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A magician from New Orleans claims that a Democratic operative hired him to create the phony Biden robocall. According to text messages, call logs, and Venmo transactions, the creator shared with NBC News — a Democratic consultant working for a rival presidential campaign paid a magician in New Orleans to use artificial intelligence to impersonate President Joe Biden for a robocall that is currently the subject of a multistate law enforcement investigation.
Paul Carpenter claims he was hired in January by Steve Kramer, who assisted Democratic presidential contender Dean Phillips with ballot access. Carpenter’s task was to use artificial intelligence (AI) to create voice impersonation of Joe Biden asking Democrats in New Hampshire to abstain from voting in the state’s presidential primary.
“There was no malicious intent. I didn’t know how it was going to be distributed.”
“I created the audio used in the robocall. I did not distribute it,” Carpenter said in an interview in New Orleans, where he resides. “I was in a situation where someone offered me some money to do something, and I did it. There was no malicious intent. I didn’t know how it was going to be distributed.”
Carpenter’s claim to fame is that he holds the world record in fork-bending and straitjacket escapes. He told and showed NBC News how he made the fake Biden audio file. Carpenter says that he only came forward to apologize for his part in the incident and to alert people to the ease with which artificial intelligence may be used to deceive.
Carpenter told NBC News that it only took him 20 minutes to make the robocall and cost approximately $1 — Carpenter, himself, was paid $150 according to the Venmo payment transfer from Kramer and his father, Bruce Kramer.
The authorities have not identified Carpenter and Steve Kramer as inquiry targets.
Federal law enforcement officers and New Hampshire officials are paying close attention to the robocall because they may have broken federal telecom regulations and state laws prohibiting voter suppression. Authorities have promised to look into the matter and have named the Dallas-based company that was responsible for the automated phone calls made to voters prior to the state’s primary. They did this because they wanted to hold those responsible accountable for the first-ever instance of an AI-generated deepfake being used maliciously in an American political campaign.
Featured Image Credit: Photo by SHVETS production; Pexels
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Microsoft Windows updates are notorious for requiring lengthy black screens to function – but perhaps not for much longer.
Software updates are part and parcel of owning a PC but Windows updates are well-known for taking a while, thanks to the long reboot times to trigger the updates. This will happen at least once a month for Windows machines, bringing necessary security and aesthetic updates to its users.
However, according to reporting from Windows Central on Friday, February 23, a change might be on the way. Microsoft is testing a new method dubbed ‘hot patching’ for Windows 11 PCs, following testing on some Windows Server editions.
What is Windows’ hot patching?
Hot patching refers to a form of rebootless updating, conducted on PCs using Virtualization Based Security. According to Microsoft’s internal wording, hot patching “[patches] the in-memory code of running processes without the need to restart the process.”
Such a feature could mean that Microsoft‘s monthly software updates could soon come without needing to restart to see the changes take place. However, this doesn’t mean you can never reboot, with Windows Central’s Zac Bowden stating that a reboot would still likely be necessary at least every few months or for significant updates.
This could reduce the number of forced reboots, interrupting valuable gaming or work time, could be reduced from 12 to just four per year. Hot patching could be a game changer for Windows user experience, with current updates always seemingly coming about at the worst possible moment.
Hot patching could be available for broader use later this year, perhaps in line with the release of Windows 11 version 24H2 on x86-64 machines. 2025 is expected to see the rollout of hot patching to ARM64 devices. It’s not yet confirmed if hot patching will be available to all Windows 11 users or if it will be reserved for specific geographical regions or commercial users, such as Enterprise, Education, and Windows 365.
Featured image: Unsplash
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In a February 23 court appearance, Meta giant Mark Zuckerberg is set to try to skirt personal liability in dozens of lawsuits, according to Bloomberg. This is despite his being directly named in numerous court cases that accuse Meta of making children addicted to platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
If Zuckerberg can convince the judge to dismiss personal litigation against him, the allegations and legal cases against Meta will remain upheld. This is significant because of the precedent it can potentially set in terms of holding tech giants to account. As pointed out by the New York Post, “Should US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers decide to hold Zuckerberg personally liable in the lawsuits, the decision could serve as a model for other social media users looking to hold tech behemoth CEOs responsible in mass personal injury litigation.”
Meta bites back
A Meta spokesperson also told the outlet that plenty of precedent proves that being an executive for a corporation doesn’t automatically make you liable for the broader behavior of said corporation. This is because the decision-making at such companies is usually very layered and involves multiple parties. The spokesperson also pointed out that these claims don’t explicitly say whether Zuckerberg violated a legal duty and said that the lawsuit should be entirely dismissed because of this.
To determine this question, Judge Gonzalez Rogers has asked both sides to share how current laws covering negligent misrepresentation and CEOs’ responsibility vary in different US states. In the legal filing, the plaintiff’s lawyers argue that, as the CEO of Meta, Zuckerberg is responsible for ” speaking fully and truthfully on the risks Meta’s platforms pose to children’s health.”
“With great power comes great responsibility,” the lawyers added. “Unfortunately, Mr. Zuckerberg has not lived up to that maxim.”
Featured Image: Generated by Midjourney
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Prosthetic company Atom Limbs has combined advanced sensors and machine learning with prosthetics for a futuristic experience.
Prosthetics can often be limited by the number of nerves and muscles that amputees have; meaning movement could be checked depending on the individual’s situation. However, Atom Limbs might have found a forward-thinking solution, using sensors and AI machine learning to ‘train’ a prosthetic limb to become more accurate.
How does the AI-powered prosthetic work?
The limbs can interpret electrical signals from the wearer’s brain and use them to move and manipulate itself, just like the electrical pulses that govern our bodies. That means the prosthetic arms coming out of the company have a full range of human motion across the elbow, wrist, and even individual fingers. They also provide haptic feedback to the wearer to give insight into their grip strength, allowing them to easily hold delicate objects.
Image: Atom Limbs
The arm can be attached using a strengthened sportswear-style vest, meaning it’s non-invasive and distributes the arm’s weight evenly for greater comfort. The fact that the prosthetic doesn’t need any surgery or implants to function is a major advantage over other prosthetics on the market at the moment.
Not only does the arm uses sensors to track instructions from the brain, but it also measures electrical signals across the limb via patches and a cup that fits over the top of the arm.
For all that, you can expect to pay something in the region of $20,000. While that might sound like a lot, it’s far less than many other bionic products on the market, improving accessibility to such high-value products. However, being able to purchase from Atom Limbs is still a way off, with the company’s prosthetics still under development. Data is being collected ahead of US regulatory processes, meaning a market-ready product isn’t coming any time soon.
Featured image: Atom Limbs
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Humane, a Bay Area AI startup, has announced a slight delay in the shipment of its highly anticipated Ai Pin, pushing the release from March to mid-April. This update was shared by Sam Sheffer, the company’s Head of Media, in a recent video. According to Sheffer, the first units are expected to leave the factory by the end of March, with “priority access” customers receiving their devices in mid-April and other preorders following shortly after.
The Ai Pin, Humane’s debut product, has generated significant buzz in the tech community, thanks in part to the founders’ backgrounds at Apple and a series of intriguing prelaunch teasers. Revealed last November in San Francisco, the $699 Ai Pin represents a pioneering venture into the use of generative AI in consumer hardware, positioning itself as a novel alternative to the traditional smartphone form factor.
As the tech industry leans increasingly toward integrating generative AI into consumer devices, Humane’s Ai Pin is set to be among the first to explore this new territory. This move aligns with the broader trend of “AI smartphones” and other AI-first consumer devices, such as those showcased by startup rabbit at CES last month.
According to TechCrunch, Humane has raised approximately $230 million to date, including a $100 million Series C round last year, underscoring the high stakes of the Ai Pin’s launch. The company’s decision to delay the release to ensure the product is consumer-ready reflects a cautious approach to fulfilling the high expectations set for this innovative device.
Despite a recent 10% workforce reduction announced at CES, which raised eyebrows given the company’s well-funded status, Humane remains focused on delivering a product that meets the needs and expectations of its early adopters.
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