Sorry kid, drones are for war now
Sorry kid, drones are for war now

What happens when DJI, the world’s leading maker of drones, is no longer welcome in the United States? You might think other dronemakers would see a huge opportunity with their competitor out of the picture. That didn’t happen. In the 15 months since the United States triggered an automatic ban on future DJI products, no […]

Suno is a music copyright nightmare
Suno is a music copyright nightmare

AI music platform Suno’s policy is that it does not permit the use of copyrighted material. You can upload your own tracks to remix or set your original lyrics to AI-generated music. But, it’s supposed to recognize and stop you from using other people’s songs and lyrics. Now, no system is perfect, but it turns […]

A folk musician became a target for AI fakes and a copyright troll
A folk musician became a target for AI fakes and a copyright troll

In January, folk artist Murphy Campbell discovered several songs on her Spotify profile that did not belong there. They were songs that she had recorded, but she’d never uploaded them to Spotify, and something was off about the vocals. She quickly surmised that someone had pulled performances of the songs she posted to YouTube, created […]

Really, you made this without AI? Prove it
Really, you made this without AI? Prove it

“This looks like AI.” It’s a phrase I dread seeing as a writer who dabbles in illustration and amateur photography. In a world where generative AI technology is increasingly adept at mimicking the work of humans, people are naturally skeptical when online platforms refuse to label even obvious AI content. This leads me to one […]

The ABS Challenge System is exposing the worst umpire in baseball
The ABS Challenge System is exposing the worst umpire in baseball

During Wednesday’s game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Milwaukee Brewers, umpire CB Bucknor took a foul ball to the mask and had to be helped off the field. It was the cap to what has been a particularly bad week for one of the most controversial umpires in baseball. It started with perhaps […]

Pinterest said he violated laid-off colleagues’ privacy. Now he’s going public
Pinterest said he violated laid-off colleagues’ privacy. Now he’s going public

It was late January, and Pinterest engineer Teddy Martin was on edge about recent layoffs at the company. Martin had just survived a round of cuts, but he and other employees were confused about who was being let go and why, and explanations from top executives including CEO Bill Ready had done little to quell […]

It’s not easy to get depression-detecting AI through the FDA
It’s not easy to get depression-detecting AI through the FDA

For the past seven years, the California-based startup Kintsugi has been developing AI designed to detect signs of depression and anxiety from a person’s speech. But after failing to secure FDA clearance in time, the company is shutting down and releasing most of its technology as open-source. Some elements may even find a second life […]

The boring, insidious world of the womanosphere
The boring, insidious world of the womanosphere

Usha Vance has a new podcast: Storytime with the Second Lady. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Each episode begins with a brief introduction, after which JD Vance’s wife reads a children’s story. The first three episodes were released Monday, and none is longer than 11 minutes – children’s books are, after all, quite short. […]

Transfer Point is a modern adventure game made with 40-year-old software
Transfer Point is a modern adventure game made with 40-year-old software

One of the year’s most intriguing games was developed using software first released 40 years ago. Transfer Point looks and plays like a classic Mac point-and-click adventure game, and there’s a very good reason for that: It was developed using World Builder, a game creation tool first released in 1986 that has since become freeware. […]

Trump’s birthright citizenship ban may fail — but the administration already got too far
Trump’s birthright citizenship ban may fail — but the administration already got too far

On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Trump v. Barbara, a case challenging President Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order banning birthright citizenship. Justices seemed skeptical of the administration’s argument, but by taking up birthright citizenship at all, they showed how much ground nativists have gained since Trump’s first term. The 14th Amendment is […]