• Apple ends car project/AI

    From Mike Powell@1:2320/105 to All on Thu Feb 29 08:34:00 2024
    * Originally in: Dovenet TechTalk

    Apple has reportedly ended work on its electric car project.

    From TLDR 2024-02-28

    AFTER A DECADE OF STOPS AND STARTS, APPLE KILLS ITS ELECTRIC CAR
    PROJECT (2 MINUTE READ) [6]

    Apple has reportedly ended work on its electric car project. It will
    shift some of the staff to work on generative AI projects while laying
    off others. Project Titan, which had been in development for 10 years,
    was originally going to be a car with a luxurious limo-like interior
    and robust self-driving capabilities. Its ambitions were scaled back
    after multiple changes in direction and leadership. The project faced
    high startup costs and a difficult regulatory environment, making it
    hard for the company to find the profit margins it hoped for.

    KLARNA SAYS ITS AI ASSISTANT DOES THE WORK OF 700 PEOPLE AFTER IT
    LAID OFF 700 PEOPLE (4 MINUTE READ) [17]

    Klarna has released data that demonstrates AI's ability to handle
    customer communications, make shoppers happier, and drive better
    financial results.

    META MIGHT DEMO A PAIR OF `TRUE' AR SMART GLASSES LATER IN 2024
    (3 MINUTE READ) [7]

    Meta may reveal a pair of augmented reality smart glasses at its Meta
    Connect event later this year. Orion will be a 'true' AR device. There
    is a lot of internal pressure at the company to produce a high-quality
    demo. Company insiders are now experimenting with advanced prototypes.
    The glasses likely won't be available to the public until 2027.

    IT TURNS OUT THAT ODYSSEUS LANDED ON THE MOON WITHOUT ANY ALTIMETRY
    DATA (5 MINUTE READ) [8]

    Intuitive Machines believes that its mission to land on the Moon was
    a complete success, despite Odysseus toppling over after touching
    down. The moon lander's range finders were discovered to be inoperable
    a couple of hours before it was due to attempt to land on the Moon, so
    the company rewrote its software to take advantage of three telescopes
    on a NASA payload for altimetry purposes. While the patch mostly
    worked, Odysseus' onboard flight computer was unable to process the
    data in real time - its last accurate altitude reading was more than
    12 minutes before touchdown. This forced the lander to rely on optical
    data, resulting in it coming down much faster than planned.

    VARDA'S DRUG-COOKING WINNEBAGO WILL BE REMEMBERED AS A SPACE
    PIONEER (6 MINUTE READ) [9]

    Varda's Winnebago series is designed to bring pharmaceutical research specimens back to Earth for laboratory analysis and eventual
    commercial exploitation. The company's business plan involves
    producing pharmaceuticals and other goods in low-Earth orbit inside an automated laboratory for a fraction of the cost of a human space
    flight mission. Some goods benefit from being produced in a
    microgravity environment. The success of the mission may mean that the
    FAA will see the same increase in demand for reentry licenses that it
    has seen for launch licenses.

    WENDY'S WILL EXPERIMENT WITH DYNAMIC SURGE PRICING FOR FOOD IN 2025
    (2 MINUTE READ) [12]

    Wendy's will start testing dynamic pricing and AI menu features in
    2025. Dynamic pricing means that prices for food items will
    automatically change throughout the day depending on demand. The
    company will invest approximately $20 million to install digital menus
    capable of displaying real-time variable prices across all of its company-operated locations in the US. Dynamic pricing is a common
    business practice for several industries, but its application in the
    fast-food sector is largely untested.

    THE MARKET ALWAYS WINS (8 MINUTE READ) [20]

    Either you have something people want or you don't - you can't beat
    the market.

    Links:
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    [6] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/after-a-decade-of-stops-and-starts-apple-kills-its-electric-car-project/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter

    [7] https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/27/24084909/meta-orion-ar-smart-glasses-rumor?utm_source=tldrnewsletter

    [8] https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/02/it-turns-out-that-odysseus-landed-on-the-moon-without-any-altimetry-data/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter

    [9] https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/02/vardas-drug-cooking-winnebago-will-be-remembered-as-a-space-pioneer/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter

    [12] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/02/wendys-plans-ai-powered-menu-to-change-food-prices-based-on-demand-weather/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter

    [17] https://www.fastcompany.com/91039401/klarna-ai-virtual-assistant-does-the-work-of-700-humans-after-layoffs?utm_source=tldrnewsletter

    [20] https://swizec.com/blog/the-market-always-wins/#tam-is-not-fixed?utm_source=tldrnewsletter

    --- https://tldr.tech/tech?ref=6061602

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