Tesla’s Director of AI is leaving the company (Updated)

Tesla Director of AI, Andrej Karpathy, is stepping down from his role at the company and from the helm of its Autopilot program. “It’s been a great pleasure to help Tesla towards its goals over the last 5 years and a difficult decision to part ways,” Karpathy announced via Twitter on Wednesday, having just returned from a four-month sabbatical. 

The news follows suspicions, then confirmations, that Tesla would be reducing its workforce by as much as 10 percent. The company has already laid off more than 200 employees from the Autopilot division and permanently shuttered its San Mateo offices. Musk has previously made overtures about packing up and leaving Silicon Valley, where Tesla was founded, for the sun-baked shores of central Texas. The company moved its headquarters from California to Austin last October and has heavily focused its new production capabilities there.  

Before becoming the Senior Director of AI at Tesla, Karpathy was a research scientist with OpenAI’s deep learning program focusing on computer vision and generative modeling. Prior to that, he was part of Fei-Fei Li’s research team at Stanford for his PhD. Karpathy has “no concrete plans” yet for the future but is looking to “spend more time revisiting my long-term passions around technical work in AI, open source and education,” he noted in a subsequent tweet.  

Update (7:30 PM ET 7/13/22): The Information reports that Karpathy is not the only Tesla executive to depart today. A “senior director focused on DEI” has also apparently left, as well as Chris Rollins, a senior software manager in Tesla’s energy division. Kristen Kavanaugh, a senior director focused on diversity and inclusion, resigned last month.

‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ returns for its third season on August 25th

If you’re missing your weekly dose of Star Trek since the first season of Strange New Worlds wrapped up, you won’t have to wait much longer for another fix. Animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks will return on August 25th.

The third season has 10 episodes, with a new one arriving every Thursday. Paramount+ is promising a “shocking resolution” for the cliffhanger that capped off season two last October. The crew of the USS Cerritos will be tested “in (hilarious) ways they could never imagine,” which may or may not have something to do with the consequences of stealing the ship.

The imminent return of Lower Decks should come as good news for its fans. Trekkers who prefer the live-action shows will need to remain patient, though, as the likes of Star Trek: Picard and Discovery aren’t expected to return until 2023.

Netflix partners with Microsoft for upcoming ad-supported subscription tier

Netflix has found a partner for its upcoming ad-supported tier. On Wednesday, the company announced it plans to work with Microsoft on the effort. In a blog post published by Microsoft, the tech giant said it would provide Netflix with technological and sales expertise. 

As recently as last month, The Wall Street Journal suggested Google and Comcast were among the leading candidates to help Netflix build out an ad-supported tier. On Wednesday, Netflix said it selected Microsoft for the tech giant’s “proven ability” to support its customers. “Microsoft offered the flexibility to innovate over time on both the technology and sales side, as well as strong privacy protections for our members,” said Netflix Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters. Not mentioned is the fact that Microsoft doesn’t operate a competing streaming service. 

Netflix co-CEO Reed Hasting first revealed the company was exploring cheaper plans this past April. The admission came after Netflix announced that it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. At the time, Hastings said the company planned to finalize the details of its plans “over the next year or two.” Netflix is scheduled to announce its second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. According to CNBC, the company recently warned Wall Street it may have lost as many as two million subscribers over the past three months. 

PS Plus Extra and Premium games for July include ‘Stray’ and ‘Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade’

Sony has announced the first new batch of games for its higher PlayStation Plus tiers since it revamped the service. Along with the three titles that are available for PS Plus Essential members and those in the current Extra and Premium libraries, subscribers will have access to a bunch more games as of July 19th.

One of those is Stray, a cyberpunk adventure game in which you play as a cat with a drone companion. It’s the first time that a third-party title will be available on a higher PS Plus tier on its release date. You’ll have access to the PS4 and PS5 versions. 

Members will also be able to check out PS5 blockbuster Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. The PS4 version of Final Fantasy VII Remake was previously available to claim through PS Plus. However, for a while, those who snagged it were unable to get Intergrade without paying for the full game. Square Enix eventually relented and offered an upgrade path.

Also on July 19th, Extra and Premium members can play Marvel’s Avengers on PS4 and PS5 at no extra cost. Things haven’t exactly goneincrediblywell for that but the gameplay is solid. Crystal Dynamics just added the latest playable character, The Mighty Thor (Jane Foster), a few weeks ago.

On top of those, you’ll have access to a bunch more Assassin’s Creed games, Saints Row entries and some other games:

  • Assassin’s Creed Unity (PS4)

  • Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag (PS4)

  • Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered (PS4)

  • Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry (PS4)

  • Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection (PS4)

  • Saints Row IV: Re-Elected (PS4)

  • Saints Row Gat out of Hell (PS4)

  • Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition (PS5)

  • Ice Age: Scrat’s Nutty Adventure (PS4)

  • Jumanji The Video Game (PS4)

  • Paw Patrol on a Roll! (PS4)

  • ReadySet Heroes (PS4)

Premium members will be able to dive into a couple more PlayStation Portable titles in the form of No Heroes Allowed! and LocoRoco Midnight Carnival as well. That’s a fairly solid slate of additions overall, with something for just about everyone.

Sony says it will continue to shakeup the PS Plus lineups on a monthly basis. It will refresh the Essential library at the start of each month and add new games to Extra and Essential a couple of weeks later. Bear in mind that games will cycle in and out of the Extra and Essential tiers, but you’ll have access to Essential titles you claim as long as you maintain a PS Plus subscription.

The best Amazon Prime Day wearable deals from Apple, Samsung, Fitbit and others

Smartwatches and fitness trackers keep track of your activity throughout the day, but they’ve also become some of the most popular accessories over the past few years. There are more options to choose from now than ever before, and Amazon Prime Day dea…

Sega’s Genesis Mini 2 hits North America on October 27th

Sega has announced it’s bringing the Genesis Mini 2 to North America on October 27th. The company previously said its latest retro console will go on sale in Japan on the same day (though it’s called the Mega Drive Mini 2 there). 

The system follows the Genesis Mini, which Sega released in 2019. The latest edition has a fresh library of more than 50 games, including Sega CD titles. The lineup features the likes of Sonic CD, Virtua Racing, OutRun, Shining Force CD and Fantasy Zone (a Master System and arcade game that was never released on Genesis). Sega is promising a previously unreleased game as well. More than half of the games have yet to be revealed.

One of our few complaints with the Genesis Mini in our review was that it came with a three-button controller. If the packaging is anything to go by, it seems you’ll get a six-button controller this time around.

Pre-orders are open now. At the time of writing, the Amazon listing shows that the console will ship from Japan to the US for $103.80 plus a $22 delivery fee. Engadget has asked for clarification on North American pricing. It’s unclear whether the cosmetic Sega CD attachment will be available to buy on this side of the Pacific.