China Miéville says we shouldn’t blame science fiction for its bad readers

It’s been 25 years since China Miéville stepped into the literary spotlight with his novel “Perdido Street Station.” Combining elements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, the novel introduced readers to the fantastically complex city of New Crobuzon, filled with insect-headed khepri, cactus-shaped cactacae, and terrifying slake moths that feed on their victims’ dreams. It

apple-reportedly-considered-building-the-iphone-17-air-without-ports

Apple reportedly considered building the iPhone 17 Air without ports

After reporting in January that Apple is adding an “Air” option to its iPhone lineup, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is offering more details about the upcoming slimmer iPhone. The iPhone 17 Air will launch this fall, Gurman says — and like the MacBook Air, it will be thinner than standard models, while combining high-end and low-end

meta-takes-aim-at-ex-employee’s-memoir-‘careless-people’

Meta takes aim at ex-employee’s memoir ‘Careless People’

Meta won a legal victory this week against Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former employee who recently published a memoir of her time at the company titled “Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism.” An arbitrator ruled that the company has made a valid argument that Wynn-Williams, who worked at Facebook (now Meta)

bluesky-users-debate-plans-around-user-data-and-ai-training

Bluesky users debate plans around user data and AI training

Social network Bluesky recently published a proposal on GitHub outlining new options it could give users to indicate whether they want their posts and data to be scraped for things like generative AI training and public archiving. CEO Jay Graber discussed the proposal earlier this week, while on-stage at South by Southwest, but it attracted

japan’s-service-robot-market-projected-to-triple-in-five-years

Japan’s service robot market projected to triple in five years

Faced with an aging population and labor shortages, Japanese businesses are increasingly relying on service robots to supplement their workforce, according to Bloomberg. Research firm Fuji Keizai projects the country’s service robot market to nearly triple by 2030, to ¥400 billion ($2.7 billion). Potentially driving that growth: The Recruit Works Institute projects that the country

flora-is-building-an-ai-powered-‘infinite-canvas’-for-creative-professionals

Flora is building an AI-powered ‘infinite canvas’ for creative professionals

With just a few words, AI models can be prompted to create a story, an image, or even a short film. But according to Weber Wong, these models are all “made by non-creatives for other non-creatives to feel creative.” In other words, they’re not built for actual creative professionals. That’s something Wong is hoping to

trump-calls-for-creation-of-a-‘crypto-strategic-reserve’

Trump calls for creation of a ‘crypto strategic reserve’

President Donald Trump is throwing his support behind the creation of a federal reserve of cryptocurrency assets — he initially highlighted XRP, Solana, and Cardano for inclusion, then later said Bitcoin and Ethereum would “obviously” be included too. In January, Trump issued an executive order calling for the formation of a working group that would

researchers-explore-how-to-build-shapeshifting,-t-1000-style-robots

Researchers explore how to build shapeshifting, T-1000-style robots

Researchers have developed small robots that can work together as a collective that changes shape and even shifts between solid and “fluid-like” states — a concept that should be familiar to anyone still haunted by nightmares of the T-1000 robotic assassin from “Terminator 2.” A team led by Matthew Devlin of UC Santa Barbara described

google’s-new-ai-video-model-veo-2-will-cost-50-cents-per-second

Google’s new AI video model Veo 2 will cost 50 cents per second

Google has quietly revealed the pricing of Veo 2, the video-generating AI model that it unveiled in December. According to the company’s pricing page, using Veo 2 will cost 50 cents per second of video, which adds up to $30 per minute or $1,800 per hour. Google DeepMind researcher Jon Barron contrasted this pricing with