Tag: elon musk

Musk-Inspired Memecoin ‘Grok’ Sees Quick Rise and Fall Amid Scam Suspicions: Details

Elon Musk’s new project called ‘Grok’, that is essentially an AI chatbot service with a more humorous and uncensored approach as compared to other chatbots, has begun rolling out. As excitement about Grok bubbled up on social media, a memecoin project of the same name made a splash into the digital assets market. With a Musk-inspired branding and arriving at a time when the crypto market is at its highest valuation this year, the memecoin was quick to garner acceptance from the crypto community only for its fame to fizzle almost as soon as it formed.

At the time of writing, Grok was trading at $0.011880 (roughly Rs. 0.99) as per CoinMarketCap.

In the last few hours, the value of Grok tokens clocked a sharp decline of 70 percent. It happened after blockchain analyst who goes by the username of @zachxbt on X claimed that the social media accounts and websites related to Grok were repurposed from old crypto projects.

Later, @zachxbt also pointed out that the developer team behind Grok transferred roughly $1.7 million (roughly Rs. 14 crore) worth tokens to a burn address that would increase the token’s rarity quotient and make it more enticing to investors.

As soon as this news began spreading, floodgates of rumours and suspicions about Grok being a scam coin opened on social media. The altcoin’s valuation that had reportedly touched the mark of $160 million (roughly Rs. 1,331 crore) earlier this week, is currently valued at merely over $92 million (roughly Rs. 772 crore).

Members of the crypto community are warning each other about making careful investment decisions around newly emerging and hyped cryptocurrencies like Grok.

Musk started rolling out GrokAI on November 5 and on the same day, this crypto project made its debut on social media. Memecoin traders were quick to hop onboard the hyped altcoin and within one week, the value of Grok recorded continuous spike. Its all-time high was recorded at $0.027 (roughly Rs. 2.25) on November 13.

Musk, as of now, has not addressed anything related to the Grok cryptocurrency.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel.


Google Said to be In Talks to Invest in AI Chatbot Startup Character.AI



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Elon Musk’s X Rolls Out Audio, Video Calling Feature to Some Users

Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is launching an early version of video and audio calling for some users, according to chief technology officer and owner Elon Musk, as the billionaire pushes for X to become an “everything app”.

Musk described a post on the platform instructing users on enabling the feature as an “Early version of video & audio calling on X”.

The latest functionality comes amid a series of new features and changes to the platform’s core experience under Musk, who acquired the social media company nearly a year ago.

After rebranding Twitter as X, Musk signalled he would turn the platform into a super-app, offering a range of services from messaging and social networking to peer-to-peer payments.

Teasing the feature in August, Musk had said users would not need a phone number for the features, which will be available on Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and personal computers.

Earlier this month, X said it will test a new subscription model under which it will charge $1 (roughly Rs. 83) annual fee for basic features.

The new subscription termed as “Not A Bot” will charge users for likes, reposts or quoting other accounts’ posts, and bookmarking posts on the web version of the platform.

The purpose of introducing the new subscription model is to combat bots and spammers, X said, adding that the fee will vary from country to country based on the exchange rate.

X said the new method will be first available for users in New Zealand and Philippines.

Within this test, existing users are not affected. But new users who would not wish to subscribe will only be able to view and read posts, watch videos and follow accounts.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Elon Musk’s X to Test $1 Annual Subscription Fee for Liking, Reposting and Quoting Posts

Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, said on Tuesday it will test a new subscription model under which it will charge $1 (roughly Rs. 83) annual fee for basic features.

The new subscription termed as “Not A Bot” will charge users for likes, reposts or quoting other accounts’ posts, and bookmarking posts on the web version of the platform.

The purpose of introducing the new subscription model is to combat bots and spammers, X said, adding that the fee will vary from country to country based on the exchange rate.

X said the new method will be first available for users in New Zealand and Philippines.

Within this test, existing users are not affected. But new users who would not wish to subscribe will only be able to view and read posts, watch videos and follow accounts.

Bots have been a contentious issue for Elon Musk who acquired the company last year. In July, X had introduced a limit on viewing tweets, “to ensure the authenticity” of its user base.

Earlier this month, Reuters had reported citing a source that X CEO Linda Yaccarino met with X’s lenders, in which she had said the company would test three tiers of its subscription service based on the number of ads shown to the user.

Back in August, Musk said that X would remove a protective feature that lets users block other accounts. The block function on X allows a user to restrict specific accounts from contacting them, seeing their posts or following them. “Block is going to be deleted as a ‘feature’, except for DMs,” Musk said in a post on the platform, referring to direct messages. He said X would retain the mute function, which screens a user from seeing specified accounts but, unlike blocking, does not alert the other account to the action.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Threads Edit Feature, Voice Threads Rolling Out to Users: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Threads, Meta’s answer to X (formerly Twitter), was launched earlier this year in July. Now, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that the app will roll out an edit button and a Voice Threads feature. Unlike the paid edit option on X, Threads is not charging users for these updates. The new edit button and Voice Threads features have started rolling out and will soon be available to all users. Notably, users do need an existing Instagram account to create a Threads account.

In a Threads post, Zuckerberg confirmed that both the Edit and Voice Threads features are rolling out for all Threads users. We were able to Edit a Thread for as many as times within five minutes. After five minutes, the Edit feature was no longer available. It will be available to users on both the mobile application and the web version.

Even though it is free, the Edit option in Threads is more restrictive than the one on X, and not just according to its time limit. Threads also does not show a history of edited post, therefore, there is only one edit icon that appears alongside the post.

The Voice Threads feature allows users to post a recorded voice message as a Threads post. It is similar to the voice note feature that is available on WhatsApp. This is, however, audible to all your Threads followers.

Recently, a report suggested that Threads may allow users to delete their account without having to delete their Instagram account. Presently, users need an Instagram account to create a Threads account. They can also import their account details from the older application to the new one but users are also allowed to customise the details of their Threads profile, if they so choose. Although if anyone has a verified Instagram handle, their username on Threads will remain unchanged, alongside the verified badge, and they will be able to edit the profile picture and bio.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Elon Musk’s Neuralink Receives Approval to Start Brain Implant Human Trial for Paralysis Patients

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk‘s brain-chip startup Neuralink said on Tuesday it has received approval from an independent review board to begin recruitment for the first human trial of its brain implant for paralysis patients.

Those with paralysis due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may qualify for the study, it said but did not reveal how many participants would be enrolled in the trial, which will take about six years to complete.

The study will use a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface (BCI) implant in a region of the brain that controls the intention to move, Neuralink said, adding that its initial goal is to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone.

The company, which had earlier hoped to receive approval to implant its device in 10 patients, was negotiating a lower number of patients with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after the agency raised safety concerns, according to current and former employees. It is not known how many patients the FDA ultimately approved.

Musk has grand ambitions for Neuralink, saying it would facilitate speedy surgical insertions of its chip devices to treat conditions like obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia.

In May, the company said it had received clearance from the FDA for its first-in-human clinical trial when it was already under federal scrutiny for its handling of animal testing.

Even if the BCI device proves to be safe for human use, it would still potentially take more than a decade for the startup to secure commercial use clearance for it, according to experts.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

US Judge Refuses to Dismiss Lawsuit Accusing Elon Musk’s X of Age Bias in 2022 Layoffs

A California federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing X, the social media service formerly called Twitter, of disproportionately laying off older workers when Elon Musk acquired the company last year.

US District Judge Susan Illston on Tuesday said the plaintiff in the proposed class action, John Zeman, had provided enough evidence that the mass layoffs had a greater impact on older employees to continue pursuing the case.

Zeman, for example, claims that X laid off 60 percent of workers who were 50 or older and nearly three-quarters of those who were over 60, compared with 54 percent of employees younger than 50.

Illston ruled that the federal law banning workplace age bias allows plaintiffs to bring so-called “disparate impact” claims in a class action, an issue that has divided courts.

The judge dismissed a claim that X intentionally targeted older workers for layoffs, but gave Zeman a month to file an amended lawsuit fleshing out that claim.

Shannon Liss-Riordan, Zeman’s lawyer, said “this decision validates the arguments we are making that the discrimination claims can go forward.”

X did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit is one of about a dozen X is facing stemming from Musk’s decision to lay off about half of Twitter’s workforce beginning last November.

Those cases include various claims, including that X laid off employees and contractors without the required advance notice and that Musk forced out workers with disabilities by refusing to allow remote work and calling on employees to be more “hardcore.”

At least two lawsuits claim the company owes ex-employees at least $500 million (roughly Rs. 4,100 crore) in severance pay. Twitter has denied wrongdoing in those cases.

Liss-Riordan also represents about 2,000 former Twitter employees who have filed similar legal claims against the company in arbitration.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Is the iQoo Neo 7 Pro the best smartphone you can buy under Rs. 40,000 in India? We discuss the company’s recently launched handset and what it has to offer on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Elon Musk’s X Acquires Currency Transmitter License, Could Introduce Crypto Payments: Report

Elon Musk’s X has acquired a currency transmitter licence for the microblogging platform in a US state, suggesting that the social networking platform formerly called Twitter could soon support processing payments in crypto as well as fiat currencies. This licence gives a company the right to facilitate custody, transfer, and exchange of digital currencies. Musk, who acquired X last year, has said he wants to transform it into an “everything app”. The billionaire envisions the X as a platform that would let users communicate, share, and also process payments in the future.

According to a CoinTelegraph report, X has acquired a currency transmitter licence in Rhode Island. The currency transmitter license is a legal requirement for money transfer companies in the US, as per the report.

It is said that the payments feature on X may initially only allow payments in fiat currencies. In the later stages of its upgrade, however, the feature could allow the transfer and exchange of cryptocurrencies as well.

The crypto market responded positively on Wednesday. The valuation of the crypto sector spiked overnight by four percent, to bring its value to $1.09 trillion (roughly Rs 90,07,269 crore), according to CoinMarketCap.

Musk’s favourite altcoin — Dogecoin — also spiked in value by over three percent in the backdrop of this news to trade at $0.066 (roughly Rs. 5.42). Strangely enough, Musk himself has not posted anything about the company acquiring the license.

It is notable that Rhode Island is not the only US state to have granted this money transmitter licence to X. Earlier this year, Michigan, Missouri, and New Hampshire among other US states also approved the licence for X, making Rhode Island the seventh state to have done so, according to the CoinTelegraph report.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Tesla Autopilot Investigation Will Be Resolved, Could Make Announcement Soon, Says US Agency

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will resolve its two-year investigation into Tesla Autopilot and could make a public announcement soon, the agency’s acting head told Reuters. “We’ll get to a resolution (of the Tesla probe),” Acting NHTSA Administrator Ann Carlson told Reuters in an interview at the agency’s headquarters.

Speaking broadly of advanced driver assistance systems, she said: “It’s really important that drivers pay attention. It’s also really important that driver monitoring systems take into account that humans over-trust technology.” 

She declined to discuss how the Tesla investigation might be resolved, but added “hopefully you’ll hear something relatively soon.” Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The agency is investigating the performance of Autopilot after identifying more than a dozen crashes in which Tesla vehicles hit stationary emergency vehicles. It is also investigating whether Tesla vehicles adequately ensure drivers are paying attention when using the driver assistance system.

In June 2022, NHTSA upgraded the probe into 830,000 Tesla vehicles it first opened in August 2021 to an engineering analysis – a required step before it could potentially demand a recall. Last month, NHTSA sought updated responses and current data from Tesla in the probe. 

Autopilot is intended to enable cars to steer, accelerate, and brake automatically within their lane, while enhanced Autopilot can assist in changing lanes on highways.

Separately, since 2016, NHTSA has opened more than three dozen Tesla special crash investigations in cases where driver systems such as Autopilot were suspected of being used, with 23 crash deaths reported to date.

Carlson noted the Autopilot investigation “is complicated” given the large number of crashes under investigation. “They are big numbers and we are working on that,” Carlson said.

NHTSA has said previously that evidence raised questions about the effectiveness of Tesla’s alert strategy, which seeks to compel driver attention.

The agency said in 2022 nine of 11 vehicles in prior crashes exhibited no driver engagement, or visual or chime alerts, until the last minute preceding a collision, while four showed no visual or chime alerts at all during the final Autopilot use cycle. 

NHTSA closed an earlier investigation into Autopilot in 2017 without taking any action. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has criticized Tesla’s lack of system safeguards for Autopilot and NHTSA’s failure to ensure the safety of Autopilot. 

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy has said NHTSA should require automakers to “incorporate system safeguards that limit the use of automated vehicle control systems to those conditions for which they were designed.” 

© Thomson Reuters 2023 

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

X Could Soon Stop Displaying Headlines on News Articles, Says Elon Musk

Elon Musk is pushing to change how news links appear on his social media platform X, formerly called Twitter, in a move that could potentially undermine the ability of news publishers to draw audience. 

X is planning to remove the headline and text while retaining just the lead image from links to news articles shared on the platform, Musk said in a post late on Monday.

The move is likely an attempt by Musk to get users to spend more time on X and push them to opt the subscription service for more details.

It is not immediately clear how the move will impact advertisers on the platform that Musk claimed in July had 540 million monthly users. 

Currently news links come up on the timeline of users as “cards” along with an image, source address and an abridged headline. Such a packaging helps draw clicks and helps publishers gain readers.

But with the shortened links, users might end up writing some text along with their posts and eventually they could consider X’s premium service that allows a single post of up to 25,000 characters.

With the changes, Musk is pitching X as a more relevant platform for content creators. Premium subscribers can now post longer videos, their posts are shown higher up and they also receive a cut of ad sales.

The X head also announced a few days ago to do away with the ‘block’ feature soon. The block function on X allows a user to restrict specific accounts from contacting them, seeing their posts or following them. However, he mentioned that the users will still get the ability to block in DMs. 

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Exit mobile version