A new Discord Social SDK allows developers to integrate the platform in-app for games. Discord is massively popular with gamers; the company estimates PC players alone spend more than 1.5 billion hours each month on the platform. This free SDK can extend the user experience beyond the third-party content in which it becomes embedded to reach the platform’s community of over 200 million monthly active users. “Developers can power friends lists, cross-platform messaging, voice and more for all players — with or without a Discord account,” the company announced. Continue reading New Discord Social SDK Integrates Platform In-App for Games

TikTok has rolled out a Security Checkup tool designed to help users secure their accounts. Security settings can now be reviewed and updated from a single screen, similar to security dashboards used by Google and Instagram. A step-by-step guide to the new feature encourages users to make their accounts safer by enabling more security features. The social media platform owned by China-based ByteDance is in the final days of a 75-day extension allowing it to continue U.S. operations after Congress deemed it a national security threat and enacted legislation requiring it to be sold or banned by January 15. Continue reading TikTok Adds Security Checkup to Help Users Secure Accounts

Google is expanding its AI presence in the UK market, hosting a splashy launch event there for Agentspace. Google in December launched Agentspace, an AI agent hub that makes it easy for enterprises to build, manage and deploy custom agents using Gemini. The gathering was hosted by Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian and included participation by local customers BT Group and advertising powerhouse WPP. Google invited UK businesses to store cloud data locally using its $1 billion data center, opening there this year. The company also promoted its new Chirp 3 audio generator, which offers HD voice synthesis. Continue reading Google Launches Agentspace in the UK and Promotes Chirp 3

Google has begun rolling out an updated Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental reasoning model that is faster and supports new features like file upload. The model, which is trained to break down prompts into a series of steps for more indepth responses, will now power Google Deep Research, replacing Gemini 1.5 Pro, and broadening its access so “anyone will be able to try it across the globe in 45-plus languages,” according to Google. Previously Deep Research was only available to subscribers paying $20-per-month for Google One AI Premium. Deep Research is a sort of AI assistant that searches the web, synthesizing information. Continue reading Google Updates Gemini App, Makes It Available to All for Free

Los Angeles-based AI startup Moonvalley has released a video generator purpose-built for entertainment and advertising. Called Marey, its creators say it was designed with the “specifications and tastes” of filmmakers and studios in mind and trained exclusively on owned or fully licensed source data to protect users from lawsuits. Asteria, a partner in the venture, owns a large documentary library through its subsidiary XTR. Its founders say Marey aims to usher in “a new era of GenAI video built to empower — not replace — the creative forces behind modern motion pictures.” Continue reading Moonvalley and Asteria Unveil Cinematic GenVid Model Marey

Taiwan’s Foxconn, the contract manufacturer that assembles Apple’s iPhones, has built its own AI. Called FoxBrain, the company says the large language model was trained in just four weeks with help from Nvidia, using 120 of that company’s H100 chips. FoxBrain has reasoning and mathematical skills and can analyze data and generate code. Initially built for in-house use, Foxconn says it intends to open source the model and hopes it will become a collaborative tool for its partners and enable advancements in manufacturing techniques and supply-chain management. Continue reading Foxconn AI Trained in Four Weeks, Suggesting Industry Shift

CES 2025 welcomed over 141,000 attendees from around the globe to Las Vegas. With more than 4,500 exhibitors, including 1,400 startups, and more than 6,000 media attendees, CES highlights the innovation and technology trends addressing global challenges and shaping the future. This year’s show focused on artificial intelligence, unveiling a wave of innovative offerings — whether practical, visionary or experimental. Among the show’s major trends were AI integration across all industries, shifting demographics and purchasing patterns (with Gen Z the one to watch), sustainability and security, and smart devices and smarter homes. ETC@USC attended the conference for live reporting on products and services. Our post-show report features extensive coverage and perspectives related to key creative, business, and technology areas. Continue reading ETC’s CES 2025 Report: Focus on AI Innovation & Integration

Rivalry between World Network, also known as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s “other company,” and Elon Musk’s X is heating up in an escalating race to be first out with an “everything app.” World Network is trying to accelerate adoption of a log-in system that relies on “ocular verification” — mapping the unique pattern of the iris — for “anonymous proof-of-human” validation. World already has a free app for iOS and Android, and recently launched a “mini app store” within it, including functions such as chat, transferring cryptocurrency and shopping for microloans. Continue reading Altman’s World Takes on Musk’s X in Race to Everything App

Alibaba is making AI news again, releasing another Qwen reasoning model, QwQ-32B, which was trained and scaled using reinforcement learning (RL). The Qwen team says it “has the potential to enhance model performance beyond conventional pretraining and post-training methods.” QwQ-32B, a 32 billion parameter model, “achieves performance comparable to DeepSeek-R1, which boasts 671 billion parameters (with 37 billion activated),” Alibaba claims. While parameters refer to the total set of adjustable weights and biases in the model’s neural network, “activated” parameters are a subset used for a specific inference task, like generating a response. Continue reading Alibaba Says Qwen Reasoning Model on Par with DeepSeek

Samsung shook things up at Mobile World Congress 2025 with a display of its Project Moohan XR headset, which CNBC confirms will be released this year. While the MWC display was just a teaser, and Samsung remained tight-lipped about its specs, the mirrored goggles generated a lot of coverage, including speculation that Samsung may deploy Sony’s 4K Micro OLEDs in the new device, increasing Mohan’s resolution over the Apple Vision Pro by nearly 2 million pixels per eye and offering superior color, too. Samsung worked with Qualcomm and Google to develop Moohan, which will use the new Android XR operating system. Continue reading New Samsung XR Headset Could Use Sony 4K Micro OLEDs

Amazon is ramping up its AI activity, reportedly planning to release its own advanced reasoning model as part of the company’s Nova family. The Nova line was introduced in December at re:Invent and the new addition could debut as early as June. Its reasoning prowess is being compared to the abilities of OpenAI’s o3-mini and DeepSeek-R1. But reports say Amazon is taking the hybrid reasoning approach embraced by Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet (Amazon has a 10 percent stake in Anthropic). The e-retail giant is also preparing for an agentic AI push, having established a dedicated unit, reports say. Continue reading Amazon Plans an AI Push with Nova Reasoning Model, Agents

Alphabet asked a question: “Could we harness the speed of light to deliver data without the need for cables?” The answer, compiled over 7 years, is that it can deliver fast, affordable Internet connectivity by transmitting high-speed data using beams of light through the air using the company’s new Taara chip. Whereas the first-generation technology, the Taara Lightbridge, relied on a system of mirrors, sensors and hardware to steer light physically, the Taara chip uses software to steer, track, and correct the beam of light without bulky moving parts — or a fiber optic wire. Continue reading New Alphabet Chip Delivers Internet Through Air Using Light

Over a year after teasing a next-gen Alexa virtual assistant, Amazon is releasing an AI-powered version called Alexa+. The new personal assistant can do things like order groceries for the household, facilitate event planning, manage smart home utilities and security, and, of course, shop online. “She’s smarter, more conversational, more capable,” according to Amazon SVP of Devices & Services Panos Panay. Strategically priced to entice the AI-curious into Amazon membership, Alexa+ costs $20 per month as a standalone service or comes free with Amazon Prime ($15 per month or $139 per year). Continue reading Amazon’s AI-Powered Alexa+ is Agentic with Computer Vision

Anthropic has released a new frontier model, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, described as the industry’s first “hybrid AI reasoning model.” The new Claude is different in that it can both respond to questions in real time or, alternatively, “think” about a problem for a prolonged period of time — basically as long as a user would like. Users can choose between “near-instant responses or extended, step-by-step thinking that is made visible to the user” by selecting the appropriate “reasoning” capability for Claude, Anthropic says. Along with the new model, Anthropic is also debuting a command line tool for agentic coding, Claude Code. Continue reading Anthropic Introduces a New Claude Hybrid Reasoning Model

Comcast Technology Solutions is launching MediaExpress, which aims to make it easier for content owners to get distribution on premium VOD tiers. MediaExpress offers program suppliers a pipeline to leading broadcast, streaming, social and digital platforms. It provides “a single ingest point for videos, metadata and supporting files, facilitating title management and distribution for both long form and short form video with CTS handling certified delivery,” according to Comcast. It also allows library holders to streamline “VOD distribution and monetization efforts across subscription VOD (SVOD), advertising VOD (AVOD), transactional VOD (TVOD) or FAST partners.” Continue reading Comcast MediaExpress Will Distribute Premium VOD Content