Remember how a number of prominent people in tech warned recently about the dangers of AI? Well, now we have more. Top AI researchers, engineers, and CEOs have put out a brief, 22 word statement that warns humanity is at risk of extinction if they don’t handle AI correctly. Theverge.com reports that the statement says “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.” That’s pretty ominous. The statement was published by San Francisco based non-profit, the Center for AI Safety. It’s signed by figures from Google, Open AI, the 2018 Turing Award winners, and a number of others. Both AI risk advocates and skeptics agree that, even without improvements in their capabilities, AI systems present a number of threats in the present day — from their use enabling mass-surveillance, to powering faulty “predictive policing” algorithms, and easing the creation of misinformation and disinformation. That alone ought to be enough to get world governments off their butts and taking action to carefully regulate AI.

Netflix finally made their move, and started banning password sharing in the US. If someone outside your household has been on the account, you will have to pay an extra $7.99 a month, or kick them off and let them get their own account. According to bgr.com, users have been cancelling en masse…there is even a Twitter hashtag #CancelNetflix circulating the last few days. Netflix still expects that after the churn and cancellations, they will se growth again…as has happened in Latin America. Sorry greedy Flix streamer…I gave you the chop. I’m not paying $20 a month for a family member who lives down the road to use the account…and they aren’t going to make an account, either!

Something that happened late last week which flew under a lot of peoples’ radar was a deal inked between Ford and  Tesla to let Ford EVs use Tesla Supercharger stations. Engadget.com says the deal takes effect in the spring of 2024. Existing Ford EVs will need an adapter to connect to the Tesla system. Tesla uses open source North American Charging Standard on its cars. Ford and others have used the global semi-standard Combined Charging System. Considering that Ford is one of the world’s biggest vehicle makers, and biggest seller of trucks in the US for years, this is a pretty huge deal. With a Ford EV and an adapter, you will be able to charge at any EV charging station in the US now…a big boost to would-be buyers who have had range anxiety worrying about being able to find chargers when they travel.

It’s something that seems to be right out of a James Bond movie. A company called Zero Zero Robotics has just launched the Hover Camera X1. The gadget is a pocket sized self-flying camera. Nordot.app notes it is available today on Indiegogo. The cam can be flown entirely hands free, not needing either a controller or an app to operate. t is about the size of a smartphone. There are five classic automatic flight paths and more user customizable flight paths that can be selected with an on-device button. Just select flight mode, and press a button for it to take off and start recording video. Battery packs last 11 minutes, which the company says is good for up to 2 intelligent flights. It comes with two batteries and a charging hub. Early bird price at Indiegogo is $299…they expect it to ship within the month.

I’m Clark Reid, and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.