Meet Grok (no, not that one)
The only thing people might dislike more than AI is Elon Musk. Naturally, then, it’s Elon Musk that’s bringing yet another large language model into this world. One that won’t judge you for asking it how to make a very specific white powder (for baking, guys).
Coming from behind the xAI doors is ‘Grok’ – a chatbot that aims to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Bard. It’s planning to do that with the backing of the world’s richest man, and a little bit of humour, too. xAI recommends that those checking out ‘Grok’ – apparently modelled after The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – should have a funny bone before flipping the ‘on’ switch.
Grok’s supposed edge, according to its makers, stems from the model’s connection to X, the service formerly known as Twitter. “A unique and fundamental advantage of Grok is that it has real-time knowledge of the world via the 𝕏 platform. It will also answer spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems.” Uh, cool.
Apparently, Grok won’t be quite as judgemental when it comes to answering some… unsavoury questions. Ask Grok how to make some homemade cocaine, and it’ll humour you, before eventually getting to the good stuff, according to screenshots shared on X. Unfortunately, only verified X users can sign up for Grok’s early access programme, though the official rollout will only be reserved for those foolish enough to pay Musk’s absurd $16/m X Premium+ fee.
Falcon 9 on the double
Even if you aren’t Elon Musk’s biggest fan, it’s difficult to deny what SpaceX – his own private space exploration company – has done for space travel in the past decade. It recently made history, having sent up one of the company’s reusable Falcon 9 boosters into orbit for the eighteenth time.
This booster was first propelled into stardom back in May 2020, where, during its maiden voyage, it carried astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken into space – a first for SpaceX at the time. Now, this booster has since repeated that feat (though occasionally without astronauts aboard) a further seventeen times – breaking the previous record held by a different Falcon 9 booster.
The mission? To launch more of Starlink’s satellites into orbit – bringing the total number of satellites in the Starlink network to over 5,000 according to Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist that tracks spaceflight activity. But that’s not what’s important. What’s important is that SpaceX is already gearing up to send Falcon 9 back up again. At least until it’s got Starship up and operational.
Barbenheimer is real, and it’s hitting theatres in 2024
If you’ve been on Twitter in the last couple of days, you’ve probably seen a poster for a supposed ‘Barbenheimer’ movie circulating around. You probably just snorted some air out your nostrils, assumed it was a joke, and moved on with your life – just like we did. Imagine our surprise to learn that Barbenheimer is real and is being developed by B-movie icon, Charles Band.
“It’s 100 percent true,” he says (via The Hollywood Reporter). “But it’s also an opportunity to have fun with the bizarre coupling of these two movies and the combination of Barbie’s vibe and the darkness of Oppenheimer. You mix that together and you have such an opportunity for dark humor.”
This isn’t all some big joke, either. Barbenheimer has a real plot. Or about as ‘real’ as an amalgamation of 2023’s biggest movies can get we guess. There’s a script and some actors at the very least… we think.
Barbenheimer follows the aptly named Dr Bambi J Barbenheimer, a scientist doll living in Dolltopia – a land where nothing goes wrong (unless you’re her boyfriend, Twink Dollman). When she ventures into the real world, however, and discovers the horrors of humanity. So Dr. Barbenheimer does the only logical thing; develop a nuclear bomb to wipe out the planet.
The tagline? “D-Cup, A-Bomb.” Barbenheimer is expected to begin filming in 2024, though no official release date has been confirmed yet.
Bloodborne is back, baby!
This story’s headline might have you convinced that From Software is finally getting off its ass and remastering what could be its defining achievement: Bloodborne. That’s… not what’s happening. Instead, there appears to be a live-action Bloodborne film in the works according to DanielRPK – a leaker that’s rarely wrong about movie and TV news. And we aren’t too thrilled.
Unfortunately, it’s that accuracy that has us worried. DanielRPK didn’t just drop the news that a movie was in the pipeline, developed by Sony Pictures under PlayStation Productions. He also mentioned that the project would feature producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura – known for recent ‘hits’ like Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Meg 2: The Trench.
It gets worse. Not only will the film have Bonaventura’s production talents, but it’s screenplay will be written by Darren Lemke. You know, the same guy that wrote box-office-shattering hits like… er… Shazam! and… Gemini Man?
A logline (summary) was also leaked. “Sony project based on the PlayStation game of the same name. Bloodborne follows the player’s character, a Hunter, through the decrepit Gothic, Victorian-era-inspired city of Yharnam, whose inhabitants are afflicted with a blood-borne disease which transforms the residents, called Yharnamites, into horrific beasts. Attempting to find the source of the plague, the player’s character unravels the city’s mysteries while fighting beasts and cosmic beings.”
We’re not quite sure why PlayStation hates fans of Bloodborne so much. It’ll develop an entire feature film before giving its fans a bone in the form of a 60fps update. But hey, maybe some renewed interest in the IP is just the boot Sony needs to get a remaster or sequel cooking. We can hope, anyway.