Month: February 2024

Enlarge (credit: Benj Edwards / Getty Images)

On Tuesday, ChatGPT users began reporting unexpected outputs from OpenAI's AI assistant, flooding the r/ChatGPT Reddit sub with reports of the AI assistant "having a stroke," "going insane," "rambling," and "losing it." OpenAI has acknowledged the problem and is working on a fix, but the experience serves as a high-profile example of how some people perceive malfunctioning large language models, which are designed to mimic humanlike output.

ChatGPT is not alive and does not have a mind to lose, but tugging on human metaphors (called "anthropomorphization") seems to be the easiest way for most people to describe the unexpected outputs they have been seeing from the AI model. They're forced to use those terms because OpenAI doesn't share exactly how ChatGPT works under the hood; the underlying large language models function like a black box.

"It gave me the exact same feeling—like watching someone slowly lose their mind either from psychosis or dementia," wrote a Reddit user named z3ldafitzgerald in response to a post about ChatGPT bugging out. "It’s the first time anything AI related sincerely gave me the creeps."

(credit: Apple)

Apple is coming under fire from rivals Meta and Microsoft who say its plans to open up its mobile software to comply with a landmark EU law fail to go far enough, as the iPhone maker faces unprecedented regulatory challenges from Brussels over the coming month.

EU regulators, who are preparing to fine the tech giant 500 million euros in March over allegedly favoring its music-streaming app against competitors like Spotify, are also being lobbied to reject Apple’s proposals to satisfy the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.

The growing backlash against Apple comes as it is forced to make some of the biggest changes to its business model in years, following concerns over the dominance of its App Store, which forms a large share of the company’s $85 billion-a-year services business.

Enlarge / The new Mini Countryman is 5.3 inches (135 mm) longer and 3.9 inches (99 mm) taller than before. But it's only 0.9 inches (23 mm) wider. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

CASCAIS, PORTUGAL—Mini is in the process of revamping its entire model lineup. Later this year, the small one—now called the Mini Cooper—will hit the streets with a predictable lashing of brio. But first out of the gates is the big one, Mini's SUV, aka the Countryman. It's now built in Germany, and there's a fully electric variant, but you'll have to wait until next week to read about that one. Today, we're looking at the all-wheel drive, range-topping John Cooper Works model.

With a starting price tag of $46,995 (plus delivery charge), this Countryman might feel like more of a maxi than a Mini. The JCW Countryman's amped-up attitude is on clear display, with styling touches like the bright red brake calipers, side mirrors, and roof trim. That impression isn't dispelled upon a walkaround—not when you see the four fat exhaust pipes nestled under the rear bumper.

That works out to one pipe per cylinder; under the hood of the JCW Countryman ALL4 (to give it its full name) lives a 2.0 L four-cylinder engine that, in US market spec, generates 312 hp (232 kW) and 295 lb-ft (399 kW). That's about 4 percent more powerful than the Euro-spec JCW Countryman, which makes do with a little less power thanks to a gasoline particulate filter.

Enlarge / There's a lot of meaning in this image for studied fans of Elden Ring, but confirmation will have to wait until June. (credit: Bandai Namco)

A gameplay reveal trailer for a heavily anticipated expansion to Elden Ring has arrived, and it suggests that more of the big bosses, cryptic but epic-scale storytelling, and brutal combat fans have come to expect will be available in the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. The downloadable content arrives June 21, 2024, and costs $40; preorders are available now (Steam, PlayStation, Xbox).

Shadow of the Erdtree takes place in "The Land of Shadow," seemingly a kind of prequel setting to the main Elden Ring, potentially inside a deity's dreams. You can never be too sure, but the presence of certain characters, and the suggestion that you will access the new content by touching the arm of a major but previously unexplored character, suggests you will be traveling through their memories, their dreams, or some combination thereof. The very first image you see is of a player character riding up to a cliff and seeing a flaming tree—perhaps not the Erdtree central to the main game, but a precursor of it that is hinted at in the game's lore.

Gameplay-wise, there are many new things to notice, including hand-to-hand combat, far more powerful crossbows, new spells and weapons, and a whole host of large, epically detailed, seemingly unfair boss battles.