While carbon dioxide gets the lion's share of attention when it comes to global warming, there are other factors at play. Methane is responsible for about 30 percent of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution, according to the International Energy Agency. About 40 percent of methane emissions from human activity stem from the energy sector. Identifying and mitigating these emissions is said to be one of the most critical actions we can take in the short term to combat climate change.

To that end, Google and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) have once again teamed up to tackle the issue. The pair previously mapped methane leaks in major cities using sensors on Street View cars. This time they're using a blend of satellite imagery and AI.

The EDF and its partners have developed a satellite that's set to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in early March. While there have been other satellite-based monitoring efforts, MethaneSAT is slated to provide the most comprehensive picture yet of methane emissions across the planet.

The satellite will orbit the Earth 15 times a day at an altitude of over 350 miles, and focus on measuring methane levels in the top oil- and gas-producing regions. It will be capable of imaging large emissions from a single source as well as smaller sources of methane spread across wider areas.

EDF and its partners developed Google Cloud-powered algorithms to calculate emissions in certain places and to track them over time. Artificial intelligence will also be employed to pinpoint oil and gas infrastructure such as storage containers and pump jacks, much like Google uses AI to detect sidewalks, street signs and road names in satellite images for Maps.

Combining the methane map with one showing oil and gas infrastructure is expected to provide a clearer picture of where emissions are stemming from. That should give energy companies actionable information to help them stop leaks.

Insights from the project will be publicly available on the satellite's website and Google Earth Engine later this year. "By making MethaneSAT datasets available on Earth Engine, which has over 100,000 monthly active users, it’s easier for users to detect trends and understand correlations between human activities and environmental impact," Yael Maguire, Google's vice president and general manager of Geo Developer and Sustainability, wrote in a blog post. Earth Engine users will be able to match the methane data against other maps, such as those showing forests, regional borders and water. They'll also be able to view methane emissions over time.

It's no secret that using the internet usually means handing over most of your personal information – consciously or not. DuckDuckGo bills itself as an alternative to this, protecting its users' privacy, and now it’s providing users an easier way to access their information from multiple places. The browser has announced a new sync and backup feature that shares bookmarks, email protection settings and passwords across devices.

Basically, DuckDuckGo users who choose it for its lack of data sharing can still get the advantages of using the same browser on multiple devices without wondering who gets access to their searches. The entire process is end-to-end encrypted, with DuckDuckGo never receiving any information as the key for decryption is stored on the individual's devices.

The update means that individuals can share information, for example, from their DuckDuckGo browser on their PC or Mac to their Android or iPhone and vice versa. Mobile phones and tablets can link with a QR code, while computers require users to enter a code. There's no need to sign in, but users will want to download a Recovery PDF. It allows people to access synced data if a device breaks, including Email Protection, which removes hidden trackers and creates unique and private email addresses. 

Another day, another layoff occuring in the tech world. Instacart, the popular grocery delivery and pick-up service has announced the termination of 250 employees — about seven percent of its workforce. The layoffs are primarily individuals from middle management or who work on advertising through platforms like Google Ads and Roku. Most of the layoffs will go into effect by March 31 with Instacart estimating that the process will cost the company between $19 million and $24 million due to factors like severance pay and employee benefits.

Instacart released the news along with its fourth-quarter earnings. Despite choosing to layoff employees, the company reported a six percent increase in revenue, jumping from $803 million to $804 million, year-over-year. At the same time, Instacart is seeing the voluntary departure of three of its executives: the chief operating officer, chief technology officer and chief architect.

The layoffs follow only a short time after Instacart's September 2023 IPO. Unlike many companies that barely (or didn't) survive the COVID-19 pandemic, Instacart thrived. It allowed people to stay and still receive their groceries and other necessary items. Now, it exists in 5,500 cities and, like most companies of the past year, is focusing on building its AI capabilities. But, despite its increased revenue, the company's layoffs signal that not everything is going as planned over at Instacart. 

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg has posted a review of Apple's Vision Pro on Instagram, reminding us all that the rivalry between the two companies have deepened even further with the launch of the latter's mixed reality headset. In the video shot with a Meta Quest 3, Zuckerberg didn't mince words while pitting the Vision Pro against his company's device. He said he originally expected the Quest to be the better value for most people, because it's "like seven times less expensive" than the $3,500 Vision Pro. However, after testing his competitor's product, he came to the conclusion that the Quest "is the better product, period." 

He added that the Quest is "better for the vast majority of things that people use mixed reality for." Zuckerberg said he thinks the Quest is "a lot more comfortable," since Meta designed it to be light and portable, so that people could use it while moving around or even while hanging out with friends and socializing. He found the Quest's field of view to be wider and its screen to be brighter than the Vision Pro, and he also found that Meta's headset showed crisper visuals when he moved his head while wearing it. Apple's device, he said, had motion blur. 

Zuckerberg acknowledged that the Vision Pro has a screen with a higher resolution, but in the same breath, he criticized Apple for the "tradeoffs" it had to make to the device's comfort and ergonomics. While Quest's controllers are "a little more accurate," he admits that Apple's eye tracking is "really nice." Apparently, Meta used the Vision Pro's sensors for the Quest Pro but took them out for the Quest 3. The company is planning to bring them back in the future. Of course, Zuckerberg took the chance to talk about the Quest's bigger library and to emphasize that the Quest, unlike the Vision Pro, has access to the YouTube and Xbox apps. Zuckerberg ended his review by talking about open and closed models for every generation of computing and how he wants to make sure that for this generation, Meta's technology, as the open model, "wins out" like Microsoft's did in the past. 

United Airlines had to ground its new Airbus A321neo planes, not due to a major safety issue, but because the light-up “no smoking” signs are automated.

A 1990 ruling mandates that the signs on aircraft must be manually operated by the crew. Airbus A321neo features software that automatically displays the signage during a flight, so the crew doesn’t switch it on and off. Bear in mind that smoking was fully banned from both domestic and international flights nearly 25 years ago.

Even more frustratingly, automated signage systems are not even new. Many air travel companies apply for exemptions with the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) – which United did for its entire fleet back in 2020. However, the company's Airbus A321neo is so new that it doesn’t fall under that protection.

The federal agency has now permitted United to fly its fleet of A321neos, five in all, while evaluating those pesky signs.

– Mat Smith

The Flipper Zero digital multi-tool can now play games

It uses an external module powered by Raspberry Pi.

Engadget

The Flipper Zero digital multi-tool can interact (or hack) wireless devices and smart home systems, connecting through IR, NFC, RFID, Bluetooth and physical connections. Now, it can even play games, thanks to a partnership with Raspberry Pi. A new add-on can run games programmed in C, C++ and MicroPython. To suit the quirkiness of Flipper’s device, it even features sensors for hand-tracking. The Video Game Module can also output video to external displays.

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Nothing's next phone will debut on March 5

It will see a limited release in the US as part of a 'developer program.'

Engadget

Nothing says it will reveal its latest Phone 2a on March 5th. However, instead of an official release like the Phone 2, the device will be part of a "developer program in the US." The company didn't reveal any images of the device or pricing, but the company may use a simplified Phone 2 esthetic, given the naming convention. The Phone 2 had a unique design with a transparent Gorilla Glass back and 11 LED "Glyph" strips.

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Sarah Silverman’s copyright lawsuit against ChatGPT gets reduced

But the core accusation remains.

Sarah Silverman’s lawsuit against OpenAI will advance but some of her legal team’s claims have been dismissed. The comedian sued OpenAI and Meta in July 2023, claiming they trained their AI models on her books and other work without consent. US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín threw out parts of the complaint on Monday, including negligence and unjust enrichment, but the principal claim remains; that OpenAI directly infringed on copyrighted material to train its AI models.

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As part of its NBA All-Star coverage press release, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it'll stream live sports with Dolby Vision for the first time ever. The feature will be available to Max subscribers with supported Dolby Vision TVs "via the B/R [Bleacher Report] Sports Add On," the company said. 

Dolby Vision has been available for streaming films and TV series for ages, but this will mark the first time it comes to live sports. Warner Bros. Discovery hinted that it'll soon be available across NBA, NHLA, MLB, NCAA and US soccer games as well. Max has already been using Dolby Atmos sound to enhance live games.

Sports streams arguably stands to benefit most from Dolby Vision, as it boosts brightness levels, clarity and color. Dolby has previously said that real-time HDR feeds will be handled intelligently to so that bright areas aren't blown out and detail isn't lost in shadows. The company has also said that live feeds will adjust accordingly to the device they're being played on so they're optimal for each display.

This weekend's NBA All-Star coverage will be first to get Dolby Vision. Coverage includes the game on Sunday, February 18 starting at 8PM ET, as well as a special two-hour NBA All-Star Tip-Off show at 6PM.

Max launched the Bleacher Report tier on October 5, offering live sporting events including MLB, NBA, NHL and NCAA. It also offers access to all of WBD's pre- and post-game shows, along with Bleacher Report highlights, documentaries and more. The company recently extended the deadline for free programming until February 29, 2024. After that, it'll cost $10 per month, but the addition of Dolby Vision makes it a more compelling option. 

Sony has lowered its PlayStation 5 sales forecast for fiscal 2023 significantly and now expects to sell 21 million units, down from a previous forecast of 25 million. That's despite posting record quarterly revenue and selling 8.2 million PS5s over the holiday season. So far this fiscal year, Sony has sold 16.4 million consoles, bringing its total to 54.8 million overall. (The company sold 19.1 million PS5s in fiscal 2022.)

Sony announced in December that it had sold 50 million PS5 units over three years, as of December 9, 2023. That's just a week longer than it took the PS4 to achieve the same number, and the latter wasn't bogged down by supply chain issues and a worldwide pandemic. 

Revenue was up 16 percent over the same quarter last year, thanks in part to improved sales of non-first-party titles. However, operating income was down significantly (26 percent), due a drop in first-party sales and losses on hardware due to promotions. In other words, PS5 sales aren't meeting the company's expectations despite discounts. 

Sony has seen higher sales in all three quarters this year compared to last. That might not continue this year though, as it's forecasting sales of just 4.6 million for Q4 2023 (February to April), down from 6.3 million in Q4 2022. 

In terms of new first-part games, Sony noted that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has sold 10 million units (as of February 4) since its release in October 2023.

Almost all other Sony divisions saw higher revenue, including its Imaging & Sensor Solutions division (Sony makes sensors for iPhones and many other devices), along with Pictures and Music. That resulted in a record 3.75 trillion yen for Q3 ($24.9 billion) compared to 3.08 trillion yen the year before ($20.5 billion). 

Last year, two Waymo robotaxis in Phoenix "made contact" with the same pickup truck that was in the midst of being towed, which prompted the Alphabet subsidiary to issue a recall on its vehicles' software. A "recall" in this case meant rolling out a software update after investigating the issue and determining its root cause. 

In a blog post, Waymo has revealed that on December 11, 2023, one of its robotaxis collided with a backwards-facing pickup truck being towed ahead of it. The company says the truck was being towed improperly and was angled across a center turn lane and a traffic lane. Apparently, the tow truck didn't pull over after the incident, and another Waymo vehicle came into contact with the pickup truck a few minutes later. Waymo didn't elaborate on what it meant by saying that its robotaxis "made contact" with the pickup truck, but it did say that the incidents resulted in no injuries and only minor vehicle damage. The self-driving vehicles involved in the collisions weren't carrying any passenger. 

After an investigation, Waymo found that its software had incorrectly predicted the future movements of the pickup truck due to "persistent orientation mismatch" between the towed vehicle and the one towing it. The company developed and validated a fix for its software to prevent similar incidents in the future and started deploying the update to its fleet on December 20. 

Waymo's rival company Cruise was involved in a more serious incident last year, wherein one of its robotaxis accidentally dragged someone hit by another vehicle a few dozen feet down a San Francisco street. California then suspended its license to operate in the state, and Cruise eventually paused all robotaxi operations, even the ones with a human driver behind the wheel, as part of a safety review. Meanwhile, it's business as usual for Waymo, which recently announced that it will start testing driverless vehicles on highways and freeways in and around Phoenix. 

Sarah Silverman’s lawsuit against OpenAI will advance with some of her legal team’s claims dismissed. The comedian sued OpenAI and Meta in July 2023, claiming they trained their AI models on her books and other work without consent. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the unfair competition portion of the lawsuit will proceed. Judge Martínez-Olguín gave the plaintiffs until March 13 to amend the suit.

US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín threw out portions of the complaint from Silverman’s legal team Monday, including negligence, unjust enrichment, DMCA violations and accusations of vicarious infringement. The case’s principal claim remains intact. It alleges OpenAI directly infringed on copyrighted material by training LLMs on millions of books without permission.

OpenAI’s motion to dismiss, filed in August, didn’t tackle the case’s core copyright claims. Although the suit will proceed, the judge suggested the federal Copyright Act may preempt the suit’s remaining claims. “As OpenAI does not raise preemption, the Court does not consider it,” Martínez-Olguín wrote.

The US court system has yet to determine whether training AI large language models on copyrighted work falls under the fair use doctrine. Last month, OpenAI admitted in a court filing that it would be “impossible to train today's leading AI models without using copyrighted materials.”

The result of Silverman’s OpenAI hearing is similar to one in San Francisco in November when Silverman’s claims against Meta were also slashed down to the core copyright infringement claims. In that session, US District Judge Vince Chhabria described some of the plaintiffs’ dismissed claims as “nonsensical.”

Other groups suing OpenAI for alleged copyright-related violations include The New York Times, a collection of nonfiction authors (a group that grew after the initial lawsuit) and The Author’s Guild. The latter filed its claim alongside authors George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones) and John Grisham.

Mozilla is the latest in a long line of tech companies to lay off employees this year. The not-for-profit company is firing around 60 people, which equates to roughly five percent of its workforce. Most of those who are leaving Mozilla worked on the product development team. The news was first reported by Bloomberg. 

“We’re scaling back investment in some product areas in order to focus on areas that we feel have the greatest chance of success,” a Mozilla spokesperson told Engadget in a statement. “To do so, we've made the difficult decision to eliminate approximately 60 roles from across the company. We intend to re-prioritize resources towards products like Firefox Mobile, where there’s a significant opportunity to grow and establish a better model for the industry.”

According to an internal memo obtained by TechCrunch, Mozilla plans to pare back investments on several products, including its VPN and a tool that automatically scrubs a user's personal information from data broker sites. The company announced the latter just one week ago. Hubs, the 3D virtual world Mozilla debuted in 2018, is shutting down while the company is also reducing resources dedicated to its Mastodon instance.

One area into which Mozilla does plan to funnel extra resources is, unsurprisingly, artificial intelligence. "In 2023, generative AI began rapidly shifting the industry landscape. Mozilla seized an opportunity to bring trustworthy AI into Firefox, largely driven by the Fakespot acquisition and the product integration work that followed," the memo reportedly reads. "Additionally, finding great content is still a critical use case for the internet. Therefore, as part of the changes today, we will be bringing together Pocket, Content and the AI/ML teams supporting content with the Firefox Organization."

The reorganization comes after Mozilla appointed a new CEO just last week. Former Airbnb, PayPal and eBay executive Laura Chambers, who joined Mozilla's board three years ago, was appointed chief executive for the rest of this year. "Her focus will be on delivering successful products that advance our mission and building platforms that accelerate momentum," Mitchell Baker, Mozilla's former long-time CEO and its new executive chairman, wrote when Chambers took on the job.