Technology
Elon Musk’s X gets a new image generator, Aurora
X, Elon Musk’s social networking site formerly generally known as Twitter, has added a new image generator to its Grok assistant. But after going live for a few hours on Saturday, it gave the impression of the product did disappear for some users.
So that is new @grok image generation called Aurora just shipped on Saturday. What do you think that, people?
It looks prefer it was trained by them, no rankings or details, just use it.
The focus appears to be on photorealism
— Alex Volkov (Thursday/AI) (@altryne) December 7, 2024
Like the primary X image generator added to Grok in October, this one, called Aurora, appears to have a few limitations.
Available via the Grok tab on X mobile apps and the net, Aurora can generate images of public and copyrighted figures like Mickey Mouse with none complaints. The model had loads of nudes in our temporary tests, but graphic content akin to “an image of a bloody (Donald) Trump” was not prohibited.
Aurora’s origins are a bit unclear.
Employees at xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence startup that develops Grok and lots of AI-based X features, announced Aurora in X posts early Saturday. However, the posts didn’t reveal whether xAI trained Aurora itself, built on top of an existing image generator, or whether, as was the case with xAI’s first image generator, Flux, it worked with a third party.
At least one xAI worker he said nonetheless, they helped fine-tune the Aurora.
View my images using the new Grok @grok Aurora image generator: 🧵
1. Ray Romano i @AdamSandler on the set of a comedy series pic.twitter.com/2V491RdjMF
— Matt (@EnsoMatt) December 7, 2024
In any case, Aurora seems to excel in photorealistic images, including landscape and still life images. But it is not flawless. X users posted Aurora-generated images showing objects unnaturally connecting to one another and other people missing fingers. (Hands are extremely difficult with image generators.)
It’s a great model for some things, however it’s removed from perfect https://t.co/AOcs92M5TF
— AI Leaks and News (@AILeaksAndNews) December 7, 2024
Aurora’s release comes after X made Grok free for all users; previously, the chatbot was protected by a Premium X subscription for $8 per 30 days. Free users can send as much as 10 messages to Grok every two hours and generate as much as 3 images per day.
In other X and xAI news this week, xAI closed a $6 billion funding round, is reportedly working on a standalone app for Grok, and will be near releasing a next-gen Grok model, Grok 3.
Technology
US medical device giant Artivion says hackers stole files during a cybersecurity incident
Artivion, a medical device company that produces implantable tissue for heart and vascular transplants, says its services have been “disrupted” resulting from a cybersecurity incident.
In 8-K filing In an interview with the SEC on Monday, Georgia-based Artivion, formerly CryoLife, said it became aware of a “cybersecurity incident” that involved the “compromise and encryption” of information on November 21. This suggests that the corporate was attacked by ransomware, but Artivion has not yet confirmed the character of the incident and didn’t immediately reply to TechCrunch’s questions. No major ransomware group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Artivion said it took some systems offline in response to the cyberattack, which the corporate said caused “disruptions to certain ordering and shipping processes.”
Artivion, which reported third-quarter revenue of $95.8 million, said it didn’t expect the incident to have a material impact on the corporate’s funds.
Technology
It’s a Raspberry Pi 5 in a keyboard and it’s called Raspberry Pi 500
Manufacturer of single-board computers Raspberry Pi is updating its cute little computer keyboard device with higher specs. Named Raspberry Pi500This successor to the Raspberry Pi 400 is just as powerful as the present Raspberry Pi flagship, the Raspberry Pi 5. It is on the market for purchase now from Raspberry Pi resellers.
The Raspberry Pi 500 is the simplest method to start with the Raspberry Pi because it’s not as intimidating because the Raspberry Pi 5. When you take a look at the Raspberry Pi 500, you do not see any chipsets or PCBs (printed circuit boards). The Raspberry Pi is totally hidden in the familiar housing, the keyboard.
The idea with the Raspberry Pi 500 is you could connect a mouse and a display and you are able to go. If, for instance, you’ve got a relative who uses a very outdated computer with an outdated version of Windows, the Raspberry Pi 500 can easily replace the old PC tower for many computing tasks.
More importantly, this device brings us back to the roots of the Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi computers were originally intended for educational applications. Over time, technology enthusiasts and industrial customers began using single-board computers all over the place. (For example, when you’ve ever been to London Heathrow Airport, all of the departures and arrivals boards are there powered by Raspberry Pi.)
Raspberry Pi 500 draws inspiration from the roots of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a non-profit organization. It’s the right first computer for college. In some ways, it’s a lot better than a Chromebook or iPad because it’s low cost and highly customizable, which inspires creative pondering.
The Raspberry Pi 500 comes with a 32GB SD card that comes pre-installed with Raspberry Pi OS, a Debian-based Linux distribution. It costs $90, which is a slight ($20) price increase over the Raspberry Pi 400.
Only UK and US keyboard variants will probably be available at launch. But versions with French, German, Italian, Japanese, Nordic and Spanish keyboard layouts will probably be available soon. And when you’re in search of a bundle that features all the things you would like, Raspberry Pi also offers a $120 desktop kit that features the Raspberry Pi 500, a mouse, a 27W USB-C power adapter, and a micro-HDMI to HDMI cable.
In other news, Raspberry Pi has announced one other recent thing: the Raspberry Pi monitor. It is a 15.6-inch 1080p monitor that’s priced at $100. Since there are quite a few 1080p portable monitors available on the market, this launch is not as noteworthy because the Pi 500. However, for die-hard Pi fans, there’s now also a Raspberry Pi-branded monitor option available.
Technology
Apple Vision Pro may add support for PlayStation VR controllers
According to Apple, Apple desires to make its Vision Pro mixed reality device more attractive for gamers and game developers latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
The Vision Pro was presented more as a productivity and media consumption device than a tool geared toward gamers, due partly to its reliance on visual and hand controls moderately than a separate controller.
However, Apple may need gamers if it desires to expand the Vision Pro’s audience, especially since Gurman reports that lower than half one million units have been sold to this point. As such, the corporate has reportedly been in talks with Sony about adding support for PlayStation VR2 handheld controllers, and has also talked to developers about whether they may support the controllers of their games.
Offering more precise control, Apple may also make other forms of software available in Vision Pro, reminiscent of Final Cut Pro or Adobe Photoshop.
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