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Microsoft reveals AI-powered ‘Recall’ feature to transform Windows 11’s searchability, while confirming hardware requirements
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Microsoft’s annual developer conference, Build, has only just kicked off but we’ve already learned lots of exciting things, including the company showing off a new AI-powered ‘Recall’ feature to be integrated into Copilot+ PCs with Windows 11.

Copilot+ is a new software platform that was introduced yesterday, aiming to infuse Windows 11 with new AI features, ushering in a raft of new devices with more advanced AI functionality.

You’ve doubtless already heard of AI PCs, but the new breed of portables, which are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips with an integrated Neural Processing Unit (NPU), were officially debuted yesterday. Windows 11 Recall will be exclusive to PCs that have Snapdragon X processors as the current generation of Intel and AMD mobile CPUs don’t have a powerful enough NPU to deal with the feature. (It needs an NPU capable of 40 TOPS, or trillions of operations per second). 

This isn’t the only hardware requirement that the Recall feature will necessitate, with the full spec requirements being as follows:

  • Snapdragon X Elite or X Plus processor
  • NPU capable of 40 TOPs
  • 225GB storage
  • 16GB RAM

While these new Qualcomm chips are the only mobile silicon that can drive the Recall feature (and other AI capabilities in Copilot+ PCs) right now, future generations of Intel and AMD processors will be on board (Intel’s Lunar Lake for example, or AMD’s Strix Point chips).

Windows Latest notes that the above hardware requirements are not only needed to ensure a quality experience – with enough performance to drive snappy responses with these AI features such as Recall – but also for data security reasons.

Microsoft unveils new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro on a stage

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

So, how does Recall work? 

In the past we’ve seen reports of a rumored feature, often referred to as ‘AI Explorer,’ that would enable you to search through your past activity on your PC. It looks like this has manifested as the Recall feature, and it’ll be privy to all the activity on your PC including what apps you use, how you use those apps, and what you do in them (for example, conversations in WhatsApp). Recall will record all of this activity going forward, saving snapshots of it in your PC’s local storage. 

Additionally, the Settings app will have a dedicated update history section for Recall, and a toggle for new Privacy and Security settings. You’ll be able to update Recall for Windows 11 and other AI features besides using the Windows Update app. 

If you’re feeling wary about allowing Recall to access everything, and concerned about having control over what it records and stores, Windows Latest reports that you’ll be able to delete snapshots manually from Recall’s storage, and set Recall to exclude certain apps and websites from its recording activity. In your device’s Settings, you’ll also be able to adjust the time ranges over which Recall stores snapshots, or indeed pause Recall altogether by clicking on its icon in your Taskbar. 

In practice, Recall is designed to help you go back in time and find elements of your past activity. So for example, if you previously had a conversation with a colleague on a certain topic, but couldn’t remember the details, you could ask Recall to go and find it within Windows 11.  Recall would then comb over your past conversations with the colleague, searching across all of your apps, open tabs within apps, and more besides.

Recall will also be able to help you find files you’ve lost, and to search your browser history, and so forth. You’ll be able to ask for Recall’s assistance using natural language, the way we converse with one another in real life, instead of having to use precise commands. 

All of this will run natively on your PC and won’t have to tap the cloud for computing power, meaning your data will be more secure, as everything can be kept locally, and nothing is sent to an external data center. It’s all happening right there on your Copilot+ PC with the help of that powerful NPU.

Microsoft presenting Surface Laptop and Surface Pro devices.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

When can you try Recall for yourself? 

The hubbub and excitement of Recall is just one of many things that have been revealed at Microsoft Build 2024 already, but you’ll have to wait until the Windows 11 24H2 update to try the feature (and don’t forget, you’ll need a PC that meets the hardware requirements). The 24H2 update is expected to arrive in September or October, or thereabouts.

If Recall and other AI features, deliver on all that’s promised (or even most of it), we think many people will be impressed and it could convince them to try to adapt to the new way of computing that Microsoft is trying to usher in.

Right now, Copilot isn’t regarded as particularly impressive, but in some ways, that’s due to the hardware needed to facilitate Microsoft’s plans for its AI assistant not being available – until now. We’re excited to get our hands on all these new AI features, as we’re one of those people that floods our PC with media – and we’d imagine Recall could be very handy for us indeed.

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Adobe Lightroom’s new Generative Remove AI tool makes Content-aware Fill feel basic – and gives you one less reason to use Photoshop
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One of Adobe Lightroom's most used editing tools, Content-aware Fill, just got a serious upgrade in the AI-powered shape of Generative Remove. The Adobe Firefly tool is branded “Lightroom's most powerful remove tool yet” and after a quick play ahead of its announcement, I'd have to agree. 

Compared to Content-aware Fill, which will remain in Adobe's popular photo organizer and editor, Generative Remove is much more intelligent, plus it's non-destructive. 

As you can see from the gif below, Generative Remove is used to remove unwanted objects in your image, plus it works a treat for retouching. You simply brush over the area you'd like to edit – whether that's removing a photo bomber or something as simple as creases in clothing – and then the new tool creates a selection of smart edits with the object removed (or retouch applied) for you to pick your favorite from.

If I was to use Lightroom's existing Content-aware Fill for the same image in the gif below and in the same way, or even for a much smaller selection, it would sample parts of the model's orange jacket and hair and place them in the selection. I'd then need to repeatedly apply the tool to remove these new unwanted details, and the new area increasingly becomes an artifact-ridden mess.

Adobe Lightroom Generative Remove tool

(Image credit: Adobe)

Put simply, Lightroom's existing remove tool works okay for small selections but it regularly includes samples of parts of the image you don't want. Generative Remove is significantly faster and more effective for objects of all sizes than Content-aware Fill, plus it's non-destructive, creating a new layer that you can turn on and off.

From professionals wanting to speed up their workflow to simply removing distant photo bombers with better results, Generative Remove is next-level Lightroom editing and it gives you one less reason to use Adobe Photoshop. It is set to be a popular tool for photographers of all skills levels needing to make quick remove and retouching edits.

Generative Remove is available now as an early access feature across all Lightroom platforms: mobile, desktop, iPad, web and Classic.

Adobe Lightroom Generative Remove tool

(Image credit: Adobe)

Adobe also announced that its Lens Blur tool is being rolled out in full to Lightroom, with new automatic presets. As you can see in the gif above, presets include subtle, bubble and geometric effects to bokeh. For example, speckled and artificial light can be given a circular shape with the Lens Blur bubble effect.

Lens Blur is another AI-tool and doesn't just apply a uniform strength blur to the background, but uses 3D mapping in order to apply a different strength of blur based on how far away objects are in the background, for more believable results.

It's another non-destructive edit, too, meaning that you can add to or remove from the selection if you're not happy with the strength of blur applied or if background objects get missed out first time around – for instance, it might mistake a lamp in the image above as a subject and not apply blur to it.

Having both Generative Remove and Lens Blur AI-tools to hand makes Lightroom more powerful than ever. Lens Blur is now generally available across the Lightroom ecosystem. Furthermore, there are other new tools added to Lightroom and you can find out more on the Adobe website.

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Meta Quest 3 Lite leak suggests it’ll pack the Quest 3’s brain into the Quest 2’s body
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Meta may still be remaining schtum about the Meta Quest 3 Lite (or the Quest 3s, as some rumors are calling it), but that hasn’t stopped leaks from seeping out into the public sphere. The latest info dump tells us seemingly everything about the budget-friendly hardware’s technical specifications.

These latest details come via @Lunayian on Twitter who claims to “have seen multiple devkits and spoken to several people familiar with the device.” They then include an infographic that outlines the details they “feel comfortable sharing.” 

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In many ways this Meta Quest 3 alternative shares a lot of similarities with the original. Chiefly, it boasts a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset from Qualcomm, the same tracking ring-less controllers, and the same two 4MP RGB passthrough cameras from full-color mixed reality.

But you would notice some downgrades borrowed from the Quest 2. This includes the screen resolution which is just 1,832 x 1,920 pixels per eye rather than the Quest 3’s 2,064 × 2,208 pixels; a bulky fresnel lens system instead of the Quest 3’s slimmer pancake lenses; and rather than gradual IPD (InterPupillary Distance) adjustments we've returned to the Quest 2’s three set positions.

Basically, this leak suggests the Quest 3 Lite has the Quest 3’s brain, and the Quest 2’s body.

The Oculus Quest 2 headset sat on top of its box and next to its controllers

The Quest 2’s bulk could make a comeback (Image credit: Shutterstock / agencies)

One key detail we’re still missing is the price. 

According to previous leaks the Quest 3 Lite will be cheaper than the Meta Quest 3 – something supported by the specs leaked here – but it’s unclear exactly how much it will cost. 

Adopting the Oculus Quest 2’s launch price of $ 299 / £299 / AU$ 479 seems most likely, but given the Quest 3 Lite offers most of the Quest 3’s upgrades we wouldn’t be shocked if the Lite landed somewhere around $ 399 / £399 / AU$ 639 – in between the Quest 2 and Quest 3 launches (the Quest 3 costs $ 499 / £479 / AU$ 799).

One thing we can say with some confidence is the Quest 2’s current $ 199.99 / £199.99 / AU$ 359.99 price is almost certainly far too low for this rumored upcoming model – so if you’re after a super-cheap VR headset the Quest 2 might be your best bet while it’s available. Although given we’re starting to see more and more Quest 3 exclusives, it might not be the best long-term buy.

Wait before you buy a Quest 2

As we always recommend, you should take this rumor with a pinch of salt. Until Meta announces the Quest 3 Lite, Quest 3s, or whatever it chooses to call it, we don’t know when or if this budget-friendly VR headset will launch.

But it seems very likely that something is on the way – and I have a feeling we might see it soon as Meta usually hosts a June gaming showcase, which could be the perfect place to announce this new device.

If you’re looking to buy one of the best VR headsets, I'd recommend waiting – unless you’re dead set on getting a Meta Quest 3. That’s doubly true if the headset you have your sights set on is the Quest 2 as this Lite model looks set to beat it in the most important ways and hopefully won’t break the bank either.

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Chrome report reveals which extension could be slowing down your browser the most
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Chrome extensions are a great way to enhance internet browsing, but some of them may be slowing down your browser. The development team behind DebugBear, a web page optimizing service, analyzed 5,000 extensions to see how they impacted Google Chrome. According to their findings, some can cause longer load times on websites although it depends how data is processed. Certain ones are better than others.

DebugBear states extensions that process data “before a page has rendered will have a much worse impact on user experience.” VPNs seem to be among the worst at this, with some causing a full second of delay. It makes sense why load times would be particularly bad with a VPN as they “route traffic through an intermediary server.” Other extensions that may cause long load times include Trancy AI Subtitles and Klarna Pay Later.

Extensions that run their code “after the page has loaded” can also impact Chrome, but to a seemingly lesser extent. Processing times can result in web page slowdown as the software strains the hardware, but not always. The Monica AI Assistant, for instance, was discovered to add “1.3 seconds of processing time;” however, it actually reduces page load speeds. This is because extensions like Monica run “as soon as the page starts loading.” 

Page interactions

Even if an extension doesn’t create slow load times, it may cause slow page interactions, meaning that clicking around on a website may not feel snappy. Avira Password Manager reportedly adds a “160 millisecond delay when clicking on… random content [headings]”. Granted, 160 milliseconds is less than half a second, but we can’t help but wonder if the delays add up.

Let’s say, for example, you have seven extensions, each individually adding a 160 millisecond delay. Now, imagine if all those delays turn into a big performance drop. That’s an entire second of delay added to a webpage. Is this possible? To be honest, we don’t know as DebugBear doesn’t state whether or not the delay of these tools can accumulate.

What is true is that most ad-blockers can improve your browsing experience. Websites with tons of ads directly cause a slowdown, and without an ad-blocker, DebugBear found the average CPU processing time on ad-heavy websites was 57 seconds. With uBlock Origin installed, the time drops “down to just under 4 seconds,” saving your computer precious power.

uBlock Origin appears to be one of the best ad-blockers you can add to Chrome alongside Malwarebytes and Privacy Badger. AdBlock Plus is one of the worst, as it takes up a lot of processing time – over 40 seconds.

What you can do

So, if you’re a frequent Chrome user experiencing a browser slowdown with extensions installed, there isn't much you can do to remedy the issue. Fixing extensions ultimately falls on the developers who made them. But there are a couple of things you can do to help.

First, the easiest thing you can do is uninstall the offending tool or restrict it to only enable on certain sites. DebugBear also recommends using their Chrome Extension Performance Lookup tool to help you find the best, lightweight extensions for the browser.

Be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best ad blockers for 2024. uBlock Origin is the best one, but there are other great options out there.

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Windows 11 is getting a new look according to a leak – but it might be exclusive to AI-powered PCs
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It looks like Windows 11 could get a new official default wallpaper, according to leaked images that have emerged just before Microsoft Build 2024, the company’s annual conference for developers – where it’s expected that we’ll see some big debuts showing off the fruits of collaboration between Microsoft, Qualcomm, and other partners. 

Microsoft has been pretty tight-lipped about what it plans to show off, and hasn’t even officially announced the new wallpaper, although it’s already available for download in high resolution. 

This was uncovered by German tech blog WinFuture, whose sources leaked information about Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge Pro laptops with ARM chips. The leak included multiple photographs of the laptop from a variety of angles, as well as the new wallpaper, which joins the series of Windows 11 signature Bloom wallpapers (Neowin has a collection of others you can view and download). Neowin speculates that the new AI-focused PCs will ship with the new background. 

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Accompanying the leak, X user @cadenzza_ shared a high-resolution version of the brand new Bloom wallpaper variation (apparently shared in a private Windows Insider Telegram group originally) that you can download by saving the image below or from @cadenzza_’s post, and set on your device.

The full image of the new Windows 11 colorful Bloom background wallpaper

(Image credit: Microsoft/X(Twitter) user @cadenzza_)

Microsoft's lips are sealed and it's got our attention

It’s interesting how closely Microsoft’s been guarding what it’s about to share, with this static wallpaper being one of the things that we can confirm at all. Neowin has proposed that Microsoft might be crafting new desktop background effects for Windows 11, perhaps making use of the next-generation devices’ AI capabilities, and creating effects simulating depth, and possibly making the background reactive to how you move your cursor. 

We’ll have to see if this is the case at some point in the next few days as Microsoft Build goes on. We expect the announcement of consumer versions of the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 laptops with Qualcomm Snapdragon X processors, and whatever AI innovations Microsoft wants to bring to our attention. Another new hardware introduction we expect is a Copilot keyboard button, which has been discussed for a while now. Other Copilot-related news could have to do with OpenAI’s recent debut of GPT-4o, and possibly a souped-up Windows Copilot AI assistant.

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Microsoft still has tricks beyond just ads and AI: Windows 11’s File Explorer set to get a slick new ‘Shared’ section
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It looks like Microsoft is still making time to work on functional improvements to Windows 11, such as a recent update to File Explorer – and I’m not just talking about its enthusiasm for holistically peppering adverts all over the operating system and integrating AI into every part of it. The new development is looking to add a ‘Shared’ section into File Explorer and is currently being tested with Windows 11 beta users. 

The new File Explorer section is included as part of the Windows 11 Preview Build 22635.3640, available through the Beta Channel of the Windows Insider Program. Even if you install this preview build, the feature is disabled by default and has to be enabled using ViveTools, an open-source software that allows you to test out experimental features. 

The addition of this new section to File Explorer was discovered and shared by X user and occasional Windows leaker @PhantomOfEarth who described their experience of the upgrades that Microsoft is toying with introducing for File Explorer, including ‘fancy visuals’ for sections (even if they are empty) and the introduction of the ‘Shared’ section. 

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The first of these discoveries indicates that Microsoft is currently testing changes to the File Explorer user interface (UI), specifically three sections appearing in a sort of horizontal ribbon layout below your file folders: ‘Recent,’ ‘Favorites,’ and ‘Shared.’ Formerly (well, currently, for those of us not using a preview build of Windows 11), these appeared in a vertical list below your file folders. 

A screenshot of locating the old Task Manager using File Explorer's address bar

(Image credit: Microsoft)

How you can set up and try out the new 'Shared' section for yourself

If you’re absolutely itching to get the newly introduced ‘Shared’ section, as well as the changes to the UI, Windows Report recommends that you download ViveTool from its official GitHub page. You’ll have to install Windows 11 Preview Build 22635.3640 first, and then download ViveTool. ViveTool is a third-party app, but it’s widely used and I don’t see any immediate issues that strike me as cause for concern on its GitHub page. 

Once you’ve downloaded ViveTool, you’ll want to open Command Prompt or PowerShell, which are easiest to find by typing either one of those into the search bar in the Windows Taskbar. Then, copy and paste the following code into the window that opens: 

vivetool /enable /id:45130483

Again, this is a feature that’s currently in the testing stage; it’s not even enabled by default in the preview build, and this tracks with what users who have used it have been reporting – the new section appears to not be fully integrated into File Explorer yet and can be buggy at times. One user reported a bug that affected the whole of File Explorer, with the left-hand menu being automatically populated with copies of pinned shortcuts. 

The new section’s bugginess is probably why it’s currently disabled by default, and as Windows Report cautions, you should only enable it at your own risk. You can disable the new features and changes by modifying the ‘enable’ part of the above code to ‘disable,’ so you don’t have to panic even if you do choose to try this out and end up encountering some glitches. 

The new functionality for File Explorer seems useful, and I hope Microsoft continues to work on it to sharpen it and make it functional. It’s easy to see how a ‘Shared’ section would make it easier to collaborate with others your device is connected to. Also, these are the kinds of changes that I think users welcome, as they’re not too big, but have the potential to become part of how we use Windows in our regular routines.

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What is Project Astra? Google’s futuristic universal assistant explained
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Almost everyone in tech is investing heavily in artificial intelligence right now, and Google is among those most committed to an AI future. Project Astra, unveiled at Google I/O 2024, is a big part of that – and it could end up being one of Google's most important AI tools.

Astra is being billed as “a universal AI agent that is helpful in everyday life”. It's essentially something like a blending of Google Assistant and Google Gemini, with added features and supercharged capabilities for a natural, conversational experience.

Here, we're going to explain everything you need to know about Project Astra – how it works, what it can do, when you can get it, and how it might shape the future. 

What is Project Astra?

In some ways, Project Astra isn't any different to the AI chatbots we've already got: you ask a question about what's in a picture, or about how to do something, or request some creative text to be generated, and Astra gets on with it.

What elevates this particular AI project is its multimodal functionality (the way text, images, video, and audio can all be combined), the speed that the bot works at, and how conversational it is. Google's aim, as we've already mentioned, is to create “a universal AI agent” that can do anything and understand everything.

Google IO 2024

Project Astra in action (Image credit: Google)

Think about the Hal 9000 bot in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, or the Samantha assistant in the movie Her: talking to them is like talking to a human being, and there isn't much they can't do. (Both those AIs eventually got too big for their creators to control, but let's ignore that for the time being.)

Project Astra has been built to understand context and to take actions, to be able to work in real time, and to remember conversations from the past. From the demos we've seen so far, it works on phones and on smart glasses, and is powered by the Google Gemini AI models – so it may eventually be part of the Gemini app, rather than something that's separate and standalone.

When is Project Astra coming out?

Project Astra is in its early stages: this isn't something that's going to be available to the masses for a few months at least. That said, Google says that “some of these agent capabilities will come to Google products like the Gemini app later this year”, so it looks as though elements of Astra will appear gradually in Google's apps as we go through 2024.

When we were given some hands-on time with Project Astra at I/O 2024, these sessions were limited to four minutes each – so that gives you some idea of how far away this is from being something that anyone, anywhere can make use of. What's more, the Astra kit didn't look particularly portable, and the Google reps were careful to refer to it as a prototype.

Project Astra demonstration room at Google I/O showing large display and toys

We’ve already tried Project Astra (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Taking all that together, we get the impression that some of the Project Astra tricks we've seen demoed might appear in the Google Gemini app sooner rather than later. At the same time, the full Astra experience – perhaps involving some dedicated hardware – is probably not going to be rolling out until 2025 at the earliest.

Now that Google has shared what Project Astra is and what it's capable of, it's likely that we're going to hear a whole lot more about it in the months ahead. Bear in mind that ChatGPT and Dall-E developer OpenAI is busy pushing out major upgrades of its own, and Google isn't going to want to be left behind.

What can I do with Project Astra?

One of Google's demos shows Astra running on a phone, using its camera input and talking naturally to a user: it's asked to flag up something in view that can play sounds, and correctly identifies a speaker. When an arrow is drawn on screen, Astra then recognizes and talks about the speaker component highlighted by the arrow.

In another demo, we see Astra correctly identifying world landmarks from drawings in a sketchbook. It's also able to remember the order of objects in a list, identify a neighborhood from an image, understand the purpose of sections of code that are shown to it, and solve math problems that are written out.

There's a lot of emphasis on recognizing objects, drawings, text, and more through a camera system – while at the same time understanding human speech and generating appropriate responses. This is the multimodal part of Project Astra in action, which makes it a step up from what we already have – with improvements in caching, recording, and processing key to the real time responsiveness.

In our hands-on time with Project Astra, we were able to get it to tell a story based on objects that we showed to the camera – and adapt the story as we went on. Further down the line, it's not difficult to imagine Astra applying these smarts as you explore a city on vacation, or solve a physics problem on a whiteboard, or provide detailed information about what's being shown in a sports game.

Which devices will include Project Astra?

In the demonstrations of Project Astra that Google has shown off so far, the AI is running on an unidentified smartphone and an unidentified pair of smart glasses – suggesting that we might not have heard the last of Google Glass yet.

Google has also hinted that Project Astra is going to be coming to devices with other form factors. We've already mentioned the Her movie, and it's well within the realms of possibility that we might eventually see the Astra bot built into wireless earbuds (assuming they have a strong enough Wi-Fi connection).

Google Pixel 8 Pro back in porcelain in front of animal print

Expect to see Project Astra turn up on Pixel phones, eventually (Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)

In the hands-on area that was set up at Google I/O 2024, Astra was powered through a large camera, and could only work with a specific set of objects as props. Clearly, any device that runs Astra's impressive features is going to need a lot of on-board processing power, or a very quick connection to the cloud, in order to keep up the real-time conversation that's core to the AI.

As time goes on and technology improves, though, these limitations should slowly begin to be overcome. The next time we hear something major about Project Astra could be around the time of the launch of the Google Pixel 9 in the last few months of 2024; Google will no doubt want to make this the most AI-capable smartphone yet.

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Google’s Live Caption may soon become more emotionally expressive on Android
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Google is reportedly working on implementing several customization features to the Live Caption accessibility feature on mobile devices. Evidence of this update was discovered by software deep diver Assemble Debug after digging through the Android System Intelligence app. According to an image given to Android Authority, there will be four options in total. We don't know much, but there is a little bit of explanation to be found. 

The first one allows Android phones to display “emoji icons” in a caption transcript; perhaps to better convey what emotions the voices expressing. The other three aren't as clear. The second feature will “emphasize emotional intensity in [the] transcription” while the third is said to include the “word duration [effects]” and the ability to display “emotional tags.”

Feature breakdown

As you can see, the wording is pretty vague, but there’s enough to paint a picture. It seems Live Caption will become better at replicating emotions in voices it transcribes. Say, for example, you’re watching a movie and someone is angrily screaming. Live Caption could perhaps show text in all caps to signify yelling. 

The feature could also slant words in a line to indicate whenever someone is being sarcastic or trying to imply something. Word duration effect could refer to the software showing drawn out letters in a set of captions. Maybe someone is singing in and they begin to hold a note. The sound that’s being held could be displayed thanks to this toggle. 

Emotional tags is admittedly more difficult to envision. Android Authority mentions the tags will be shown and included in a transcript. This could mean that the tool is going to add clear indicators within transcriptions of what a subject is expressing at the moment. Users might see the word “Angry” pop up whenever a person is feeling angry about something or “Sad” whenever someone is crying.

Greater utility

That’s our best guess. If these rumored features do operate as described, it would give Live Caption even greater utility than what it already has. The tool was introduced back in 2019 as an accessibility tool to help people enjoy content if they’re hard of hearing or can’t turn on the sound for whatever reason.

The current captions are rather plain, but with update, emotions could be added to Google’s tool for a better immersive experience.  

Android Authority claims the the features were found in a “variant of the Android System Intelligence app”. We believe this means that they were located inside a special version of the app meant for first-party hardware like the Google Pixel. So the customization tools may be exclusive to the Pixel 8 or a future model. It’s too early to tell at the moment. Hopefully, the upgraded Live Captions sees a much wider release.

Until we learn more, check out TechRadar's list of the best Android phones for 2024.

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OpenAI’s ChatGPT might soon be thanking you for gold and asking if the narwhal bacons at midnight like a cringey Redditor after the two companies reach a deal
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If you've ever posted a comment or post on Reddit, there's a chance that it will be used as material for training OpenAI's AI models after the two companies confirmed that they've reached a deal that enables this exchange. 

Reddit will be given access to OpenAI's technology to build AI features, and for that (as well as an undisclosed monetary amount), it's giving OpenAI access to Reddit posts in real-time that can be used by tools like ChatGPT to formulate more human-like responses. 

OpenAI will be able to access real-time information from Reddit's data API, software that enables the retrieval of and interaction with information from Reddit's platform, providing OpenAI with structured and unique content from Reddit. This is similar to an agreement Reddit reached with Google at the beginning of the year, allowing Google to train its own AI models on Reddit's data, reported to be worth $ 60 million. 

According to the official Reddit blog post publicizing the deal, the deal will help people discover and engage with Reddit's communities thanks to the Reddit content brought to ChatGPT and other new OpenAI products. Through Reddit's APIs, OpenAI's tools will be able to understand and showcase Reddit's content better, particularly when it comes to recent topics. 

Man sitting at a table working on a laptop

(Image credit: Shutterstock/GaudiLab)

Reddit, the company, and Reddit, the community of users

Users and moderators on Reddit will apparently be offered new features thanks to applications powered by OpenAI's large language models (LLMs). OpenAI will also start advertising on Reddit as an ad partner. 

The blog post put out by Reddit also claims that the deal is in the spirit of keeping the internet open, as well as fostering learning and research to keep it that way. It also cites that it wants to continue to build up its community, recognizing its uniqueness and how Reddit serves as a place for conversation online. Reddit claims that this deal was signed to improve everyone's Reddit experience using AI.

It remains to be seen whether users are convinced of these benefits, but previous changes of this type and scale haven't gone down particularly well. In June 2023, over 7,000 subreddit communities went dark to protest changes to Reddit's API pricing for developers. 

It also hasn't explicitly been stated by either company that Reddit data will be used to train OpenAI's models, but I think many people assume this will be the case – or that it’s already happening. In contrast, it was disclosed that Reddit would give Google “more efficient ways to train models,” and then there's the fact that OpenAI founder Sam Altman is himself a Reddit shareholder. This doesn't confirm anything specific and, as reported by The Verge, “This partnership was led by OpenAI’s COO and approved by its independent Board of Directors.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaking during Microsoft's February 7, 2023 event

(Image credit: JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)

Official statements expressing the benefits of the partnership

Speaking about the partnership and as quoted in the blog post, representatives from both companies said: 

“Reddit has become one of the internet’s largest open archives of authentic, relevant, and always up to date human conversations about anything and everything. Including it in ChatGPT upholds our belief in a connected internet, helps people find more of what they’re looking for, and helps new audiences find community on Reddit.”

– Steve Huffman, Reddit Co-Founder and CEO

“We are thrilled to partner with Reddit to enhance ChatGPT with uniquely timely and relevant information, and to explore the possibilities to enrich the Reddit experience with AI-powered features.”

– Brad Lightcap, OpenAI COO

They're not wrong, and many people make search queries appended with the word “Reddit” as Reddit threads will often provide information directly relevant to what you're searching for. 

It's an interesting development, and OpenAI's sourcing of information – both in terms of accuracy and concerning training data – has been the main topic of discussion around the ethics of its practices for some time. I suppose at least this way, Reddit users are being made aware that their information can be used by OpenAI – even if they don’t really have a choice in the matter. 

The announcement blog post reassures users that Reddit believes that “privacy is a right,” and that it has published a Public Content Policy that gives more detail about Reddit's approach to accessing public content and user protections. We'll have to see if this will be upheld as time goes on, and what the partnership looks like in practice, but I hope both companies will take users' concerns seriously. 

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Windows 11 users, get ready for more AI – a new test build promises a designated section of the Settings menu just for AI updates
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Windows 11 Build 26217 is now available to developers and testers in the Canary alpha channel, offering a few small bug fixes alongside a new page in the Settings menu dedicated to “AI component updates”. 

Microsoft has been flooding Windows 10 and Windows 11 users with some pretty cool AI-related updates and features recently, most notably the addition of Copilot to the taskbar for easy access. Spotted by WindowsLatest, the new settings page is just for AI updates, but right now we don’t really know what that could entail. We speculate that users will be able to keep track of updates to features like AI Explorer and possibly Copilot as well – or Microsoft could be setting up a new space for entirely new AI-related features.

Microsoft could also be gearing up for the Build Developer conference later this year, where it seems to be encouraging developers to build their own AI features for Windows apps. This would be fascinating news for AI enthusiasts who are already feeling the positive impacts of having a tool like Copilot ready to use and may want to boost some of the apps or programs they already use with an injection of AI functionality. 

Finally, some good news!

I’m pretty excited to see what kind of nifty features will make a home in the new settings page if we do see it have a public rollout. We have to keep in mind that many features and changes we see in the Windows Canary channel aren’t guaranteed to make a wide release, so while I might be excited now, I can’t get my full hype on until we get more information from Microsoft. 

That being said, it does look like AI is here to stay for Windows users. That could be good or bad news depending on your outlook on large language models, but it feels like Microsoft is all-in when it comes to AI. 

Overall, I am glad for some good news when it comes to Windows updates. With the influx of ads becoming the new normal in Windows 11, there’s been a bitter taste in my mouth anytime I hear about a new build or update – so if this new section of the settings does come to our desktops that’ll at least be something positive (and ad-free). Here at TechRadar, we all feel Microsoft owes us some kind of good news given how irritating ads have become – even stooping so low as to disguise themselves as recommendations. 

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