Engadget Podcast: Clearview AI’s facial recognition is on the ropes

This week, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham dive into the latest news around Clearview AI, the controversial facial recognition company that’s now seeing pushback from governments and regulators around the world. Will a few fines put a stop to the company’s facial recognition search platform? Also, they discuss how Clearview’s troubles relate to countries being more restrictive about data in general. Finally, they pour one out for Seth Green’s lost Bored Ape – RIP NFT!

Listen above, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Topics

  • Facial Recognition company Clearview AI is on the ropes after several big settlements – 1:22

  • The era of borderless data may be ending – 15:04

  • Privacy focused search company DuckDuckGo quietly allowed Microsoft browsing trackers – 23:08

  • New details about AMD’s Ryzen 7000 chips – 28:34

  • Oh no, somebody stole Seth Green’s Bored Ape – 33:16

  • Working on –36:29

  • Pop culture picks – 41:36

Livestream

Credits
Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Nathan Ingraham
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh

Niantic’s Campfire app will finally let ‘Pokémon Go’ players chat together

Move over Discord, Niantic has its own messaging solution in mind for Pokémon Go players: a social AR app called Campfire. It’ll let you organize for events, discover new locations and share content with other players. Think of it like a hyper-local so…

A live-action ‘Speed Racer’ series is headed to Apple TV+

Apple has given the green light to a live-action Speed Racer series for Apple TV+, both Variety and Deadline are reporting. J.J. Abrams is set to executive produce the show, and it’ll be made under his Bad Robot production company, the outlets claim. While the show hasn’t been officially announced yet, the dual scoops are a reliable indicator that something is definitely happening with the classic anime property. The new series will be co-written by Ron Fitzgerald (Westworld, Friday Night Lights) and Hiram Martinez (Snowpiercer, Get Shorty), who’ve both worked on genre shows before.

Of course, it’ll be difficult to top the cinematic genius of the Wachowski’s 2008 adaptation of Speed Racer (seriously, the world just wasn’t ready for it), but the series’ premise is ripe for another live-action spin. The new series is reportedly going back to the original 1969 manga (released as Mach GoGogo). The franchise focuses on an expert driver named Speed Racer, his family/racing team (which includes a pet chimpanzee for some reason), and his souped-up car, the Mach 5. There have already been several animated reboots of the show in America, but it’ll be interesting to see how another team brings Speed Racer into the live action arena.

Microsoft Teams goes beyond screen sharing for real-time collaboration

What’s cooler than just sharing your screen with colleagues? Sharing live projects that everyone can edit at the same time. That’s at the heart of Microsoft’s new Live Share feature, which make it easier for Teams apps to enable real-time collaboration…

‘Lord of the Rings: Gollum’ hits consoles and PC on September 1st

Following a delay from 2021, Daedalic’s “cinematic stealth adventure” game The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will officially arrive on September 1st, the company announced today. The game will explore the untold story of Gollum during the first few chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring. We don’t have any new footage of the game in action yet, but the latest cinematic trailer gives us an idea of the sort of stealth gameplay expect. (It’s also nice to see that Daedaelic’s take on Gollum hews closely to Peter Jackon’s Lord of the Ring films.) 

As with any story-driven game worth its salt, you’ll be able to make distinct choices—in this case, you’ll be going between Gollum’s more vicious desires and his kinder Hobbit self, Smeagol. You’ll definitely be hiding in tall grass quite a bit, but hopefully you’ll have some creative ways to torture your enemies, as the trailer implies. Daedalic also promises you’ll run into some familiar faces from Lord of the Rings, as you’d expect.  

AMD’s Ryzen 7000 desktop chips are coming this fall with 5nm Zen 4 cores

AMD’s upcoming Ryzen 7000 chips will mark another major milestone for the company: they’ll be the first desktop processors running 5 nanometer cores. During her Computex keynote presentation today, AMD CEO Lisa Su confirmed that Ryzen 7000 chips will launch this fall. Under the hood, they’ll feature dual 5nm Zen 4 cores, as well as a redesigned 6nm I/O core (which includes RDNA2 graphics, DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 controllers and a low-power architecture). Earlier this month, the company teased its plans for high-end “Dragon Range” Ryzen 7000 laptop chips, which are expected to launch in 2023.

Since this is just a Computex glimpse, AMD isn’t giving us many other details about the Ryzen 7000 yet. The company says it will offer a 15 percent performance jump in Cinebench’s single-threaded benchmark compared to the Ryzen 5950X. Still, it’d be more interesting to hear about multi-threaded performance, especially given the progress Intel has made with its 12th-gen CPUs. You can expect 1MB of L2 cache per core, as well as maximum boost speeds beyond 5GHz and better hardware acceleration for AI tasks.

AMD is also debuting Socket AM5 motherboards alongside its new flagship processor. The company is moving towards a 1718-pin LGA socket, but it will still support AM4 coolers. That’s a big deal if you’ve already invested a ton into your cooling setup. The new motherboards will offer up to 24 channels of PCIe 5.0 split across storage and graphics, up to 14 USB SuperSpeed ports running at 20 Gbps, and up to 4 HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2 ports. You’ll find them in three different flavors: B650 for mainstream systems, X650 for enthusiasts who want PCIe 5.0 for storage and graphics and X650 Extreme for the most demanding folks.

Given that Intel still won’t have a 7nm desktop chip until next year (barring any additional delays), AMD seems poised to once again take the performance lead for another generation. But given just how well Intel’s hybrid process for its 12th-gen chips has worked out, it’ll be interesting to see how it plans to respond. If anything, it sure is nice to see genuine competition in the CPU space again.

While Ryzen 7000 will be AMD’s main focus for the rest of the year, the company is also throwing a bone to mainstream laptops in the fourth quarter with its upcoming 6nm “Mendocino” CPUs. They’ll sport four 6nm Zen 2 cores, as well as RDNA 2 graphics, making them ideal for systems priced between $399 and $699. Sure, that’s not much to get excited about, but even basic machines like Lenovo’s Ideapad 1 deserve decent performance. And for many office drones, it could mean having work-issued machines that finally don’t stink.

Netflix’s Love, Death and Robots finds the ‘nerd joy’ of adult animation

What happens when animation geeks get the greenlight to produce whatever they want? You get Netflix’s Love, Death and Robots, an anthology series that’s meant to remind viewers that cartoons aren’t just for kids. You’d think that would be a foregone co…

Engadget Podcast: The crypto crash explained

What the heck is going on in the land of cryptocurrency and NFTs? This week, Devindra and Engadget UK Bureau Chief Mat Smith chat with Manda Farough, co-host and producer of the Virtual Economy podcast, about the massive crypto crash. They discuss how the fall of the Luna cryptocurrency and its sibling, TerraUSD, sent shockwaves through the industry. 

Also, they dive into ICE’s surprisingly robust (and scary) surveillance system, as well the DHS’s stalled misinformation board. Stay tuned for the end of the show for our chat with Tim Miller and Jennifer Yuh Nelson, the co-creator and animation director for Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots.

Listen above, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

Subscribe!

Topics

  • Terra, Luna, and the recent Crypto crash – 2:05

  • Acer’s glasses-free 3D laptop – 26:35 

  • Report outs U.S.’s ICE as breeching data privacy, has facial recognition data on Americans – 33:37

  • Homeland Security “pauses” disinformation board – 43:15

  • There is once again a rumor about USB-C on iPhone – 46:41

  • Working on – 52:44

  • Pop culture picks – 59:35

  • Interview with Love, Death & Robots co-creator Time Miller and animation director Jennifer Yuh Nelson – 1:06:51

Credits
Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Mat Smith
Guest: Manda Farough
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien

‘EVE Online’ now lets anyone play the MMO in a web browser

EVE Online addicts got their wish last year when developer CCP games announced EVE Anywhere, a browser-based platform for streaming the popular space MMO. Today, that’s opening up to all EVE players, and not just premium Omega subscribers. You just need a modern browser, like Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox, and a solid 25Mbps internet to start streaming some space battles. EVE Anywhere is rolling out in the US and select European countries, like Germany, Switzerland and the UK, with more territories coming later this year.

CCP says it’s relying on Intel technology to stream the game to players over high-capacity servers. While EVE diehards likely aren’t giving up their PC rigs anytime soon, EVE Anywhere lets them squeeze in a few sessions when they’re away from home (but not ever at work, nobody would do that). The platform could also serve as a gateway for players with slow and aging hardware. After all, even a Chromebook would be able to stream EVE Anywhere.