Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.
In today's Techpresso:
📉 ChatGPT growth slows as daily usage declines
🛰️ SpaceX Starshield satellites using unauthorized frequencies
👀 Apple cuts iPhone Air production due to weak sales
🪦 Google has killed Privacy Sandbox
🤖 Instagram lets parents block kids from AI characters
🇺🇸 Nvidia Blackwell chip production starts in the US
🎁 + 16 other news you might like
🔮 + 6 handpicked research papers and tools
📉 ChatGPT growth slows as daily usage declines LINK
Analysis shows growth in new global downloads for ChatGPT's app has slowed since April, while its global daily active user count stopped increasing in more recent weeks.
In the U.S., engagement is also lower since July, with average time spent per DAU down 22.5 percent and average sessions per DAU dropping by 20.7 percent.
The download trend persists, with October on pace for an 8.1 percent month-over-month fall in the percentage change of new global installs for the mobile application.
🛰️ SpaceX Starshield satellites using unauthorized frequencies LINK
A satellite tracker discovered SpaceX's classified Starshield network is transmitting data to Earth using the 2025 to 2110 MHz range, a radio frequency band reserved exclusively for uplinking.
These unauthorized space-to-Earth emissions could cause radio-frequency interference for nearby satellites, potentially blocking them from receiving commands sent from the ground and causing them to ignore commands.
The International Telecommunications Union does not impose fines for regulatory violations, so SpaceX will likely face no consequences for its use of the prohibited frequency band for its Starshield satellites.
👀 Apple cuts iPhone Air production due to weak sales LINK
Apple plans to cut iPhone Air production by about 1 million units because of lower than expected demand for the ultra-thin device, according to a new report from The Elec.
To meet strong interest in its other phones, Apple is reportedly boosting the iPhone 17 by 2 million units and the popular iPhone 17 Pro Max by 4 million units.
The Air struggles because it occupies a peculiar spot in the lineup, being pricier than the iPhone 17 but having a less impressive camera setup than the iPhone 17 Pro.
🪦 Google has killed Privacy Sandbox LINK
Google is officially shutting down its entire Privacy Sandbox initiative, the project meant to replace third-party cookies, citing what the company called "low levels of adoption" for its technologies.
The move follows Google's reversal on its plan to kill third-party cookies in Chrome, with the company now maintaining its current approach of letting people make an informed choice.
A spokesperson confirmed the company will stop using the Privacy Sandbox branding but will continue its work to improve privacy across the web, using learnings from the retired initiative.
🤖 Instagram lets parents block kids from AI characters LINK
Parents can now block specific AI characters or shut off access to them entirely for their teen's Instagram account, a new feature that will roll out early next year.
Even if all AI characters are turned off, teenagers will still be able to talk to Meta’s AI assistant, which has its own default, age-appropriate protections built in.
The company will also offer parents “insights” that show the topics their child is talking about with both AI characters and the assistant, but it did not elaborate further.
🇺🇸 Nvidia Blackwell chip production starts in the US LINK
Nvidia has started volume production of its Blackwell chips at TSMC's Arizona fab, using a four-nanometer process to make the processors for the first time in recent American history.
The company is also building its US supply chain with Amkor and SPIL for chip packaging in Arizona and will open two supercomputer manufacturing plants for its DGX series in Texas.
TSMC's facility makes the chips on its four-nanometer node, a process two generations behind the company's newest technology which Apple also uses for its A16 Bionic system-on-chip.
Other news you might like
- Google says hackers are turning public blockchains into unkillable malware safehousesLINK
- What Apple's new 5-year deal with Formula 1 means for US fansLINK
- Facebook’s AI can now suggest edits to the photos still on your phoneLINK
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package hits first adversity from proxy firmLINK
- Atari just announced the Intellivision Spirit, a revamp of the iconic 1980s gaming consoleLINK
- YouTube Star MrBeast Files Trademark for Crypto Exchange and Payments ServiceLINK
- Kremlin pitches Musk on 'Putin-Trump' tunnel from Russia to AlaskaLINK
- Windows 10 refugees flock to Linux in what devs call their "biggest launch ever"LINK
- Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber wants an AI agent in every board meetingLINK
- Ex-lidar CEO makes a bid to reclaim his companyLINK
- NASA’s next Moonship reaches last stop before launch padLINK
- US court bars NSO Group from installing spyware on WhatsAppLINK
- Are we living in a golden age of stupidity?LINK
- Tor browser's latest build cuts Mozilla's AI features in the name of privacyLINK
- Jensen says Nvidia’s China AI GPU market share has plummeted from 95% to zero — the Chinese market previously amounted to 20% to 25% of the chipmaker's data center revenueLINK
- Andrej Karpathy — AGI is still a decade awayLINK
Latest research and tools
StageConnect: an Arduino library for creating devices that connect to Behringer's audio network, allowing for the transmission of 32 channels of uncompressed audio between equipment.LINK
WebMCP: a widget that allows websites to share tools and resources directly with a user's client-side language models without sharing API keys.LINK
Ripgrep: a line-oriented search tool that recursively searches the current directory for a regex pattern, while respecting gitignore rules and automatically skipping hidden files.LINK
ServiceRadar: an open-source network observability platform for monitoring infrastructure and services, especially in constrained environments, by providing real-time data and cloud-based alerts.LINK
Code from MIT's 1986 SICP video lectures: a project that provides readable, digital transcriptions of the code from the original low-quality videos, making the classic computer science lectures easier to follow.LINK
SETI Post-Detection Protocol: the guidelines advise that any signal must first be verified, then announced to the world, and no reply should be sent without broad international agreement.LINK
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