Fiat already has its own cute EV in the 500 series, but it has now gone even tinier in its latest urban mobility push. The company unveiled the Topolino, essentially a rebadged version of the Citroen Ami with a redesigned front end, brown cloth retractable roof, open sides and cream leather seats. 

The Topolino shares Ami's drivetrain (both Citroen and Fiat are under the Stellantis umbrella) and looks nigh-on identical, apart from the aforementioned tweaks. It has a 5.5kWh battery that delivers a 47 mile range, and it'll hit a top speed of 28MPH. Fiat didn't share any interior images, but the only tech inside an Ami is a charging port and phone holder. 

Like the Ami, the Topolino is technically a "quadricycle" and not a car, meaning it can be driven in cities without the need for a driver's license. Fiat said it wants to "make young people fall in love with cars again," while promoting sustainability along with "joy, optimism and fun." 

Fiat's wording in the press release suggests that the car will be used to promote its sustainability and mobility aims (the words "sustainable" and "mobility" are used no less than 20 times). "The new Fiat Topolino will play a socially active role in promoting electric mobility in cities and a special role in creating a personal mobility solution for the entire family," Fiat wrote, adding it fits in with "Fiat’s democratic mission of providing urban sustainable mobility solutions which are accessible to everyone." 

Stellantis has set a goal for 100 percent of passenger car sales to be BEVs by 2030, and that date is coming down the pike pretty quickly. Like other automakers, it hasn't showed much in terms of urban mobility options apart from a few tiny EVs. There's no word on pricing, but the Ami can be leased for 25 euros per month with a 3,850 euro down payment. 

Roger Federer is not only one of the greatest tennis players of all time, but also certified polyglot (he's also on a Swiss coin, was voted most stylish man of the decade and was the best paid athlete in 2020, in case you were feeling good about yourself). Thanks to those skills, he's the first celebrity voice on Waze to give directions in no less than three languages (French, German and English), Google announced. Federer joins a host of personalities including Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Kevin Hart and others who've loaned their voices to Waze. 

On top of supplying turn-by-turn directions, Federer helps get you pumped up for your commute. "It's drive time — I can feel the adrenaline kick in already," he says in one recording. "Time to ride! Trust your ability. I'm ready to coach you along the way," he declares in another. He even has some words of encouragement if you screw up: "Make a U-Turn. Hey, even champions can mess up." 

While Google continues to add well-known voices to Waze, Amazon is doing the opposite. Earlier this week, the company announced that it was ditching Alexa's celebrity voices and would issue refunds upon request. The feature, which originally cost $1 before being boosted to $5, offered voices including Shaquille O’Neal, Melissa McCarthy and Samuel L. Jackson. 

In any case, judging by the responses to Waze's tweet, Federer fans are more than excited to be guided by that famous, lightly accented voice — perfect for a European road trip. 

If you're in the market for a fast NVMe SSD for your PC or console, Amazon has some great options in its latest sale. The WD_Black SN850 and P40 models are on sale with steep discounts as high as 56 percent, with sizes ranging from 1TB to 4TB. The best deal is on the latest WD_Black 1TB SN850X NVMe with a heat sink that offers speeds up to 7300/6300 MB/s (read/write) and PS5 compatibility. It's priced at just $80, a savings of 56 percent ($100) over the regular price. 

The latest SN850X is available in sizes up to 2TB, with read speeds a bit faster (6,600 MB/s) on the 2TB model. Both come with a heatsink and support Game Mode 2.0, and are compatible with PlayStation 5 consoles. They also make great storage and media drives on PCs, thanks to high speeds that allow quick program loading and the ability to play back 8K video.

If you don't need PS5 compatibility or a heat sink, Amazon has the regular SN850X on sale as well in four sizes, at $80, $175 and $350 for the 1TB, 2TB and 4TB models, respectively. The best deal is on the 4TB unit, priced at just $350 for a savings of 50 percent off the regular price — a nice deal if you need a very fast SSD with high capacity.

Finally, if it's USB-C storage you're looking for, the WD_Black 1TB and 2TB P4 Game Drive SSDs carry significant discounts as well. The 1TB model is available for $100, or 44 percent off the regular price, while the 2TB version is on sale for $160, saving you a full 52 percent. These models are compatible with both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles, giving you a speedy archiving option (up to 2,000 MB/s) that lets you save space on your main drive and quickly restore games. 

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Uber launched its Uber One subscription service in 2021 with the promise of various perks like free deliveries, but the main benefit was a five percent discount on eligible rides. Now, the company is eliminating that in favor of six percent cashback (in the form of Uber Cash) to be used toward rides, Uber Eats and more, TechCrunch has reported. This despite the fact that Uber One doubled its subscriber base to 12 million last year with the discount marketed prominently on the app.

"As Uber One is the best way to save across Uber and Uber Eats, we're making it even easier to use your benefits on Uber's full suite of products," Uber's consumer communications lead Becky Katz Davis told TechCrunch. In a letter to subscribers, the company suggested that consumers use their Uber Cash on fancier vehicles or Uber Eats orders. 

The move appears to be a way to help Uber boost its ride count and margins. Uber One subscribers now make up 27 percent of total booking, and over 50 percent in some markets, the company said recently. In addition, the service is "profitable," Khosrowshahi said in an earnings call earlier this year. "And what we find is it’s a very, very effective way, essentially, to draw frequency and higher engagement with our customer base." 

Uber One arrived effectively as a replacement for Uber Rewards, the company's airline-like rewards program that was dropped last summer. The shift from discounts to Uber Cash could be a risky play, though. Uber brags on its Uber One landing page that members "save on average $27 per month with Uber One." Now, though, riders will need to do some calculations to see if the new system is worth the $10 per month or $100 annual subscription price. 

With the rise of ChatGPT, Bard and other large language models (LLMs), we've been hearing warnings from the people involved like Elon Musk about the risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI). Now, a group of high-profile industry leaders has issued a one-sentence statement effectively confirming those fears.

Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.

It was posted to the Center for AI Safety, an organization with the mission "to reduce societal-scale risks from artificial intelligence," according to its website. Signatories are a who's who of the AI industry, including OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Google DeepMind head Demis Hassabis. Turing Award-winning researchers Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, considered by many to be the godfathers of modern AI, also put their names to it. 

It's the second such statement over the past few months. In March, Musk, Steve Wozniak and more than 1,000 others called for a six-month pause on AI to allow industry and public to effectively catch up to the technology. "Recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one – not even their creators – can understand, predict, or reliably control," the letter states.

Though AI is not (likely) self-aware as some have feared, it already presents risks for misuse and harm via deepfakes, automated disinformation and more. The LLMs could also change the way content, art and literature are produced, potentially affecting numerous jobs. 

US President Joe Biden recently stated that "it remains to be seen" if AI is dangerous, adding "tech companies have a responsibility, in my view, to make sure their products are safe before making them public... AI can help deal with some very difficult challenges like disease and climate change, but it also has to address the potential risks to our society, to our economy, to our national security." In a recent White House meeting, Altman called for regulation of AI due to potential risks. 

With a lot of opinions floating around, the new, brief statement is mean to show a common concern around AI risks, even if the parties don't agree on what those are.

"AI experts, journalists, policymakers, and the public are increasingly discussing a broad spectrum of important and urgent risks from AI," a preamble to the statement reads. "Even so, it can be difficult to voice concerns about some of advanced AI’s most severe risks. The succinct statement below aims to overcome this obstacle and open up discussion. It is also meant to create common knowledge of the growing number of experts and public figures who also take some of advanced AI’s most severe risks seriously."

NVIDIA has unveiled technology called Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) that would allow gamers to speak naturally to non-playable characters (NPCs) and receive appropriate responses. The company revealed the tech during its generative AI keynote at Computex 2023, showing a demo called Kairos with a playable character speaking to an NPC named Jin in a dystopic-looking Ramen shop. 

The demo (below in 32:9, the widest widescreen I've ever seen) shows the player carrying on a conversation with Jin. "Hey Jin, how are you," the person asks. "Unfortunately, not so good," replies Jin. "How come?" " I am worried about the crime around here. It's gotten bad lately. My ramen shop got caught in the crossfire." 

Yes, the dialogue is a tad wooden; it seems like ChatGPT might have done a better job. Still, the idea is to show that you could just speak into your headset and an NPC will answer in the proper context, making for a more natural interaction than you'd usually get in such a situation. 

NVIDIA made the demo in partnership with Convai to promote ACE, which can run both in the cloud and locally (on NVIDIA hardware, natch). It uses NVIDIA NeMo for building, customizing and deploying large language models that can be customized with lore and character backstories, while using guardrails to protect against inappropriate conversations. It also deploys a speech recognition and speech-to-text tool called Riva, along with NVIDIA's Omniverse Audio2Face "for instantly creating expressive facial animation of a game character to match any speech track."

The demo was built in Unreal Engine 5 to show off NVIDIA's ray-tracing and other GPU features. The visuals are actually more compelling than the AI dialogue, though it's easy to see how the latter could be improved enormously. NVIDIA didn't announce any games that will use the tech, but Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl and Fort Solis will employ Omniverse Audio2Face. 

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket designed to take astronauts to the moon is over budget and far behind it's original schedule, according to a scathing new audit from NASA's Inspector General. Furthermore, the report foresees "additional cost and schedule increases" that could potentially jeopardize the entire Artemis mission if problems aren't handled. 

NASA's spending on the Artemis Moon Program is expected to reach $93 billion by 2025, including $23.8 billion already spent on the SLS system through 2022. That sum represents "$6 billion in cost increases and over six years in schedule delays above NASA’s original projections," the report states. 

The SLS, which finally launched for the first time in November 2022, uses four RS-25 engines per launch, including 16 salvaged from retired Space Shuttles. Once those run out (all engines on SLS are expendable), NASA will switch to RS-25E engines being built by Aerojet Rocketdyne, which are supposed to be 30 percent cheaper and 11 percent more powerful. It also uses solid rocket boosters provided by Northrop Grumman. 

The older technology isn't helping with the budget as NASA expected, though. "These increases are caused by interrelated issues such as assumptions that the use of heritage technologies from the Space Shuttle and Constellation Programs were expected to result in significant cost and schedule savings compared to developing new systems for the SLS," the audit states. "However, the complexity of developing, updating, and integrating new systems along with heritage components proved to be much greater than anticipated." 

For instance, only 5 of the 16 engine adaptations have been completed, and scope and cost increases have hit the booster contract as well. The latter has been the biggest issue, increasing from $2.5 billion to $4.4 billion since Artemis was announced, and delaying the schedule by five years. 

The Inspector General also blames the use of "cost-plus" contracts that allow suppliers to inflate budgets more easily, instead of fixed-priced contracts. The report recommends that upcoming work be shifted to a fixed-price regime and that procurement issues be resolved, among others. NASA management has agreed to all eight recommendations. 

The Artemis moon mission project was based on the Constellation program, originally launched in 2005 with the goal of returning to the moon by 2020 and eventually, Mars. Cancellation of that project by the Obama administration was met with widespread criticism, largely because the program guaranteed jobs around the US. 

However, the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, introduced the same year, mandated construction of the SLS and requiring the repurposing of existing technology, contracts and workforce from Constellation. It also required partnerships with private space companies. SpaceX, for one, is developing its own Starship rocket system, also capable of carrying astronauts to the Moon and Mars. However, Starship exploded on its first orbital launch mission, and may not fly again soon due to issues with the self-destruct command and the considerable damage it did to local ecosystems. 

Fujifilm is trying to beat Sony at its own game with the launch of the 26-megapixel X-S20, a content creation-oriented camera. Though it has a similar body and the same sensor as its predecessor, the X-S10, it offers some major improvements in terms of video quality and more. At the same time, it's considerably more expensive than the X-S10 was at launch. 

"X-S20 is truly a dream camera for any content creator looking to take their photos and videos creation to the next level, but especially for the ones that are documenting their lives, traveling the world, or streaming their stories online,” said Fujifilm's Lisa Baxt, essentially describing the camera's market and purpose. 

Though it has the same last-generation 26-megapixel X-Trans sensor as the X-S10, it uses the company's new X-Processor 5. That allowed Fujifilm to install its latest deep learning AI autofocus technology that boosts speeds and allows the camera to detect animals, birds, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, trains, insects and drones, much like the higher-end X-H2 and X-T5. Plus, it can detect all of those automatically, so the user doesn't need to pick a subject before shooting. 

Fujifilm

That also boosted the camera's video powers considerably. Where the X-S10 was limited to 4K 30p 10-bit video, the X-S20 can shoot 6.2K 4:2:2 10-bit open gate video that can be cropped into any horizontal or vertical format you want. It can also handle DCI 4K at 60 fps and super slow-mo 1080/240p video. In addition, it supports F-Log2 with up to 13-plus stops of dynamic range (DR), where the X-S10 was limited to F-Log with a stop less DR.

It offers a much higher 360Mbps bit-rate thanks to support for faster UHS-II cards, though there's still only a single card slot. You can also record 12-bit Apple ProRes and Blackmagic RAW video at 6.2K 30p and 5.2K/30p externally, either to Atomos or Blackmagic recorders. Finally, Fujifilm is offering an optional external cooling fan that allows for 6.2K video recording for up to 80 minutes, compared to 40 minutes without the fan. 

Fujifilm flattered Sony by imitation with its dedicated "Vlog" function on the mode dial. This new setting gives you direct access to a vlogging touch menu that offers functions like product priority focus mode, background defocus, high-speed recording, face/eye detection and more. Much like Sony's V-series models, product priority mode disables face/eye detection so the camera will focus on a product placed in front of it, while background defocus opens the lens aperture as wide as possible for more background blur. 

Fujifilm

Also new is UVC/UAC support that lets the camera work directly as a webcam by just plugging it into your PC. You can also stream 4K/60p video live online using OBS studio.

For photography, the X-S20 can fire bursts at up to 8 frame per second in mechanical shutter mode, or 20 fps in electronic mode. The buffer supports over 1,000 JPEG or compressed RAW images in mechanical mode — considerably more than before. However, it's limited to 35 frames for uncompressed RAW images, about double the X-S10. In electronic mode, the buffer can handle 79 compressed RAW images before filling, or 28 uncompressed RAW shots. 

As before, it comes with five-axis in-body stabilization, though Fujifilm has boosted the power from six stops to seven with supported lenses. It also has a fully articulating 3-inch display, with resolution boosted to 1.84 million dots, up from 1.04 million. The OLED electronic viewfinder has 2.36 million dots of resolution and a 100 fps refresh. 

It retains much the same body design with a slightly larger grip, and 491 gram weight that's a touch heavier — but it's still pretty light for such a powerful camera. Other features include microphone/headphone and HDMI micro ports, and yes, the pop-up flash is back. 

The X-S20 is priced at $1,300 (body) only, which is considerably more than the $1,000 launch price of the X-S10. You can also grab it in a kit with XC15-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens for $1,400, or with the XF18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens for $1,700. Shipping starts on June 29th. 

Along with the camera, Fujifilm unveiled the XApp designed to control X- and GFX-series camera for remote shooting, file transfers and more. The company said it "listened carefully to user feedback" when developing the app, so here's hoping it's a large step up from the previous (dreadful) app. Fujifilm also unveiled the ultra-wide-angle XF8mmF3.5 lens ($800) shipping on or around June 29th, 2023. 

Fujifilm

Canon has unveiled its cheapest R-series camera yet, the $480 EOS R100 that's similar to the old EOS M50 II with a new mount. It's "designed for new, first-time mirrorless camera or existing interchangeable camera users who previously enjoyed EOS Rebel or EOS M cameras," the company said. For that price, though, it's missing some key features that you'd expect on a modern mirrorless camera. 

The EOS R100 has a 24.2-megapixel APS-C sensor, and and offers slowish 6.5 fps burst speeds and Dual Pixel AF with face and eye detection. To frame your subjects, it offers a basic but respectable 2.36 million dot OLED electronic viewfinder. 

Canon

The 1.04 million dot rear LCD display is where Canon really cut corners to make that price point, though. It doesn't even tilt, let alone articulate, and is a non-touch screen. That means you'll need to set the focus point using the D-Pad and navigate menu choices via the buttons. The EOS M50 II, by contrast, had a fully articulating touch display for $120 more at launch. 

Like the M50 II, you can shoot 4K video at up to 24 fps, though it has a significant crop and you only get contrast-detect autofocus at 4K. 1080p can be shot at up to 60fps and does use the Dual Pixel AF system. Canon didn't specify the crop, but it's a significant 1.5X on the M50 II. 

Other features include support for a single SD-UHS I memory card, microphone and HDMI micro inputs, Bluetooth/WiFi and a tiny 356 gram (12.56 oz) weight. 

As Canon mentions, the main advantage compared to a smartphone is the ability to use multiple lenses. To wit, the company also unveiled a new pancake lens, the full-frame $300 RF28mm f/2.8 that should be great for tourism and street photography. If fixed to the R100, the latter would still be lighter than most mirrorless cameras at about 480 grams. 

The R100 is as basic as it gets, but if you're looking for a new mirrorless camera, it's the cheapest one by far at $480. What's more, you can get it in a kit with the RF-S18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM lens for $600, still cheaper than the EOS R50, or $829 with that lens and the RF-S55-210mm f/5-7.1 IS STM. Neither has stellar quality, but would give beginners a solid range of focal lengths plus the R100 for less than the price of most camera bodies. That being said, if you can afford $200 more, Canon's EOS R50 is a much better choice. 

Canon

Sony has launched a successor to its popular compact ZV-1 vlogging camera, the ZV-1 II, which addresses a big issue with the past model. Namely, it has a new wider lens that lets you fit your entire face into the frame with e-stabilization turned on, addressing the biggest complaint I and others had with the ZV-1. It also offers new settings that provide a more cinematic look, but otherwise, the camera is largely a rehash of the previous model.

As before, the ZV-1 II has a 1-inch (16mm diagonal) stacked BSI sensor borrowed from Sony's RX100 V, just like the original ZV-1. The body is unchanged and the controls are the same, and it has a nice flip-out display as before — but no electronic viewfinder. 

Sony

The built-in 3-capsule microphone deliver better sound quality than the built-in mics on most cameras, and it has a 3.5mm microphone jack (but no headphone port, sadly) and multi-interface shoe that supports select Sony mics. 

The biggest addition is a new 18-50mm (35mm equivalent) f/1.8-4 lens that's wider than the 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8 lens on the past model. With the latter, the ZV-1 was barely wide enough with electronic stabilization off. With e-stabilization enabled, it was effectively too tight for vlogging unless you have super-long arms. The new lens is now equivalent to 23mm with stabilization on, which is wide enough, though just barely. 

Sony

There are some drawbacks, though. While the ZV-1 had optical stabilization on the lens that was good for handheld shooting (but not vlogging), the ZV-1 II is lacking that function. And of course, you lose 20mm of zoom range, and the new lens is also slower at the 50mm end. So buyers will need to choose between the new model's wider field of view or the longer and faster lens on the original ZV-1. 

Video is largely unchanged, with 4K limited to 30fps despite the fast stacked sensor. While you do get S-Log2 and S-Log3 shooting modes, it only supports 8-bit and not 10-bit video, so the log modes won't considerably improve dynamic range. What's new is the Cinematic Vlog setting first introduced with the ZV-E1. It uses a 2.35:1 aspect ratio for that CinemaScope feel, and quick access to filters, looks and more.

As before, you get Sony's Product Showcase setting that quickly shifts focus to objects presented to the camera, along with a Bokeh Switch that instantly opens the iris as much as possible to blur the background and put the emphasis on the subject. Sony promises fast autofocus via its Hybrid AF system, that uses AI to lock onto your subject's eyes, whether they're people or animals. It also has a handy built-in ND filter that reduces exposure by three stops to allow for better background bokeh on sunny days. 

The new ZV-1 II will be available in June 2023 for $900, more expensive than the $800 price for the ZV-1 at launch. Once it hits stores, Sony may discount the ZV-1 (it currently sits at $748), giving potential buyers something extra to think about.

Sony