This week, the tech industry saw a development in the ongoing debate of whether to ban TikTok in the U.S. with Montana becoming the first state to pass legislation that bars residents from accessing the app. Elsewhere in apps, Twitter expanded the maximum character limit for tweets to 10,000 characters, but only for Twitter Blue subscribers.
As for the latest on Elon Musk, the Twitter CEO has reportedly founded his own AI company, despite his recent criticisms over the rapid advancement of AI.
Elon Musk Founded an AI Company, “X.AI Corp.”
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Elon Musk has founded his own AI company, according to reports. The news comes as somewhat of a surprise, given that Musk has criticized the rapid progression of AI and even signed an open letter asking labs to pause their development of new AI. Now it seems that Musk will be working directly in the AI space, though the exact intention of the company is still unknown.
Per documents filed in Nevada, Musk’s own AI company is called “X.AI Corp.” The filings list Musk as the sole director, while Jared Birchall, the current director of his family office, is listed as the secretary.
Montana Passed a Bill to Block TikTok Downloads
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Amid talks to ban TikTok throughout the U.S., Montana has become the first state to officially ban the app. The state passed a bill that effectively bars TikTok from being offered on the app store. SB 419 “prohibit[s] a mobile application store from offering the TikTok application to Montana users.”
The bill also recognizes parent company ByteDance’s collection of user data, reading that “TikTok’s continued operation in Montana serves as a valuable tool to the People’s Republic of China to conduct corporate and international espionage in Montana and may allow the People’s Republic of China to track the real-time locations of public officials, journalists, and other individuals adverse to the Chinese Communist Party’s interests.”
Twitter Blue Now Allows Tweets of Up to 10,000 Characters
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Twitter Blue subscribers can now post essay-long tweets thanks to Elon Musk expanding the maximum character count. Those who are subscribed to the program can tweet up to 10,000 characters, and will also have the option to italicize or bold text in their tweets.
Longer tweets seem to be readying the platform to compete with newsletters such as Substack, which Musk appears to see as a threat. Last week, the CEO even blocked Substack access within Twitter, so that when a user clicked on a Substack link, it was hit with a message that the website they were headed to was “potentially spammy or unsafe.”
Nvidia Debuted a Budget PC Graphics Card, the GeForce RTX 4070
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Graphics cards may be notoriously expensive, but Nvidia has stepped in with a budget option that won’t necessarily break the bank. The $600 USD GeForce RTX 4070 boasts ray tracing and DLSS 3, while maintaining a 1440p resolution.
Nvidia says that the RTX 4070 is “20% faster on average in traditional games while reducing average gaming power consumption by 23%.” It’s also the smallest graphics card in the company’s 4000 series. For those seeking a more affordable option, the card is available now through Nvidia and select retailers.
