by Alexi Duggins, Hannah Verdier, Hollie Richardson a on (#6JN4S)
In this week's newsletter: A new podcast tries to get to the bottom of one of Hollywood's greatest lunch-based mysteries. Plus: five of the best podcasts about the occult Don't get Hear Here delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereHere Comes the Guillotine
Chiselled jaws, pouty lips, hunter eyes: everything is up for grabs in the quest to increase sexual market value'. But how did this extreme cosmetic craze become mainstream?For James, it started with muscles. He was about 16 and had become self-conscious about his physique, fearing that he wasn't buff enough to attract girls. He found his way to a bodybuilding forum and began to work out. He can't remember when it happened, but at some point trolls began to infiltrate the forum. They were visitors from another online community with a different focus.Their general vibe was quite mean," says James, who prefers notto use his real name. They'd take images people had posted of their impressive physiques and be like: You guys forgot to work out your faces!'" Continue reading...
Datacentres are part of Ireland's vision of itself as a tech hub. There are now more than 80, using vast amounts of electricity. Have we entrusted our memories to a system that might destroy them?In the doldrum days between Christmas and New Year, we take a family trip to see a datacentre. Over the past two decades, datacentres have become a common sight on the outskirts of Dublin and many other Irish cities and towns. Situated in industrial business parks, they are easy to miss. But these buildings are critical to the maintenance of contemporary life: inside their walls stand rows and rows of networked servers; inside the servers, terabytes of data flow.It's a seven-minute drive from where we live now in Artane, Dublin, to the Clonshaugh datacentre, situated in a business park behind Northside shopping centre. Although we live close by, we haven't driven this way before, and our route takes us through a number of the local authority estates that my husband lived in as a boy. These estates are set on either side of a long, straight road pocked with chicanes to deter joyriders. Even though the housing development sprawls for miles on either side - with large wind-blasted green spaces in between - the houses huddle, squashed together. It looks as if someone has transplanted a warren of inner-city Victorian terraces to this desolate terrain. Continue reading...
Decision to move rocket company comes after Musk said he would hold shareholder vote to move Tesla to Texas as wellRocket company SpaceX has moved its state of incorporation to Texas from Delaware, CEO Elon Musk has announced.SpaceX has moved its state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas! If your company is still incorporated in Delaware, I recommend moving to another state as soon as possible," Musk said on the platform. Continue reading...
US tech giant says it has detected threats from foreign countries that used or attempted to exploit generative AI it had developedUS adversaries - chiefly Iran and North Korea, and to a lesser extent Russia and China - are beginning to use generative artificial intelligence to mount or organize offensive cyber operations, Microsoft said on Wednesday.Microsoft said it detected and disrupted, in collaboration with business partner OpenAI, many threats that used or attempted to exploit AI technology they had developed. Continue reading...
The company had predicted it would grow by 5% in 2024, but later said that the real increase would be a factor of 10 lowerLyft beat estimates for fourth-quarter profits on Tuesday as the ride-share platform reaps the benefits of growth in rides to stadiums and airports as well as heavy cost-cutting.Company shares surged more than 60% in extended trading but erased most of those gains after Lyft's chief financial officer corrected a major mistake in the earnings report. The company had predicted it would grow by 500 basis points (5%) in 2024, but later said that the real increase would be a factor of 10 lower - 50 basis points (0.5%). In 2023, the stock gained about 36%. Continue reading...
I'm not here to start a moral panic about this violent survival game. Its transgressions are simply that there's nothing here I haven't seen before Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereThe biggest story of the year so far in games has been Palworld, the Pokemon-with-guns" early access game that broke and rebroke concurrent player records on PC. It's showing a few signs of being unsustainable, as those player numbers have dropped off in recent weeks and the developers reveal the eye-watering cost of keeping servers online for so many people (almost $6m a year), but it's still in with a shot of being 2024's biggest game in terms of pure revenue.There's something a little unsavoury about Palworld that has other developers and critics wrinkling their noses. It's not just the ick of turning guns on creatures that are, unlike Minecraft's blocky animals, designed to look cute. Its character designs are so close to Pokemon's that it has sparked allegations of plagiarism, with some 3D models of the game's creatures aligning improbably closely with those from recent Pokemon games. (The Pokemon Company is investigating, while Pocketpair's CEO, Takuro Mizobe, said that Palworld cleared legal reviews", and that the studio has absolutely no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies".) Its lead developer has also been cheerfully outspoken about using AI tools, which is a super-unpopular opinion among everyone who works on games in 2024, except certain company executives. Continue reading...
Australian financial regulator says it referred crypto scheme to police for alleged possible fraud' and believed matter was under active consideration'
by Richard Luscombe in Parkland, Florida on (#6JMB3)
Voices of people lost to gun violence have been re-created using AI to call for action, now six years to the day after the Parkland shooting that killed 17Six years ago today, Joaquin Oliver was killed in a hallway outside his Florida classroom, one of 17 students and staff murdered in the worst high school shooting in the US. On Wednesday, lawmakers in Washington DC will hear his voice, recreated by artificial intelligence, in phone calls demanding to know why they've done nothing to tackle the plague of gun violence.It's been six years and you've done nothing. Not a thing to stop all the shootings that have happened since," the message from Oliver, who was 17 when he died in the 2018 Valentine's Day's tragedy at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school, says. Continue reading...
Amid a recruitment struggle, branches are using huge hits like Fortnite as marketing tools. Some veterans see the practice as unethical - especially given the age of the gaming audienceIn a small room tucked into a US navy facility outside Memphis, Tennessee, uniformed personnel sit hunched over monitors, their eyes focused on screens as they speak into headsets with clipped efficiency. Computer towers and glowing red keyboards crowd their desks. This is top-of-the-line gear, used for executing combat missions and coordinating strategy - but not with fleets stationed across the world. These sailors are playing video games. On the other end of their headsets and screens are young gamers they hope to inspire.In 2019, we did a big look at where we were spending our money, looking at where the next generation is," says Lt Aaron Jones, captain of the navy's esports team, as we sit in his office after touring the facility. A naval press officer hovers a few feet away. This is where they are," Jones continues. Whether it's Twitch or YouTube or Facebook Gaming, this is what they love." Continue reading...
After a year in invite-only beta mode, anyone can sign up for the new social network. Whether they will want to stay is another matter Don't get TechScape delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the full article hereLast week, Bluesky opened up its doors. After a year in an invite-only closed beta, anyone who wants it can now sign up for an account with only an email address.Even if the value of an invitation had lessened somewhat in recent months (I have five sitting unused, and not for want of trying), there was clearly some pent-up demand. In just two days, the service has seen more than a million new signups. For comparison, it took Bluesky more than three months from the release of its iOS app last February until it hit 70,000 users.We weren't using invites to try to be exclusive. We were using them to manage growth while we built out what is essentially a foundation, the rails for this new kind of distributed network.We had to build the app protocol beneath Bluesky, the AT Protocol, that lets different developers, companies, or people come in and modify their experiences. Some of it is going to be rolling out soon.The silent majority of every successful text-based social media site is lurkers. These are sane, normal people with sane, normal lives ... The influencer is building a business. They are making #content ... The commenter is trying to have a conversation with another human being. They are hoping, however misguidedly, to have a meaningful interaction online ... The reply guy can be thought of as the most important subclass of commenter; they are specific. They are usually interacting with or on behalf of a favored internet user ... Finally, we have the poster, sometimes referred to as a poaster. The poster is required for every social network to function.If you want to read the complete version of the newsletter please subscribe to receive TechScape in your inbox every Tuesday. Continue reading...
The creative director of noughties online role playing game Free Realms was a passionate advocate of principles over personalityNoted game designer Laralyn McWilliams, 58, died as the result of complications from heart surgery on 5 February in Seattle, Washington. She was creative director of Free Realms, Sony Computer Entertainment's family-friendly online world, lead designer on 2004's Full Spectrum Warrior, and the recipient of the 2021 Lifetime Achievement award at the Game Developers Choice awards.McWilliams was born in Vicenza Italy in 1965, into an American military family, and moved frequently throughout her youth. She found her home in the games she played, and Myst was particularly significant to her, a world to which she returned again and again. She earned a BA in psychology from Vassar College, and a JD from St Louis University of Law. While she worked hard for those accolades, she never forgot the joy that games brought, and she wanted to return to those worlds and bring that same joy to others. She taught herself game design and became a master of her trade, creating games for Disney, Dreamworks and many others. She was a rare all-rounder, having worked on everything from first-person shooters to casual games. Continue reading...
FBI director has publicly identified the risk posed by a Chinese cyber operation that is believed to have compromised thousands of internet-connected devicesRelations between the US and China - particularly over Beijing's threats to annex Taiwan - have plummeted in recent years, prompting growing concern about the potential for hostilities or all-out conflict. So recent revelations that a Chinese hacking network known as Volt Typhoon had been lying dormant inside US critical infrastructure for as long as five years have sparked considerable alarm.The network exploited US technological and security weaknesses. But rather than stealing secrets, US and allied intelligence services said it was focused on pre-positioning" itself for future acts of sabotage. Continue reading...
Biden's presidential election campaign says it will continue meeting voters where they are, including on social mediaThe chair of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, a senior Democrat, said he is concerned about the decision by the campaign of president Joe Biden to join TikTok.On Sunday, Biden's reelection campaign used the Super Bowl to kick off its new TikTok account in an effort to reach young voters ahead of the presidential election in November. Continue reading...
by Kim Willsher, and Lisa O'Carroll in Brussels on (#6JJVR)
Network operating in western Europe is paving way for new wave of online manipulation' in crucial election year, French agency saysFrench military and cybersecurity experts say they have identified a Moscow-based network spreading propaganda and disinformation in western Europe.France's Viginum agency, which was set up in 2021 to detect digital interference from foreign entities aimed at influencing public opinion, says Russia is paving the way for a new wave of online manipulation in the run-up to the European elections and other crucial votes this year. Continue reading...
Network had different problems over the weekend and Monday but service now said to be recoveringMobile operator Three has apologised as more than 10,000 customers experienced outages after problems with its service over the last few days.The company, which has more than 10 million UK customers, issued apologies in posts on X on Saturday, Sunday and Monday regarding a string of problems affecting voice calls and the ability to use mobile data. Continue reading...
BYD is increasingly dominating the world market and now wants to persuade UK motorists to snap up its vehiclesIt is the car brand that has become the biggest seller of electric vehicles (EVs) in the world - yet many people will struggle to recognise the name. Now Chinese company BYD (it stands for build your dreams") is on a mission to get more UK consumers to snap up its affordable" vehicles.It is one of the latest Chinese companies to hit the UK car market, claiming its prices are competitive and launching three vehicles since it arrived here last year. Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#6JJA2)
Super-premium phone-tablet is the thinnest and lightest folder' yet - but compromises on cameraHonor's Magic V2 is the best designed folding phone-tablet yet. It feels just like a regular phone when closed but then opens up like a book to reveal a large, plush screen.Launched in China last year, the Magic V2 has now made it to Europe but not at a price that could be considered affordable. At 1,700 (2,000), it is placed between the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and OnePlus's slightly cheaper Open.Main screen: 7.92in (402ppi) 120Hz OLED flexible displayCover screen: 6.43in (404ppi) 120Hz OLEDProcessor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2RAM: 16GBStorage: 512GBOperating system: MagicOS 7.2 (Android 13)Camera: 50MP + 50MP ultrawide + 20MP 2.5x tele; 2x 16MP selfieConnectivity: 5G, dual sim + esim, USB-C, wifi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, GNSSWater resistance: noneDimensions folded: 156.7 x 74 x 10.1mmDimensions unfolded: 156.7 x 145.4 x 4.8mmWeight: 237g Continue reading...
Kate Jackson's cosy, creative existence in rural Northumberland has spawned a YouTube channel, two websites, an online shop - and financial independenceOne sunny day in 2017, Kate Jackson, then 61, took a wooden wool-spinning wheel into her garden. She propped her iPad against a brick, pressed record and started talking as she spun - about crafts, the countryside, her menagerie of animals (cats, chickens, bees and Eileen the goose). Jackson enjoyed watching videos about gardening and quilting on YouTube, so one day she thought: how hard can it be? I made a resolve to upload once a week."She called her channel The Last Homely House, which is a place to feel comfortable, secure and welcomed. That's what I wanted my channel to be." It now has 123,000 subscribers. Last May, Jackson - who lives in rural Northumberland - set up a sister channel, called The Last Homely Garden. She has an online shop, nearly 40,000 Instagram followers, and even a fan-run Facebook group. She has become the linchpin of a thriving online community. Continue reading...
US regulator sued in October to compel Musk to testify as part of an investigation into his $44bn purchase of what is now known as XElon Musk has been ordered to testify again as part of an investigation by US regulators into his 2022 purchase of the social media platform Twitter, later renamed X.A California federal court ruling released on Saturday gave the Tesla and SpaceX chief a week to agree with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on a date and place for the interview after Musk refused to attend a previous sit-down in September. Continue reading...
Pamplona-based Cocuus is on a loud and disruptive quest to fuse science, technology and nutritionCocuus, a cutting-edge tech startup headquartered in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Pamplona, embraces the cliches of its sector every bit as willingly as the drunken tourists who blithely entrust themselves to fate, horns and hooves during the Spanish city's bull-running festival each July.Table football? Check. Lager and IPA on tap? Check. Inspirational messaging - preferably an Alice in Wonderland homage that reads, I believe in six impossible things before breakfast"? Check. What about some sci-fi memorabilia, perhaps a Tintin moon rocket and an Alien xenomorph head? Check. Obviously. Continue reading...
Marc Warner, CEO of London-based Faculty AI, sees new body as an international standard setterThe UK should concentrate on setting global standards for artificial intelligence testing instead of trying to carry out all the vetting itself, according to a company assisting the government's AI Safety Institute.Marc Warner, the chief executive of Faculty AI, said the newly established institute could end up on the hook" for scrutinising an array of AI models - the technology that underpins chatbots like ChatGPT - owing to the government's world-leading work in AI safety. Continue reading...
Midjourney's CEO David Holz says company close to hammering' images of Donald Trump, Joe Biden and others for next 12 months'The groundbreaking artificial intelligence image-generating company Midjourney is considering banning people from using its software to make political images of Joe Biden and Donald Trump as part of an effort to avoid being used to distract from or misinform about the 2024 US presidential election.I don't know how much I care about political speech for the next year for our platform," Midjourney's CEO, David Holz, said last week, adding that the company is close to hammering" - or banning - political images, including those of the leading presidential candidates, for the next 12 months". Continue reading...
The London-based food photographer created an image that makes you want to dive in and eat itWhere do we start ... all ice-cream is mashed potato?" asks Georgia Glynn-Smith, food photographer and creator of the London School of Food & Film online masterclasses. When it comes to the industry secrets on photographing food - something she has done for cookbooks by the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Mary Berry, and Tesco and M&S TV adverts, she knows it all.Anyone can photograph food, but one of the things you need to figure out is what is it that makes you hungry? Is it the melting cheese, the flutter of icing sugar, the drizzle of chocolate, the falling slice of perfectly cooked beef, the crunch of the roast potato? Focus here will make your audience want to dive in and eat it." Continue reading...
Seine-Port is introducing restrictions on phone use in streets, shops and parks - but young people say there's little else to doA picture of a smartphone with a red line through it serves as a warning in the window of a hairdresser's shop in a French village that has voted to ban people scrolling on their phones in public. Everyone is struggling with too much screen time," said Ludivine, a cardiology nurse, as she had her hair cut into a bob, leaving her phone out of sight in her bag. I voted in favour, this could be a solution."Seine-Port, in the Seine-et-Marne area south of Paris, with a population of fewer than 2,000 people, last weekend voted yes in a referendum to restrict smartphone use in public, banning adults and children from scrolling on their devices while walking down the street, while sitting with others on a park bench, while in shops, cafes or eating in restaurants and while parents wait for their children in front of the school gates. Those who might check their phone's map when lost are instead being encouraged to ask for directions. Continue reading...
Arab, Muslim and pro-Palestinian organizations expressed alarm about company's policy on Zionist' in meetingMeta is considering expanding and revisiting" its hate speech policy around the term Zionist", the Guardian has confirmed. The company reached out to and met with more than 10 Arab, Muslim and pro-Palestinian organizations on Friday to discuss the company's plans to review the policy to ensure the term Zionist" is not being used as a proxy for Jewish or Israeli people, according to an email the Guardian reviewed.The policy as it exists allows Zionist" to be used in political discourse but removed when it's used explicitly as a proxy for Jews or Israelis in a dehumanizing or violent way", according to an email a Meta representative sent to the organizations inviting them to the Friday meeting. The email further stated the company was considering reviewing it in light of posts users and stakeholders" have recently reported, the Meta representative wrote. The Intercept first reported the potential change in policy. Continue reading...
Researchers find large language models, which power chatbots, can deceive human users and help spread disinformationThe UK's new artificial intelligence safety body has found that the technology can deceive human users, produce biased outcomes and has inadequate safeguards against giving out harmful information.The AI Safety Institute published initial findings from its research into advanced AI systems known as large language models (LLMs), which underpin tools such as chatbots and image generators, and found a number of concerns. Continue reading...
A group known as Volt Typhoon, geared toward sabotage, quietly burrowed into critical US infrastructure networksAn advanced group of Chinese hackers taking aim at critical US infrastructure has been active for as long as half a decade, American and allied intelligence agencies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.The US National Security Agency, US cyber watchdog CISA, the FBI and the Transportation Security Administration said that the group known as Volt Typhoon had quietly burrowed into the networks of aviation, rail, mass transit, highway, maritime, pipeline, water and sewage organizations. Continue reading...
Ahead of London fashion week, optimists believe new tools can open up an industry that can be elitist - and costly to enterThe impact of artificial intelligence on the creative industries is a subject that has prompted widespread anxiety about job losses and the death of imagination, and the world of fashion is no exception.But this month's London fashion week, marking the event's 40th anniversary, will showcase a host of AI-generated outfits and industry insiders have expressed a growing optimism about what the technology can do for the sector - from improving diversity to shortening the path from design desk to shop floor. Continue reading...
It seems like something from the far-off future, but this threat is already here,' says chair of Federal Communications CommissionThe US government on Thursday outlawed robocalls that use voices generated by artificial intelligence, a decision that sends a clear message that exploiting the technology to scam people and mislead voters won't be tolerated.The unanimous ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) targets robocalls made with AI voice-cloning tools under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a 1991 law restricting junk calls that use artificial and prerecorded voice messages. Continue reading...
Microsoft analysts cite reports saying disruption by group known as Cotton Sandstorm also reached audiences in UK and CanadaIranian state-backed hackers interrupted TV streaming services in the United Arab Emirates to broadcast a deepfake newsreader delivering a report on the war in Gaza, according to analysts at Microsoft.The tech company said a hacking operation run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, a key branch of the Iranian armed forces, had disrupted streaming platforms in the UAE with an AI-generated news broadcast branded For Humanity". Continue reading...
by Alexi Duggins, Hannah Verdier, Hollie Richardson a on (#6JFEJ)
In this week's newsletter: Jeff Garlin and Susie Essman break down every episode of the epic sitcom in The History of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Plus: five of the best climate crisis podcasts Don't get Hear Here delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereLate Fragments
Despite healthy sales, publishers such as Epic Games and Activision Blizzard are making hundreds of employees redundant - which may radically reshape the industryIt is widely agreed that 2023 was a stellar year for video games. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 ... barely a week passed without some blockbuster hit or independent gem.But beneath these accolades there is a sadder, more worrying story: it was also a year of widespread industry redundancies, and the trend is continuing into the opening weeks of 2024. Microsoft laid off 1,900 staff after its $69bn purchase of Activision Blizzard. Publisher Embracer Group let at least 900 staff go across its many studios, as well as closing veteran UK developer Free Radical Design. Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, one of the most successful titles of the decade, laid off 830 employees; Electronic Arts shed 6% of its workforce, amounting to approximately 780 jobs. There have been similar grim stories from Ubisoft, Naughty Dog, Sega and Unity; major publishers and smaller studios alike are being affected. Continue reading...
Report is said to show that attacks on cryptocurrency-related companies helped development of dictatorship's weapons programmeUN sanctions monitors are investigating dozens of suspected cyber-attacks by North Korea that raked in $3bn to help it further develop its nuclear weapons programme, according to excerpts of an unpublished UN report reviewed by the Reuters news agency.The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) continued to flout security council sanctions," a panel of independent sanctions monitors reported to a security council committee, using North Korea's formal name. Continue reading...
US taxi app firm turns $1.8bn loss into $1.1bn profit after years of spending billions of investors' cash to expandUber has reported its first ever annual operating profit as a limited company, in a landmark moment for a business that spent billions of dollars of investors' money in an aggressive and often controversial expansion around the world.The US taxi app company said it made $1.1bn (870m) in 2023, compared with a loss of $1.8bn the year before. Continue reading...
A number of people have been spotted using Apple's VR headset in public including while driving. Some appear to have been using the gadget as a stunt. Others may just have been just learning how to use the headset while out and about.The new technology has prompted safety concerns, with the US transportation secretary reminding drivers they must pay attention at all times. The reminder was issued after one Vision Pro owner was filmed using the headset as he drove a car with assisted driving features Continue reading...
Ransomware gangs targeted hospitals, schools and bodies such as BA and the BBC, Chainalysis findsRansomware gangs staged a major comeback" last year, according to research, with victims of hacking attacks paying out a record $1.1bn to assailants.Cyber criminals stepped up their global operations in 2023 after a lull in 2022, with victims including hospitals, schools and major corporations. Continue reading...
The self-described stupid gay clown' provides a who's who of queer comedians - including one he would like to ask out. Matt Rogers, if you're reading this ...
Snapchat owner's earnings fall short of predictions as it turns focus to user growth in monetizable' markets like North America and EuropeThe owner of Snapchat narrowly missed Wall Street's expectations as it continues to grapple with a slowdown in digital advertising. Shares in the social media company tumbled by nearly a third.While Snap said it was encouraged by the progress we are making", it cited factors including the conflict in the Middle East, which knocked its business. Continue reading...
Global executive Nick Clegg says users want to know where the boundary lies' amid rise in AI-generated contentMeta is working to detect and label AI-generated images on Facebook, Instagram and Threads as the company pushes to call out people and organisations that actively want to deceive people".Photorealistic images created using Meta's AI imaging tool are already labelled as AI, but the company's president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, announced in a blog post on Tuesday that the company would work to begin labelling AI-generated images developed on rival services. Continue reading...
The future of cybercrime resembles an arms race between an industry of hackers-for-hire and the UK's weak defencesIt is not quite accurate to say that the cyber-attack against the British Library took place on 28 October 2023. Most probably, Rhysida, the hacker gang that orchestrated the attack and is thought to be Russian, had already been creeping undetected through the digital territories of the British Library for months, Enrico Mariconti, a lecturer in security and crime science at UCL, told me.Once it broke through to the library's virtual private network (VPN) - the remote connection that allows employees to access its network from any location - it could in theory start making its way through locked door after locked door of the library's many online systems, trawling until it discovered emails and documents containing details such as employees' passport scans and work contracts. It hoped these documents might tempt a single bidder to pay 20 bitcoins (about 600,000) for privileged access to all that personal information.Lamorna Ash is the author of Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town Continue reading...
Britain has announced 10m for regulators but has done very little to mitigate the risks linked with artificial intelligence. Plus, Facebook's deep-fake Biden conundrum Don't get TechScape delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the full article hereBritain wants to lead the world in AI regulation. But AI regulation is a rapidly evolving, contested policy space in which there's little agreement over what a good outcome would look like, let alone the best methods to get there. And being the third most important hub of AI research in the world doesn't give you an awful lot of power when the first two are the US and China.How to slice through this Gordian knot? Simple: move swiftly and decisively to do ... absolutely nothing.The government will acknowledge on Tuesday that binding measures for overseeing cutting-edge AI development are needed at some point - but not immediately. Instead, ministers will set out initial thinking for future binding requirements" for advanced systems and discuss them with technical, legal and civil society experts.The government will also give 10m to regulators to help them tackle AI risks, as well as requiring them to set out their approach to the technology by 30 April.The Intellectual Property Office, the UK government's agency overseeing copyright laws, has been consulting with AI companies and rights holders to produce guidance on text and data mining, where AI models are trained on existing materials such as books and music.However, the group of industry executives convened by the IPO that oversees the work has been unable to agree on a voluntary code of practice, meaning that it has returned the responsibility back to officials at the Department for Science Innovation and Technology.Meta's oversight board has found that a Facebook video wrongfully suggesting that the US president, Joe Biden, is a paedophile does not violate the company's current rules while deeming those rules incoherent" and too narrowly focused on AI-generated content.The board, which is funded by Meta - Facebook's parent company - but run independently, took on the Biden video case in October in response to a user complaint about an altered seven-second video of the president. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: As the mother of Brianna Ghey calls for social media blocks and smartphone age limits, we look at what protections exist - and whether they are enough Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Before the newsletter, an update on the news that broke last night that King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer. Buckingham Palace says that Charles is already undergoing treatment; it did not specify the type of the disease, other than to say it's not prostate cancer. You can read Rajeev Syal's analysis of the impact of the news on how the king carries out his role, and Andrew Gregory's cancer explainer.Today, we're covering online safety for children, starting with a grimly familiar feature of the age: a devastated parent, granted a platform they never wanted, and using it to demand greater guardrails on smartphones to protect others from the fate that befell their child. At the weekend, Brianna Ghey's mother Esther gave an interview to the BBC in which she called for social media apps to be banned on smartphones for under-16s. Esther Ghey said her daughter might have been saved if the searches being made by her eventual killers had been flagged to their parents.Crime | Detectives hunting the Clapham chemical attack suspect Abdul Ezedi have said they believe he is either being harboured from capture or is dead, with no trace of him for days despite a massive manhunt. Police said that a 22-year-old man arrested early on Monday for assisting an offender had been released on bail.Middle East | At least six US-backed Kurdish fighters have been killed in a drone strike on a US base in eastern Syria. The attack, the latest indicator of how conflict has spread across the Middle East since the beginning of the war in Gaza, was claimed by an Iranian-backed militia that on Friday was the target of US airstrikes.Child sexual abuse | Survivors and campaigners have criticised the failure to introduce mandatory reporting for child sexual abuse in England more than 15 months after it was one of the key recommendations by a public inquiry. None of the recommendations of the seven-year independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) has yet been implemented by the UK government.Labour | Labour has much work to do to retain support among Muslim voters, a senior party figure has said, as a poll suggested the party had lost a portion of its Muslim voter base over its handling of the Israel-Gaza war. Only 60% of British Muslims who backed Labour in 2019 are willing to do so again at the next general election, the survey finds.Restaurants | London restaurant the Ledbury has been awarded three stars in the Michelin Guide for Great Britain and Ireland, becoming the sixth in the capital to be given the accolade. London's Gymkhana and Birmingham's Opheem become the first two Indian restaurants in the UK to receive two stars, while Crieff's Glenturret Lalique has become the second two-star restaurant in Scotland. Continue reading...
Technology | The Guardian