Facebook has pulled a network of fake accounts attempting to spread Russian disinformation in Ukraine. The company said it had removed about 40 accounts, pages and groups from Facebook and Instagram that were detected over the last 48 hours.
Meanwhile, Russia has been restricting Twitter access for its citizens since early Saturday morning. According to internet monitor NetBlocks, there was a nearly complete blackout of the platform across all major domestic telecom providers. On Friday, the country’s telecom regulator, Roskomnadzor, began partially restricting access to Facebook after the social network refused to stop fact checking and labeling content from Russia’s state-owned news organizations.
Valve's first portable isn’t a mobile device to take on your everyday commute. It's more like a Steam Controller and a Steam Machine in one hefty package, and it isn’t all that comfortable to play for hours on end. But while it's hard for Senior Editor Jessica Conditt to recommend the Steam Deck as an introduction to PC gaming, it's a great second device for the millions of existing Steam users around the world, one that opens up new places to play around the house.
The Pokémon Company just surprised most of us. It revealed Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, two new Pokémon games, are set to launch sometime in late 2022. Building on the recently released Pokémon Legends: Arceus, developer Game Freak said the games would offer an "open-world adventure" for players to discover. Perhaps it’ll strike a balance between the newest Pokémon game and the mainline series.
A lot of us are obsessed with e-ink devices. The latest addition is a substantially sized e-ink tablet from Huawei. The MatePad Paper has a 10.3-inch grayscale screen with an anti-glare, reflective display to aid low-light use. The Paper can reproduce 256 shades of greyscale to display text and images — and even video. Not only does it have surprisingly tiny bezels, with an 86.3% screen-to-body ratio, but it’s also is compatible with Huawei’s M-Pencil, its second-generation stylus.
But getting the screen to work is staggeringly difficult.
TCL seems to love showing off its prototypes, and it’s doing the same for MWC 2022. Alongside an array of new phones and tablets, the company just debuted a concept device tentatively called the Ultra Flex — a phone with a 360-degree rotating hinge and a flexible display that bends with it. This thing can fold in on itself as well as outwards. However, it’s a little… no, very, delicate.
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DC Comics loves itself some silly genre AUs. If recent stories like “Batman, but death metal ” or the upcoming “Justice League, but dinosaurs ” pitch didn’t sound kick ass enough for you, then maybe this will: DC Mech, a miniseries that can best be described as “Get in the mech, Justice League.”
TCL seems to love showing off eye-catching prototypes at shows, and today it’s doing the same for MWC 2022. Alongside an array of new phones and tablets, the company just debuted a concept device tentatively called the “Ultra Flex” — a phone with a 360-degree rotating hinge and a flexible display that bends along with it. That means this thing can fold in on itself as well as out towards the world.
This is a technically challenging proposition, since the screen has to undergo much more flexing than those that only bend one way. The strip that’s right above the hinge, in particular, would probably suffer the most stress.
In fact, it’s so prone to breaking that the unit we saw at our hands-on in New York never did turn on. Its 8-inch, 2,480 x 1,860 PLP AMOLED screen remained disappointingly dark, though TCL reps did show us photos of it working earlier that day. For now, we can only take their word for it.
TCL
The display wasn’t the only engineering challenge for this prototype: The 360-degree hinge also needed some finessing. Each time I folded and unfolded the device, most of the movement was smooth until the screen’s halves were close to touching. That’s when it made unsettling noises and felt like crunching cereal under a membrane. TCL has not shared any specifics on how the hinge and display work, either, keeping those details confidential for now. It’s clear that this prototype is nowhere close to being a real product.
Why would we even want a device that can fold both ways? TCL reps said it would offer the benefits of both inward-folding devices like the Galaxy Z Fold as well as those that bend outwards like Huawei’s first Mate X foldable. Having a panel you could fold outwards could offer a preview for your camera subjects to see how they look while you frame them up, for example, or let you present slides to someone facing you. Given that Huawei has since adopted Samsung’s approach instead of sticking with an outside-facing flexible screen, it appears that style of foldable might not be very feasible.
Still, I liked the Ultra Flex prototype’s matte blue finish and the mock quad-camera array on the back. The pliable, corrugated backing for the hinge also added an interesting touch to the design, and a slot on the bottom left indicates potential for the inclusion of an onboard stylus.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
We also got to see the company’s “Fold n’ Roll” concept device in person for the first time since it was unveiled in April last year. This is a foldable 6.7-inch phone that uses a motorized mechanism that, at the push of a button, unfurls more of its screen to make an 8.8-inch 2,880 x 2,160 canvas. Like the Ultra Flex, this prototype felt janky, and getting the device to roll out its screen was like asking a dog to sit. Sometimes it worked as expected, sometimes pushing the button did nothing and sometimes the mechanism would whir away but the screen would struggle to move.
At least on this device the screen was working… Ish. For the first half of the demo session, the Fold n’ Roll was stuck on the lock screen, and didn’t respond to any touches or swipes. By some miracle, it eventually unlocked and revealed the Android home screen, but still refused to register any taps. I launched a grand total of zero apps on this prototype, helplessly watching it do nothing as I jabbed at the screen. It reminded me of the panel on Motorola’s Razr — both felt like they were slightly detached from the rest of the components below, like a piece of tape stuck to itself and no longer adhering to the rest of the roll.
The only thing it did was actually recognize when the additional bit of screen had finished rolling in or out, and change its aspect ratio and size to fill up and match the new widths. At this point I was so happy something worked that I was probably too impressed by a feature that should be expected, rather than a bonus.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
Were these prototypes buggy as hell? Yes. Was I intrigued by them regardless? Also yes. We all love being distracted by interesting new form factors and product types, especially as non-foldable smartphone hardware matures and stagnates. As foldables continue to pique our interest and actually become better over the years, who knows what other shapes they might evolve into?
TCL hasn’t said if these prototypes are worth pursuing and turning into actual products, but the company has promised that it plans to launch a foldable phone that costs hundreds less than the competition. Though that has yet to happen, we did see a canceled product last year codenamed Chicago. It’s very similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3, though with a different external screen and camera setup, as well as a slightly more textured finish. I was impressed how nice this looked in person, and the hinge felt less resistant than the Z Flip 3’s. Until TCL starts selling these for real, though, all of its prototypes and concepts remain aspirational. I get that there are global supply issues potentially in the way, but at this point it feels like TCL has teased us for too long.
Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022right here!
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Pokémon fans won't have to wait long to play the next entry in their favorite gaming series. On Sunday morning, the Pokémon Company announced two new mainline titles, PokémonScarlet and Violet, and said it expects them to launch sometime in late 2022. Building on the recently released Pokémon Legends: Arceus, developer Game Freak said the games would offer an "open-world adventure" for players to discover.
Judging from the teaser the studio shared, players can expect to explore a mix of pastoral countryside and bustling urban landscapes. You can see the three new starters at the end of the clip. From left to right, they're Sprigatito, Fuecoco and Quaxly. As you might expect, all three look adorable, and you might have trouble picking one over another. I know I will.
While fans wait for Scarlet and Violet, they can look forward to a new "Daybreak" update for Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Available to download later today, the update adds a new quest for players to complete and additional opportunities to battle Legendary Pokémon. Oh, and a new anime based on the game's Hisui region is coming later this year.
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A lot of Engadget readers – and to be honest, Engadget editors – are obsessed with e-ink devices. Whether they’re productivity workhorses or digital canvases, the tech has slowly continued to inch beyond the one-handed e-readers of the last decade.
The latest addition is a substantially-sized e-ink tablet from Huawei. The MatePad Paper has a 10.3-inch grayscale screen with an anti-glare, reflective display to aid low-light use. The Paper can reproduce 256 shades of greyscale to display text and images – and even video — although I'm not sure why you'd want B&W video.
You probably already noticed it’s got surprisingly small bezels for an e-ink device. Huawei says it’s honed the tablet down to an 86.3 percent screen-to-body ratio, with a book spine-inspired design ensuring there's something for you to hold. All that e-paper, coupled with the size of the thing, sets it apart from pretty much every other e-ink device we’ve seen so far. (The Kindle DX was a long time ago.)
Alongside 32 levels of backlighting, the device is also compatible with Huawei’s M Pencil, which usually launches alongside its more typical tablets. This means you can scribble, annotate and edit your documents and books, which is a very useful tool when it comes to e-ink devices. Notably, Huawei has been able to refine the sensitivity of the textured screen to 26ms. It might not be quite as super smooth as an S22 Ultra – or even Huawei’s other tablets, but it's notable on a matte e-ink surface. Is this the perfect digital note-taking device?
Continuing Huawei’s push to connect all of its devices as seamlessly as possible, you can connect the MatePad Paper to the company’s laptops, PCs, tablets and phones. Huawei says the tablet will appear like a USB drive, and you can drag and drop your notes and annotated PDFs across to your laptop. This is possible thanks to the company's propriety operating system, HarmonyOS.
Huawei product announcements come with the usual proviso, however. The hardware is exciting – and tempting for anyone who works with lots of books, documents and digital paperwork — but you’ll be constrained by HarmonyOS.
The company says it's still growing out the ecosystem, but the onus remains on app creators and companies as to whether they’ll offer support. For example, There are a few ways I could check out my Kindle books on the MatePad Paper – maybe I could use the web-based reader? – but it won’t be as seamless as Amazon hardware. Then again, the MatePad Paper is also capable of more than a simple Kindle.
Huawei didn’t announce the availability and pricing of the MatePad Paper ahead of its MWC presentation. We’ll update this report when we hear more.
Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022right here!
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It’s only been about a month since Pokémon Legends Arceus hit the Nintendo Switch, but it’s been extremely clear both critically (mostly) and commercially that Game Freak’s evolution of their iconic monster fighting franchise is something fans want to see more of. While you wouldn’t be wrong in thinking that there…
Huawei’s top laptop series has gone through a few iterations, but the company has made some notable upgrades to its 2022 MateBook X Pro, without losing what we’ve liked from these laptops over the last few years. Yes, it’s still slim, yes it’s still understated. Yes, we don’t know if it’ll ever appear in the US.
The 2022 model will land with 11th gen Intel U series processors (a spokesperson added that 12th-gen MateBooks would arrive later this year), and a bigger screen. Huawei has expanded the screen up to 14.2 inches from the 13.9 inches of its predecessor, while simultaneously making the body even slimmer. Above the 3,120 x 2,080 display, there’s a HD micro camera – fortunately Huawei hasn’t moved it back to the peek-a-boo webcam keyboard button.
This is also Huawei’s first laptop to support the P3 color gamut and over 1 billion colors and reaches refresh rates of 90Hz too. And for those into touch displays, there's 10-point multitouch compatibility too.
Inside the new wedge design, there are now triple air intakes, up from a single intake last year, including one built into the keyboard. Huawei says this results in 60 percent more airflow through the device. And it might be put to use. The new MateBook X Pro has a new 'performance mode' — accessed through a keyboard shortcut. Huawei says this boosts the CPU's thermal design power (TDP) to 30W for a "performance uplift".
The MateBook X Pro comes with a 90W SuperCharge function that can give 3 hours of use on just a 15-minute charge. (And this all comes from a tiny 180-gram charger that looks more like a phone charger.)
Plug a phone into one of the four USB-C ports and you’ll get up to 50 watts of charge, too. Huawei has also upgraded the sound in its latest laptop, with six speakers dotted around the MateBook X Pro. That's a lot. There are also four mics dotted around the perimeter to improve audio recording and conference calls.
These are the big changes, but a lot is staying the same. There’s still a large trackpad (with some new “free touch” gestures, including one for swiftly scrobbling through video), a chiclet keyboard and Huawei’s Mobile App engine (for running Huawei’s mobile… apps on your laptop).
Huawei
Alongside a new e-ink device, Huawei is also launching a new OLED hybrid PC. The 2-in-1 MateBook E comes with two keyboard options — alas likely to be sold separately or bundled with the PC, depending on region.
Alone, the 12.6-inch MateBook E weighs just over 700 grams (1.5 pounds) and is a slender 7.99mm thick. It will run on 11th-gen Intel Core processors with Intel's embedded Iris X graphics. Huawei's second-generation stylus will also work with the hybrid — the first time it's been compatible with the MateBook series — supporting 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity and 2ms responsiveness. A magnetic keyboard folio, seen above, will allow you to adjust the view of the 2-in-1 while working, while a new Glide keyboard peripheral, adds an extra USB port to the device and will, according to Huawei, allow you to hold it in one hand. For spreadsheets on the go?
The company is holding onto other details – including, crucially, price – for its big MWC reveal. We’ll update this story when it’s streamed this weekend.
Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022right here!
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Facebook has blocked Russian state media outlets from using its advertising platform or using other monetization features in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
The move comes after Russia regulator Roskomnadzor said it would restrict access to the social network after Facebook officials declined to stop fact checking Russian state-run media outlets on the platform. Now, Meta’s Head of Security Policy Nathaniel Gleicher says the company is stepping up its restrictions on Russian state media, which are now barred from running ads or using monetization features anywhere in the world. He added that the company continues to “to apply labels to additional Russian state media.”
2/ We are closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine and will keep sharing steps we’re taking to protect people on our platform. https://t.co/mTatqghCzQ
It follows a similar move from Twitter, which announced on Friday that it was suspending all advertising in Ukraine and Russia in order to better highlight authoritative information and guard against misinformation. Facebook has also previously enabled a “lock profile” feature for people in Ukraine as an added security feature, and has formed a “Special Operations Center” to track how the invasion of Ukraine is unfolding on its platform.
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You know a shonen manga’s made it when its anime adaptation gets a theatrical movie. We’ve seen it dozens of times with Naruto, My Hero Academia, and Fullmetal Alchemist, and now the newest anime to join that pantheon is Jujutsu Kaisen. The dark fantasy anime based on Gege Akutami’s 2018 manga about sorcerers fighting…
Who wouldn't want an AI-driven robot sidekick; a little mechanical pal, trustworthy and supportive — the perfect teammate. But should such an automaton be invented would it really be your teammate, an equal partner in your adventurous endeavors? Or would it simply be a tool, albeit a wildly advanced one measured against today's standard? In the excerpt below from Human-Centered AI, author and professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, Ben Shneiderman, examines the pitfalls of our innate desire to humanize the mechanical constructs we build and how we are shortchanging their continued development by doing so.
A common theme in designs for robots and advanced technologies is that human–human interaction is a good model for human–robot interaction, and that emotional attachment to embodied robots is an asset. Many designers never consider alternatives, believing that the way people communicate with each other, coordinate activities, and form teams is the only model for design. The repeated missteps stemming from this assumption do not deter others who believe that this time will be different, that the technology is now more advanced, and that their approach is novel.
Numerous psychological studies by Clifford Nass and his team at Stanford University showed that when computers are designed to be like humans, users respond and engage in socially appropriate ways. Nass’s fallacy might be described as this: since many people are willing to respond socially to robots, it is appropriate and desirable to design robots to be social or human-like.
However, what Nass and colleagues did not consider was whether other designs, which were not social or human-like, might lead to superior performance. Getting beyond the human teammate idea may increase the likelihood that designers will take advantage of unique computer features, including sophisticated algorithms, huge databases, superhuman sensors, information abundant displays, and powerful effectors. I was pleased to find that in later work with grad student Victoria Groom, Nass wrote: “Simply put, robots fail as teammates.” They elaborated: “Characterizing robots as teammates indicates that robots are capable of fulfilling a human role and encourages humans to treat robots as human teammates. When expectations go unmet, a negative response is unavoidable.”
Lionel Robert of the University of Michigan cautions that human-like robots can lead to three problems: mistaken usage based on emotional attachment to the systems, false expectations of robot responsibility, and incorrect beliefs about appropriate use of robots. Still, a majority of researchers believe that robot teammates and social robots are inevitable. That belief pervades the human–robot interaction research community which “rarely conceptualized robots as tools or infrastructure and has instead theorized robots predominantly as peers, communication partners or teammates.”
Psychologist Gary Klein and his colleagues clarify ten realistic challenges to making machines behave as effectively as human teammates. The challenges include making machines that are predictable, controllable, and able to negotiate with people about goals. The authors suggest that their challenges are meant to stimulate research and also “as cautionary tales about the ways that technology can disrupt rather than support coordination.” A perfect teammate, buddy, assistant, or sidekick sounds appealing, but can designers deliver on this image or will users be misled, deceived, and disappointed? Can users have the control inherent in a tele-bot while benefiting from the helpfulness suggested by the teammate metaphor?
My objection is that human teammates, partners, and collaborators are very different from computers. Instead of these terms, I prefer to use tele-bots to suggest human controlled devices. I believe that it is helpful to remember that “computers are not people and people are not computers.”
UOP
Margaret Boden, a long-term researcher on creativity and AI at the University of Sussex, makes an alternate but equally strong statement: “Robots are simply not people.” I think the differences between people and computers include the following:
Responsibility Computers are not responsible participants, neither legally nor morally. They are never liable or accountable. They are a different category from humans. This continues to be true in all legal systems and I think it will remain so. Margaret Boden continues with a straightforward principle: “Humans, not robots, are responsible agents.” This principle is especially true in the military, where chain of command and responsibility are taken seriously. Pilots of advanced fighter jets with ample automation still think of themselves as in control of the plane and responsible for their successful missions, even though they must adhere to their commander’s orders and the rules of engagement. Astronauts rejected designs of early Mercury capsules which had no window to eyeball the re-entry if they had to do it manually — they wanted to be in control when necessary, yet responsive to Mission Control’s rules. Neil Armstrong landed the Lunar Module on the Moon—he was in charge, even though there was ample automation. The Lunar Module was not his partner. The Mars Rovers are not teammates; they are advanced automation with an excellent integration of human tele-operation with high levels of automatic operation.
It is instructive that the US Air Force shifted from using the term unmanned autonomous/aerial vehicles (UAVs) to remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs) so as to clarify responsibility. Many of these pilots work from a US Air Force base in Nevada to operate drones flying in distant locations on military missions that often have deadly outcomes. They are responsible for what they do and suffer psychological trauma akin to what happens to pilots flying aircraft in war zones. The Canadian Government has a rich set of knowledge requirements that candidates must have to be granted a license to operate a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS).13 Designers and marketers of commercial products and services recognize that they and their organizations are the responsible parties; they are morally accountable and legally liable.14 Commercial activity is further shaped by independent oversight mechanisms, such as government regulation, industry voluntary standards, and insurance requirements.
Distinctive capabilities Computers have distinctive capabilities of sophisticated algorithms, huge databases, superhuman sensors, information-abundant displays, and powerful effectors. To buy into the metaphor of “teammate” seems to encourage designers to emulate human abilities rather than take advantage of the distinctive capabilities of computers. One robot rescue design team described their project to interpret the robot’s video images through natural language text messages to the operators.The messages described what the robot was “seeing” when a video or photo could deliver much more detailed information more rapidly. Why settle for a human-like designs when designs that make full use of distinctive computer capabilities would be more effective.
Designers who pursue advanced technologies can find creative ways to empower people so that they are astonishingly more effective—that’s what familiar supertools have done: microscopes, telescopes, bulldozers, ships, and planes. Empowering people is what digital technologies have also done, through cameras, Google Maps, web search, and other widely used applications. Cameras, copy machines, cars, dishwashers, pacemakers, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems (HVAC) are not usually described as teammates—they are supertools or active appliances that amplify, augment empower, and enhance people.
Human creativity The human operators are the creative force — for discovery, innovation, art, music, etc. Scientific papers are always authored by people, even when powerful computers, telescopes, and the Large Hadron Collider are used. Artworks and music compositions are credited to humans, even if rich composition technologies are heavily used. The human qualities such as passion, empathy, humility, and intuition that are often described in studies of creativity are not readily matched by computers. Another aspect of creativity is to give human users of computer systems the ability to fix, personalize, and extend the design for themselves or to provide feedback to developers for them to make improvements for all users. The continuous improvement of supertools, tele-bots, and other technologies depends on human input about problems and suggestions for new features. Those who promote the teammate metaphor are often led down the path of making human-like designs, which have a long history of appealing robots, but succeed only as entertainment, crash test dummies, and medical mannequins. I don’t think this will change. There are better designs than human-like rescue robots, bomb disposal devices, or pipe inspectors. In many cases four-wheeled or treaded vehicles are typical, usually tele-operated by a human controller.
The DaVinci surgical robot is not a teammate. It is a well-designed tele-bot that enables surgeons to perform precise actions in difficult to reach small body cavities (Figure 14.1, above). As Lewis Mumford reminds designers, successful technologies diverge from human forms. Intuitive Surgical, the developer of the DaVinci systems for cardiac, colorectal, urological, and other surgeries, makes clear that “Robots don’t perform surgery. Your surgeon performs surgery with Da Vinci by using instruments that he or she guides via a console.”
Many robotic devices have a high degree of tele-operation, in which an operator controls activities, even though there is a high degree of automation. For example, drones are tele-bots, even though they have the capacity to automatically hover or orbit at a fixed altitude, return to their take-off point, or follow a series of operator-chosen GPS waypoints. The NASA Mars Rover vehicles also have a rich mixture of tele-operated features and independent movement capabilities, guided by sensors to detect obstacles or precipices, with plans to avoid them. The control centers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs have dozens of operators who control various systems on the Rovers, even when they are hundreds of millions of miles away. It is another excellent example of combining high levels of human control and high levels of automation.
Terms like tele-bots and telepresence suggest alternative design possibilities. These instruments enable remote operation and more careful control of devices, such as when tele-pathologists control a remote microscope to study tissue samples. Combined designs take limited, yet mature and proven features of teammate models and embed them in devices that augment humans by direct or tele-operated controls.
Another way that computers can be seen as teammates is by providing information from huge databases and superhuman sensors. When the results of sophisticated algorithms are displayed on information-abundant displays, such as in three-dimensional medical echocardiograms with false color to indicate blood flow volume, clinicians can be more confident in making cardiac treatment decisions. Similarly, users of Bloomberg Terminals for financial data see their computers as enabling them to make bolder choices in buying stocks or rebalancing mutual fund retirement portfolios (Figure 14.2, below). The Bloomberg Terminal uses a specialized keyboard and one or more large displays, with multiple windows typically arranged by users to be spatially stable so they know where to find what they need. With tiled, rather than overlapped, windows users can quickly find what they want without rearranging windows or scrolling. The voluminous data needed for a decision is easily visible and clicking in one window produces relevant information in other windows. More than 300,000 users pay $20,000 per year to have this supertool on their desks.
UOP
In summary, the persistence of the teammate metaphor means it has appeal for many designers and users. While users should feel fine about describing their computers as teammates, designers who harness the distinctive features of computers, such as sophisticated algorithms, huge databases, superhuman sensors, information-abundant displays, and powerful effectors may produce more effective tele-bots that are appreciated by users as supertools.
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The cast of Marvel’s Ironheart is expanding: This Is Us cast favorite Lyric Ross has signed on for the upcoming Disney+ series. Her role is not yet known, but it’s believed she’ll be playing the best friend of Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, played by Judas and the Black Messiah’sDominque Thorne.
A new bill that guarantees benefits for ride-hail drivers while still classifying them as gig workers has passed the Washington State House. It's backed by Uber and Lyft, as well as the local Teamsters union, and represents a compromise between all parties involved. Under the legislation, drivers are guaranteed benefits that include paid sick leave, a minimum pay rate and a resource center for drivers who want to appeal their deactivation — all while still being classified as gig workers.
Meanwhile, the companies can't set their workers' schedules under the legislation, and cities won't have the power to regulate ride-hailing firms. According to LaborNotes, the bill is getting mixed reception from drivers, with some arguing that the benefits may not be enough.
Uber, Lyft and other gig companies have long fought attempts to force them to classify their workers as employees, even spending hundreds of millions of dollars to ensure that's the case. In California, the companies spent over $200 million to campaign for Proposition 22, a ballot that overturns a local law that made drivers full employees. The companies prevailed, and the proposition passed with a decently wide margin.
Peter Kuel, president of the Teamsters-affiliated Drivers Union, told Bloomberg:
"Thousands of Uber and Lyft drivers — predominantly immigrants and people of color — will benefit from this long overdue expansion of pay raises, benefits and protections statewide."
LaborNotes says, though, that Drivers Union supported the bill mainly because the companies threatened to pursue a ballot initiative if they don't get a compromise in Washington. Don Creery, a Drivers Union board member, told the publication:
"They're also holding the gun at our heads with the possibility of an initiative. They spent $200 million on California. It comes down to the reality that we don't have the money to buy TV ads. They do. They will misinform the public with a barrage of TV ads, so we will lose an initiative. We could lose everything."
The legislation is now heading to the State Senate, which will hold a public hearing for it today, February 26th.
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From The Dropout to WeCrashed, our televisions are about to be flush with stories about notorious startup founders. Does the prevalence of these stories signal a change for the real-life Silicon Valley? "When companies stop competing for funding and funds start competing to finance them, it’s easy for things to get out of hand," Herman writes.
A former content moderator offers an inside look at Manwin Canada, or what would become known as MindGeek, the operator of Pornhub and many other pornographic websites.
If you frequently reference Serious Eats for your at-home culinary exploits, chances are you've run across a science-heavy analysis from J. Kenji López-Alt. In his upcoming book, he's applying this approach to the wok, but this profile goes much deeper than one set of recipes and techniques.
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The US government has imposed harsh export restrictions against Russia designed to drastically limit its access to both low- and high-tech goods from overseas. As first reported by Reuters, the Commerce Department has posted a list of expanded licensing policies and requirements implemented in response to Russia's further invasion of Ukraine.
Under the expanded sanctions, US suppliers that want to ship to Russia will have to obtain licenses for goods that didn't require one in the past. Those goods include microelectronics, telecommunications items, sensors, navigation equipment, avionics, marine equipment and aircraft components.
In addition, the US is adding companies designated as "military end users" due to their alleged ties to the Russian military to the entity list. Any company seeking to ship products made abroad to those military end users will have to obtain licenses from the United States if they're using US-made tools, technology and software for their products. The government says these sanctions should "significantly impact Russia's ability to acquire items it cannot produce itself."
The new rules state that license requests will be reviewed "under a policy of denial," which means the Commerce Department will deny almost all of them. The administration will only approve licenses in rare exceptions, such as applications related to aviation and maritime safety, as well as humanitarian needs. Smartphone exports to Russia are also allowed, so long as they're not shipped to Russian government employees and state-owned enterprises.
Former Commerce Department official Kevin Wolf told Reuters that the rules are so complex, many companies might simply stop dealing with Russia completely to avoid mistakes despite the carveouts. However, Cordell Hull, another former official, predicted that the rules would be difficult to enforce.
During a speech announcing the new measures, President Joe Biden said partner countries are adopting or have expressed intent to adopt similar sanctions. The list of partner countries includes 27 members of the European Union, such as Italy, France and Germany, along with Canada, Australia, Japan and the UK, to name a few. "Between our actions and those of our allies and partners, we estimate that we will cut off more than half of Russia's high-tech imports," he said.
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This morning is brought to you by a lot of phone news. To start, we’ve got our detailed review of Samsung’s Galaxy S22 (and S22 Plus) by the latest addition to Engadget’s editorial team, Sam Rutherford. We also have a first look at Oppo’s latest attempt at a flagship, the Find X5 Pro, written by yours truly, who’s been here a little too long. Hah.
Oppo’s new phone, a few days early, is kicking off our coverage of MWC – the world’s biggest mobile show hosted in Barcelona. Due to the pandemic’s ebbs and flows, we’re covering all the announcements remotely, but expect more news from Samsung, Huawei, Lenovo and many others over the next few days.
The Find X5 Pro has impressive specs, a partnership with camera experts Hasselblad and a pretty-looking phone. The challenge for Oppo is getting people to consider its device as a compelling, reliable alternative to the big players like Samsung, Apple and, well, all the other companies jostling for second place. And even if you like what you see, there’s no word of US availability for now.
Beyond the world of tech, we’re all sadly watching the developments in Ukraine this morning. If you’re looking for ways to help those affected, NPR’s put together a list of organizations asking for assistance.
Twitter Safety has also posted tips in Ukrainian on how to keep accounts secure.
Twitter has admitted that it mistakenly removed accounts sharing Russian military activity during its invasion of Ukraine. The deleted accounts, which have since been reinstated, included an aggregator of user-generated posts from Ukraine and accounts owned by people doing open-source intelligence (OSINT) to debunk fake news and claims.
Oppo’s latest phone looks and sounds like an expensive, powerful flagship. With a 6.7-inch WQHD+ screen that can hit 1,300 nits of brightness, adaptive refresh rates and a new AI chip, made in-house to amp up low light camera performance – even at 4K. There are also two 50-megapixel primary camera sensors, a new (but familiar-sounding) Hasselblad collaboration and a gorgeously curvy design to help it stand out from the competition. US-based readers, however, might never see one.
After Samsung ticked the new design box with last year's S21, now the company has refined it further with the Galaxy S22 and S22+. While they might look a lot like last year's phones, there have been some notable upgrades, especially on the S22's display, performance and camera. The Galaxy S22, starting at $800, offers a boatload of premium features in an attractive chassis with excellent build quality.
A lawsuit alleges the company is trying to squash rivals.
OnlyFans is facing a pair of lawsuits over claims it conspired with Facebook to disable adult entertainer accounts by placing their content on a terrorism database. One suit was launched earlier this week by a rival platform called FanCentro, and the other is a class action lawsuit made on behalf of three adult entertainers. Both Facebook and OnlyFans were named as defendants in the latter complaint.
The phone starts at $900 and features active pen support.
Back in 2020, the Moto G Stylus quickly became one of the company’s most popular phones, featuring stylus input on a phone outside of Samsung’s Note series. But now, Motorola is stepping up its ambitions with the new Edge+, which is essentially a more affordable take on a Galaxy Note. Unlike with Samsung’s devices, Motorola’s Smart Stylus is an optional extra that comes bundled with a folio cover, which addresses the phone’s lack of built-in stylus storage. Prices start at $1,000 (or $900 at launch), but again, you’ll pay extra for that stylus.
OlliOlli World, the delightfully offbeat skateboarding platformer, launched a few weeks ago on basically every gaming console you could ask for. It’s a clean break for the series, taking familiar gameplay but putting it in a totally redesigned world that allows for more exploration, competition and tricks. The original OlliOlli was released on the PS Vita handheld, meaning its appearance on the also-can-be-a-handheld Switch seems like the most appropriate home for the reboot.
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Virtual Private Networks or VPNs can protect the privacy of your browsing, cloaking your online activities and making it much harder for websites, internet providers, advertisers, and a hacker sitting behind you in a coffee shop to see what you’re doing. Generally speaking, VPNs are a Good Thing, and Google offers one…
You can get the 6-quart Instant Pot Max for half the price on Amazon right now if you've been wanting to try the multicooker or if you've missed out on previous deals. The electric pressure cooker is currently listed for $75, or $75 off its original retail price of $150. While Instant Pots have gone on sale on the website in the past, this is the lowest price we've seen this particular model go for.
The Instant Pot Max is capable of reaching 15 pounds per square inch (psi), which in theory means that it can cook food faster than other models that can only reach 12 psi. It has a large touchscreen display where you can set the temperature, pressure level and cooking time, can program the time for when you want the device to start cooking and can ensure the food inside stays warm.
You also have access to multiple settings, based on what you want to cook or do: pressure cook, slow cook, sauté, soup, rice, canning, sous vide and yogurt. The Max comes with automated venting and lid-lock features, as well, and you can release steam simply by tapping "vent" on the touchscreen display and choosing either "pulse" or "quick release."
If you're completely new to Instant Pots, you can consult the free recipe app that comes with your purchase to look up instruction videos. You can also consult our Instant Pot primer for tips on how to make the most out of the kitchen gadget.
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All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
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The UK government is introducing a bill that will require Facebook, Google and other tech platforms to verify the identities of users. The measure is part of the government's Online Safety Bill announced last year and is ostensibly designed to help users block anonymous trolls online.
“Tech firms have a responsibility to stop anonymous trolls polluting their platforms,” said UK digital Minister Nadine Dorries in a statement. “People will now have more control over who can contact them and be able to stop the tidal wave of hate served up to them by rogue algorithms.”
Tech firms would need to decide how to carry out the checks when users create social media accounts. Some options proposed by the government include facial recognition via profile pictures, two-factor authentication and government-issued ID. The UK's media regulator Ofcom would be in charge of laying out the rules.
Tech firms have a responsibility to stop anonymous trolls polluting their platforms.
The government has also proposed measures that would force companies to filter out "legal but harmful" material. That would allow parents, for instance, to apply settings stopping their kids from receiving search results about certain topics, or putting "sensitivity screens" over them.
Tech firms in violation could face fines of up to 10 percent of their global annual revenues, which could be in the billions with companies like Google and Facebook. The government could also block services from being accessed in the UK under the proposed rules, which would need to be approved by parliament to become law.
“We are reviewing the details of the new proposed duties,” a Twitter spokesperson told CNBC. “Our focus remains on a safe internet for all — whether or not someone is able to or chooses to verify themselves.” It add that it sees anonymity as “a vital tool for speaking out in oppressive regimes."
The UK government said it would introduce online safety rules back in 2018, and the idea has gained impetus following recent racial abuse of Black England soccer players by anonymous trolls. On top of that, a petition in favor of the idea has gained nearly 700,000 signatures. However, critics of identity verification have said that anonymity can help protect LGBTQ+ and other oppressed minorities, whistleblowers and critics of oppressive regimes.
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HTC has teamed up with a company called Holoride to let you use its Vive Flow VR headset to transform your car into an amusement park — without making you carsick. The idea is that when you don the headset, you'll appear inside a roller coaster or other experience, but the motion will match up perfectly with the movement of the car.
Holoride is backed in part by Audi with the aim of creating "an entirely new media category for passengers by connecting Extended Reality (XR) content with data points from the vehicle in real time," according to the press release. The Vive Flow, meanwhile, is a lightweight (189 gram or 0.42 pounds), $499 VR headset built specifically for entertainment and wellness.
It's not just amusement parks you'll be able to visit virtually, but also "virtual worlds" along with 2D content on a "virtual, motion-synchronized cinema screen," Holoride notes. In other words, it sounds like it'll also let you watch movies or other content without barfing as you normally might on a regular screen.
Holoride is not exactly reinventing the wheel here, as I had a similar experience back in 2017 with Renault's Symbioz concept EV, that drove me 80 MPH while I wore a VR headset. The experience was surprisingly seamless, even back then, as the virtual environment matched up perfectly with the vehicle's movement on the autoroute (freeway) — keeping me from feeling sick. Audi, Volvo and other automakers have also played with VR headsets that synchronize visuals with vehicle movement. We previously tested out Holoride on a larger VR headset (above).
Holoride will operate on what is perhaps a more practical and lightweight headset, though it's not exactly cheap at $499. It offers decent visuals with two 1.6K, 75 Hz displays with a 100-degree field of view. However, one downside for this purpose is that it doesn't have as many motion sensors as more classic VR headsets, so it requires a mirror-mounted dongle to help track vehicle motion.
A headset also isn't very social, but it could be useful on long trips if you or the driver want to take a conversation break. There's no word yet on when the experience might arrive, but Holoride will be showing it off at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona from February 28th to March 3rd.
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Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has called on all citizens of Kyiv who own hobby drones to bring them in and help monitor the city as Russia invades, according to a new Facebook post by the military. Even if people don’t know how to fly their own drones very well they’re still being encouraged to bring them in so that…
Not all games require huge teams of coders and many years of development to be a success. Smash-hit word puzzle game Wordle was put together by Josh Wardle for his partner Palak Shah in a relatively quick period of time, and despite its simplicity and lack of extras (like a phone app), its meteoric rise was enough to …
Google delayed its employees' return to office a few times over the past year, but it looks like the tech giant is truly gearing up to welcome workers back this time. According to CNBC, the company is easing some of its COVID-related mandates as part of those efforts, including relaxing its vaccine requirements for employees.
CNBCreported back in December that Google will place employees who don't comply with its vaccine mandate by January 18th on leave unless they secure a valid medical or religious exemption. The report also said that those employees will eventually be fired if they continue refusing to be inoculated against the virus. Google spokesperson Lora Lee Erickson told the news organization that the company dropped the requirement last month, though they refused to discuss the reason behind the decision.
Based on an email from Google Real Estate and Workplace Services VP David Radcliffe that CNBC has obtained, the company is also dropping its testing requirements that also applied to vaccinated employees. It's lifting its mask and social distancing requirements for vaccinated employees, with the exception of its offices in Santa Clara County where its Mountain View headquarters are located, as well. That said, unvaccinated employees must still be approved to work in offices, and they'll still have to wear masks and get regularly tested if they're coming in.
On top of easing up its COVID mandates, Google is also reopening its amenities for employees, including its fitness centers with massages, full shuttle service, more places to eat, as well as lounges and music rooms. Erickson told CNBC:
"We're giving employees who welcome the chance to come into the office the option to do that wherever we safely can, while allowing those who aren't ready to keep working from home. Based on current conditions in the Bay Area, we're pleased that our employees who choose to come in now have the ability to access more onsite spaces and services to work and connect with colleagues."
Google still doesn't have an exact date for its return to office, but Radcliffe's note reportedly said that the company will begin its 30-day transition to its hybrid work week plan if conditions continue to improve. Under the plan, employees will be required to physically come into the company's offices at least thrice a week.
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Russia has officially invaded Ukraine, starting a needless war that has the potential to cause extreme human suffering and create millions of refugees. But don’t believe everything you see on the internet right now, especially if you’re checking social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.
Marvel’s first run of TV shows set in its cinematic universe, including Daredevil and Jessica Jones, have found a new home beyond Netflix – if you live north of the border. The shows, set to disappear from Netflix on March 1st, will appear on Disney Plus in Canada, starting March 16th.
There’s no official news of a similar revival in the US, at least not yet. However – without spoiling any surprises – some characters have managed to make notable reappearances in recent Marvel movies and shows. Hopefully, Disney can figure out exactly where to take these shows, and hey, give The Defenders the do-over it deserves. I won’t be taking any questions on this matter.
Zuckerberg recently recapped the company's natural language processing efforts.
During a Metaverse and AI livestream event on Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Meta's research division is working on a universal speech translation system that could streamline users' interactions with AI. Zuckerberg said: "Now, we have the chance to improve the internet and set a new standard where we can all communicate with one another, no matter what language we speak or where we come from. And if we get this right, this is just one example of how AI can help bring people together on a global scale."
Apple's latest anti-stalking features for AirTags, announced earlier this month, have started to appear in iOS 15.4 beta 4. The beta update includes a warning when users first set up an AirTag. "Using this item to track people without their consent is a crime in many regions around the world," it reads. "This item is designed to be detected by victims and to enable law enforcement to request identifying information about the owner."
They're up to 70 percent faster for multithreaded performance.
Intel is finally ready to reveal more details of its new U and P-series CPUs for ultraportables. And, much like AMD's upcoming Ryzen 6000 chips, it looks like Intel is aiming to deliver a huge performance boost while consuming less power than last year's hardware. With the Core i7-1280P, Intel's fastest 28-watt P-series CPU, the company claims you'll see up to 70 percent faster multithreaded performance than last year's i7-1195G7. Like the rest of its 12th-gen lineup, Intel's U and P-series chips are a new hybrid design that combines Performance cores (P-cores) and Efficient cores (E-cores) on a single die.
Only 10 percent of its next-gen fleet will be electric.
The USPS is moving forward with plans to spend $11.3 billion on a fleet of next-generation mail trucks that mostly run on gas, despite requests from the EPA and Biden administration to electrify its new vehicles instead. "Our commitment to an electric fleet remains ambitious given the pressing vehicle and safety needs of our aging fleet as well as our fragile financial condition," Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in a statement. He went on to say that the agency would try to buy more EVs as additional funding became available.
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OnlyFans is facing a pair of lawsuits over claims it conspired with Facebook to disable adult entertainer accounts by placing their content on a terrorism database, the BBC has reported. One was launched earlier this week by a rival platform called FanCentro, and the other is a class action lawsuit made on behalf of three adult entertainers. Both Facebook and OnlyFans were named as defendants in the latter complaint.
The class action suit claims performers' content was placed on the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) website despite not being terrorist in nature. That reportedly led to a decline in traffic to websites that compete with OnlyFans. Similar claims were made by FanCentro in its lawsuit. Both say that the problem is happening on Instagram more than any other platform.
OnlyFans told the BBC that the legal claim has "no merit," while Facebook parent Meta said "these allegations are without merit and we will address them in the context of the litigation as needed." A GIFCT spokesperson said: "We are not aware of any evidence to support the theories presented in this lawsuit between two parties with no connection to GIFCT."
OnlyFans is best known for hosting pornography, but it was in the news last summer after saying it would ban "sexually explicit conduct." It said the request was made by "banking partners and payout providers," but it subsequently backtracked after receiving "secured assurances" required to support its adult creators.
However, the move shook the trust of some sex workers and other OnlyFans creators, since a potential ban threatened a key source of their income. Some likely decided to move to rival sites, only to now be allegedly facing a shadow-ban on social media.
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Oppo’s latest phone looks and sounds like an expensive, powerful flagship. With a 6.7-inch WQHD+ screen that can hit 1,300 nits of brightness, adaptive refresh rates, and a new AI chip, made in-house to amp up low light camera performance – even at 4K. There are also two 50-megapixel primary camera sensors, a new (but familiar-sounding) Hasselblad collaboration and, well, just look at this beautiful thing.
So far this year, Oppo already announced its MariSilicon X neural processing unit (NPU), its intriguing attempt at foldables, but not a new flagship phone. But that’s where MWC comes in, which so far is shaping up to be a relatively quiet mobile show. It’s good news for Oppo. Barring any leftfield surprises (Samsung and Huawei both have press events this week) it can take center stage. Fortunately, Oppo has provided a device ahead of the public reveal, so I’ve got some early impressions and thoughts to add to proceedings.
The Find X5 Pro borrows heavily from the Find X3 Pro’s shape and style from last year, but I think it looks even better. The camera unit now has a diagonal slope at the bottom, so it should fit in your hand better. There’s no space-age, hyper-reflective silver color option this time, just glossy black or ceramic white. It was a bit much.
Mat Smith/Engadget
This black one picks up fingerprints and smudges with a little too much ease, but I didn’t fear scratching it before I had to film this preview or grab photos for my story. Oppo says the ceramic body is actually nanometer microcrystalline ceramics. The material takes 168 hours to produce but Oppo says results in a phone that can resist scratches over 1200 HV – Vickers Pyramid number that registers hardness. For comparison, stainless steel scores 200 HV, while diamond reaches around 10,000 HV. In summary, you might not need the protective case that also comes in the box. There’s also Gorilla Glass Victus on the screen.
I think it looks great. And while it might not be quite as unique as the Pixel 6’s cyclops look, it at least looks different to the army of phones with their squarish camera arrays. There’s a little originality to the design here. There are also some (reliably?) familiar specs. It’s another phone arriving with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip – arguably the most powerful Android phone chip available in phones at this moment. There’s also a 5,000mAh battery – bigger than the one found in its predecessor. Bigger batteries are always better in my opinion.
Cameras seem to be Oppo’s focus with the Find X5 Pro. The company has made changes across camera hardware, processing, user interfaces and everything in between. Like its last Find X device, the X5 Pro has dual 50-megapixel primary sensors, but each has a few different specs, lens layouts and even materials.
The ultrawide camera, at the top of the Find 5X, includes a freeform lens. Oppo says this should reduce image distortion – that weird stretched effect at the edges of an image – when putting those wide angles to use. It has a f/2.2 aperture and can cover a 110-degree field of view. It’s a 50-megapixel sensor, which uses pixel binning techniques to offer what Oppo says is “2um binned pixel size”.
Just below it, the second 50MP camera taps into the same pixel binning techniques but has an f/1.7 aperture with a glass and resin combination lens. Using glass in just a part of the lens array should improve color accuracy up to 77 percent, according to Oppo. This camera also features five-axis optical image stabilization to boost your chances of a clear shot, and improve imaging performance across low-light settings. All of those axes of stabilization mean this sensor takes up a lot more space inside the Find X5 Pro, but there was still room for a 13-megapixel telephoto camera with f/2.4 aperture and a new 13-channel spectral sensor. Last year’s Oppo flagship had a mere 5-channel sensor, but this upgrade will improve color accuracy and the precision of white balance settings.
Mat Smith/Engadget
On the front, there’s a 32-megapixel selfie cam, with a new RGBW sensor that should offer, again, more accurate color capture and improved dynamic range. The selfie camera will also monitor whether you’re looking at your phone, keeping the screen lit if you’re still watching or reading.
That’s half the hardware story. Oppo is debuting its Marisilicon X NPU chip in its new phone. During my briefing, the company walked through how the chip enables a new “night-mode” video recording, even at 4K resolution with HDR enabled. There’s a barrage of specs and numbers to explain what Oppo’s homemade NPU is adding, but a lot of it distills down to better and faster signal processing and even improved power efficiency, which could be important if you’re capturing a lot of 4K content.
I briefly tested out 4K Ultra Night Video, Oppo’s take on low-light video recording. While it does certainly help to amplify detail in the dimmest situations, at least when I’ve used it so far, the NPU hasn’t translated to 4K video notably better than its competition.
I tried filming last night with the Find X5 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro, and Google’s footage seemed more natural and less harsh than what Oppo’s processing produced. Foliage detail was a little too excessively blown-out to the point of turning gray – it appeared to tune out the green.
But for the sake of consistency, let’s go over what Hasselblad is adding, aside from cachet.
The phone’s Pro mode offers users some Hasselblad-seasoned fine-grain controls. That means a big orange shutter button and three Hasselblad approved filters for stills and videos. I can’t explain why, but I really liked what each of these ‘special’ filters did to my video and photos. You even get Xpan Mode, where you can shoot video in 65:24 ratio. If you don’t care to do the math, it’s just a very wide, cinematic aspect ratio. For reasons I can’t fully explain, I loved this too.
Mat Smith/Engadget
Now OnePlus and Oppo are more tightly aligned, it’s not surprising to see software overlap like this. Yes, you also get Hasselblad’s natural color solution, where the company has tried to replicate the color accuracy of its very expensive cameras into these smartphone camera sensors.
Oppo is saving a little bit of spectacle for its MWC show, and said spectacle, unfortunately, includes pricing and availability. I’ll update this story once Oppo spills those all-important details. However, you’re unlikely to see the Find X5 Pro in the US – something you may hear several times during Europe’s big mobile show.
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If you know a small tablet will fit into your life easily, chances are you've considered the iPad mini in the past. Now, you can grab the latest model for $40 less at Amazon, which has the 64GB space gray model for $459. Unfortunately, that's the only color at that price right now — the 64GB starlight model is $25 off and down to $474, while the purple and pink models are hovering around $489-$499. Discounts like these typically don't stick around very long, so we recommend grabbing the mini soon if you've had your eye on it.
The iPad mini may be small, but it packs a lot of power. It's even more capable than the base iPad with its A15 Bionic chip and Neural Engine, 12MP ultra-wide front camera with Center Stage, 5G connectivity and USB-C port for charging. Apple totally redesigned the mini this time around, making it look like a smaller version of the iPad Air. It has an 8.3-inch 2,266 x 1,488 resolution Liquid Retina screen that's almost edge-to-edge, flat edges and a fingerprint-toting power button. Not only does the new mini feel more modern than ever before, but it also handled everything we threw at it, including light gaming, online shopping, video streaming, FaceTime calls and note-taking with the second-generation Apple Pencil.
FaceTime calls are even better on the small tablet, too, thanks to the Center Stage feature on the front-facing camera. It automatically pans and zooms to keep you in the middle of the frame even while you're moving around and chatting at the same time. As far as battery life goes, the iPad mini lasted about 12 hours on a single charge in our testing, which is two hours longer than Apple's estimate. Admittedly, an 8-inch tablet won't work for everyone, but those who know that the e-reader-sized device is exactly what they're looking should consider grabbing one in Amazon's latest sale.
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The US Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with Tesla after the agency found that the automaker violated the Clean Air Act at its factory in Fremont, California. In particular, the EPA determined that Tesla violated the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Surface Coating of Automobiles and Light-Duty Trucks from October 2016 to September 2019.
Tesla, the EPA said, failed to develop and implement a work practice plan to minimize air pollutants emissions from the storage and mixing of materials used in vehicle coating. It also failed to correctly perform the monthly calculations needed to prove that its coating operations complied with the federal standards for hazardous air pollutants. Finally, Tesla apparently failed to keep required records of the calculations for its air pollutants emissions rate. "People living in communities that are near sources of hazardous air pollutants may face significant risks to their health and environment," the agency wrote in its announcement.
According to CNBC, the paint shop at Tesla's factory in Fremont suffered several fires within that period. The news organizations talked to employees back in 2018 who claimed that the company pushed to hit production goals at the expense of fire and environmental considerations. (If you'll recall, Tesla was struggling to hit Model 3 production goals at the time.) Those employees claimed that months before a fire in April that year, the shop's sprinkler heads were clogged and were coated with at least an inch of thick paint. Exhaust systems that were supposed to carry clean air in and out of the building were allegedly coated with thick paint, as well.
"Today's enforcement action against Tesla reflects EPA's continued commitment to ensure compliance with federal clean air laws," EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman said in a statement. Tesla will only have to $275,000 to settle its violations, however, which is a drop in the ocean for a company that reported a $5.5 billion in net income last year.
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