OpenAI has taken over Rockset, which is known for building tools to drive real-time search and data analytics. In an official blog post, OpenAI said that it would be integrating Rockset's technology to “power [its] infrastructure across products.” Members of Rockset’s team will join OpenAI and its existing customers will be moved from Rockset’s platform “gradually.” The financial details of the deal are yet to be disclosed.

“Rockset’s infrastructure empowers companies to transform their data into actionable intelligence,” OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap said in a statement. “We’re excited to bring these benefits to our customers by integrating Rockset’s foundation into OpenAI products.”

Rockset, which was founded in 2016 by ex-Facebook engineers Venkat Venkataramani and Tudor Bosman and database architect Dhruba Borthakur, created tools that enabled firms to ingest data from databases and public cloud storage services and use that data for search and analytics apps.

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How Will Rockset’s Database Help OpenAI?

Rockset’s database platform underpinned this such as recommendation engines, logistics-tracking dashboards, and chatbots in domains like e-commerce and fintech, something OpenAI is interested in.

Rockset managed to raise funds of over $117.5 million from investors including Icon Ventures, Sequoia, and Greylock before the takeover, according to Crunchbase data. It also had big customers like Meta and JetBlue, which used the company as a component of its flight delay predictions chatbot.

So what will OpenAI build with Rockset’s technology? The blog post mentions enabling companies to “better leverage their own data” and “access real-time information” as they use OpenAI products. Users can imagine improved tooling to “ground” OpenAI’s models on a company’s data, perhaps towards trimming hallucinations or fine-tuning the model for any number of business use cases.

“Advanced retrieval infrastructure like Rockset will make AI apps more powerful and useful,” he writes. “Rockset will become part of OpenAI and power the retrieval infrastructure backing OpenAI’s product suite. We’ll be helping OpenAI solve the hard database problems that AI apps face at a massive scale,” Venkataramani said in the blog post accompanying the announcement.

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Rockset Could Fit Into OpenAI’s Broader Strategy

The Rockset acquisition fits into OpenAI’s broader strategy of investing in its enterprise sales and tech organizations. In May, the company signed an agreement with PwC to resell its tools to other businesses. Before that, OpenAI launched a business-oriented custom model tuning program.

The moves seem to be paying off, with OpenAI’s annualized revenue reportedly set to go past $3.4 billion in 2024. The company recently disclosed that the enterprise tier of its viral AI-powered chatbot platform, ChatGPT had around 600,000 users, which includes 93% of all Fortune 500 firms.

Meta has said that it is going to leverage facial recognition technology in an attempt to crack down on celebrity scam ads that plague its Facebook and Instagram platforms. The move comes three years after the company removed facial recognition smarts from Facebook following a backlash against the technology. Meta is hoping the implementations of the system will be better received by its online communities this time around.

“Scammers often try to use images of public figures, such as content creators or celebrities, to bait people into engaging with ads that lead to scam websites, where they are asked to share personal information or send money,” Meta explained in a post.

The company already has a system for detecting scam ads involving celebrities, but it’s now aiming to make it more reliable. If the system suspects an ad to be a potential scam and it contains the image of a public figure at risk of being bait, it will use facial recognition technology to compare faces in the ad.

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Meta Wants To Crack Down On Celeb Scams

To curb the criticism that prompted Meta to ditch a form of facial recognition tech three years ago that involved automatic photo-tagging of Facebook users, the company said it will delete any facial data generated from ads for the one-time comparison.

The company said that early testing with a small group of celebs and public figures shows promising results. Next, Meta will enroll a bigger pool of celebs that have been used in celeb-bait scams. Those selected will be notified, and they can opt out of the system at any time.

Meta said it’s also exploring facial recognition tech as a way for users to verify their identity and regain access to Facebook and Instagram accounts if they forget their password, lose their device, or are tricked into giving their password to a scammer.

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How Will Users Regain Access To Accounts

As of now, owners of compromised accounts need to verify their identity to regain access by uploading an official ID or an official certificate that shows their name. But the company said it’s now testing “video selfies” as a way for users to verify their identity and regain access to their account.

“The user will upload a video selfie and we’ll use facial recognition technology to compare the selfie to the profile pictures on the account they’re trying to access,” the company explained, adding that the system is “similar to identity verification tools you might already use to unlock your phone or access other apps."

“Video selfie verification expands on the options for people to regain account access, only takes a minute to complete, and is the easiest way for people to verify their identity,” Meta said. “While we know hackers will keep trying to exploit account recovery tools, this verification method will ultimately be harder for hackers to abuse than traditional document-based identity verification.”

YouTube Premium service is something that users opt for when they don’t want to see any more ads while enjoying video on the platform. However, some Premium subscribers claim they’re still seeing advertisements, despite shelling out money for the paid service.

In a Reddit post, A YouTube Premium user shared a screenshot of this mobile app serving an ad for Google Workspace, something that should not be happening. This is not the first time something like this has been reported. Meanwhile, another user reported they saw ads for YouTube Playables.

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YouTube Investigating Why Premium Users Are Seeing Ads

“YouTube Premium subscribers should not be shown ads in their home feed and we’re looking into why this may have happened,” a Google spokesperson told Android Authority. “We’ve also let that user know they should contact support.”

As per the YouTube support page, the service is supposed to remove ads before and during videos. Premium users also should not be seeing third-party banner ads or search ads. Moreover, these benefits are said to extend across all platforms and devices. However, it warns that:

“You may still see branding or promotions embedded in the content by the creator, as well as promotional links, shelves, and features in and around the content that are added or enabled by the creator.”

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YouTube Brings Collaborative Playlists, Granular Playback Speed

YouTube has announced the launch of some new features, alongside visual and product upgrades, to its mobile, web, and TV apps. With these new features, the company aims to improve the user experience. These features are said to be rolled out to all users in the coming weeks.

The Google-owned video-sharing platform will offer more granular playback speed controls, enabling users to boost or decrease speeds in increments of 0.05x, instead of the earlier 0.25x.

Besides, the platform is also making it easier for users to create collaborative playlists with their friends and family. Users will be able to share a QR code with others to allow them to make additions to playlists.

"A really good use case might be: I'm having a party, I want to invite my friends over, I want to watch some comedy together, I put on my favorite comedy videos, and then I ask them, and they could just add theirs to it; we can pop it on the TV and sit and watch together," YouTube chief product officer Johanna Voolich said in a video clip.

Qualcomm has unveiled its most powerful mobile processor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, at the Snapdragon Summit. This new chipset is designed to offer snappy performance, improve mobile experiences, and power upcoming flagship phones like the OnePlus 13 and in 13.

The processor has Qualcomm’s custom-built Oryon CPU at its heart, which is responsible for the main operations of the device. The CPU offers 45% better performance than previous chips, meaning tasks like opening apps and browsing the web will be noticeably quicker.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite brings exciting AI features, and thanks to the enhanced Hexagon NPU, the phone can understand users’ habits and make smart suggestions based on their usage. This feature is created to work without the constant need for an internet connection, making sure users’ personal data stays private.

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Snapdragon 8 Elite Brings Unmatched Gaming Performance

The chip’s AI Engine also enhances photo and video capabilities. With features like Real-time AI Relighting, users’ selfies and videos can be adjusted automatically to improve lighting conditions, improve video calls or social media posts. Besides, the Video Object Eraser can remove unwanted objects from a video with just a tap.

For people into mobile gaming, the Snapdragon 8 Elite will take their experience to the next level. The processor comes with an upgraded Adreno GPU, which offers 40 percent better performance than previous-generation chips.

The GPU also supports Ray tracing, a feature that enhances the lighting and shadows in games, making the visuals more realistic. Another cool feature is Game Super Resolution 2.0, which enhances the quality of the game while reducing lag.

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Snapdragon 8 Elite Offering Super-Fast Connectivity

The Snapdragon 8 Elite comes packed with Qualcomm’s X80 5G Modem, which enables extremely fast internet speeds of up to 10Gbps. The chip also supports Wi-Fi 7, the latest and most powerful version of Wi-Fi, providing faster and more reliable connections. So even when users are in a crowded place, their phones will still be connected at high speeds.

Besides, the new chipset will bring impressive camera capabilities. Qualcomm’s Spectra AI ISP (Image Signal Processor) brings advanced camera features to phones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

It is capable of ultra-clear photos in low-light conditions, and the Truepic photo capture feature ensures that the photos users take are authentic, providing they haven’t been created or altered digitally. The chip’s Ultra-Low Light Video Capture ensures users can capture videos with impressive detail even in low-light conditions.

While major smartphone companies, including Apple, Samsung, and Google are done launching their flagships this year, Chinese OEMs are yet to showcase their top-tier devices. Recently, two smartphones in particular have been making waves: the iQOO 13 and OnePlus 13. Both phones are said to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and come with significant upgrades over its precursors.

Speaking of iQOO 13, Vivo Vice President Jia Jingdong confirmed the longstanding rumor that the device will pack a huge 6150mAh battery and support 120W of ultra-fast charging. Moreover, Jingdong also stated that despite sporting a considerably larger battery than the 5000mAh one on the iQOO 12, the IQOO 13 will still be “extremely thin and light."

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iQOO 13 Under The Hood

The iQOO 13 has been confirmed to be powered by the latest generation of Qualcomm processor, making it potentially the first device to feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. It will come with a 7K ultra-large area VC cooling vapor chamber to make sure that the Snapdragon chip underneath maintains “cold energy under high loads."

The Vivo sub-brand also confirmed that the smartphone will pack a self-developed e-sports Q2 gaming chip, which Jingdong suggests will offer PC-level 2K texture super-resolution and native-level 144FPS super-frame rates.

One interesting feature of the smartphone will be the presence of OLED circular polarized light eye protection technology, which the company claims will be the first of its kind. This technology is said to mimic the effect of natural light on the eye, helping users prevent eye fatigue.

iQOO India CEO Nipun Marya shared a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday, which suggests that the iQOO 13 could be slated to launch in the coming days. While a confirmed launch date is yet to be announced by the brands, reports suggest that the iQOO 13 could launch in India on December 3.

Also Read: New Chipsets To Offer 40% Better Performance Than Current Gen

iQOO 13 Posts Impressive Benchmark Scores

The benchmark scores hint at a robust processing power for the upcoming handset. The benchmark shows that the iQOO 13 scored 3,142 points in single-core tests and 10,052 points in multi-core tests. These scores surpass those of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, which reportedly achieved 3,069 and 9080 points respectively using an 'overclocked' Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset.

When pitted against Apple’s latest smartphone, the iPhone 16 Pro Max managed to get higher scores in single-core tests with a score of 3,562 but fell short in multi-core tests with only 8,814 points.

This comparison highlights the competitiveness of iQOO’s upcoming smartphone might hold against other flagship devices. Despite these promising features and performance scores, some leaks hint that the iQOO 13 could have slower charging capabilities compared to its precursor, the iQOO 12.

Apple recently took the wraps off of its iPhone 16 series with new Camera Control, an Action button across all models, and new chipsets. The iPhone 17 family is still a year away, but that hasn’t stopped rumors and speculations from doing rounds. New rumors hint that Apple could have something new in store for next year’s models.

A well known analyst suggests that iPhone 17 Pro models will come with a notable camera upgrade. Both iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are said to pack a new telephoto rear camera. Meanwhile, a new iPhone 17 Air (Slim) model is said to replace the iPhone Plus model next year.

Also Read: iPhone 17 Air To Reportedly Launch In 2025 With New OLED Display

iPhone 17 Pro To Feature 12GB RAM, 48MP Camera

According to a report from Macrumors, Jeff Pu of Haitong International Tech Research outlined his expectations for the iPhone 17 series in his latest research note. The analyst believes the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will come with a 48MP telephoto rear camera and a 12MP selfie camera. For comparison, the current iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max feature 12MP telephoto and front cameras.

Moreover, the iPhone 17 Pro pair is said to feature 12GB RAM, up from 8GB in iPhone 16 Pro models. The upgraded memory could contribute to improved performance for Apple Intelligence and multitasking. Similarly, Pu believes that the company will provide a "much narrowed Dynamic Island," on the iPhone 17 Pro Max model as a result of the device adopting a smaller "metalens" for the Face ID system.

Similar to current generation iPhones, the iPhone 17 Pro will sport a 6.3-inch display whereas the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a 6.9-inch display, the report said. Both models could run new A19 Pro chipsets manufactured with TSMC’s same 3nm process.

Also Read: Apple Reportedly Has A Low-End IPhone Model In The Works

iPhone 17 Air Expected Features

The report also suggests the rumored iPhone 17 Air aka iPhone 17 Slim. Jeff Pu suggests that it will pack a 6.6-inch display, 8GB RAM, and the Dynamic Island. It could be powered by a 3nm Bionic A19 chip that will also be present in the vanilla iPhone 17.

Moreover, the iPhone 17 Air could bring the company’s first 5G modem. It is said to carry a 48MP rear camera and a 24MP front camera. It is likely to have an aluminum frame. Pu says this model will have an entirely new design.

Based on previous iPhone launch timelines, the iPhone 17 series is said to be announced in September 2025 with vanilla iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro max, and the new slimmer iPhone 17 Air.