A bankruptcy judge has rejected the sale of Infowars to The Onion, stating that the auction process did not maximize returns for creditors, including the Sandy Hook families.- The judge criticized the sealed bid process for not promoting competitive bidding, which is essential for fair auction practices.- The Onion's bid involved $1.75 million in cash, with additional funds from the Sandy Hook families' potential defamation judgment earnings, raising questions about the auction's fairness and legality.
Google DeepMind has launched Gemini 2.0, an advanced AI model designed for the "agentic era," featuring capabilities such as native image and audio output and tool use.- Gemini 2.0 Flash is currently accessible to developers and trusted testers, with a wider release expected early next year, indicating a phased rollout strategy.- Google is focusing on responsible AI development, emphasizing safety and security, with potential applications in search, games, and robotics, highlighting the model's versatility and commitment to ethical AI practices.
Google's Gemini 2.0 AI model is designed for the "agentic era," capable of writing and executing Python code, but it cannot make network calls.- The model is proficient in vision tasks and is accessible to developers and testers via AI Studio, though it still encounters issues such as hallucinations and verbosity.- The AI community is discussing the terminology used, such as "agentic" and "reasoning," with some considering these terms as marketing jargon.
General Motors (GM) is discontinuing its funding for the Cruise robotaxi division, opting to integrate it into its tech team to focus on autonomous systems for personal vehicles.
GM aims to acquire the remaining Cruise shares by 2025, significantly reducing its annual expenditure on the division by more than half.
Cruise has faced challenges, such as a $1.5 million fine for not reporting a crash, while competitors like Waymo and Tesla continue to progress in the robotaxi market.
General Motors (GM) is withdrawing from the robotaxi market and integrating Cruise operations internally due to heightened competition.
Despite possessing advanced autonomous technology, GM's strategy is questioned, with issues such as the unavailability of Super Cruise for test drives.
The market for autonomous vehicles is uncertain, with waning interest and companies like Ford cutting costs for similar features, while Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) still faces challenges in certain scenarios.
Electric's sync engine, now in BETA with version 1.0.0-beta.1, facilitates real-time partial replication of Postgres data into local apps, enabling instant local data access without altering existing technology stacks.- The engine includes PGlite, a lightweight WebAssembly (WASM) version of Postgres for browsers, and is production-ready after a six-month rewrite, already utilized by companies like Google and Supabase.- Electric supports high-throughput workloads with low latency, is easy to adopt with simple APIs, and can be integrated incrementally, with Electric Cloud, a managed hosting service, in development.
ElectricSQL has released a beta version of its Postgres sync engine, generating interest due to its engineering quality and business model considerations.- The engine syncs data from Postgres to local applications as read-only replicas, suitable for high-read, low-write services, but does not support write-path synchronization.- Users are discussing its potential compared to alternatives like PowerSync and Triplit, and the project aims to simplify local/offline-first app development, despite challenges in multi-table synchronization and schema changes.
The court case between WPEngine, Inc. and Automattic involves a preliminary injunction due to actions by Matt Mullenweg that allegedly harmed WPEngine.- The court ruled in favor of WPEngine, mandating Automattic to restore account access, return the ACF plugin, and remove a controversial checkbox without requiring a bond.- This case underscores tensions in the WordPress community and prompts discussions on open-source governance and the influence of private equity in tech companies.