microsoft - CybAI news

20 Nov

Microsoft’s Flight Simulator 2024 launch day users seeing long loading times

stp2y0 CommentsNewsbug, error, flight sim, flight simulator 2024, gaming, loading, microsoft, news, stuck, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X

If you tried to get some flight time in Flight Simulator 2024 today only to find yourself staring at a loading screen, you’re not alone. The official X page for Microsoft’s flight sim posted an update that several users are reporting “long initial loading times.” Not exactly the debut anyone was hoping for.The post blames the game’s slowdown on the large number of server requests trying to log into the game at once — maybe something Microsoft should have expected. The post also recommends rebooting your computer or console if the initial load makes it past 90 percent mark and then…

12 Nov

Two Upstart Search Engines Are Teaming Up to Take on Google

stp2y0 CommentsRAG modelseurope, google, microsoft, search

Ask the search engine Ecosia about “Paris to Prague” and flight booking websites dominate the results. Ecosia’s CEO Christian Kroll would prefer to present more train options, which he considers better for the environment. But because its results are licensed from Google and Microsoft’s Bing, Ecosia has little control over what’s shown. Kroll is ready for that to change.Berlin-based Ecosia, which donates its profits to tree planting, and its Paris-based competitor Qwant are announcing Tuesday that they will team up to develop an index of the web.The for-profit joint venture, dubbed European Search Perspective and located in Paris, could allow…

07 Nov

Even Microsoft Notepad is getting infused with AI

stp2y0 CommentsNewsai, artificial intelligence, Features, microsoft, news, Notepad, paint, tomorrow, windows, windows insider

A new AI feature is coming to Microsoft’s Notepad called Rewrite. reports that Microsoft is rolling out a preview of Rewrite to Windows Insiders that will allow AI to rewrite sentences, change the tone and alter the length of text in Notepad.Windows Insiders can access Rewrite by highlighting text in a Notepad window and right-clicking it in the menu or pushing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+I. A dialogue box will open showing the AI’s suggested rewrites of the highlighted text and the adjustable features menus including “Longer,” “Tone” and “Format” above the “Replace” button. If you prefer to write with just…

01 Nov

Microsoft’s Recall AI tool for Copilot+ PCs faces a third delay

stp2y0 CommentsNewsai, copilot, gear, microsoft, news

It's deja vu all over again for Microsoft's AI-powered Recall tool. After a and then a second one , Microsoft is once more pushing back testing of the feature intended for its Copilot+ PCs. reported that Recall now won't enter previews for Windows Insiders until December."We are committed to delivering a secure and trusted experience with Recall," Brandon LeBlanc, senior product manager of Windows, told the publication. "To ensure we deliver on these important updates, we’re taking additional time to refine the experience before previewing it with Windows Insiders."When it was introduced, Microsoft positioned Recall as a way to give…

30 Oct

Microsoft issues warning for ongoing Russia-affiliated spear-phishing campaign

stp2y0 CommentsNewsgear, microsoft, news

Microsoft has issued a warning about an ongoing spear-phishing campaign by a threat actor called Midnight Blizzard, which US and UK authorities previously linked to Russia's intelligence agency. The company said it discovered that the bad actor has been sending out "highly targeted spear-phishing emails" since at least October 22 and that it believes the operation's goal is to collect intelligence. Based on its observations, the group has been sending emails to individuals linked to various sectors, but it's known for targeting both government and non-government organizations, IT service providers, academia and defense. In addition, while it mostly focuses on…

28 Oct

Microsoft accuses Google of secretly funding regulatory astroturf campaign

stp2y0 CommentsNewsantitrust, gear, google, google cloud, microsoft, news

Microsoft is accusing Google of funding a proxy campaign designed to discredit it in the eyes of regulatory authorities and policymakers in the European Union and beyond. In a blog post penned by Rima Alaily, the company’s deputy general counsel, Microsoft claims the search giant has gone to “great lengths to obfuscate its involvement, funding and control” of the Open Cloud Coalition, a group of “cloud service providers, industry leaders and stakeholders” that says it’s committed to advocating for a “fair, competitive, and open cloud services industry across the UK and EU.”According to Microsoft, Google hired a lobbying agency in…

24 Oct

Google, Microsoft, and Perplexity Are Promoting Scientific Racism in Search Results

stp2y0 CommentsAIartificial intelligence, google, machine learning, microsoft, racism, search

Google added that part of the problem it faces in generating its AI Overviews is that, for some very specific queries, there’s an absence of high quality information on the web. And there’s little doubt that Lynn’s work is not of high quality.“The science underlying Lynn’s database of ‘national IQs’ is of such poor quality that it is difficult to believe the database is anything but fraudulent,” Sear said. “Lynn has never described his methodology for selecting samples into the database; many nations have IQs estimated from absurdly small and unrepresentative samples.”Sear points to Lynn’s estimation of the IQ of…

22 Oct

OpenAI and Microsoft are funding $10 million in grants for AI-powered journalism

stp2y0 CommentsNewsai, journalism, microsoft, news, openai, tomorrow

OpenAI and Microsoft are funding projects to bring more AI tools into the newsroom. The duo will give grants of up to $10 million to Chicago Public Media, the Minnesota Star Tribune, Newsday (in Long Island, NY), The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Seattle Times. Each of the publications will hire a two-year AI fellow to develop projects for implementing the technology and improving business sustainability. Three more outlets are expected to receive fellowship grants in a second round.OpenAI and Microsoft are each contributing $2.5 million in direct funding as well as $2.5 million in software and enterprise credits. The Lenfest…

21 Oct

Microsoft recruits accessibility app to make its AI more useful to blind and low-vision users

stp2y0 CommentsNewsAccessibility, gear, microsoft, news

Be My Eyes, the accessibility app for mobile devices that puts blind and low-vision people on a live video call with a sighted guide, will help Microsoft train its AI. Be My Eyes will provide anonymized video data to improve scene understanding in Microsoft’s accessibility-focused AI models.The data sets Be My Eyes gives Microsoft will include “unique objects, lighting and framing that realistically represents the lived experience of the blind and low vision community.” The goal is to make Microsoft’s AI more inclusive for people with vision disabilities.The companies say all personal info has been scrubbed from the metadata. The…

18 Oct

Qualcomm axes its Windows on ARM PC dev kit

stp2y0 CommentsNewsarm, gear, microsoft, news, Qualcomm, windows

Qualcomm has canceled its Windows on ARM PC dev kit, otherwise called the Snapdragon X Elite Developer Kit. Refunds are going out, sales have ceased and support for the kit has stopped, . It was originally supposed to ship in June before being delayed.In an email to customers, Qualcomm chalked the whole thing up to quality control. It said the mini PC “comprehensively has not met our usual standards of excellence” and “we have made the decision to pause this product and the support of it, indefinitely.” Interestingly, some kits to consumers. It remains to be seen if those who…