Federal agencies are the latest to alert companies to potential bias in AI recruiting tools. As the APnotes, the Justice Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have warned employers that AI hiring and productivity systems can violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. These technologies might discriminate against people with disabilities by unfairly ruling out job candidates, applying incorrect performance monitoring, asking for illegal sensitive info or limiting pay raises and promotions.

Accordingly, the government bodies have released documents (DOJ, EEOC) outlining the ADA's requirements and offering help to improve the fairness of workplace AI systems. Businesses should ensure their AI allows for reasonable accommodations.They should also consider how any of their automated tools might affect people with various disabilities.

There's no guarantee companies will follow the advice. However, it comes amid mounting pressure on companies to temper their uses of AI for recruiting and worker tracking. California recently enacted a productivity quota law banning algorithms that violate health, labor and safety regulations, or lead to firings of people who can't meet dangerous quotas. New York City, meanwhile, now requires that AI hiring systems pass yearly audits looking for discrimination. Companies that don't heed the new warnings could face serious legal repercussions at multiple levels.

If your childhood gaming was defined more by Kirby than Mario, don't worry — Nintendo has you covered. As VGCreports, Nintendo is making Kirby 64: The Crystal Shardsavailable through the Switch Online Expansion Pack on May 20th. The Nintendo 64 title was the first 3D Kirby game, although it was really more of a "2.5D" platformer — you set out to reassemble a shattered crystal by copying and combining your enemies' powers.

The Switch experience is effectively what you would remember playing circa 2000, complete with low-polygon 3D visuals. As you might guess, though, the multiplayer mini-games are now available online in addition to at home.

This is the 15th N64 game to come to the Switch Online Expansion Pack, which costs $50 per year or $80 for families. While Kirby 64 might not be as immediately appealing to veteran gamers as the likes of Super Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time, it's still a notable addition that may be great for introducing kids to the games of your youth.

Even smart rings aren't immune to patent wars. Wareablenotes Oura has sued fledgling rival Circular for allegedly violating patents covering both ring design and biometric data collection. Circular's upcoming wearable allegedly copies Oura's work by both stuffing electronics into a cavity and gathering info to generate an overall energy score.

Oura said it asked Circular to cease and desist in January, roughly a year after the newcomer started its crowdfunding campaign. Circular took on lawyers to review the patents in response.

Circular unsurprisingly objected to the lawsuit and characterized it as an attempt to stifle competition. In a statement, a spokesperson told Wareable that pursuing a monopoly has "never driven innovation." Oura supposedly wants the smart ring market to itself, in other words.

It's not certain which side will prevail. While the patents are broad, effectively covering many attempts to make smart rings, the US Patent Office did approve them. Circular may have to challenge the patents themselves to prevail in court, not just dispute their relevance to its particular finger-based technology.

Google isn't just showering affection on Android phones and tablets at I/O 2022. The company has detailed updates for Android 13 on TV, including one for living room multitaskers. On top of already announced plans to support casting from Android to Google TV, Google has revealed that Android TV will expand picture-in-picture viewing to show group call videos, add a docked mode and prevent chats from hiding content in other apps. You could catch up with family on a camera-equipped TV without blocking your web browser.

The future Android TV release will also support different keyboard layouts. That could be helpful for game developers who need to map input to non-QWERTY physical keyboards, Google said. You should also expect performance and quality boosts thanks to improved audio routing and HDMI responses.

Developers can grab Android 13 TV beta 2 today for either Google's ADT-3 kit or a computer-based emulator. You'll likely have to wait until later in the year for the finished Android TV update to arrive. As with Android 13 on mobile devices, this isn't a major overhaul — it's more of a refinement to help keep up with modern expectations.

Amazon's handling of the deadly Edwardsville, Illinois warehouse collapse in December is drawing criticism from key figures in Congress. Motherboardreports that Senator Elizabeth Warren and representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush have sent a follow-up letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and chairman Jeff Bezos criticizing the company's "disappointing" response to an initial series of questions about the Illinois warehouse's safety. They said OSHA's findings described a "wholly inadequate safety culture" that may have played a role in the deaths of six facility workers.

The data pointed to "serious concerns" about safety training at the Edwardsville location, the politicians wrote. While OSHA didn't fine or otherwise punish Amazon, its investigation contradicted the company's statements about preparedness. Staff didn't participate in emergency drills that might have protected them from the tornado, and some didn't even know the location of the designated shelter area. And while Amazon claimed the warehouse had an Emergency Action Plan, OSHA said the company neither customized it for the area nor followed it properly.

The investigation and Amazon's response suggested the firm only did the "bare minimum" or less to protect workers, according to the politicians. They added that there was evidence of injuries and exploitation elsewhere, and urged Amazon to honor the House Oversight Committee's request for documents as part of its own inquiry.

We've asked Amazon for comment. The tech giant said in its response letter that safety was its "top priority" and defended its practices at the Edwardsville warehouse. Bezos told shareholders roughly a year ago that Amazon needed to improve its treatment of employees, but his focus was on reducing repetitive strain injuries and general safety projects, not disaster preparedness. The retailer acknowledged some of the calls for reform by permanently allowing cellphones on-site.

Whatever Amazon's answer to this latest letter, it's likely to face considerably more scrutiny. On top of the House probe, Amazon is dealing with multiple lawsuits accusing the company of negligence that led to deaths and injuries at the Illinois hub. There's still plenty of pressure to change, and Amazon might not succeed in resisting political demands.

Scientists have imaged a black hole before, but now they've captured a picture of the most important example — the one at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy. Researchers using the Event Horizon Telescope have revealed the first image of Sagittarius A* (aka Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole at the center of our home galaxy. The snapshot confirms both the presence of the black hole and provides more details of how these extreme space objects work.

Like the black hole spotted inside M87, Sgr A* is bending all the light around it — hence why it looks so similar. They're far from identical beyond this, however. The Milky Way's hole is over 1,000 times smaller and less massive. That made it a challenge to accurately visualize the gas whipping around the hole, as it orbits in minutes where M87's gas takes days or even weeks.

The team needed the Event Horizon Telescope's network of radio observatories to produce the imagery over the course of multiple nights. They developed new imaging tools, and used a mix of supercomputing power (to analyze and combine data) and black hole simulations to help compare their findings. The project took five years to complete, including 100 million hours of supercomputer time at the US' National Science Foundation.

Developing...

Two of Bethesda's highest-profile games won't make their long-promised release dates. The Microsoft-owned company has delayed both the sci-fi RPG Starfield and Arkane's vampire shooter Redfall to the first half of 2023. The developers have "incredible ambitions" and need the extra time to deliver the "best, most polished" titles they can, according to Bethesda.

The studio promised deep-dive gameplay explorations for the two projects "soon." Starfield was previously slated to ship November 11th this year, while Redfall was poised to launch in the summer.

These certainly aren't the only major games delayed to 2023. Nintendo's Breath of the Wild sequel and EA's PGA Tour are among those pushed back. Bethesda's delays may sting more than usual, though. Starfield is a tentpole game that will show what the company can do under Microsoft's wing, while Redfall is building on the hype of previous Arkane successes like Dishonored, Prey and Deathloop. The waits may be worthwhile, but they will prevent Bethesda from ending 2022 with some blockbuster releases.

Redbox has tried to keep itself relevant over the years with on-demand streaming video and free live TV, but it's still best-known as the company pushing movie disc rentals at kiosks. It might soon have a better shot at shaking that reputation, however. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the company that rebooted Sony's Crackle service, is acquiring Redbox in an all-stock deal. The move will help Chicken Soup build an ad-supported streaming service for "value-conscious customers" and "accelerate" Redbox's shift from physical to digital.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022. Chicken Soup will own a 76.5 percent stake, while Redbox will own the rest. There weren't mentions of leadership changes, but Chicken Soup won't change its name as part of the purchase.

It may seem unusual to buy a company best known for supporting shrinking video formats. Chicken Soup stands to gain a lot, though. The new owner will have access to tens of millions of potential customers, including 40 million Redbox Perks members —even if only a fraction embrace streaming, that's still a large potential audience. Although we wouldn't expect it to challenge heavyweights like Amazon or Netflix, it might help Redbox and Chicken Soup compete with free-to-watch alternatives like Tubi or The Roku Channel.

Google is using I/O 2022 to unveil (and flaunt) a host of privacy and security upgrades, including some significant features for online shopping. The company is introducing virtual payment cards on Android and Chrome that promise extra security by replacing the real card number with a digital counterpart. It should be faster, too, as you won't have to enter the CVV or other details that frequently slow you down.

Virtual cards will be available in the US this summer for American Express, Visa and Capital One holders. Mastercard is due later in the year. This isn't as ambitious a financial project as Google's defunct Plex banking service, but it may be useful if you're worried a hacker might scrape your payment details while you're checking out.

Other additions are subtler, but potentially useful. Google now protects Workspace users against phishing and malware in Docs, Sheets and Slides, not just Gmail. You should also see the safety status in apps to let you know when your Google account is at risk.

Google is also making it easier to control data. On top of plans to let you remove contact details from search results (still in a months-long rollout), you'll also have the option to see more or less of certain brands and categories in ads through My Ad Center. You won't just be limited to blocking or reporting content.

The expansions come alongside ongoing efforts. Google is automatically enrolling users in two-factor authentication to reduce account hijacking. It's also scaling back the volume of sensitive personal info, anonymizing that content and curbing access through technologies like end-to-end encryption and the secure enclaves on modern phones. Yes, Google is partly touting these features to counter long-running accusations of less-than-stellar privacy, but they might be welcome if you're jittery about trusting the company with your data.

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!

Twitter has revamped its privacy policy to help you understand how it handles your data, but it's not convinced that's enough. The social network has launched a Data Dash game that it hopes will help you understand the trickier parts of the new policy in simpler terms. At its heart, it's a simple platformer that has you guide your dog Data around unwanted ads (for cats, naturally), navigate through spam DMs and avoid trolls. Complete a level and you'll learn more about Twitter's approach and how you can take control of the experience.

Data Dash won't exactly challenge hardcore gamers, and the mechanics are a bit crude. The 8-bit retro style is cute (if unoriginal), though, and the easy gameplay makes it more likely that you'll learn something rather than give up in frustration.

The biggest issue may simply be the tone. While the game is glib, the issues it's dealing with are potentially serious — we doubt people will enjoy this if they've been targets for harassment or hate speech. Data Dash is more for newcomers and other innocents who want to wrap their heads around privacy concepts before they encounter the sobering reality.