ArduinoMania

Amazon is running a Star Wars sale to capitalize on May the 4th, and that includes bargains on themed tech. The retailer is offering a bundle that combines the fifth-generation Echo Dot with a The Mandalorian Grogu stand for $55, or $23 off. This deal applies regardless of color, and you can buy the Echo Dot with clock for $65 with a similar discount. You won't have to pay a significant premium if you want "baby Yoda" in your kid's room or are eager to flaunt your fandom. The sale also includes a section dedicated to Star Wars collectibles, including Lego sets, figurines and books.

The latest-generation Echo Dot remains our favorite budget smart speaker for a good reason: it delivers far more than you'd expect for the price. The sound is surprisingly loud and vivid, and it includes both a 3.5mm output jack and Bluetooth support — you can use it to enhance a beloved stereo system or play any audio from your phone. Add robust support for media services (including Apple Music and Spotify) and it's a reliable choice for a nightstand or the kitchen.

The Echo Dot isn't as compact as Google's Nest Mini, and you'll still get more powerful sound rom the regular Echo, Nest Audio or Apple's HomePod mini. And if you don't like Alexa, you'll want to look elsewhere. Overall, though, this is the best speaker for many people — whether or not you're a Star Wars fan.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Whether you make music, podcast, stream or simply enjoy listening to any of these things, a good audio interface is going to make all the difference. Your laptop or PC’s built-in sound will be just fine for most pedestrian tasks, but for creators it’s likely going to fall short of what you need.

The good news is there’s a wealth of options tailored to a variety of specific needs and use cases. The less-good news is that it can be a bit overwhelming trying to decide which one is the best for you. Which is why we’ve cooked up this guide, in which we highlight the best options whether you simply want to record a guitar, or go live to an audience of thousands (or to at least sound good while you work on that number).

And don’t worry about being overwhelmed with jargon, we’ll focus on the task in hand over the kHz and decibels so that you know which is best for the results you want without feeling like you’ve just come out of a math class.

Best for those on a budget

Audio interfaces aren’t just for creators. Maybe you work from home and want to be able to use a high-quality XLR microphone for work calls. Or perhaps you prefer to have physical controls for your headphones and mic? Or maybe you just appreciate the superior audio from a dedicated device to the one that came with your PC. If so, you likely don’t need to spend too much money - here are three options that won’t break the bank.

M-Audio M-Track Solo

It’s certainly not the prettiest device on this list, but what the M-Track Solo ($49) lacks in aesthetics, it more than makes up for in functionality for the price. If you’re just looking for something to plug a microphone or guitar into - or both at the same time - the M-Track Solo is hard to beat.

For would-be podcasters, there’s also the M-Track Duo ($70) which adds a second XLR microphone connection so you can invite guests over and record them on their own channel making editing a lot easier - and you won’t need to get intimate with them as you share a microphone. There’s not a lot in terms of frills here, like MIDI or effects, but for the price it’s a solid choice.

Presonos AudioBox iOne

Unlike other PC components, like graphics cards, digital sound has natural limits meaning that older devices can still be relevant today - and often at a better price. Presonos’ AudioBox iOne ($70) is one such example. It’s primarily intended for creators that work with music software, but it’s a great all-around audio interface with all the essential connectivity for a now-reduced price.

As a bonus, the AudioBox iOne works well with iPads, too - not a guarantee at this price point. Though some might find the headphone amplification on the low side, in case that’s a feature important to you.

Focusrite Scarlett Solo

There’s a reason why Focusrite’s Scarlett series of interfaces appear on so many recommendation lists - including two spots on this one: They offer a great balance of performance, reliability and price. At around $130, the Solo is not the absolute cheapest you can find, but it will get you started in streaming, podcasting and beyond just fine. In fact, if you just want a port for an XLR mic, improved headphone amplification and easy connections for speakers, the Solo could be the only interface you ever need that won’t feel underpowered or even as your needs evolve.

Best for streamers

Photo by James Trew / Engadget

Perhaps not surprisingly, the streaming category is one of the busiest when it comes to audio interfaces. That’s partly because most Twitchers and YouTubers have several different audio feeds to manage. As such, products in this category come with a software component that lets you pipe your microphone, your group chat and your game audio to different places. Thankfully, this isn’t as confusing as it sounds - not with one of the following devices at least.

Roland Bridge Cast

Roland might be best known for its musical equipment, but the company does a sideline in streaming gear and the Bridge Cast ($299) is one of the strongest in this category. There are four hardware volume dials so you can adjust the mix of your mic, chat and game etc. in real time, and you can even control separate “submixes” for you and your audience in real time.

On top of the mix controls, there are some voice effects, microphone EQ and dedicated mute buttons for everything - these can also be used to trigger samples, too. With the option to pipe in phone audio via an aux port, Roland has made a strong case for the Bridge Cast as the streamer’s interface of choice.

TC Helicon GoXLR Mini

The original GoXLR was one of the first audio interfaces that really focused on what streamers wanted. The Mini was released a year later and was a hit in its own right, and remains popular today, long after its initial release. The physical faders give you tactile control over each part of your stream and the connectivity includes a 3.5mm microphone port next to the headphone port - perfect for gaming headsets that use a splitter.

Additional touches include a !@#$?* button to spare your audience when you get a bit spicy with your language and an optical port so your game console audio sounds pristine. Of course, there’s RGB lighting on the faders which is almost as important as the connectivity, right?

Elgato Wave XLR

If you don’t have the budget or, let’s face it, the desk space for a full-sized mixer to control your streams, Elgato’s Wave XLR is the minimalist’s choice. Not only is it discreet, it manages to eke out a lot of functionality from just one clickable knob and a capacitive mute button.

Despite the simplicity, the Wave XLR still delivers crisp, clear audio. Where it really comes into its own, though, is its modular integration with other Elgato products. When used in concert with the Stream Deck and the Wave Link app, for example, the experience opens up to include the ability to run audio plugins and create custom shortcuts to control the audio on your stream.

Beacn Mix Create

If you already have an audio interface you’re happy with but want the convenience of a mixer for your streams then the Mix Create by Beacn is exactly that. The lightweight USB mixer comes with a screen, but the brains of the operation is the software that creates separate audio feeds for your mic, game, browser and so on.

For streamers, it means hands on controls and the flexibility of a submix (i.e. the mix you hear and the mix listeners here can be different). Not only is this an elegant solution for those who already have a hardware interface, it means you can enjoy dedicated volume controls for things like YouTube and Spotify when you’re not going live.

Best for musicians

Whether you pluck strings or drop DJ-bombs, you’re going to want something that provides you all the right ports while delivering rich, bit-perfect sound. Unlike streamers that will want to be able to work with audio from a variety of digital sources, musicians also want to record (and listen to) physical instruments in real time - so all of our selections have a focus on clean sound with good connectivity.

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2

Focusrite’s second showing on this list is a little red box that, once you’re aware of it, you’ll start seeing everywhere from live streams to YouTube guitar tutorials. The popularity of the Scarlett 2i2 is for more than its dashing red looks. The preamps - the part that turns your voice or instruments into usable sound – are widely regarded as some of the cleanest at this price range.

With two combi-ports (there’s no MIDI here) the connectivity is fairly standard, but singers and voice actors in particular will appreciate the “Air” feature that gently adds a sense of space to vocals - a trademark of Focusrite products.

Universal Audio Volt 276

When Engadget’s Managing Editor, Terrence O’Brien, reviewed the Volt 2/76 from Universal Audio he described it as “bringing something special to the table.” It’s a reference to the built-in compressor that emulates the company’s classic 1176 Limiting Amplifier hardware. All you need to know is it’s another tool to make your instrument or vocals sit better in the mix.

In a world awash with generic audio interfaces, genuinely useful features like this are what makes the Volt series stand out. Alongside the compressor, the Volt 276 has a pair of 5-pin MIDI ports and a button for “vintage” mode. The latter emulates the company’s popular Audio 610 preamp which, according to Universal Audio, was used by Van Halen and Ray Charles. Not bad company to be keeping! At $299, it’s a little on the spendier side, but it's a comprehensive choice for anyone who works with instruments, vocals and outboard MIDI gear.

MOTU M6

If you need more connectivity than the standard 2 or 4 inputs, MOTU’s M6 has you covered. As the name suggests, there are inputs for up to six instruments - four of which can be microphones - and a pair of 5-pin MIDI ports for synthesizers. The M6 can even output CV signals to control even older music gear. The M6 also has dedicated buttons on each input channel for phantom power (for condenser microphones) and real-time headphone monitoring. If all that flexibility wasn’t enough, a small display for volume levels means you have a quick visual reference to make sure you keep your precious recordings out of the red.

Best for Podcasters

Whether you’re operating from a sound-treated studio or recording under a duvet in the back office, most podcasters have a few needs in common. First and foremost is the option to connect more than one high quality microphone. Second would be the ability to record remote guests easily whether they are using Zoom or calling in on a phone - which requires something called “mix minus” and isn’t a standard feature on most interfaces.

Lastly, many shows will want to be able to play music or audio from other sources in real time. All of the picks in this section exceed those basic requirements, which one is best for you will be determined by budget or specific needs.

Focusrite Vocaster Two

From the same company as the acclaimed Scarlett series, the Vocaster Two takes all the audio knowledge from its sister series and packages it into a more podcast-friendly format. Not only are there dual XLR mic inputs, there are two headphone ports, each with their own volume control so you and a live guest can podcast together in the same room.

Thanks to both a 3.5mm and Bluetooth inputs you have multiple options for including “call in guests”. There’s even a 3.5mm output for those who want to make a video-version of their podcast for YouTube - simply plug the Vocaster right into your camera for perfect audio as you record it. What’s more, the “auto gain” and “enhance” features will make sure you and your local guest will sound tippity top without having to apply any external effects.

Rodecaster Pro II

If you see yourself taking your podcasting to the next level, then the Rodecaster Pro II from Rode is hard to ignore. With four XLR combi ports, it’s perfect for multi-guest in-person shows, especially as it has physical faders for each channel along with easily accessible mute and solo buttons.

The Rodecasater Pro II also includes both a 3.5mm/aux port and Bluetooth for plugging in a phone plus dual USB ports that make it easy to feed in audio, like a Zoom call, from a PC or a tablet. Each microphone port has a wealth of effects available to enhance the audio, and the eight rubber pads let you fire off sound effects and intro/outro music at will. The pads can also trigger automated actions like musical fade-ins. In short, the Rodecaster II is quite a powerhouse, but obviously a fair amount more expensive than most interfaces on this list.

Best for music listening

What we call an audio interface today, we might well have once called a “sound card.” While today’s interfaces also serve up a host of connectivity options, the thing we need them for the most is often just good old fashioned listening to music. While everything on this list will reproduce music to a high standard, Hi-Fi heads might prefer something that will let them interface with more exotic audio formats, audio gear and high-end headphones.

Fiio K7

With phono, coaxial, optical and USB inputs, the K7 from Fiio is able to handle music and audio from almost any high fidelity source. Most traditional audio interfaces support playback of up to 48 kHz, the K7 can handle files all the way up to 384 kHz at 32-bit - perfect for the demanding audiophile.

On the front you’ll find both a 1/4" jack and a 4.4mm balanced headphone port along with a big ol’ volume dial.While its Hi-Fi aesthetic might not be the most razzle-dazzle, it does have an RGB LED around the dial to give it a pop of color (it also changes color depending on the “quality” of your audio source).

Fiio Q7

Don’t let the unusual design fool you, the Q7 from Fiio is an absolute audio powerhouse. It has the same digital inputs as the K7 but supports files with up to twice the maximum sampling rate (for those who absolutely must have 768kHz/32bit support).

More practically the Q7 can decode Tidal’s top-tier MQA files and there’s Bluetooth for connecting to your phone along with a built-in battery, too making this a portable high-end audio experience that won’t drain your laptop. Naturally, for the music listener that wants it all, there are jacks for every size of headphone, including 2.5mm and 4.4mm balanced sets.

Samsung has unveiled its upcoming user interface for Galaxy Watches, and it comes with new health-related features, with a focus on ones designed to help you get a better quality of sleep. Its new Sleep Insights UI, for instance, now prominently displays your sleep score that's based on several metrics, such as your snoring hours and blood oxygen levels. 

That way, you can easily see why you feel tired even though you've just woken up. Or, you can take note of when you feel especially refreshed in the morning so you can try to replicate anything you did that may have contributed to the quality of sleep you got. In addition, Sleep Coaching is now available on the Watch itself, and not just on its paired phone, allowing you to track your habits more easily.

Samsung has also added a new running tool called Personalized Heart Rate Zone that analyzes your capabilities and sets five optimal workout intensity levels based on your stats and history. This enables you to set your own goals and achieve new heights when it comes to activity, as you're only competing with yourself. 

Samsung

If you like outdoor activities and have a Galaxy Watch Pro, you'll see an improved Route Workout feature that supports running and walking, not just hiking and cycling. Finally, the upcoming Watch UI will have an updated SOS feature that directly connects to an emergency number to relay your location. First responders will also be available to access your medical information when emergency mode is activated. And in case you're 55 or older, fall detection will be activated by default. 

Samsung's One UI 5 Watch will officially launch with the next-generation Galaxy Watch series later this year. However, you can register for the beta program on the Samsung Members app starting this month if you have a Watch 4 or a Watch 5 device. 

Samsung

The UK government has announced an initial impact review in response to the continued growth and concerns around generative AI and learning language models. The investigation will reportedly look at how the creation and distribution of AI technology impact five wide-reaching areas: appropriate transparency and explainability; accountability and governance; safety, security and robustness; fairness; and contestability and redress. Overall, the review aims to learn how AI foundation models can, and likely will, impact both competition and consumer protections. 

Regulating bodies tasked with finding the answers include the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which helps people and businesses in competitive markets while working against unethical practices. "It's crucial that the potential benefits of this transformative technology are readily accessible to UK businesses and consumers while people remain protected from issues like false or misleading information," Sarah Cardell, CMA's chief executive, said in a statement. "Our goal is to help this new, rapidly scaling technology develop in ways that ensure open, competitive markets and effective consumer protection."

New advances from leading AI companies like OpenAI, Microsoft and Google have led generative AI tools and learning language models like ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Bing Chat, to rise in popularity. As companies race to include AI-generation tools and other model-based features, evaluations can determine whether checks need to be put in place.

The announcement follows last month's news that the UK is spending £100 million (~$125.7 million) to launch a Foundational Model Taskforce. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan aim to create "sovereign" AI technology to help the economy without falling into ethical and logistical problems that have arisen with other programs. 

Similar regulations and concerns are occurring in the US, with the Biden administration also announcing sweeping efforts to evaluate and regulate AI. The US will put $140 million towards seven new research and development centers within the National Science Foundation, garnered commitments from key AI developers to publicly evaluate their systems at DEFCON 31 and tasked the Office of Management and Budget with establishing AI policies for federal employees. The administration's statement comes ahead of Vice President Harris' meeting with the CEOs of Microsoft, OpenAI, Alphabet and Anthropic.

Like a delirious cross between Scott Pilgrim and Bend It Like Beckham, Nida Manzoor's debut feature Polite Society isn't your usual coming of age flick. It centers on Ria Khan (Priya Kansara), a British Pakistani teen who dreams of becoming a stunt woman, but finds herself at a loss when her sister decides to marry a handsome young doctor. To help save her sister, she has to overcome the groom’s overbearing mother, a wonderfully sinister Nimra Bucha, and make her way through a series of knock down, drag out fights. It's the only film where you'll find wuxia wire work, a surprisingly aggressive recreation ofa classic Bollywood dance sequence and sisterly bonding all in one place.

Manzoor started out as a television writer and director, most recently with the critically acclaimed (and also kick-ass) Peacock series We Are Lady Parts. I had a chance to chat with her as Polite Society hit US theaters last week, and I had one major question in mind: How does she live with tech?

Like any modern artist, Manzoor relies on gadgets for work and play, but she leans on her love of music the most. "I'm always building playlists," she said, "I've been relying on Spotify to hook me up with new stuff, and the algorithm knows me better than I know myself at this point." She listens to tunes mostly on a pair of "low key" JBL headphones, but given all of her traveling for film promotion these days, I recommended a pair of AirPods Pro or AirPods Max to help drown out the plane noise.

Polite Society's score, composed by her brother Shez Manzoor and Tom Howe (Ted Lasso), exemplifies the film's cross-cultural sensibilities. It flips between a dhol drum, bombastic orchestral compositions, and hard rocking electric guitar as easily as Priya Kansara delivers a flying kick to the head. (And where else will you find such an inspired recreation of Maar Daala from Devdas?)

Focus Features

So sure, Manzoor is a proven music nerd. But what if she could only use one of her existing devices for the rest of her life? (Just imagine a global catastrophe leads us to a Mad Max situation, where only the old gadgets survive.) As a writer, she chose the obvious: Her laptop. "Anything that has letters on it and I can write some jokes, then I'm happy," she said. Like Station Eleven, we could always use someone who can document the downfall of civilization as a stage play.

When it comes to older tech that she misses the most, Manzoor laments the loss of flip phones. "You can get off the phone, flip, and it's kind of a nice punctuation at the end of the call," she said. She also has a fondness for the old modem sounds that connected you to the internet, before broadband and fast cellular networks made it seamless. "There's the simple beauty of being able to only use it at this time, and this way," she said. (That's not too surprising to hear, since criticism of We Are Lady Parts effectivelydrove Manzoor off of social media.)

Looking ahead, Manzoor is hoping for the day when we can download skills to our brains like Neo in The Matrix. Yes, she wants to learn Kung Fu, but without the months of training her actors went through. That'snot something we can do yet with brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), but if the technology keeps progressing, it may happen sooner than you think. 

If you've been curious about trying the Kindle Scribe, Amazon's first e-ink tablet, now might be a good time to consider the leap. Every model of the Amazon Kindle Scribe is currently 17 percent off for Prime subscribers — the biggest sale we've seen on them yet. This price drop brings Kindle Scribe 16GB with a Basic Pen (the cheapest option) down from $340 to $283.

The e-ink tablet lets you add sticky notes throughout your favorite books with four different brush styles and write on a plain, grid or lined paper. You can also connect Microsoft Word or download a PDF to mark up. There are barely, if any, latency issues as you write across different documents.

The Kindle Scribe is available in three storage sizes: 16 GB, 32GB and 64GB. Each one comes with a Premium Pen, while the cheaper 16GB option offers the choice of a Basic Pen. Both pens work for writing on the device, attach magnetically to its side and work without ever needing you to charge them. The Premium Pen has an eraser on top of it and offers a shortcut button for features like highlighting and creating sticky notes.

The 16GB with the Premium Pen is down from $370 to $307. As for the larger storage models, the 32GB Kindle Scribe is $325, down from $390 and the 64GB model is $350, down from $420. The Kindle Scribe bundles are also on sale. Starting at $323, they add a folio cover and power adapter to your purchase. 

• Read more about AI Weather Display Combining Art and Science through ChatGPT and DALL-E
• Log in or register to post comments

The Biden administration wants to impose a 30 percent tax, called the Digital Asset Mining Energy or DAME excise tax, on the electricity used for cryptocurrency mining. It explained it wants to tax crypto-mining companies because they aren't paying for the "full cost they impose on others," including environmental pollution and high energy prices.

Does mining crypto-currency use that much power? Yes. In April, The New York Times published a report detailing the energy used by the 34 large-scale Bitcoin miners in the US. Just those 34 operations together use the same amount of electricity as three million households. If the proposal becomes law, the government will impose the excise tax in phases. It would start by adding a 10 percent tax on miners' electricity use in the first year, 20 percent in the second, and 30 percent from the third year onwards.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

The biggest stories you might have missed

AMD's Ryzen 7040U chips promise speedier graphics for thin-and-light laptops

New ‘Double Dragon’ game trailer promises nostalgic beat-em-up thrills

'Fortnite' lands on Amazon Luna

Google rolls out support for passkeys across its services

Watch the first trailer for ‘Dune: Part Two’

Chalamet catches a ride on a sandworm.

Warner Bros.

The first trailer for Dune: Part Two is here, and if you were a fan of Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the first half of Frank Herbert's seminal sci-fi novel, let's say Part Two looks more of the same. The trailer offers us our first look at Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan. Her character didn't appear in Dune: Part One, but judging by the clip, Irulan will at least narrate some of the story, a change that could bring the movie closer to Herbert's 1965 novel. Another critical character that wasn't in Part One but appeared here is Feyd-Rautha, played by Austin Butler.

Continue reading.

ChatGPT scams are the new crypto scams, Meta warns

Meta plans to roll out new Work Accounts for businesses to guard against hacks.

In a new report by Meta, the company says it’s seen a sharp uptick in malware disguised as ChatGPT and similar AI software. In a statement, the company said that since March 2023 alone, its researchers have discovered “ten malware families using ChatGPT and other similar themes to compromise accounts across the internet” and that it’s blocked more than 1,000 malicious links from its platform. According to Meta, the scams often involve mobile apps or browser extensions posing as ChatGPT tools.

Meta’s researchers aren’t the first to warn about fake ChatGPT tools leading to hacked accounts. Recently, researchers warned about a Chrome extension posing as ChatGPT software that led to the hacking of several Facebook accounts.

Continue reading.

The best smartphones you can buy right now

Beyond iPhone or Android.

If you’ve already determined you only want an iPhone, your decision-making process for buying a new phone is slightly easier. (And even then, Apple’s lineup offers more options than ever.) However, if you’re looking for an Android, you will have even more options and likely more questions. For example, do you want a camera that can zoom into extremely far-away subjects (Samsung’s Galaxy S series?), or do you want intuitive AI to screen incoming calls for you? (Hello, Google’s Pixel series.) And is it time to get into foldable?

Continue reading.

Google is replacing Chrome's lock icon because most people don't know what it means

The replacement is even more confusing, though...

Google

Google plans to replace the lock next to the address bar in Chrome with a variant of the "tune" icon you see above. According to Google's research, only 11 percent of users realize the lock refers to HTTPS encryption. Many others think it means the site is trustworthy — a problem when even phishing sites use the technology.

The tune icon doesn't imply trustworthiness, Google says. It signals security is the default state. It invites a click, making it more likely to use site controls. I’m not sure the new icon is clearer than a lock…

Continue reading.

At its World Tour NYC event, Salesforce has introduced Slack GPT, which it describes as a three-pronged vision that integrates AI features into the business messaging app. Slack GPT is comprised of AI-powered features built natively into the app, a new AI-ready platform that was recently made available to developers, and the availability of Einstein GPT in the app that will power its ability to instantly generate insights and summaries. Einstein GPT was developed by Salesforce as a generative AI for customer relationship management (CRM) and could assist businesses with tasks related to sales. 

The integrated AI features will give users access to a workflow builder that doesn't require them to know how to code. In it, they can automatically create or update a canvas, which is Slack's tool designed for collaboration. Users can also summon Einstein GPT to summarize Huddle calls and create canvases from those calls, simply by clicking a button. That said, companies don't have to stick to using Einstein GPT only. They can integrate large language models of their choice into the new AI-ready Slack platform, including OpenAI's. In fact, a Claude (Anthropic) app is now available for Slack, while the ChatGPT app for the messaging service is currently in beta. Salesforce assures customers that Anthropic and OpenAI will not take data from their Slack apps to train their language models. 

Salesforce said Slack GPT is being developed to boost users' productivity and gave several examples of how its features could be used. For sales, teams could use those features to auto-generate account channel summaries, create canvases for investors and create customer recommendations. Customer service agents can use AI-generated solutions and responses to quickly resolve issues and auto-generate case summaries. Developers can use the features to scan for channel activities and summarize root cause analysis when identifying solutions for issues in their software. The AI tools could also auto-generate image and copy for blogs, email campaigns and social media posts for marketers. At the moment, Slack GPT's native AI capabilities, the new AI-ready platform and the Einstein GPT app for Slack are still in development, and it's unclear when they're going to roll out. 

In addition to Slack GPT, Salesforce has also announced its plans to collaborate with Accenture "to accelerate the deployment of generative AI for CRM." The companies are apparently planning to provide businesses and organizations with the technology and help they need to be able to adopt Einstein GPT to increase productivity and improve customer experiences.

Ahead of a meeting between Vice President Kamala Harris and the heads of America's four leading AI tech companies — Alphabet, OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft — the Biden Administration announced Thursday a sweeping series of planned actions to help mitigate some of the risks that these emerging technologies pose to the American public. That includes $140 million to launch seven new AI R&D centers as part of the National Science Foundation, extracting commitments from leading AI companies to participate in a "public evaluation" of their AI systems at DEFCON 31, and ordering the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to draft policy guidance for federal employees.

"The Biden Harris administration has been leading on these issues since long before these newest generative AI products debuted last fall," a senior administration official said during a reporters call Wednesday. The Administration unveiled its AI Bill of Rights "blueprint" last October, which sought to "help guide the design, development, and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated systems so that they protect the rights of the American public," per a White House press release.

"At a time of rapid innovation, it is essential that we make clear the values we must advance, and the common sense we must protect," the administration official continued. "With [Thursday's announcement] and the blueprint for an AI bill of rights, we've given company and policymakers and the individuals building these technologies, some clear ways that they can mitigate the risks [to consumers]."

While the federal government does already have authority to protect the citizenry and hold companies accountable, as the FTC demonstrated Monday, "there's a lot the federal government can do to make sure we get AI right," the official added — like found seven brand new National AI Research Institutes as part of the NSF. They'll act to collaborate research efforts across academia, the private sector and government to develop ethical and trustworthy in fields ranging from climate, agriculture and energy, to public health, education, and cybersecurity."

"We also need companies and innovators to be our partners in this work," the White House official said. "Tech companies have a fundamental responsibility to make sure their products are safe and secure and that they protect people's rights before they're deployed or made public tomorrow."

To that end, the Vice President is scheduled to meet with tech leaders at the White House on Thursday for what is expected to be a "frank discussion about the risks we see in current and near-term AI development," the official said. "We're also aiming to underscore the importance of their role on mitigating risks and advancing responsible innovation, and will discuss how we can work together to protect the American people from the potential harms of AI so that they can reach the benefits of these new technology."

The Administration also announced that it has obtained "independent commitment" from more than a half dozen leading AI companies — Anthropic, Google, Hugging Face, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAI and Stability AI — to put their AI systems up for public evaluation at DEFCON 31 (August 10-13th). There, thousands of attendees will be able to poke and prod around in these models to see if they square with the Biden admin's stated principles and practices of the Blueprint. Finally, the OMB will issue guidance to federal employees in coming months regarding official use of the technology and help establish specific policies for agencies to follow, and allow for public comment before those policies are finalized.

"These are important new steps to come out responsible innovation and to make sure AI improved people's lives, without putting rights and safety at risk," the official noted.