Across the industry, workers describe a ‘fear-based culture’ and pressure to ‘fall in line.‘
HP has started offering subscriptions to rent its laptops, including its Victus and Omen gaming laptops ranging from $50 per month up to $129 per month, PC Gamer reports. There’s no option to own the laptop that you’re subscribed to, but HP will let you trade it in for an upgrade every year.
You should always assume that anything online about you might well stay there forever, but don’t worry: so long as you have the budget of Jeffrey Epstein, you can probably make it go away.
Cav_man:
The internet never forgets anything unless you’re wealthy enough in which case it devolopes a healthy sense of amnesia.
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Ryan Beiermeister, previously vice president of the product policy team, was reportedly fired in early January over alleged sexual discrimination against a male colleague. Beiermeister, who called the allegation “absolutely false,” had opposed adding adult content, and worried safeguards weren’t strong enough. OpenAI said her firing was “not related to any issue she raised.”
Amazon’s Leo now has FCC approval for about 7,700 low Earth orbit satellites. So far it’s only launched about 150, well short of its FCC requirement to deploy 1,600 by July 2026 (it’s seeking an extension). SpaceX has launched over 11,000 Starlink satellites into LEO with about 9,600 still active.
Plus: DC thinks Bezos is a bastard; Newsmax goes to war with Nexstar; and more in this week’s Regulator.
After adding support for using the Apple Watch as a digital key for its Gen 2 EVs in December, Rivian is launching an Apple Watch app alongside an update to its mobile app, according to RivianTrackr. The watchOS app can be used to open windows, activate the alarm, or unlock doors, including Gen 1 EVs.
The Mummy franchise will rise from its tomb 29 years after the 1999 original starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz arrived in theaters, Variety reports. Fraser and Weisz will be reuniting for The Mummy 4, along with producer Sean Daniel, but the film’s plot remains a mystery.
Friends and colleagues keep asking things like: “Can I pay you for some of those 3D-printed whistles to fight fascists so I can hand them out too?” But they are free! Request free whistles right here. Also, I’ve got an extra-long Bluesky thread with more inspiring quotes.
Last month, a federal judge ordered the US Department of Transportation to unfreeze $5 billion from the federal program dedicated to building more EV chargers. But today, Transportation Secretary announced a new requirement that all federally funded EV chargers be “100 percent” built in America. Since most EV chargers are sourced from China, this will essentially refreeze the funds and indefinitely delay the installation of more chargers.
The bipartisan “Copyright Labeling and Ethical AI Reporting Act,” introduced by Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA) and John Curtis (R-UT), would require a written notice detailing the use of copyrighted works for training new and currently-available AI models, Deadline reports. The bill follows numerous lawsuits against AI companies for alleged copyright infringement.
A handful of journalists and YouTubers got to drive a pre-production version of Rivian’s upcoming $45,000 EV, and the reviews are now live. Doug DeMuro called it “awesome.” MKBHD thinks it will be Rivian’s answer to the Model Y.
JerryRigEverything took it off-roading. And Patrick George from InsideEVs found some of the software choices frustrating. They all agree that Rivian can’t afford to screw this up.
The new mandate is one of several changes to India’s 2021 IT rules announced on Tuesday, TechCrunch reports. The updates also include requirements for “synthetic audio and visual content” to be labeled and traceable, and a ban on “deceptive impersonations, non-consensual intimate imagery, and material linked to serious crimes.”
Cross-platform social web tool Bridgy Fed can already send you notifications about DMs it can’t bridge back across platforms, and starting today, Bridgy Fed lets respond to those DMs right inside Bridgy Fed.
But, like, in a good way. The subscription service just announced its March lineup, and the highlight is Oceanhorn 3: Legend of the Shadow Sea, the latest in the very Legend of Zelda-inspired series. Interestingly, it’ll be playable on basically every Apple platform: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and even Apple Vision Pro.
