‘The Hindu’ News : Today’s Cache 24 June 2024

Today’s Cache

24 June 2024

Top tech news of the day, curated by The Hindu’s Tech writers.

Today’s Cache | Apple and Meta hold talks about AI; Meta releases AI chatbot in India across platforms; EU’s Chat Control law raises online privacy fears

Dear readers,

I hope our daily newsletters are keeping you updated on the latest in tech. To provide you with more context and insights on technology and innovation, we have launched a new podcast, The Interface.

In our latest episode “Are companies adapting to AI well enough?” we analyse how large enterprises are approaching the current wave of artificial intelligence, with Dr. Gopichand Katragadda speaking with The Hindu’s John Xavier.

Stay tuned to The Interface for more such conversations, on Spotify and YouTube.

Apple and Meta hold talks about AI
Apple and Meta had discussions about bringing Meta’s generative AI technologies to the iPhone-maker’s products, reported the Wall Street Journal, citing sources who were aware of the talks. Though Apple at its WWDC event on June 10 announced its own AI – that is, Apple Intelligence – as well as an upcoming integration with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, this was not an exclusive deal and the premium gadget maker said it would also look at partnering with other AI companies in the future.

Apple senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi, earlier said that Apple wanted to integrate Google’s Gemini technologies into devices. While Apple is working on AI products of its own, teaming up with a larger company can help save on data storage and processing expenditures. However, cross-platform privacy concerns are a question mark for many customers.

Meta releases AI chatbot in India across platforms
Meta is releasing its AI chatbot – Meta AI – in India in English across WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and meta.ai. The release comes just days after Google announced the launch of its Gemini generative AI-enabled chatbot app in India as well. Meta AI is powered by Meta’s most advanced large language model to date: Llama 3.

Meta AI is intended to serve as an assistant to users across their apps. For example, users can ask the chatbot for restaurant recommendations or pit-stop destinations when planning an outing with friends on the WhatsApp group chat. On the other hand, they can harness the tech to create images of their very own and animate them.

EU’s Chat Control law raises online privacy fears
The European Union’s proposed Chat Control law is intended to detect child sexual abuse media being sent through end-to-end encrypted digital platforms, but some bloc members have flagged serious privacy concerns while others supported the planned legislation. The law was proposed by the European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson in May 2022, but countries like France, Germany and Poland are against scanning messages by breaking end-to-end encryption.

Tech companies like Apple and Signal have also criticised parts of the bill over privacy fears. However, in less than a week, a new proposal draft is set to be reviewed, as legislators look into targeting media content instead of just text messages.

Today’s Best Reads
Stringent regulations could hinder growth of AI in India: experts
OpenAI buys database analytics firm Rockset in nine-figure stock deal, sources say