Category: Technology

ISLAMABAD: Starlink, the Elon Musk-owned satellite internet service, is expected to begin operations in Pakistan by November or December, said Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication. The minister shared the update during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on IT and Telecom, chaired by Aminul Haq. Last month, Khawaja confirmed that the satellite-based internet provider was granted temporary registration in Pakistan following the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. “With the consensus of all security and regulatory bodies, Starlink has been issued a…

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OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, announced on Monday that it is developing a more open generative AI model, marking a significant departure from its long-standing stance on proprietary technology, AFP reported. The decision comes as OpenAI faces mounting competition from Meta’s Llama models and Chinese rival DeepSeek, both of which champion open-source AI. For years, OpenAI has defended its closed approach, arguing that restricting access to its AI models prevents misuse by bad actors. Google has also supported this position, warning that open AI systems pose security risks. However, OpenAI’s stance has…

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OSLO: A test rocket aimed at kickstarting satellite launches from Europe fell to the ground and exploded 40 seconds after takeoff from a Norwegian space port on Sunday, in what German startup Isar Aerospace had described as an initial test. The uncrewed Spectrum rocket was billed as the first attempt at an orbital flight to originate from Europe, where several nations, including Sweden and Britain, have said they want a share of a growing market for commercial space missions. Isar Aerospace, which had warned that the initial launch could end…

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Doubts emerged in the tech community following a sharp critique of Apple from prominent analyst John Gruber in his blog post titled, “Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino”. In the blog, Gruber expressed his frustration over his earlier optimism regarding Apple’s planned upgrade for its Siri chatbot, which the company announced last June. The anticipated generative AI enhancement, part of the Apple Intelligence suite, promised to elevate Siri’s functionality beyond basic tasks like weather updates and timers. Investors were banking on this upgrade to initiate a much-needed super-cycle…

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SAN FRANCISCO: Elon Musk on Friday said his artificial intelligence startup xAI is buying his social networking platform X in a deal valuing the company once known as Twitter at $33 billion. “This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach,” Musk said in a post on his social network. X has more than 600 million users, and its future is “intertwined” with that of xAI, launched two years ago, according to Musk. “Today, we officially take the step to combine…

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WhatsApp is developing a new feature that will allow users to manage multiple accounts without the need for a separate device or relying on WhatsApp Business. According to WABetaInfo, as per the latest WhatsApp beta for iOS 25.9.10.70 update — which is available on the TestFlight app — this new feature will be available in a future update. Meta’s popular instant messaging app’s upcoming feature will enable users to add a second account directly from the app settings, indicating a significant shift in user interaction. To accommodate this change, WhatsApp…

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NEW DELHI: Elon Musk’s X has been criticised by India for wrongly labelling as a “censorship portal” an official website that allows tech companies to be notified about harmful online content, Reuters reviewed court papers showed on Friday. The lawsuit marks an escalation in a legal dispute between X and the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over how it orders content to be taken down, at a time when Musk nears the launch in India of his other key ventures, Starlink and Tesla. The comments came in a rejoinder…

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PARIS: Can the clouds be controlled by us? And if yes, then should we? Climate change continues to drive floods and drought, bringing rainmaking in fashion across the world, despite mixed evidence that it works and concerns it can prompt cross-border hostilities among countries. While attempting to control the weather might sound like science fiction, countries have been seeding clouds for decades to try to make rain or snow fall in specific regions. Invented in the 1940s, seeding involves a variety of techniques including adding particles to clouds via aircraft.…

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RIYADH: Tesla will start sales in Saudi Arabia next month, the electric carmaker revealed on its websites, indicating CEO Elon Musk and the kingdom have recovered from a rift dating back to the tech tycoon’s short-lived bid in 2018 to take the company private. Tesla has been trading in other Middle Eastern countries but not in KSA, the Gulf’s largest market. The dispute started when Musk tweeted in 2018 he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private after meeting Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. That tweet…

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A team of palaeontologists has discovered a rare dinosaur species in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, naming it Duonychus tsogtbaatari. Unlike its therizinosaur relatives, which typically had three claws on each hand, this species had only two. Weighing an estimated 260kg, Duonychus tsogtbaatari lived during the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 100.5 to 66 million years ago. The discovery was made in the Bayanshiree Formation, a fossil-rich site that has previously yielded many important dinosaur specimens. Scientists believe the dinosaur’s two elongated, curved claws may have been used for grasping vegetation, digging, or…

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