Month: September 2024

Artist's conception of Miyamoto preparing to fend off investors eager for more generative AI integration. (credit: Pop Culture Geek)

In the last few years, large swaths of the game industry have embraced generative AI, both on the development side and for new user-generated content tools. But legendary Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto says his company "would rather go in a different direction" when it comes to AI technology.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Miyamoto said this wasn't just contrarianism on Nintendo's part. “It might seem like we are just going the opposite direction for the sake of going in the opposite direction, but it really is trying to find what makes Nintendo special,” Miyamoto said. “There is a lot of talk about AI, for example. When that happens, everyone starts to go in the same direction, but that is where Nintendo would rather go in a different direction.”

Miyamoto's statement comes a few months after a more noncommittal position Nintendo President Shintaro Furukawa took in a July investor Q&A. "Generative AI, which is becoming a big topic recently, can be used in creative ways, but we recognize that it may also raise issues with intellectual property rights," Furukawa said at the time.

Enlarge / Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders speaks about Ralph De La Torre's spending habits during the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions on September 12, 2024. (credit: Getty | Kayla Bartkowski)

The Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday to hold Ralph de la Torre—the wealthy CEO of a now-bankrupt Steward hospital chain—in contempt for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena.

With the vote, the case is referred to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution for contempt of Congress, which would have de la Torre facing a fine of up to $100,000 and a prison sentence of up to 12 months if convicted.

The subpoena de la Torre rejected was a rare one issued in July by the Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). The HELP committee, chaired by Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), aimed to compel de la Torre to testify on allegations that while he and other executives reaped millions from the hospital system, individual facilities were put under such dire financial strain that health care workers were forced to practice "third-world medicine," and outsiders described Steward leadership as "healthcare terrorists."

Enlarge (credit: Benj Edwards / OpenAI)

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that OpenAI is working on a plan to restructure its core business into a for-profit benefit corporation, moving away from control by its nonprofit board. The shift marks a dramatic change for the AI company behind ChatGPT, potentially making it more attractive to investors while raising questions about its commitment to sharing the benefits of advanced AI with "all of humanity," as written in its charter.

A for-profit benefit corporation is a legal structure that allows companies to pursue both financial profits and social or environmental goals, ostensibly balancing shareholder interests with a broader mission to benefit society. It's an approach taken by some of OpenAI's competitors, such as Anthropic and Elon Musk's xAI.

In a notable change under the new plan, CEO Sam Altman would receive equity in the for-profit company for the first time. Bloomberg reports that OpenAI is discussing giving Altman a 7 percent stake, though the exact details are still under negotiation. This represents a departure from Altman's previous stance of not taking equity in the company, which he had maintained was in line with OpenAI's mission to benefit humanity rather than individuals.

Enlarge / From left to right: iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. (credit: Samuel Axon)

With the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, it has never been clearer that the cycle of radical invention has given way to iterative updates—not just on an annual basis, but a monthly one, due to delayed features coming in later software updates during the iOS 18 cycle.

The final form of the smartphone as we know it has been reached and nearly perfected. Nothing fundamental is changing anymore. But if you take the long view of just a few years, you can still see some impressive progress.

Year after year, the iPhone 16 is Apple’s most lightly iterative flagship phone release ever. But if you’re upgrading from an iPhone 13 or earlier, you’ll still feel like you’re graduating to a whole new experience.