No more free API access, says Twitter: You pay for that data

Twitter is eliminating access to its API, but the once-free comms integration will still be available to those who want it – for a price.

“Starting February 9, we will no longer support free access to the Twitter API, both v2 and v1.1. A paid basic tier will be available instead,” Twitter’s developer account said this morning.

https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/02/twitter_eliminating_all_free_api/

Thousands of People Can’t Stop Watching AI-Generated Sitcom ‘Nothing, Forever’

Screenshot from Twitch

Thousands of people at a time are watching “Nothing, Forever,” an AI-generated and nonsensical version of “Seinfeld” that streams perpetually on Twitch.

The co-creators of the show, Skylar Hartle and Brian Habersberger, told Motherboard that they used a combination of machine learning, generative algorithms, and cloud services to build the show. This means that the characters are all speaking to each other using GPT-3, OpenAI’s language model, which becomes clear as the characters are often not looking at each other when they are talking and rarely make sense.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/88qy3p/thousands-of-people-cant-stop-watching-ai-tv-show-nothing-forever

OpenAI releases tool to detect AI-generated text, including from ChatGPT

Image Credits: OpenAI

“The classifier aims to help mitigate false claims that AI-generated text was written by a human. However, it still has a number of limitations — so it should be used as a complement to other methods of determining the source of text instead of being the primary decision-making tool,” an OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch via email. “We’re making this initial classifier available to get feedback on whether tools like this are useful, and hope to share improved methods in the future.”

https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/31/openai-releases-tool-to-detect-ai-generated-text-including-from-chatgpt/

Can E3 Survive Without Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft? We May Find Out This Year

Credit: E3

As IGN reports(Opens in a new window), Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are all expected to give the first physical E3 event in four years a miss. That’s based on “multiple knowledgeable sources,” but all there companies have yet to officially confirm their decision not to attend.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/can-e3-survive-without-nintendo-sony-microsoft-we-may-find-out-this-year

Why are so many tech companies laying people off right now?

Image: The Verge

Let’s be real, none of these companies are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy — in fact, they were recently minting money.

The answer is that investors have changed how they’re evaluating companies, says Michael Cusumano, the deputy dean at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Generally, when companies are growing really fast — like when revenue is shooting up 20 percent or 30 percent a year — nobody cares about profits, Cusumano says. But we’re not in a growth period right now, so investors are being more cautious.

But we’re not in a growth period right now, so investors are being more cautious.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/26/23571659/tech-layoffs-facebook-google-amazon

Three months ago, he was laid off from Twitter. Now, his competing app Spill is funded.

Image Credits: Spill

Like Twitter, Spill will have a live news feed where users can post “spills,” a reference to the phrase “spill the tea.” Spill is also building a feature called “tea parties,” where users can host both online and IRL events, then get in-app bonuses to apply to things like boosting their posts — these bonuses will also be for sale.

“We’re really leaning into meme culture, making it easier to put text on images or gifs — little touches and tweaks like that have been really exciting,” Terrell said.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/30/three-months-ago-he-was-laid-off-from-twitter-now-his-competing-app-spill-is-funded/

Starling Medical’s new urine-testing device turns your toilet into a health tracker

Image Credits: Starling Medical

If you enjoy some good toilet technology, then I think “urine” for a treat. Starling Medical is poised to launch its at-home urine diagnostic patient-monitoring platform, dubbed “StarStream,” that doesn’t rely on the traditional catching containers or dipsticks.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/27/starling-medical-urine-health/