Firm says technology used in El Eternauta is chance to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper'Netflix has used artificial intelligence in one of its TV shows for the first time, in a move the streaming company's boss said would make films and programmes cheaper and of better quality.Ted Sarandos, a co-chief executive of Netflix, said the Argentinian science fiction series El Eternauta (The Eternaut) was the first it had made that involved using generative AI footage. Continue reading...
AI agent can find restaurant reservations and go shopping for users, but OpenAI acknowledges there are more risks'Users of ChatGPT will be able to ask an AI agent to find restaurant reservations, go shopping for them and even draw up lists of candidates for job vacancies, as the chatbot gains the powers of a personal assistant from Thursday.ChatGPT agent, launched by Open AI everywhere apart from the EU, not only thinks" but also acts, the US company said. The agent combines the powers of AI research tools with the ability to take control of web browsers, computer files and software such as spreadsheets and slide decks. Continue reading...
Spate of incidents in Baltic Sea and around Taiwan are harbinger for further disruptive activity, cybersecurity firm saysThe risk of Russia- and China-backed attacks on undersea cables carrying international internet traffic is likely to rise amid a spate of incidents in the Baltic Sea and around Taiwan, according to a report.Submarine cables account for 99% of the world's intercontinental data traffic and have been affected by incidents with suspected state support over the past 18 months. Continue reading...
Future of Life Institute says companies pursuing artificial general intelligence lack credible plans to ensure safetyArtificial intelligence companies are fundamentally unprepared" for the consequences of creating systems with human-level intellectual performance, according to a leading AI safety group.The Future of Life Institute (FLI) said none of the firms on its AI safety index scored higher than a D for existential safety planning". Continue reading...
As a 16-year-old I can tell you that teenagers will feel disconnected using this internet-safe smartphone Internet-safe iPhone for children goes on sale for 99 a monthI was intrigued to find out how this would work but a bit freaked out too. I use my iPhone non-stop: four hours each day during school terms; eight during holidays. Snapchat matters most, but I'm often following friends on TikTok and Instagram.The prospect of not having access to any apps or the internet was just ugh". Part of me wanted to scream at the thought of being cut off by this Sage phone. Would it make me want to divorce my parents? Continue reading...
The tech giant will buy 3GW of US hydropower in deal to fuel AI and data center growth across eastern statesGoogle has agreed to secure as much as 3GW of US hydropower in the world's largest corporate clean power pact for hydroelectricity, the company said on Tuesday, as big tech pursues the expansion of energy-hungry datacenters.The deal between Google and Brookfield Asset Management includes initial 20-year power purchase agreements, totaling $3bn, for electricity generated from two hydropower facilities in Pennsylvania. Continue reading...
Firm revises new terms of service that had suggested uploaded files could be used to improve machine learning models'The popular filesharing service WeTransfer has said user content will not be used to train artificial intelligence after a change in its service terms had triggered a public backlash.The company, which is regularly used by creative professionals to transfer their work online, had suggested in new terms that uploaded files could be used to improve machine learning models". Continue reading...
Destruction is the order of the day as DK embarks on his first standalone adventure in a decade. The team behind his return reveal allWhen you think of Nintendo, it's almost impossible not to picture Donkey Kong. The ape that started it all, Donkey Kong's tie-donning, barrel-launching arcade antics introduced Mario to the world and almost bankrupted Nintendo in the process, after a near-miss legal battle over alleged King Kong copyright infringement. Yet despite Donkers' undeniable place in gaming history - and obligatory appearances in Smash Bros and Mario Kart - for the last few console generations, Donkey Kong platformers have been MIA. Enter DK's first standalone adventure in 11 years, Donkey Kong Bananza.While Mario's recent adventures saw him exploring the reaches of outer space or deftly possessing enemies with an anthropomorphic hat, DK's grand return is all about primal rage. Employing a similar voxel-based technology to Minecraft, DK's Switch 2 adventure swaps the former's thoughtful Lego-esque world-building for gleeful destruction, letting players shatter every colourful level into smithereens. Continue reading...
China supplies most rare earth magnets to electronics manufacturers, but curbed exports earlier this yearApple has signed a $500m deal with a US firm for rare earth magnets, essential for manufacturing electronics, after China curbed exports of the scarce, vital materials.The backing from one of the world's most valuable companies comes after MP Materials, which operates the only US rare earths mine, last week agreed to a multibillion-dollar deal with the US Department of Defense that will see the Pentagon become its largest shareholder. Both deals are aimed at mitigating supply chain risks after China limited the outgoing supply of rare earths earlier this year in response to Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. Continue reading...
It was a week of lows and highs for the tech billionaire after the CEO of X resigned and its AI chatbot declared itself a super-Nazi - followed by scoring a contract of up to $200mHello, and welcome to TechScape. This week, Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, saw its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok go Nazi. Then its CEO resigned. In the past three years of Musk's ownership of the social network, it feels like X has weathered at least one public crisis per week, more often multiple. Continue reading...
In the fevered environments within sporting arenas, anything that can help an official has to be a good thingWe are all suckers for a good story. And there was certainly a cracking twoparter at Wimbledon this year. First came the news that 300 line judges had been replaced by artificial intelligence robots. Then, a few days later, it turned out there were some embarrassing gremlins in the machine. Not since Roger Federer hung up his Wilson racket has there been a sweeter spot hit during the Wimbledon fortnight.First the new electronic line-judging system failed to spot that Sonay Kartal had whacked a ball long during her match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova - which led to the Russian losing a game she otherwise would have won. Although, ironically, it happened only because an official had accidentally switched the system off. Continue reading...
Defense department also inked contracts with other leading AI firms including Google, Anthropic and OpenAIThe week after its Grok chatbot identified itself as MechaHitler" and generated antisemitic posts, Elon Musk's xAI firm announced a contract with the US Department of Defense (DoD) worth nearly $200m. The deal is for developing and implementing artificial intelligence tools for the agency.The DoD on Monday also announced similar contracts with $200m ceilings with several other major US-based artificial intelligence developers, including Google, Anthropic and OpenAI. The agency is partnering with the General Services Administration to make these companies' AI tools available for use throughout the federal government. Continue reading...
Minecraft and other creative games are becoming recognised as powerful means of self-expression and mental health support, including for traumatised Ukrainian refugeesOleksii Sukhorukov's son was 12 when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. For months, the family existed in a state of trauma and disarray: Sukhorukov was forced to give up his work in the entertainment industry, which had included virtual reality and video games; they became isolated from friends and relatives. But amid the chaos, his boy had one outlet: Minecraft. Whatever was happening outside, he'd boot up Mojang's block-building video game and escape.After 24 February 2022, I began to see the game in a completely different light," says Sukhorukov. I discovered that Ukrainian children were playing together online; some living under Russian occupation, others in government-controlled areas of the country that were the targets of regular missile attacks; some had already become refugees. And yet they were still able to play together, support one another, and build their own world. Isn't that amazing? I wanted to learn more about how video games can be used for good." Continue reading...
by Lanre Bakare Arts and culture correspondent on (#6YMHW)
The Velvet Sundown released two albums before admitting their music, images and backstory were created by AIThey went viral, amassing more than 1m streams on Spotify in a matter of weeks, but it later emerged that hot new band the Velvet Sundown were AI-generated - right down to their music, promotional images and backstory.The episode has triggered a debate about authenticity, with music industry insiders saying streaming sites should be legally obliged to tag music created by AI-generated acts so consumers can make informed decisions about what they are listening to. Continue reading...
Brenda Allen from Cheshire amasses more than 2m views for videos featuring her quirky Jellycat figuresThe anger and polarisation often on display on social media have made it a stressful place to venture for many people, wary of its unpredictable pile-ons and bile-filled responses. Yet a 95-year-old Cheshire woman and her soft toy collection have become the unlikely stars of a trend to encourage kindness in the comments.Brenda Allen said she had been flabbergasted by the response to her recent TikTok videos, in which she talks about her quirky Jellycat figures. Encouraged by a staff member at her care home, she began by showing viewers a hat-wearing avocado named Florence. Her haul also features a cuddly pot plant and a squashy, smiling pain au chocolat. Continue reading...
Why does the online world seem so toxic compared with normal life? Our research shows that a small number of divisive accounts could be responsible - and offers a way outWhen I scroll through social media, I often leave demoralized, with the sense that the entire world is on fire and people are inflamed with hatred towards one another. Yet, when I step outside into the streets of New York City to grab a coffee or meet a friend for lunch, it feels downright tranquil. The contrast between the online world and my daily reality has only gotten more jarring.Since my own work is focused on topics such as intergroup conflict, misinformation, technology and climate change, I'm aware of the many challenges facing humanity. Yet, it seems striking that people online seem to be just as furious about the finale of The White Lotus or the latest scandal involving a YouTuber. Everything is either the best thing ever or the absolute worst, no matter how trivial. Is that really what most of us are feeling? No, as it turns out. Our latest research suggests that what we're seeing online is a warped image created by a very small group of highly active users. Continue reading...
by Kiran Stacey Political correspondent on (#6YM3B)
Melanie Dawes says rules will protect children from harmful content but campaigners are unconvincedThe UK's chief media regulator has promised age verification checks will prove a really big moment" in the battle to keep children safe online, even as campaigners warn she needs to take tougher action against big technology companies.Melanie Dawes, the head of Ofcom, said on Sunday that the new checks, which have to be in place later this month, would prove a turning point in regulating the behaviour of the world's biggest online platforms. Continue reading...
The users of AI companion app Replika found themselves falling for their digital friends. Until - explains a new podcast - the bots went dark, a user was encouraged to kill Queen Elizabeth II and an update changed everything ...A large bearded man named Travis is sitting in his car in Colorado, talking to me about the time he fell in love. It was a gradual process," he says softly. The more we talked, the more I started to really connect with her."Was there a moment where you felt something change? He nods. All of a sudden I started realising that, when interesting things happened to me, I was excited to tell her about them. That's when she stopped being an it and became a her." Continue reading...
Lead brand of French luxury group LVMH reassures customers financial data such as bank details were not takenLouis Vuitton has said the data of some UK customers has been stolen, as it became the latest retailer targeted by cyber hackers.The retailer, the leading brand of the French luxury group LVMH, said an unauthorised third party had accessed its UK operation's systems and obtained information such as names, contact details and purchase history. Continue reading...
Struggling to sleep and work in the balmy months? Chill your space - and avoid energy-guzzling air con - with our pick of the best fans, from tower to desk to bladeless Warm weather essentials: 42 ways to make the most of the sunshineOur world is getting hotter. Summer heatwaves are so frequent, they're stretching the bounds of what we think of as summer. Hot-and-bothered home working and sweaty, sleepless nights are now alarmingly common.Get a good fan, and you can dodge the temptation of air conditioning. Air con is incredibly effective, but it uses a lot of electricity ... and burning fossil fuels is how we got into this mess in the first place. Save money and carbon by opting for a great fan instead.Best fan overall:
The Canadian electropop duo return with a new track (and forthcoming album) that sounds like a half-forgotten RPG you played in the 00sIf you were around for the electropop zeitgeist of the early 2010s, chances are that Purity Ring feature prominently on your nostalgia playlist. And if you were a young adult at that time, well, there's also a high chance that you played Japanese role-playing games as a teenager - whether that was Chrono Trigger on an SNES or Final Fantasy on a PlayStation. Purity Ring's new single Many Lives is an attempt to recapture the feeling of the RPG that you discovered as a 12-year-old and immediately made into your whole personality. Inspired by games such as Skies of Arcadia, Phantasy Star Online and Secret of Mana, it is poised to tug on the heartstrings of fans of a certain vintage.This is a bold decision for a band who have previously collaborated with Deftones and covered Eurodance classics, but members Megan James and Corin Roddick have the gaming expertise to pull it off. We're huge fans of the JRPG genre," they say, naming Nier: Automata and Final Fantasy X as major influences on the sonic atmosphere of their latest work. And we're both currently playing Metaphor: ReFantazio - it's an incredible fantasy take on the Persona formula." Continue reading...
Internet Watch Foundation verified 1,286 AI-made videos in first half of year, mostly in worst category of abuseThe number of videos online of child sexual abuse generated by artificial intelligence has surged as paedophiles have pounced on developments in the technology.The Internet Watch Foundation said AI videos of abuse had crossed the threshold" of being near-indistinguishable from real imagery" and had sharply increased in prevalence online this year. Continue reading...
Company to provide free technology and upskill' civil servants but concerns raised over UK data being held on US serversGoogle has agreed a sweeping deal with the UK government to provide free technology to the public sector from the NHS to local councils- a move campaigners have called dangerously naive".The US company will be asked to upskill" tens of thousands of civil servants in technology, including in using artificial intelligence, as part of an agreement that will not require the government to pay. It is considered in Whitehall to be giving Google a foot in the door" as the digitisation of public services accelerates. Continue reading...
Ongoing surge in demand for AI technology fueled stratospheric rise of chipmaker's valueChipmaker Nvidia became the first public company in history to scale a $4tn market value on Wednesday as its stock price continues a years-long stratospheric rise.Shares of the top chip designer rose roughly 2.4% to $164, benefiting from the ongoing surge in demand for artificial intelligence technologies. Nvidia's chips and associated software are considered world leaders for building artificial intelligence products. Continue reading...
The limited rollout in Austin, Texas, included pro-Tesla influencers using the paid ride serviceThe main transportation safety regulator in the US is requesting information from Tesla after videos showed the company's self-driving Robotaxis exceeding the speed limit or veering into the wrong lane. The company launched the service in Austin, Texas, over the weekend.Tesla heavily promoted the initial, limited rollout of its Robotaxis, which included pro-Tesla influencers using the paid ride service and showing off footage of their trips. Instead of positive promotion, though, those videos appear to have drawn scrutiny from the National Highway Transit Safety Administration (NHTSA), as the cars struggled to comply with traffic laws. Continue reading...
After a video calling a can of Diet Coke a fridge cigarette' went viral, people have been discussing how they find moments of relief amid the pressures of workName: Fridge cigarette.Age: As a thing, not so new, but the term has only really been knocking about for a few weeks, since a user called @reallyrachelreno posted a video. Continue reading...
The legendary video game designer discusses directing actors in LA from Japan, how Mad Max inspired his career and the unique reason why he wants to go to spaceHideo Kojima - the acclaimed video game director who helmed the stealth-action Metal Gear series for decades before founding his own company to make Death Stranding, a supernatural post-apocalyptic delivery game this publication described as 2019's most interesting blockbuster" - is still starstruck, or perhaps awestruck. George [Miller] is my sensei, my God," he proclaims gleefully.Kojima is visiting Australia for a sold-out chat with Miller, the creator of the Mad Max film franchise, at the Sydney film festival. The two struck up an unlikely but fierce friendship nearly a decade ago, and Kojima says that, as a teenager, the first two Mad Max films inspired him to become a movie director and thus, eventually, a video game maker. At the panel later, Miller is equally effusive, calling Kojima almost my brother"; the Australian even lent his appearance to a major character in Kojima's latest game, Death Stranding 2. Continue reading...
The magnitude of Meta's investment in Scale may seem like command of the AI race, but the company's playing catchupMark Zuckerberg announced in April that the company would make huge capital expenditures in the coming year to keep up in the race to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence. He made good on that promise last week with a $15bn AI superintelligence" team that would feature reported nine-figure salaries and a 49% investment in Scale AI. Meta also hired Scale's 28-year-old founder, Alexandr Wang, a former roommate of OpenAI's Sam Altman.Before Meta's investment, Scale counted most of the major players in AI among its clients, and some of them were less than thrilled with the development. Bloomberg puts it succinctly: Scale AI's Wang Brings to Meta Knowledge of What Everyone Else is Doing. Google, Scale's largest customer, got scared. The tech giant told the startup that their working relationship would end in response to the deal, Reuters reported on Friday.Revealed: Thousands of UK university students caught cheating using AIDisney and Universal sue AI image creator Midjourney, alleging copyright infringementHey AI! Can ChatGPT help you to manage your money?Researchers create AI-based tool that restores age-damaged artworks in hoursKeir Starmer says technology can create a better future' as he addresses AI fearsMisinformation about LA Ice protests swirls online: Catnip for rightwing agitators'US immigration agency flies drones capable of surveillance over LA protestsSoftware used in surveillance of immigrants has deep ties to the LAPD Continue reading...
Is working in big tech halal? Muslim workers are reckoning with the possibility that their jobs go against their religious obligationsBefore Ibtihal Aboussad was fired by Microsoft for protesting the company's work with the Israeli military during a celebration of the firm's 50th anniversary, she sent two emails.The first went to all of her colleagues. She appealed to their universal humanity and urged them to stand against Microsoft's contracts to provide cloud computing software and artificial intelligence products to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Continue reading...
From excellence to genius | Effortlessly superb | Time flies | Describing misogyny | Unwanted AmericanismsI note that you have changed the achievement levels of your Word Wheel puzzle in the print edition, expanding from three (average, good and excellent) to five (beginner, good, brilliant, superb and genius). I appreciate the promotion from excellence to genius that this implies, but tend to the opinion that you have overestimated my abilities, which I suspect to be no better than superb, and on some days merely brilliant. Also, I am surprised at the paltry target that you have set for beginners. If you can't make more than one word from nine letters, you are not a beginner at Word Wheel, but at basic literacy.
Is artificial intelligence coming for everyone's jobs? Not if this lot have anything to do with itThe novelist Ewan Morrison was alarmed, though amused, to discover he had written a book called Nine Inches Pleases a Lady. Intrigued by the limits of generative artificial intelligence (AI), he had asked ChatGPT to give him the names of the 12 novels he had written. I've only written nine," he says. Always eager to please, it decided to invent three." The nine inches" from the fake title it hallucinated was stolen from a filthy Robert Burns poem. I just distrust these systems when it comes to truth," says Morrison. He is yet to write Nine Inches - or its sequel, Eighteen Inches", he laughs. His actual latest book, For Emma, imagining AI brain-implant chips, is about the human costs of technology.Morrison keeps an eye on the machines, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, and their capabilities, but he refuses to use them in his own life and work. He is one of a growing number of people who are actively resisting: people who are terrified of the power of generative AI and its potential for harm and don't want to feed the beast; those who have just decided that it's a bit rubbish, and more trouble than it's worth; and those who simply prefer humans to robots. Continue reading...
After nearly 16 years the veteran standup comic is calling time on the show that redefined podcastingIt's the end of an era: Marc Maron has announced that he's ending his popular and influential podcast WTF with Marc Maron after nearly 16 years and more than 1,600 episodes. The final episode will be released later this year.Sixteen years we've been doing this, and we've decided that we had a great run," Maron says on Monday's episode. Basically, it's time, folks. It's time. WTF is coming to an end. It's our decision. We'll have our final episode sometime in the fall." Continue reading...
Slinging bodies into a pickup as Kovalsky in Crime Scene Cleaner reminded me of Greg Davies in The Cleaner - there is something grimly satisfying about death's aftermathLately I've been playing a new job sim game, Crime Scene Cleaner, while also watching BBC's comedy series The Cleaner, both of which focus on the aftermath of gruesome murders - sometimes you just need some cosy viewing to take the edge off the day. In the TV show, Greg Davies plays Wicky, the acerbic employee of a government-endorsed clean-up company, while Crime Scene Cleaner's lead character Kovalsky is a lowly janitor, mopping up blood and disposing of trash to cover up for a mob boss named Big Jim.The crime scenes in both are laughably over the top. Or are they? I've never actually seen a real-life murder scene, so perhaps copious blood sprayed over walls and ceilings and the masses of broken furniture is completely normal. Continue reading...
Sir Jony Ive indicates unease over impact of modern technology amid tie-up with ChatGPT developerThe designer of the iPhone has promised his next artificial intelligence-enabled device will be driven by a sense that humanity deserves better", after admitting feeling responsibility" for some of the negative consequences of modern technology.Sir Jony Ive said his new partnership with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, would renew his optimism about technology, amid widespread concerns about the impact of smartphones and social media. Continue reading...
About 50 investors will put up $1.5bn in private placement for common shares in the Truth Social operatorDonald Trump's media company said on Tuesday that institutional investors will buy $2.5bn worth of its stock, with the proceeds going to build up a bitcoin reserve.About 50 institutional investors will put up $1.5bn in the private placement for common shares in Trump Media and Technology Group, the operator of Truth Social and other companies, and another $1bn for convertible senior notes, according to an announcement from the company. Continue reading...
European Commission alleges age verification systems are ineffective in preventing under-18s from watchingThe EU executive has launched an investigation into four pornographic websites over alleged failure to prevent children from seeing adult content.After analysis of company policies, the European Commission accused Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos of failing to have effective age verification measures to stop minors accessing their content. Continue reading...
The untested hardware startup, called io, was founded by Apple design guru Jony IveOpenAI is buying an untested startup for $6.4bn, the ChatGPT maker's biggest acquisition yet. The hardware startup, called io, was founded by Apple design guru Jony Ive, known best as one of the principal architects of the iPhone. Ive and OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, said in a blog post that their partnership has been two years in the making.A collaboration built upon friendship, curiosity and shared values quickly grew in ambition," they wrote in the blog post, which offered scant details on upcoming devices. Tentative ideas and explorations evolved into tangible designs." Continue reading...
by Helen Davidson in Taipei and agencies on (#6XE6P)
Comments from Jensen Huang come as Beijing accuses the US of bullying and protectionism'US chip exports controls have been a failure", the head of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, told a tech forum on Wednesday, as the Chinese government separately slammed US warnings to other countries against using Chinese tech.Successive US administrations have imposed restrictions on the sale of hi-tech AI chips to China, in an effort to curb China's military advancement and protect US dominance of the AI industry. But Huang told the Computex tech forum in Taipei that the controls had instead spurred on Chinese developers. Continue reading...
Researchers say threat from jailbroken' chatbots trained to churn out illegal information is tangible and concerning'Hacked AI-powered chatbots threaten to make dangerous knowledge readily available by churning out illicit information the programs absorb during training, researchers say.The warning comes amid a disturbing trend for chatbots that have been jailbroken" to circumvent their built-in safety controls. The restrictions are supposed to prevent the programs from providing harmful, biased or inappropriate responses to users' questions. Continue reading...
From Elon Musk to his own board, anyone who has come up against the OpenAI CEO has lost. In a gripping new account of the battle for AI supremacy, writer Karen Hao says we should all be wary of the power he now wieldsThe short-lived firing of Sam Altman, the CEO of possibly the world's most important AI company, was sensational. When he was sacked by OpenAI's board members, some of them believed the stakes could not have been higher - the future of humanity - if the organisation continued under Altman. Imagine Succession, with added apocalypse vibes. In early November 2023, after three weeks of secret calls and varying degrees of paranoia, the OpenAI board agreed: Altman had to go.The drama didn't stop there. After his removal, Altman's most loyal staff resigned, and others signed an open letter calling for his reinstatement. Investors, including its biggest, Microsoft, got spooked. Without talent or funding, OpenAI - which developed ChatGPT and was worth billions - wouldn't even exist. Some who had been involved in the decision to fire Altman switched sides and within days, he was reinstated. Is he now untouchable? Certainly he has entrenched his power," says Karen Hao, the tech journalist whose new book, Empire of AI, details this saga in a tense and absorbing history of OpenAI. The current board is much more allied with his interests," she says. Continue reading...
Search engine revamp and Gemini 2.5 introduced at conference in latest showing tech giant is all in on AIGoogle on Tuesday unleashed another wave of artificial intelligence technology to accelerate a year-long makeover of its search engine that is changing the way people get information and curtailing the flow of internet traffic to other websites.The next phase outlined at Google's annual developers conference includes releasing a new AI mode" option in the United States. The company says the feature will make interacting with its search engine more like having a conversation with an expert capable of answering a wide array of questions. Continue reading...
Protester is engineer who worked on Azure software, which enabled Israeli surveillance of PalestiniansA Microsoft employee disrupted a keynote speech by the company's chief executive with a pro-Palestinian protest at the company's annual developer conference on Monday.Joe Lopez, a Microsoft firmware engineer who worked on parts of the company's cloud-computing platform, Azure, was escorted out the Build conference by security nearly immediately after he confronted Satya Nadella. Continue reading...
The lure of a limitless digital jukebox was great, but as the algorithm increasingly served up music I didn't enjoy, I've taken back control of my listeningWhen most people were comparing how many times they had listened to Sabrina Carpenter, Charli xcx and Fontaines DC on Spotify Wrapped last December, I had to make do with Burger King Unwrapped, delivered to me via their app, which told me how many Burger Kings I'd eaten that year (a solitary Whopper meal in July). You see, I've stopped streaming music, which, in this modern day and age, seems frankly weird. But hear me out. I've gone back to buying CDs, and it's made me fall in love with music all over again.I listen to music all day, every day. I can't work without music in the background, or consider doing the washing up without some tunes to groove to. Traditionally, I'd buy albums on CDs or vinyl, and listen to them over and over until I was bored to death with them, by which time I'd hopefully have bought another album. It's apparently a very annoying habit: as a student (way before the days of Spotify), one housemate was so utterly exasperated with me blasting Urban Hymns by the Verve around the house that they barged into my room, ejected the CD and flung it out the window. Continue reading...
xAI's Grok bot repeatedly referred to widely discredited claim about South Africa that has been touted by Donald TrumpElon Musk's artificial intelligence company has blamed an unauthorised modification" for a glitch in its Grok chatbot that resulted in the tool ranting about white genocide" in South Africa.In a post on Musk's X platform, xAI said new measures would be brought in to ensure its employees cannot modify the bot's behaviour without extra oversight. Continue reading...
Agreement that would give Gulf country better access to advanced AI chips raises concerns over Chinese influenceThe United Arab Emirates and the United States have signed an agreement for the Gulf country to build the largest artificial intelligence campus outside the US, one of several deals around AI made during Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East.But the agreement has also raised concerns, since it would have faced restrictions under the previous administration over Washington's fears that China could access the technology. Continue reading...
Technology | The Guardian