HeyWhatsNew: TikTok Has Been Given a 9 Month Deadline, and Drake Faces a Lawsuit for AI-generated Content
What’s good, HeyUp crew? We’ve made it to the last full week of April to conclude the first month of the second quarter, and it’s been an interesting week in the world of tech. Here are your tech news headlines for the week beginning 22/04/2024.
The TikTok Ban Has Officially Been Signed by President Biden
TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, has stated that the company is confident in their case and will continue to fight for users’ rights in court. This law gives the company’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, nine months to sell the app or it will be banned in the US.
The law which was recently signed by President Biden’s administration aims to address concerns about TikTok possibly sharing user data with the Chinese government, which TikTok denies. The company collects similar data to other apps, but the US worries it might end up with the Chinese government, which TikTok has always disputed.
Drake May Be Facing a Lawsuit After Unlawful Use of an AI-generated Tupac Voice
The legal team of Tupac Shakur’s estate has issued a warning to Canadian rapper Drake about the legal implications of his new song “Taylor Made Freestyle.” In the song, Drake uses what sounds like an AI-generated version of Tupac’s voice, as well as a voice that sounds like Snoop Dogg’s.
Tupac’s team sent Drake a letter accusing him of misusing Tupac’s artistry and violating the late legend’s rights. They have demanded that Drake respond to the letter before Thursday afternoon or face legal consequences.
The First Smartphone with Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Is Here
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, Qualcomm’s latest top-tier mobile chipset, is expected to debut in October at the annual Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit. Xiaomi has reportedly secured an exclusive deal to be the first to use this chipset, with the Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Pro being the initial devices. Following them will be the OnePlus 13 and iQOO 13.
GSMArena reports that while the order of release may have changed, these brands have a history of being among the first to adopt new chipsets. Global releases for these phones may lag behind the Chinese launch by a few weeks. It’s also worth mentioning that the Xiaomi 14 Pro didn’t have a global release, so the same could happen with its successor.
Two New Features May Be Coming to WhatsApp
A new test version of WhatsApp came out last night, showing us some new stuff that might be added to the app soon. Experts and an Android Authority contributor who follow WhatsApp closely found out about these features and shared the information.
One of the new features is an in-app dialer, which could let you make calls to people not saved in your contacts just by typing in their number. The other feature is for hidden groups, meant to keep certain community groups private. These features are still being tested, so we’ll have to wait for more updates because not everyone can try them yet.
Tesla Plans to Release More Affordable Models Starting Next Year
The Verge reports that Tesla plans to make more affordable electric vehicles, possibly by 2025, despite recent reports suggesting otherwise. Elon Musk recently clarified, during Tesla’s earnings call, that the company is still committed to creating a cheaper “Model 2” car, although it’s unclear if it will be a completely new model or simplified versions of existing ones.
Musk also mentioned that Tesla has adjusted its future vehicle lineup to introduce new models more quickly. These affordable EVs could arrive as early as next year, or possibly even later this year.
Microsoft Launches Its Smallest AI Model, Phi-3 Mini
This week, Microsoft launched a new lightweight AI model called Phi-3-mini, which aims to appeal to more clients with affordable options. According to the report in Reuters, this is the first of three small language models (SLMs) the company plans to release, emphasizing its commitment to bringing AI technology to more people.
Sébastien Bubeck, Microsoft’s vice president of GenAI research, says that Phi-3 offers significantly lower costs compared to similar models, making it a more economical choice. It’s estimated that Phi-3 will be close to 10 times more affordable than its competitors, making it more accessible.
Google Celebrates World Earth Day with Views of Our Planet
To honor the planet this Earth Day, Google replaced its logo and gave us a Google doodle featuring aerial views of natural landscapes shaped like letters. Each featured image had an interesting story attached to it, including ones about climate change, animal welfare, and land restoration.
Google also released a video detailing how they chose these features from many options, highlighting the variety of Earth’s surface. This not only illustrates how many landscapes resemble letters, it also shows the abundance of features on Earth. This abundance allowed Google to select the best seven to feature on its search engine doodle.
An interesting week it’s certainly been. We hope you’ll join us again next time when we unpack the top tech-news headlines impacting our world for the week. Cheers!
