News May 02, 2024
NYT’s The Mini crossword answers for May 2
Here’s a rewritten version of the original text, condensed into 5-7 sentences:
For those who crave a bite-sized brain teaser, The Mini offers a refreshing change of pace from its more substantial counterpart. With only a few clues to decipher, it’s a speed-running challenge that demands quick thinking and cleverness. When a tricky clue throws off your rhythm, don’t worry - we’ve got you covered! Check out the latest puzzle answers below, featuring fruits with flat pits, ways to read storybooks aloud to children, and more. Get ready to test your mettle against these brain teasers, from mangoes to Nobel Prizes, and discover which ones are holey or not so clever after all.
After 16 years, Ecobee is shutting down support for the original smart thermostat
Ecobee is saying goodbye to its ancient smart thermostat, which means that as of July 31st, 2024, remote control and smart integrations will cease to function. This affects only the original Ecobee Smart Thermostat and the Ecobee Energy Management System (EMS) thermostats, not the newer models like the Ecobee3 Lite or Smart Thermostat Premium. While these older devices won’t be able to connect to the cloud anymore, they’ll still function as non-smart thermostats, controlled manually through the device itself. To ease the transition, Ecobee is offering a 30% discount on new thermostats for affected users. The company’s VP of product design notes that support will continue for other legacy models, like the EMS SI and Smart SI.
Huawei has been secretly funding research in America after being blacklisted
Chinese tech giant Huawei has been secretly funding research in America despite being blacklisted, according to a recent report by Bloomberg. The cutting-edge research is taking place at top US universities, including Harvard, with the money being channeled through an independent Washington-based research foundation. This research competition has awarded millions of dollars since 2022 and attracted hundreds of proposals from scientists, some of whom are based at universities that have banned researchers from working with Huawei.
The fear is that this research could lead to innovations that give China a leg up in both defense contracting and commercial interests, according to experts. The foundation behind the competition, Optica, has posted online that it is interested in “high-sensitivity optical sensors and detectors” among other categories of research, which raises national security concerns for the US government.
A Huawei spokesperson claimed that the company created the competition to support global research and promote academic communication, but remained anonymous to avoid being seen as a promotion. Optica’s CEO said that many donors prefer to remain anonymous, but critics argue that this lack of transparency is unusual and raises red flags.
Huawei has faced numerous claims of installing backdoors in networks for data theft, employing Chinese spies to influence investigations, and involvement in China’s surveillance efforts. The company denies these accusations, but the fact remains that it has been wrapped in a web of US restrictions, with its products effectively banned in America since 2019.
Your AI-native startup ain’t the same as a typical SaaS company
As we venture into the realm of AI startups, it’s crucial to recognize that these ventures face distinct challenges compared to traditional SaaS companies. According to Rudina Seseri, founder and managing partner at Glasswing Ventures, simply connecting to AI APIs doesn’t make you an AI company. Instead, true AI-native businesses have algorithms and data at their core, driving value creation. This fundamental difference affects how customers and investors evaluate AI startups versus SaaS startups.
In the early stages of an AI startup, it’s essential to understand that releasing a product before it’s mature enough can be disastrous. Unlike SaaS products, AI requires a significant amount of training and learning before it can deliver tangible results for customers. This means finding early adopters who comprehend the value proposition is crucial, as avoiding lengthy calls with potential buyers can be detrimental.
To succeed in this space, AI startups must focus on their product’s unique strengths and articulate the problem they’re solving, along with measurable metrics. By optimizing for what matters to the buyer and grounding discussions in business priorities, these companies can carve out a defensible place in the market.
As AI continues to evolve, it’s vital for startup founders to recognize that staking a claim in this space is challenging, especially given the dominance of large players like OpenAI and Anthropic. However, there are opportunities in the application layer, where thousands of SaaS companies thrived during the cloud era, as well as in the middle layer, which provides a platform for data storage and processing.
Ultimately, investing in AI startups that have a unique value proposition, proprietary algorithms or open-source alternatives, and access to valuable data can yield significant returns. By acknowledging these challenges and opportunities, entrepreneurs can build successful AI businesses that drive innovation and growth in this rapidly evolving landscape.
Google will now show labels in Play Store to denote official government apps
Today, after months of rigorous testing, Google is officially launching labels in the Play Store to identify authentic state and federal government apps in over 14 countries. This new label aims to help users discern genuine apps from fake ones that might be designed to pilfer money or sensitive information. As part of this initiative, more than 2,000 official apps have been designated with a “Government” badge across various countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United States. When users tap on the badge, they’ll receive a pop-up notification verifying the app’s affiliation with a government entity. Google has collaborated with governments and their developer partners to onboard these approved apps, addressing issues like fake central and state government apps in India that had been duping unsuspecting users. The Play Store already prohibits apps from making false claims or misrepresenting themselves as official entities, and developers are required to provide proof of permission to process sensitive documents for safety reasons.