YouTube is getting desperate
You saw the sub-header. YouTube is getting desperate. The Google-owned company hasn’t said as much, but it doesn’t take a genius to notice that it’s on the hunt for new Premium subscribers — its R72/m ad-free tier. That’s evidenced by YouTube’s most recent assault on adblockers, involving slowing down load times and even limiting full-screen mode for anyone who dares avoid the platform’s ads.
That’s according to a Reddit post that began seeing some traction over the weekend, showing video proof that YouTube is doing exactly that. It wasn’t just u/NightMean noting the issue, with many of the subreddit’s users pointing out similar issues. As if we needed proof of YouTube’s shenanigans, with this being the latest stunt of many in YouTube’s ongoing war against users and ad-blockers.
Don’t get your britches in a bunch just yet. There might be a reprieve. For now. Stuff attempted to recreate the same issues away from our Premium account, and found that everything was perfectly in order. That could mean we’re one of the lucky few — however unlikely — to avoid YouTube’s clutches or that YouTube is still testing this change before making it more widespread. That… unfortunately, feels like the more likely conclusion.
(Open)AI and War(fare)
After what turned out to be a shaky end to 2023, OpenAI is ‘back’. The company has decided to kick the year off with some changes to its usage policy, which, until recently, prohibited the use of its artificial intelligence (AI) technology for “military and warfare” purposes. Initially spotted by The Intercept, OpenAI updated the policy page on 10 January 2024, to “be clearer and provide more service-specific guidance,” which includes the deletion of some rather important language — amongst other changes.
To be clear, OpenAI isn’t actively encouraging the use of its AI in war zones. The policy still includes the prohibition of using the technology to physically harm someone or something, and cautions people off from using it to “develop or use weapons.” Which is odd, considering the removal of that rather important bit of wording.
When questioned about the change, OpenAI’s Niko Felix — a spokesperson — told The Intercept that the company was aiming “to create a set of universal principles that are both easy to remember and apply, especially as our tools are now globally used by everyday users who can now also build GPTs.” OpenAI’s got its PR speak on lock by the looks of it. But it still doesn’t address the gun-holding elephant in the room.
OpenAI later clarified that statement while speaking with Engadget. “Our policy does not allow our tools to be used to harm people, develop weapons, for communications surveillance, or to injure others or destroy property. There are, however, national security use cases that align with our mission.” That was before it mentioned its affiliations with DARPA to “spur the creation of new cybersecurity tools to secure open source software that critical infrastructure and industry depend on,” that is.
Samsung’s going for Seven
We live in South Africa. We don’t need to explain just how good Samsung’s efforts are, right? But if the past years are anything to go by, we should be seeing the unveiling of the S24 line-up at Wednesday’s Unpacked event — alongside a new artificial intelligence. A shiny new AI isn’t all that’s in the offing according to a report from Android Headlines — which reckons the South Korean conglomerate will be adopting Google’s seven-year update strategy.
That’s a big deal. As it stands, Samsung’s policy is to throw its flagship smartphones to the curb (metaphorically) after only four years of software updates. If the report is accurate, Samsung will be nearly doubling that figure on Wednesday. It isn’t yet known if this means three more years of purely security-centric updates, or something more substantial like OS and feature updates.
The same report makes mention of Samsung’s AI, noting that the company is looking to include Galaxy AI features free of charge “until at least 2025.” It doesn’t dig into any specifics, but it does give the impression that Samsung will be paywalling at least a few of the features included in Galaxy AI, if not all of them. What sort of precedent it’ll set in the industry, we’re not sure, but we’re guessing it won’t be a pretty one.
Sea of Stars gets some DLC
We don’t want to pat ourselves too hard on the back, but less than a month after throwing Sea of Stars onto our list of 2023’s best indie titles, the game’s developers have announced a DLC for the game. Some might argue that the game’s breakout success and subsequent winning of The Game Award’s Best Independent Game award had more to do with the DLC’s announcement. We guess we’ll never know.
Back onto the DLC itself. Sabotage Studio confirmed in a post on X.com that work had begun work on Sea of Stars DLC and, maybe more importantly, included an extremely brief teaser for the studio’s third game following The Messenger and Sea of Stars. No, it didn’t drop a trailer, but did mention that “Game 3” had been pitched.
Not much yet is known about either project, though Sabotage touts it as “mysterious and wacky”. Considering those words are an apt description of the game itself and that The Messenger was privy to some substantial updates in the form of Picnic Panic, we’re hopeful that Sabotage Studios can pull the cat out of the bag again.