Grok, the AI-powered chatbot initially available only to premium users of X (formerly Twitter), is now accessible to all users for free. Starting last Friday, free users can utilize the chatbot with certain restrictions. They are allowed to send up to 10 messages every two hours and analyze a maximum of three images per day. The update has been widely discussed on X, with app expert Nima Owji and others sharing posts about the new features. A community post by the account Black Speaker revealed that along with opening Grok to free users, X has also discontinued the Grok 2 Mini model. Last month, TechCrunch reported that X had been testing a free version of Grok in specific regions globally. This move is seen as Elon Musk’s effort to position Grok as a competitor to major AI platforms like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. Musk is reportedly focused on accelerating the growth and reach of Grok AI, making it a significant player in the AI industry. Launched in December last year, Grok enables X users to quickly find answers to a variety of questions. It can also pull updated information from the internet, making it a valuable tool for staying informed on any topic. To develop its own AI solutions, Musk founded the company xAI in July last year. xAI is composed of former employees from DeepMind, OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft Research, and Tesla, with Musk leading the team. Recently, xAI raised $600 million in funding, fueling speculation that Grok.

A US federal appeals court on Friday upheld a law which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent firm ByteDance, in a move that could lead to a ban on the popular short video platform as early as next month. The law — which was signed by US President Joe Biden in April — gave ByteDance one year to divest from TikTok or be banned from app stores in the US. For a long time, US officials had raised alarm over the app's growing popularity among the country's youth, claiming that it could allow China to spy on its nearly 170 million users in the country. TikTok argued that the law violates the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US constitution. But the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday rebuffed the company's challenge of the statute, stating that the law was in line with long-standing regulatory practices and there was no intention to suppress specific expressions. "The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States," the court said in an opinion written by Judge Douglas Ginsburg. "Here the government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary's ability to gather data on people in the United States." TikTok to appeal again TikTok said it now plans to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court. "The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans' right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue," a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people," they said. The spokesperson added that unless stopped, the statute "will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19th, 2025." Looming ban TikTok said in its petition that a separation of ByteDance as mandated by the law was "simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally." The app's fate now lies in the hands of two US presidents. President Biden can grant a 90-day extension of the January 19 deadline to force a sale. However, it's unclear if ByteDance could show it had made progress towards a divestiture required to trigger the extension or if the government in Beijing would approve a sale. President-elect Donald Trump — who takes office on January 20 — was unsuccessful in banning TikTok during his previous term in 2020. But in a change of stance, he said before the November presidential election that he would not allow the TikTok ban.

Luxury carmaker Jaguar is making strides into the electric vehicle market with the unveiling of its bold new concept car, the Type 00. Showcased recently in Miami, the concept car offers a glimpse into the future of electric mobility, combining Rolls Royce-like elegance with the modernity of Tesla's Cybertruck. The Type 00 is over five meters long, with a cutting-edge interior that redefines modern design. Dual large displays at the front serve multiple purposes, from providing essential driving information to offering entertainment options like music and video. Notably, the car lacks traditional rear windows or windshields, instead relying on side-mounted cameras to display rear views. Jerry McGovern, Chief Creative Officer of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), acknowledged the unconventional design, stating, “It might feel unsettling to some, but that’s okay. Embracing change is essential to move forward.” Available in striking “Miami Pink” and “London Blue,” the Type 00 promises an impressive range of up to 430 miles on a single charge. While Jaguar has yet to disclose pricing details, the car is expected to hit the market by the end of next year, signaling Jaguar’s ambitious leap into the electric vehicle era.

AI Summit to present cross-industry AI solutions on December 5. Hamburg News spoke to Petra Vorsteher about the Summit and her vision for Hamburg  "By 2025, we will see AI applications in most companies across Hamburg," the tech entrepreneur Petra Vorsteher predicts, adding: "AI solutions will grow rapidly in sales, marketing, predictive maintenance and automation." The joint founder of the AI group is hopeful and points to a clear development fuelled by successful time-saving and cost-cutting aspects of AI applications. "Everyone is talking about AI and in boardrooms as well along with the awareness that we cannot lose touch." Naturally, this raises questions about which applications make sense and whether the technical infrastructure should be adapted. Costs are a top priority coupled with the length of the procedure." Information and Contacts The AI Summit 2024, held under the theme of "The time to adopt AI is now!", will offer solutions. Organized by the AI Group, around 50 international AI experts and more than 30 AI startups will come together with 400 delegates in Hamburg's Emporio Tower on December 5. Keynotes and expert panels will give insight into AI trends across the globe and its economic opportunities. Generative AI is expected to account for more than USD 1.3 trillion in global turnover by 2032, the Hamburg-based Statista has forecast. Universities are now breeding grounds for promising startups that launch as spin-offs and will also be attending the summit. "Working students are great for bringing an innovative spirit into a company," Vorsteher stressed. Anyone keen on external AI expertise will find suitable matches at the AI.summit. "Many of the startups have already come up with concrete and affordable applications. We will again honour the best solutions with the AI Summit Startup Award and will also host a pitch contest for AI startups." Hamburg-Based Startups at Summit The Hamburg-based startup, FlowShare, for instance, wants to make it easier for companies to get started with AI by capturing and storing expert knowledge and turning it into AI-assisted, easy-to-understand guides. New employees can be recruited with the AI-backed Jobmatch. my website. Meanwhile, the neuroflash startup now stands for an all-in-one AI solution for marketing content while Dealcode is aiming for greater targeting accuracy in marketing and sales. "AI agents take over tasks such as customer contact or data maintenance and identify the most promising 'deals'," says Vorsteher. 'Such AI applications simplify processes, make a company more efficient and counteract the shortage of skilled labour." Main Impact of AI At present, AI is having the greatest impact in medicine, life sciences and healthcare. "Startups such as Mindpeak, dpv-analytics, NoscAI and Fuse AI can help save lives, but also lower the costs of healthcare by making early diagnoses to avoid costly treatments or reduce misdiagnoses." All areas of business, science and society hold potential, especially for GenAI applications. Some are literally rolling towards us. MOIA is now testing Level 4 self-driving shared taxis on roads across Hamburg. The VW electric buses move quickly through heavy traffic, even in poor visibility. The AI processes data from 13 cameras, nine lidars and five sensors. "This is the future," says Vorsteher, who lives with Ragnar Kruse, joint founder of the AI Group, in Hamburg and the US "In San Francisco, I recently counted 15 Waymo taxis, a subsidiary of Google, during just one traffic light phase - all without a driver at the wheel." Destination for Innovation The AI GROUP would like to bring all the stakeholders together in one place to make the (AI) future even more tangible, remove barriers and help startups scale up internationally. "We envision a kind of 'Elbphilharmonie of Innovation' - a place in the city centre where 50 to 100 startups and companies' innovation departments come together in a kind of real laboratory, where universities and investors are represented, and where we can reach as many citizens and children as possible. They can simply try out the technology in fab labs," says Vorsteher. Hamburg comes to mind as a travel destination. "Such a place could expand the appeal of the Elbphilharmonie and make Hamburg a destination for innovation'."

A Delaware judge upheld her decision to reject Elon Musk's massive $55.8 billion compensation package at Tesla, denying an attempt to restore the pay deal through a shareholder vote on Monday (December 03). In a court filing, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of Delaware's Court of Chancery ruled that Tesla's attempt to ratify Musk's compensation package through a June shareholder vote could not override her January decision striking down the package as excessive and unfair to shareholders. Musk's attorneys attempted to reverse McCormick's January decision after the 2018 pay package was re-approved by 84% of shares not held by Musk or his brother, Kimbal Musk, in June. But on Monday, that motion was denied. McCormick said that although the package was once again ratified by a majority of shareholders, that didn't mean Musk's record-breaking payday was in shareholders' best interests. "The large and talented group of defense firms got creative with the ratification argument, but their unprecedented theories go against multiple strains of settled law," McCormick wrote in a scathing opinion. Musk is not paid a cash salary or bonus for working at Tesla. Rather, Musk, one of the world's richest people, makes his money through lucrative packages of stock options that allow him to purchase millions of Tesla shares for a fraction of their market price. McCormick agreed with the argument that the board is too close to Tesla's CEO, noting that even Musk admitted that he only "negotiated against himself" regarding his own compensation. McCormick wrote in her opinion that while Musk is entitled to some form of compensation, the ultimate award was not fair to shareholders. "There were undoubtedly a range of healthy amounts that the Board could have decided to pay Musk," she wrote. "Instead, the Board capitulated to Musk’s terms and then failed to prove that those terms were entirely fair." At the time of the June shareholder vote, Tesla's board argued that it needed to keep Musk's pay package in place to keep the CEO fully engaged in running the company. Musk also holds leadership positions at SpaceX, Neuralink, the Boring Company, and X. Musk's attention has recently been pulled toward Washington, as well. He bet big in the 2024 presidential election, donating millions of dollars to Donald Trump's campaign and joining him on the trail. Earlier this month, Trump tapped Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, in the incoming administration. The group will be focused on slashing the federal budget as well as axing government regulations and staffing.

Internet services will be temporarily disrupted for 3 hours on Sunday (December 1) night due to maintenance to resolve faults in the country's first submarine cable system (SMW4) located in Cox's Bazar. Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC (BSCPLC) announced this in a press release on Saturday (November 30). It said that from 3 am on Monday (December 2) to 5:59 am, a total of 2 hours and 59 minutes, maintenance activities were undertaken by the consortium to resolve cable faults in the country's first submarine cable system (SMW4) installed in Cox's Bazar near Chennai Landing Station on the Chennai side and near Tuas Landing Station on the Singapore side. During this time, services will be temporarily disrupted on the circuits connected to the Chennai route and Singapore route through SMW4.  Therefore, BSCPLC sincerely apologizes for the temporary inconvenience caused to customers.

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, is sparking widespread discussion in healthcare as users on X (formerly Twitter) experiment with its ability to analyze medical images like X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans. Musk has championed Grok’s potential in diagnosing diseases, emphasizing its promising early results and his plans to enhance its accuracy through user data. However, this approach has raised serious concerns about privacy, data security, and ethics. Grok has been tested on conditions such as brain tumors and bone fractures, with mixed feedback. While some users praised its ability to identify tumors, others reported errors, like confusing a broken bone for a dislocation. Experts argue these inconsistencies highlight the challenges of adapting general AI systems for medical use. Privacy concerns loom large. Unlike regulated healthcare providers, X isn’t subject to stringent laws like HIPAA. Although the platform claims not to sell user data, its policy of sharing data with related entities has raised alarms about how sensitive medical information might be handled. While AI holds transformative potential for healthcare, experts stress the importance of thorough testing and user education. Sharing sensitive medical data with non-regulated platforms demands careful consideration to balance innovation with safety and privacy.