HeyWhatsNew: NASA Cancels the $450 Million VIPER, and the SEC May Be Investigating Instagram Soon
Hey there, Heyup gang. It’s been an interesting week in the world of tech with the majority of news headlines focusing on research and investigations. Let’s take a look at what happened in the week beginning 15/07/2024.
NASA Scraps the Rover Meant to Find Water on the Moon
NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) was planned to search for frozen water at the moon’s south pole to help answer questions about the location and amount of water available for future astronauts.
NASA has now, unfortunately, canceled the project and stopped developing the rover due to “cost increases, delays to the launch date, and the risks of future cost growth.” The agency has already spent $450 million on VIPER, according to The New York Times.
The Microsoft Designer App Has Made Its Way to Android and iOS
Microsoft’s Designer tool, similar to Adobe Express, is a website that helps users create art, greeting cards, wallpapers, and more using generative AI. After two years in preview, Microsoft’s Designer platform is now available to all users.
According to the official announcement from Microsoft, Designer includes 15 free daily boosts that allow users to swiftly create or edit AI-generated content. Additionally, Microsoft is launching an official app for Android and iOS devices.
Researchers Will Study the Mental Health Effects of Instagram
Instagram’s impact on the mental health of teens has been a hot topic for some time. Now, The Verge reports that Instagram is allowing a select group of researchers to access its data to study this issue.
For up to six months, researchers will be able to see data such as the number of accounts a teen follows, the frequency of their use of Instagram, and account settings. However, Meta has specifically stated it will not provide access to users’ demographic information or the content of their posts, comments, or messages.
Google Opts for a Pixel 9 Pro Fold Instead of Pixel Fold 2
The entire Pixel 9 series has just been leaked by the National Communications Commission, a regulatory agency in Taiwan. The leak includes the first clear photos of Google’s second foldable, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
The pictures reveal the device’s crease, battery sizes, new charging speeds, and more. The images also confirm that Google is shifting away from the short and squat passport-style design of the original Pixel Fold. Instead, the new design is more similar to the OnePlus Open.
Are OpenAI Employees Being Silenced? The SEC Has Been Asked to Investigate
OpenAI whistleblowers have filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), claiming the company illegally prevented employees from warning regulators about the risks its technology might pose to humanity.
The employees sent a seven-page letter detailing their concerns to SEC Chair Gary Gensler earlier this month. According to a report in The Washington Post, OpenAI allegedly made employees sign overly restrictive agreements that could penalize them for raising concerns with federal regulators.
US Government Will Leverage Social Media to Disrupt Drug Distributions
The United States recently came to an agreement with the biggest big social media companies to curb the selling of synthetic drugs online.
At the signing ceremony, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called synthetic drug use an “international crisis” that no single government or sector can handle alone. However, neither she nor the social media companies shared details about what actions they will take to reduce online synthetic drug distribution as part of the Prevent Alliance.
Consumers Spent More on This Year’s Prime Day Than Last Year
Reports show that in the first 32 hours of this year’s annual Amazon Prime Day sale, consumers spent an average of $60.03, an increase from $56.64 during the same period on Prime Day 2023. This is according to data collected by Numerator, a market research data and tech company. At the time of the report, approximately 16% of all orders were more than $100, and the average spend per household is just over $126.
On the other hand, Digital Commerce 360 reports that the success of Prime Day has a sort of chain effect on the e-commerce market, with other retailers taking the opportunity to run their own sales events at the same time.
Thank you for joining us for another edition of HeyWhatsNew, your weekly source of tech news updates. Bye for now.
