The Associated Press published standards today for generative AI use in its newsroom. The organization, which has a licensing agreement with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, listed a fairly restrictive and common-sense list of measures around the burgeoning tech while cautioning its staff not to use AI to make publishable content. Although nothing in the new guidelines is particularly controversial, less scrupulous outlets could view the AP’s blessing as a license to use generative AI more excessively or underhandedly.

The organization’s AI manifesto underscores a belief that artificial intelligence content should be treated as the flawed tool that it is — not a replacement for trained writers, editors and reporters exercising their best judgment. “We do not see AI as a replacement of journalists in any way,” the AP’s Vice President for Standards and Inclusion, Amanda Barrett, wrote in an article about its approach to AI today. “It is the responsibility of AP journalists to be accountable for the accuracy and fairness of the information we share.”

The article directs its journalists to view AI-generated content as “unvetted source material,” to which editorial staff “must apply their editorial judgment and AP’s sourcing standards when considering any information for publication.” It says employees may “experiment with ChatGPT with caution” but not create publishable content with it. That includes images, too. “In accordance with our standards, we do not alter any elements of our photos, video or audio,” it states. “Therefore, we do not allow the use of generative AI to add or subtract any elements.” However, it carved an exception for stories where AI illustrations or art are a story’s subject — and even then, it has to be clearly labeled as such.

Barrett warns about AI’s potential for spreading misinformation. To prevent the accidental publishing of anything AI-created that appears authentic, she says AP journalists “should exercise the same caution and skepticism they would normally, including trying to identify the source of the original content, doing a reverse image search to help verify an image’s origin, and checking for reports with similar content from trusted media.” To protect privacy, the guidelines also prohibit writers from entering “confidential or sensitive information into AI tools.”

Although that’s a relatively common-sense and uncontroversial set of rules, other media outlets have been less discerning. CNET was caught early this year publishing error-ridden AI-generated financial explainer articles (only labeled as computer-made if you clicked on the article’s byline). Gizmodo found itself in a similar spotlight this summer when it ran a Star Wars article full of inaccuracies. It’s not hard to imagine other outlets — desperate for an edge in the highly competitive media landscape — viewing the AP’s (tightly restricted) AI use as a green light to make robot journalism a central figure in their newsrooms, publishing poorly edited / inaccurate content or failing to label AI-generated work as such.

My AI, the in-app digital assistant that rides herd on your Snapchat Plus experience, has suffered numerous breakdowns and technical malfunctions since its debut in February. Tuesday was more of the same as the chatbot took it upon itself to post single-second-long Stories to users' feeds and then go unresponsive for extended periods of time. Thing is, My AI doesn't have the capacity to post to Stories. And now it's got a bunch of people on Twitter wondering if we're at the dawning of the Singularity.

As first reported by TechCrunch, the My AI chatbot posted a two-tone image in Stories, which one user mistook for a shot of their ceiling. What's more, upon being asked about the mysterious post, the bot would either go dark or respond that it was suffering a technical issue. This explanation proved insufficient for many users, causing minor panic and jokes about the AI system's imminent awakening. In the end however, it really was a technical issue.

“My AI experienced a temporary outage that’s now resolved,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch, adding that "At this time, My AI does not have Stories feature."

The My AI bot is bundled as part of the company's $3.99/month Snapchat Plus package and offers users a variety of features. These include AR filter recommendations and suggestions for restaurant and activities based on currently popular places on the Snap Map. It also offers AI functionality in group chat, photo and video snaps, and text messages, as well as an AI persona. A text-to-image genAI is also reportedly in the works, though the ads have already arrived.

Solo Stove may have made its name with fire pits, but the company also sells pizza ovens. Today, it's adding a second model: the Pi Prime. This version offers the same overall design and features from the original dual-fuel Pi, a total package that earned a spot on best pizza ovens list. But the Prime is gas-only and it's more affordable at $349. 

Like the Pi, the Pi Prime has a "demi-dome" construction and a round shape akin to Solo Stove's fire pits. The panoramic opening remains in the front, giving you plenty of room to maneuver 12-inch pizzas and other foods in the cooking chamber. Inside, there's a two-piece stone that can be easily removed for transport or cleaning. The key difference on the Pi Prime is the built-in gas burner that makes this oven a self-contained unit — aside from a propane tank. There's a flame control knob up front that you push and turn to ignite the fire, in addition to using the dial to adjust the temperature. Lastly, the Pi Prime has a black base where the Pi has an all-stainless-steel construction. 

Solo Stove has designated "a workable baseline" for baking pizzas with two orange indicators on the front-mounted knob. According to the Pi Prime startup guide, this is around 700 degrees Fahrenheit and enough to cook a pizza in under 90 seconds. However, the company says the oven is capable of temperatures over 950 degrees and you're able to go lower than 700 should you need to. Solo Stove didn't specify the full temperature range, but those orange marks are just beyond halfway on the dial. 

Solo Stove/Matthew King

The company also has a slate of accessories for the Pi and Pi Prime that are due to arrive at the end of the month. Those include a cover for the newer model, cast iron grill pan, a regular cast iron pan, dough docker, wire cleaning brush, rocker pizza cutter and a prep board with built-in toppings containers. Solo Stove already sells a cart for its pizza ovens, the Pi Stand, that has side shelves, a place to rest your peel under the oven and a spot for a propane tank. Best of all, it has four casters so it's easily movable. 

At $349, the Pi Prime is $50 cheaper than Ooni's most affordable gas-only oven, the Koda 12. Solo Stove has significantly reduced the price of the multi-fuel Pi since its launch as that model is now $400. Should you go the wood-burning route, the addition of a propane burner will cost you another $100 if you buy it with the oven ($130 if you wait until later). Ooni's cheapest multi-fuel option is the Karu 12G at $429 and the optional gas burner is another $99. Gozney's Roccbox is another popular gas-only model at $499 and you can add a wood burner for $100.

The Pi Prime will be available Friday, August 18th on Solo Stove's website.

Valve just dropped a Steam Client Beta update that finally introduces a sought-after feature. The Steam Remote Play service will now offer 4K support, providing a series of presets to allow gamers to find the perfect high-res settings for preferred titles. Prior to this update, 4K was still possible when playing remotely, but it required plenty of experimentation with settings and didn’t always work right. This should fix many of those issues.

This move lets gamers finally make use out of high-end peripherals, like 4K monitors, when engaging with remote streaming play. For the uninitiated, Steam Remote Play is a useful service that streams PC games from your Steam library to phones, tablets, laptops and related devices. Its sibling service, Steam Remote Play Together, adds online multiplayer to the mix, actually allowing players who don’t even own the game to join in competitive or co-op play.

4K streaming isn’t the only new feature included in this update, though it’s certainly the most notable. Valve also now allows users to resize the settings window and it has made the back button more reliable when making minute adjustments, like fiddling with 4K streams. The company also fixed a whole bunch of bugs, like folders not being re-created when verifying game installations and overlays freezing when file dialogs are displayed.

Finally, Big Picture Mode received some minor bug fixes and Steam added support for the Indonesian language. The update is available for download now, but this is a beta so you may want to wait until an official final release.

Opera announced today that its Aria AI assistant has made its way to iOS. The feature launched on desktop in June and stems from a partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI. Opera says Aria, now available on all major desktop and mobile platforms, has tallied over a million users on desktop and Android.

Like Microsoft’s Bing Copilot and Google’s Search Generative Experience, Aria can answer questions and respond to context around active web pages. The assistant taps into OpenAI’s GPT API while using Opera’s Composer architecture for real-time web results. “As an expert in both web navigation and browser functions, Aria facilitates AI collaboration in tasks such as information retrieval, text or code generation, and product inquiries,” Opera’s Kseniia Sycheva wrote in the company’s announcement post today.

Using the AI bot will require an Opera account, but nobody will be enrolled by default. “You have the autonomy to opt in based on your preference for engaging with AI services,” the company wrote. “Once activated, Aria offers intelligent insights, innovative ideas, and responsive voice commands.” As TechCrunchnotes, Aria is available from the “more” menu (the far right tab on the bottom) in the Opera iOS app.

In addition to the chatbot, Opera for iOS includes a built-in ad blocker and supports Apple Intelligent Tracking Prevention, which limits cross-site tracking. The browser also has a built-in VPN service you can use for free. The updated app with Aria is available today in 180 countries, including the US and the European Union.

Google will stop supporting Assistant on smartwatches running Wear OS 2 in the near future. “Google Assistant support on this watch is ending soon," reads a message in the latest version of the Wear OS companion app, as spotted by 9to5 Google. "Please upgrade to a newer watch that supports Google Assistant and runs Wear OS 3 or later.”

The companion app is only needed for devices that use Wear OS 2 or earlier versions of the operating system. There's a dedicated Assistant app for Wear OS 3 devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, Fossil smartwatches and, of course, the Pixel Watch.

This move will impact many older watches dating back to 2020 and earlier, including models from Tag Heuer, Mobvoi, Motorola, Oppo, Xiaomi, Misfit, Casio and LG. Wikipedia has a helpful list of Wear OS devices and the latest version of the operating system that they support. However, since it's Wikipedia, it's worth double checking elsewhere to confirm whether your watch can, in fact, run Wear OS 3.

It's not clear when Google plans to end Assistant support on these older watches. If you rely on Assistant on a Wear OS 2 device, though, you might want to upgrade soon. As it happens, Google is expected to unveil its second Pixel Watch within the next couple of months. The company typically holds a major hardware event every October.

New York City will ban TikTok from government devices, The Verge reported on Wednesday. City agencies have 30 days to remove the ByteDance-owned app from their devices. Employees will not be allowed to download or use TikTok on their city-sanctioned tech effective immediately. This comes three years after New York state banned TikTok from government devices in 2020, according to Times-Union.

NYC Cyber Command, a subset of the Office of Technology and Innovation, spurred the decision after reporting to the city that TikTok posed a security threat. Other states and localities, notably Montana, have made waves banning TikTok more generally across the jurisdiction. But on a wider scale, most legislators have taken an approach banning the app for government employees, including the federal government. Thirty-three states across parties lines now have restrictions on the use of TikTok on government-owned tech.

As legislation continues to resurface considering a total ban on TikTok and other apps affiliated with the Chinese government, ByteDance fights to proven that its not a threat to national security. TikTok CEO Shou Chew even testified in front of Congress reiterating that "ByteDance is not an agent of China."

The NYC Office of Technology and Innovation did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

Who's ready for some (bad opinions from the internet while you watch) football? YouTube has revealed some more NFL Sunday Ticket features for the upcoming season. As you watch games, you'll be able to view a live chat and read what other people think about a certain play or call. Live chat and polls will be available on both mobile and TVs.

YouTube users will be able to watch real-time NFL highlights on Shorts. On Sunday afternoons, these highlights will include a red Live ring around the channel's avatar, and clicking on this will take users to the NFL channel's Live tab. There, Sunday Ticket subscribers can decide which game (or games, thanks to the multiview options) to start watching.

One other thing that could be helpful for viewers is key plays, a handy YouTube TV feature that the platform is bringing over to Sunday Ticket. You'll be able to catch up on a game that you couldn't watch or check out big plays before joining the live action. This feature will only be available on TVs this season, which is the first under a multibillion-dollar, seven-year pact that YouTube has with the NFL for Sunday Ticket rights.

Naturally, YouTube is looking to recoup its investment on Sunday Ticket and it's now offering fans more ways to sign up. Starting today, there will be a monthly payment plan option for Sunday Ticket in most states to help fans spread the cost of a subscription over a longer period. It may take a few days before the option is available on YouTube and YouTube TV in your area. 

However, the monthly plan won't be available to folks in Georgia, New York, Minnesota, Nevada, Missouri, Tennessee or New Jersey. Residents of those states will need to pay for a season-long Sunday Ticket subscription (which now starts at $349) up front. Meanwhile, YouTube says student plans will be available sometime in the next week.

Amazon is tightening the purse strings again, raising prices for Music Unlimited subscriptions. This latest increase impacts Prime members and family plan users, as originally spotted by The Hollywood Reporter. The Amazon Music Unlimited Individual Plan for Prime members is going up from $9 to $10 per month, or $89 to $99 per year. The Amazon Music Unlimited Family Plan is shooting up from $16 to $17 per month, or $159 to $169 per year.

These rates begin immediately for new subscribers, but pre-existing customers have a grace period until September 19 before they kick in. As for the why, Amazon magnanimously stated that the price hikes will help bring “even more content and features.” Aw, shucks. You shouldn’t have.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Amazon has raised Music Unlimited prices this year. Back in January, the costs went up for students and non-Prime subscribers, and last year Prime members got yet another increase. So, basically Prime members saw prices jettison from $8 per month to $10 per month in just over a year. That’s a lot of new content and features.

Amazon isn’t the only streamer taking extra dips into our bank accounts. Just about every known streaming service has been raising prices this past year. YouTube Premium went up form $12 to $14 per month, Tidal got an increase, Apple Music and Apple TV+ experienced price hikes, Spotify shot up from $10 to $11 per month and that’s just the beginning. Other streaming services like Peacock, Paramount+, Hulu and Max all raised their prices, likely to add those new content and features everyone’s been talking about.

In related news, Amazon Music Unlimited pays artists around $5,000 per million streams, which is in line with Apple Music and Spotify. In a perfect world, some of that price hike money would go to the people that actually make the stuff that populate these platforms. This is not a perfect world.

Measuring a mere 72 x 40.7 x 14.1 mm — just over half the length of the original NES controller — the 8BitDo Micro is a spiritual successor to the company’s Zero line of similarly minuscule gamepads. It also hurts my hands just to look at it.

The 8BitDo Micro pairs via Bluetooth with the Nintendo Switch, Android and Raspberry Pi. The wee little thing weighs 24.8 grams, includes a mode-switching button and supports button mapping via 8BitDo Ultimate Software. The company says it has a 180mAh battery that will last 10 hours of playtime and can fully recharge in one to two hours. However, it also works in wired mode (via USB-C) when you don’t mind being tethered to your gaming system.

8BitDo

The controller skips analog sticks in favor of a lone D-Pad. It includes four standard action buttons (A, B, X, Y), face buttons (plus, minus, star and checkered flag) and shoulder bumpers / triggers. (The latter is one way it differs from 8BitDo’s Zero 2.) It can work in keyboard mode, which opens up some compatibility with macOS, Windows and iOS — and you can assign shortcuts to use it as a remote control for tasks like photo or video editing. It's an impressive amount of IO to cram into a form factor that makes Joy-Cons look like the front face of an arcade cabinet.

The 8BitDo Micro launches today in blue and green. It costs $25 and is available to order from Amazon.

8Bitdo / Aspercreme / Avery Menegus / Engadget