claude Pro, and a $200/month option boasting 20x higher limits -- directly competing with OpenAI's ChatGPT Pro tier.
  Unlike OpenAI, Anthropic still lacks an unlimited usage plan. Product lead Scott White didn't rule out even pricier subscriptions in the future
  
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• WordPress Launches AI Site Builder Amid Company Restructuring

  09-04-2025 21:00 via it.slashdot.org
  
  WordPress.com has released an AI-powered site builder in early access that constructs complete websites with generated text, layouts, and images. The tool operates through a chatbot interface where users input specifications, resulting in a fully formed site that can be further refined through additional prompts.
  While WordPress.com claims the builder creates "beautiful, functional websites in minutes," it currently cannot handle ecommerce sites or complex integrations. Users need a WordPress.co
  
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• Google DeepMind Has a Weapon in the AI Talent Wars: Aggressive Noncompete Rules

  09-04-2025 20:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  The battle for AI talent is so hot that Google would rather give some employees a paid one-year vacation than let them work for a competitor. From a report: Some Google DeepMind staff in the UK are subject to noncompete agreements that prevent them from working for a competitor for up to 12 months after they finish work at Google, according to four former employees with direct knowledge of the matter who asked to remain anonymous because they were not permitted to share these details with the pr
  
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• Google Maps is Launching Tools To Help Cities Analyze Infrastructure and Traffic

  09-04-2025 19:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google is opening up its Google Maps Platform data so that cities, developers, and other business decision makers can more easily access information about things like infrastructure and traffic. The Verge: Google is integrating new datasets for Google Maps Platform directly into BigQuery, the tech giant's fully managed data analytics service, for the first time. This should make it easier for people to access data from Google Maps platform products, including Imagery Insights, Roads Management I
  
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• Scientists Recreate Brain Circuit in Lab For First Time

  09-04-2025 17:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Scientists have recreated in a laboratory the sensory pathway that transmits feelings of pain to the human brain, in a breakthrough that could lead to better treatments. Financial Times: A team at Stanford University in California is the first to combine different neurons grown from human stem cells into a functioning brain circuit in a lab dish. Their experiments, published in Nature on Wednesday, illustrate scientists' rapid progress in replicating living tissues and organs through synthetic b
  
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• The AI Therapist Can See You Now

  09-04-2025 17:05 via science.slashdot.org
  
  New research suggests that given the right kind of training, AI bots can deliver mental health therapy with as much efficacy as -- or more than -- human clinicians. From a report: The recent study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows results from the first randomized clinical trial for AI therapy. Researchers from Dartmouth College built the bot as a way of taking a new approach to a longstanding problem: The U.S. continues to grapple with an acute shortage of mental health p
  
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• Samsung and Google Partner To Launch Ballie Home Robot with Built-in Projector

  09-04-2025 16:06 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Samsung Electronics and Google Cloud are jointly entering the consumer robotics market with Ballie, a yellow, soccer-ball-shaped robot equipped with a video projector and powered by Google's Gemini AI models. First previewed in 2020, the long-delayed device will finally launch this summer in the US and South Korea. The mobile companion uses small wheels to navigate homes autonomously and integrates with Samsung's SmartThings platform to control smart home devices.
  Running on Samsung's Tizen oper
  
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• China Raises Tariffs on US Goods To 84% as Rift Escalates

  09-04-2025 13:31 via slashdot.org
  
  China retaliated against the US after new tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, announcing it would raise the tariff on US goods to 84%, escalating the trade conflict between the world's two largest economies. From a report: The Chinese countermeasures are effective April 10, according to a government statement Wednesday. China's move came after Trump's latest tariffs went into force at midday Wednesday in Beijing, taking the cumulative rate announced this year to 104%. A day earlier, China
  
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• Enterprises Are Shunning Vendors in Favor of DIY Approach To AI, UBS Says

  09-04-2025 11:15 via slashdot.org
  
  Established software companies hoping to ride the AI wave are facing a stiff headwind: many of their potential customers are building AI tools themselves. This do-it-yourself approach is channeling billions in spending towards cloud computing providers but leaving traditional software vendors struggling to capitalize, complicating their AI growth plans.
  Cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services are pulling in an estimated $22 billion from AI services, with Azure alone capturin
  
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• Clean Energy Powered 40% of Global Electricity in 2024, Report Finds

  09-04-2025 08:30 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The world used clean power sources to meet more than 40% of its electricity demand last year for the first time since the 1940s, figures show. The Guardian: A report by the energy thinktank Ember said the milestone was powered by a boom in solar power capacity, which has doubled in the last three years. The report found that solar farms had been the world's fastest-growing source of energy for the last 20 consecutive years.
  Phil MacDonald, Ember's managing director, said: "Solar power has become
  
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• Fake Job Seekers Are Flooding US Companies

  09-04-2025 06:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Fake job seekers using AI tools to impersonate candidates are increasingly targeting U.S. companies with remote positions, creating a growing security threat across industries. By 2028, one in four global job applicants will be fake, according to Gartner. These imposters use AI to fabricate photo IDs, generate employment histories, and provide interview answers, often targeting cybersecurity and cryptocurrency firms, CNBC reports.
  Once hired, fraudulent employees can install malware to demand ra
  
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• Hackers Spied on 100 US Bank Regulators' Emails for Over a Year

  09-04-2025 04:31 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Hackers intercepted about 103 bank regulators' emails for more than a year, gaining access to highly sensitive financial information, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter and a draft letter to Congress. From the report: The attackers were able to monitor employee emails at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency after breaking into an administrator's account, said the people, asking not to be identified because the information isn't public. OCC on Feb
  
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• UK Creating 'Murder Prediction' Tool To Identify People Most Likely To Kill

  09-04-2025 03:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  New submitter toutankh writes: The UK government is developing a tool to predict murder. The scheme was originally called the "homicide prediction project", but its name has been changed to "sharing data to improve risk assessment". The Ministry of Justice hopes the project will help boost public safety but campaigners have called it "chilling and dystopian".The existence of the project was uncovered by Statewatch rather than announced by the UK government. PR following this discovery looks like
  
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• Microsoft Cancels $1 Billion Ohio Data Center Projects

  09-04-2025 02:10 via slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft has scrapped plans to build three data center campuses in Licking County, Ohio, in a $1 billion investment pullback, the company said. The canceled developments in New Albany, Heath, and Hebron join a growing list of Microsoft data center project cancellations across the United States, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the United Kingdom.
  Microsoft will retain ownership of the land and plans to eventually develop the sites at an unspecified future date. Two properties will remain available for
  
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• Razer Pauses Direct Laptop Sales in the US as New Tariffs Loom

  09-04-2025 01:43 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Razer's upcoming Blade 16 and other laptops are no longer available for preorder or purchase on its US site. From a report: The configurator for preordering its new Blade 16 laptop was available as recently as April 1st, according to the Internet Archive -- one day before the Trump administration announced sweeping US tariffs on China, Taiwan, and others that make laptop components.
  When asked recently if tariffs might affect Razer's prices or availability, its Public Relations Manager, Andy Joh
  
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