NerdNews

Anthropic, the AI chatbot company, is finalizing a $3.5 billion fundraising round, valuing the company at $61.5 billion. The company plans to use the funds to develop more capable AI technologies and has recently released a new flagship AI model, Claude 3.7 Sonnet.

Chegg has sued Google, claiming that the tech giant's AI summaries of search results have hurt Chegg's traffic and revenue. Chegg accuses Google of unfair competition, seeking compensatory damages and an injunction on Google's alleged 'unlawful and unfair' conduct.

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI lab, has gone viral with its chatbot app. The company's AI models, trained using compute-efficient techniques, have led to questions about the US lead in the AI race. DeepSeek's models are cheaper to run and have outperformed other models in benchmarks. The company's success has caused concern among US tech companies and governments, with some banning the app due to data risks.

Meta has expanded its AI chatbot to the Middle East and North Africa, supporting Arabic language and available in 10 countries. The AI-enabled chatbot can be accessed through Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, and offers features like recommending places to visit and creating stylistic selfies.

Apple has disabled its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature in the UK, which provided end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for iCloud data. This decision comes after the UK government reportedly requested a backdoor into the system. As a result, Apple users in the UK will no longer have E2EE protection for their stored iCloud data. Alternative apps and services, such as Standard Notes, Joplin, and Proton, are recommended for users who want to maintain their privacy and security.

OpenAI has banned several accounts linked to North Korean hacking groups that used ChatGPT to research targets, find vulnerabilities, and develop hacking tools. The accounts were also used to gather information on cryptocurrency and coding assistance for malicious activities.

North Korean hackers, specifically the Lazarus group, have been linked to the theft of over $1.5 billion from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit. The hackers intercepted a transfer of funds from a cold wallet to a hot wallet, redirecting the assets to their control. Blockchain analysis companies have confirmed the link to Lazarus, which has been involved in several high-profile crypto heists in the past.

Three years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Europe is looking to the country for the future of defense technology. Ukraine has made significant advancements in AI-enabled drone technology and has become a hub for Western companies and investors. The country is home to various defense tech startups, including those working on drone swarms, autonomous vehicles, and cybersecurity solutions. Europe is increasing its investment in defense tech, with a billion dollars invested in 2024, a fivefold increase since 2018.

Flexport is releasing over 20 new products and features, many powered by AI, in a move inspired by 'founder mode'. The company is adopting a twice-a-year release cadence, similar to Airbnb's approach, to showcase its new technologies and provide more visibility to customers. The new products include Flexport Intelligence, which uses natural language prompts to provide information about shipments, and Control Tower, which offers real-time visibility and control over logistics networks.

Prompt engineering is a new skill emerging in the era of AI, focusing on crafting precise prompts to communicate with AI systems. It shares structural traits with programming, using defined roles, tasks, and constraints to enable consistent AI outputs. However, it differs from programming in its approach, leveraging natural language flexibility but introducing challenges like ambiguity and variability. As AI models evolve, prompt engineering will play a critical role in guiding AI tools, but its long-term role may be limited, with traditional programming remaining essential for high-performance systems.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is set to launch in 2025 with a larger display, magnetic Joy-Cons, and a sleeker design. It will be backwards compatible with Switch games and feature access to Nintendo Online. The console's specs, price, and launch games are still unknown, but will be revealed during a Nintendo Direct on April 2.

Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine, is building its own web browser called Comet. The browser is not yet available, but a sign-up list has been launched. This move puts Perplexity in a crowded field, competing with established browsers like Chrome and new AI-powered browsers like Dia. Perplexity's growing product portfolio includes a deep research product, an AI-powered assistant for Android, and an API for AI search.

Apple has announced a $500 billion investment in US manufacturing over the next four years, including a new AI server facility in Houston. The investment will focus on high-end manufacturing, engineering, and education, covering technologies like artificial intelligence and chip making. This move is part of the US government's effort to expand its economic footing and reduce reliance on foreign ecosystems.

Perplexity's Deep Research automates the research process, performing multiple searches and synthesizing findings into structured reports. It outperforms competing AI models on key benchmarks, including SimpleQA and Humanity's Last Exam, with 93.9% accuracy and 21.1% on the latter. The tool is available for free, with Pro subscribers having unlimited access.

Google Cloud has launched quantum-safe digital signatures in its Cloud Key Management Service (Cloud KMS) to mitigate the risk of quantum computers breaking current encryption methods. The new feature supports two post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms: FIPS 204 and FIPS 205. This move aligns with the US National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) PQC standards and aims to protect against the 'Harvest Now, Decrypt Later' (HNDL) threat.

Apple's Vision Pro is getting an update with Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT features, including AI writing tools, Genmoji, and Image Playground. The update also allows guest users to access the headset with limited permissions and stream what they see to the owner's iPhone or iPad.

North Korea has pulled off a $1.5 billion crypto heist, the largest in history, by hacking into Bybit's multisig cold wallet. The attackers manipulated the wallet's UI to gain control and transfer funds, highlighting the vulnerability of human elements in crypto security. The heist has shattered assumptions about crypto security and underscores the need for robust defense-in-depth practices.

The UK's internet watchdog, Ofcom, has published new draft guidance to support companies in meeting legal obligations to protect women and girls from online threats like harassment, bullying, and intimate image abuse. The guidance focuses on four areas where females are disproportionately affected by online harm and recommends a 'safety by design' approach. Ofcom also suggests using hash matching technology to detect and remove intimate image abuse, including deepfake porn.

Google Drive now allows users to access and search transcripts for videos, making it easier to find specific moments in a video. The feature is available for videos with captions and can be accessed by clicking the gear icon in the video settings and selecting 'Transcript'. The update is rolling out to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts.

The European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts has launched an AI-powered forecasting model called the Artificial Intelligence Forecasting System (AIFS). AIFS outperforms state-of-the-art physics-based models by up to 20% and operates at faster speeds while using 1,000 times less energy. The model is seen as a significant step forward in weather forecasting, potentially leading to more accurate predictions and better preparedness for extreme weather events.