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A pair of studies analyzing the effects of AI on our planet have been released and the news is fairly grim. Greenpeace studied the emissions generated from the production of the semiconductors used in AI chips and found that there was a fourfold increase in 2024. This analysis was completed using publicly available data. Greenpeace Many of the big chipmakers like NVIDIA rely on companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and SK Hynix Inc. for the components of GPUs and memory units. Most of this manufacturing happens in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, where power grids are primarily reliant on fossil fuels. This accounts for some of the increase in global emissions. The organization also says that global electricity requirements for AI could experience a 170-fold increase by 2030. Greenpeace Greenpeaces estimates have led some to worry that the AI race could derail global decarbonization goals, according to a report by Bloomberg. The nonprofit recommends that governments in eastern Asia transition to renewable power for chip manufacturing, but the opposite seems to be happening. South Korea recently announced plans to build plants for four gigawatts of gas-fired power generation. Taiwan has used the increased power demand related to AI as an excuse to expand liquid natural gas projects and grid infrastructure. Another study by The International Energy Agency (IEA) took a look at the US. The analysis suggested that power consumption by AI-adjacent data centers could account for half of the growth in electricity demand by 2030. As a matter of fact, the US economy could be on track to consume more electricity for processing data than for manufacturing all energy-intensive goods combined. This includes aluminum, steel, cement and chemicals. IEA Electricity demand from global data centers could more than double by 2030 to around 945 terawatt-hours (TWh). Thats more than the entire electricity consumption of Japan. Its a whopping 30 times more than the electricity consumption of Ireland. Proponents of AI say that the massive energy needs will eventually abate as the technology leads to scientific discoveries that accelerate innovation in fields like batteries and solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. However, thats a big fat maybe.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/global-emissions-due-to-ai-related-chipmaking-grew-more-than-four-times-in-2024-160304017.html?src=rss
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Bungie is set to take the wrappers off Marathon this Saturday and reveal gameplay from its first non-Destiny project in many years (and its first new one since joining Sony in 2022). Before that though, the studio has confirmed one detail about the multi-platform extraction shooter that PC and Xbox gamers may like to hear. The game wont force players to log in with a PlayStation account on those platforms. The Marathon team confirmed on the games official Discord server that "Marathon will not require a PlayStation Account for players on PC and Xbox." The developers said this in response to a user who was concerned that they might not be able to play Marathon on PC, since PSN wasnt supported in their country. This is relevant considering the Helldivers 2 mess from last year. The PC version of that Sony-published game was going to require players to connect to a PSN account. That wasnt enforced during the first three-ish months Helldivers 2 was available on Steam due to network issues, but it was later going to come into effect. The shift would have locked out players who had already bought the game in countries where PSN wasnt available. Sony quickly backtracked on the PSN requirement for Helldivers 2 following a backlash but the situation tarnished the reputation of a great game. The company later dropped mandatory PSN logins for many of its single-player games on PC, though it tried to incentivize players for linking their Steam account to PSN by offering in-game goodies. Bungie hasn't said much about Marathon since announcing its revival two years ago, but the gameplay showcase this weekend will shed much more light on what the game's all about. For what it's worth, streamer DrLupo claims to have been playtesting Marathon through various iterations over the last six years, and said it's gotten better each time he's tried it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/bungies-marathon-wont-force-xbox-and-pc-players-to-log-in-with-a-playstation-account-144127907.html?src=rss
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The last decade or so has seen schools and governments alike working on a substantial question: To what degree should students be allowed access to their phones? France has been among those leading the charge, requiring smartphones to be turned off during school hours since 2018. Now, the country is taking things a step further, insisting that students leave their phone in lockers or pouches, The Guardian reports. France's education minister and former prime minister Élisabeth Borne announced the new regulation, which will go into effect in middle schools come September. "At a time when the use of screens is being widely questioned because of its many harmful effects, this measure is essential for our childrens wellbeing and success at school." The decision follows two key events, a pilot program reported on by multiple sources and published expert recommendations. The former involved 180 middle schools comprised of over 50,000 students. Over the last six months, participants have done a "digital pause," putting their phones in a locker or pouch that is unlocked when they finish the day. Borne announced that the trial was successful in improving school's atmospheres. She added that schools will choose whether to use lockers or pouches, costing them up to a few thousand euros (3,000 equals $3,331, for example). The 2024 report, commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron, issued recommendations including no smartphone use for children under 13 years of age and no "conventional" social media access until they reach 18. The recommendations, led by a neurologist and an addictions psychiatrist, additionally pushed for limited to no screen-time for children, depending on their age. The UK and the US are among the other countries exploring similar school-based measures to France. In 2024, the UK government released guidance for schools on banning phones in educational spaces. Both New York and California's governors have also supported measures to limit smartphone use in schools. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/france-to-ban-students-from-keeping-smartphones-in-schools-140053272.html?src=rss
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The push for the latest, greatest and most feature-packed gadgets often results in so much pressure that buying anything else can feel like self-betrayal. And while the Pixel 9a is technically a new device, its chip is six months old. The same goes for its design, which is nearly a carbon copy of its older sibling. To make matters even worse, this phone is meant to be a more affordable entry into the Pixel phone family, which feels like a death sentence for anyone who cares about keeping up with the Joneses (or just the most up-to-date specs). But you know what? That's okay, because starting at $500, the Pixel 9a offers the best value of any Android phone today. Design and display: Simple but sturdy The Pixel 9a looks so similar to the standard model especially from the front that it's hard to tell them apart until you put them side by side. Once you do, you'll notice the 9a features slightly thicker bezels. But aside from that, there aren't a ton of differences. You still get a relatively compact 6.3-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,700 nits, just like on the regular Pixel 9. It's sharp, it's colorful and it's simply one of the best displays in this price range. If you pick both of them up, you may also notice that the 9a is also a touch lighter (6.56 ounces vs 6.98 ounces). That discrepancy is due to Google forgoing Gorilla Glass 3 for the backpanel in favor of recycled polycarbonate (aka plastic). That said, you still get a sturdy aluminum frame (also made from recycled materials) and an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. The 9a's biggest departure by far is that unlike every other Pixel dating back to the Pixel 6, it doesn't have a large bar or visor housing its cameras. Instead, you get a small teardrop-shaped protrusion that houses the main and ultra-wide shooters. The module is so shallow it practically sits flush against the phone, which makes this one of the few handsets in recent memory that actually sits flat on a table. Granted, this is a really minor design tweak, but as someone who doesn't like cases, I think it's a nice touch. Performance: Good enough speed Sam Rutherford for Engadget Just like the rest of the Pixel 9 family, the 9a is powered by Google's Tensor G4 chip. The major change is that instead of featuring 12GB of RAM, you only get 8GB. That said, unless you're frequently switching between apps or doing more intense things like gaming or video editing, you aren't really going to notice a huge difference. In Geekbench 6, both phones posted very similar results with a multi-core score of 4,294 for the 9a and 4,360 for the standard Pixel 9. The biggest potential impact of this for most people is that you won't be able to have quite as many apps running in the background, and if you switch between them often, you may spend some extra time reloading. The Pixel 9a also supports nearly all of Google's AI-powered tools including helpful stuff like car crash detection and Call Assist. You also have access to more advanced tools like Gemini Live (including camera and screen sharing) and Pixel Studio (now with the ability to generate images of people), the latter of which can be a fun way of creating silly custom images to troll your friends. Well, at least that's what I use it for. Sam Rutherford for Engadget However, software support isn't quite the same as you get on more expensive models. That's because one app that I've grown quite fond of on recent Pixels Google's Screenshots app isn't available on the Pixel 9a. This is definitely a bummer, because I found the ability to use AI to quickly search through all the screencaps I've taken is way better than doing it manually. I'm not entirely sure why it's not available considering some of the other machine learning-based features that do work. But when asked, a Google representative told me that in order to "maintain a $499 starting price, the company did have to make some trade-offs. As a result, some [of the standard Pixel 9's] features won't be available on the Pixel 9a." Cameras: Better image quality than phones twice its price Sam Rutherford for Engadget When it was first announced, Google claimed the 9a would have the best cameras of any phone under $500. And after considering the Pixel family's pedigree for excellent image quality, I pitted the phone's 48-MP main camera and 13-MP ultra-wide cam up against the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra to give it a real challenge. And despite costing $800 less, it acquitted itself with aplomb. In a daytime photo of a cozy coffee shop, the Pixel 9a preserved more details and produced a generally better looking image than a similar pic taken by the S25U (though part of that is due to Samsung's tendency to oversharpen). But perhaps an even better example of this was when I took photos of a croquette. Not only did the Pixel 9a's shot look more accurate, it featured better colors and was generally much more appetizing. And in low light, I got similar results with the 9a doing a great job with white balance while capturing sharp, detailed images despite the tough conditions.
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OpenAI has filed a countersuit against Elon Musk, accusing him of staging press attacks and malicious campaigns on "the social media platform he controls," as well as of making "harassing legal claims" and a "sham bid for OpenAI's assets." In its filing, courtesy of TechCrunch, the ChatGPT-maker said Musk could not tolerate seeing such "success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed" and had made it his own project to take down the organization. It also said that Musk's efforts have ramped up in recent months after it announced its plans to restructure and become a for-profit entity with a non-profit division. Last year, Musk sued OpenAI, accusing it of ditching its nonprofit mission, becoming a "closed-source de facto subsidiary" Microsoft and of violating its foundational agreement to develop generative AI "for the benefit of humanity." But Musk, OpenAI said in its new lawsuit, is only pretending to represent the public and in truth is seeking to stop it from restructuring. Musk "advised that a similar reorganization was needed to salvage OpenAI's mission" years ago when he was still part of the company, it said. After Musk filed a lawsuit last year, OpenAI published old emails from when he was still involved in its operations. The organization said Musk was there when it first started talking about going for-profit and even wanted majority equity, control of the initial board of directors and the CEO position. It also published an email wherein Musk suggested merging OpenAI with Tesla so that the automaker could fund its work. Musk left OpenAI in 2018 and eventually founded his own generative AI company, xAI. The AI company recently purchased X, formerly known as Twitter, for $33 billion. In a tweet, OpenAI said that Musk's actions are just "bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI" and that he's spreading false information about the organization, as well as aiming to seize control of its technology for his personal benefit. In its lawsuit, it said that Musk "should be enjoined from further unlawful and unfair action" and should be "held responsible for the damage he has already caused." OpenAI has to complete its reorganization by the end of this year or its private funding could be cut by as much as $10 billion. Hes been spreading false information about us. Were actually getting ready to build the best-equipped nonprofit the world has ever seen were not converting it away.More info here: https://t.co/oCHU0MUAoL OpenAI Newsroom (@OpenAINewsroom) April 9, 2025 In response, Musk's legal team told Reuters that if OpenAI had taken a close look at his offer for the company, then it would know that the bid was serious and not a sham. "It's telling that having to pay fair market value for OpenAI's assets allegedly 'interferes' with their business plans," Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff told the news agency. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-files-countersuit-against-elon-musks-bad-faith-attacks-123030861.html?src=rss
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