Tesla hopes subscriptions for its Full Self-Driving software can deliver higher margins than car sales. Chief executive Elon Musk has revealed the company is exploring a merger with SpaceX that could speed up its autonomous driving push. Car sales still generate most of Tesla's revenue, and analysts say software could transform its financial model. Regulatory approval for fully autonomous driving remains a hurdle in several markets, and Chinese rivals are also pursuing autonomous technology. Some analysts warn that combining the businesses could put strong operations at risk.
Developers have used AI tools to create near-identical free versions of Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative, a suite that costs more than $1,000 a year. A tool called Reverse Engineer Anything, which helps developers replicate features in other software, also gained popularity on GitHub. Developer Brandon Thomas says AI can help return the internet to a more open era. Experts warn the tools could devalue developers' work and produce low-quality software. Copyright lawyer Malcolm Burrows says the law struggles to deal with the scale of software cloning.
Epic Games has released a public preview of a rebuilt Epic Games Launcher, which it says starts faster than Steam. The company says it used AI coding tools to build the new version from scratch. Epic Games Store general manager Martin Keely said the approach let a small team rewrite the code and launch on Windows and Mac, with a Linux version planned. Epic claims the Launcher returns from the system tray slightly faster than Steam, though the gap is very small.
AU Now app
Your suburb’s news, alerts and Shorts — in one app
Alerts, Shorts and your saved stories — free on Google Play.
Rama Afullo, a Kenyan American engineer, founded Satlyt after Google and SpaceX rejected his proposal for orbital data centers. Satlyt's software, set to launch on a SpaceX rocket, will enable satellites to share large computing jobs. The company has raised $8 million and aims to operate AI models on satellites, potentially saving costs by reducing data transmission to Earth. Satlyt's software will be tested on a spacecraft built by Indian startup TakeMe2Space, with NASA and other customers involved in the mission.
Margaret Hamilton, who coined the term software engineering, has died aged 90. She led the development of onboard flight software for NASA's Apollo program in the 1960s. During the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969, her software recognised it was overloaded and dropped lower priority tasks, allowing the Eagle lunar module to land safely. Hamilton was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. She later founded two software companies.
Google has released a new AI-powered meeting note-taker called Google AI Edge Foresight. The Mac app works offline using the on-device EmbeddingGemma 2 model, capturing notes across apps and allowing users to view transcripts or chat with an assistant. It can also build a knowledge base from uploaded documents and answer questions in real time. The app is similar to the popular AI note-taker Granola, featuring a split-screen view for manual and AI-generated notes.
A developer has launched open-source alternatives to Adobe software, funded by sales of an AI visual model. Thomas, with extensive Rust experience, aims to avoid Adobe's subscription fees. His Filmcraft app replicates Adobe Premiere's interface, though legal risks remain. He predicts AI will enable widespread creation of open-source software, transforming the tech landscape. Thomas claims to have already replicated Photoshop's functionality.
