Category: Tech

“Empire of AI”: Karen Hao on How AI Is Threatening Democracy & Creating a New Colonial World

The new book “Empire of AI” by longtime technology reporter Karen Hao unveils the accruing political and economic power of AI companies — especially Sam Altman’s OpenAI. Her reporting uncovered the exploitation of workers in Kenya, attempts to take massive amounts of freshwater from communities in Chile, along with numerous accounts of the technology’s detrimental impact on the environment. “This is an extraordinary type of AI development that is causing a lot of social, labor and environmental harms,” says Hao.

Academic publishers sign AI deals as Trump cuts research funding

Academic publishers are rushing to sign licensing deals with artificial intelligence (AI) companies, carving out a new revenue stream as US research funding cuts dim their outlook. Informa Plc’s Taylor & Francis signed a US$10 million (S$12.8 million) deal with Microsoft Corp. in 2024 to provide the technology giant access to part of its library to train large language models, or LLMs. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc is looking to “monetise academic content through AI deals”, it said in its latest set…

UK court confirms Apple is suing British government over ‘backdoor’ request

A British court has confirmed that Apple is suing the British government over a legal order regarding the company’s encryption of iCloud accounts, lifting a veil of official secrecy regarding the controversial move. In a judgment on Monday, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal — the only court in the country that can hear certain national security cases — said it would confirm “the bare details of the case” despite the British government’s argument that to do so would undermine national security….

News from Russia: “People becoming more stupid,” according to study

The shift from reading to consuming video content may have diminished human intelligence, research finds Human intellectual abilities such as reasoning and problem-solving are diminishing, possibly due to increased exposure to visual media, the Financial Times (FT) has reported. Human intelligence appeared to peak in the early 2010s and has been in decline since, the FT added, citing PISA, an international benchmarking test for 15-year-olds that includes reading, mathematics and science, and adult cognitive evaluations. The reported trend comes amid…

A French nuclear attack submarine made a stopover in Canada's Halifax port on Monday. (Illustration) LP / Arnaud Dumontier

French nuclear attack submarine “Barracuda” surfaces in Canada

A curious discovery in Canadian waters. A French attack submarine , the FS Tourville, appeared Monday in the port of Halifax in Nova Scotia, a Canadian province. Photos of the vessel were posted on social media, fueling speculation amid geopolitical turmoil . Some see it as evidence of a show of force by the European Union in the face of Donald Trump’s multiple provocations. The submarine is owned by French Naval Group, the European leader in the sector. It made its first Atlantic crossing on Monday as a test, as Canada prepares to renew its submarine fleet. Last February, the French naval group responded to a request for information from Ottawa, which aims to put 6 to 12 new submarines into service from 2035.

Will Musk avoid all repercussions of bribery in taking Verizon’s FAA contract?

Elon Musk’s satellite company, Starlink, is in talks to potentially take over a $2.4 billion contract from Verizon with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to upgrade airspace management systems. While the contract hasn’t been officially transferred, FAA officials have begun seeking funds for a possible Starlink deal, according to sources familiar with the situation. These instructions were reportedly given verbally, which is unusual and suggests an effort to avoid creating a paper trail. Obtaining a federal contract through ties to…

Chinese DeepSeek challenges US AI market

The following article is from a Russian news source, Tass, which is controlled by the Russian Government. China’s DeepSeek has transformed the global market of artificial intelligence (AI) and has put the leadership of the US in this sphere at jeopardy, the Foreign Affairs magazine said. According to its estimates, DeepSeek is paving the way for China to dominate in the global AI market. The technology of artificial intelligence may create an edge in the military sector, which further emphasizes…

Deepseek removed from South Korea’s app stores over privacy concerns

DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, has temporarily paused downloads of its chatbot apps in South Korea while it works with local authorities to address privacy concerns, South Korean officials said Monday. South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission said DeepSeek’s apps were removed from the local versions of Apple’s App Store and Google Play on Saturday evening and that the company agreed to work with the agency to strengthen privacy protections before relaunching the apps. The action does not affect…

Lawsuit accuses Amazon of secretly tracking consumers through cellphones

Amazon.com was sued on Wednesday by consumers who accused the retailing giant of secretly tracking their movements through their cellphones, and selling data it collects. According to a proposed class action in San Francisco federal court, Amazon obtained “backdoor access” to consumers’ phones by providing tens of thousands of app developers with code known as Amazon Ads SDK to be embedded in their apps. This allegedly enabled Amazon to collect an enormous amount of timestamped geolocation data about where consumers…

Is DeepSeek a DeekFake and does it matter?

No, and the inquiry is ongoing. The Chinese AI startup, DeepSeek, is in the news today due to its rapid rise and the impact that had on NVIDIA stock. Apparently, DeepSeek developed an AI model that has caused a stir. For one thing, it just became the top-downloaded free app in the Apple Store, surpassing ChatGPT. This led to a sharp decline in NVIDIA’s stock, as investors are supposedly concerned that DeepSeek’s AI model is more cost-efficient. More more cost-efficient…

Chris Hedges: MIT’s Work for the Israel, AI used for “tasks”… like targeting

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Documents show Google aided Israel with advanced AI tools amid war

The Washington Post says it has seen documents according to which Google employees actively assisted Israel in gaining access to certain advanced AI technology quickly after the war in Gaza began. The report says Israel’s Defense Ministry sought to expand its use of Vertex AI, a Google service applying AI algorithms to data. One worker warned internally that a delay in granting access to the tech could push Israel to switch to competitor Amazon. The paper notes that while the documents confirm…

The new low: Meta to introduce AI-generated users to drive human engagement

Meta is betting that characters generated by artificial intelligence will fill its social media platforms in the next few years as it looks to the fast-developing technology to drive engagement with its 3bn users. The Silicon Valley group is rolling out a range of AI products, including one that helps users create AI characters on Instagram and Facebook, as it tries to attract and retain a younger audience. “We expect these AIs to actually, over time, exist on our platforms,…

London police make 500 arrests using facial recognition tech

LONDON – London’s Metropolitan Police force said on Dec 6 that it had used facial recognition technology to make more than 500 arrests in 2024 for offences ranging from shoplifting to rape. The force uses live facial recognition in specific areas of the UK capital, positioning a van equipped with cameras in a pre-agreed location. The cameras capture live footage of passers-by and compare their faces against a pre-approved watchlist, generating an alert if a match is detected. Civil liberties…

Google Cloud partners with Air France-KLM on AI technology

Google Cloud said on Wednesday it had partnered with Air France-KLM to deploy generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology on the airline group’s data. Google Cloud said in a statement that the Franco-Dutch airline group’s 551 operating aircraft, 93 million passengers carried in 2023, and its commercial and cargo flights generated large amounts of data, which would be used by Google Cloud’s AI solution in areas such as analyzing passenger preferences and travel patterns, and predicting maintenance of aircraft. Air France-KLM…

Ainet CEO Indicted for Major Fraud and Making False Statements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment yesterday charging a Maryland man with major fraud against the United States and making false statements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for his alleged participation in a scheme to deceive the SEC into thinking his company’s data center was certified at the highest rating level for reliability, availability, and security, when it was not. According to the indictment, Deepak Jain, 49, of Potomac, was the…