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Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson has refused to commit to resisting President Donald Trump if he ordered the agency to drop its antitrust suit against Meta, saying he would “obey lawful orders” and calling the scenario “a hypothetical.” His comments, made at a tech policy event in Washington, DC, followed a session where Ferguson reaffirmed his belief that independent regulatory agencies are “not good for a democracy.” Ferguson appeared at an antitrust-focused event hosted by Y Combinator on Wednesday, branded as the “Little Tech Competition Summit.” The FTC is set to begin its blockbuster anti-monopoly trial against Meta in just a couple of weeks, making a case that — in an extreme scenario — could break up the company. Yet Trump has proven willing to pardon allies or test legal bounds to support them. Ferguson has pledged strong fealty to him, declaring last month that Trump “is the chief executive and is vested with all the executive power in our government,” inc...

AI startup Runway says its latest AI video model can generate consistent scenes and people across multiple shots, according to an announcement . AI-generated videos can struggle with maintaining consistent storytelling, but Runway claims on X that the new model, Gen-4, should allow users more “continuity and control” while telling stories.  Currently rolling out to paid and enterprise users, the new Gen-4 video synthesis model allows users to generate characters and objects across shots using a single reference image. Users must then describe the composition they want, and the model will then generate consistent outputs from multiple angles. As an example, the startup released a video of a woman maintaining her appearance in different shots and contexts across a variety of lighting conditions. The release comes less than a year after Runway announced its Gen-3 Alpha video generator . That model extended the length of videos users could produce, but also sparked controve...

Several companies, including iRobot, have announced updates and support for Apple Home through Matter. | Image: iRobot The release of  Apple’s iOS 18.4 on Monday includes good news for robot vacuum owners. The update includes support for controlling robot vacuums and adding them to automations and scenes in the Apple Home app via the Matter protocol. With the official rollout of iOS 18.4, companies like Roborock, iRobot, and Ecovacs are introducing firmware updates so their robovacs will be fully compatible with Apple Home. Roborock’s firmware update “enhances the implementation of the Matter protocol across several of its premium robot vacuum models,” according to a press release from the company. Roborock models that will be getting this expanded Matter support include the S8 MaxV Ultra , Saros Z70 , Saros 10, Saros 10R, Qrevo Curv, Qrevo Edge, and Qrevo Master. Roborock says the supported models will receive the firmware update sometime between April 1st and April 10th, al...

Microsoft is making its AI features widely available on Copilot Plus PCs equipped with Intel and AMD chips. One of the most notable of these features will be Live Captions, which translates audio to English subtitles from dozens of different languages in real time. Microsoft first started testing Live Captions on Intel and AMD devices last December, and it’s now available through the latest Windows 11 update. The update also includes Cocreator, an AI tool in Paint that creates an image based on a text description and what you’re currently drawing. On top of that, Microsoft is also expanding access to its AI image editor and generator in the Photos app. These features were previously only available on Copilot Plus PCs with Qualcomm chips. Microsoft started testing Recall, an AI feature that takes screenshots of your activity on a Copilot Plus PC and lets you search through them, with Intel and AMD devices last year, though there’s still no word when it will become widely availab...

The simple contraption quickly attaches to both buttons and rocker switches. Smart plugs are great, but unfortunately, they can’t automate everything . Thankfully, there is a cheap cube-like contraption called the SwitchBot Bot that can add a touch of modern functionality to your garage door, light switch, and other traditional devices. It would normally run you $29.99, but right now you can buy it directly from SwitchBot for just $20.99 ($9 off) using promo code BKLP15 or at Amazon for $22.49 (about $8 off) if you’re a Prime member. SwitchBot’s smart switch button pusher is incredibly easy to set up: just use the included tape to mount it to a standard button or rocker switch, which will let you use your phone to control devices you would typically turn on and off via a button. It works with compatible garage door openers and light switches, along with coffee makers, rice cookers, pet feeders, monitors, laundry machines, and other button-based gadgets. It also lets you create ...

Some Hollywood studios are reportedly earning money from fake AI-generated movie trailers on YouTube, against the wishes of the union representing actors. According to a report from Deadline , Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, and Sony Pictures redirected ad revenue to themselves instead of enforcing copyright protections and shutting down the popular Screen Culture and KH Studio trailer accounts. In response, the SAG-AFTRA union has criticized the studios for profiting off videos that use AI to exploit their members’ likenesses without permission. Fanmade trailers are nothing new, but AI video generators like OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Veo have made it easier than ever for anyone to make artificially generated content. YouTube is becoming saturated with AI-generated slop that studios could tackle by issuing copyright strikes against offending accounts, but that would prevent them from monetizing the views on this new influx of content.  Screen Culture has 1.4 million subsc...