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OpenAI is introducing image generation directly within ChatGPT. Powered by its flagship multimodal model, GPT-4o, the chatbot can now create visuals straight from the chat interface. The feature will initially be available to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Team, and free users. Enterprise and Education tier users will get access soon. Today we have one of the most fun, cool things we have ever launched . . . native images in ChatGPT, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said at the beginning of a video stream Tuesday. Altman acknowledged that the feature had been highly anticipatedespecially since competitors like Google Gemini have offered integrated image generation for some time. ChatGPT now allows users to generate images based on prompts, conversations, and uploaded files. Users can create brand new images or transform existing images. OpenAI says the world knowledge trained into the GPT-4o model allows ChatGPT to better understand the contexts in which images are used. It is also better at following prompts rendering text within images, OpenAI says. Users can refine images by prompting the model with natural language. For instance, when designing a video game character, the model can maintain visual consistency across multiple iterations as the user makes adjustments. OpenAI says it expects people to use the tool work-related visuals that require precision (such as diagrams, infographics, branded content), text-heavy images (instruction posters, business cards), photorealistic images with accurate lighting and textures, and visuals that benefit from conversation context. By simplifying the process with a single multimodal model that handles all image generation tasks, OpenAI is positioning ChatGPT as a go-to tool for both personal and professional image generation.
Category:
E-Commerce
A once-every-four-years report card on the upkeep of America’s infrastructure gave it a C grade on Tuesday, up slightly from previous reports, largely due to investments made during former President Joe Biden’s administration. The report from the American Society of Civil Engineers, which examined everything from roads and dams to drinking water and railroads, warns that federal funding must be sustained or increased to avoid further deterioration and escalating costs. We have seen the investments start to pay off, but we still have a lot of work to do out there, said Darren Olson, chair of this years report. He said decrepit infrastructure from poor roads that damage cars to delayed flights to power outages that spoil groceries hurts people and the economy. By investing in our infrastructure, were making our economy more efficient, were making it stronger (and) were making ourselves globally more competitive, he said. Its especially critical that infrastructure can handle more extreme weather due to climate change, said Olson, noting hurricanes that devastated the East Coast and parts of Appalachia last year. The U.S. saw 27 weather disasters last year that cost at least $1 billion, second-most since 1980. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided $550 billion in new infrastructure investments, but is set to expire in 2026. Another $30 billion came from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, including for projects focused on clean energy and climate change, the engineering group said. President Donald Trump’s administration has targeted some of Bidens green policies. Public parks improved to a C-minus from a D-plus, for example, thanks in part to significant investments over several years. Recently, however, the Trump administration moved to slash National Park Service staffing. In 2021, the U.S. earned a C-minus overall. The investments made since then are just a fraction of the $9.1 trillion that the civil engineers group estimates is needed to bring all of the nations current infrastructure into a state of good repair. Even if current federal infrastructure funding were maintained, there still would be a $3.7 trillion gap over a decade, according to the report. The bill to upgrade and maintain the nations roughly 50,000 water utilities, for example, is $625 billion over the next two decades, according to the federal government. The grade for drinking water was C-minus, unchanged from four years ago. Many communities already struggling to maintain old, outdated drinking water systems also face new requirements to replace lead service line s and reduce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively known as PFAS. The bipartisan infrastructure bill helped complete or start a lot of really important projects, said Scott Berry, director of policy and governmental affairs at the US Water Alliance. But the gap has widened so much over the last couple of decades that a lot, lot more investment is going to be needed. The bill also provided billions to help the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers upgrade inland waterways, which move roughly $150 billion in commerce every year, improving the grade from a D-plus to a C-minus. Barges on the Mississippi River, for example, carry enormous amounts of coal, soybeans, corn and other raw materials to international markets. But critical infrastructure like locks and dams many built more than a half-century ago and requiring regular maintenance and repair is often invisible to the public, making it easy to neglect, said Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition. And when big projects are funded, it too often comes in stages, he said. That forces projects to pause until more money is appropriated, driving up costs for materials and labor. If we really want to make the taxpayer dollars stretch further, you have got to be able to bring a greater degree of predictability and reliability in how you fund these projects, he said. The report’s focus on engineering and money misses the importance of adopting policies that could improve how people use and pay for infrastructure, according to Clifford Winston, a microeconomist in the Brookings Institutions economic studies program. You fail to make the most efficient use of what you have, said Winston. For example, he noted that congestion pricing like that recently adopted by New York City charging people to drive in crowded areas places the burden on frequent users and can pressure people to drive less, reducing the need for new bridges, tunnels and repairs. Roads remain in chronically poor shape, receiving a D-plus compared to a D in the last report, despite $591 billion in investments since 2021. Two categories, rail and energy, received lower grades. Disasters like the derailment of a train carrying dangerous chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023 lowered rails previous B mark to a B-minus. The energy sector, stressed by surging demand from data centers and electric vehicles, got a D-plus, down from C-minus. Engineers say problems in many sectors have festered for so long that the nation must figure out how to address the shortcomings now or pay for them when systems fail. On Wednesday, a delegation of engineers will visit Washington to talk to lawmakers about the funding impacts and the importance of continuing that investment, said Olson, who said the needs are a bipartisan issue. When we talk about it in ways of how better infrastructure saves the American family money, how better infrastructure supports economic growth, were really confident that … there is strong support, he said. ___ The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Tammy Webber and Michael Phillis, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
The resignation of United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Monday comes just two weeks after he announced plans to cut some 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the agency as part of the government’s cost-cutting agenda. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has eyed privatizing the nation’s postal service. Trump’s move to give commerce secretary Howard Lutnick authority over the independent agency could be a first step in that direction. DeJoy said in a statement that while the 250-year-old U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has established “a path toward financial sustainability” and instituted “enormous beneficial change to what had been an adrift and moribund organization,” more work remained. Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino will temporarily head the postal service while the USPS Board of Governors looks for a permanent successor, although the USPS said there is no established timeline for DeJoys replacement. Louis DeJoy [Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images] The $78 billion-a-year agency has struggled in recent years as more Americans are replacing paper transactions with online services. However, critics say the U.S. Postal Service is a lot more efficient than is being portrayed, and privatizing it could cause a host of problems nationwide, including interrupting or delaying the crucial delivery of prescription drugs and checks, and threatening guaranteed mail-in election ballots, which have played an increasingly important role in recent presidential elections. According to those critics, the Trump administration’s meddling in the USPS’s operations could make mail-in voting more difficult for the tens of millions of American voters who used it in the last election. Those most affected would be Americans living in rural areas who depend on the mail service. Trump has repeatedly said hed like to end the practice of mail-in voting. Taking over the Postal Service just kind of opens up a whole Pandoras box of mischief, said Barbara Smith Warner, executive director of National Vote at Home Institute, a nonprofit which works to increase voters access to and confidence in mail voting. This is a way that the federal government could put a really big thumb on the scale and impact every states ability to run their own elections.” DeJoy, who headed the U.S. Postal Service since June 2020, has been a controversial figure over the last five years. The former businessman and Republican donor led the agency through the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, as well as two presidential elections that saw high turnout in mail-in ballots. Critics have said his efforts to modernize the postal service by consolidating deliveries ultimately backfired, slowing down the mail even further. He also raised prices: A first-class stamp on a standard envelope is currently $0.73, up from $0.55 when DeJoy arrived at the agency, according to CNN. A survey by the Pew Research Center last July, found the post office has a 72% approval rating, making it one of the most popular government agencies.
Category:
E-Commerce
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