theverge--2020-01-22--The need for a federal privacy law has never been greater

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Bay Area !
I ’ ll be talking with Anna Wiener about Uncanny Valley , her brilliant new memoir of a life in tech , on February 4th at Manny ’ s in San Francisco .
It ’ s our second-ever Interface Live event , and it would mean the world to me if you came to say hello and talk tech and democracy with us .
Get your tickets here !
Last June , after a series of developments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I warned that a Chinese-style social credit system was beginning to take shape in the United States .
Among other things , a school district in western New York announced plans to deploy a facial-recognition system to track students and faculty ; the Washington Post reported that airports had accelerated their use of facial-recognition tools , and the United States began requiring visa applicants to submit social media profiles along with their applications .
That column left open the question of what role American law enforcement might play in building a system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , thanks to a superb investigation by Kashmir Hill , we know much more .
Hill tells the story of Clearview AI , a small and mostly unknown company that has been scraping publicly available images — including billions from Facebook , YouTube , and Venmo profiles — and selling access to the police .
She writes : Until now , technology that readily identifies everyone based on his or her face has been taboo because of its radical erosion of privacy .
Tech companies capable of releasing such a tool have refrained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Google ’ s chairman at the time said it was the one technology the company had held back because it could be used “ in a very bad way.
” Some large cities , including San Francisco , have barred police from using facial recognition technology .
But without public scrutiny , more than 600 law enforcement agencies have started using Clearview in the past year , according to the company , which declined to provide a list .
The computer code underlying its app , analyzed by The New York Times , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ augmented-reality glasses ; users would potentially be able to identify every person they saw .
The tool could identify activists at a protest or an attractive stranger on the subway , revealing not just their names but where they lived , what they did and whom they knew .
Hill ’ s report is chockablock with surprising details , and you should read it in full if you haven ’ t already .
When it landed online Saturday , it galvanized discussions around how quickly tech companies are eroding privacy protections , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of discussions around a national privacy law .
Some threads to pull on .
Is this legal ?
As Ben Thompson explains today in a paywalled post , LinkedIn sued a company that had scraped its public profiles in a fashion similar to Clearview .
But it lost the lawsuit , seemingly giving a green light to other companies seeking to do the same thing .
Last year , Facebook told Congress that it gathers information about logged-out users to prevent this sort of scraping .
But former Facebook chief security officer Alex @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that scraping is much easier said than done .
Is this the end of privacy ?
No , because laws protecting individual privacy can still be effective — even at the state level .
On Tuesday , the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Facebook on a case involving the company ’ s use of facial-recognition technology .
Facebook used the tech to tag photos with user names , running afoul of an Illinois law requiring companies to get their consent first .
As a result , Facebook will likely have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A strong federal privacy law could make products like Clearview ’ s illegal , or regulate them to offer protections from some of the more obvious ways the technology will be misused .
Is our current freak-out about facial recognition ignoring the larger point ?
Surveying recent municipal efforts to ban use of the technology by law enforcement , Bruce Schneier argues persuasively that we need to take a broader view of the issue .
We can be ( and increasingly are ) tracked in all manner of ways : by heart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patterns , license plates , health records , and ( of course ) activity on social networks .
The forces working to end individual privacy are a hydra , Schneier argues , and need to be dealt with collectively .
He writes : The point is that it doesn ’ t matter which technology is used to identify people .
That there currently is no comprehensive database of heart beats or gaits doesn ’ t make the technologies that gather them any less effective .
And most of the time , it doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t tied to a real name .
What ’ s important is that we can be consistently identified over time .
We might be completely anonymous in a system that uses unique cookies to track us as we browse the internet , but the same process of correlation and discrimination still occurs .
It ’ s the same with faces ; we can be tracked as we move around a store or shopping mall , even if that tracking isn ’ t tied to a specific name .
And that anonymity is fragile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a credit card , or purchase something with a credit card in a store , then suddenly our real names are attached to what was anonymous tracking information .
Regulating this system means addressing all three steps of the process .
A ban on facial recognition won ’ t make any difference if , in response , surveillance systems switch to identifying people by smartphone MAC addresses .
The problem is that we are being identified without our knowledge or consent , and society needs rules about when that is permissible .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ I try to ration my alarmism judiciously in this newsletter .
But once you start looking for examples of companies using their data to build social-credit systems , you find them everywhere .
Here , from earlier this month , is a tool Airbnb is developing to evaluate the risks posed by individual risks : Who will this tool discriminate against ?
And what recourse will those discriminated against have ?
These are two questions we should take into any discussion of technology like this .
Finally , is there a good Marxist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Here ’ s Ben Tarnoff with a provocative piece in The Logic calling for a revival of Luddism to counter oppressive technology of the sort Clearview manufactures .
( His piece predates Hill ’ s by a couple days , but the point stands . )
One can see a similar approach in the emerging movement against facial recognition , as some city governments ban public agencies from using the software .
Such campaigns are guided by the belief that certain technologies are too dangerous to exist .
They suggest that one solution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sort ” is to smash the tools that enable such sorting to take place .
We might call this the Luddite option , and it ’ s an essential component of any democratic future .
The historian David F. Noble once wrote about the importance of perceiving technology “ in the present tense.
” He praised the Luddites for this reason : the Luddites destroyed textile machinery in nineteenth-century England because they recognized the threat that it posed to their livelihood .
They didn ’ t buy into the gospel of technological progress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better future ; rather , they saw what certain technologies were doing to them in the present tense , and took action to stop them .
They weren ’ t against technology in the abstract .
They were against the relationships of domination that particular technologies enacted .
By dismantling those technologies , they also dismantled those relationships — and forced the creation of new ones , from below .
Last June , writing about the rise of American social credit systems , I noted that they were developing with very little public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that the public conversation has now begun .
The question is whether advocates for civil liberties will be able to sustain that conversation — or to turn it into action .
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms .
Trending up : European businesses say that using Facebook apps helped them generate sales corresponding to an estimated EUR 208 billion last year , which translates to about 3.1 million jobs .
The news comes from a study Facebook commissioned with Copenhagen Economics .
Trending down : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Facebook shows the social network is still failing to keep up with the spread of disinformation and media manipulation on the platform .
Analysts are still calling for Facebook to release more information about the coordinated campaigns to increase transparency in the process .
First off today , a call for help from our friends at Vox.com .
The California Consumer Privacy Act gives Californians certain rights over the data businesses collect about them .
Have you taken advantage of this new law ?
Fill out this form to help Vox ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do : http : //bit.ly/2NMn19o ⭐ Apple , Amazon , Facebook and Google took a public lashing at a congressional hearing on Friday .
Some of their smaller rivals , including Sonos and Tile , pleaded with federal lawmakers to take swift action against Big Tech .
Tony Romm at The Washington Post has the story : Four Facebook competitors are suing the social network for allegedly anticompetitive behavior .
They ’ ve asked a judge to order Mark Zuckerberg to give up control of the company and force him to sell off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ / Bloomberg ) As seven University of Puerto Rico students prepare to go on trial in February for participating in a nonviolent protest more than two years ago , documents released to their defense attorneys reveal that Facebook granted the island ’ s Justice Department access to a trove of private information from student news publications .
( Alleen Brown and Alice Speri / The Intercept ) Democratic candidates ’ spending on Facebook ads shows how campaigns are plotting their way through the primary states .
Since October , Pete Buttigieg has spent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ budget on ads targeting voters in Iowa .
Andrew Yang has spent more than 85 percent of his Facebook budget in Iowa and New Hampshire .
( Nick Corasaniti and Quoctrung Bui / The New York Times ) Facebook took down a network of pages that were coordinating posts defending Robert F. Hyde , a figure who has become embroiled in the impeachment investigation .
The pages described themselves as representing groups of supporters of President Trump .
( Rebecca Ballhaus / The Wall Street Journal ) A Massachusetts judge ordered Facebook to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that may have mishandled its users ’ personal information .
The move was a clear rejection of the tech giant ’ s earlier attempts to withhold the key details from state investigators .
( Tony Romm / The Washington Post ) Nationalist propaganda has been spreading on WhatsApp ahead of an upcoming election in Delhi .
The propagandists appear to be targeting university students who oppose India ’ s new Citizenship Amendment Act , which is widely perceived to be anti-Muslim .
( Anisha Sircar / Quartz ) A viral video titled “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has amassed more than 10 million views across Facebook , Twitter , and YouTube , was created by a registered lobbyist who previously worked for a militia group fighting in a bitter civil war in Libya .
The video praised the US drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani .
( Ryan Broderick and Jane Lytvynenko / BuzzFeed ) Joe Biden said in an interview last week that he wants to revoke one of the core protections of the internet : Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act .
He appears to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does .
( Makena Kelly / The Verge ) Attorney General William Barr has intensified a long-running fight between law enforcement and technology companies over encrypted communications .
Some FBI agents worry his forceful approach could sour valuable relationships they have fostered with tech companies .
( Sadie Gurman , Dustin Volz and Tripp Mickle / The Wall Street Journal ) French President Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump agreed to a truce in an ongoing digital tax dispute that impacts big tech companies .
Paris offered to suspend down payments for this year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to keep negotiating toward a solution rather than acting on a tariff threat .
( Reuters ) Peter Thiel ’ s guiding philosophy is libertarianism with an abstract commitment to personal freedom but no particular affection for democracy , says Max Read .
The PayPal co-founder and Facebook board member ( and Clearview AI investor ! )
has wed himself to state power , but not because he wants to actually participate in the political process .
( Max Read / Intelligencer ) The New York Times created a game to demonstrate how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ information online .
The only way to win the game is to hand over personal data .
Relatable !
MediaReview wants to turn the vocabulary around manipulated photos and video into something structured .
The proposed definitions allow images or videos to be “ Authentic , ” “ MissingContext , ” “ Cropped , ” “ Transformed , ” “ Edited , ” or “ ImageMacro.
” Sure , why not !
( Joshua Benton / NiemanLab ) If we wanted media that was good for democratic societies , we ’ d need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ goals , says Ethan Zuckerman , Director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT .
Those tools probably won ’ t make money , and won ’ t challenge Facebook ’ s dominance—and that ’ s okay .
( Ethan Zuckerman / Medium ) ⭐ Researchers are challenging the widespread belief that screens are responsible for broad societal problems like the rising rates of anxiety and sleep deprivation among teenagers .
In most cases , they say , the phone is just a mirror that reveals the problems a child would have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at The New York Times explains the findings : Facebook plans to hire 1,000 people in London this year , in roles like product development and safety .
The company is continuing to grow its biggest engineering center outside the US despite fears about Brexit .
( Paul Sandle and Elizabeth Howcroft / Reuters ) Adam Mosseri , the head of Instagram , is the person in charge of Project Daisy — the photo sharing app ’ s initiative to take away likes on the platform .
This profile reveals a current tension @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : the man who is working to mostly eliminate likes really wants to be liked .
( Amy Chozick / The New York Times ) Countless purveyors of bootleg THC vape cartridges are hawking their wares in plain sight on Instagram and Facebook .
These illegal operators appear to be doing so with impunity , using the ease and anonymity of Instagram to reach a massive audience of young people who vape .
( Conor Ferguson , Cynthia McFadden and Rich Schapiro / NBC ) Jack Dorsey asked Elon Musk how to fix @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Musk said Twitter should identify start by identifying and labeling bots .
( Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg ) Instagram is removing the orange IGTV button from its home page .
Only 1 percent of Instagram users have downloaded the standalone IGTV app in the 18 months since it launched .
( Josh Constine / TechCrunch ) Instagram is democratizing who can succeed in the dance industry , allowing nontraditional talent to break in .
It ’ s no longer just about having the right look or connections .
( Makeda Easter / @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revolutionized the way tattoo artists grow their businesses .
Many artists estimate that more than 70 percent of their clients now come from the photo-sharing app .
( Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC ) Snap CEO Evan Spiegel says TikTok could become bigger than Instagram .
App intelligence company App Annie ranked TikTok just behind Instagram in terms of monthly active users in 2019 .
( Hailey Waller / Bloomberg ) TikTok ’ s parent company , ByteDance , is preparing a major push into games , the mobile arena ’ s most lucrative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tencent has dominated for over a decade .
( Zheping Huang / Bloomberg ) More than 70,000 photos of Tinder users are being shared by members of an online cyber-crime forum , raising concerns about the potential for abusive use of the photos .
Ominously , only women appear to have been targeted .
( Dell Cameron and Shoshana Wodinsky / Gizmodo ) A new report suggests Bumble , the “ by women , for women ” dating app that is trying to keep women safer online , has little strategy for how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also struggles with a cliquey internal culture , according to some employees .
Facebook apologized after its platform translated Xi Jinping , the name of the Chinese leader , as “ Mr .
Shithole ” in English .
The mistranslation caught the company ’ s attention when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi , the de facto civilian leader of Myanmar , wrote on her official Facebook page about Mr. Xi ’ s two-day visit to her country .
Xi is a brutal dictator who runs concentration camps that reportedly house more than 1 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Muslim .
So I ’ d say “ Mr .
Shithole ” suits him just fine .
Send us tips , comments , questions , and your Clearview results : casey @ theverge.com and zoe @ theverge.com .

Bay Area! I’ll be talking with Anna Wiener about Uncanny Valley, her brilliant new memoir of a life in tech, on February 4th at Manny’s in San Francisco. It’s our second-ever Interface Live event, and it would mean the world to me if you came to say hello and talk tech and democracy with us. Get your tickets here!
That column left open the question of what role American law enforcement might play in building a system that feels increasingly dystopian. But now, thanks to a superb investigation by Kashmir Hill, we know much more. Hill tells the story of Clearview AI, a small and mostly unknown company that has been scraping publicly available images — including billions from Facebook, YouTube, and Venmo profiles — and selling access to the police. She writes:
Until now, technology that readily identifies everyone based on his or her face has been taboo because of its radical erosion of privacy. Tech companies capable of releasing such a tool have refrained from doing so; in 2011, Google’s chairman at the time said it was the one technology the company had held back because it could be used “in a very bad way.” Some large cities, including San Francisco, have barred police from using facial recognition technology. But without public scrutiny, more than 600 law enforcement agencies have started using Clearview in the past year, according to the company, which declined to provide a list. The computer code underlying its app, analyzed by The New York Times, includes programming language to pair it with augmented-reality glasses; users would potentially be able to identify every person they saw. The tool could identify activists at a protest or an attractive stranger on the subway, revealing not just their names but where they lived, what they did and whom they knew.
Hill’s report is chockablock with surprising details, and you should read it in full if you haven’t already. When it landed online Saturday, it galvanized discussions around how quickly tech companies are eroding privacy protections, with Congress remaining idle so far despite years of discussions around a national privacy law.
Some threads to pull on.
Is this legal? As Ben Thompson explains today in a paywalled post, LinkedIn sued a company that had scraped its public profiles in a fashion similar to Clearview. But it lost the lawsuit, seemingly giving a green light to other companies seeking to do the same thing. Last year, Facebook told Congress that it gathers information about logged-out users to prevent this sort of scraping. But former Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos explained to me that actually preventing that scraping is much easier said than done.
Is this the end of privacy? No, because laws protecting individual privacy can still be effective — even at the state level. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Facebook on a case involving the company’s use of facial-recognition technology. Facebook used the tech to tag photos with user names, running afoul of an Illinois law requiring companies to get their consent first. As a result, Facebook will likely have to face a multi-billion-dollar class action lawsuit. A strong federal privacy law could make products like Clearview’s illegal, or regulate them to offer protections from some of the more obvious ways the technology will be misused.
Is our current freak-out about facial recognition ignoring the larger point? Surveying recent municipal efforts to ban use of the technology by law enforcement, Bruce Schneier argues persuasively that we need to take a broader view of the issue. We can be (and increasingly are) tracked in all manner of ways: by heart rate, gait, fingerprints, iris patterns, license plates, health records, and (of course) activity on social networks. The forces working to end individual privacy are a hydra, Schneier argues, and need to be dealt with collectively. He writes:
The point is that it doesn’t matter which technology is used to identify people. That there currently is no comprehensive database of heart beats or gaits doesn’t make the technologies that gather them any less effective. And most of the time, it doesn’t matter if identification isn’t tied to a real name. What’s important is that we can be consistently identified over time. We might be completely anonymous in a system that uses unique cookies to track us as we browse the internet, but the same process of correlation and discrimination still occurs. It’s the same with faces; we can be tracked as we move around a store or shopping mall, even if that tracking isn’t tied to a specific name. And that anonymity is fragile: If we ever order something online with a credit card, or purchase something with a credit card in a store, then suddenly our real names are attached to what was anonymous tracking information. Regulating this system means addressing all three steps of the process. A ban on facial recognition won’t make any difference if, in response, surveillance systems switch to identifying people by smartphone MAC addresses. The problem is that we are being identified without our knowledge or consent, and society needs rules about when that is permissible.
Are privacy experts being needlessly alarmist? I try to ration my alarmism judiciously in this newsletter. But once you start looking for examples of companies using their data to build social-credit systems, you find them everywhere. Here, from earlier this month, is a tool Airbnb is developing to evaluate the risks posed by individual risks:
According to the patent, Airbnb could deploy its software to scan sites including social media for traits such as “conscientiousness and openness” against the usual credit and identity checks and what it describes as “secure third-party databases”. Traits such as “neuroticism and involvement in crimes” and “narcissism, Machiavellianism, or psychopathy” are “perceived as untrustworthy”.
Who will this tool discriminate against? And what recourse will those discriminated against have? These are two questions we should take into any discussion of technology like this.
Finally, is there a good Marxist gloss on all this? Sure. Here’s Ben Tarnoff with a provocative piece in The Logic calling for a revival of Luddism to counter oppressive technology of the sort Clearview manufactures. (His piece predates Hill’s by a couple days, but the point stands.)
One can see a similar approach in the emerging movement against facial recognition, as some city governments ban public agencies from using the software. Such campaigns are guided by the belief that certain technologies are too dangerous to exist. They suggest that one solution to what Gandy called the “panoptic sort” is to smash the tools that enable such sorting to take place. We might call this the Luddite option, and it’s an essential component of any democratic future. The historian David F. Noble once wrote about the importance of perceiving technology “in the present tense.” He praised the Luddites for this reason: the Luddites destroyed textile machinery in nineteenth-century England because they recognized the threat that it posed to their livelihood. They didn’t buy into the gospel of technological progress that instructed them to patiently await a better future; rather, they saw what certain technologies were doing to them in the present tense, and took action to stop them. They weren’t against technology in the abstract. They were against the relationships of domination that particular technologies enacted. By dismantling those technologies, they also dismantled those relationships — and forced the creation of new ones, from below.
Last June, writing about the rise of American social credit systems, I noted that they were developing with very little public conversation about them. The good news is that the public conversation has now begun. The question is whether advocates for civil liberties will be able to sustain that conversation — or to turn it into action.
The Ratio
Today in news that could affect public perception of the big tech platforms.
🔼 Trending up: European businesses say that using Facebook apps helped them generate sales corresponding to an estimated EUR 208 billion last year, which translates to about 3.1 million jobs. The news comes from a study Facebook commissioned with Copenhagen Economics.
🔽 Trending down: A new analysis of coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook shows the social network is still failing to keep up with the spread of disinformation and media manipulation on the platform. Analysts are still calling for Facebook to release more information about the coordinated campaigns to increase transparency in the process.
Governing
First off today, a call for help from our friends at Vox.com. The California Consumer Privacy Act gives Californians certain rights over the data businesses collect about them. Have you taken advantage of this new law? Fill out this form to help Vox’s reporting on what happens when you do: http://bit.ly/2NMn19o
⭐ Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google took a public lashing at a congressional hearing on Friday. Some of their smaller rivals, including Sonos and Tile, pleaded with federal lawmakers to take swift action against Big Tech. Tony Romm at The Washington Post has the story:
The pleas for regulatory relief resonated with lawmakers, led by Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.), the chairman of the House’s top antitrust committee. “It has become clear these firms have tremendous power as gatekeepers to shape and control commerce online,” Cicilline said to open the session. The hearing at the University of Colorado at Boulder put public faces on the pain caused by some of the largest tech companies in the United States. Cicilline and other lawmakers have sought to determine if federal antitrust law is sufficient to hold Silicon Valley leaders accountable — and whether changes to federal law are necessary to address anti-competitive concerns in search, smartphones, e-commerce and social networking. “I think it’s clear there’s abuse in the marketplace and a need for action,” said Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.).
Four Facebook competitors are suing the social network for allegedly anticompetitive behavior. They’ve asked a judge to order Mark Zuckerberg to give up control of the company and force him to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp. (Robert Burnson / Bloomberg)
As seven University of Puerto Rico students prepare to go on trial in February for participating in a nonviolent protest more than two years ago, documents released to their defense attorneys reveal that Facebook granted the island’s Justice Department access to a trove of private information from student news publications. (Alleen Brown and Alice Speri / The Intercept)
Democratic candidates’ spending on Facebook ads shows how campaigns are plotting their way through the primary states. Since October, Pete Buttigieg has spent about a fifth of his overall Facebook budget on ads targeting voters in Iowa. Andrew Yang has spent more than 85 percent of his Facebook budget in Iowa and New Hampshire. (Nick Corasaniti and Quoctrung Bui / The New York Times)
Facebook took down a network of pages that were coordinating posts defending Robert F. Hyde, a figure who has become embroiled in the impeachment investigation. The pages described themselves as representing groups of supporters of President Trump. (Rebecca Ballhaus / The Wall Street Journal)
A Massachusetts judge ordered Facebook to turn over data about thousands of apps that may have mishandled its users’ personal information. The move was a clear rejection of the tech giant’s earlier attempts to withhold the key details from state investigators. (Tony Romm / The Washington Post)
Nationalist propaganda has been spreading on WhatsApp ahead of an upcoming election in Delhi. The propagandists appear to be targeting university students who oppose India’s new Citizenship Amendment Act, which is widely perceived to be anti-Muslim. (Anisha Sircar / Quartz)
A viral video titled “Truth From an Iranian,” which has amassed more than 10 million views across Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, was created by a registered lobbyist who previously worked for a militia group fighting in a bitter civil war in Libya. The video praised the US drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. (Ryan Broderick and Jane Lytvynenko / BuzzFeed)
Joe Biden said in an interview last week that he wants to revoke one of the core protections of the internet: Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act. He appears to have deeply misunderstood what the law actually does. (Makena Kelly / The Verge)
Attorney General William Barr has intensified a long-running fight between law enforcement and technology companies over encrypted communications. Some FBI agents worry his forceful approach could sour valuable relationships they have fostered with tech companies. (Sadie Gurman, Dustin Volz and Tripp Mickle / The Wall Street Journal)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump agreed to a truce in an ongoing digital tax dispute that impacts big tech companies. Paris offered to suspend down payments for this year’s digital tax and Washington promised to keep negotiating toward a solution rather than acting on a tariff threat. (Reuters)
Peter Thiel’s guiding philosophy is libertarianism with an abstract commitment to personal freedom but no particular affection for democracy, says Max Read. The PayPal co-founder and Facebook board member (and Clearview AI investor!) has wed himself to state power, but not because he wants to actually participate in the political process. (Max Read / Intelligencer)
The New York Times created a game to demonstrate how easy it is to give up personal information online. The only way to win the game is to hand over personal data. Relatable!
MediaReview wants to turn the vocabulary around manipulated photos and video into something structured. The proposed definitions allow images or videos to be “Authentic,” “MissingContext,” “Cropped,” “Transformed,” “Edited,” or “ImageMacro.” Sure, why not! (Joshua Benton / NiemanLab)
If we wanted media that was good for democratic societies, we’d need to build tools expressly designed for those goals, says Ethan Zuckerman, Director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT. Those tools probably won’t make money, and won’t challenge Facebook’s dominance—and that’s okay. (Ethan Zuckerman / Medium)
Industry
⭐ Researchers are challenging the widespread belief that screens are responsible for broad societal problems like the rising rates of anxiety and sleep deprivation among teenagers. In most cases, they say, the phone is just a mirror that reveals the problems a child would have even without the phone. Nathaniel Popper at The New York Times explains the findings:
The researchers worry that the focus on keeping children away from screens is making it hard to have more productive conversations about topics like how to make phones more useful for low-income people, who tend to use them more, or how to protect the privacy of teenagers who share their lives online. “Many of the people who are terrifying kids about screens, they have hit a vein of attention from society and they are going to ride that. But that is super bad for society,” said Andrew Przybylski, the director of research at the Oxford Internet Institute, who has published several studies on the topic.
Facebook plans to hire 1,000 people in London this year, in roles like product development and safety. The company is continuing to grow its biggest engineering center outside the US despite fears about Brexit. (Paul Sandle and Elizabeth Howcroft / Reuters)
Facebook gave Oculus Go a permanent $50 price cut. (Sam Byford / The Verge)
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, is the person in charge of Project Daisy — the photo sharing app’s initiative to take away likes on the platform. This profile reveals a current tension of Mosseri’s reign at Instagram: the man who is working to mostly eliminate likes really wants to be liked. (Amy Chozick / The New York Times)
Countless purveyors of bootleg THC vape cartridges are hawking their wares in plain sight on Instagram and Facebook. These illegal operators appear to be doing so with impunity, using the ease and anonymity of Instagram to reach a massive audience of young people who vape. (Conor Ferguson, Cynthia McFadden and Rich Schapiro / NBC)
Jack Dorsey asked Elon Musk how to fix Twitter during a video call last week. Musk said Twitter should identify start by identifying and labeling bots. (Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg)
Instagram is removing the orange IGTV button from its home page. Only 1 percent of Instagram users have downloaded the standalone IGTV app in the 18 months since it launched. (Josh Constine / TechCrunch)
Instagram is democratizing who can succeed in the dance industry, allowing nontraditional talent to break in. It’s no longer just about having the right look or connections. (Makeda Easter / Los Angeles Times)
Instagram has also revolutionized the way tattoo artists grow their businesses. Many artists estimate that more than 70 percent of their clients now come from the photo-sharing app. (Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC)
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel says TikTok could become bigger than Instagram. App intelligence company App Annie ranked TikTok just behind Instagram in terms of monthly active users in 2019. (Hailey Waller / Bloomberg)
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is preparing a major push into games, the mobile arena’s most lucrative market. It’s a realm Tencent has dominated for over a decade. (Zheping Huang / Bloomberg)
More than 70,000 photos of Tinder users are being shared by members of an online cyber-crime forum, raising concerns about the potential for abusive use of the photos. Ominously, only women appear to have been targeted. (Dell Cameron and Shoshana Wodinsky / Gizmodo)
A new report suggests Bumble, the “by women, for women” dating app that is trying to keep women safer online, has little strategy for how to achieve its lofty goals. It also struggles with a cliquey internal culture, according to some employees.
And finally...
Facebook apologized after its platform translated Xi Jinping, the name of the Chinese leader, as “Mr. Shithole” in English. The mistranslation caught the company’s attention when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto civilian leader of Myanmar, wrote on her official Facebook page about Mr. Xi’s two-day visit to her country.
Xi is a brutal dictator who runs concentration camps that reportedly house more than 1 million people whose only crime is being Muslim. So I’d say “Mr. Shithole” suits him just fine.
Talk to us


theverge--2020-01-22--Barstool Sports founder forced to delete tweet threatening to fire union supporters ‘on the spot’

Barstool Sports has agreed to delete a pair of anti-union tweets and to notify its employees about their right to unionize , Bloomberg Law reports .
One tweet , which was posted by the company ’ s co-founder David Portnoy , threatened to fire any employees who attempted to contact a union supporter “ on the spot.
” The informal settlement with the National Labor Relations Board also confirmed that Barstool Sports was behind a fake twitter account posing as a Barstool labor movement in an apparent attempt to out union supporters .
It is illegal in the US for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employees for unionizing .
The dispute arose shortly after staff at The Ringer announced their plans to unionize on August 12th .
Later that day , Portnoy re-posted a 2015 blog post responding to the news in which he dared the company ’ s employees to unionize so he could “ smash their little union to smithereens.
” He followed up on Twitter on August 13th by threatening to fire and sue union supporting employees .
In response the IWW Freelance Journalists Union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ part of the settlement , but it now has to remind its employees of their right to unionize via both email , as well as through notices posted at its offices in Dallas , Chicago , Los Angeles , and Watertown , Mass .
In the notice , which was posted by IWW Freelance Journalists Union on its Twitter account , the company says it will not attempt to prevent its employees from unionizing , and will not threaten those that do .
The company also agreed to remove a video titled “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sports Union controversy , ” in the settlement .
The video mocked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she criticized Portnoy ’ s tweets .
Bloomberg Law reports that the video , which claimed Ocasio-Cortez was just trying “ to get a retweet from the president ” has been deleted from YouTube , but remains up on Facebook as of publication .
The settlement also confirms that the company was behind a fake union twitter account called Barstool Sports Union which claimed to represent “ the labor movement inside Barstool Sports.
” The Twitter account @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employees in what appeared to be an attempt to identify union supporters .
“ Would prefer to stay anonymous right now in beginning stages of unionization .
DM .
Serious inquiries only , ” the account tweeted on the same day as Portnoy ’ s two anti-union tweets .
The company removed the account as part of the settlement .
This isn ’ t the first time an employer has been criticized for posting anti-union tweets .
Last year a judge ruled that Tesla CEO Elon Musk broke the law when he tweeted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tesla stock options .
Musk was told to be present at a meeting at the company ’ s Fremont factory where a notice would be read to confirm that Tesla broke the law .

Barstool Sports has agreed to delete a pair of anti-union tweets and to notify its employees about their right to unionize, Bloomberg Law reports. One tweet, which was posted by the company’s co-founder David Portnoy, threatened to fire any employees who attempted to contact a union supporter “on the spot.” The informal settlement with the National Labor Relations Board also confirmed that Barstool Sports was behind a fake twitter account posing as a Barstool labor movement in an apparent attempt to out union supporters. It is illegal in the US for an employer to threaten reprisal against its employees for unionizing.
The dispute arose shortly after staff at The Ringer announced their plans to unionize on August 12th. Later that day, Portnoy re-posted a 2015 blog post responding to the news in which he dared the company’s employees to unionize so he could “smash their little union to smithereens.” He followed up on Twitter on August 13th by threatening to fire and sue union supporting employees. In response the IWW Freelance Journalists Union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.
One of Portnoy’s tweets threatened to fire employees “on the spot” for contacting a union supporter. Image: Twitter via Bloomberg Law
Barstool Sports did not admit fault as part of the settlement, but it now has to remind its employees of their right to unionize via both email, as well as through notices posted at its offices in Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Watertown, Mass. In the notice, which was posted by IWW Freelance Journalists Union on its Twitter account, the company says it will not attempt to prevent its employees from unionizing, and will not threaten those that do.
The company also agreed to remove a video titled “Professor Nate breaks down the entire Barstool Sports Union controversy,” in the settlement. The video mocked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she criticized Portnoy’s tweets. Bloomberg Law reports that the video, which claimed Ocasio-Cortez was just trying “to get a retweet from the president” has been deleted from YouTube, but remains up on Facebook as of publication.
The settlement also confirms that the company was behind a fake union twitter account called Barstool Sports Union which claimed to represent “the labor movement inside Barstool Sports.” The Twitter account solicited DMs from the company’s employees in what appeared to be an attempt to identify union supporters. “Would prefer to stay anonymous right now in beginning stages of unionization. DM. Serious inquiries only,” the account tweeted on the same day as Portnoy’s two anti-union tweets. The company removed the account as part of the settlement.


theverge--2020-01-22--Windows 7 extended security updates to cost German government around $887,000

The German government is facing a bill of around $ 887,000 ( 800,000 euros ) for failing to upgrade to Windows 10 ahead of the Windows 7 end of support date last week .
German newspaper Handelsblatt reports that the German Federal Ministry is looking to secure at least 33,000 machines still running Windows 7 , which involves paying Microsoft a fee per device for a year of extended security protection .
Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 last week , but millions of PCs still run the operating system .
While Microsoft won ’ t be issuing public security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ businesses who haven ’ t migrated to Windows 10 in time can pay for Extended Security Updates ( ESU ) .
It ’ s costly if you still have thousands of machines running Windows 7 , just like the German government .
Extended updates for Windows 7 Enterprise , used in most big businesses , is approximately $ 25 per machine , and the cost doubles to $ 50 per device in 2021 and again to $ 100 in 2022 .
It ’ s even worse for Windows 7 Pro users , used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 50 per machine and jumps to $ 100 in 2021 and $ 200 in 2022 .
These costs will vary depending on the volume of PCs in use at a business , and some larger firms can negotiate discounts for thousands of machines .
The German government is reportedly in the middle of an upgrade to Windows 10 , but it hasn ’ t managed to get every PC upgraded in time .
Handelsblatt reports that 20,000 of 85,000 machines in Berlin government offices are still running Windows 7 , highlighting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has also started using full-screen notifications for Windows 7 users , alerting them that the OS is no longer supported .
The software maker used Windows 7 notifications throughout 2019 , so people had a lot of warning about the end of support .
Millions of machines are still running Windows 7 , though , so we ’ re bound to see a lot more cases of businesses paying high sums to protect their machines from viruses , ransomware , and more .

The German government is facing a bill of around $887,000 (800,000 euros) for failing to upgrade to Windows 10 ahead of the Windows 7 end of support date last week. German newspaper Handelsblatt reports that the German Federal Ministry is looking to secure at least 33,000 machines still running Windows 7, which involves paying Microsoft a fee per device for a year of extended security protection.
Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 last week, but millions of PCs still run the operating system. While Microsoft won’t be issuing public security updates and fixes for Windows 7, businesses who haven’t migrated to Windows 10 in time can pay for Extended Security Updates (ESU). It’s costly if you still have thousands of machines running Windows 7, just like the German government.
Related Microsoft bids farewell to Windows 7 and the millions of PCs that still run it
Extended updates for Windows 7 Enterprise, used in most big businesses, is approximately $25 per machine, and the cost doubles to $50 per device in 2021 and again to $100 in 2022. It’s even worse for Windows 7 Pro users, used in smaller firms, which starts at $50 per machine and jumps to $100 in 2021 and $200 in 2022. These costs will vary depending on the volume of PCs in use at a business, and some larger firms can negotiate discounts for thousands of machines.
The German government is reportedly in the middle of an upgrade to Windows 10, but it hasn’t managed to get every PC upgraded in time. Handelsblatt reports that 20,000 of 85,000 machines in Berlin government offices are still running Windows 7, highlighting the issue the German government has.


theverge--2020-01-22--Alleged Xbox Series X photos show off the port selection

The back panel of the Xbox Series X has been the subject of heightened speculation ever since AMD used a fake render of the upcoming console as part of its CES presentation .
Now , alleged photos have appeared online of a prototype unit that may give some indication as to what Microsoft is preparing to ship .
First appearing on Twitter and corroborated as authentic by Thurrott ’ s Brad Sams , the images show the Series X ’ s vents , two USB-A ports on the back , one on the front , a single HDMI-out , an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a power-in .
A further mysterious rectangular port is for diagnostics , according to Sams .
The unit is marked with a serial number and labeled as “ Xbox Product Name Placeholder.
” Even assuming the photos ’ authenticity , they shouldn ’ t be taken as indicative of a finished product that isn ’ t set to be released for almost a year .
It ’ s more than possible that Microsoft could alter the design or never intended prototype models to be identical to retail units .
That said , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Microsoft ’ s part ; the removal of the Xbox One ’ s HDMI-in , for example , would mark the final backtrack from Xbox ’ s ill-fated focus on TV features .

The back panel of the Xbox Series X has been the subject of heightened speculation ever since AMD used a fake render of the upcoming console as part of its CES presentation. Now, alleged photos have appeared online of a prototype unit that may give some indication as to what Microsoft is preparing to ship.
First appearing on Twitter and corroborated as authentic by Thurrott’s Brad Sams, the images show the Series X’s vents, two USB-A ports on the back, one on the front, a single HDMI-out, an optical audio port, Ethernet, and a power-in. A further mysterious rectangular port is for diagnostics, according to Sams. The unit is marked with a serial number and labeled as “Xbox Product Name Placeholder.”


theverge--2020-01-21--Google designed an envelope you can use to hide your phone from yourself

Today , Google launched three new experimental apps to help you use your phone less as part of its Digital Wellbeing initiative , including one that actually has you seal up your phone in a phone-sized paper envelope ( via Android Police ) .
It sounds similar to the pouches some artists require fans to put their phones into at concerts , except it ’ s something you make at home — and Google ’ s envelope should at least let you make a call , if you need to .
If you want to try Google ’ s envelope @ @ @ @ @ @ @ works with a Pixel 3A right now — and we can ’ t think of a reason that ’ s the case .
If you do have a Pixel 3A , though , download the required Play Store app for the envelope , called Envelope , then print out the PDF for the envelope , cut out the template , and follow the instructions to construct it .
Then , when you ’ re ready for a break from your phone , open up the Envelope app , slide your Pixel 3A into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shut — the PDF recommends using glue .
Once your phone is sealed in the envelope , you ’ ll only be able to dial phone numbers on the phone , use speed dial , or have the phone tell you the time by flashing the numbers on the number pad .
Check out this video to see how it all works : In the video , Google also shows off a version of the envelope that only lets you take photos and videos , but I haven ’ t found a PDF @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better look at it : I actually really like the idea of Envelope .
I ’ ve been to a couple of those concerts that required using the phone pouches , and I felt that being completely blocked from using my phone helped me and the rest of the crowd focus better on the show .
I can see how Envelope could be a similarly useful way to give myself a break from my phone at home .
But since your phone is glued inside the envelope , you ’ ll have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ envelope to get it out , which means that you ’ d probably have make a new envelope every single time you want to use the app .
Google has open sourced the Envelope app on GitHub , so if you want to make an envelope that lets you do something different than call people or use the camera , you can tinker what Google has already shared to your liking .
Google also launched an Android app called Activity Bubbles , which puts a bubble on your wallpaper each time you open @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the bubble the longer you ’ re on your phone .
If your home screen is covered in bubbles , that might be a sign that you ’ ve been on your phone for too long .
And if you want to visualize your time on your phone in hard numbers , consider Google ’ s new Screen Stopwatch , a live wallpaper for Android phones that constantly counts up whenever you have your phone unlocked .
These screenshots from Google show how the numbers add up over time : If you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your phone use , late last year , Google released a handful of other Digital Wellbeing experiments on the Play Store , such as one that counts how many times you unlock your phone in a day .

Today, Google launched three new experimental apps to help you use your phone less as part of its Digital Wellbeing initiative, including one that actually has you seal up your phone in a phone-sized paper envelope (via Android Police). It sounds similar to the pouches some artists require fans to put their phones into at concerts, except it’s something you make at home — and Google’s envelope should at least let you make a call, if you need to.
If you want to try Google’s envelope technique out for yourself, it only works with a Pixel 3A right now — and we can’t think of a reason that’s the case. If you do have a Pixel 3A, though, download the required Play Store app for the envelope, called Envelope, then print out the PDF for the envelope, cut out the template, and follow the instructions to construct it.
Then, when you’re ready for a break from your phone, open up the Envelope app, slide your Pixel 3A into the envelope, and seal the envelope shut — the PDF recommends using glue. Once your phone is sealed in the envelope, you’ll only be able to dial phone numbers on the phone, use speed dial, or have the phone tell you the time by flashing the numbers on the number pad.
Check out this video to see how it all works:
In the video, Google also shows off a version of the envelope that only lets you take photos and videos, but I haven’t found a PDF of that. Here’s a better look at it:
Image: Google
Image: Google
I actually really like the idea of Envelope. I’ve been to a couple of those concerts that required using the phone pouches, and I felt that being completely blocked from using my phone helped me and the rest of the crowd focus better on the show. I can see how Envelope could be a similarly useful way to give myself a break from my phone at home. But since your phone is glued inside the envelope, you’ll have to tear the seal and part of the envelope to get it out, which means that you’d probably have make a new envelope every single time you want to use the app.
Google has open sourced the Envelope app on GitHub, so if you want to make an envelope that lets you do something different than call people or use the camera, you can tinker what Google has already shared to your liking.
Google also launched an Android app called Activity Bubbles, which puts a bubble on your wallpaper each time you open the phone and increases the size of the bubble the longer you’re on your phone. If your home screen is covered in bubbles, that might be a sign that you’ve been on your phone for too long.
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And if you want to visualize your time on your phone in hard numbers, consider Google’s new Screen Stopwatch, a live wallpaper for Android phones that constantly counts up whenever you have your phone unlocked. These screenshots from Google show how the numbers add up over time:
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theverge--2020-01-21--Exclusive look at Cruise’s first driverless car without a steering wheel or pedals

The not-a-car sits on the gleaming black stage surrounded by a halo of light .
It ’ s orange and black and white , and roughly the same size as a crossover SUV , but somehow looks much larger from the outside .
There is no obvious front to the vehicle , no hood , no driver or passenger side windows , no side-view mirrors .
The symmetry of the exterior is oddly comforting .
I am one of the first non-employees to see it , after being invited by self-driving company Cruise to come out to San Francisco for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see is a car .
A weird-looking car , sure , but a car nonetheless .
That ’ s what my brain tells me .
But the company insists I ’ m not seeing what I ’ m seeing .
One employee refers to it as “ the property.
” The company insists it ’ s not a car — one employee refers to it as “ the property ” It ’ s easier to describe what it ’ s not , rather than what it is .
For example , it doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wheels , as some autonomous “ people movers ” tend to do .
A microwave might be more accurate , but I ’ m not convinced .
Its official name is “ Origin , ” and Kyle Vogt , the co-founder and chief technology officer of Cruise , is clearly excited to be showing it off .
With a broad smile , he reaches out and touches a button on the side , causing the doors to slide open with a little whoosh like something out of Star Wars .
Inside are two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pair of screens on either end ... and nothing else .
The absence of all the stuff you expect to see when climbing into a vehicle is jarring .
No steering wheel , no pedals , no gear shift , no cockpit to speak of , no obvious way for a human to take control should anything go wrong .
There ’ s a new car smell , but it ’ s not unpleasant .
It ’ s almost like cucumber-infused water .
“ The way vehicles are designed , normally they have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ engine is and some storage in the trunk , ” Vogt says , as we sit across from each other .
“ But when you don ’ t need all that stuff ... we can have this enormous , spacious cabin without taking up any more space on the road than a regular car would .
Which is kind of insane.
” But the Origin is arriving into an unforgiving world : half of Americans are skeptical to the point of being fearful about self-driving cars .
They don ’ t mind a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long as they can take over when they choose .
That ’ s impossible with this vehicle .
I ask Vogt where he gets the confidence to take away everything we ’ ve come to associate with human driving .
“ when you don ’ t need all that stuff ... we can have this enormous , spacious cabin ” “ I guess it ’ s important to note that we haven ’ t validated and released our technology yet , ” he says .
“ So we haven ’ t gone out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than a human and getting ready for prime time .
But we ’ re getting pretty close.
” Approximately 18 minutes later , after a brief tour of the vehicle and back-and-forth about the company ’ s grand plans for the Origin , Vogt says something bolder .
“ By the time this vehicle goes into production , we think the core software that drives our AVs will be at a superhuman level of performance and safer than the average human driver , ” he says .
“ And we ’ ll be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that claim before we put people in a car without someone in it.
” Cruise has often been described as a “ division ” or “ unit ” of General Motors , but the company prefers “ majority owned subsidiary.
” ( The automaker technically owns two-thirds of Cruise , which it bought in 2016 . )
However , GM isn ’ t the only major automaker in Cruise ’ s corner .
In October 2018 , Honda announced its plan to invest $ 2.75 billion in Cruise over 12 years .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s SoftBank Vision Fund and T. Rowe Price , and has a valuation of $ 19 billion .
As part of the Honda deal , GM teamed up with the Japanese automaker to design a “ purpose-built ” self-driving car .
A “ purpose-built car ” is not a normal car retrofitted to be self-driving , as a majority of the autonomous vehicles on the road today are .
Rather , it ’ s a car designed from the ground up to drive itself .
That would be in addition to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cruise are working on .
At the time , Vogt teased a vehicle with “ giant TV screens , a mini bar , and lay-flat seats.
” “ We built this car around the idea of not having a driver ” The Origin has none of these amenities , but Vogt insists its real asset is its modularity .
“ We built this car around the idea of not having a driver and specifically being used in a ride-share fleet , ” he says .
“ This vehicle is engineered to last a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are replaceable .
The compute is replaceable , the sensors are replaceable .
And what that does is it drives the cost per mile down way lower than you could ever reach if you took a regular car and tried to retrofit it .
The replacement cost and the upkeep of that would just kill you from a business standpoint.
” I don ’ t typically hear AV companies talk about “ unit economics ” and profitability .
But that ’ s going to creep up sooner than a lot of people realize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each self-driving car could cost upward of $ 300,000- $ 400,000 , when taking into account the expensive sensors and computing software needed to allow the vehicles to drive themselves .
Recouping those costs will be enormously challenging , and Cruise is trying to address that by building a car with more staying power than most personally owned vehicles .
Cruise has been working on the design of the Origin for over three years , but Honda ’ s involvement “ super charged ” the effort .
The two automakers didn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they split up the work based on their expertise .
GM was responsible for the base vehicle design and the electric powertrain , while Honda helped create the interior ’ s “ efficient use of space , ” Vogt says .
Meanwhile , Cruise handled the sensing and computing technologies , as well as the experience from the rider ’ s standpoint .
We don ’ t typically hear AV companies talk about “ unit economics ” and profitability Vogt allows that the sensor suite could change before the vehicle goes into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has the standard configuration found in many AVs on the road today : radar , cameras and LIDAR laser sensors .
The hard drive , stored in the trunk and housing the vehicle ’ s artificial intelligence and perception software , is cooled by the vehicle ’ s battery system , making it quieter and less prone to overheating than previous iterations .
That means passengers riding in the forward-facing seats won ’ t have to experience overly toasty tushies ( as I have riding with another AV operator ) .
Cruise , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the interior of the vehicle primarily for shared rides .
The screens , one on either side , will display an itinerary for picking up and dropping off each passenger , so riders know what to expect .
Carpooling in the age of smartphones hasn ’ t exactly been the runaway success that ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft have hoped .
But Cruise thinks its abundance of space can help minimize the friction .
“ It ’ s designed to be comfortable if it ’ s shared , but if it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ got so much space in here you can really like stretch out , ” he says , extending his legs so his feet almost touch mine .
Almost , but not quite .
Look , as far as I ’ m concerned , Cruise ’ s Origin is a car .
Cruise says it wants to “ move beyond the car , ” but I ’ m not convinced the absence of certain controls negates its inherent car-ness .
As Vogt points out , it occupies the same amount of space as an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ travel at normal city speeds .
It is a car-like shape and does car-type things , like traveling down a road with people in it .
And if there isn ’ t another good name for it — “ the property ” notwithstanding — then “ car ” will have to do .
I don ’ t begrudge the company for attempting to argue otherwise .
The push for not-car-ness is evident in Cruise ’ s intense marketing campaign leading up to the unveiling of the Origin .
The company recently emptied out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ photos of smiling people riding in the company ’ s fleet of self-driving Chevy Bolts — and posted a series of cryptic longitude and latitude coordinates that correspond with famous historical moments , like the invention of the compass and the steam locomotive .
Not-car inventions that seriously changed how we travel , in other words .
as far as I ’ m concerned , Cruise ’ s Origin is a car Even so , Cruise isn ’ t the first company to build and test a self-driving car without traditional controls .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ world when it revealed that it had put a blind man in one of its egg-shaped autonomous test vehicles and sent him out for a short ride around Austin , Texas .
Google ’ s Firefly vehicle , audaciously designed by YooJung Ahn , is widely considered to be the first car tested publicly without a steering wheel or pedals .
Waymo , the company spun out of Google ’ s self-driving project , retired the Firefly in 2017 .
But in a recent podcast interview , Waymo CEO John Krafcik voiced curiosity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since .
“ Why do you think no one has done that yet ?
” Krafcik said on the Autonocast .
“ Because we all sort of scratch our heads and say , ‘ Is there not the capability there ?
Or folks have the capability but they ’ ve chosen not to do it or not to show it ?
’ ” Cruise hasn ’ t been as forthcoming with its technology as Waymo .
The company has only hosted one demo ride for journalists in 2017 , which produced embarrassing headlines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ halts GM autonomous car ’ s cruise through city streets.
” There have been other bumps in the road as well .
Cruise ’ s plan to test its vehicles in New York City — arguably the most difficult driving environment in the US — went nowhere .
In July 2019 , the company announced that it would miss its goal of launching a large-scale self-driving taxi service by the end of the year .
It tried to sugarcoat the disappointing news by announcing a plan to dramatically increase the number of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Francisco .
Coming right on the heels of the Consumer Electronics Show and its cavalcade of concept cars and design projects , there ’ s a sense that Cruise is trying to beat back diminishing expectations .
The past year has been a pretty bad one for believers in the technology : missed deadlines , rising concerns over safety , and the growing belief that making autonomous vehicles will be harder , slower , and more expensive than previously thought .
Cruise is trying to recapture some of that early magic with this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attempting to be more pragmatic and attuned to the realities of growing and scaling a real business .
Of course , bureaucracy and politics could drive the whole thing right off the road .
Remember the unsettling lack of steering wheel , break pedals , and so on ?
That means the Cruise ’ s not-car will require an exemption from the federal government ’ s motor vehicle safety standards .
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration only grants 2,500 petitions a year .
GM submitted a petition for permission to deploy a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but it has yet to receive a response .
And it will most likely need another exemption before the Origin is allowed to hit the road , too .
Safety advocates are urging NHTSA to take its time in deliberating these changes .
For example , the Center for Auto Safety “ strongly question [ s ] ” the NHTSA ’ s decision to prioritize these rule changes considering self-driving cars are still in their “ infancy and quite likely decades away from widespread practical utility.
” And the National Automobile Dealers Association @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use of the term “ barriers ” to describe current safety standards and argues that self-driving cars should continue “ to allow also for human control.
” Remember the unsettling lack of steering wheel , break pedals , and so on ?
GM isn ’ t the only company seeking to fast-track these changes .
Ford has said it will build an autonomous car without a steering wheel or pedals by 2021 , while Waymo has begun offering a limited number of rides in fully driverless minivans to its customers in Phoenix , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heat from its competitors , especially when you consider that it has yet to take the important step of launching a commercial business .
The company has a beta ride-hailing service , but it ’ s only available to employees , and Cruise won ’ t say when it will be available to the broader public .
The company also won ’ t say when the Origin will roll out , but promises to share more information about its production plans in the future .
( It ’ s already been burned once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , so it seems the company wants to be careful that doesn ’ t happen again . )
I have so many more questions — about the sensor suite , the business model , the testing ( if any ) that Cruise has conducted — but I ’ m informed that our time is done .
The event is being managed by a unionized workforce , and any additional time could cost Cruise an additional $ 12,000 .
I thank Vogt for his time and jokingly ask if there ’ s an “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I think it ’ s been pushed , ” he says , grinning .
“ You just go straight through the ceiling .
”

The not-a-car sits on the gleaming black stage surrounded by a halo of light. It’s orange and black and white, and roughly the same size as a crossover SUV, but somehow looks much larger from the outside. There is no obvious front to the vehicle, no hood, no driver or passenger side windows, no side-view mirrors. The symmetry of the exterior is oddly comforting.
I am one of the first non-employees to see it, after being invited by self-driving company Cruise to come out to San Francisco for an early look. And what I see is a car. A weird-looking car, sure, but a car nonetheless. That’s what my brain tells me. But the company insists I’m not seeing what I’m seeing. One employee refers to it as “the property.”
The company insists it’s not a car — one employee refers to it as “the property”
It’s easier to describe what it’s not, rather than what it is. For example, it doesn’t look like a toaster on wheels, as some autonomous “people movers” tend to do. A microwave might be more accurate, but I’m not convinced.
Its official name is “Origin,” and Kyle Vogt, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Cruise, is clearly excited to be showing it off. With a broad smile, he reaches out and touches a button on the side, causing the doors to slide open with a little whoosh like something out of Star Wars.
Inside are two bench seats facing each other, a pair of screens on either end... and nothing else. The absence of all the stuff you expect to see when climbing into a vehicle is jarring. No steering wheel, no pedals, no gear shift, no cockpit to speak of, no obvious way for a human to take control should anything go wrong. There’s a new car smell, but it’s not unpleasant. It’s almost like cucumber-infused water.
“The way vehicles are designed, normally they have a hood in the front where the engine is and some storage in the trunk,” Vogt says, as we sit across from each other. “But when you don’t need all that stuff... we can have this enormous, spacious cabin without taking up any more space on the road than a regular car would. Which is kind of insane.”
But the Origin is arriving into an unforgiving world: half of Americans are skeptical to the point of being fearful about self-driving cars. They don’t mind a car that can drive itself — as long as they can take over when they choose. That’s impossible with this vehicle. I ask Vogt where he gets the confidence to take away everything we’ve come to associate with human driving.
“when you don’t need all that stuff... we can have this enormous, spacious cabin”
“I guess it’s important to note that we haven’t validated and released our technology yet,” he says. “So we haven’t gone out there and said it’s safer than a human and getting ready for prime time. But we’re getting pretty close.”
Approximately 18 minutes later, after a brief tour of the vehicle and back-and-forth about the company’s grand plans for the Origin, Vogt says something bolder. “By the time this vehicle goes into production, we think the core software that drives our AVs will be at a superhuman level of performance and safer than the average human driver,” he says. “And we’ll be providing hard empirical evidence to back up that claim before we put people in a car without someone in it.”
Cruise has often been described as a “division” or “unit” of General Motors, but the company prefers “majority owned subsidiary.” (The automaker technically owns two-thirds of Cruise, which it bought in 2016.) However, GM isn’t the only major automaker in Cruise’s corner. In October 2018, Honda announced its plan to invest $2.75 billion in Cruise over 12 years. The company has also raised money from Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund and T. Rowe Price, and has a valuation of $19 billion.
As part of the Honda deal, GM teamed up with the Japanese automaker to design a “purpose-built” self-driving car. A “purpose-built car” is not a normal car retrofitted to be self-driving, as a majority of the autonomous vehicles on the road today are. Rather, it’s a car designed from the ground up to drive itself. That would be in addition to the steering wheel-and-pedal-less Chevy Bolt that GM and Cruise are working on. At the time, Vogt teased a vehicle with “giant TV screens, a mini bar, and lay-flat seats.”
“We built this car around the idea of not having a driver”
The Origin has none of these amenities, but Vogt insists its real asset is its modularity. “We built this car around the idea of not having a driver and specifically being used in a ride-share fleet,” he says. “This vehicle is engineered to last a million miles and all the interior components are replaceable. The compute is replaceable, the sensors are replaceable. And what that does is it drives the cost per mile down way lower than you could ever reach if you took a regular car and tried to retrofit it. The replacement cost and the upkeep of that would just kill you from a business standpoint.”
I don’t typically hear AV companies talk about “unit economics” and profitability. But that’s going to creep up sooner than a lot of people realize, Vogt says. Experts estimate that each self-driving car could cost upward of $300,000-$400,000, when taking into account the expensive sensors and computing software needed to allow the vehicles to drive themselves. Recouping those costs will be enormously challenging, and Cruise is trying to address that by building a car with more staying power than most personally owned vehicles.
Cruise has been working on the design of the Origin for over three years, but Honda’s involvement “super charged” the effort. The two automakers didn’t collaborate on every tiny detail; instead, they split up the work based on their expertise. GM was responsible for the base vehicle design and the electric powertrain, while Honda helped create the interior’s “efficient use of space,” Vogt says. Meanwhile, Cruise handled the sensing and computing technologies, as well as the experience from the rider’s standpoint.
We don’t typically hear AV companies talk about “unit economics” and profitability
Vogt allows that the sensor suite could change before the vehicle goes into production. But right now, it has the standard configuration found in many AVs on the road today: radar, cameras and LIDAR laser sensors. The hard drive, stored in the trunk and housing the vehicle’s artificial intelligence and perception software, is cooled by the vehicle’s battery system, making it quieter and less prone to overheating than previous iterations. That means passengers riding in the forward-facing seats won’t have to experience overly toasty tushies (as I have riding with another AV operator).
Cruise, with Honda’s help, designed the interior of the vehicle primarily for shared rides. The screens, one on either side, will display an itinerary for picking up and dropping off each passenger, so riders know what to expect. Carpooling in the age of smartphones hasn’t exactly been the runaway success that ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft have hoped. But Cruise thinks its abundance of space can help minimize the friction.
“It’s designed to be comfortable if it’s shared, but if it’s just you, you’ve got so much space in here you can really like stretch out,” he says, extending his legs so his feet almost touch mine. Almost, but not quite.
Look, as far as I’m concerned, Cruise’s Origin is a car. Cruise says it wants to “move beyond the car,” but I’m not convinced the absence of certain controls negates its inherent car-ness. As Vogt points out, it occupies the same amount of space as an SUV, and Cruise claims it can travel at normal city speeds. It is a car-like shape and does car-type things, like traveling down a road with people in it. And if there isn’t another good name for it — “the property” notwithstanding — then “car” will have to do.
I don’t begrudge the company for attempting to argue otherwise. The push for not-car-ness is evident in Cruise’s intense marketing campaign leading up to the unveiling of the Origin. The company recently emptied out its Instagram account — so long, photos of smiling people riding in the company’s fleet of self-driving Chevy Bolts — and posted a series of cryptic longitude and latitude coordinates that correspond with famous historical moments, like the invention of the compass and the steam locomotive. Not-car inventions that seriously changed how we travel, in other words.
as far as I’m concerned, Cruise’s Origin is a car
Even so, Cruise isn’t the first company to build and test a self-driving car without traditional controls. In December 2016, Google stunned the world when it revealed that it had put a blind man in one of its egg-shaped autonomous test vehicles and sent him out for a short ride around Austin, Texas. Google’s Firefly vehicle, audaciously designed by YooJung Ahn, is widely considered to be the first car tested publicly without a steering wheel or pedals.
Waymo, the company spun out of Google’s self-driving project, retired the Firefly in 2017. But in a recent podcast interview, Waymo CEO John Krafcik voiced curiosity that no one has replicated the feat since. “Why do you think no one has done that yet?” Krafcik said on the Autonocast. “Because we all sort of scratch our heads and say, ‘Is there not the capability there? Or folks have the capability but they’ve chosen not to do it or not to show it?’”
Cruise hasn’t been as forthcoming with its technology as Waymo. The company has only hosted one demo ride for journalists in 2017, which produced embarrassing headlines such as Reuters’ “Taco truck halts GM autonomous car’s cruise through city streets.”
There have been other bumps in the road as well. Cruise’s plan to test its vehicles in New York City — arguably the most difficult driving environment in the US — went nowhere. In July 2019, the company announced that it would miss its goal of launching a large-scale self-driving taxi service by the end of the year. It tried to sugarcoat the disappointing news by announcing a plan to dramatically increase the number of its test vehicles on the road in San Francisco.
Coming right on the heels of the Consumer Electronics Show and its cavalcade of concept cars and design projects, there’s a sense that Cruise is trying to beat back diminishing expectations. The past year has been a pretty bad one for believers in the technology: missed deadlines, rising concerns over safety, and the growing belief that making autonomous vehicles will be harder, slower, and more expensive than previously thought.
Cruise is trying to recapture some of that early magic with this vehicle. But it’s also attempting to be more pragmatic and attuned to the realities of growing and scaling a real business.
Of course, bureaucracy and politics could drive the whole thing right off the road.
Remember the unsettling lack of steering wheel, break pedals, and so on? That means the Cruise’s not-car will require an exemption from the federal government’s motor vehicle safety standards. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration only grants 2,500 petitions a year. GM submitted a petition for permission to deploy a fully driverless Chevy Bolt in 2018, but it has yet to receive a response. And it will most likely need another exemption before the Origin is allowed to hit the road, too.
Safety advocates are urging NHTSA to take its time in deliberating these changes. For example, the Center for Auto Safety “strongly question[s]” the NHTSA’s decision to prioritize these rule changes considering self-driving cars are still in their “infancy and quite likely decades away from widespread practical utility.” And the National Automobile Dealers Association, meanwhile, takes issue with the use of the term “barriers” to describe current safety standards and argues that self-driving cars should continue “to allow also for human control.”
Remember the unsettling lack of steering wheel, break pedals, and so on?
GM isn’t the only company seeking to fast-track these changes. Ford has said it will build an autonomous car without a steering wheel or pedals by 2021, while Waymo has begun offering a limited number of rides in fully driverless minivans to its customers in Phoenix, Arizona.
Cruise is clearly feeling the heat from its competitors, especially when you consider that it has yet to take the important step of launching a commercial business. The company has a beta ride-hailing service, but it’s only available to employees, and Cruise won’t say when it will be available to the broader public. The company also won’t say when the Origin will roll out, but promises to share more information about its production plans in the future. (It’s already been burned once when it missed its 2019 robo-taxi deadline, so it seems the company wants to be careful that doesn’t happen again.)
I have so many more questions — about the sensor suite, the business model, the testing (if any) that Cruise has conducted — but I’m informed that our time is done. The event is being managed by a unionized workforce, and any additional time could cost Cruise an additional $12,000. I thank Vogt for his time and jokingly ask if there’s an “abort” button in the vehicle.
“I think it’s been pushed,” he says, grinning. “You just go straight through the ceiling.”


theverge--2020-01-23--Google’s search engine for scientists upgraded for better data scouring

Google ’ s search engine for datasets , the cunningly named Dataset Search , is now out of beta , with new tools to better filter searches and access to almost 25 million datasets .
Dataset Search launched in September 2018 , with Google hoping to slowly unify the fragmented world of online , open-access data .
Although many institutions like universities , governments , and labs publish data online , it ’ s often difficult to find using traditional search .
But by adding open-source metadata tags to their webpages , these groups can have their data indexed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ huge range of information — everything from skiing injuries to volcano eruptions to penguin populations .
Find data on everything from skiing injuries to penguin populations Google would not share any specific usage figures for the search engine , but it said “ hundreds of thousands of users ” have tried Dataset Search since its launch , and the reaction from the scientific community was overall positive .
Natasha Noy , a research scientist at Google AI who helped create the tool , tells The Verge that “ most [ data ] repositories @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the engine ’ s launch meant older scientific institutions are now taking “ publishing metadata more seriously.
” “ For example , [ the prestigious scientific journal ] Nature is changing its policies to require data sharing with proper metadata , ” Noy says , highlighting a change that will make the data underpinning top-flight scientific research more accessible in future .
New features added to Dataset Search include the ability to filter data by type ( tables , images , text , etc ) , whether it ’ s free to use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The engine is also now available to use on mobile and has expanded dataset descriptions .
Google says the corpus covered by the search engine — almost 25 million datasets — is only a “ fraction of datasets on the web , ” but a “ significant ” one all the same .
The largest topics indexed are geosciences , biology , and agriculture , and the most common queries include “ education , ” “ weather , ” “ cancer , ” “ crime , ” “ soccer , ” and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the leader in open government datasets , publishing more than 2 million online .
Noy would not comment on future plans for Dataset Search , but she says the team was thinking about a number of functions they hope would be useful , including “ understanding how datasets are cited and reused ” and “ helping users explore datasets in Dataset Search when they don ’ t necessarily know what they are looking for.
” “ And , of course , continuing to expand the corpus , ” says Noy .
There ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Google’s search engine for datasets, the cunningly named Dataset Search, is now out of beta, with new tools to better filter searches and access to almost 25 million datasets.
Dataset Search launched in September 2018, with Google hoping to slowly unify the fragmented world of online, open-access data. Although many institutions like universities, governments, and labs publish data online, it’s often difficult to find using traditional search. But by adding open-source metadata tags to their webpages, these groups can have their data indexed by Dataset Search, which now covers a huge range of information — everything from skiing injuries to volcano eruptions to penguin populations.
Find data on everything from skiing injuries to penguin populations
Google would not share any specific usage figures for the search engine, but it said “hundreds of thousands of users” have tried Dataset Search since its launch, and the reaction from the scientific community was overall positive.
Natasha Noy, a research scientist at Google AI who helped create the tool, tells The Verge that “most [data] repositories have been very responsive” and that the engine’s launch meant older scientific institutions are now taking “publishing metadata more seriously.”
“For example, [the prestigious scientific journal] Nature is changing its policies to require data sharing with proper metadata,” Noy says, highlighting a change that will make the data underpinning top-flight scientific research more accessible in future.
“Finally! My thesis ‘Hitting The Slopes A Little Too Hard: Shattered Femurs and Broken Dreams In the 2012 World Ski Cup,’ will have the rigorous, data-based grounding it deserves.” Image: The Verge
New features added to Dataset Search include the ability to filter data by type (tables, images, text, etc), whether it’s free to use, and the geographic areas it covers. The engine is also now available to use on mobile and has expanded dataset descriptions.
Google says the corpus covered by the search engine — almost 25 million datasets — is only a “fraction of datasets on the web,” but a “significant” one all the same. The largest topics indexed are geosciences, biology, and agriculture, and the most common queries include “education,” “weather,” “cancer,” “crime,” “soccer,” and “dogs.” The US is also the leader in open government datasets, publishing more than 2 million online.
Noy would not comment on future plans for Dataset Search, but she says the team was thinking about a number of functions they hope would be useful, including “understanding how datasets are cited and reused” and “helping users explore datasets in Dataset Search when they don’t necessarily know what they are looking for.”


theverge--2020-01-23--Waymo is bringing its self-driving minivans and trucks to Texas and New Mexico

Waymo is hitting the open road and bringing some of its self-driving minivans and long-haul trucks to two new states .
The Alphabet subsidiary said in a tweet on Thursday that it would deploy a portion of its fleet in Texas and New Mexico as it seeks to learn about new road conditions and environments .
It also feeds into Waymo ’ s ultimate quest to gain a toehold in more markets for the eventual launch of a commercial business .
Waymo didn ’ t specify in which cities it will start testing its vehicles , nor did it explain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For example , last year , Waymo brought three of its self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans to Los Angeles but only to map the downtown area .
It ’ s especially notable that Waymo ’ s autonomous tractor-trailers are being deployed in two new states .
The company has previously only tested its Class 8 trucks in California , Arizona , and Georgia , so the territorial expansion is sure to be good news for Waymo ’ s stated plans to eventually launch a commercial freight hauling business .
“ These are interesting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll be using our vehicles to explore how the Waymo Driver might be able to create new transportation solutions , ” the company says .
( “ Waymo Driver ” is the company ’ s shorthand for its autonomous vehicle hardware and software system . )
The company isn ’ t a complete stranger to the great state of Texas .
Waymo ’ s groundbreaking demonstration of its prototype Firefly vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals took place in Austin in October 2015 .
The company kept an office in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shut it down .
A reported 100 employees and contract workers lost their jobs as part of the decision , according to CNBC .
Perhaps more intriguingly , though , was a sneak peek at the company ’ s next-generation hardware suite in a tweet from Waymo CEO John Krafcik .
The photo shows Krafcik along with Axios reporter Joann Muller standing in front of a Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicle with camouflaged sensors on the roof .
In 2018 , Waymo inked a deal with Jaguar Land Rover to purchase 20,000 I-Paces to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they said the new vehicles would officially become part of Waymo ’ s commercial ride-hailing service starting in 2020 .
The company is already testing the new vehicle on public roads around its Mountain View headquarters .
With the electric SUVs primed to join the fleet later this year , there ’ s no better time to start showing off the latest member of the autonomous family .
Waymo is expected to have more say about its fifth-generation vehicle in the months to come .

Waymo is hitting the open road and bringing some of its self-driving minivans and long-haul trucks to two new states. The Alphabet subsidiary said in a tweet on Thursday that it would deploy a portion of its fleet in Texas and New Mexico as it seeks to learn about new road conditions and environments. It also feeds into Waymo’s ultimate quest to gain a toehold in more markets for the eventual launch of a commercial business.
Waymo didn’t specify in which cities it will start testing its vehicles, nor did it explain what type of testing it will conduct. For example, last year, Waymo brought three of its self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans to Los Angeles but only to map the downtown area.
“These are interesting and promising commercial routes.”
It’s especially notable that Waymo’s autonomous tractor-trailers are being deployed in two new states. The company has previously only tested its Class 8 trucks in California, Arizona, and Georgia, so the territorial expansion is sure to be good news for Waymo’s stated plans to eventually launch a commercial freight hauling business.
“These are interesting and promising commercial routes, and we’ll be using our vehicles to explore how the Waymo Driver might be able to create new transportation solutions,” the company says. (“Waymo Driver” is the company’s shorthand for its autonomous vehicle hardware and software system.)
The company isn’t a complete stranger to the great state of Texas. Waymo’s groundbreaking demonstration of its prototype Firefly vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals took place in Austin in October 2015. The company kept an office in the city until November 2019 when it abruptly shut it down. A reported 100 employees and contract workers lost their jobs as part of the decision, according to CNBC.
Perhaps more intriguingly, though, was a sneak peek at the company’s next-generation hardware suite in a tweet from Waymo CEO John Krafcik. The photo shows Krafcik along with Axios reporter Joann Muller standing in front of a Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicle with camouflaged sensors on the roof.
In 2018, Waymo inked a deal with Jaguar Land Rover to purchase 20,000 I-Paces to be self-driving taxis. At the time, they said the new vehicles would officially become part of Waymo’s commercial ride-hailing service starting in 2020. The company is already testing the new vehicle on public roads around its Mountain View headquarters.


theverge--2020-01-23--Fire breaks out during test of Firefly Aerospace’s rocket in Texas

On Wednesday night , a fire broke out at Firefly Aerospace in Austin , Texas , while the company tested out the main engines on its newly developed Alpha rocket .
The fire prompted a brief evacuation of people living within a one-mile radius of the test as well as road closures , but Firefly ultimately suppressed the flames , and no one was hurt .
The company says its rocket and test stand are intact .
Firefly Aerospace is the resurrected version of Firefly Space Systems , a small satellite launch company in Texas that went bankrupt in 2016 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new investor , the company came back as Firefly Aerospace and is currently developing its new Alpha rocket to launch small- to medium-sized satellites to space .
Standing at 95 feet tall , the rocket will supposedly have the capacity to launch between 630 to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit , according to the company .
Before last night ’ s accident , the company said it was about to conduct the very first hot fire test of the core section of its Alpha rocket , which entails holding down the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the engines .
The Burnet County Sheriff ’ s Office said it was informed of a “ possible explosion ” at 7:24PM ET , though Firefly later claimed the accident was a “ small fire.
” Video of the event posted by a local reporter at KXAN shows the test stand going up in flames .
“ During testing this evening we experienced a test anomaly resulting in a small fire on our test stand , ” Firefly said in a statement last night .
“ The fire was quickly extinguished by our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the local community emergency response team quickly responded .
Both the test stand and our rocket are intact .
At no time was there any risk to individuals on site or the community.
” Out of an abundance of caution , the sheriff ’ s office closed roadways surrounding Firefly ’ s facilities and evacuated the area .
The area was ultimately declared safe , according to an update by the sheriff ’ s office at 10:25PM ET .
“ We apologize for any inconvenience caused and we will be working with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the local community is kept aware of actions in a timely manner , ” Firefly said in its statement .
Last year , Firefly Aerospace had hopes of launching its Alpha rocket for the first time by the end of 2019 from its launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California .
That didn ’ t happen , and now it ’ s unclear how this incident will affect the timeline of the rocket ’ s development in the future .
The company said it would update everyone on what happened and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day .
”

On Wednesday night, a fire broke out at Firefly Aerospace in Austin, Texas, while the company tested out the main engines on its newly developed Alpha rocket. The fire prompted a brief evacuation of people living within a one-mile radius of the test as well as road closures, but Firefly ultimately suppressed the flames, and no one was hurt. The company says its rocket and test stand are intact.
Firefly Aerospace is the resurrected version of Firefly Space Systems, a small satellite launch company in Texas that went bankrupt in 2016 following the Brexit referendum. Thanks to a new investor, the company came back as Firefly Aerospace and is currently developing its new Alpha rocket to launch small- to medium-sized satellites to space. Standing at 95 feet tall, the rocket will supposedly have the capacity to launch between 630 to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit, according to the company.
Before last night’s accident, the company said it was about to conduct the very first hot fire test of the core section of its Alpha rocket, which entails holding down the vehicle on a test stand and igniting the engines. The test was slated to last just five seconds, and was meant to be the first in a series of tests aimed at verifying that the rocket is sound. The Burnet County Sheriff’s Office said it was informed of a “possible explosion” at 7:24PM ET, though Firefly later clarified that a fire broke out at the base of the rocket where the engines were located. Video of the event posted by a local reporter at KXAN shows the test stand going up in flames.
“During testing this evening we experienced a test anomaly resulting in a small fire on our test stand,” Firefly said in a statement last night. “The fire was quickly extinguished by our fire suppression systems on the stand and the local community emergency response team quickly responded. Both the test stand and our rocket are intact. At no time was there any risk to individuals on site or the community.”
Out of an abundance of caution, the sheriff’s office closed roadways surrounding Firefly’s facilities and evacuated the area. The area was ultimately declared safe, according to an update by the sheriff’s office at 10:25PM ET. “We apologize for any inconvenience caused and we will be working with the local emergency response team to ensure that the local community is kept aware of actions in a timely manner,” Firefly said in its statement. Firefly says it is currently investigating what caused the fire.
Last year, Firefly Aerospace had hopes of launching its Alpha rocket for the first time by the end of 2019 from its launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. That didn’t happen, and now it’s unclear how this incident will affect the timeline of the rocket’s development in the future. The company said it would update everyone on what happened and answer questions at an upcoming “community day.”