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Andrew Tarantola

Andrew Tarantola

Computing Writer

Andrew Tarantola is a journalist with more than a decade reporting on emerging technologies ranging from robotics and machine learning to space science, medicine, green energy and automated transportation. He has been a contributor to Digital Trends on the AI and Machine Learning beat since July. He has previous bylines at Engadget, where he worked as a senior editor for eight years, and Gizmodo, where he worked as a senior editor for four. He holds bachelor's degrees in Economics and Political Science from the University of California, Irvine.

Andrew became interested in technology after reading the Time Life series, Understanding Computers, in 2nd grade and watching the OG Ghost in the Shell in 7th. He spends his off-work hours reading LitRPG, gardening, boxing, bow hunting, canning, and hiking.

Advanced Santa voice mode

OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode can now see your screen and analyze videos

ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode feature is gaining new visual capabilities and a seasonal infusion of holiday cheer.
Sora's interpretation of gymnastics

OpenAI’s Sora doesn’t feel like the game-changer it was supposed to be

OpenAI has been touting Sora as the future of video generation for nearly a year. What it released Tuesday can't possibly be what CEO Sam Altman meant.
Gemini 2.0 logo

Google’s new Gemini 2.0 AI model is about to be everywhere

Google's Gemini chatbot AI enters its agentic era with a more capable model and deep research capabilities.
ChatGPT's Canvas screen

One of ChatGPT’s latest features comes to the free tier

ChatGPT's collaborative Canvas interface is getting a host of new features and capabilities, the company announced Tuesday.
robot and human hands touching fingertips

7 surprising things you didn’t know you could do with AI

Generative AI can do so much more than the features chatbots tout. Here are six novel uses for our AI assistants.
An AI generated image of a woman who walks the streets of Tokyo.

ChatGPT unveils Sora with up to 20-second AI video generation

After nearly a year of delays and development setbacks, OpenAI has finally released its video-generation model, Sora, but only to select paying customers.
glasses and chatgpt

ChatGPT’s new Pro subscription will cost you $200 per month

OpenAI has just released the full version of its o1 reasoning model alongside a $200/month ChatGPT Pro subscription.
The Copilot logo

Microsoft’s Copilot Vision arrives to surf the web with select users

Microsoft is rolling out Copilot Vision, which allows the AI to see and hear what you're watching on the internet, to select Copilot Pro subscribers.
pasta city

Amazon unveils its new family of Nova foundational models

Amazon Web Services showed off a half-dozen new multimodal generative AI models, which it has dubbed Nova.
ChatGPT search

Researchers call ChatGPT Search answers ‘confidently wrong’

A study from Columbia University has found that ChatGPT Search plays fast and loose in returning accurate answers.
Talking with Perplexity chatbot on Nothing Phone 2a.

Perplexity AI: how to use the ‘answer engine’ that’s taking on Google

Never click a web search link again. Here's everything you need to know to get started using Perplexity AI.
Talking with Perplexity chatbot on Nothing Phone 2a.

The best AI tools of 2024: all the generative AI apps you need to try

The AI boom has unleashed a torrent of generative tools. Here are the best you can use in 2024.
Hugo Barra Nexus 7

Ex-Google employees say we need ‘an Android-like moment for AI’

A team of former Google employees, led by Hugo Barra, have launched a startup to develop an operating system for AI agents in the same vein as Android.
An AI image portraying two mammoths that walk through snow, with mountains and a forest in the background.

OpenAI’s Sora was leaked in protest over allegations of ‘art washing’

A group calling itself Sora PR Puppets briefly leaked access to OpenAI's unreleased video generator in protest of the company's alleged exploitation of artists through its early access program.
Images showing Runway Frames.

Runway can now mimic everything from 35mm disposable cameras to ’80s sci-fi

Runway has debuted a new foundational model for its Gen-3 Alpha image generation platform that can consistently create images within a set artistic aesthetic.
Nvidia CEO Jensen in front of a background.

Nvidia’s new AI model makes music from text and audio prompts

Nvidia unveiled a new AI model on Monday called Fugatto that can create sounds, music, and clone and modify voices, based on the user's audio and text prompts.
YouTube logo on top-left corner of home screen

Get ready for AI-dubbed YouTube videos

YouTube is reportedly rolling out its AI auto-translation tool to content creators in nine different languages including, Spanish, French, German, and Japanese.
chatGPT on a phone on an encyclopedia

ChatGPT’s latest model may be a regression in performance

OpenAI's latest flagship model, GPT-4o, might actually be regressing, diminishing its performance to that of its smaller variant GPT-40-mini.
a phone displaying the ChatGPT homepage on a beige bbackground.

ChatGPT just improved its creative writing chops

OpenAI's latest GPT-4o model got a handful of upgrades Wednesday, including "more natural, engaging, and tailored writing to improve relevance & readability."
Using Gemini AI on the Google Pixel 9.

Google’s Gemini wants to get to know the real you

Gemini Advanced users can now share their interests and preferences to get better responses from the chatbot.
ChatGPT meets a dog

ChatGPT already listens and speaks. Soon it may see as well

Code discovered in the latest ChatGPT beta build suggests that Advanced Voice Mode could soon be able to see as well as speak.
microsoft expanding ai agents 365 copilot early 2025 actions2

With Copilot Actions, Microsoft brings AI agents to Outlook, Teams, and more

Microsoft plans to roll out a slew of new AI features, capabilities, and agents for its 365 Copilot ecosystem starting in early 2025.
The beta Canvas feature on Mistral

This open-source alternative to ChatGPT just got serious

French AI startup Mistral just rolled out a half-dozen new features and a model update (and an entirely new model) in its bid to compete with OpenAI.
a screenshot of Claude 3.5 sonnet with the Artifacts side screen

Anthropic Claude: How to use the impressive ChatGPT rival

Anthropic's Claude AI chatbot may not be flashy, but it is one of the most capable models on the market. Here's how to harness it for fun and profit.
tech for change brain computer interface who its bxcxfghw

The brain-computer interface revolution is just getting started

Brain-Computer Interfaces fascinate the sci-fi and medical communities in equal measure. Here's how close the transformative technology is to everyday use.
The red and white YouTube logo on a phone screen. The phone is on a white background.

YouTube’s new AI music remixer could let you swap genres

Select users are currently testing an experimental AI tool that will remix their uploaded music based on their text prompts.
Bluesky on the App Store, displayed on iPhone 16 Plus.

Bluesky has ‘no intention’ to train generative AI on user content

As users defect from X, rapidly growing social media platform Bluesky pledges to not scrape user data for training AI .
ChatGPT on a laptop

This massive upgrade to ChatGPT is coming in January — and it’s not GPT-5

OpenAI announced on Wednesday that it plans to release a new AI agent feature that will be able to act on a user's behalf.
the Google extensions feature on iPhone

Google Gemini arrives on iPhone as a native app

Google has released a new native Gemini app for iOS that includes Imagen 3 and Gemini Live.
Someone holding an iPhone 14 Pro, with Perplexity AI running on it.

Perplexity to introduce sneaky ads alongside its AI answers

Perplexity AI will begin experimenting with incorporating ads into its chatbot answers for U.S. users as early as next week.
A person sits in front of a laptop. On the laptop screen is the home page for OpenAI's ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot.

Is AI already plateauing? New reporting suggests GPT-5 may be in trouble

OpenAI's Project Orion may or may not arrive this year, but so far, the company's beta testers have been unimpressed with the new model's performance.
The Figure 02 robot looking at its own hand

OpenAI’s robotics plans aim to ‘bring AI into the physical world’

OpenAI has made no secret of its hardware ambitions. Those plans came a step closer to fruition on Tuesday with the hiring of Oculus VR's Caitlin Kalinowski.
perplexity ai information hub 2024 elections harris trump screenshot 11 04 144125

Perplexity unveils an AI-powered ‘election information hub’

Perplexity has launched an "information hub" atop its AI chatbot platform that will provide voters with timely (and hopefully accurate) election updates.
Gen-3 alpha advanced camera controls

Runway brings precise camera controls to AI videos

AI startup Runway is rolling out new Advanced Camera Controls for its video-generation model, gen-3 Alpha.