Chinese AI company MiniMax releases new models it claims are competitive with the industry’s best

Chinese firms continue to release AI models that rival the capabilities of systems developed by OpenAI and other U.S.-based AI companies. This week, MiniMax, an Alibaba- and Tencent-backed startup that has raised around $850 million in venture capital and is valued at more than $2.5 billion, debuted three new models: MiniMax-Text-01, MiniMax-VL-01, and T2A-01-HD. MiniMax-Text-01 … Read more

Hindenburg Research, a short seller that targeted tech and EV companies, is closing up shop

When Hindenburg Research posts a blog on its website, it often means a company’s final days are near. Today, that company is Hindenburg Research. Nate Anderson announced Wednesday he has shut down short-selling firm Hindenburg Research, after a seven-year run issuing damning reports about high-profile companies, including many of the technology world’s giants and buzzy … Read more

The Supreme Court could decide the fate of Pornhub — and the rest of the internet

Cath Virginia / The Verge In Supreme Court oral arguments over a potentially seismic change to the internet, the most memorable question came from Justice Samuel Alito. “One of the parties here is the owner of Pornhub, right?” Alito asked Derek Shaffer, lawyer for the adult industry group Free Speech Coalition. “Is it like the … Read more

USDOT sues Southwest Airlines over ‘chronically delayed’ flights

Photo by DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is suing Southwest Airlines for “illegally operating multiple chronically delayed flights and disrupting passengers’ travel,” according to a press release. The USDOT’s investigation found that “Southwest operated two chronically delayed flights — one between Chicago Midway International Airport and Oakland, Calif, and … Read more

The Protocol: Sony Launches Blockchain to Controversy

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Ben Schiller, CoinDesk’s Opinion and Features editor. In this issue: Sony’s blockchain faces memecoin controversy Bubblemaps readies BMT and new intel desk Babylon enhances Bitcoin’s interoperability Prosecutors seek 95k BTC Bitfinex return This article is featured in the … Read more

The New Yorker’s Attack on Skycoin: A Case Study in Media Bias

Today on X (formerly Twitter), Skycoin founder Brandon Smietana formally demanded a public apology and retraction from Condé Nast and its flagship media, The New Yorker. The demand follows the publication of an article titled “Pumpers, Dumpers, and Shills: The Skycoin Saga” in August 2021, which Smietana alleges is filled with false claims and fabrications. … Read more

Making Sense of AI Learning Proofs

:::info Authors: (1) Jongmin Lee, Department of Mathematical Science, Seoul National University; (2) Ernest K. Ryu, Department of Mathematical Science, Seoul National University and Interdisciplinary Program in Artificial Intelligence, Seoul National University. ::: Abstract and 1 Introduction 1.1 Notations and preliminaries 1.2 Prior works 2 Anchored Value Iteration 2.1 Accelerated rate for Bellman consistency operator … Read more

Breaking Down the Inductive Proofs Behind Faster Value Iteration in RL

:::info Authors: (1) Jongmin Lee, Department of Mathematical Science, Seoul National University; (2) Ernest K. Ryu, Department of Mathematical Science, Seoul National University and Interdisciplinary Program in Artificial Intelligence, Seoul National University. ::: Abstract and 1 Introduction 1.1 Notations and preliminaries 1.2 Prior works 2 Anchored Value Iteration 2.1 Accelerated rate for Bellman consistency operator … Read more