OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said numerous times that there aren’t enough computer chips out there to match his company’s goals, and it looks like he might be taking matters into his own hands.

Tech circles can’t really agree on what constitutes “artificial general intelligence,” or AGI. Generally speaking, it’s an AI that can learn to accomplish tasks at the same level as a human, but there’s debate on what exactly “human level” means. It could be a computer that can reason, plan, and learn to do things like make coffee or build IKEA furniture with little instruction. It could be one that has “senses” and can change behaviour because of what it “sees” or “hears.”

Computer and chip makers are trying to level up their business by pumping top-of-the-line components into a much smaller package.

What happened: MSI became the latest computer hardware maker to jump into handheld PC gaming when it showed off the Claw at CES this year. Using Intel’s latest Core Ultra chips, the device boasts better battery life, ergonomics, and AI-powered performance than the competition.

Looking to revive the buzz of the early iPhone days, Apple’s hoping its new US$3,499 mixed reality headset will do the trick. 

Driving the news: Apple’s long-awaited Vision Pro headset is now available for pre-order in the U.S., marking the tech giant's entry into its first new product category in nearly a decade.

It can be hard to grasp how the ChatGPT store and app builder work unless you’ve gone hands-on with them. So I did. 

Meet AMIE, the AI chatbot that did a better job diagnosing certain illnesses than human doctors… all while being comparatively nicer to its patients.  

Driving the news: The chatbot — powered by a large language model from Google — and 20 doctors each conducted 149 assessments of actors trained to portray medical symptoms. AMIE’s diagnoses were just as accurate or more accurate in the six specialties evaluated. 

Wait, there’s a new Wi-Fi?

Kind of! Wi-Fi 7 is a new technical standard for wireless internet, promising faster speeds and more stable connections. The technology has been around for a year or so, but now the Wi-FI Alliance has made sure it works properly and doesn’t interfere with other transmissions.

If you’ve been frustrated by your connected devices not working together, so have the companies that make them, and their solution is beginning to pick up steam.

What happened: A common theme among the smart home products announced at CES 2024 was compatibility with Matter, an open-source standard that lets devices from different manufacturers connect to each other and be controlled from a single app of the user’s choice.

It can be tough to keep up to speed with every announcement from CES — and why they are a big deal — so let us try to break the big announcements down for you.

It’s not just the big tech heavyweights showing up at the world’s biggest tech conference this week. Some unexpected names and their new gadgets are also joining the party. 

Driving the news: Companies you may not expect to see at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) have entered the fold with inventions that automate things like gardening and barbecuing, a sign that more mainstream consumers are warming up to “smart” products.