Month: March 2024

Enlarge / A collage of some of the "interactive environments" generated by Genie from static images or text prompts. (credit: Google DeepMind)

At this point, anyone who follows generative AI is used to tools that can generate passive, consumable content in the form of text, images, video, and audio. Google DeepMind's recently unveiled Genie model (for "GENerative Interactive Environment") does something altogether different, converting images into "interactive, playable environments that can be easily created, stepped into, and explored."

DeepMind's Genie announcement page shows plenty of sample GIFs of simple platform-style games generated from static starting images (children's sketches, real-world photographs, etc.) or even text prompts passed through ImageGen2. And while those slick-looking GIFs gloss over some major current limitations that are discussed in the full research paper, AI researchers are still excited about how Genie's generalizable "foundational world modeling" could help supercharge machine learning going forward.

Under the hood

While Genie's output looks similar at a glance to what might come from a basic 2D game engine, the model doesn't actually draw sprites and code a playable platformer in the same way a human game developer might. Instead, the system treats its starting image (or images) as frames of a video and generates a best guess at what the entire next frame (or frames) should look like when given a specific input.

Enlarge / Dodge has an all-new Charger on the way. (credit: Dodge)

Dodge unveiled a fully electric version of its Charger muscle car earlier today. The Charger is not quite ready to ditch internal combustion entirely—variants with twin-turbo V6 engines under the hood are on the way, too, but none will have the same performance as the 2024 Charger Daytona Scat Pack, which boasts an electric powertrain with 670 hp (500 kW) and a quarter-mile time of just 11.5 seconds.

The two-door Charger Daytona Scat Pack goes into production later this year at Stellantis' Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada, alongside the Charger Daytona R/T, another all-electric model with a slightly less powerful 496-hp (370 kW) powertrain. Four-door versions of the Daytona Scat Pack and R/T models go into production in early 2025, as will two- and four-door versions of the Charger SIXPACK H.O., which uses a 550-hp (410 kW) V6 gasoline engine.

Built on Stellantis' new STLA Large platform, the EV Charger Daytonas use a 400 V powertrain and a 100.5 kWh battery pack with a peak discharge rate of 550 kW. The electric Chargers are all-wheel drive with a pair of 335-hp (250 kW), 300 lb-ft (406 Nm) drive units. However, Dodge says there are actually six different performance levels, including the aforementioned 496-hp R/T, which uses a "Direct Connection Stage 1 upgrade kit" that adds 40 hp (30 kW), and the Scat Pack, which uses a "Direct Connection Stage 2 upgrade kit" that adds 80 hp (60 kW) extra.

Enlarge / Dodge has an all-new Charger on the way. (credit: Dodge)

Dodge unveiled a fully electric version of its Charger muscle car earlier today. The Charger is not quite ready to ditch internal combustion entirely—variants with twin-turbo V6 engines under the hood are on the way, too, but none will have the same performance as the 2024 Charger Daytona Scat Pack, which boasts an electric powertrain with 670 hp (500 kW) and a quarter-mile time of just 11.5 seconds.

The two-door Charger Daytona Scat Pack goes into production later this year at Stellantis' Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada, alongside the Charger Daytona R/T, another all-electric model with a slightly less powerful 496-hp (370 kW) powertrain. Four-door versions of the Daytona Scat Pack and R/T models go into production in early 2025, as will two- and four-door versions of the Charger SIXPACK H.O., which uses a 550-hp (410 kW) V6 gasoline engine.

Built on Stellantis' new STLA Large platform, the EV Charger Daytonas use a 400 V powertrain and a 100.5 kWh battery pack with a peak discharge rate of 550 kW. The electric Chargers are all-wheel drive with a pair of 335-hp (250 kW), 300 lb-ft (406 Nm) drive units. However, Dodge says there are actually six different performance levels, including the aforementioned 496-hp R/T, which uses a "Direct Connection Stage 1 upgrade kit" that adds 40 hp (30 kW), and the Scat Pack, which uses a "Direct Connection Stage 2 upgrade kit" that adds 80 hp (60 kW) extra.