Category: AI

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ChatGPT’s search engine might end your dependence on Google

I’ve been a ChatGPT Plus user for about a year, and I think the $20/month subscription is worth it to access some of OpenAI’s best ChatGPT features. One of them is the newly released ChatGPT Search product that competes directly against Google Search. It’s probably the AI product some people at Google have been dreading all along when ChatGPT went viral in late 2022.

I can’t say that I needed ChatGPT Search that much since ChatGPT Plus already searches the web during prompts. Also, I haven’t turned ChatGPT Search into my default search engine, and I say that as someone who has ditched Google Search long before generative AI chatbots were all the rage.

But I appreciate what OpenAI has done with the ChatGPT interface now that ChatGPT Search is an actual product. Whenever ChatGPT has to search the web to answer my prompts, it now displays sources by default. Not only that, but the UI gets a new tab where I see multiple sources that I can visit to double check the chatbot’s accuracy.

Remember that I’ve been telling you for nearly two years that ChatGPT and its kind are prone to hallucinations. That is inventing things that aren’t factually correct. Google’s big Search fumble with AI Overviews will always come to mind. That genAI product thought putting glue on pizza was safe because it couldn’t discern irony in things it read on Reddit during training.

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From the early days of Custom Instructions on ChatGPT, I instructed the chatbot to give me sources for all the claims it makes in its answer. That experience has been mostly good. That’s because ChatGPT would routinely serve links that would not work. Those pages were no longer available for me to read.

By moving forward with the ChatGPT Search project, OpenAI also had to improve that aspect of the user experience. The user would have to get links to search results, similar to how Google Search works.

If you use ChatGPT Search to search the web, you’ll always get sources at the end of the answer. Here’s one such example: I searched for “Spider-Man 4 release date.” Notice the Sources button at the end of the prompt and the links after each paragraph:

A ChatGPT Search will always display a Sources button at the end.A ChatGPT Search will always display a Sources button at the end. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR

Click that button, and a vertical Citations menu opens on the right-hand side containing multiple links that tackle the topic:

Press the Sources button, and you get a new menu with links on the right side.Press the Sources button, and you get a new menu with links on the right side. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR

But I just said that I don’t use ChatGPT Search that much. That is, I don’t press that Search button (seen in blue above).

Instead, I use ChatGPT GPT-4o most of the time to find answers to my questions. This is actually what made me realize the ChatGPT Plus experience has improved so much thanks to ChatGPT Search.

I looked at recent rumors about Spider-Man 4 earlier today and wanted to refresh some information. I went to ChatGPT with some questions. The chatbot answered them by performing an online search, though I didn’t go through ChatGPT Search specifically. Notice there’s no blue button active in the prompt bar:

A regular chat with ChatGPT Plus will also show the same Sources button and the menu on the right.A regular chat with ChatGPT Plus will also show the same Sources button and the menu on the right. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR

However, OpenAI gives me the same Sources tab at the end of the response. A click on it opens the same new Search Results menu on the right, giving me access to plenty of search answers.

This will make fact-checking ChatGPT answers even easier than before. ChatGPT Plus users would have access to sources for the claims ChatGPT makes. The chatbot will probably continue to hallucinate. But you’ll be able to verify the information without providing Custom Instructions that make ChatGPT show links to sources. ChatGPT does it all by default.

OpenAI rolled out these UI updates only a few days ago, but I haven’t really paid attention to them. I would click on links from ChatGPT Plus, which would open in other browser tabs before the new menu appeared. In fact, I performed the “Spider-Man 4 release date” ChatGPT Search I first showed you only after noticing the Search Results menu in a regular chat with ChatGPT GPT-4o.

If I were still using Google Search, these new ChatGPT Plus and ChatGPT Search features would be enough to have me consider ditching it. While I still use DuckDuckGo for other searches and Google Maps for specific store and business information, I might actually give ChatGPT Search more screen time than before.

I’ll also note that ChatGPT users on the Free tier will not get access to internet search features inside prompts and will not have ChatGPT Search available separately. All of the above applies to paid ChatGPT tiers for now.

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Nvidia rumored to be winding down production of RTX 4000 GPUs ahead of next-gen launches – which could mean some tempting Black Friday bargains

  • Nvidia is said to be halting production of mid-to-higher-end Lovelace GPUs
  • That means the RTX 4080 Super, RTX 4070, 4070 Super, and 4070 Ti Super
  • Next-gen successors are expected to arrive soon for those GPUs

Nvidia is rumored to be winding down production of most of the firm’s RTX 4000 GPUs, ahead of the launch of next-gen RTX 5000 models.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard such speculation, and once again it originates from the Board Channels forums over in China (as noticed by Japanese tech blog Gazlog, via VideoCardz). As ever, we’d add more than a little seasoning to these theories.

We’re told that the Nvidia RTX 4080 Super is discontinued as of this month (November), and existing stock is all that’s left to be sold – and that inventory could sell through by the close of December (or certainly January 2025).

With the RTX 5080 arriving in early January, the rumors reckon, that could potentially leave a gap of a month between existing RTX 4080 Super models selling out, and the next-gen replacement arriving.

Apparently, the RTX 4070 Ti Super is in much the same boat, and while there’s a small supply of chips left, that won’t last beyond November. This means that the 4070 Ti Super could sell out in a similar timeframe to the 4080 Super.

It’s a rather different story with the RTX 4070 and 4070 Super, though, which will get a supply of chips from Nvidia to board makers through to the close of 2024. Don’t expect anything but a limited supply, and hence production, of these graphics cards, though, which could run dry in January 2025, possibly lasting a bit longer.

The RTX 4060 isn’t mentioned, so the supply isn’t being run down by Nvidia by all accounts – not yet anyway.

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An Nvidia RTX 4070 Super on a purple deskmat on a desk

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Analysis: A hopeful sign of some top-notch deals

This does make sense based on next-gen rumors, with Nvidia expected to be readying an RTX 5090, 5080, and 5070 for launch early next year (or maybe even late in 2024). So, leaving the RTX 4060 alone would be the plan if there isn’t going to be an RTX 5060 for some time yet.

This sort of speculation has to be treated very carefully, mind, as we’ve had all sorts of chatter along these lines in recent times. In fact, we’ve been hearing about Nvidia slowing down the assembly lines since August 2024, and more recent revelations have also suggested that Team Green is now in the ‘final stage of inventory clearance’ for the RTX 4000 range. Save for the RTX 4060 as noted, though even that had a pause in its production, if the rumors are right.

There are a mix of theories coming through, then, but all add up to the broad conclusion that Nvidia is looking to halt Lovelace production and move full speed ahead with RTX 5000 models.

While it might seem obvious to wait for these next-gen graphics cards to arrive at this point – and see how they shake out, performance and price-wise – retailers are also aware of this, and the need to shift existing Nvidia RTX 4000 stock as the transition to RTX 5000 begins.

What this means is we might see some excellent Black Friday bargains on Lovelace GPUs, and perhaps deeper graphics card discounts than normal at the higher end of the spectrum with Nvidia. Fingers crossed, and we’ll keep you up to date on all the best Black Friday deals, whether they pertain to GPUs or otherwise.

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Overcoming the cyber paradox: Shrinking budgets – growing threats

Recent years have seen a general cost-cutting in organisations caused by economic pressures. Many organisations have seen a fall in customer demand due to the cost-of-living crisis, as well as inflationary pressures affecting costs. Higher interest rates, increasing organisations’ cost of capital, are another factor.

There’s also a sense of fatigue associated with spending on cyber security. Businesses’ spending on cyber has been increasing year-on-year for a sustained period of time, and a tendency has crept in for organisations to feel that, by now, they have done the necessary investing required to protect themselves, even though the reality is that the cyber threat landscape is ever-intensifying and regulatory pressures are mounting.

Lastly, we’ve seen a ‘platformisation’ of cyber software, with the big suppliers creating cohesive, unified cyber solutions. This encourages CISOs to embrace economies of scale in their spending, allowing them to do ‘more with less’. This has led to reductions in spending on single-use-case software solutions.

All of these factors combined are contributing to a flatlining of cyber budgets over the past 12 to 18 months in many organisations.

What makes organisations feel security is a worthwhile ‘cut’?

In this area, spending is highly correlated to compliance – often more than risk appetite. Compliance drives action, and this leads to a situation where if the organisation feels compliance has been achieved, the spend begins to plateau as the sense of urgency around cyber dissipates.

Some sectors are pushing hard on compliance, for example DORA for financial services in EMEIA and NIS2 for critical infrastructure in the European Union (EU). Spending on cyber security is more robust in these sectors, commensurate with the demands of these regulatory frameworks, but in sectors where regulation is less onerous, the spend is measurably flattening.

How can CISOs and security leaders lobby to maintain their budgets?

This is where a shift in perspective is badly needed. The case needs to be made that spending on cyber is a value investment – not just a risk management cost. Organisations need to start regarding cyber as an enabling ecosystem which unlocks value in multiple ways. It can enable AI implementation right across the organisation, for one thing. It can help enable acquisitions, for another. Creating a strong platform can also differentiate the organisation in the eyes of customers. All this contributes tangible value.

This is an important shift in mindset, from a perspective that views cyber only as a cost to one that understands it as an enabling infrastructure that links directly to the value generated by the products and services it underpins.

This new perspective should enable businesses to consider that, instead of relying solely on central funding for cyber, they can allocate to cyber a share of their budgets for new initiatives – on the basis that an optimal cyber infrastructure is a necessary condition of the initiative’s success.

It’s also useful to quantify the effectiveness of cyber spend, using Cyber Risk Quantification to demonstrate the tangible link between risk reduction and spend.

How can CISOs and security leaders increase their budgets?

One of the main things cyber can enable is AI, and this is becoming the fastest-moving – and fastest-growing – change catalyst in the whole landscape. There is no doubt that AI is a cyber threat multiplier, allowing cyber criminals to become better at what they do: better malware, better phishing, and so on.

This means that the custodians of business need to become better, too. And that’s going to require ongoing investment, and an ongoing evolution of the tools and solutions we implement, to enable organisations to try and keep up with the criminals.

As cyber criminals avail themselves of AI to create more effective cyber-attacks, organisations are going to need to fight AI with AI.  It is important to look at opportunities to automate cyber defence, especially in key use cases around Threat Detection and Response, Automated Testing and User Access Rights management. 

EY’s research shows that one of the key indicators of organisations who perform best in cyber security is that they consistently adopt emerging technology – especially automation – quickly. Companies who can ingrain that technology-friendly approach are the ones that suffer the least from being attacked.

The threat outlook for 2025

The existing big threats – ransomware, phishing and supply chain attacks – will all continue, and will continue to grow in sophistication. Alongside that, we expect to see more targeting of Operational Technology (OT), as well as the Internet of Things (IoT).

It’s reasonable to expect that the fast growth of AI implementation across organisations and sectors will produce new vulnerabilities, and that as a result, more data breaches will occur as an inevitable aspect of this fast pace of change.

Finally, the other key development will be the way cyber criminals are themselves utilising and deploying AI. The intensity of malware attacks is likely to increase, as attackers weaponise GenAI. The pace of development is capable of being equally effective on both sides of the battle, which is precisely why organisations cannot afford to be complacent.

Richard Watson is global and APAC cyber security consulting lead at EY

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Underfunded, under pressure: We must act to support cyber teams

Cyber resilience has dominated headlines this year as major outages impacting people, businesses, and public services hit the headlines.

But what about the cyber security professionals working behind the scenes? Although they often receive little media attention, the importance of their role in safeguarding day-to-day life has never been clearer. As AI technologies become more integrated across businesses and cyber threats grow increasingly sophisticated, demands on cybersecurity teams are higher than ever.

The key question remains: are businesses doing enough to support them?

Cyber attacks aren’t going away – and cyber teams are feeling the strain 

New research from ISACA’s latest State of Cybersecurity report reveals that 41% of cyber security professionals say they are experiencing more cyber attacks this year than last. This is a growing issue which will only worsen if businesses do not act immediately. Indeed, not only are attacks increasing in number, but also in complexity. GenAI technologies are becoming more accessible, allowing bad actors to make their attacks harder to detect by more accurately simulating real human speech patterns and behaviours.

And cyber security professionals are feeling the strain. 68% of those surveyed report that their role is more stressful now than a year ago, with 79% attributing this rise to the increasingly complex threat landscape. With a worrying 58% of professionals expecting to experience an attack within the next year, it is no longer a matter of if businesses are going to be attacked, but rather when. Organisations must invest in their workforce to ensure they have the people with the right skills and expertise needed to combat these escalating threats and protect people and assets. 

Yet cyber teams are underskilled, underfunded, and stressed 

Despite this imminent threat to businesses, not enough organisations are making it a priority. Over half (52%) of professionals say that their organisations’ cyber security budget is underfunded, leaving them vulnerable to attacks. This is especially concerning because businesses do not exist within a vacuum — as we have seen in cases such as the CrowdStrike outage, weakness in one organisation can put entire digital ecosystems and supply chains at risk. 

The issue of chronic underfunding is directly impacting staffing of cyber security professionals, too. 53% report that employees are leaving positions due to poor financial incentives, which is why a further 61% say that their organisations’ teams are understaffed. It is imperative that businesses take action by financially prioritising their cyber security teams as only these crucial investments can improve retention and fix the understaffing crisis. Without doing so, professionals’ stress levels will continue to increase and they will be ill-prepared to tackle mounting external threats. 

Job role criteria is holding the cyber industry back

In addition to the problem of retaining staff, cyber security teams are also struggling to recruit. 19% of professionals say that their organisation has unfilled and open entry-level positions available, rising to almost half (48%) having unfilled open positions which require experience, a university degree, or other credentials. These numbers are concerning and suggest that businesses must take a broader approach to recruitment by diversifying the types of candidates they are considering and then offering sufficient training. 

Our research shows that this will not only help with numbers of staff, but that it will have a positive impact on the quality of teams, too. When surveyed, over half (52%) of professionals highlighted soft skills as those most lacking amongst their current peers. If businesses choose to recruit staff from a wider pool, this skills gap can be effectively addressed, increasing the overall strength and efficacy of their teams. When enthusiastic candidates with the right soft skills are recruited, they can receive training to become adept cyber professionals while bringing an additional wealth of knowledge to the role. 

Among these soft skills, communication stands out, with 54% of respondents identifying it as an area of concern. This is a critical issue for the cyber security field, as effective communication enables professionals to advocate for themselves within their organisations and externally, strengthening the visibility of cyber security’s value and enhancing public understanding. Given the data on underfunding, it’s evident that businesses often overlook cyber security, so it is vital to diversify employee skills and help integrate cyber security more closely into daily operations. 

Hire beyond the traditional cyber security professional 

When looking for candidates, businesses must invest in encouraging candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, including those who have developed these soft skills in another field and are now looking to make a career change. If applicants show a willingness and aptitude to learn, financial backing must be provided to allow them to upskill within the role. Training must also be offered to current employees to upskill them and ensure they have the knowledge and skills to match hackers, especially as new emerging technologies exacerbate the tactics used by these groups.

Investing in the ongoing professional development of new and existing employees isn’t just a strategy, it’s a necessity in closing the cyber skills gap. As external threats continue to worsen, businesses must adopt this proactive approach to build a resilient, future-ready workforce that stands as the first line of defence in protecting people and assets. 

Chris Dimitriadis is global chief strategy officer at ISACA

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Nvidia fans, it’s time to get excited

  • Auras Technology expects Nvidia’s RTX 5000 series to dominate the GPU market
  • Focus among suppliers anticipated to shift towards next-gen GPUs
  • A reveal or teaser could be weeks away

Considering the rumors and supposed leaks of RTX 5000 series GPUs, it’s no surprise that Nvidia’s next-gen GPUs are the current hot topic among PC gamers. Now, a Taiwanese cooling supplier has given us more reasons to get excited about Team Green’s upcoming launch.

Auras Technology manufactures cooling components for discrete GPUs as well as notebooks, motherboards, and servers, and its CEO Yu-Shen Lin has just claimed that Nvidia’s Blackwell GPUs could “seize the markets starting in December” (as revealed by DigiTimes). Lin expects the RTX 5000 series to launch with high levels of interest and demand, similar to what we saw previously with the RTX 4000 series launch.

The official reveal of Team Green’s next-gen GPUs could be closer than ever, with CEO Jensen Huang’s appearance at CES 2025 already confirmed – this will take place in January 2025 with Nvidia’s fierce rivals, AMD, also making an appearance. Team Red isn’t anticipated to compete within the high-end GPU market with a narrowed focus on mid-range, adding further credence to Lin’s expectation of Nvidia dominance.

This latest news corroborates earlier reports suggesting that Nvidia’s production of RTX 5000 series GPUs has stepped up – along with other suppliers, Auras Technology is anticipated to shift priorities toward the new GPU range.

Will this help with the inevitable high demand for the RTX 5000 series?

There is no doubt that the RTX 5000 series GPUs will be highly sought-after once it launches, especially if DLSS 3’s successor delivers major enhancements (though I personally will be upset if Nvidia’s ‘DLSS 4’ is exclusive to owners of a 5000-series card). It’s no secret that the next-gen GPUs will be driven by AI, and this could easily draw more attention from PC gamers looking for greater GPU performance.

Scalping has been an issue surrounding PC hardware, particularly for Nvidia fans – while suppliers’ current preparation for the new GPUs could help with the expected high demand, there’s only so much that can be done to prevent third-party sellers from taking advantage of the situation.

If the purported price of the RTX 5090 (a hefty $2,500, around £2000 / AU$3900) holds any truth, we could see the worst examples of scalping within the PC hardware market yet. Fingers crossed it isn’t too rough…

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HarperCollins asks authors to license their books to train AI models

If your goal is to make a bunch of authors exceedingly angry with you, I honestly can’t think of many better ways than asking them to sell their work to train AI. And yet, that’s what publishing company HarperCollins has started doing with its authors, as exposed by writer and comedian Daniel Kibblesmith in a post on Bluesky late last week.

“Abominable,” Kibblesmith wrote, sharing screenshots of the correspondence between himself and his agent about the deal. The publisher was interested in including his 2017 children’s book Santa’s Husband and was willing to pay a non-negotiable sum of $2,500 to license his book for three years in order to train an AI language learning model.

The A.V. Club reported on the incident last week. 404 Media then reached out to HarperCollins on Monday for the publisher’s side of the story and received this response:

HarperCollins has reached an agreement with an artificial intelligence technology company to allow limited use of select nonfiction backlist titles for training AI models to improve model quality and performance. While we believe this deal is attractive, we respect the various views of our authors, and they have the choice to opt in to the agreement or to pass on the opportunity.

HarperCollins has a long history of innovation and experimentation with new business models. Part of our role is to present authors with opportunities for their consideration while simultaneously protecting the underlying value of their works and our shared revenue and royalty streams. This agreement, with its limited scope and clear guardrails around model output that respects author’s rights, does that.

On the one hand, the fact that HarperCollins is giving the authors the ability to opt-out at all is encouraging. Given how much money is presumably at stake, the publisher might have chosen to bully authors into taking the deal instead of asking for permission. On the other hand, it’s a bit hard to imagine many authors taking HarperCollins up on the deal and potentially contributing to their own obsolescence, especially for the paltry payday of $2,500 per title.

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“It seems like they think they’re cooked, and they’re chasing short money while they can,” said Kibblesmith to A.V. Club. “I disagree. The fear of robots replacing authors is a false binary. I see it as the beginning of two diverging markets, readers who want to connect with other humans across time and space, or readers who are satisfied with a customized on-demand content pellet fed to them by the big computer so they never have to be challenged again.”

Needless to say, Kibblesmith did not agree to the terms. That said, not every author is willing or able to take a moral stand, especially if $2,500 or more could help pay the bills.

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CMA clears Google over Anthropic partnership

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said Alphabet’s partnership with Anthropic does not qualify for investigation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002.

In October 2023, Alphabet invested $2bn in OpenAI rival Anthropic. The artificial intelligence (AI) startup has also received $4bn funding from Amazon.

The CMA is concerned that the foundational model sector is developing in ways that risk negative market outcomes. In particular, the likes of Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Apple have the market dominance to buy up or shut down competition. It is also worried that partnerships between these major technology providers and developers of AI foundation models may limit choice and be anti-competitive.

In September, the CMA concluded its investigation of Microsoft’s hiring of key staff from Inflection, finding that Inflection AI was not a strong competitor to the consumer chatbots Microsoft has developed directly in partnership with OpenAI.

Discussing the outcome of the latest investigation, Joel Bamford, executive director of the CMA, wrote on LinkedIn: “Our investigation has shown that Google has not acquired the ability to materially influence Anthropic’s commercial policy and therefore the partnership does not meet the jurisdictional threshold for UK merger control to apply.”

He described the conclusion of this latest investigation as “another decision by the CMA which provides greater clarity for businesses and their investors”.

In a summary of its findings from the phase one investigation into the deal, the CMA said it did not believe Google had acquired material influence over Anthropic as a result of the partnership. The CMA said it looked at the risk of Google exercising influence over Anthropic at shareholder and/or board level, along with an assessment of Google’s own Vertex AI product.

“The available evidence did not indicate that Google has the ability to exercise material influence over Anthropic through the partnership,” the CMA concluded.

The CMA said it had considered the fact that Anthropic and Google offer two of the leading foundational AI models globally. However, given Anthropic’s turnover is below the £70m threshold, which is one of the criteria it takes into account when assessing whether to look further into a deal, pursuing this thread of investigation was not necessary.

The CMA is also looking at whether it should investigate Amazon’s partnership with Anthropic, due to the $4bn funding the AI startup received from Amazon. 

Some industry experts believe the CMA should continue looking at the foundation model market. Josh Mesout, chief innovation officer at Civo, said: “While the CMA has decided not to pursue an investigation into the Anthropic/Alphabet partnership, the broader concerns raised in the investigation about potential market concentration in AI remain valid.

“Over-dependence on a handful of major firms could still stifle innovation, limit consumer choice and potentially lead to a monopoly that favours Big Tech. Even without a formal investigation, it is the responsibility of everyone in the industry to ensure the AI market remains fair, competitive and conducive to ongoing technological advancement.”

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Computer Weekly’s Women in UK Tech Rising Stars 2024

This year’s most influential woman in UK technology – Sheridan Ash, founder and co-CEO of Tech She Can – created the charity to bridge the accessibility gap that exists when it comes to female role models in the technology space.

While there are many high-profile women in tech, these role models are people to aspire to be, and many young girls feel they need women only one or two steps ahead of them in their careers to show them the path to the top.

Computer Weekly’s Rising Stars category was introduced in 2014 as a way to increase the number of women showcased as industry role models.

Each year, alongside the top 50 list, Computer Weekly asks its judges to suggest Rising Stars who are starting their journey towards a possible place in the top 50 in the future, and who represent the future of the tech sector.

This year’s Rising Stars are:

Alice Hendy, CEO and founder, R;pple; cyber culture manager, Deloitte

Hendy founded digital suicide prevention tool R;pple in 2020, designed to help people who are making online searches relating to self-harm or suicide.

She is CEO of the charity, which she does alongside her work as the cyber culture manager at Deloitte.

With an extensive background in cyber, Hendy is also a TEDx speaker, an ambassador for One Young World and a JAAQ creator, covering the topic of suicide prevention.

Sarah Underhill, HR director, technology and data (Group Chief Operating Office), Lloyds Banking Group

Underhill has spent her entire career at Lloyds Banking Group, since joining the firm as a graduate in 1999.

She has held several roles at Lloyds, and is currently HR director for technology and data, part of the firm’s Group Chief Operating Office, where she is responsible for developing its people strategies for technology.

She has previously sat on the board of now disbanded tech diversity collective the Tech Talent Charter.

Feryal Clark, Parliamentary under secretary of state for AI and digital government, DSIT

Clark has worked in the public sector for many years, most recently being appointed the parliamentary under-secretary of state for artificial intelligence (AI) and digital government at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Her responsibilities range across AI and digital, including AI regulation, transparency and ethics, as well as cyber security and digital identity, and public services.

Before her Parliamentary career, Clark’s focus was on medicine, having studied bioinformatics at the University of Exeter and worked in roles in diagnostic biochemistry and diagnostic virology.

Tania Duarte, founder, We and AI

Heavily focused on the use of AI, Duarte co-founded non-profit We and AI in 2020 to ensure AI is developed with everyone in mind, creating communities to ensure diverse teams of people are involved in the technology’s future development.

She is also the lead of Better Images of AI, a not-for-profit that offers a free library of images that better represent AI to reduce the use of stereotypical representations of AI such as “humanoid robots, glowing brains, outstretched robot hands, blue backgrounds and the Terminator”.

In 2020, she also became the founding editorial board member of the AI and Ethics Journal, published by Springer Nature.

Anushka Davis, head of talent, engagement and diversity, and head of learning and development, Softcat

Davis heads up talent, engagement and diversity, as well as learning and development, for IT infrastructure firm Softcat.

Her role involves looking after the development of all employees across the organisation, as well as developing the firm’s graduate and apprenticeship programmes.

She is also an advisory board member of community group Women of the Channel.

Nikita Thakrar, founder and CEO, Included VC

Thakrar founded and is CEO of Included VC, a venture capital fund dedicated to making sure diversity entrepreneurs gain the funding they need.

It’s not her first time working with entrepreneurs – previously she headed up innovation and entrepreneurship in Deep Science Ventures at Imperial College London.

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Opera and Spotify partner to bring seamless music streaming to your browser

Following Opera One’s recent R2 update, the Nordic browser still has a few more surprises for its users. Starting today, Opera and Spotify have partnered to make it easier for users to listen to their favorite music, podcasts, and audiobooks while browsing on their computers.

Spotify is the default streaming service within the revamped Music Player in Opera’s flagship browser. To celebrate this partnership, Opera is offering up to three free months of Spotify Premium to users in Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam

“People love listening to music and podcasts while at their computers. Now, with Spotify in the sidebar of Opera One, everything’s right there at your fingertips – you can shop, write, plan a trip, all while never having to stop listening to your favorite music and audio via the browser’s floating multimedia player,” said Joanna Czajka, Product Director at Opera.

The new music player with Spotify is located in the sidebar of the Opera One browser. When activated, it can be detached and moved around the screen without interrupting a user’s browsing flow. That said, instead of switching between tabs and apps, you can use the floating browser window.

Another perk of the built-in widget is that Spotify audio pauses when you join a meeting or call and resumes afterward.

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Opera One R2 new features

Image source: Opera

Opera One R2 also offers a brand-new experience. Expanding on the modular design introduced with Opera One, R2 features the company’s latest AI innovations, new dynamic themes, and enhancements for tab management.

With this major browser update, users can take advantage of several new AI features. With a more powerful Command Line interface, Aria, the browser’s free AI, can quickly summarize a webpage, analyze an article, or even help users compare products when shopping online.

Image Generation and Image Understanding are also part of the Opera One R2 update. Users can even upload pictures in the sidebar chat, where Aria can explain what’s in the image. It’s even possible to upload a landscape sketch and ask the AI assistant to create a realistic version.

Other highlights of this update include:

  • Tab management enhancements: With Split Screen and Tab Traces, users can join two tabs and divide their screen into halves to have them open at the same time. The latter gives subtle visual cues about their five most recently visited tabs. This is available to users with more than 30 tabs open.
  • Detachable music and video player controls: The redesigned Music Player can be detached and moved around the screen. The video player also works with video calls. For those listening to music before joining a Google Meet, the music automatically fades out and pauses for the duration of the call.
  • Native ad blocker support: Opera One R2 includes the company’s famous native ad blocker support. Opera says it brings a cleaner, safer, and more private experience.

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Intel’s next-gen Arc B580 spotted, backing up rumors of a December launch for Battlemage GPUs

  • Leak suggests the box for Arc B580 is being readied
  • This comes on top of rumors that Intel will launch Battlemage next month
  • We can hope for a true budget 1080p champ in those 2nd-gen Arc GPUs

Rumors around Intel’s next-gen Battlemage desktop GPUs are ramping up, with the latest being a sighting of the Arc B580 graphics card – or at least a hint that the packaging is being readied.

Tom’s Hardware noticed the appearance of a shipping manifest, presented in a post on X, seemingly for the box of the Battlemage (BMG) B580 GPU.

Naturally, take this with some seasoning – plus the leaker in question is not one we’ve heard of before – but the packaging for the next-gen Arc graphics cards being readied (since September, apparently) falls in line with recent spinning from the rumor mill.

That includes speculation from a couple of days ago that showed a leaked teaser, showing Intel has a Battlemage announcement for December, which follows a rumor from earlier this month suggesting the exact same thing.

So, at least in theory, the revelation of these new 2nd-gen Arc GPUs is almost upon us.

An Intel Arc A750 graphics card on a pink desk mat next to its retain packaging

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Analysis: Battling at the lower-end of the GPU market

An imminent reveal makes sense in terms of Intel wanting to get in ahead with its Battlemage GPU launch, given that both AMD and Nvidia are at this point strongly rumored to be about to reveal their respective next-gen ranges of graphics cards – RDNA 4 and Blackwell – at CES 2025.

Previous rumors had suggested an early 2025 launch for Battlemage, but perhaps Intel fears its 2nd-gen Arc graphics cards might get lost in the hype battle between RDNA 4 and RTX 5000 GPUs if it waits that long – drowned out by the noise made around those rival GPUs, even if they aren’t direct rivals for Intel – so Team Blue has stepped up its plans.

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Remember, we might just get a Battlemage announcement in December, and the boards themselves may not go on sale until later (in fact, that’s likely to be the case).

Seeing the Arc B580 mentioned specifically is interesting, as the gist of what we’ve heard regarding the performance of Battlemage GPUs is that they’ll all be targeting the lower end of the market.

Rumor has it that the top 2nd-gen Arc graphics card will run with 32 Xe cores, so will equal the current-gen (Alchemist) Arc A770 – so that’d fit with a theoretical B580 model. (Intel would have to drop this configuration down a tier to make sense, in other words – remember, though, there’ll be architectural performance improvements here, too, it’s not all about core count). So, perhaps the B580 will be the top offering with Battlemage, but this is all guesswork, really.

Whatever the case, it’ll be great to get some new budget GPUs – with truly affordable price tags – as this is an area Nvidia especially, and AMD too, has neglected for too long. Therefore, it’s a space where Intel can hopefully get in and make a meaningful difference in the world of desktop GPUs. Fingers and toes crossed.

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