Education on technology

Google is deferring a portion of its employees' year-end bonuses as part of a transition to a new performance management system, the search engine giant said on Thursday. The company will pay 80 percent advance bonus to eligible employees initially and the remainder in later months, a spokesperson told Reuters, adding that the move was communicated to staff last year. The development comes amid tech companies' attempts to limit spending amid a broader slowdown in demand and deteriorating economic conditions. Alphabet has so far announced cuts impacting over 200 employees in its health sciences division even as its megacap peers Amazon.com , Meta Platforms and Microsoft have let go thousands of employees. The advance bonus will be paid in January and the remaining 20 percent in March or April, helping Google spread out costs to the next quarter, according to CNBC, which first reported the story. All bonuses next year onwards will be paid in March, the report added. Googl

India's flagship motor show Auto Expo 2023 has concluded with a record turnout of over 6.36 lakh visitors, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers said on Wednesday. The biennial auto show, originally scheduled to be held in 2022 was postponed to this year due to COVID-19 and it witnessed five global launches, and launching and unveiling of 75 products. It kicked off with press days on January 11-12 followed by general public days from January 13 to 18, 2023. "The show saw a turnout of 6,36,743 visitors, which is the highest-ever visitor turnout at Auto Expo," Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) President Vinod Aggarwal said in a statement. The show revolved around sustainable mobility and decarbonisation with thrust on five specific initiatives -- 'Surakshit Safar' focusing on road safety; 'Jaivik Pahal' for promotion of bio-fuel vehicles; 'Vidyutikaran' focusing on electrification of vehicles; 'Chakriyata' focusing o

In 1950, Alan Turing, the British computer scientist who cracked the Enigma code during World War II, wrote an article in which he posed a seemingly absurd question: “Can machines think?” The debut late last year of the eerily lifelike ChatGPT appeared to move us closer to an answer. Overnight, a fully formed silicon-based chatbot stepped from the digital shadows. It can craft jokes, write ad copy, debug computer code, and converse about anything and everything. This unsettling new reality is already being described as one of those “tipping points” in the history of artificial intelligence. But it's been a long time coming. And this particular creation has been gestating in computer science labs for decades. As a test of his proposition for a thinking machine, Turing described an “imitation game,” where a human being would interrogate two respondents located in another room. One would be a flesh-and-blood human being, the other a computer. The interrogator would be tasked with fi

Apple is working on a slate of devices aimed at challenging Amazon and Google in the smart-home market, including new displays and a faster TV set-top box, after relaunching its larger HomePod speaker. The push into smart displays will start with a tablet product — essentially a low-end iPad — that can control things like thermostats and lights, show video and handle FaceTime chats, people with knowledge of the plans said. The product could be mounted on walls or elsewhere using magnetic fasteners, positioning it as more of a home gadget than a regular iPad. Apple has also discussed the idea of building larger smart-home displays, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. While the iPad already has smart-home features, standalone smart-home devices — often designed as countertop or wall-mounted appliances — have grown increasingly popular. Amazon sells a line of Echo Show products with displays, while Google offers its Nest Hub