Technologies

Elon Musk on Blue Origin suing NASA: ‘You can’t sue your way to the moon’

The comment comes after Jeff Bezos’ company sued NASA following the space agency’s lunar lander contract with SpaceX.

Elon Musk has some thoughts about Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin suing NASA last month over the space agency’s lunar lander contract with Musk’s SpaceX.

«He should put more of his energy into getting into orbit than lawsuits,» Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said during an interview Tuesday with Kara Swisher at the Code conference in Los Angeles. «You can’t sue your way to the moon, no matter how good your lawyers are.»

Blue Origin didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In April, NASA chose SpaceX and its Starship concept to provide the vehicle that’ll carry Artemis astronauts to the surface of the moon as soon as 2024. The decision to go with just SpaceX came as a surprise to many people who expected the space agency to choose two companies to create the lander designs. Blue Origin, the space company owned by Bezos, filed a complaint in federal court in August against NASA, alleging that the agency unjustly granted a lunar lander contract to SpaceX.

Earlier in Tuesday’s interview, Musk took a jab at other efforts to go into suborbital space. (Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic both took a trip to the edge of space in July.)

«Suborbital is a step in the direction of orbit,» he said to laughter from the crowd. «But it’s still good to do something in space.»

When asked specifically about Branson’s and Bezos’ efforts, Musk added, «I thought it was cool that they’re spending money on the advancement of space.»

On Monday, Blue Origin shared who’ll be in the cabin for the second crewed flight of the New Shepard vehicle in October: former NASA engineer Chris Boshuizen, as well as Glen de Vries, an entrepreneur and executive with French software company Dassault Systemes.

Musk’s comments come as he topped Forbes’ real-time billionaires list, with a net worth of over $200 billion. Bezos came in at No. 2, with a net worth of $193 billion.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 14.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword has an odd vertical shape, with an extra Across clue, and only four Down clues. The clues are not terribly difficult, but one or two could be tricky. Read on if you need the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Smokes, informally
Answer: CIGS

5A clue: «Don’t have ___, man!» (Bart Simpson catchphrase)
Answer: ACOW

6A clue: What the vehicle in «lane one» of this crossword is winning?
Answer: RACE

7A clue: Pitt of Hollywood
Answer: BRAD

8A clue: «Yeah, whatever»
Answer: SURE

9A clue: Rd. crossers
Answer: STS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Things to «load» before a marathon
Answer: CARBS

2D clue: Mythical figure who inspired the idiom «fly too close to the sun»
Answer: ICARUS

3D clue: Zoomer around a small track
Answer: GOCART

4D clue: Neighbors of Norwegians
Answer: SWEDES

Technologies

Watch SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 11

Technologies

New California Law Wants Companion Chatbots to Tell Kids to Take Breaks

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the new requirements on AI companions into law on Monday.

AI companion chatbots will have to remind users in California that they’re not human under a new law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law, SB 243, also requires companion chatbot companies to maintain protocols for identifying and addressing cases in which users express suicidal ideation or self-harm. For users under 18, chatbots will have to provide a notification at least every three hours that reminds users to take a break and that the bot is not human.

It’s one of several bills Newsom has signed in recent weeks dealing with social media, artificial intelligence and other consumer technology issues. Another bill signed Monday, AB 56, requires warning labels on social media platforms, similar to those required for tobacco products. Last week, Newsom signed measures requiring internet browsers to make it easy for people to tell websites they don’t want them to sell their data and banning loud advertisements on streaming platforms.

AI companion chatbots have drawn particular scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators in recent months. The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into several companies in response to complaints by consumer groups and parents that the bots were harming children’s mental health. OpenAI introduced new parental controls and other guardrails in its popular ChatGPT platform after the company was sued by parents who allege ChatGPT contributed to their teen son’s suicide.

«We’ve seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won’t stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability,» Newsom said in a statement.

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One AI companion developer, Replika, told CNET that it already has protocols to detect self-harm as required by the new law, and that it is working with regulators and others to comply with requirements and protect consumers.

«As one of the pioneers in AI companionship, we recognize our profound responsibility to lead on safety,» Replika’s Minju Song said in an emailed statement. Song said Replika uses content-filtering systems, community guidelines and safety systems that refer users to crisis resources when needed.

A Character.ai spokesperson said the company «welcomes working with regulators and lawmakers as they develop regulations and legislation for this emerging space, and will comply with laws, including SB 243.» OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice called the bill a «meaningful move forward» for AI safety. «By setting clear guardrails, California is helping shape a more responsible approach to AI development and deployment across the country,» Radice said in an email.

One bill Newsom has yet to sign, AB 1064, would go further by prohibiting developers from making companion chatbots available to children unless the AI companion is «not foreseeably capable of» encouraging harmful activities or engaging in sexually explicit interactions, among other things.