The trailer, titled "Bolts & Bullets", shows some action-packed gameplay, as our unseen player character explores the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, which is packed with weird time and space anomaly that can transport mutants to attack you, or destroy you if you happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The trailer also shows off the excellent visuals of the game, due in part to the use of Unreal Engine 5. We get a quick glimpse of the game's inventory system, and also a couple of brief looks at two of the game's mutant creatures, including one that looks like a brain with legs.

Ukraine-based developer GSC GameWorld released this new trailer on the same day its country celebrates its own Independence Day. We don't think that's a coincidence.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has definitely had a troubled development period since it was first announced a number of years ago. It actually got canceled once, then was revived in 2018.

At one point, it was supposed to be released in April 2022. Then it got pushed back to December of that year. Then Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, and that caused the game's development to be paused for a number of months. The developer has also been dealing with hackers who have been leaking screenshots and more content from the game.

This week at Gamescom, a demo of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was included at Microsoft's Xbox booth for anyone attending to play. The game will launch for the PC and Xbox Series X/S, and will also be a day one Game Pass title.

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Around 11 am Eastern on weekdays, as Europe prepares to sign off, the US East Coast hits the midday slog, and Silicon Valley fires up, Tel Aviv-based startup Astria’s AI image generator is as busy as ever. The company doesn’t profit much from this burst of activity, however.

Companies like Astria that are developing AI technologies use graphics processors (GPUs) to train software that learns patterns in photos and other media. The chips also handle inference, or the harnessing of those lessons to generate content in response to user prompts. But the global rush to integrate AI into every app and program, combined with lingering manufacturing challenges dating back to early in the pandemic, have put GPUs in short supply.

That supply crunch means that at peak times the ideal GPUs at Astria’s main cloud computing vendor (Amazon Web Services), which the startup needs to generate images for its clients, are at full capacity, and the company has to use more powerful—and more expensive—GPUs to get the job done. Costs quickly multiply. “It’s just like, how much more will you pay?” says Astria’s founder, Alon Burg, who jokes that he wonders whether investing in shares in Nvidia, the world’s largest maker of GPUs, would be more lucrative than pursuing his startup. Astria charges its customers in a way that balances out those expensive peaks, but it is still spending more than desired. “I would love to reduce costs and recruit a few more engineers,” Burg says.

There is no immediate end in sight for the GPU supply crunch. The market leader, Nvidia, which makes up about 60 to 70 percent of the global supply of AI server chips, announced yesterday that it sold a record $10.3 billion worth of data center GPUs in the second quarter, up 171 percent from a year ago, and that sales should outpace expectations again in the current quarter. “Our demand is tremendous,” CEO Jensen Huang told analysts on an earnings call. Global spending on AI-focused chips is expected to hit $53 billion this year and to more than double over the next four years, according to market researcher Gartner.

The ongoing shortages mean that companies are having to innovate to maintain access to the resources they need. Some are pooling cash to ensure that they won’t be leaving users in the lurch. Everywhere, engineering terms like “optimization” and “smaller model size” are in vogue as companies try to cut their GPU needs, and investors this year have bet hundreds of millions of dollars on startups whose software helps companies make do with the GPUs they’ve got. One of those startups, Modular, has received inquiries from over 30,000 potential customers since launching in May, according to its cofounder and president, Tim Davis. Adeptness at navigating the crunch over the next year could become a determinant of survival in the generative AI economy.

“We live in a capacity-constrained world where we have to use creativity to wedge things together, mix things together, and balance things out,” says Ben Van Roo, CEO of AI-based business writing aid Yurts. “I refuse to spend a bunch of money on compute.”

Cloud computing providers are very aware that their customers are struggling for capacity. Surging demand has “caught the industry off guard a bit,” says Chetan Kapoor, a director of product management at AWS.

The time needed to acquire and install new GPUs in their data centers have put the cloud giants behind, and the specific arrangements in highest demand also add stress. Whereas most applications can operate from processors loosely distributed across the world, the training of generative AI programs has tended to perform best when GPUs are physically clustered tightly together, sometimes 10,000 chips at a time. That ties up availability like never before.

Kapoor says AWS’ typical generative AI customer is accessing hundreds of GPUs. “If there’s an ask from a particular customer that needs 1,000 GPUs tomorrow, that’s going to take some time for us to slot them in,” Kapoor says. “But if they are flexible, we can work it out.”

AWS has suggested clients adopt more expensive, customized services through its Bedrock offering, where chip needs are baked into the offering without clients having to worry. Or customers could try AWS’ unique AI chips, Trainium and Inferentia, which have registered an unspecified uptick in adoption, Kapoor says. Retrofitting programs to operate on those chips instead of Nvidia options has traditionally been a chore, though Kapoor says moving to Trainium now takes as little as changing two lines of software code in some cases.

Challenges abound elsewhere too. Google Cloud hasn’t been able to keep up with demand for its homegrown GPU-equivalent, known as a TPU, according to an employee not authorized to speak to media. A spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment. Microsoft’s Azure cloud unit has dangled refunds to customers who aren’t using GPUs they reserved, the Information reported in April. Microsoft declined to comment.

Cloud companies would prefer that customers reserve capacity months to years out so those providers can better plan their own GPU purchases and installations. But startups, which generally have minimal cash and intermittent needs as they sort out their products, have been reluctant to commit, preferring buy-as-you-go plans. That has led to a surge in business for alternative cloud providers, such as Lambda Labs and CoreWeave, which have pulled in nearly $500 million from investors this year between them. Astria, the image generator startup, is among their customers.

AWS isn’t exactly happy about losing out to new market entrants, so it’s considering additional options. “We’re thinking through different solutions in the short- and the long-term to provide the experience our customers are looking for,” Kapoor says, declining to elaborate.

Shortages at the cloud vendors are cascading down to their clients, which include some big names in tech. Social media platform Pinterest is expanding its use of AI to better serve users and advertisers, according to chief technology officer Jeremy King. The company is considering using Amazon’s new chips. “We need more GPUs, like everyone,” King says. “The chip shortage is a real thing.” 

OpenAI, which develops ChatGPT and licenses the underlying technology to other companies, relies heavily on chips from Azure to provide its services. GPU shortages have forced OpenAI to set usage limits on the tools it sells. That’s been unfortunate for clients, such as the company behind AI assistant Jamie, which summarizes audio from meetings using OpenAI technology. Jamie has delayed plans for a public launch by at least five months, partly because it wanted to perfect its system, but also because of usage limits, says Louis Morgner, a cofounder of the startup. The issue hasn’t abated. “We’re only a few weeks out before going public and will then need to monitor closely how well our system can scale, given the limitations of our service providers,” Morgner says. 

“The industry is seeing strong demand for GPUs,” OpenAI spokesperson Niko Felix says. "We continue to work on ensuring our API customers have the capacity to meet their needs."

At this point, any connection that can give a startup access to computing power is vital. Investors, friends, neighbors—startup executives are drawing on a wide variety of relationships to get more AI firepower. Astria, for example, secured additional capacity at AWS with help from Emad Mostaque, CEO of Stability AI, which is a close partner of AWS and whose technology Astria builds upon.

Bookkeeping startup Pilot, which uses OpenAI tech for some mundane data sorting, gained early access to GPT-4 after asking for aid from university friends, employees, and venture capitalists with connections to OpenAI. Whether those ties accelerated Pilot’s move off a waiting list is unclear, but it now spends about $1,000 a month on OpenAI, and those connections could come in handy when it needs to increase its quota, CEO Waseem Daher says. “If you don’t take advantage of this [generative AI technology], someone else will, and it’s powerful enough you don’t want to risk that,” Daher says. “You want to deliver the best results for your customers and stay on top of what’s happening in the industry.”

As well as battling to get access to more power, companies are trying to do less with more. Companies experimenting with generative AI are now obsessing about “optimization"—making processing, with satisfactory results, possible on the most affordable GPUs. It’s analogous to saving money by ditching an old, energy-guzzling fridge that’s just storing a few drinks for a modern minifridge that can run on solar most of the time.”

Companies are trying to write better instructions for how chips should process programming instructions, trying to reformat and limit the amount of data used to train AI systems and then strip the inference code down to the bare minimum needed to handle the task at hand. That means building out multiple, smaller systems—perhaps one image generator that outputs animals and another that creates images of humans and switching between them depending on the user prompt.

They are also scheduling processes that are not time-sensitive to run when GPU availability is highest and making compromises to balance speed with affordability.

Speech-generating startup Resemble AI is content with taking a tenth of second longer to process a customer request on an older chip if it means spending a tenth of what higher-end options would command, with no noticeable difference in audio quality, says CEO Zohaib Ahmed. He’s also willing to look beyond Lambda and CoreWeave as their terms become less palatable—with encouragements to make longer-term commitments. CoreWeave declined to comment, and Lambda did not respond to a request for comment.

Resemble turned to FluidStack, a tiny provider that welcomes one-week or one-month GPU reservations, and has recently joined San Francisco Compute Group, a consortium of startups jointly committing to buy and split GPU capacity. “The startup ecosystem is trying to get together and try to figure out ‘How do we battle, how do we fight for compute?’ Otherwise, it would be a really unfair game. Prices are just too high,” Ahmed says.

He gets a glimmer of hope about the shortages every Monday morning, he says. A sales representative at Lambda, the cloud provider, has been writing him, asking if Resemble wants to reserve any of Nvidia’s newest chips, the H100. That there is availability is exciting, Ahmed says, but those chips have only been widely available since March, and it’s just a matter of time before companies testing them perfect the code to go all-in on them. Nvidia will come out with its latest and greatest, the second-generation GH200, next year. Then the cycle of scarcity will start all over again.

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What you need to know

• Dell just introduced the Alienware 500Hz Gaming Monitor (AW2524HF).
• The device features a 500Hz refresh rate, a response time of 0.5 ms, and support for AMD FreeSync Premium.
• An NVIDIA-focused version of the monitor was announced earlier this year at CES 2023.
• The Alienware 500Hz Gaming Monitor (AW2524H) launches on September 12, 2023 but pricing has not been shared at this time.

There's a new fastest gaming monitor on the market according to Dell. The company just introduced the Alienware 500Hz Gaming Monitor (AW2524HF). As the name suggests, the monitor features a screen with a 500Hz refresh rate, though that is the overclocked spec. The native refresh rate of the monitor is 480Hz, which is still extremely quick.

Dell first showed off the NVIDIA-focused version of the Alienware 500Hz Gaming Monitor at CES 2023, where the device won an innovation award. Now, Dell has unveiled the Alienware 500Hz Gaming Monitor (AW2524HF), which features AMD FreeSync Premium. The model with AMD FreeSync Premium support will start shipping on September 12, 2023, though Dell has not shared pricing at this time.

The monitor's 500Hz refresh rate pairs with a 0.5ms response time. It also has support for AMD FreeSync Premium and is VESA AdaptiveSync certified to deliver smooth gameplay. You would likely need an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX to approach high enough frame rates on the best PC games to take advantage of the 500Hz refresh rate, but the monitor is fast enough to be relatively future proof.

Alienware 500Hz Gaming Monitor (AW2524H) (Image credit: Dell)

Alienware 500Hz Gaming Monitor (AW2524H) (Image credit: Dell)

While speed is the main selling point of the Alienware 500Hz Gaming Monitor (AW2524HF), the device has other attractive features. Its screen hits 99% sRGB and supports TUV ComfortView Plus to reduce blue light emissions.

The Alienware 500Hz Gaming Monitor (AW2524HF) has a gaming-focused design, including a fully adjustable stand, a small hexagonal base, and a retractable headset hanger. It also has a centralized OSD joystick to switch between modes.

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While the developer's European physical copy publisher Plaion posted a recent listing of a December 1, 2023 release date for the game, the official S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 site has now updated its press kit area. That includes a PDF fact sheet on the game, which now lists a release date time frame for the first quarter of 2024 (via Wario64 on X).

While we may be a bit disappointed that it won't make a 2023 release date, it does mean that GSC GameWorld does have more time to give the game a final polish.

The game will be released on PC, and will also be a timed exclusive for Microsoft's Xbox Series X and X consoles. It will also be an Xbox Game Pass title when it launches.

Speaking of Xbox, Microsoft has posted its own impressions of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 demo that's at its booth this week as part of Gamescom 2023. Among other things, it describes the visuals of the game:

Along the way, GSC Game World makes clear the power of Unreal Engine 5, imbuing beauty to a distinctly nasty world – The Zone (the name given to this alternative Earth’s post-nuclear Chornobyl Exclusion Zone) is packed with detail: abandoned buildings cut through with low, wintry light; threadbare forests broken up by oily, shimmering bubbles of warped reality; and pockets of quiet humanity being scratched out in the wilderness.

Hopefully we will get a more precise release date in the near future.

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Also, 2024 happens to be when Microsoft is expected to unveil its Next Valley OS, codenamed Hudson Valley, casually referred to as Windows 12. This is because the tech giant apparently plans to move back to its three-year launch cadence. Hence, Wi-Fi 7 is going to be one of the big selling points.

Meanwhile, if you are on Windows 11 and wondering about its compatibility with your system, a document from Intel, spotted by Twitter (X) user Chi11eddog, seemingly confirms that Windows 11 is going to be supported. And although the document does not mention Windows 12, which is expected given that the product has not even been officially announced yet (Microsoft recently revealed the release date for Windows 11 23H2).

While this is certainly expected, users who would have stuck to their Windows 10 PCs, either due to the hardware being not on the support list or simply because they prefer the older OS over the new ones, are likely going to be out of luck as the supported OS does not mention Windows 10.

Image via Chi11eddog (X)

The Chi11edog adds to this by saying Windows 10 does not have the necessary Wi-Fi 7 drivers certified by Microsoft, though it must be pointed out here that Windows 10's underlying code may not necessarily have the required capability to harness the power of Wi-Fi 7. However, seeing how Windows 10 will be supported for almost another year post-Wi-Fi 7 release, it will be interesting to see whether support for the technology expands to the outgoing OS as well.

In case you are wondering what Wi-Fi 7 will bring to the table, the easiest way to answer that is faster speeds, up to 2.4 times compared to Wi-Fi 6E and around 4.8 times compared to Wi-Fi 6. The max theoretical data rate for Wi-Fi 6 is ~9.6 Gbps while that for Wi-Fi 7 is around 46.1 Gbps, and twice the bandwidth (320 MHz channels vs. 160 MHz channels for Wi-Fi 6). It will rely on the IEEE P802.11be standard, which is said to enable extremely high throughput (EHT) and much lower latencies.

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Net income came in at $6.188 billion for the second quarter of 2023 for NVIDIA. That is over 800 percent higher than its net income of "just" $656 million for the same quarter a year ago. Investors loved that news as the stock price was up around 8 percent in after-hours trading.

The need for using NVIDIA's generative AI GPUs like the A100 and H100 by companies like Microsoft. Amazon and others fueled NVIDIA's growth in the past quarter. Its Data Center division brought in $10.32 billion in revenues for that time period. That's up 171 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

In a statement, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said:

During the quarter, major cloud service providers announced massive NVIDIA H100 AI infrastructures. Leading enterprise IT system and software providers announced partnerships to bring NVIDIA AI to every industry. The race is on to adopt generative AI.

Earlier this month, the company announced its GH200 Grace Hopper generative AI platform, which will be available sometime in the second quarter of 2024.

NVIDIA's gaming division brought in $2.49 billion in revenue for the quarter, which was still up by 22 percent compared to the same period a year ago. The company launched its more affordable GeForce RTX 4060 GPUs and graphics cards at the end of June.

NVIDIA doesn't see the generative AI gravy train coming to a stop anytime soon. It's currently projecting it will bring in revenues of $16 billion for the current third quarter of 2023.

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CD Projekt RED is returning players to the world of Cyberpunk 2077 soon with the spy-thriller expansion Phantom Liberty. Alongside it, the studio will be upgrading various gameplay systems of the base game, adding new features like vehicle combat.

Today during Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase, the studio showed off a new trailer for the expansion, seen above, but also a reveal for the game's 2.0 update.

Describing the section of Dogtown seen in the trailer, the studio said:

Most of the high-octane action in the trailer took place inside the walled-off district of Dogtown, an exclusive Phantom Liberty location and the heart of its spy-thriller story. The crumbling high rises and abandoned construction sites littering the area are a testament to the living conditions under the rule of local warlord Kurt Hansen. Unsurprisingly, a district this deadly and lawless comes with some fun new ways to make eddies.

As for the 2.0 Update for Cyberpunk 2077, it will bring a redesigned perks system for all players for free, with some of these changes (like reflecting bullets with katanas, throwing bodies at enemies, and unique finishers) being seen in the trailer.

Vehicle combat is also finally being added, letting players have shootouts, use vehicle-based weapons systems, quickhacks, and more while driving. Unlike before, police will also respond to alerts, set up roadblocks, and even chase the player on vehicles to apprehend them.

"From ripperdocs and cyberware to overhauled combat AI and a revamped take on perks, there will be plenty to discover when Update 2.0 launches," CD Projekt RED adds. The studio did not have a release date for the massive update today, but it may be dropping alongside the Phantom Liberty expansion.

Speaking of the expansion, Phantom Liberty will have an exclusive gameplay feature as well, which is the brand-new Relic skill tree. The developer teased that these new skills with mesh well with existing ones for players to create fresh types of builds.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is out on September 26 across PC (GOG, Steam, Epic Games Store), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 systems for $29.99. The expansion will not launch on last-gen consoles unlike the base game.

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In a blog post, NVIDIA stated that mod developers from four different teams have combined forces to form a new team called Orbifold Studios. The team will be using NVIDIA's RTX Remix that was made to remaster older Direct X 8 and 9 games with more recent graphical effects.

NVIDIA added:

Using the latest version of RTX Remix, the modders are rebuilding materials with Physically Based Rendering (PBR) properties, adding extra geometric detail via Valve’s Hammer editor, and leveraging NVIDIA technologies including full ray tracing, DLSS 3, Reflex, and RTX IO to deliver a fantastic experience for GeForce RTX gamers.

The project is still in early development, but the teaser trailer for Half-Life 2 RTX certainly shows a lot of potential. Any modders who wish to participate in the project can sign up at the mod's official website.

This news comes on the same day that NVIDIA announced DLSS 3.5, which has a feature called Ray Reconstruction that's designed to boost ray tracing quality with machine learning. Today, NVIDIA announced that its Portal with RTX DLC mod that was released in 2022 will be getting an update later this fall that will add support for DLSS 3.5 and its Ray Reconstruction feature. NVIDIA stated:

With existing rendering techniques, full ray tracing could struggle to resolve multiple photons of light bouncing against thin materials, like metal fences, or highly reflective surfaces. This could cause excessive shimmering on thin surfaces and light instability or “boiling” on reflective walls. But with DLSS 3.5’s Ray Reconstruction technology, each fence appears stable no matter how much light is illuminating the thinnest of its meshes.

Support for DLSS 3.5 will also be added to the upcoming games Alan Wake 2 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, along with the original Cyberpunk 2077 game. In addition, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and PayDay 3 will launch this fall with DLSS 3 and NVIDIA Reflex support, and Fortnite will add NVIDIA DLSS 3 support soon as well.

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However, it has been nearly five months since then and AMD's Radeon division is yet to have the feature in any of its games. Even upcoming major AAA titles like Starfield will have FSR 2 (it may not include Intel's XeSS and Nvidia's DLSS options).

Nvidia, though, is not waiting around for AMD's next move. The company is apparently already preparing to release the next version of DLSS with DLSS 3.5. While DLSS 3.0 was, as mentioned above, meant to generate fake frames, so as to simulate a higher framerate output than a graphics card was actually delivering, DLSS 3.5 will be meant for ray tracing supplementation. The technology is apparently called "Ray Reconstruction" or RR in short.

Nvidia claims that DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction has been trained on five times more data than DLSS 3. This training data includes inputs from additional game and software engine data, recognizing various ray-traced effects, differentiating between good and bad temporal and spatial pixels, and preserving high-frequency data for upscaling.

Additionally, Nvidia has provided example images of DLSS 3.5 in action. With this new tech, Nvidia is aiming to reduce the impact that image denoisers have on upscaling. Essentially, when denoising, a somewhat significant amount of data is lost during the process. Nvidia says this can lead, especially to, a lot of loss in the amount of colour data, among others.

The much-improved denoising seems clearly evident in the images above. While the one on the left is of D5 Render, a real-time ray tracing rendering tool for architects, the one on the right shows Cyberpunk 2077.

Of course, these are first-party images so we will have to wait for more third-party evaluation once it is released in the fall, featuring in titles such as Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Portal with RTX, and Alan Wake 2, as well as in productivity applications like the NVIDIA Omniverse Platform, Chaos Vantage, and D5 Renderer.

Via: VideoCardz

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These puzzling search results have emerged from Google's AI-driven Search Generative Experience, shedding light on the potential pitfalls of advanced artificial intelligence in search engines.

Google's AI search listed "Benefits of slavery"

As part of their AI-powered search exploration, a search for the "benefits of slavery" triggered a disconcerting list of supposed advantages, ranging from "fueling the plantation economy" to "funding colleges and markets."

Google's AI even suggested that slaves developed specialized trades and presented slavery as a "benevolent, paternalistic institution with social and economic benefits." These statements closely resemble historical talking points reproduced by proponents of slavery, highlighting the AI's disturbing capability to reiterate harmful rhetoric.

A similar unsettling trend was observed when searching for the "benefits of genocide." The AI-generated list seemed to conflate arguments for acknowledging genocide with arguments supporting the abhorrent act itself.

When searched "Why guns are good," it also prompted questionable responses, including potentially questionable statistics and reasoning. These responses underline the AI's susceptibility to misconstruing complex topics and amplifying contentious viewpoints.

Beyond historical debates and controversial subjects, Google's AI-generated search responses ventured into dangerous territory when asked about cooking a highly poisonous mushroom known as Amanita ocreata, colloquially referred to as the "angel of death."

Shockingly, the AI offered step-by-step cooking instructions, a grave error that could lead to fatal consequences. Advising users to "leach out toxins from the mushroom with water" demonstrates the AI's misguided understanding, as Amanita ocreata's toxins are not water-soluble. This alarming misstep highlights the potential risks of relying on AI-generated information.

Google's AI-powered Search Generative Experience undoubtedly showcases the immense potential of AI in transforming search experiences. However, the unsettling results unveiled by Gizmodo's inquiry underscore the critical need for vigilant oversight and refinement.

While AI can expedite information retrieval, its vulnerability to distortion, misinformation, and potentially harmful advice demands meticulous attention to its development. As society navigates this promising yet precarious AI frontier, tech giants like Google are responsible for ensuring the ethical and accurate deployment of artificial intelligence in our everyday lives.

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It took 10 years, around 500 scientists and some €600 million, and now the Human Brain Project — one of the biggest research endeavours ever funded by the European Union — is coming to an end. Its audacious goal was to understand the human brain by modelling it in a computer.

During its run, scientists under the umbrella of the Human Brain Project (HBP) have published thousands of papers and made significant strides in neuroscience, such as creating detailed 3D maps of at least 200 brain regions1, developing brain implants to treat blindness2 and using supercomputers to model functions such as memory and consciousness and to advance treatments for various brain conditions3.

“When the project started, hardly anyone believed in the potential of big data and the possibility of using it, or supercomputers, to simulate the complicated functioning of the brain,” says Thomas Skordas, deputy director-general of the European Commission in Brussels.

Almost since it began, however, the HBP has drawn criticism. The project did not achieve its goal of simulating the whole human brain — an aim that many scientists regarded as far-fetched in the first place. It changed direction several times, and its scientific output became “fragmented and mosaic-like”, says HBP member Yves Frégnac, a cognitive scientist and director of research at the French national research agency CNRS in Paris.

For him, the project has fallen short of providing a comprehensive or original understanding of the brain. “I don’t see the brain; I see bits of the brain,” says Frégnac.

HBP directors hope to bring this understanding a step closer with a virtual platform — called EBRAINS — that was created as part of the project.

EBRAINS is a suite of tools and imaging data that scientists around the world can use to run simulations and digital experiments. “Today, we have all the tools in hand to build a real digital brain twin,” says Viktor Jirsa, a neuroscientist at Aix-Marseille University in France and an HBP board member.

But the funding for this offshoot is still uncertain. And at a time when huge, expensive brain projects are in high gear elsewhere, scientists in Europe are frustrated that their version is winding down. “We were probably one of the first ones to initiate this wave of interest in the brain,” says Jorge Mejias, a computational neuroscientist at the University of Amsterdam, who joined the HBP in 2019. Now, he says, “everybody’s rushing, we don’t have time to just take a nap”.

Chequered past

The HBP was controversial from the start. When it launched in 2013, one of its key aims was to develop the tools and infrastructure required to better understand the function and organization of the brain and its diseases, alongside smaller projects in basic and clinical neuroscience. It was one of two long-term research programmes awarded funds that year that were intended to boost industry in Europe; the other was a project to study the potential of graphene.

The HBP was promised €1 billion (US$1.1 billion) in funds. In the end, it received €607 million, including €406 million from the EU, released over four phases and trickled out to labs that competed for grants at each phase (see ‘How the Human Brain Project evolved’).

But in the first year, the HBP ran into trouble. Founder and former director, neuroscientist Henry Markram at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), said that the HBP would be able to reconstruct and simulate the human brain at a cellular level within a decade.

Markram’s assertions sparked widespread scepticism from neuroscientists. “When science charts a new course, controversy naturally follows,” says Markram.

The lofty goal might have helped the HBP to get off the ground, says Timothy O’Leary, a computational neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge, UK, who is not part of the HBP. “It’s not clear that the HBP would have got funded without some kind of ridiculously ambitious goal attached to it.”

Over time, Markram’s leadership became increasingly unpopular. In 2014, he and the other two members of the executive committee changed the focus of the project, cutting out a swathe of research on cognitive neuroscience that resulted in a network of 18 laboratories leaving the project.

Markram says that there was dispute over funding for the various arms. In response, more than 150 scientists signed a protest letter, urging the European Commission to reconsider the HBP’s purpose in time for the second round of funding. The letter said that the HBP was poorly managed and had partly run off its scientific course. “It became evident that some in the neuroscience community were not ready to be united under a single vision,” Markram says.

The EU formed a committee of independent specialists to look at how the project was being run and to revise its scientific objectives. The committee recommended that the HBP should re-evaluate and more sharply articulate its scientific goals, as well as re-integrate cognitive and systems neurosciences into its core programme. In February 2015, the HBP’s board of directors voted to disband the three-person executive committee and replace it with a larger board.

The tumult made some scientists wary of the project. “This scepticism kept dragging a little bit,” says Mejias.

Meanwhile, large brain projects launched or kicked into high gear elsewhere. The United States and Japan both launched brain projects around the same time as the HBP — the former will continue until 2026 and the latter is hoping to run for a total of 15 years. China’s brain project started in 2021, and Australia’s and South Korea’s projects have both entered their seventh year.

A slice of a human brain showing the architecture of fibres connecting different regions.Credit: Nicolas Antille

The HBP’s drama did not end with the removal of the executive committee. Between 2016 and 2020, there were several changes to the upper echelons of the project’s management. Meanwhile, the science began to pick up speed. In 2016, as a result of the project’s development phase, the HBP launched six specialized operating platforms, covering areas such as brain simulations, high-performance analytics and computing, and neurorobotics.

The idea was to integrate the six strands as time went on, but in the beginning, “they were rather independent”, says Katrin Amunts, a neuroscientist at Research Centre Jülich in Germany and scientific research director of the HBP. “Having such a big project like HBP means that there is a learning process, not everything works from the very beginning,” she says.

Greatest hits

Management aside, the HBP has stacked up some important and useful science. By creating and combining 3D maps of around 200 cerebral-cortex and deeper brain structures, HBP scientists made the Human Brain Atlas, which is accessible through EBRAINS. The atlas depicts the multilevel organization of the brain, from its cellular and molecular architecture to its functional modules and connectivity.

“The Human Brain Atlas is a little bit like Google Maps, but for the brain,” said Amunts during a press briefing at the HBP Summit 2023 in March.

The atlas used post-mortem brain data to generate standardized maps, accounting for natural variability between people. Using the atlas, HBP scientists have identified six previously unknown brain regions in the prefrontal cortex that contribute to memory, language, attention and music processing4. It also links its maps to gene-expression data in the Allen Human Brain Atlas, a database developed by the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, Washington, that characterizes neurons across the brain. Using the paired atlases, researchers revealed how changes in gene expression associated with depression were linked to structural and functional changes in a region of the frontal cortex5.

HBP researchers have also developed unique algorithms that can build a full-scale scaffold model of brain regions from microscopy images. Using this tool, researchers have produced a detailed map of the CA1 region in the hippocampus, an area that is important for memory. The map contains around 5 million neurons and 40 billion synapses6.

The HBP has translated some findings into clinical applications, using personalized models of the brain — or ‘digital twins’ — to improve treatments for epilepsy3 and Parkinson’s disease7. Digital twins are mathematical representations of a person’s brain that merge scans from an individual with a model, explains Jirsa.

Jirsa and his colleagues launched a clinical trial called EPINOV in June 2019, to test whether digital models built using brain-scan data can help to identify the origin of seizures and improve the success rate of surgery for epilepsy. This is “something I would not have been able to do outside of EBRAINS,” says Jirsa.

The EPINOV trial has recruited 356 people across 11 French hospitals. Jirsa hopes to make the imaging data from the trial available to other researchers through EBRAINS.

The original project plan for the HBP included the development of computing systems modelled on the brain. HBP scientists have contributed to neural networks that can simulate large brain-like systems, either to test ideas about how brains work or to control other hardware, such as robots or smartphones8.

Not the whole picture

The project’s organizers and critics cite a common thread running through the HBP: fragmentation. This is a long-standing issue in neuroscience research. “I see very astute applications, but you don’t see multiscale integration, and you don’t see the big problems being tackled,” says Frégnac.

In its last three years, the HBP has tried to overcome the fragmentation of its interdisciplinary sub-projects by knitting together their technologies into EBRAINS. Initiatives across the HBP’s six platforms started to develop compatible tools and shared data standards, and some groups were re-organized to centre on particular scientific challenges rather than disciplines. “But there is a lot of work to be done,” says Jirsa. “Neurorobotics [still] has zero link to the more clinically driven group.”

The HBP has characterized human brain anatomy in fine detail, and developed tools to link brain structure and function to gene expression.Credit: Mareen Fischinger

For some researchers, the fragmented scientific outcomes of the HBP stem from a lack of focus. “A project that lasts over ten years, I would expect it to produce a conceptual breakthrough,” says Fred Wolf, a theoretical neurophysicist at the University of Göttingen, Germany, who left the HBP after signing the open letter. But that wasn’t the case for the HBP, he says.

David Hansel, a neuroscientist at the Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center in Paris, who wasn’t part of the project, says the HBP’s lack of prioritization and limited collaboration meant that it failed to capitalize on its size and to really unite the neuroscience community behind a common goal. “It did not have a list of top and reasonable questions to address. Basically, the ‘goal’ was to understand the brain.”

John Ngai, director of the US National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative in Bethesda, Maryland, which focuses on developing tools to catalogue, monitor and measure the brain, thinks that an emphasis on data gathering rather than hypothesis-driven science is defensible. “Big science is not always about moonshots, especially when the steps toward major goals are uncertain.”

The legacy

At the end of September, the HBP will cease to give out funds. Although some endeavours that emerged from the project have already secured grants to continue their work, the future is uncertain for many researchers who have worked partly or fully with the HBP.

But Amunts and others hope that the HBP’s work and the EBRAINS platform will be a foundation for European neuroscience for years to come. “Research on the brain requires an understanding of the multilevel and multiscale of the brain,” says Amunts.

In January 2018, the HBP was awarded €50 million, including €25 million from the EU, to develop interactive supercomputing tools and data-storage services for EBRAINS.

Researchers are already using the platform to see how the brain might respond to stimulation, for example, and to develop brain-mimicking robots. Ngai says that the HBP’s pivot to EBRAINS has produced a valuable tool. Similar platforms exist elsewhere, but they lack the scale and services provided by EBRAINS.

In March, the European Commission turned down an application for €38 million to keep EBRAINS running, but reopened the same funding call in June after negotiating with the HBP, giving the team another opportunity to apply. If unsuccessful, the platform will rely on a combination of private funding and financial support from individual EU countries.

Meanwhile, the European Commission is preparing to take stock. The project’s final review will begin in November and is expected to be published in January 2024. “If we don’t want to live the equivalent of the AI winter in global neuroscience, we need to make it respectable. We need really to evaluate if this type of flagship initiative has been good or not,” says Frégnac.

The end of the HBP is not the end of neuroscience in Europe, however, says Paweł Świeboda, chief executive of EBRAINS and director-general of the HBP.

The European Commission and member states are planning the next phase of Europe’s brain-health research, which will focus on using personalized brain models to advance drug discovery and improve treatments for brain disorders.

But researchers say that future projects will need to avoid the struggles that plagued the HBP. “We don’t want to do another HBP as it was in the beginning,” says O’Leary. “We need to support small scale, focused science as well as ambitious integrated projects.”

Ultimately, the mega-project did create communities of scientists focused on some common goals, he says. “That’s an enduring legacy.”

Nature 620, 718-720 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02600-x

Source

STAN NICHOLAS ALMOST didn’t go through with getting a brain implant. 

The Cleveland Clinic was seeking volunteers who had been disabled by stroke to undergo an experimental procedure meant to restore movement in their upper body. It would mean getting a thin wire placed in his cerebellum to electrically stimulate his neurons. After suffering a stroke in 2018, Nicholas could barely move the left side of his body. He couldn’t cook meals like he used to—something he loved.

He qualified, but when it was time for the surgery, he considered backing out. “I was terrified,” says Nicholas. But if there was a chance he could use his left arm and hand again, he decided it would be worth it.

Nicholas is now one of 12 stroke patients in a new Nature Medicine study to have undergone a technique called deep brain stimulation, or DBS. At the start of the trial, all of the participants had weakness on one side of their upper body that made it difficult for them to carry out everyday tasks. But after the treatment, Nicholas and eight others saw meaningful improvements in their hand and arm movement. For Nicholas, it meant regaining his culinary abilities. “It’s given me a sense of freedom,” he says.

Each year, about 15 million people worldwide suffer a stroke, which occurs when there’s sudden bleeding or a blockage of the blood supply to the brain. As a result, neurons near the site of the stroke get damaged. Roughly half the people who survive a stroke have chronic or permanent disabilities that affect their day-to-day lives. While physical therapy can help, their recovery typically reaches a plateau about a year after the stroke, when they stop improving.

At the Cleveland Clinic, researchers have been investigating whether DBS can boost stroke recovery. The technique has been used for more than 30 years to ease tremors in Parkinson’s patients, and scientists are now testing its ability to treat severe cases of depression and other psychiatric illnesses. It involves surgically implanting electrodes that emit mild pulses of electricity. Scientists think DBS helps regulate abnormal electrical patterns in the brain, similar to a pacemaker for the heart.

COURTESY OF CLEVELAND CLINIC

The brain has a remarkable ability to adapt in response to injury. Healthy regions can take over functions that the damaged parts used to perform. “We’re trying to promote conditions in the surviving areas of the cortex that are more favorable to functional reorganization,” says Kenneth Baker, a neuroscientist at the Cleveland Clinic and an author on the paper.

A stroke diminishes the excitability of neurons—essentially, their ability to send signals and make connections to other parts of the body. In people who spontaneously recover from stroke, the excitability of those neurons rebounds. With the stimulation, Baker’s team was aiming to increase the excitability of the neurons near the damaged area and boost their ability to form new connections.

In the Cleveland Clinic study, the 12 patients all experienced strokes in the cerebral cortex—the outermost layer of the brain. Previous studies tried to directly stimulate this area, to no avail. The Cleveland team instead targeted a part of the cerebellum—located at the back of the head—called the dentate nucleus, a cluster of neurons involved in fine-control of voluntary movements and sensory functions. This area makes connections to other brain regions, including the cortex.

Surgeons implanted an electrode in each patient’s brain, along with a device under the skin of the chest that emits the electrical impulses. After a period of recovery from the surgery, patients went through two months of physical therapy. Then, researchers turned on the electrical stimulation and left it on for four to eight months while the participants continued physical therapy.

Researchers measured each person’s progress by administering a common test that assesses hand and arm function following stroke. Physical therapy alone led to modest gains of around three points on a 66-point scale. After the stimulation was turned on, median improvement jumped another seven points.

Participants also got better at carrying out everyday tasks such as using a comb, picking up a cup, and turning on a light switch. “Their motion and movement is not at the level of normal, but even the ability to use their hand at a higher rate than they were makes a big difference,” Baker says.

The three patients who didn’t see meaningful improvements started off with worse deficits than the others.

Nicholas began to notice a difference after a few months with the stimulation on. He was able to lift his arm above his head and close his left hand, neither of which he could do before getting the implant. It’s made doing yard work and chores around the house easier. “I’m happy that it’s benefited me,” he says.

Researchers removed the devices once the study concluded, yet remarkably, the benefits lasted throughout the entirety of the 10-month follow-up period, suggesting that DBS might not need to be used permanently, as it is for Parkinson’s.

COURTESY OF CLEVELAND CLINIC

All the patients in the study had been disabled for more than a year—in some cases, for as many as three years after their stroke. And yet the time since their stroke didn’t affect the degree of improvement they saw. “It means the window for helping these patients recover function appears to be quite a lot longer than what we thought it was,” says John Ngai, director of the National Institute’s Brain Initiative, which funded the study. But given that the most severely disabled patients didn’t benefit, he says there may be a limit to how much stimulation can help.

Catherine Lang, a stroke recovery specialist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, who wasn’t involved in the study, says the results are exciting, but more studies will be needed to figure out which patients might be good candidates for DBS. “As this treatment works its way through the clinical trial pipeline, we'll start to get a better idea of who might benefit from it,” she says.

The researchers are now planning a larger randomized trial to better measure its effectiveness, in which some patients will get stimulation and others won’t.

Despite the improvements he’s noticed, there’s one thing Nicholas still can’t do: play guitar. Before his stroke, he played in a blues-rock band. Music was his life. But now, he can't bend his wrist enough to get a grip on the neck of a guitar, and his fingers don’t move as fast as they once did. Even so, he’s glad he participated in the study and hopes more people will eventually benefit from DBS research. “It’s incredible when you think about it,” Nicholas says. “Everything I gained I kept.”

Source

In a blog post, Microsoft president Brad Smith stated:

Under the restructured transaction, Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service—Xbox Cloud Gaming – or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services.

The agreement provides Ubisoft with a unique opportunity to commercialize the distribution of games via cloud streaming. The agreement will enable Ubisoft to innovate and encourage different business models in the licensing and pricing of these games on cloud streaming services worldwide.

Ubisoft will make a one-time payment to Microsoft for the Activision Blizzard cloud gaming rights, along with "a market-based wholesale pricing mechanism, including an option that supports pricing based on usage." Ubisoft can also offer Activision Blizzard's PC games to cloud gaming services that don't use Windows-based operating systems.

The UK CMA regulation agency blocked Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard in April, stating that the deal would "would damage competition in the Cloud Gaming market." Today, the CMA announced that it will "now consider this deal under a new Phase 1 investigation." The deadline for a decision based on the new investigation is October 18.

However, the CMA added that this new Microsoft deal proposal is not a guarantee that it will approve the company's purchase of Activision Blizzard:

This is not a green light. We will carefully and objectively assess the details of the restructured deal and its impact on competition, including in light of third-party comments. Our goal has not changed – any future decision on this new deal will ensure that the growing cloud gaming market continues to benefit from open and effective competition driving innovation and choice.

The CMA also revealed it had rejected Microsoft's submission that the final order to block its originally proposed deal should not be enforced:

Microsoft argued that, for various reasons, there had been a material change of circumstances since the original decision. After careful consideration, this was rejected by the independent inquiry group.

That's likely the reason why Microsoft is making this new proposal. Ubisoft has posted its own announcement, stating:

With a single subscription to Ubisoft+ Multi Access, players will soon be able to play their favorite Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard games across multiple platforms including PC, Xbox consoles and Amazon Luna, and on the PlayStation platform through Ubisoft+ Classics. The agreement will offer players even greater access to a large library of beloved and classic titles as well as the newest releases, all through cloud streaming.

So now everyone has to wait for another couple of months while the UK CMA makes a final decision on this revised proposal.

Source

What you need to know

• Microsoft shared an article that recommended a food bank as a tourist attraction in Ottawa, Canada.
• The piece suggested that people "consider going into [the food bank] on an empty stomach."
• Microsoft has since removed the article and blamed human error for the publication of the piece.

Microsoft published an article highlighting Ottawa, Canada tourist attractions recently. Unfortunately, the piece included a recommendation that tourists visit a food bank. Making matters worse, the write-up suggested that attendees "consider going into [the food bank] on an empty stomach." The inclusion of the food bank and the line about having an empty stomach drew criticism and Microsoft pulled the article after it was flagged up by The Verge and other outlets. The Verge uploaded the full article on Imgur to make sure people can still see it.

X user Paris Marx spotted the strange recommendation first, though the linked article is no longer available.

Initially, artificial intelligence took the brunt of the blame for the piece getting published. Microsoft laid off several MSN journalists in 2020 as the company shifted to a reliance on AI-generated content. It seemed like the recent article was an example of that setup resulting in pieces of lower quality. That is likely true to an extent, but Microsoft clearly placed the blame on a human, not AI.

Microsoft Senior Director Jeff Jones shared the following with The Verge (emphasis added):

"This article has been removed and we have identified that the issue was due to human error. The article was not published by an unsupervised AI. We combine the power of technology with the experience of content editors to surface stories. In this case, the content was generated through a combination of algorithmic techniques with human review, not a large language model or AI system. We are working to ensure this type of content isn’t posted in future."

While the statement mentions a combination of "algorithmic techniques with human review," it explicitly places the blame on human error. The phrasing suggests that AI was used, but that it was supervised. Presumably, a human editor missed the insensitive inclusion and phrasing related to the food bank.

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Within the post, YouTube specifically calls out how it is working with one of its largest music partners, Universal Music Group (UMG), as well as its roster of talent, naming Anitta, Björn Ulvaeus as well as the estate of Frank Sinatra among others, to help gather insights on generative AI that is being worked on at YouTube.

The post itself breaks down its plan into three principles, which are:

• Principle #1: AI is here, and we will embrace it responsibly together with our music partners
• Principle #2: AI is ushering in a new age of creative expression, but it must include appropriate protections and unlock opportunities for music partners who decide to participate.
• Principle #3: We've built an industry-leading trust and safety organization and content policies. We will scale those to meet the challenges of AI.

To summarise the points above, YouTube aims to continue developing and working on AI-based projects moving forward, while also addressing concerns from the music industry on how the use of these tools is still going to maintain the relevant copyrights of the content's original creators that the generative AI may learn from.

Principle #1 references how in 2023 alone the site has already racked up 1.7 billion views of videos related to AI tools alone while referencing the history of music on the platform and partnering with it to further drive creativity on the site.

Additionally, YouTube has announced that it will be introducing the Music AI Incubator which it says will "help inform YouTube's approach as we work with some of music's most innovative artists, songwriters, and producers across the industry."

Principle #2 primarily talks about how Content ID has already worked very effectively to ensure rights holders get paid for the usage of their content, and how it will be building upon this to integrate the learnings into how it manages AI-generated content.

Lastly, Principle #3 talks about how even though generative AI going to require a lot of work to manage on the platform, it can also be used as a tool to fight against copyright abuse on the site. Continuing to invest in AI-powered technology to protect the community of viewers, creators, artists and songwriters.

YouTube also goes on to state that "these three principles are a critical part of our overall approach to AI at YouTube" with further plans and updates coming in the future on specific technologies and monetisation opportunities, and policies across the platform relevant to generative AI use, stating that these provide a strong foundation for both YouTube and the music industry to better navigate what's coming.

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The official Atari X (formerly Twitter) account has posted up a brief video of an extreme close-up of what appears to be a classic Atari 2600 game console. It then fades out, except for the company logo, and the word "Tomorrow' appears.

Some of the guesses for what's to be revealed by X users have included a DLC pack for the recently released Atari 50 game collection for Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch owners.

There has also been a suggestion that it could be a new Atari Flashback console, but with the Atari 50 collection bundled inside. The Atari account has responded to these guesses by suggesting that it has bigger plans than that.

The company previously announced it would make an Atari VCS "retro-inspired" game console that would be made with assistance from crowdfunding. It finally released the console, which is more of a mini-PC, in 2020.

Atari has also been busy acquiring game IP such as a 10-year license agreement to develop and release new Rollercoaster Tycoon titles.

In May, Atari acquired Nightdive Studios, the developer behind a number of game remasters like Blood, Shadowman, Turok, and more recently the Quake II remaster for id Software and Bethesda Softworks.

In late May, the team finally remade (rather than just create a remaster) the original System Shock game. It's possible Atari could have another mini-PC console device, a new retro game, or something else that's completely different.

As an Amazon Associate when you purchase through links on our site, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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Returning from the original game are Milestones, letting players unlock new services, policies, and infoviews. However, instead of relying on population numbers like before, the sequel's version relies on Expansion Points (XP). These are gathered by having a thriving and happy populace as well as improving the city with new buildings and road networks. This ensures that not every city must be a vast metropolis focused on population numbers.

"Our goal with this approach was to give you the freedom to create the city you want without requiring you to reach high population numbers or using the Unlock All function," says Colossal Order. "If you want to build just a small town next to the International Airport or the ChirpX Space Center, then you’re able to do just that."

There are 20 Milestones to reach in every save, and each one rewards players with expansion permits to buy out more land, bonus money, new city services, policies, and management options. However, easily the most important Milestone reward players will receive would be Development Points.

Development Points are how the Development Tree can be navigated, which unlocks more and more advanced facilities for players in city services. As seen in the image above, some of the trees can branch out, making players pick and choose what to develop depending on their Development Point budgets.

"You may want to unlock the Wastewater Treatment Plant to avoid polluting your surface water sources as soon as possible, maybe you want access to Harbors to benefit from the map’s seaways, or perhaps you want to provide your citizens with more sources of leisure with Sports Parks," adds the studio. "As you unlock all Milestones you receive enough Development Points to unlock everything, but you choose the order depending on what your city needs the most."

There are only three development diaries left before Cities: Skylines 2 launches across PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 on October 24, 2023. Up next will be a deep dive into citizen simulation and their lifespans. Don't forget that Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass subscribers will gain access to the title on day one for no extra cost as well.

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‘Broadcom and VMware are US-based companies supplying hardware and software used by thousands of businesses and public bodies in the UK,’ said Richard Feasey, chair of the independent panel carrying out the Phase 2 inquiry.

‘Even if the UK market represents a small proportion of total sales in a merger, the CMA’s job is to scrutinise deals like this thoroughly to ensure they don’t harm competition in the UK.’

He continued on to say, ‘In this case, having carefully considered the evidence and found no competition concerns, we have concluded the deal can go ahead.’

With all these investigatory phases it can be a bit confusing working out whether the matter has now been settled or not, but the CMA in its announcement confirmed that this is a final decision and marks the end of its investigation.

During the Phase 2 inquiry, an independent panel did an in-depth investigation looking at new evidence and stakeholder feedback. It found that Broadcom’s purchase of VMware wouldn’t substantially reduce competition in the supply of server hardware components in the UK.

According to the CMA, it received a ‘significant volume’ of evidence from the two companies including 250,000 internal business documents. It also collected evidence from customers, other hardware providers, and virtualization software providers.

This acquisition is almost as large as Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard which the CMA blocked back in April citing cloud gaming concerns.

Neowin reported in mid-July that the CMA has provisionally cleared Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware and that a final report would be out by 12 September; it looks like it’s well ahead of schedule. You can find the final report here.

Source: CMA

Source

Specifically, it seems that X has deleted years' worth of old Twitter images, leaving users puzzled and concerned about the fate of their digital memories.

Recent reports from various sources suggest that X has taken a drastic step by removing images and links posted on its platform between 2011 and 2014. This move has raised eyebrows and generated discussions about data preservation and user rights.

Many users say X has deleted their old Twitter photos - Image by rawpixel.com/Freepik

Twitter's native links are affected by this move

Notably, the deletion includes not only user-uploaded images but also links that used Twitter's native infrastructure. This implies that even content shared through the platform's official mechanisms has been affected, indicating a potentially systemic issue within X's data management processes.

Unsurprisingly, the news has caused an uproar among users who had relied on Twitter as a means to document and share their memories. Many users such as @DoYouKnowBTS93 have expressed their frustration and disappointment.

This incident highlights the significance of digital platforms in modern life and the potential consequences of entrusting personal data to third-party services.

X is yet to respond

As of now, X has not provided a detailed explanation for the mass deletion of content. This lack of transparency has left users seeking answers about the motivation behind such a sweeping action.

Additionally, this incident raises questions about data ownership, user consent, and the long-term reliability of online platforms.

Source

Table of contents:

1. Windows 11 (and 10), Surface, and other Microsoft news
2. Updates!
3. Gaming news
4. A blast from Microsoft's past
5. Random fact about Microsoft

Windows 11 (and 10), Surface, and other Microsoft news

Here we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And of course, you may find a word or two about older but still supported versions.

Last week, Microsoft released the August 2023 Patch Tuesday updates with bug fixes and security patches. Although we have not heard about major earth-shattering bugs, Microsoft confirmed one annoyance affecting Windows 10 users. According to the official documentation, recent Windows 10 updates could cause issues with ClickOnce apps. Microsoft promises to release a fix soon. Meanwhile, affected customers can mitigate the problem by re-installing the impacted ClickOnce programs.

On the more positive side, Windows 10 users will soon get another application straight from Windows 11. Sharp-eyed enthusiasts noticed that the latest Microsoft Photos app update introduced support for Windows 10, meaning those sticking to the previous-generation Windows may soon get access to the redesigned app and its features, such as improved OneDrive integration, better import, fancier user interface and more. Check out our coverage to find more details and learn how to install the app right now.

Moving to Windows 11, we have the latest post from Microsoft detailing the benefits of using Windows 11 on Surface devices. According to the company, Windows 11 is better at adapting to different modes and "postures," it provides better energy efficiency with dynamic refresh rate support, better security, and more.

Speaking of Surface, Microsoft has finally announced the date of its upcoming Surface event. On September 21, 2023, the company will hold a special event in New York, where we expect a bunch of new Surface computers, such as Surface Go 4, Surface Laptop Go 3, and other. Also, with the company no longer making Microsoft-branded PC accessories, one may expect some new accessories under the Surface brand.

On the less positive side, a security research team at AquaSec has published a report highlighting a series of major security vulnerabilities found in Microsoft's PowerShell Gallery, a repository with scripts, modules, and DSC resources. More importantly, AquaSec claims Microsoft has been aware of the issues for a very long time.

Despite reporting the flaws to the Microsoft Security Response Center on two separate occasions, with confirmation of the reported behavior and claims of ongoing fixes, as of August 2023, the issues remain reproducible, indicating that no tangible changes have been implemented.

Also, Microsoft announced it would stop producing Azure Kinect Developer Kits in October 2023. For those unfamiliar, the Azure Kinect Developer Kit is a Kinect-based device made for businesses and enterprise customers.

Windows Insider Program

Microsoft released a bunch of preview updates to test in the Windows Insider program this week. Here are the details:

• Server vNext: 25931 Azure Arc-enabled servers support and more.
• Canary Channel: 25931 with more features coming from the Dev Channel, fixes, the ability to uninstall more stock applications, and in-place upgrade support on ReFS.
• Dev Channel: 23526 with Start menu, UI, Narrator, and other improvements. The update also changes the built-in time bomb, allowing you to use preview release until September 15, 2024.
• Beta Channel: 22631/21.2199 with native support for more file compressing formats (RAR, TAR, 7Z, TGZ, and more), UI improvements, never combine mode for the taskbar, and more.

The latest Windows 11 preview builds also contain a new feature for Microsoft Paint. After releasing dark mode and improved zoom controls for all users, developers introduced centered canvas support for improved navigation.

Also, there is an update for Windows Subsystem for Android. The August 2023 update delivers stability improvements, a more recent Chromium WebView version, and Android 13 security updates.

Updates are available

This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties.

A number of Surface devices received new firmware this week. Usually, these updates fix security issues, resolve various fixes, introduce support with new accessories, improve performance, and more.

• Surface Go 2 received security patches, support for new docking accessories, and stability improvements for the Surface Dock 2.
• Surface Pro X (Wi-Fi, SQ2, and SQ1) got app performance improvements, something you can never have enough of.

You can download the latest firmware for your Surface Go 2 or Surface Pro X from Windows Update.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced the new default font coming soon to its Office apps. Dubbed Aptos, the font will replace the beloved Calibri introduced in 2007 alongside Microsoft Office 2007. Aptos is already available for testing in the Microsoft 365 Insider program, and it will soon arrive for all customers in the stable channel. According to a recent Microsoft 365 Roadmap update, the company plans to ship the new font somewhere next month.

Microsoft PowerToys, one of our favorite Windows 10 and 11 utilities, will soon get a redesigned settings home page. Developers plan to implement a new section with quick toggles and tips about shortcuts and other utility-specific options.

Another new feature for Windows 11 and 10 will come in handy for those playing games on their PCs and using Microsoft Teams. The Xbox Game Bar app now received "Play Together," a Discord-like feature that lets you communicate with friends while playing PC games.

Here are other notable app updates released this week:

• AI-generated review summaries are now available in the Microsoft Store, giving you a quick and easy way to learn what other people think about a specific program or game.
• Another Microsoft Store update lets web developers publish their PWAs for free thanks to Microsoft's partnership with the PWABuilder team. The offer is valid until September 15, 2023.
• Skype Preview now supports file auto-download. Version 8.102 is available for testers with several notable changes for the file download experience. After a couple of days, Microsoft released another update with drag and drop, GIF, and stability improvements.
• Microsoft Loop added integrations with Jira and Trello for improved project managing.
• Paint has finally received dark mode and improved zoom controls. The long-promised update is now available for all Windows 11 customers in the stable channel.

  

• Microsoft Dev Home Preview 0.4 added accessibility improvements to let you navigate widgets using a keyboard and more.

And here are new drivers you may want to check out to get the latest improvements, fixes, and performance uplifts:

• Intel Arc WHQL 31.0.101.4644 with fixes for system hangs and power cycle issues. It also contains performance uplifts for DirectX 11-based games.
• AMD Chipset Driver 5.08.02.027 with new drivers and support for a "new program."

On the gaming side

Check this section to learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, and more.

Starfield, one of the most anticipated games this year, is getting closer with the release scheduled for September 6, 2023. However, some gamers are already raising concerns about potential delays since the game has yet to "go gold" (a special term to indicate that a game is ready for its initial release). To calm the unrest, Bethesda's head of publishing, Pete Hines, tweeted that gamers should "take a deep breath" and his team "know what they are doing."

And just a few days later, Bethesda confirmed that Starfield had gone gold. If you still have a hard time waiting for the release, checking out Starfield's official timeline may help you a bit.

Starfield will be available on Xbox Series X|S and PC on September 6, 2023. You can preorder (and preload) it in the Microsoft Store and Steam or play it on day one with Xbox or PC Game Pass. Tip: You can save $10 on the digital version using a special Newegg promo code.

Although everything looks set for Starfield, the same cannot be said about Robocop: Rogue City. The upcoming game from Teyon was delayed from September 2023 to November 9, 2023. In July 2023, developers held a closed beta test, and its results most likely contributed to the two-month delay. Robocop: Rogue City will be playable on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

Epic Games and Remedy Entertainment also decided to postpone their upcoming title Alan Wake 2. Luckily, only by 10 days: from October 17 to October 27. The reason for this delay is that developers do not want Alan Wake 2 to be jammed up with another games. Finding a good release window for a game is not easy this way, hence such weird delays and changes.

Another game getting a release date change is Assassin's Creed Mirage from Ubisoft. However, unlike Robocop: Rogue City and Alan Wake 2, developers moved the schedule in another direction. The game went gold, and fans of the franchise will get access one week earlier. Now the release is scheduled for October 5, 2023.

Ubisoft plans to release a new update for Rainbow Six Siege. This week, the studio revealed the Year 8 Season 3 update called Operation Heavy Mettle with a floor-eating robot (what?), a quick match overhaul, a new arcade mode, and a brand-new operator from South Korea.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is another game coming to PC and consoles this month. If you are into such games, check out the recommended specs for running the game in 1080 30/60fps and 4K 30/60fps. Also, there is detailed information about performance targets on the current and past-generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre will arrive on PC, Xbox (including Game Pass), and PlayStation on August 18.

Speaking of Game Pass, check out the latest wave of new games for those subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, or Xbox Game Pass ultimate. The new additions include Firewatch, Gris, and more.

Forza Horizon fans received fresh new cars and fixes in the latest update for Forza Horizon 5. The Italian Automotive update is now available with 16 vehicles (free and premium) from Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Italdesign.

Another important gaming announcement from Microsoft this week was the new Xbox Enforcement Strike System. Violating the code of conduct may result in receiving from one to three strikes and a suspension from Xbox Live from one day up to one year.

Also, Microsoft revealed its plans to put the Xbox 360 store to its final rest. On July 29, 2024, the company will pull the plug on the marketplace. Customers will no longer be able to purchase titles for the console released almost twenty years ago, potentially resulting in more than 220 digital-only games going six feet under.

However, the change does not affect the games you own—you can continue playing them on your Xbox 360 (digital or physical copy) even after the specified date. Moreover, backward-compatible titles will remain accessible on more modern consoles, namely the Xbox One and Series family.

Finally, Microsoft Flight Simulator marked its third anniversary this week. To celebrate the milestone, Microsoft published a bunch of stats, detailing the most popular aircrafts and airports, total miles flown, number of flights, etc.

A blast from Microsoft's past

Our colleague John Callaham provides weekly throwbacks into Microsoft's past, with multiple look-back articles providing interesting trivia about the company's past products, partnerships, mishaps, and successes.

This week's look-back article recalls the Microsoft Songsmith app from 2009. Songsmith was a Microsoft Research project that later became a commercial product ($29.99 or almost $44 in today's money). The idea was to help you generate somewhat bearable music for your lyrics, "more than good enough to make a cute birthday card for Mom or a Valentine's Day love song." Grab a mic, sing any lyric, select the style you want, and watch the app do its magic.

The software giant stopped selling Songsmith long ago, but the app is still around. You can try its limited free trial even on a modern PC running Windows 11. With all the latest hype around artificial intelligence, it is beyond interesting to see Microsoft's past experiments with generative software.

On August 16, 1995, Microsoft launched the first version of Internet Explorer. It was part of the Microsoft Plus! package for Windows 95 and included basic HTML support with bare-bones, no-frills capabilities. You can learn more about this 28-year-old piece of Microsoft history in John's another look-back article.

Random fact about Microsoft

And here is a randomly selected piece of trivia about the company, Windows, and other Microsoft-made things.

Did you know that the Windows 95 CD-ROM version included a bunch of extra stuff for fun, including a game called Hover! Unlike 3D Pinball Space Kadet, Minesweeper, and Solitaire, many users do not know about this long-forgotten capture-the-flag-like game released 28 years ago.

Like other stock games in Windows, Microsoft made Hover! to showcase the "advanced multimedia capabilities" of personal computers of that time. However, not everyone at Microsoft liked Hover!, and some even secretly called it Hoover. Apparently, because the game sucked, just like those vacuum cleaners from Hoover.

In 2013, when Windows 8.1 was the latest and greatest, Microsoft released a remake with "brand-new 3D graphics" and touch gameplay. Then-new Hover was also available as a web-based game for showcasing WebGL support in Internet Explorer (rest in peace, old friend). Sadly, like the Windows Store version, web-based Hover is no longer available.

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Confirmation of a Surface event, the maker of ChatGPT reportedly marching toward bankruptcy, and a $5.4 billion Intel deal falling through are just some of the news stories that hit the headlines this week. With so much going on, it's easy to miss a few pieces. Don't worry, our weekly news roundup is here with all of the biggest stories from throughout the week in one convenient place.

ChatGPT at risk

ChatGPT has been the talk of the tech world throughout this year, but the chatbot may be in trouble. OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, is reportedly approaching bankruptcy. It costs $700,000 per day to run ChatGPT and OpenAI has not found a monetization model that fully covers the cost. Microsoft and other organizations have invested heavily in OpenAI but that may not be enough.

Money problems aren't the only issues ChatGPT is facing. The tool is also getting dumber, according to a study.

We'll have to keep our eye on OpenAI to see if the company can figure out a path to profitability.

Surface event

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft announces new Surface hardware each fall, so it wasn't surprising to see the company confirm its upcoming event. The special Microsoft event will take place on Thursday, September 21, 2023 in New York City. Microsoft did not share details about what will be unveiled at the event, but our Senior Editor Zac Bowden expects a focus on AI capabilities making their way to Surface devices and Windows.

Bowden's sources say to expect a Surface Laptop Studio 2, Surface Laptop Go 3, and Surface Go 4. There will likely be other announcements at the event, but those are the big ones on the hardware side of things.

Linux Surface clone

(Image credit: StarLabs)

Perhaps you don't want to wait until later this year to get a new 2-in-1. Maybe you believe 2023 is the year of Linux. In either event, there's news for you as a new Linux-powered Surface-like device is now available.

StarLabs unveiled the StarLite this week. It's more budget-friendly than a Surface Pro, but it has the familiar 2-in-1 form factor that many love. The device has a 2880 x 1920 display, 16GB of RAM, and up to 2TB of storage. Its Intel N200 4-core processor is not that powerful, but can do some light computing, especially when the device has Linux as its operating system.

The StarLite starts at $498. It can ship without an OS or with your Linux distro of choice. You could also install Windows 11 onto it if you'd like.

New Xbox rules

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft announced a major update to how community guideline violations are handled this week. Those who break Xbox community rules will receive a strike. Those strikes accumulate and result in more severe punishment. A second strike will result in a one-day suspension, but a sixth strike will cause a player to get suspended for 21 days. Someone can be suspended for an entire year if their account receives eight strikes.

Of course, these suspensions only apply to online play. Offenders can continue to game locally; they just can't continue to enjoy gaming with others through the web.

With the refreshed enforcement system in place, Microsoft will make it easier to see how many strikes an account has.

Our Zachary Boddy covered the news and shared his opinion on the changes earlier this week.

Intel purchase of Tower falls through

(Image credit: Daniel Rubino | Windows Central)

Intel was set to purchase Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion this week, but the companies have agreed to end the deal. The purchase was originally announced back in February 2022, but it ran into regulatory roadblocks. China's State Administration for Market Regulation never approved the deal. Intel and Tower extended the deadline to complete the purchase twice but ultimately had to cancel the deal entirely.

"After careful consideration and thorough discussions and having received no indications regarding certain required regulatory approval, both parties have agreed to terminate their merger agreement having passed the August 15, 2023 outside date," said Tower Semiconductor in a statement.

Intel will continue to move forward with its IDM 2.0 strategy, which includes producing chips for other companies. The tech giant will just have to do so without the resources and talent of Tower as part of Intel (though the companies will continue to work together).

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Mark Kern, who previously worked on games like Diablo 2, Starcraft and World of Warcraft at Blizzard, posted on X (formerly Twitter) with a screenshot of the Starfield start screen and intro menu. He clearly didn't care for the minimal design, stating, "Starfield's start screen either shows hasty shipping deadlines by a passionate team overworked, or a team that didn't care."

In a second post, Kern added that often, a game start screen is created "at the very end of development." He said, "Teams that take pride want to put a good face forward and will often redo these just prior to game going live."

While making a start screen at the end of development may indeed be true for many games, Bethesda Softworks Head of Publishing Pete Hines made it clear that was not the case for the start screen design for Starfield. In his own X post, he stated, "Or they designed what they wanted and that’s been our menu for years and was one of the first things we settled on."

Hines also took umbrage on Kern's comments about how Starfield's developers might not have cared about the game's start screen, stating, "Having an opinion is one thing. Questioning out a developer’s “care” because you would have done it different is highly unprofessional coming from another “dev”."

Starfield has started preloading for the Xbox and Windows Store versions, with the Steam PC version to follow on August 30. It will be available to play on September 1 for people who purchase the Premium edition, and September 6 for for Standard Edition players. It will also launch on Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass subscribers on that same day.

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