☕️ Apple unveils a new MacBook Air

Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.

In today's Techpresso:

💻 Apple reveals new MacBook Air with M4 chip

🚫 Judge denies Musk’s request to block OpenAI’s for-profit plan

🏅 AI pioneers win Turing Award for reinforcement learning advancements

🔒 Apple takes UK government to court over 'backdoor' order

🫠 New AI voice raises emotional attachment fears

🤖 Amazon is going all-in on agentic AI

🎁 + 11 other news you might like

🔮 + 3 handpicked research papers and tools

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• Apple has unveiled a new MacBook Air model featuring the latest M4 chip, which enhances performance while keeping the classic design intact.
• The laptop is available in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes, with the smaller version starting at $999, $100 less than the previous price.
• Key upgrades include Thunderbolt 4 ports, a webcam with Center Stage, and a new sky blue color option, alongside existing colors like midnight and starlight.

• A federal judge in California has rejected Elon Musk's attempt to prevent OpenAI's shift to a for-profit model, citing insufficient evidence for the requested legal action.
• Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers emphasized the public interest and potential harm involved, offering to fast-track the trial to address concerns about OpenAI's transition.
• Musk's injunction aimed to maintain OpenAI's nonprofit status and alleged that its conversion could lead to market instability and discourage investment in rival companies.

• Andrew G. Barto and Richard S. Sutton received the 2024 Turing Award for their groundbreaking contributions to reinforcement learning, where machines learn through a reward-driven trial-and-error method.
• Their influential work, including the development of temporal difference learning, began in the 1980s and was encapsulated in their textbook, "Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction."
• The Turing Award, often considered the "Nobel Prize for computing," acknowledges significant advancements in computer science, with Barto and Sutton's work having substantial impact on AI, including Google's AlphaGo.

• Apple has filed an appeal to overturn a UK order that demands it create a backdoor for government officials to access encrypted data, as reported by the Financial Times.
• The case is the first test of the 2016 Investigatory Powers Act, which allows UK authorities to potentially break encryption, and is being reviewed by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.
• In response to the order, Apple has removed its Advanced Data Protection service from the UK, which previously offered enhanced encryption for iCloud data.

• Sesame's new Conversational Speech Model (CSM) has impressed users with its human-like voice, leading to mixed feelings of fascination and discomfort over its potential for emotional attachment.
• The AI voice demo features expressive and dynamic speech, including intentional imperfections like breath sounds, laughter, and self-correction, making interactions feel more authentic.
• Sesame aims for "voice presence" to create conversational partners that foster trust and confidence, making voice a powerful interface for communication and understanding.

• Amazon has established a new division focused on agentic AI, aiming to advance task automation as part of its broader strategy in artificial intelligence.
• The initiative is led by Swami Sivasubramanian, AWS AI and Data VP, who reports to CEO Matt Garman, highlighting the importance of this development within the company.
• Amazon is not alone in this endeavor, as competitors like Microsoft and Google are also pursuing agentic AI, with Salesforce notably leading in this area through significant investments and advancements.