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Reviews season is in full swing, and we've been busy at Engadget HQ. Laptops, desktops, earbuds, gaming handhelds and even an ice cream machine are among our slate of recent reviews. The great thing about this time of year is there's really something for everyone among the in-depth testing our team undertakes. So sit back, relax and catch up on all the reviews you might've missed. Apple MacBook Air M4 13-inch and 15-inch The M4-equipped MacBook Air is now available, and so is Devindra's detailed review of the new Apple laptop. "The M4-equipped MacBook Air is a nearly flawless ultraportable," he declared. "Even better, it now starts at $999, which is $100 less than before. While I'd still like to see more ports and a faster screen refresh rate, the MacBook Air still remains heads and shoulders above the competition." Apple Mac Studio M4 Max While the M3 Ultra configuration may be the absolute fastest Mac Studio, Steve argued that the powerful M4 Max version is the better and more affordable option for most power users. But, do you actually need one? Well, that depends. "If you regularly edit 4K (or higher) videos or render 3D graphics (or play games), youd be better off with the Mac Studio," he wrote. "For less demanding jobs, a Mac mini will likely suffice." Ninja Swirl by Creami Soft serve ice cream at home is no longer a fantasy thanks to Ninja's Creami machine. Sam was impressed by its versatility, but he noted that the ability to make larger batches would make the gadget even better. "Not only can it create delicious concoctions that rival what you can buy from a store (and for way cheaper), it can handle pretty much any other frozen treat you can think of all in one gadget," he explained. "My biggest gripe is that the Swirl isnt available in a deluxe size like you can get with its predecessor." Technics AZ100 Technics' latest earbuds impressed me during a brief introduction at CES and they continued to do so during my full review. New drivers deliver big sound upgrades and three-device multipoint is only available on this company's earbuds. "Technics thought it could make its well-reviewed AZ80 even better by borrowing tech from another entry in its portfolio and the gamble has definitively paid off," I wrote. "Sure, you can find better noise-canceling performance with Bose and more modern features with Sony, but Technics has formulated excellent sound quality that few can challenge." MSI Claw 8 AI+ MSI may have stumbled with its first gaming handheld, but Sam argues that the Claw 8 AI+ is the company's redemption. "After the original bombed, a lot of companies would have simply called it quits," he said. "But with the Claw 8 AI+, MSI came back and totally redeemed itself. Not only is it a very competent gaming handheld, this cat offers a solid design, great performance and above-average battery life." Other notable reviews: M3 iPad Air, Sorry We're Closed and more GPUs Apple also debuted a new iPad Air recently, and while it isn't a huge update, Nate wrote that the M3 upgrade still makes it easy to recommend. Jess took Sorry We're Closed for a ride on PS5, specifically calling out the "epic storyline" with "heartbroken club kids and horny demons," along with a killer soundtrack. Devindra's work reviewing GPUs is seemingly never done, and in the last two weeks he reviewed AMD's Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT and NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5070. He also put the ASUS Zenbook 14 through its paces. If you're in the market for a Wi-Fi 7 setup, you'll want to check out Dan's review of the Eero Pro 7 where basic features are locked behind an additional purchase. Amy re-reviewed the Apple Watch SE and she has a long list of requests for Apple to include whenever it finally decides to update its "budget" wearable. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-review-recap-macbook-air-mac-studio-ninja-creami-and-technics-az100-123020577.html?src=rss
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The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee is looking into whether the Biden administration tried to "censor" artificial intelligence. Representative Jim Jordan has sent subpoenas to sixteen different tech companies that work with AI in some capacity to ask for any and all communications from the previous administration about limiting "harmful bias" and "algorithmic discrimination." Subpoenas were sent to Adobe, Alphabet, Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, Cohere, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Inflection AI, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Open AI, Palantir, Salesforce, Scale AI and Stability AI, and each requests an extensive amount of information, covering five years from January 1, 2020 to January 20, 2025. Essentially any and all documents and communications "referring or relating to the moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, or reduced circulation of the content, input, or output of an AI model, training dataset, algorithm, system, or product," need to be included, whether between the companies and the previous administration, internal communications about those discussions or discussions with third-parties. Jordan and the committee are alleging that the former President's executive order calling for regulations on algorithmic discrimination and guidelines for how the federal government will use AI pressured private companies to censor speech. Digging up old documents and communications is an attempt to connect those seemingly distant dots. Pestering tech companies is not exactly new for Jordan. Just last week he subpoenaed Google over separate censorship concerns, and over the last few years he's regularly made a show of bringing in tech CEOs to testify about moderation. The main difference now is that companies that don't even run speech platforms like Adobe or Nvidia are receiving scrutiny, too.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/house-gop-subpoenas-tech-companies-over-ai-censorship-pressure-from-biden-administration-214543722.html?src=rss
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OpenAI is calling on the Trump administration to give AI companies an exemption to train their models on copyrighted material. In a blog post spotted by The Verge, the company this week published its response to President Trump's AI Action Plan. Announced at the end of February, the initiative saw the White House seek input from private industry, with the goal of eventually enacting policy that will work to "enhance America's position as an AI powerhouse" and enable innovation in the sector. "America's robust, balanced intellectual property system has long been key to our global leadership on innovation. We propose a copyright strategy that would extend the system's role into the Intelligence Age by protecting the rights and interests of content creators while also protecting America's AI leadership and national security," OpenAI writes in its submission. "The federal government can both secure Americans' freedom to learn from AI, and avoid forfeiting our AI lead to the [People's Republic of China] by preserving American AI models' ability to learn from copyrighted material." In the same document, the company recommends the US maintain tight export controls on AI chips to China. It also says the US government should broadly adopt AI tools. Incidentally, OpenAI began offering a version of ChatGPT designed for US government use earlier this year. This week, Google also published its own list of recommendations for the president's AI Action Plan. Like OpenAI, the search giant says it should be able to train AI models on copyrighted material. "Balanced copyright rules, such as fair use and text-and-data mining exceptions, have been critical to enabling AI systems to learn from prior knowledge and publicly available data, unlocking scientific and social advances," Google writes. "These exceptions allow for the use of copyrighted, publicly available material for AI training without significantly impacting rightsholders and avoid often highly unpredictable, imbalanced, and lengthy negotiations with data holders during model development or scientific experimentation." Last year, OpenAI said it would be "impossible to train today's leading AI models without using copyrighted materials." The company currently faces numerous lawsuits accusing it of copyright infringement, including ones involving The New York Times and a group of authors led by George R.R. Martin and Jonathan Franzen. At the same time, the company recently accused Chinese AI startups of trying to copy its technologies.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-and-google-ask-for-a-government-exemption-to-train-their-ai-models-on-copyrighted-material-212906990.html?src=rss
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