The curse of AI summaries strikes Apple, SpaceX booms, and EVs face further disincentives

The Beeb is not happy with Apple's new artificial intelligence (AI) feature which decided to creatively change a current affairs headline to something completely untrue. Users shared screenshots of the bogus headline which claimed arrested murder accused Luigi Mangione had shot himself on social media:

That screenshot was posted in the same thread that Propublica editor Ken Schwenke started, with this image:

No prizes for figuring out which summarised headlines are correct and which ones aren't. AI absolutely has its uses, but to trust a technology that is blithely unaware of context and isn't actually intelligent as such to get it right without supervision is possibly not the best idea. See also: Google's AI Overviews in search presenting a pizza with glue recipe, and prior reports from Australia about AI not being all that good at summarising. Venditores et usores intelligentiae artificialis caveant as the ChatGPT generated expression goes.

Obviously, Apple can't be seen left bobbing in the wake as the AI powerboat thunders past, but it feels like the tech is pushing some very desirable developments into the background at Big A. Like foldable devices. Bloomberg's indefatigable Apple watcher pursuivant Mark Gurman reckons a foldable iPad won't appear until 2028, with an 18.8-inch screen (that's biiiiig). 

Why do we have to wait so long though? It's a safe bet that Apple is aiming for hardware perfection again. I checked out the foldable Oppo Find N3 smartphone which arrived late last year, and the screen is very good. However, even though the phone folds with no discernible gap, it doesn't open up fully flat. The mid-screen crease is barely noticeable, but it is there and there's no hiding that the Find N3 is quite a bit thicker than a non-folda-phone. Can Apple sort that over the next few years and bring out super premium foldable devices? We might find out in three years.

SpaceX's success with Starlink isn't going unnoticed, US EV incentives face the chop

Elon Musk's SpaceX continues its upward trajectory (ho ho) and the company and its investors are now looking at buying employee-held shares at US$185 each, up to US$1.25 billion worth of them. This would value SpaceX at US$350 billion, up from US$180 billion a year ago. Not bad for a privately held business.

Space analyst firm Quilty estimates SpaceX's satellite broadband provider Starlink will reach five million customers by the end of this year. In August, the Commerce Commission tallied up 37,000 subscribers for Starlink in New Zealand, lauding the satellite broadband provider's fast download speeds of 184 megabits per second, four times as fast as the next best tech the watchdog measures, namely 4G cellular and fixed-wireless connections.

Starlink isn't the cheap option here, but SpaceX has aggressively discounted the services which clearly appeals to rural and remote customers wanting fast performance. Where that leaves local telcos and smaller providers operating in rural areas with wireless, with or without government assistance, remains to be seen. Starlink's surging popularity might even put a spanner in Chorus's rural fibre expansion plans.

Actually, the telcos are already seeing the writing on the wall, and reselling Starlink. Looks like there are nine Starlink resellers operating in New Zealand, including Australia's Telstra, which is interesting. One NZ is as we've reported launching direct to cell (D2C, DTC, or D2D, pick an acronym) soon.

Most of Europe is not quite as enthusiastic about putting all its broadband eggs in the Starlink basket, however. The IRIS² multi-orbit satellites (272 in low-Earth and 18 in medium-Earth constellations) is moving forward. A contract has been signed with the SpaceRISE consortium to design the satellite system, for a period of 12 years.

IRIS² stands for "Infrastructure of Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite". Funding stands at €10.6 billion currently, through a public-private partnership model. The satellite service is scheduled to enter operational service by 2030.

Speaking of government subsidies, and err, "co-president" Elon Musk, the Trump transition team intends to scrap the electric vehicle subsidies and emissions polices the outgoing Biden administration introduced, Reuters reports. Furthermore, tariffs will be imposed on "all battery materials globally" but perhaps with some negotiated exemptions for United States allies. 

Musk said he's not concerned about losing the subsidies, saying that will hurt rivals of his Tesla EV maker more. Righto. Reversing tail pipe emissions regulations back to 2019 levels, which are a quarter higher than the current standards, and lowering fuel efficiency by 15 per cent is on the cards too, which will no doubt please those who enjoy the "inexplicably" hot temperatures of 2023 and this year.

It seems there was no need to bring back leaded petrol though, but it's not clear if that was considered overkill or simply infeasible. 

Meanwhile, New Zealand's government is chipping away at making EVs less attractive for car purchasers. The removal of the Clean Car Discount has worked very well in that respect, along with the expected introduction of road user charges for EVs.

Next up we have a hike in ACC levies for EV car owners to $109.05 from $42.09 a year. Petrol vehicle owners will also pay more in ACC levies, $49.38 next year. For the 2027/28 year, EV car owners will pay $122.24. Maybe it's twice as hazardous to drive EVs compared to petrol vehicles? Is it something else? 

As for the Government's promised network of 10,000 EV chargers by 2030, the page on the National Party site that outlined the plan is now 404 Not Found. Stuff reckons the 10,000 chargers plan is 404 too, on the quiet, u-turn chucked, reverse gear engaged, etc. 

In 2023, Finnish EV charging company Virta Global was looking at the New Zealand market, and I spoke to them about their plans here, expanding from the Aussie market. Virta went quiet not so long after that, and appears to have shelved its New Zealand plans, for some reason.