Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.

In today's Techpresso:

🚀 OpenAI unveils GPT-4.5

🔚 Microsoft to shut down Skype in favor of Teams

🤖 Meta plans standalone AI app

🍏 Apple accused of greenwashing

🔮 Amazon unveils its first quantum computing chip

📉 SEC drops Coinbase lawsuit and clarifies meme coins status

🎁 + 13 other news you might like

🔮 + 5 handpicked research papers and tools

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• OpenAI has launched GPT-4.5, its latest large language model, available to ChatGPT Pro subscribers and developers through paid API tiers, with plans to expand access to lower tiers next week.
• GPT-4.5 offers improved natural conversations, emotional intelligence, and fewer hallucinations compared to previous models, but lacks multimodal features like voice and video, which may be added later.
• The release has sparked debate regarding its cost-effectiveness and performance, with mixed reactions on social media about its computational efficiency and benchmark results compared to other models.

• Microsoft is retiring Skype on May 5, 2025, to focus more on Teams, giving users a 10-week window to transition their data and contacts to the new platform.
• Despite Skype's past success, with a peak of 300 million users, its numbers have dwindled to 36 million daily users in 2023, prompting Microsoft to push for Teams, which has seen significant growth.
• Teams Free will offer some features absent in Skype, but it won't support phone-calling functionality, reflecting changing consumer habits as more rely on mobile data plans over traditional telephony.

• Meta is set to launch a standalone version of the Meta AI app in the second quarter of this year, aiming to compete with existing AI chatbot applications like ChatGPT.
• OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman humorously suggested the possibility of developing a social media platform in response to Meta's new AI app plans, sparking mixed reactions on the X social network.
• Meta's AI expansion plans include releasing more AI-centric products throughout the year, reflecting the company's growing focus on artificial intelligence and related technologies.

• Apple faces a class action lawsuit accusing the company of misleading consumers by falsely claiming that specific Apple Watches are carbon neutral, relying on ineffective offset projects.
• The lawsuit highlights the challenges of achieving true sustainability, with environmentalists advocating for a shift to cleaner energy and more durable, repairable products over carbon offset strategies.
• Despite Apple's efforts to reduce emissions by over 75% for the Apple Watch, the company's overall carbon footprint in 2023 was equivalent to emissions from 42 gas-fired power plants annually.

• Amazon introduced its first quantum computing chip, named 'Ocelot', which features a scalable design and significantly reduces the cost of error correction by up to 90%.
• The Ocelot chip is a significant milestone towards creating fault-tolerant quantum computers, with the potential to solve complex problems beyond the capability of current traditional computers.
• By integrating cat qubit technology with additional quantum error correction components, Amazon's chip aims to lower production costs and accelerate the development timeline for practical quantum computing by up to five years.

• The SEC announced it no longer considers most meme coins as securities under U.S. federal law, meaning transactions involving these tokens do not require SEC registration.
• Mark Uyeda, the SEC chairman, emphasized that meme coins are viewed as collectibles rather than securities, as they do not generate yield or convey rights to future assets.
• In a significant move, the SEC also dropped its lawsuit against Coinbase, indicating a shift towards more transparent and public engagement on cryptocurrency policy.

Other news & articles you might like

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the company is 'out of GPUs' LINK

• Microsoft warns Trump against 'strategic misstep' in AI race LINK

• Google's Sergey Brin says 60 hours per week in the office is 'sweet spot' for AI workers LINK

• AMD unveils its Radeon RX 9000 Series graphics chips LINK

• Meta fires around 20 employees for leaking confidential information LINK

• Dell forecasts $15 billion of AI server sales this year LINK

• Apple will let parents share their kids' ages to limit app access LINK

• Microsoft releases a Copilot app for Mac LINK

• Meta fixes error that exposed Instagram users to graphic and violent content LINK

• Nvidia's record earnings reveal just 3 customers make up 30% of revenue LINK

• Tesla applies for autonomous ride-hailing license in California LINK

• Meta announces experimental Aria Gen 2 research smart glasses LINK

• Figure will start 'alpha testing' its humanoid robot in the home in 2025 LINK

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