The Uncanny Rise of the World's First AI Beauty Pageant - Technology news - NewsLocker (2024)

The idea of an AI beauty pageant might seem laughable or grotesque, depending on who you ask. But the World AI Creator Awards reflects something deeper about modern influencer culture.

Image: The Verge AT&T and Verizon have resolved an outage causing dropped phone calls across the US. The issue seemingly affected calls between customers of the two services.
In the midst of the outage, AT&T spokesperson Jim Kimberly told The Verge, “Our network is not experiencing a nationwide outage. There is a nationwide issue that is affecting the ability of some customers to complete calls between carriers. We are working closely with Verizon to determine the nature of the iss

Zotac Zone official: this handheld has twin trackpads, jog wheels, adjustable triggers and OLED

The Zotac Zone. | Image: Zotac It’s handheld season, and the Asus ROG Ally X and MSI Claw 8 AI Plus aren’t the only second-gen Windows gaming handhelds in town — GPU manufacturer Zotac has officially revealed its Zone at Computex, and it does a few things differently than the competition.Zotac already teased that the Zone would have an OLED screen, something that only the Steam Deck OLED has managed in PC handhelds before — as well as two-stage adjustable triggers like an

Image: The Verge AT&T and Verizon are dealing with an outage causing dropped phone calls across the US. In a post on X, AT&T confirms “there is an issue that is impacting completing calls between carriers” and that the “carriers are working as quickly as possible to diagnose & resolve.”
Verizon spokesperson Kevin H. King tells The Verge that the network is “operating normally” but notes that customers primarily in the Northeast and Midwest “a

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Here’s Jensen Huang signing a woman’s chest

But first, here is an image of Jensen Huang not signing a women’s chest. | Photo: Getty Images Well, here’s Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, signing a woman’s chest in a crowded booth at Computex. In the video below, you can see he asks whether this is a good idea before he eventually signs the woman’s top. He then returns to signing more traditional fare.
This isn’t an unusual sight when it comes to actors or musicians. But can you imagine Tim Cook doing that after an

Bill Gates is releasing a memoir next year

Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge Bill Gates has written a memoir, covering the days of his childhood all the way until he formed Microsoft in 1975. The book, called Source Code: My Beginnings, doesn’t go on sale until February 4th, 2025, but it’s available for preorder now.
In a post on his blog, Gates says the book goes over “the tougher parts of my early life, including feeling like a misfit as a kid, butting heads with my parents as a rebellious teen, grappling with

Reese’s Book Club lands exclusive audiobook experience in Apple Books

Oprah is in shambles. | Photo by Valerie Macon / AFP via Getty Images Apple has announced that Reese’s Book Club has found an official home within Apple Books. The Hollywood star has amassed a strong following of readers who vibe with her tastes, the likes of which can send featured titles into the stratosphere. It’s the latest partnership her media company Hello Sunshine has inked with Apple, which also produces Apple TV Plus original series like The Last Thing He Told Me.You can fo

9 Best Grovemade Deals on Our Favorite Desk Accessories (2024): Anniversary Sale

Grovemade's anniversary sale offers a rare discount on American-made laptop stands, desk mats, and other WFH accessories.

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You can save 50 percent on a Pixel 8A when you buy any other Pixel 8

If the Pixel 8A at $499 was a great value before, it’s astronomically so at around $250. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge We’re only a couple of weeks removed from Google I/O, where the tech giant gave us a glimpse of all the fun Gemini AI features coming to Android, Chrome, and its web products. Now, it’s giving you a chance to save big money on the devices that are guaranteed to take full advantage of them. One of the biggest highlights from Google’s summer sale sav

The 50 Best Shows on Disney+ Right Now (June 2024)

The Acolyte, X-Men '97, and the newest season of Doctor Who are just a few of the shows you should be watching on Disney+ this month.

YouTube’s ‘like’ button isn’t broken, it’s just hiding

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge If you’ve tried smashing YouTube’s “like” button today, you might’ve noticed that the thumbs-up icon just... disappears. As spotted earlier by 9to5Google, the like counter still goes up when you press it, but what’s left is just an empty gray space where the thumbs-up icon should be.
It seems like this is a widespread issue. Several users, including myself and my colleagues, have spotted the vanishing like button across se

YouTube’s ‘like’ button is disappearing when you press it

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge If you’ve tried smashing YouTube’s “like” button today, you might’ve noticed that the thumbs-up icon just... disappears. As spotted earlier by 9to5Google, the like counter still goes up when you press it, but what’s left is just an empty gray space where the thumbs-up icon should be.
It seems like this is a widespread issue. Several users, including myself and my colleagues, have spotted the vanishing like button across se

Meta Quest will soon let you watch Netflix from its web browser

Image: Meta Netflix isn’t updating its Meta Quest app, but Meta’s doing the next best thing: adding web browser support. That means you can stream Netflix in high quality from the Quest’s Browser app, allowing you to swap between a flat 2D screen or a curved view to feel like you’re at the theater.
There hasn’t really been a good way to watch Netflix on the Quest. Netflix launched an app for the Quest in 2019, but the app caps video resolution at a paltry 480p and h

The Nintendo Switch OLED is $35 off at Woot on a one-day deal

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Woot is selling the Nintendo Switch OLED model for $314.99 ($35 off) for today (June 4th) only. The sale on Nintendo’s fancier version of its long-in-the-tooth Switch console runs until tonight at midnight ET or once Woot sells out. And it’s possible Woot will not run out of stock this time around because demand for a Switch is not what it used to be. Nintendo has sold so many Switch consoles that it feels like everyone who wants one — and

TikTok Hack Targets ‘High-Profile’ Users via DMs

TikTok has confirmed a “potential exploit” that is being used to go after accounts belonging to media organizations and celebrities, including CNN and Paris Hilton, through direct messages.

Meta is fixing three of the Quest 3’s biggest lingering annoyances

Photo: David Pierce The single biggest reason to buy a Meta Quest 3 over its predecessors is how it lets you bring the real world into view — but the VR headset’s still weird about your real-life hands, distorting the world around them. I always mess up the all-important “look at your palm and pinch your fingers to access the menu” gesture, too.Now, Meta is fixing both of those issues. For starters, the new v66 update lets you tap a new button on your wrist to summon the

ChatGPT is back online after an outage

Illustration: The Verge After an outage took down OpenAI’s ChatGPT service for a few hours during Tuesday’s early hours, the service experienced another major outage during the daytime in the US. “ChatGPT is unavailable for some users,” said OpenAI in its status message. “We are currently investigating this issue.” The second round of issues started at around 10:30AM ET, with thousands of reports of issues showing up on Downdetector.
Many users of the ChatGPT

A new Google Maps layer shows public restrooms in NYC

Image: Google There’s no elegant way to say this: going to the bathroom in New York is a nightmare. Public restrooms in the city are hard to find and are often either out of order or require you to buy something at a store or café to be able to use. The problem is so bad that individuals have created their own resources for finding public restrooms.
A new Google Maps layer introduced by the city attempts to tackle this issue. As part of a new program called “Ur in Luck,”

Former OpenAI employees say whistleblower protection on AI safety is not enough

Illustration: The Verge Several former OpenAI employees warned in an open letter that advanced AI companies like OpenAI stifle criticism and oversight, especially as concerns over AI safety have increased in the past few months.The open letter, signed by 13 former OpenAI employees (six of whom chose to remain anonymous) and endorsed by “Godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton, formerly of Google, says that in the absence of any effective government oversight, AI companies should commit to o

The new Alien: Romulus trailer channels classic sci-fi horror

Image: 20th Century Studios It sure looks like the Alien franchise is making a return to its horror roots. After a brief teaser earlier in the year and some creepy behind-the-scenes footage, 20th Century Studios has released the first full trailer for Alien: Romulus, a standalone film from director Fede Álvarez. In short: it looks scary as hell. It also appears to really stick to the core tenets of the original film, with a small cast; dark, isolated setting; and only hints of the deadly

The Acolyte carves out its own slice of the Star Wars universe

Image: Lucasfilm Star Wars has a tendency to feel small. Even as the franchise has expanded with shows like The Mandalorian and Andor, the stories remain connected in some way to Luke and Vader, the Empire and the Rebel Alliance, and other elements introduced in 1977. A universe that once seemed vast and full has steadily narrowed its focus. But the latest show, The Acolyte, has a good solution for this: winding back the clock 100 years. You don’t need to worry about the Skywalkers when th

Google Cut Back AI Overviews in Search Even Before Its ‘Pizza Glue’ Fiasco

Data on how often Google’s new AI Overviews feature appears on search results suggests that the company reduced its visibility even before recommendations like adding glue to pizza sauce went viral.

China will be the first to retrieve soil samples from the far side of the Moon

China’s Chang’e 6 ascender carrying lunar samples took off from the far side of the Moon on June 4th. | Image: China National Space Administration China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft lifted off from the lunar surface today, bringing with it the first samples taken from the far side of the Moon.
Chang’e 6’s ascender launched from the back of the Moon, the side facing away from Earth, at 7:38AM Beijing time. The spacecraft had landed there, at the South Pole–Aitk

Samsung leak reveals a cheaper Galaxy Watch

Image: Sudhanshu Ambhore via X It looks like Samsung is planning a cheaper, FE version of its Galaxy Watch. A set of leaked renders shared by @Sudhanshu1414 on X shows what appears to be the 40mm device in blue, black, and pink.
Along with the renders, the post also includes some leaked specs, including a 1.2-inch OLED display and a 30-hour battery life. The watch is rumored to feature the same Exynos W920 chip as the Galaxy Watch 4, in addition to 1.5GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. It’s al

ChatGPT is down for the second time today

Illustration: The Verge OpenAI’s ChatGPT service keeps experiencing issues today. After an outage took down ChatGPT for a few hours earlier today, the service is experiencing its second major outage of the day. Many users of the ChatGPT mobile apps and the web service are not seeing responses to queries right now.
“ChatGPT is unavailable for some users,” says OpenAI in its status message. “We are currently investigating this issue.” The second round of issues starte

5 Best Phones With Headphone Jacks (2024): Flagship, Budget, and Dongle Recommendations

Headphone jacks are endangered, but they’re not gone. Here are our favorite smartphones that still let you plug and play.

OpenAI Employees Warn of a Culture of Risk and Retaliation

An open letter signed by former and current employees at OpenAI and other AI giants calls for whistleblower protections as the artificial intelligence rapidly evolves.

This Hacker Tool Extracts All the Data Collected by Windows’ New Recall AI

Windows Recall takes a screenshot every five seconds. Cybersecurity researchers say the system is simple to abuse—and one ethical hacker has already built a tool to show how easy it really is.

TheXPlace appoints advisors; launches initiatives addressing income stability

Games industry job and employment community site TheXPlace announced several new features for its users, as well as new advisors.Read More

Mainframe Industries’ MMO Pax Dei enters early access on June 18

Mainframe Industries announced that its Pax Dei massively multiplayer online (MMO) game will debut in early access on June 18.Read More