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Netflix Introduces Extra Member Offering That Includes Ads

CNET News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 19:45
The option allows you to stream Netflix with commercials for $1 less than the Standard with Ads plan.
Categories: Technology

Five ways Trump's new policies will impact electric vehicles in the US

TechRadar News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 19:00
  • President Trump has signaled his intent to reverse Biden’s EV policies
  • Trump declared a "national energy emergency"
  • Electric vehicle charging infrastructure spend will be paused

While the 47th US President's inauguration was arguably overshadowed by the number of tech bros and questionable world leaders who were invited, Donald Trump didn’t waste any time getting to work. As soon as he entered the White House, he signed a raft of executive orders.

In fact, President Trump told a massive crowd that was packed into an arena in Washington DC that he would revoke "80 destructive and radical executive actions of the previous administration".

"The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity," he said to roaring applause.

Some of this would involve undoing work the previous Biden administration had carried out on protecting the environment, promoting the use of electric vehicles, and preventing further drilling for oil.

Whichever way you cut it, the new president appears to be coming down hard on electric vehicles and the infrastructure surrounding them. Here are the five ways these early executive orders could impact the future of EVs in the US.

EVs will likely become even more expensive

(Image credit: Myriam Joire)

Although he falsely labeled a number of Biden’s EV-friendly policies as a "mandate" (no such EV mandate exists in the US as it does in Europe), President Trump is keen to eliminate "unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions that favor EVs over other technologies," according to Whitehouse.gov.

Read between the lines, and it looks highly likely that federal tax credits for purchasing new electric vehicles will be reduced or removed entirely.

Trump's executive orders will also slacken tailpipe emissions and promote fresh drilling projects for oil, which all point towards gasoline cars remaining the most affordable vehicles to buy and run in the near future.

It will become harder to publicly charge your EV

(Image credit: Nyobolt)

Inertia in an industry as gargantuan as the automotive space is difficult to slow, and the years of incentives for new electric vehicle customers in North America will see more EVs hitting the streets in the coming months and years.

In 2024, US customers purchased 1.3 million EVs - an increase of 7.3% on the previous year, according to Cox Automotive.

This is all well and good, so long as the charging infrastructure continues to grow to support the increase in the number of customers looking to charge, but Trump’s executive order seems to do just the opposite.

All funds for electric vehicle charging stations made available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program are set to be paused while Trump’s administration reviews their "processes, policies, and programs for issuing grants, loans, contracts, or any other financial disbursements."

A pause in funds will lead to a pause in the rollout of new public EV charging stations and the potential scrapping of large-scale public projects, meaning charging infrastructure will be left to individuals in the form of home charging point installation.

Consumer choice will be restricted

(Image credit: Ford)

The Biden administration has already denied the US public the freedom to buy more affordable electric vehicles manufactured in China by initially slapping massive trade tariffs on them and then effectively banning them altogether under the pretense of national security.

It is still unsure whether President Trump will uphold these policies, but he has already threatened a 25% trade tariff on Mexico and Canada, close neighbors of the US and two important regions for electric vehicle manufacture and export.

General Motors, Ford, the Volkswagen Group, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz all produce cars in Mexico. At the same time, numerous automotive manufacturers and battery makers have earmarked huge sums for new vehicle and battery plants in Canada.

Many of these promises have recently been revoked, with the slow uptake of electric vehicles in Canada and North America to blame. However, Trump’s proposed 25% tariff has the potential to devastate Canada’s burgeoning automotive industry.

According to Maclean’s Canada, nearly 90 percent of vehicles made there are exported to the US, and more than 60 percent of auto parts made in Canada are shipped to US assembly plants.

It won’t take much for some of the world’s largest automakers to stop delivering electric vehicles to the North American market. This means consumer choice will be limited to the select few models that remain profitable for their manufacturers.

EVs will struggle to charge using clean energy

The holy grail of EV ownership is the ability to top up a vehicle’s battery cheaply and from renewable sources, such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric energy, as this doesn’t require the burning of fossil fuels to produce electricity and, therefore, drastically reduces the carbon footprint.

President Trump’s national energy emergency declaration has his administration temporarily withdrawing areas on the outer continental shelf from offshore wind leasing, citing the potential threat to marine life as a reason.

"We’re not going to do the wind thing," Trump said at the rally, according to The Verge, instead shifting his focus on increased gas and oil drilling.

The Unleashing American Energy Act will also review any policies that could stand in the way of drilling operations, including hydropower and biofuels.

Innovation will slow and China will continue to race ahead

(Image credit: BYD)

Although many of President Trump’s executive orders will directly impact potential EV customers in North America, they will also have a ripple effect on the rest of the world.

The mere act of pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, alongside Iran, Libya, and Yemen, means the US is no longer committed to slowing the devastating effects of climate change and will effectively allow the nation to pollute with gay abandon.

But more than this, vilifying the electric vehicle makes it a less attractive option for US-based automakers, meaning their willingness to innovate in this area is stymied by the desire to make quick profits - largely by selling the same gasoline and diesel vehicles they have done for decades.

Many legacy automakers are already lagging a long way behind Chinese rivals when it comes to EV technology. Still, this chasm is surely only going to get wider if one of the world’s superpowers turns its back on electrification.

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Categories: Technology

Trump Frees Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht After 11 Years in Prison

WIRED Top Stories - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 18:49
Donald Trump pardoned the creator of the world’s first dark-web drug market, who is now a libertarian cause célèbre in some parts of the crypto community.
Categories: Technology

Trump’s Plan to Leave the WHO Is a Health Disaster

WIRED Top Stories - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 18:14
The exit will cut a huge chunk from the World Health Organization’s budget, but the short-term financial gain for the US could come at the cost of disease outbreaks flaring up across the world.
Categories: Technology

Trump Says He Ended the ‘EV Mandate.’ What Does That Mean?

WIRED Top Stories - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 18:05
Policy experts say the implications of Donald Trump’s executive order for EV owners—and the EV-curious—won’t be clear for a while.
Categories: Technology

NYT Connections today — my hints and answers for Wednesday, January 22 (game #591)

TechRadar News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 18:02

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #591) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

  • BOXER
  • DITCH
  • BATTER
  • LAB
  • CHIN
  • JUDGE
  • PIT
  • LAWYER
  • LECTURE
  • HOLE
  • WIZARD
  • DISCUSSION
  • TRENCH
  • BOTTOMS
  • SEMINAR
  • MONK
NYT Connections today (game #591) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • GREEN: Can you dig it?
  • YELLOW:  Learning formats
  • BLUE: Get cape, wear cape, work 
  • PURPLE: Add the opposite of “down”

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #591) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

  • GREEN: RESULTS OF SOME DIGGING
  • YELLOW:  TYPES OF ACADEMIC COURSES
  • BLUE: ONES WEARING ROBES 
  • PURPLE: ___ UP

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #591) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #591, are…

  • GREEN: RESULTS OF SOME DIGGING DITCH, HOLE, PIT, TRENCH
  • YELLOW:  TYPES OF ACADEMIC COURSES DISCUSSION, LAB, LECTURE, SEMINAR
  • BLUE: ONES WEARING ROBES BOXER, JUDGE, MONK, WIZARD
  • PURPLE: ___ UP BATTER, BOTTOMS, CHIN, LAWYER
  • My rating: Moderate
  • My score: 1 mistake

As someone who spends most of their life almost exclusively in denim and fleece, the idea of having to wear a robe to do my job seems utterly bizarre – although it could add a touch of panache to my day spent sitting in front of a laptop pretending to work.

It is really odd when you consider it and who decided the ONES WEARING ROBES had to wear robes anyway? Of the quartet in today’s Connections, a robe makes most sense for a boxer, considering they are wearing so little under them. Plus, they look good with your name on the back – something JUDGE and MONK robe merchants could learn from perhaps?

Only one mistake from me today, as I momentarily thought TYPES OF ACADEMIC COURSES could include JUDGE. What a fool.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, 21 January, game #590)
  • YELLOW: PUTDOWN BARB, CRACK, DIG, SLIGHT
  • GREEN: SMALL LIKENESS DOLL, FIGURE, MINIATURE, MODEL
  • BLUE: USED TO CLEAR SNOW PLOW, SALT, SAND, SHOVEL
  • PURPLE: DOCTORS IN POP CULTURE NO, OCTOPUS, PEPPER, WHO
What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Categories: Technology

NYT Strands today — my hints, answers and spangram for Wednesday, January 22 (game #325)

TechRadar News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 18:02

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #325) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

Today's NYT Strands theme is… Pixar this

NYT Strands today (game #325) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

  • CONE
  • DRONE
  • DRAW
  • MALE
  • LINE
  • LATE
NYT Strands today (game #325) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

Perfectly drawn

NYT Strands today (game #325) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 3rd row

Last side: right, 4th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #325) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #325, are…

  • BRAVE
  • CARS
  • SOUL
  • ONWARD
  • ELEMENTAL
  • RATATOUILLE
  • SPANGRAM: ANIMATION
  • My rating: Easy
  • My score: 1 hint

Even though I could see that this Pixar-themed puzzle included RATATOUILLE, I still had to leave it until last – and even then struggled to connect the letters in the right order. What a tricky word to spell.

Sadly, Strands didn’t include my favorite Pixar movie – WALL-E – no doubt for punctuation reasons. Same for the magnificent MONSTERS, INC.

Whenever I catch myself taking life too easy, watching soccer in a reclined position with a bag of chips on my lap, I often snap out of my drooling stupor by thinking about WALL-E and the spacecraft full of fitless humans who have forgotten how to fend for themselves. Admittedly, this is most days.

Maybe I should buy a treadmill for my sports TV viewing. It’d make it harder to eat the chips, at least.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, 21 January, game #324)
  • CHERRY
  • BOSS
  • MAJOR
  • PHAT
  • FRESH
  • RADICAL
  • TUBULAR
  • SPANGRAM: DATED SLANG
What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Categories: Technology

Quordle today – my hints and answers for Wednesday, January 22 (game #1094)

TechRadar News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 18:02

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1094) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1094) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.

Quordle today (game #1094) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• Yes. One of Q, Z, X or J appears among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1094) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1094) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• S

• T

• W

• E

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1094) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1094, are…

  • SLANT
  • TRUNK
  • WOOZY
  • EATEN

Very happy to check out after seven turns – especially as today featured a rare outing for the letter Z.

WOOZY was my final word and although I was impressed with myself and dusting imaginary dust from my shoulders, the truth is that, after deducing that the word had to include a double-O, there were only two choices – WOOZY or BOOZY, one of which you experience after being one of the other. For once in Quordle, I guessed the right one.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1094) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1094, are…

  • DEMUR
  • BEZEL
  • AFOOT
  • SEGUE
Quordle answers: The past 20
  • Quordle #1093, Tuesday 21 January: CHART, VIGOR, PRINT, SPAWN
  • Quordle #1092, Monday 20 January: SIXTY, THONG, TATTY, ROBIN
  • Quordle #1091, Sunday 19 January: WREST, RINSE, SCOUR, CANNY
  • Quordle #1090, Saturday 18 January: BLARE, ITCHY, BICEP, PIPER
  • Quordle #1089, Friday 17 January: CATCH, WEARY, SWOON, LATHE
  • Quordle #1088, Thursday 16 January: PARTY, BLUNT, TWEED, PLANT
  • Quordle #1087, Wednesday 15 January: RISEN, PLATE, RURAL, ENVOY
  • Quordle #1086, Tuesday 14 January: SWARM, SCRAP, ONION, BELCH
  • Quordle #1085, Monday 13 January: EYING, GIDDY, CHEAP, PETAL
  • Quordle #1084, Sunday 12 January: BRIEF, PETAL, WOMAN, FELON
  • Quordle #1083, Saturday 11 January: ASCOT, FIBER, ROGUE, SMELL
  • Quordle #1082, Friday 10 January: BIGOT, INLET, LEECH, TUNIC
  • Quordle #1081, Thursday 9 January: RESET, HUMOR, TENOR, IMAGE
  • Quordle #1080, Wednesday 8 January: MINCE, SADLY, RISEN, VOUCH
  • Quordle #1079, Tuesday 7 January: CREED, FILET, ROUTE, TAPER
  • Quordle #1078, Monday 6 January: PIVOT, WOOLY, GRUNT, GROOM
  • Quordle #1077, Sunday 5 January: BORAX, JUDGE, CADET, SALON
  • Quordle #1076, Saturday 4 January: CORER, CRATE, QUASI, EXIST
  • Quordle #1075, Friday 3 January: PERKY, QUARK, NAVEL, SHEEN
  • Quordle #1074, Thursday 2 January: UNIFY, SWORE, DEPOT, INTRO
Categories: Technology

Best Home Security Cameras With Lights for 2025

CNET News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 18:00
Brighten your home security feed using these cameras with lights. Our CNET home security experts have found the best cameras to add to your home security system.
Categories: Technology

A possible Nvidia RTX 5090 prototype shows what might have been – an absolute monster with nearly 25K CUDA cores and an 800W TDP

TechRadar News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 17:30

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 is already shaping up to be a beast of a GPU, given the specs unveiled at CES 2025, but if a new report is correct, it could have been even more of a monster.

A well-regarded rumor miller, HXL, shared a post on the Chinese hardware forum ChipHell that claims to show the PCB for an early prototype RTX 5090, along with some rather eye-watering specs well beyond those for the production model RTX 5090 due out next week.

According to the poster, the prototype was an engineering sample produced in mid-July 2024 and was sent to AIB partners to help them prepare their own versions of the GPU. How the user got their hand on the prototype – assuming it's real, which is not at all certain, so take everything with a heap of salt – they did not say, but they did provide some of the supposed specs on the sample.

This includes the GPU SKU of GB202-200-A1, a CUDA core count of 24,576 (or about 13% more than the 21,760 in the production RTX 5090), a slightly higher clock speed of 2,100MHz base and 2,514MHz boost, and slightly faster GDDR7 memory modules clocked at 32Gbps (compared to the 28 Gbps chips in the production RTX 5090). These would have pushed the card's memory bandwidth to 2TB/s rather than 1.79TB/s for the production 5090.

Given the CUDA core count, we can also extrapolate that there would have been 192 SMs for the GPU, so 192 ray tracing cores and 768 Tensor cores for AI workloads.

The most incredible spec, however, is the 800W TDP, which is almost double the power draw of the RTX 4090 and about 40% more than the RTX 5090. As such, it would require two 12VHPWR connectors to supply enough power for the card.

Could it be a Blackwell Titan RTX?

As our buddies over at Tom's Hardware note, this card could also fit the specs of a Titan RTX card built on Blackwell or an RTX 5090 Ti. We haven't seen a Titan RTX since the Turing era, though the argument can be made (and has) that the RTX 3090 and RTX 4090 graphics cards are the successors to the Titan RTX cards of old, and it's definitely possible that an RTX 5090 TI could sport these kinds of increased specs.

Personally, if the GPU posted to ChipHell is legitimately an early engineering sample of the RTX 5090 that has made its way to production, I think it is simply that: a sample. It'd be analogous to a first- or second-draft GPU before refining the architecture down to the RTX 5090 that will go on sale next week.

While it's interesting to see some behind-the-scenes engineering compared to the actual production model, ultimately, it probably isn't much more than that.

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Categories: Technology

Today's NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 22, #325

CNET News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 17:05
Here are some hints -- and the answers -- for the Jan. 22 Strands puzzle, No. 325.
Categories: Technology

Play Sniper Elite: Resistance and More on Xbox Game Pass Soon

CNET News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 17:00
You can play these games and others soon with an Xbox Game Pass subscription.
Categories: Technology

How Meta Tried to Lure TikTok Users to Instagram

WIRED Top Stories - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 16:44
In the days before TikTok went dark, Instagram and Facebook released a flurry of new features and ran advertisements promoting its platforms as a comparable alternative.
Categories: Technology

Instagram's Newest Tactic to Entice TikTokkers Is a Video Editing App

CNET News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 16:41
Instagram's new Edits app will be available this spring. But thanks to new presidential action, creators can still use TikTok's CapCut.
Categories: Technology

Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 22, #591

CNET News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 16:34
Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections No. 591 for Wednesday, Jan. 22.
Categories: Technology

Netflix Is Increasing Subscription Prices. Here's How Much Your Plan Will Cost

CNET News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 16:05
The ad tier is going up, too.
Categories: Technology

Microsoft wants AI to make searching for files a more casual experience

TechRadar News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 16:00
  • Microsoft is testing AI-powered search for Windows 11 on Copilot+ PCs.
  • The new feature lets users find local files using casual language.
  • Microsoft is also testing AI-powered 'Click to Do' rewriting tools.

Microsoft is testing an AI-powered search feature for Windows 11 that promises to end the days of organizing and naming your files well to find them later. Currently only available to testers with Copilot+ PCs, this new search tool uses semantic indexing to locate files with a conversational twist.

So, instead of wracking your brain for precise filenames, you can now type casual queries like, “Where’s that presentation I made last week?” With any luck, the AI will find it.

The feature works across Settings, File Explorer, and the taskbar, covering standard file formats for images, documents, and spreadsheets. Since it relies on built-in AI models, there is no need for an internet connection. That said, the search will only work in locations you’ve chosen to index. You can index everything by switching to the new "enhanced" mode, but that might require more trust in Microsoft than is comfortable.

Still, for those who feel their digital lives are scattered across desktops, downloads, and who-knows-where, the feature is definitely going to be helpful, even if it's limited to the computer for now. That means you can't search your cloud-stored OneDrive files yet, though Microsoft says that capability is on the way. Still, if you’re not on a Copilot Plus machine, you’re out of luck for now.

Copilot+

The feature is a logical extension of Microsoft’s AI agenda, which aims to weave AI tools across the company's products. On Copilot+ PCs, those tools include other features undergoing testing, like Click to Do, which lets users perform AI-powered tasks with a simple keyboard-and-mouse shortcut. You just highlight a chunk of text, hold the Windows key, and click to access a menu of options, including “Rewrite” and the grammar-correcting “Refine.”

Microsoft’s AI ambitions are clearly all about making life easier for people, provided you’ve invested in the proper hardware. Shifting from rigid commands to a more human approach has obvious appeal. The days of typing exact filenames or endless keywords could be numbered. And it's a relatively small step from helping find your PowerPoint deck to helping you write it.

Whether this is the killer app that gets people to buy a Copilot+ PC as Microsoft wants is still debatable. But if it can save you from renaming files with “final_final_v2” for the millionth time, it might just be worth it.

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Categories: Technology

Trump Takes Aim at Social Media 'Censorship' With Executive Order

CNET News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 15:26
The order alleges that the government infringed on US citizens' free speech "under the guise of combatting 'misinformation,' 'disinformation,' and 'malinformation.'"
Categories: Technology

Today's Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Jan. 22, #1313

CNET News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 15:00
Here are some hints and the answer for Wordle No. 1,313 for Wednesday, Jan. 22.
Categories: Technology

OpenAI Operator leak suggests it's coming to the ChatGPT Mac app soon – here’s why it’s a big deal

TechRadar News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 14:30

Aside from the possible introduction of artificial general intelligence (AGI), AI agents, autonomous processes that you can instruct to perform complex tasks for you on your computer, will be perhaps the biggest new AI feature in 2025. Agents could be essential for turning your mobile phone into a true AI assistant, capable of doing whatever you ask it without you needing to get involved.

OpenAI has been teasing us with the release of its first AI agent, called Operator, for a while now, but the latest code leak suggests that it could arrive very soon and on the Mac.

A new leak on X from Tibor Blaho claims to have revealed evidence that OpenAI’s Operator agent is coming to the ChatGPT Mac app. Tobor has discovered hidden options to define shortcuts for the desktop launcher to “Toggle Operator” and “Force Quit Operator,” which might indicate that you might need a quick way to shut it down if it gets out of control!

Confirmed - the ChatGPT macOS desktop app has hidden options to define shortcuts for the desktop launcher to "Toggle Operator" and "Force Quit Operator" https://t.co/rSFobi4iPN pic.twitter.com/j19YSlexASJanuary 19, 2025

Tobor also claims to have found code in the browser version of ChatGPT that references Operator with references to an “Operator System Card Table,” “Operator Research Eval Table,” and “Operator Refusal Rate Table.” The last entry indicates that perhaps the Operator fails to perform the tasks it is asked to do enough to require a refusal rate.

OpenAI website already has references to Operator/OpenAI CUA (Computer Use Agent) - "Operator System Card Table", "Operator Research Eval Table" and "Operator Refusal Rate Table"Including comparison to Claude 3.5 Sonnet Computer use, Google Mariner, etc.(preview of tables… pic.twitter.com/OOBgC3ddkUJanuary 20, 2025

Automating daily tasks

Recently, one of the founders of OpenAI, Wojciech Zaremba, slammed rival Anthropic in a post on X for releasing its AI agent without the necessary safety precautions in place. His post read:

“Anthropic — just released a computer-using agent without any safety mitigations. I can only imagine the negative reactions if OpenAI made a similar release”.

Where does the gap between perception and reality on AGI company safety come from?https://t.co/hu2UBxwkSW — Elon is very vocal about safety, but so far, no one at https://t.co/hu2UBxwkSW works on safety.Anthropic — just released a computer-using agent without any safety…December 14, 2024

It's an AI agent's ability to integrate into your daily computer tasks that makes it such a big step forward for AI and has the potential to change how we interact with our devices entirely. Just imagine if you didn’t have to book hotel rooms yourself, pay bills, or even write code.

Obviously, a lot of work is going to need to be done before people will trust an AI agent to perform such tasks autonomously, and privacy will be a key issue.

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