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Steam was the subject of a spat between the world's biggest Valve critic slash epic game
CEO, Tim Sweeney, and gamers at large, over games that use generative AI.
Currently, developers of such games must disclose how they used AI on their game's Steam page,
but in a reply to a tweet from Game Dev turned AI lobbyist Matt Workman, Sweeney agreed that
this is dumb, because AI is the future of games anyway, and if we label the games now,
the clankers will be upset later. Oh no!
I said it. Sweeney's remarks came after another reply to the same tweet from an artist at Valve,
Ayi Sanchez, who pointed out that transparency on the use of AI or anything else really shouldn't
be considered a bad thing in this context. Now Workman is concerned that labeling games hurt their sales.
Meanwhile, Arc Raiders has such a label, and it's hotter than a jet turbine strapped to
the side of a data center. Got him!
Sanchez theorizes that the only devs afraid of an AI label, quote, are the ones that know
their product is low effort.
That's where- that's where- there, there.
But oop, here comes Tim Sweeney again to ask why we would stop at labels for AI.
Might as well force devs to disclose what shampoo brand the developer uses.
And to be fair, if a developer did find some way to develop a game using shampoo, I would
want to know that. Maybe they're born with it, maybe it's programmed.
Maybe it's head and shoulders. The memory crisis has gotten so bad that NVIDIA has reportedly stopped including VRAM on the
GPU modules it sells to some of its board partners, according to reasonably reliable
rumor monger, Golden Pig Upgrade. Now not including VRAM is apparently standard procedure for NVIDIA's sales to the biggest
GPU vendors, but that's not the case for smaller board partners with fewer memory industry
connections who will now have to wait outside a 7-Eleven panhandling for spare RAM.
But if they can't score any memory chips that way, if they're kept at a 7-Eleven in
Korea, they could buy memory-themed chips.
Because the convenience store chain collabed with memory company SK Hynex to launch a snack
called HBM Chips, which simultaneously stands for High Bandwidth Memory and Honey Banana
Mat, Mat being the Korean word for flavor. Now this is extremely confusing to me, possibly because I'm not Korean enough, but 7-Eleven
apparently wants to do stuff like this, to create unexpected, fun purchasing experiences
for younger consumers, who are just bouncing off the walls with hype over the next hot
new snack from their favorite semiconductor manufacturer.
The European Union has agreed on new rules that would hold tech companies liable for
scams hosted on their platforms. Once the EU Parliament and Council adopt the new rules, payment service providers like
PayPal and Stripe, but also social media companies like Meta and TikTok, will be punished if
they fail to remove scams that have been reported.
So I guess the EU is still doing stuff to keep big tech in check.
As long as it's not AI related. The Blocks Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act and its still developing AI Act
have all been put in jeopardy by pressure from the US government who would like Europe
to stop telling American companies what they can or can't do in Europe.
That's communism! Correct me if I'm wrong. One particular European who doesn't like the American approach is French President
Emmanuel Macron, who accused Brussels of being too afraid to push back.
One of our writers points out that there has to be a joke here about macaroni and Brussels
sprouts, and I would argue that no, there doesn't.
Have you seen where those pesky quick bits went?
We might need the help of a friend to figure it out.
Backpack? Backpack? Apple is reportedly in talks to have Intel manufacture the lower end of an upcoming M-Chip
series in the US by mid-2027.
A huge shake-up considering Apple's M-Series chips are currently built overseas by TSMC.
According to Apple's supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, if this happens, Intel will
use the 18AP advanced node to help MacBooks and iPads get made in USA Silicon while Apple
keeps its top-end chips being produced at TSMC.
Apple began transitioning away from Intel processors in 2020, but with everybody scrounging
to get chips manufactured these days, it looks like the two tech giants have been brought
back together by a force that has rekindled many a relationship.
Desperation. Let's have a baby. That'll save our marriage.
MIT researchers say their iceberg index simulation of the US labor market shows that 11.7% of
US jobs could already be handled by current AI.
No problem. Importantly, the tool is meant to flag vulnerable roles, not to predict layoffs.
At least jobs appear safe from AI at NVIDIA, where CEO Jensen Huang told an all-hands meeting
that AI will not replace them, and asked managers who have been telling their employees
to use less AI. Are you insane?
Meanwhile, NVIDIA tried to calm financial analysts, worried about the company's books
by insisting in a leaked memo that they are not Enron.
The poster child for accounting fraud. I'm not sure if that's going to calm anyone down.
A business bringing up Enron feels a bit like saying Macbeth in the theater.
Of course, if you do that, then Dbrand steals your soul.
404 media reporter Joseph Cox has reported that his iDevices bizarrely began suddenly
opening random podcasts all on their own, some with silent audio, which is even more
creepy, and others linking to pages that could be considered malicious.
Security researcher Patrick Wardle was able to replicate the phenomenon, but qualified
that it isn't a full-blown hack yet. However, it would be a great delivery system if a real flaw exists.
A few outlets reached out to Apple for clarification, and in true Apple fashion, they haven't
commented yet, and probably won't because f**k you.
Taiwanese authorities have raided the home of former TSMC senior VP Lo Wei Zhen, who is
accused of leaking trade secrets to his new employer, Intel, who insists Lo didn't hand
over anything sensitive, just the normal stuff.
But investigators still searched his Taipei and Sinchu residences and froze assets as
part of a national security probe tied to TSMC's cutting-edge chip tech, which Taiwan views
as incredibly important to their security and sovereignty.
Intel thinks the whole thing is overblown, though. And if they had gotten secrets, you'd definitely see their chips running a little bit faster
by now. And scientists at Tulane University have made a major breakthrough this week in finding
a literal pain switch in the brain, an enzyme called VLK that neurons launch outside the
cell to crank up pain signals after injury.
Mice, without VLK, barely felt post-surgery pain and still moved normally, suggesting
that future meds could target this switch without the messy side effects of current
pain relief medications. If this study holds up and the same is found to be true in humans, then who we, pain relief,
may have just gotten a whole lot less painful.
Pain switch in the brain, pain switch in the brain!
Backpack! Hey, thanks for exploring the wild and wacky world of tech news with me today.
What was your favorite part?
Fantastico! Remember, come back on Monday for another Riley adventure.
And if TSMC raids your home, remember to repeat after me.
Swipe or no swiping! Hasta luego, amigos!