DirecTV has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Dish Network from EchoStar, realizing a long-time goal. The deal sees DirecTV paying Dish Network $1 for video distribution assets including Dish and Sling TV, and taking on $9.75 billion of Dish’s $20 billion in debt. The agreement does not include EchoStar’s wireless spectrum investments. Concurrently, AT&T has agreed to sell its 70 percent DirecTV stake to private equity firm TPG, which holds the other 30 percent. That deal is valued at $7.6 billion and is not contingent on the Dish acquisition, which is expected to close in Q4 2025. Combined, DirecTV and Dish will serve more than 18 million customers. Continue reading EchoStar Agrees to Sell Dish Network, Sling to Rival DirecTV

The Allen Institute for AI (also known as Ai2, founded by Paul Allen and led by Ali Farhadi) has launched Molmo, a family of four open-source multimodal models. While advanced models “can perceive the world and communicate with us, Molmo goes beyond that to enable one to act in their worlds, unlocking a whole new generation of capabilities, everything from sophisticated web agents to robotics,” according to Ai2. On some third-party benchmark tests, Molmo’s 72 billion parameter model outperforms other open AI offerings and “performs favorably” against proprietary rivals like OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Google’s Gemini 1.5 and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Ai2 says. Continue reading Allen Institute Announces Vision-Optimized Molmo AI Models

Google has updated its AI assistant, NotebookLM, allowing the AI note-taking and research tool to find summaries of audio files and YouTube videos. First released at the Google I/O developer conference in 2023, NotebookLM even creates sharable AI-generated audio discussions and podcasts. It allows users to upload file formats including PDFs, Google Docs, Google Slides and websites. The items, including text, can be stored in shareable “notebooks,” organizing material in a central location, and users can ask Google’s Gemini AI questions about the notebook material. Initially embraced by students and educators, it has become equally popular among business users. Continue reading Google Unveils New Updates to Its AI-Powered NotebookLM

Artificial intelligence platform Runway has launched The Hundred Film Fund to help finance 100 projects that use its AI to tell stories. Created by the company through its Runway Studios, the Fund is starting with $5 million, “with the potential to grow to $10 million.” Runway is presenting the Fund as “an open call to all creative professionals who have AI-augmented film projects in the pre- or post-production phases and are in need of funding.” Directors, producers and screenwriters are among those invited to apply. The program will consider all formats, from features to shorts, documentaries, experimental projects, music videos and more. Continue reading Runway Launches $5M AI Film Fund as Open Call to Creators

Visual effects studio Digital Domain has brought its Autonomous Virtual Human project to Amazon Web Services, which will provide generative AI and machine learning tools and provide Digital Domain’s creations and processes a home in the global cloud. The collaboration “aims to propel the evolution and global reach of Digital Domain’s AVH technology and expand its use for multiple industries, including entertainment, gaming, healthcare, hospitality, and commercial applications,” Amazon said in a statement that emphasizes “AWS cloud services, particularly Amazon Bedrock,” as providing the infrastructure and adaptability “to drive AVH’s growth.” Continue reading Digital Domain Leverages AWS for Its Virtual Human Initiative

The Tor Project has merged operation with Tails, a Linux-based portable operating system that uses Tor to protect users from digital surveillance. Tor, a global non-profit that develops tools for online privacy and anonymity, will incorporate Tails into its structure for simpler collaboration, “better sustainability, reduced overhead, and expanded training and outreach programs to counter a larger number of digital threats,” according to the Tor Project. The move comes as regulatory forces heighten efforts to break end-to-end encryption. Tor emphasizes the alliance will “strengthen both organizations’ ability to protect people worldwide from surveillance and censorship.” Continue reading Privacy-Focused Tor Platform Absorbs Linux-Based Tails OS

The European Commission has released a list of more than 100 companies that have become signatories to the EU’s AI Pact. While Google, Microsoft and OpenAI are among them, Apple and Meta are not. The voluntary AI Pact is aimed at eliciting policies on AI deployment during the period before the legally binding AI Act takes full effect. The EU AI Pact focuses on transparency in three core areas: internal AI governance, high-risk AI systems mapping and promoting AI literacy and awareness among staff to support ethical development. It is aimed at “relevant stakeholders,” across industry, civil society and academia. Continue reading Amazon, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI Join the EU’s AI Pact

Meta’s Llama 3.2 release includes two new multimodal LLMs, one with 11 billion parameters and one with 90 billion — considered small- and medium-sized — and two lightweight, text-only models (1B and 3B) that fit onto edge and mobile devices. Included are pre-trained and instruction-tuned versions. In addition to text, the multimodal models can interpret images, supporting apps that require visual understanding. Meta says the models are free and open source. Alongside them, the company is releasing “the first official Llama Stack distributions,” enabling “turnkey deployment” with integrated safety. Continue reading Meta Unveils New Open-Source Multimodal Model Llama 3.2

California’s “click to cancel” bill has become law, making it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions. Companies that offer online or in-app sign-ups will now have to make canceling or unsubscribing available online or in-app as well. Assembly Bill 2863 was signed into law this week by Governor Gavin Newsom, though companies have until the middle of next year to comply. Consumers have long complained about companies making it easy to sign up but difficult to cancel services. This law ensures consumers can easily exit from services “without being trapped by confusing processes or hidden fees.” Continue reading California Enacts Laws for Sub Canceling, Digital Downloads

Meta has secured rights to the voices of actors Judi Dench, Kristen Bell, John Cena and others for its Meta AI chatbot, a ChatGPT-like digital assistant that is part of the plan for conversational AI as part of the multimodal Llama 3.2. Also revealed at Meta Connect this week was Orion, “the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen,” queued up to become Meta’s “first consumer full holographic AR glasses,” though they won’t be available anytime soon. A low-priced Quest 3 mixed reality headset, the $299 Quest 3S, will be arriving in time for the holidays, however. Continue reading Meta Reveals Orion Concept Glasses, Celeb Voices, Quest 3S

As OpenAI gears up to become a for-profit company next year, it is releasing ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode, which brings a humanlike conversation mode to ChatGPT 4o. All U.S. subscribers to ChatGPT Plus and Team plans will gain access to the new feature, which will also be made available to those paying for ChatGPT Edu and Enterprise plans in the coming weeks. The firm is also adding five new voices and allowing customers to save personalized instructions for the voice assistant, including memory behaviors. Concurrently, executives including CTO Mira Murati have resigned as the company pivots to commerciality. Continue reading OpenAI Rolls Out Advanced Voice Mode Feature for ChatGPT

Microsoft has released a suite of “Trustworthy AI” features that address concerns about AI security and reliability. The four new capabilities include Correction, a content detection upgrade in Microsoft Azure that “helps fix hallucination issues in real time before users see them.” Embedded Content Safety allows customers to embed Azure AI Content Safety on devices where cloud connectivity is intermittent or unavailable, while two new filters flag AI output of protected material. Additionally, a transparency safeguard providing the company’s AI assistant, Microsoft 365 Copilot, with specific “web search query citations” is coming soon. Continue reading New Microsoft Safety Tools Fix AI Flubs, Detect Proprietary IP

Cloudflare has released AI Audit, a free set of new tools designed to help websites analyze and control how their content is used by artificial intelligence models. Described as “one-click blocking” to prevent unauthorized AI scraping, Cloudflare says it will also make it easier to identify the content bots scan most, so they can wall it off and negotiate payment in exchange for access. Helping its clients toward a sustainable future, Cloudflare is also creating a marketplace for sites to negotiate fees based on AI audits that trace cyber footprints on server files. Continue reading Cloudflare Tool Can Prevent AI Bots from Scraping Websites

Alibaba Cloud last week globally released more than 100 new open-source variants of its large language foundation model, Qwen 2.5, to the global open-source community. The company has also revamped its proprietary offering as a full-stack AI-computing infrastructure across cloud products, networking and data center architecture, all aimed at supporting the growing demands of AI computing. Alibaba Cloud’s significant contribution was revealed at the Apsara Conference, the annual flagship event held by the cloud division of China’s e-retail giant, often referred to as the Chinese Amazon. Continue reading Alibaba Cloud Ups Its AI Game with 100 Open-Source Models

Google announced that the latest update to Password Manager now enables users to sync their passkeys across multiple devices. Previously, Google passkeys could only be easily saved to Password Manager on Android, limiting cross-device utility. Scanning a QR code on an Android device was previously required to use passkeys on non-native platforms. The update makes it possible to use Google Password Manager on desktop systems that run Windows, macOS and Linux. ChromeOS is currently being beta tested and Google says iOS support is “coming soon.” Continue reading Google Debuts Secure Passkey Sync Feature Across Devices