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Twitter is making millions of dollars from just a handful of some of its most infamous users, according to a new report. New research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) estimates that Twitter “will generate up to $19 million a year in advertising revenue” from just 10 accounts that were once banned from the platform.

The report looked at the current engagement with 10 accounts that were previously banned for “ for “publishing hateful content and dangerous conspiracies.” The accounts were reinstated after Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. The group includes a number of high-profile accounts associated with extremism and conspiracy theories, including those belonging to influencer Andrew Tate, Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin, prominent antivaxxer Robert Malone and the Gateway Pundit.

In order to estimate their reach and engagement, CCDH analyzed nearly 10,000 tweets from these accounts during a 47-day period in December and January. According to their analysis, “on an average day, tweets from the ten accounts received a combined total of 54 million impressions,” they write. “Projecting this average across 365 days, the accounts can be expected to reach nearly 20 billion impressions over the course of a year.”

In order to determine how much ad revenue those impressions might generate for Twitter, CCDH says it created three new Twitter accounts that followed only the 10 users named in the report. The authors found that ads appeared about once every 6.7 tweets. Then, using data from analytics firm Brandwatch, which estimates that “Twitter ads cost an average of $6.46 per 1,000 impressions,” CCDH came up with “a total figure of up to $19 million in estimated annual ad revenues across the accounts.”

While the estimates aren’t a precise accounting of how much Twitter might be making from these users, it demonstrates how valuable a small number of highly polarizing accounts can be for the platform. It also underscores how much more Twitter stands to gain by bringing back even more controversial users.

All of the accounts named in the report were once permanently banned from twitter, but were reinstated after Musk said he would offer “general amnesty” to users who hadn’t broken the law. Twitter also recently announced plans to allow even more previously banned users to appeal their suspensions.

At the same time, Twitter’s advertising business has taken a major hit since Musk’s takeover. A number of high profile advertisers have pulled back from the platform, and revenue is down as much as 40 percent, according to reporting fromPlatformer.

The report also points out several instances when ads from prominent advertisers appeared adjacent to offensive and inflammatory posts from these users. For example, a Prime Video ad directly underneath a tweet from Andrew Anglin that states “the only career a woman is actually capable of on merit is prostitution.” The report also highlights an ad from the NFL, which appeared directly underneath a tweet misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

“This work confirms that Twitter has been displaying ads next to every one of the toxic accounts we have investigated, despite the fact that the individuals behind them are known to promote hateful views and falsehoods,” CCDH writes.

SpaceX has completed its first full static fire test for Starship, if not quite in a way that makes the first orbital test flight next month sound realistic. The company hoped to fire all 33 Raptor engines at once, but Elon Musk noted that two engines didn't make it — the mission team shut off one before startup, while the other "stopped itself." The 31 that did fire lasted the full duration, however, and Musk claims that's enough to reach orbit.

While SpaceX's last static fire testing in November was a success, the company only ignited 14 of the booster's Raptor engines. It also to send Starship on multiple successful test flights before it can ferry astronauts to and from the Moon.

As company president Gwynne Shotwell said at the FAA's annual Commercial Space Transportation conference, Starship has to fly "hundreds of flights before [it flies] people." She also reminded everyone that Starship's first flight "is really a test flight" and that "the real goal [for it] is to not blow up the launch pad."

In mid-2022, SpaceX conducted a test that was designed to simultaneously spin up all 33 engines on the Super Heavy's Booster 7 prototype. The company was aiming to preview the vehicle's start-up sequence, but the booster caught fire during the process at its Boca Chica, Texas facility. SpaceX chief Elon Musk revealed on Twitter that the issue that caused the explosion was "specific to the engine spin start test," because the Raptor engine has a complex start sequence. 

Elon Musk's SpaceX may be willing to supply Ukraine with Starlink service as it repels the Russian invasion, but it's not thrilled with every use of the satellite internet technology. Operating chief Gwynne Shotwell tells guests at a Federal Aviation Administration conference that SpaceX objects to reported uses of Starlink to control military drones. While the company doesn't mind troops using satellite broadband for communication, it doesn't mean for the platform to be used for "offensive purposes," Shotwell says.

The executive adds that SpaceX can limit Ukraine's ability to use Starlink with combat drones, and has already done so. The company hasn't explained how it curbs use in the field.

Ukraine says it's not alarmed. National security council secretary Oleksiy Danilov tells The Washington Post the country doesn't rely solely on Starlink for military operations, and may only need to "change the means of attack" in some cases. Interior ministry advisor Anton Gerahchenko, meanwhile, argues that Ukraine "liberate[s]" rather than attacking, and that Starlink has saved "hundreds of thousands of lives."

Starlink has proved important to life in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began last year. The country uses the service to connect civilians, government agencies and military units that can't rely on terrestrial internet access. For drones, this could let Ukraine coordinate reconnaissance flights, long-distance targeting and bomb attacks.

SpaceX has a contentious relationship with Ukraine. The firm was quick to provide Starlink terminals soon after the war began, albeit with US government help. Musk complained that it was becoming too expensive to fund service indefinitely, but changed his mind soon after. And while Ukraine struck a deal in December to get thousands more terminals with EU assistance, that came just weeks after a steep price hike.

Amazon is moving forward with a live-action Spider-Man Noir series, according toVariety. It will reportedly focus on “an older, grizzled superhero in 1930s New York City” — one that isn’t Peter Parker.

Spider-Man Noir is an alternate version of the web-slinging hero, first seen in the 2009 Marvel comic series of the same name. The comic version was set in 1933, as a freshly bitten Spidey navigates New York City’s Depression-era criminal underworld. The character, who exists in a separate universe from the mainline Spider-Man stories, also appeared in the 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, voiced by Nicolas Cage. The report doesn’t mention whether Cage will be involved in the new project, but the actor has said he wasn’t asked to return for the upcoming animated sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Marvel

The as-yet-untitled series will be Amazon’s second project based on Sony-controlled Marvel superheroes after the upcoming Silk: Spider Society. Oren Uziel will write and executive-produce the show; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse alumni Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal share executive-producing credits.

Sony controls the film rights to Spider-Man and supporting characters like Venom, Carnage, Vulture, Black Cat and others. In addition, it works with Marvel Studios on the current MCU film franchise starring Tom Holland.

As promised, Meta has restored former president Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts, two years after it suspended him from both platforms. The company previously said it would apply extra "guardrails" to his accounts to "deter repeat offenses."

Meta, like Twitter and other services, kicked Trump off of its platforms in January 2021 after he praised those participating in the Capitol Hill insurrection. The company initially locked the accounts for 24 hours over two policy violations before it suspended him indefinitely. Meta's Oversight Board was among those who criticized the handling of the ban. 

The company later said Trump's accounts would remain suspended for two years, after which it would reassess things. In late January, it emerged that Trump would soon regain access to the platforms, not long after it was reported that he had pushed Meta to restore his accounts. 

By 2:30PM ET, Trump, who is running for the White House for a third time, had not posted anything on either platform. He has an agreement with his "free speech" app Truth Social, whereby he has to share social media posts there first and can't plop them anywhere else for at least six hours. Twitter restored Trump's account on its service late last year, but he hasn't returned to what was once his favored social media platform either. Maybe he's still too butthurt about that one thing Chrissy Teigen wrote about him.

1Password is going all-in on passkeys starting this summer, as the company announced today that its users would soon have the option of using passwordless logins. The move follows Google's and Apple’s passkey support starting last year.

Passkeys can replace passwords by providing unique digital keys stored locally on your device. They are much less susceptible to theft in the case of data breaches or phishing attempts and can integrate with your device’s biometric security — including fingerprints and facial logins. 1Password’s passkey support will be “built on the same security foundation” as secret keys, the long recovery codes platforms generate as a fallback sign-in option.

“All you’ll ever need to sign in to 1Password, unlock your vaults, and securely access your data is your one passkey,” the company said in a blog post. “More and more sites and services are adding passkey support every week, but whether you’re first in line to start using them, or you need to rely on passwords for a while longer, we’ve got you covered.”

“Unlike user-created passwords, passkeys are strong and unique by default. They’re generated and stored on your devices, and they’re never shared with our cloud service,” the company said. “Passkeys are also resistant to phishing, and they have a full 256 bits of entropy to prevent cracking — providing even more protection than our Secret Key. They’re safeguarded by biometrics and hardware-level security. And we’re building them to be portable between all your devices and platforms.”

Flipboard's iOS and Android apps now include the notes feature that the company rolled out on the web in December. The update brings more social elements to the Flipboard mobile apps. The company says notes are a simple way to start conversations, share ideas and perhaps build micro communities around a shared interest or theme.

With notes, creators can add original content to shared magazines, such as commentary, images, links and video embeds. They have the option to mention other users in notes and comments to bring them into the fold. To start a note, tap on the create (i.e., pencil) icon in a magazine.

Flipboard suggests that notes really sing in group magazines, as the feature enables all contributors to add their perspectives and kick off conversations. Magazine owners and contributors will all get a notification when someone in the group adds a note or comment. Moreover, notes added to followed magazines may pop up in users' For You feeds.

It's easy for students to search the web when working on assignments, but Microsoft now wants to teach those students how to spot misinformation and otherwise think critically. In addition to an existing Search Coach, Microsoft is introducing a Search Progress feature in Teams for Education that helps teachers foster healthy online research habits through practice work. Educators can not only require a certain number of sources for an assignment, but check to see that students are searching responsibly — they'll know if pupils are only clicking the first site in the results, or using filters like NewsGuard to check source quality. Students can show their reasoning and work before turning in a project, too.

The Progress tool bolsters Search Coach (shown below), which encourages students using Teams to both search more precisely and watch out for falsehoods. They can limit searches to certain domains (such as .gov or .edu), date ranges and file types. They can even pass queries through fact checking sites to learn if a claim holds up under scrutiny. Bing's safe search is enabled by default, and the results are ad-free. Teachers can also use search trends to refine their lessons.

Search Progress will be available in preview form later in the year. Search Coach is already available in Teams worldwide. Both features will work with over 50 languages, Microsoft says.

Microsoft also wants to improve students' overall reading skills. The company's Reading Coach will be available in the Immersive Readers for Word Online, OneNote, Teams Assignments, Minecraft Education and other platforms, giving students more reading fluency experience both online and in the apps they use. Reading Progress, meanwhile, will add comprehension questions to be sure kids truly understand what they read. Both upgrades will be available later this year.

Microsoft announced new AI-powered classroom tools today. The company sees its new “Learning Accelerators” as helping students sharpen their speaking and math skills — while making teachers’ jobs a little easier — as children prepare for an even more technologically enhanced world.

Speaker Progress is a new AI classroom tool for teachers. Microsoft says it saves them time by “streamlining the process of creating, reviewing, and analyzing speaking and presentation assignments for students, groups, and classrooms.” It can provide tidy summaries of presentation-based skills while highlighting areas to improve. Additionally, it lets teachers review student recordings, identify their needs and track progress.

It will be a companion for Speaker Coach, an existing feature Microsoft launched in 2021 that provides one-on-one speaking guidance and feedback. For example, it uses AI to give real-time pointers on pacing, pitch and filler words. “Speaker Coach is one of those tools that kind of was a lightbulb tool for a lot of students that I’ve worked with,” said an unnamed teacher in a Microsoft launch video. “Being able to practice and get real-time feedback is where Speaker Coach really comes in and helps our students, and it even helps us as adults.”

Microsoft

Microsoft’s AI math tools are its answer to nosediving math scores during the pandemic. Math Coach deconstructs problems, walking students through the steps to solve them while encouraging critical thinking. Meanwhile, Math Progress is the teacher-focused companion tool, helping them generate practice questions and provide more efficient feedback. The company says the features work together: Math Coach uses teacher input from Math Progress to develop new lessons. Additionally, it says schools can use the tools’ overall math fluency data to track progress and better meet their goals.

Speaker Progress, Math Coach and Math Progress will launch in Microsoft Teams for Education in the 2023-24 school year. Meanwhile, Speaker Coach is available now in Teams and PowerPoint.

Tesla's Autopilot was not at fault in a 2021 crash in which two people died, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). In a final report spotted by Ars Technica, the agency determined that the 2019 Model S accelerated just before hitting a tree in Spring, Texas, just north of Houston. Neither occupant was in the driver's seat when they were found, leading to questions about the use of Autopilot.

Based on information provided by Tesla, the NTSB found (PDF) that the car's rapid acceleration from 39MPH to 67MPH two seconds before the crash and a loss of control of the EV was likely due to "impairment from alcohol intoxication in combination with the effects of two sedating antihistamines, resulting in a roadway departure, tree impact and post-crash fire." The NTSB says data indicated that Autopilot had not been employed "at any time during this ownership period of the vehicle." Investigators did not find any "evidence of mechanical deficiencies" that could have contributed to or caused the crash.

One of the occupants was found in the front passenger seat, while the other was in the rear. It's presumed that the driver was in the back seat because he was trying to escape. Security footage showed that the men were in the front seats as they set off, while data showed that both front seatbelts were buckled at the time of the crash — the car left the road around 550 feet from the driver's home. The men died as a result of the collision and post-crash battery fire.