Month: August 2024
Canada To Impose 100% Tariff On Chinese-Made EVs
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBC.ca: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday Canada will impose punitive tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles — copying a similar initiative that the U.S. is already pursuing to stop a flood of what’s been described as unfairly state-subsidized cars. Trudeau made the announcement at the federal cabinet retreat in Halifax where ministers are meeting to craft a strategy for the year ahead — the last year before an expected federal election in October 2025. Amid industry pressure to copy the U.S. program, Trudeau said a 100 percent surtax will be levied on all Chinese-made EVs, effective Oct. 1. The tariff would effectively double the price of imported vehicles, as it is expected most of the tax would be passed on to consumers.
Ottawa is following through now, Trudeau said, to “level the playing field for Canadian workers” and allow Canada’s nascent EV industry to compete at home, in North America and globally. The tariff will apply to electric and certain hybrid passenger automobiles, trucks, buses and delivery vans. Chinese brands like BYD are not a major player in Canada’s EV market right now but imports from China have exploded in recent years as Tesla switched from U.S. factories for its Canadian sales to its manufacturing plant in Shanghai. The new tariff will apply to those Shanghai-made Teslas that are sold in Canada — a development that is expected to force the U.S. automaker to supply the Canadian market with vehicles made at one if its other plants in the U.S. or Europe instead. “Unfortunately, Canada made a decision today that will result in fewer affordable electric vehicles for Canadians, less competition and more climate pollution,” said Joanna Kyriazis, director of public affairs at Clean Energy Canada. “Not only could today’s announcement have a chilling effect on future EV sales, it could drive up EV prices and slow adoption in the near-term as well,” Kyriazis said.
Flavio Volpe, the president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association who lobbied Ottawa to follow through with matching the U.S. tariffs, responded: “Sure, what the Chinese are doing is selling us green products that help fulfill some of our EV mandates, but they do it in a regulatory environment where they forgo any stewardship of the environment,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland added that the Chinese industry is “built on abysmal labour standards and it is built on abysmal environmental standards.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBC.ca: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday Canada will impose punitive tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles — copying a similar initiative that the U.S. is already pursuing to stop a flood of what’s been described as unfairly state-subsidized cars. Trudeau made the announcement at the federal cabinet retreat in Halifax where ministers are meeting to craft a strategy for the year ahead — the last year before an expected federal election in October 2025. Amid industry pressure to copy the U.S. program, Trudeau said a 100 percent surtax will be levied on all Chinese-made EVs, effective Oct. 1. The tariff would effectively double the price of imported vehicles, as it is expected most of the tax would be passed on to consumers.
Ottawa is following through now, Trudeau said, to “level the playing field for Canadian workers” and allow Canada’s nascent EV industry to compete at home, in North America and globally. The tariff will apply to electric and certain hybrid passenger automobiles, trucks, buses and delivery vans. Chinese brands like BYD are not a major player in Canada’s EV market right now but imports from China have exploded in recent years as Tesla switched from U.S. factories for its Canadian sales to its manufacturing plant in Shanghai. The new tariff will apply to those Shanghai-made Teslas that are sold in Canada — a development that is expected to force the U.S. automaker to supply the Canadian market with vehicles made at one if its other plants in the U.S. or Europe instead. “Unfortunately, Canada made a decision today that will result in fewer affordable electric vehicles for Canadians, less competition and more climate pollution,” said Joanna Kyriazis, director of public affairs at Clean Energy Canada. “Not only could today’s announcement have a chilling effect on future EV sales, it could drive up EV prices and slow adoption in the near-term as well,” Kyriazis said.
Flavio Volpe, the president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association who lobbied Ottawa to follow through with matching the U.S. tariffs, responded: “Sure, what the Chinese are doing is selling us green products that help fulfill some of our EV mandates, but they do it in a regulatory environment where they forgo any stewardship of the environment,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland added that the Chinese industry is “built on abysmal labour standards and it is built on abysmal environmental standards.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple’s CFO will step down
Illustration: The Verge
Apple announced that chief financial officer Luca Maestri will step down from his role at the start of next year. He’ll remain at the company as the head of its corporate services team, leading “information systems and technology, information security, and real estate and development.”
Maestri joined Apple in 2013 after serving as the CFO of Xerox. He became the CFO just one year later, replacing Peter Oppenheimer. CNBC notes that when he took over, Apple’s annual revenue was $183 billion, and last year, it reached $383 billion. Apple also announced an expansion to its share repurchase program to $90 billion, which Maestri would oversee.
This spring, Apple announced it would increase the amount from $90 billion to $110 billion, breaking its own record of $100 billion. It also reported an increase in revenue from its services business of 14 percent, even as sales of iPhones and iPads were down from the previous year. In Apple’s announcement, it said, “…Maestri enabled essential investments and practiced robust financial discipline, which together helped the company more than double its revenue, with services revenue growing more than five times.”
Kevan Parekh, Apple’s vice president of financial planning and analysis, will take Maestri’s place managing the finances of the now $3 trillion company. Parekh has been at Apple for 11 years and previously worked in senior leadership positions at Thomson Reuters and General Motors.
“Luca has been an extraordinary partner in managing Apple for the long term,” Apple CEO Tim Cook says in the press release. “He has been instrumental in improving and driving the company’s financial performance, engaging with shareholders, and instilling financial discipline across every part of Apple.”
Apple is shaking up other areas of its business as well. It announced last week that it’s splitting up its App Store division, with App Store vice president Matt Fischer leaving the role after over 10 years.
Illustration: The Verge
Apple announced that chief financial officer Luca Maestri will step down from his role at the start of next year. He’ll remain at the company as the head of its corporate services team, leading “information systems and technology, information security, and real estate and development.”
Maestri joined Apple in 2013 after serving as the CFO of Xerox. He became the CFO just one year later, replacing Peter Oppenheimer. CNBC notes that when he took over, Apple’s annual revenue was $183 billion, and last year, it reached $383 billion. Apple also announced an expansion to its share repurchase program to $90 billion, which Maestri would oversee.
This spring, Apple announced it would increase the amount from $90 billion to $110 billion, breaking its own record of $100 billion. It also reported an increase in revenue from its services business of 14 percent, even as sales of iPhones and iPads were down from the previous year. In Apple’s announcement, it said, “…Maestri enabled essential investments and practiced robust financial discipline, which together helped the company more than double its revenue, with services revenue growing more than five times.”
Kevan Parekh, Apple’s vice president of financial planning and analysis, will take Maestri’s place managing the finances of the now $3 trillion company. Parekh has been at Apple for 11 years and previously worked in senior leadership positions at Thomson Reuters and General Motors.
“Luca has been an extraordinary partner in managing Apple for the long term,” Apple CEO Tim Cook says in the press release. “He has been instrumental in improving and driving the company’s financial performance, engaging with shareholders, and instilling financial discipline across every part of Apple.”
Apple is shaking up other areas of its business as well. It announced last week that it’s splitting up its App Store division, with App Store vice president Matt Fischer leaving the role after over 10 years.
Make your videos a global phenomenon with AI translation of your own voice
D-ID releases an AI translation tool that clones voices into 30 languages
Want to share your video with the world but don’t speak several dozen languages? AI video maker D-ID can help you out with that, thanks to its new translation feature. The new AI model will translate videos into 30 different languages, but it’s not just dubbing you with a generic voice. D-ID will clone your voice and connect it with a translated script so it sounds like you are speaking a foreign language.
The AI will go even further and adjust your lip movements to match so the video appears to be a real-time recording of you speaking a foreign language. There are a lot of content creators and businesses who would like to localize their videos, and this could save them a lot of time and money in the process.
You might remember D-ID for its Deep Nostalgia gimmick, which would animate old photos and make it seem like the people in the photos were being recorded by video, especially when combined with recorded voices. The company has since gone on to offer all kinds of video avatars for companies and individuals making videos. The AI Video Translate tool is now available to D-ID subscribers at no extra cost and aims to democratize video translation as well. The basic package starts at $56 per year and offers limited credits, with more credits available at the enterprise level.
“As video content becomes increasingly central to digital communication, the importance of engaging with a multilingual audience has never been more significant,” said Gil Perry, co-founder and CEO of D-ID. “D-ID Video Translate is a game-changer for anyone who wants to create engaging and accessible video content for a global audience without incurring significant costs, redefining how we communicate around the world.”
Translate Time
D-ID is not alone in pursuing AI video translation, as AI videos and voice clones have become more common. For instance, YouTube developed a real-time translation service, as has Vimeo. There are several voice cloning tools that also make translating languages an aspect of their services, like Speechify and ElevenLabs. Combine that with AI video-making tools like HeyGen, and D-ID will have to work to stand out from the crowd. And D-ID has some ways of doing so. Most notably, the lip-syncing that matches a speaker’s lip movements with the translated speech is a real boon for realism among video makers.
If you want to try D-ID’s translation tool, there is a free one-month trial from D-ID as well as other demonstrations. And, as far as can be told, you won’t have to worry about it suddenly cloning your voice without your permission and talking back to you, as some ChatGPT users have recently discovered.
You might also like
Forget Duolingo – Google Translate just got a massive AI upgrade that gives it over 100 new languagesOpenAI’s new voice synthesizer can copy your voice from just 15 seconds of audioIt’s not an echo – ChatGPT might suddenly mimic your voice when you speak to it
Apple September Event: Could the Invite Hint at More Apple Intelligence?
Apple’s fall event is coming Sept. 9, and this invite could set up a big focus on Apple Intelligence alongside the next iPhone line.
Apple’s fall event is coming Sept. 9, and this invite could set up a big focus on Apple Intelligence alongside the next iPhone line.
OpenAI Supports California AI Bill Requiring ‘Watermarking’ of Synthetic Content
OpenAI said in a letter that it supports California bill AB 3211, which requires tech companies to label AI-generated content. Reuters reports: San Francisco-based OpenAI believes that for AI-generated content, transparency and requirements around provenance such as watermarking are important, especially in an election year, according to a letter sent to California State Assembly member Buffy Wicks, who authored the bill. “New technology and standards can help people understand the origin of content they find online, and avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content,” OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters.
AB 3211 has already passed the state Assembly by a 62-0 vote. Earlier this month it passed the senate appropriations committee, setting it up for a vote by the full state Senate. If it passes by the end of the legislative session on Aug. 31, it would advance to Governor Gavin Newsom to sign or veto by Sept. 30.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
OpenAI said in a letter that it supports California bill AB 3211, which requires tech companies to label AI-generated content. Reuters reports: San Francisco-based OpenAI believes that for AI-generated content, transparency and requirements around provenance such as watermarking are important, especially in an election year, according to a letter sent to California State Assembly member Buffy Wicks, who authored the bill. “New technology and standards can help people understand the origin of content they find online, and avoid confusion between human-generated and photorealistic AI-generated content,” OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters.
AB 3211 has already passed the state Assembly by a 62-0 vote. Earlier this month it passed the senate appropriations committee, setting it up for a vote by the full state Senate. If it passes by the end of the legislative session on Aug. 31, it would advance to Governor Gavin Newsom to sign or veto by Sept. 30.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple CFO Luca Maestri Stepping Down
Apple’s Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri is stepping down from his role on January 1, 2025, Apple announced today. Maestri is not leaving the company and will lead the Corporate Services teams, including information systems and technology, information security, and real estate and development, where he will continue to report to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Apple Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis Kevan Parekh will take over as Chief Financial Officer, joining Apple’s executive team. In a statement, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Maestri has been an “instrumental” part of improving Apple’s financial performance.Luca has been an extraordinary partner in managing Apple for the long term. He has been instrumental in improving and driving the company’s financial performance, engaging with shareholders, and instilling financial discipline across every part of Apple. We’re fortunate that we will continue to benefit from the leadership and insight that have been the hallmark of his tenure at the company.Cook also said that Parekh has been an “indispensable” member of Apple’s finance team for the last decade, and he “understands the company inside and out.”
Maestri has been Apple’s CEO for over a decade, taking on the role in May 2014. There is no word on why Maestri has decided to step down as CFO, but in a statement he said that he is looking forward to his next period at Apple. It is the greatest privilege of my professional life to serve the world’s most innovative and admired company, and to work side by side with a leader as inspirational as Tim Cook. I’m looking forward to the next stage of my time at Apple, and I have enormous confidence in Kevan as he prepares to take the reins as CFO. He is truly exceptional, has a deep love for Apple and its mission, and he embodies the leadership, judgment, and values that are so important to this role.Parekh has worked at Apple for 11 years and leads Apple’s financial planning and analysis, investor relations, market research, and G&A and benefits finance teams. Prior to working at Apple, he worked at Thomson Reuters and General Motors. He will take over for Maestri on earnings calls and similar events on January 1, 2025.This article, “Apple CFO Luca Maestri Stepping Down” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Apple’s Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri is stepping down from his role on January 1, 2025, Apple announced today. Maestri is not leaving the company and will lead the Corporate Services teams, including information systems and technology, information security, and real estate and development, where he will continue to report to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Apple Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis Kevan Parekh will take over as Chief Financial Officer, joining Apple’s executive team. In a statement, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Maestri has been an “instrumental” part of improving Apple’s financial performance.Luca has been an extraordinary partner in managing Apple for the long term. He has been instrumental in improving and driving the company’s financial performance, engaging with shareholders, and instilling financial discipline across every part of Apple. We’re fortunate that we will continue to benefit from the leadership and insight that have been the hallmark of his tenure at the company.Cook also said that Parekh has been an “indispensable” member of Apple’s finance team for the last decade, and he “understands the company inside and out.”
Maestri has been Apple’s CEO for over a decade, taking on the role in May 2014. There is no word on why Maestri has decided to step down as CFO, but in a statement he said that he is looking forward to his next period at Apple. It is the greatest privilege of my professional life to serve the world’s most innovative and admired company, and to work side by side with a leader as inspirational as Tim Cook. I’m looking forward to the next stage of my time at Apple, and I have enormous confidence in Kevan as he prepares to take the reins as CFO. He is truly exceptional, has a deep love for Apple and its mission, and he embodies the leadership, judgment, and values that are so important to this role.Parekh has worked at Apple for 11 years and leads Apple’s financial planning and analysis, investor relations, market research, and G&A and benefits finance teams. Prior to working at Apple, he worked at Thomson Reuters and General Motors. He will take over for Maestri on earnings calls and similar events on January 1, 2025.
This article, “Apple CFO Luca Maestri Stepping Down” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
Valve’s worst-kept secret is no longer a secret
Deadlock is now on Steam and on streams.
Enlarge / Look! A wild Valve game appears! (credit: Valve)
If you read Ars Technica regularly, you’ve known since May that Valve is working on Deadlock, a mishmash of genres that has been slowly amassing SteamDB-tracked players through an invite-only playtest. Over the weekend, Valve took the “hiding” part out of that “hiding-in-plain-sight” test, launching a bare bones Steam page for Deadlock, the company’s first attempt at developing a new gaming franchise since collectible card game Artifact launched in 2018 (and fell apart in 2021).
The new page, which went up on Saturday, has precious little information about Deadlock, save for a description as “a multiplayer game in early development” and a 22-second trailer that essentially pans over a piece of concept art. Everything from the game’s system requirements to the release date is still “TBD,” and players who are lucky enough to get “friend invites via our playtesters” are promised “temporary art and experimental gameplay” on the Steam page.
Not that a Steam page is strictly needed for more info on Deadlock at this point. Since the first leaks months ago, the playtest has slowly expanded from hundreds of players to tens of thousands, including some who have posted extensive impressions of the game. Valve has also reportedly lifted rules regarding streaming for invited playtesters, leading to a surge of players showing off live gameplay on Twitch.