Design platform Canva launches text-to-image AI feature

Canva’s text-to-image tool is the latest example of the technology hitting mainstream apps. Image: Canva

The feature is only the latest example of text-to-image AI tools reaching ever larger audiences. The launch of Stable Diffusion in particular has accelerated access to these systems, as its open-source implementation allows companies to integrate it into their own products for free. Text-to-image is quickly becoming a staple in creative platforms, and just last month, Microsoft launched its own text-to-image tool, Microsoft Designer, (powered by OpenAI’s DALL-E system) as part of its Office suite.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/10/23450965/canva-text-to-image-ai-tool-free-users

Zoom Video Conferencing Is Coming to Tesla Vehicles

(Credit: Zoom)

Walia merely says “this will be available on all new Tesla models soon.” She also teased the integration will be designed to sync with the rest of your Zoom account.

“Soon, you’ll be able to hop over from your car, your desk, or wherever you are into a Zoom room, and seamlessly transfer your meetings, your whiteboard, your Zoom applications with you to the room,” Walia adds.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/zoom-video-conferencing-is-coming-to-tesla-vehicles

People Think Their Cars Are Self-Driving Even Though They’re Not, Study Finds

BRYAN BEDDER / STRINGER VIA GETTY

The survey’s findings add to the mounting evidence that drivers don’t know exactly what self-driving cars are which leads them to believe their own cars are more capable than they are. It is a product of the wide gap between complex engineering jargon and colloquial terms people use all the time.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/93azze/people-think-their-cars-are-self-driving-even-though-theyre-not-study-finds

Now Wordle has an editor in charge of picking the next answer

Photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images

“Wordle will now have its own dedicated editor to help make the hit guessing game word puzzles, The New York Times announced on Monday. Tracy Bennett will be the editor, and the game will have a word list curated by the NYT and “be programmed and tested” like its crosswords and the Spelling Bee game.”

https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/7/23445167/wordle-the-new-york-times-editor-tracy-bennett

Unity and IronSource’s $4.4B merger is now complete

Image Credits: Unity

It’s worth noting that in the intervening weeks since Unity and ironSource first announced their plans, AppLovin entered the conversation in a big way when it tabled a $20 billion offer for Unity, on the condition that Unity ended plans to merge with AppLovin’s rival, ironSource. After consideration, Unity ultimately rejected that offer, with its board noting that AppLovin’s offer wasn’t a “superior proposal.”

https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/07/unity-and-ironsources-4-4b-merger-is-now-complete/

Billions being spent in metaverse land grab

DECENTRALAND

Nearly $2bn (£1.75bn) has been spent on virtual land in the past 12 months, as people and companies race to get a foothold in the metaverse, research shows.

But we are years away from the metaverse emerging as a single immersive space online where people can live, work and play in virtual reality. So is the land grab one big gamble?

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63488059

GitHub Users File a Class-Action Lawsuit Against Microsoft for Training an AI Tool With Their Code

IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES

GitHub Copilot, which was launched in June, suggests code and functions to GitHub users in real time. Copilot is powered by Codex, an AI system that was created by OpenAI and licensed to Microsoft. According to OpenAI, Codex was trained on “millions of public repositories” and is “an instance of transformative fair use.” However, open-source programmers on GitHub disagree, claiming that Codex has violated their open-source licenses, which only allow non-commercial redistribution and modification of the code and often have restrictions including a requirement to preserve the name of the authors.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvm3k5/github-users-file-a-class-action-lawsuit-against-microsoft-for-training-an-ai-tool-with-their-code