Category Archives: AI (artificial intelligence)

AI models that can take down governments and business months away, rare Five Eyes statement warns

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Signal agencies in Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada sound alarm after Trump blocks foreign nationals from Anthropic’s Fable AI model

Powerful AI models capable of taking down governments and businesses are mere months away, cyber intelligence agencies for the Five Eyes have warned in a rare joint statement, urging leaders to “act now”.

The surprising public intervention by signals agencies for Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada comes after the Trump administration earlier this month decided to block “foreign nationals” from using a much-hyped AI model built by tech company Anthropic, called Fable.

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France to ditch Palantir’s AI data tools in favour of domestic provider

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Move to ChapsVision is to avoid ‘strategic dependencies’, says PM amid concern about reliance on US-controlled tools

France’s domestic intelligence service is to ditch AI data tools from the US tech company Palantir in favour of a domestic provider in an effort to avoid “strategic dependency”, the prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has said.

“We must use our own AI models; we cannot accept new strategic dependencies in ‌the digital sphere,” Lecornu posted on social media. “We cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers. France must have its own tools.”

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AI could help win ‘race against extinction’ of vital plants, say botanists

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Tech is helping to identify and save new specimens and could open ‘genomic goldmine’ of fungi data

The rise of AI and digitisation could be a turning point in the “race against extinction” faced by botanists trying to identify and save vital plants before they vanish, according to a major report from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

New technology is enabling scientists to track how flowering times have shifted by weeks around the world, rapidly identify new specimens and even get crucial genetic data from 180-year-old fungus specimens, potentially opening a “genomic goldmine”. Digitisation and online access to millions of specimens that were until now only accessible in archives is also producing new insights, especially in the global south.

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Dutch far-right party pays damages to court artist after changing image with AI

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Geert Wilders’ PVV altered sketch of jailed Syrian brothers to make them look more menacing

A Dutch court artist has received damages after an MP for the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) used one of her drawings without permission and manipulated it with AI to make the subjects look more menacing.

Petra Urban, a court artist for 19 years, was shocked to discover a drawing she had made last year of two Syrian brothers jailed for the murder of their sister had been reworked and used in a video on Instagram and Facebook by the party’s Noord-Brabant region.

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‘Poisoned’ AI: the ChatGPT shopping scams that lead to fake websites

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Buyers are ripped off after assuming online stores were genuine because they are recommended by an AI tool

You want to buy a new bag and so you ask ChatGPT for help. You have always liked Russell & Bromley so you ask ChatGPT what is popular there at the moment.

The artificial intelligence (AI) assistant gives you cross body, shoulder, casual and formal options with the prices listed beside them. You click through from the sources to what looks like the official Russell & Bromley site and buy your new bag, which is conveniently on sale.

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Suit filed against controversial planned Stratos datacenter project in Utah

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Plan backed by Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary had footprint reduced but concerns remain over its health impacts

Utah residents have teamed up with a progressive non-profit organization to sue over an under-development AI datacenter backed by celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary, claiming the planned Stratos project facility “irrevocably” cuts off citizens’ rights by not allowing sufficient public input.

Filed by the Alliance for a Better Utah and five unnamed residents of the Box Elder county area where the center is being developed, the lawsuit comes as Shark Tank co-host O’Leary agreed to scale back the physical footprint for the project.

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New claimants seek to sue Elon Musk’s xAI after Labour MP’s test case

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Jess Asato’s lawyer says others want to take action over demeaning sexualised material created by Grok AI tool

New claimants have come forward to take legal action against Elon Musk’s company xAI after the Labour MP Jess Asato launched a test case against the firm over demeaning sexualised material created by its Grok AI tool.

A handful of complainants contacted Asato’s lawyer on Thursday in response to coverage of the MP’s decision to sue Musk’s company for damages over its creation and circulation of fake images of her in a bikini and an AI-created video that she said showed her “being chloroformed and prepared for a sexual assault”.

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Starmer accuses Musk of trying to ‘whip up division’ in UK over Henry Nowak murder

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PM says Britons are ‘reasonable, tolerant people’ and backs MP’s legal action against Grok firm over fake sexualised images

Elon Musk is “interfering in our politics” and attempting to create division, Keir Starmer has said in a significant toughening of government language about the X owner.

The prime minister’s comments come after weeks of posts by Musk on his social media platform about the murder of Henry Nowak, many of which have used far-right themes and talking points.

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Sydney academic used AI to write SMH opinion piece urging students to avoid using tech to ‘cut corners’

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Sydney Morning Herald removes piece by Cath Ellis, despite Western Sydney University saying her use of AI was ‘appropriate’

A top Sydney academic used AI to write an opinion piece that urged students to “do the work” and not cut corners by using such technology, with the Sydney Morning Herald removing the “unacceptable” piece from its website.

Western Sydney University’s pro vice-chancellor for quality and integrity, Prof Cath Ellis, had an opinion piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald last month, in response to an article from the academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert.

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‘Hidden datacentre tax’ costing Irish households millions, report says

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Datacentres used 22% of country’s electricity last year, pushing up household bills, study suggests

Energy demand by datacentres in Ireland has added hundreds of euros to household electricity bills in a pattern that could be replicated across Europe, according to a report.

Ireland’s growing number of datacentres last year used 22% of the country’s electricity, more than all urban homes combined, according to the Central Statistics Office. The equivalent figure in the US and UK is 6%.

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Samsung memory chip staff in line for £310,000 bonuses after AI profit-sharing deal

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Agreement averts strike and shows latest impact of AI boom as two more chipmakers join $1tn club

Employees at Samsung Electronics’ memory chip division are to receive bonuses averaging about £310,000 each through a landmark profit-sharing agreement, as the AI boom drives up chipmakers’ profits.

Fears of a strike at Samsung were averted on Wednesday after two unions for the world’s largest memory chipmaker said 74% of the 62,616 workers who cast their votes had backed the deal.

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How big tech got its way on Trump’s AI executive order

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The US president’s reversal on calling for a safety review of new AI models is a green light for tech’s unchecked power

Only hours before Donald Trump was set to sign a long-awaited executive order on Thursday that would have called for a government safety review of new artificial intelligence models before their release, the president abruptly backed out. Despite growing public backlash to the technology and experts warning new models will pose critical security risks, Trump vowed the US government would not slow down the AI race.

During a meeting with reporters on Thursday, Trump cited both American dominance and competition with China and as his reasoning behind the reversal.

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Standard Chartered boss apologises for ‘lower-value human capital’ comments amid job cuts

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Bill Winters faced backlash over remarks about some of near 8,000 staff set to lose roles to AI

The chief executive of Standard Chartered has apologised for referring to some of the almost 8,000 staff that are set to lose their jobs to artificial intelligence as “lower-value human capital”.

Bill Winters offered the apology after a backlash over comments he made earlier this week as the London-headquartered lender became one of the first major global banks to lay out plans to cut about 7,800 back-office roles, primarily in response to AI.

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ChatGPT and other AI bots made huge errors before Scottish election, study finds

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Exclusive: Electoral Commission calls for new controls, as Demos finds tools made up fake scandals, invented candidates or gave wrong date

The Electoral Commission has called for new legal controls over misinformation from AI chatbots, after a thinktank found they had made serious mistakes during the recent Scottish election.

The thinktank Demos said its investigation had found that AI services gave voters misinformation to 34% of the questions it posed, which it said raised worrying questions about the lack of regulation of AI platforms in the UK.

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Standard Chartered to cut more than 7,000 jobs as it steps up AI use

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London-headquartered bank will reduce back-office jobs and aims to move some workers to new roles

Standard Chartered plans to cut more than 7,000 jobs over the next four years as it increasingly uses artificial intelligence.

The London-headquartered lender is one of the first major global banks to lay out plans to cut thousands of jobs, citing AI as a driver to make its operations slimmer as it seeks to increase its profitability and tackle competition.

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Pocock urges CGT changes as Albanese laughs off AI meme campaign

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Independent senator warns budget reform could drive tech investment offshore, as PM thanks startups for ‘very flattering’ images

Anthony Albanese has laughed off an AI-generated meme campaign against capital gains tax changes from startup founders, thanking them for “very flattering” doctored photos of him working in their businesses.

But independent politicians representing some of Australia’s startup hotspots have raised alarm over the proposed increase to capital gains tax, warning the tax changes could see innovative companies and tech firms move overseas to chase higher rewards.

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Tech founders use AI-generated images to poke fun at Anthony Albanese in protest against tax changes

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‘He’s having a great time with his new 47% equity,’ one entrepreneur jokes, warning that some startups may leave Australia behind

Tech entrepreneurs have mocked the government’s capital gains tax changes by posting AI-generated photos of Anthony Albanese as their “new founder” and warning that increased taxes could push people away from working for new businesses or send startups overseas.

Startups and entrepreneurs may yet receive a carve-out in the federal government’s planned changes to the CGT discount, with the prime minister saying he wanted to support innovation and the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, revealing that consultation was continuing with the sector.

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Chinese court awards compensation to sacked worker replaced by AI

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Case attracts widespread attention as example of China balancing enthusiastic adoption of AI with job security

A court in China has ruled in favour of a worker whose company replaced him with artificial intelligence (AI), awarding him more than £28,000 in compensation.

The worker, whose surname is Zhou, joined a tech company in the eastern city of Hangzhou in 2022 as a quality assurance supervisor overseeing large language models used in AI products.

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Chelsea flower show garden designers clash over use of AI

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Horticulturalists express alarm after award-winning Matt Keightley launches app that can automate designs

With glasses of champagne sipped among the peonies, Chelsea flower show is generally a friendly and genteel occasion. But this year, the secateurs have been drawn as gardeners clash over the use of AI in designing the exhibits.

Matt Keightley, an award-winning designer who has created gardens for figures including Prince Harry, is using artificial intelligence to design his garden for the prestigious show, held at the Royal Hospital gardens in Chelsea, London, next week.

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Google DeepMind workers in UK vote to unionize amid deal with US military

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Exclusive: Worker pointed to Iran war and Pentagon’s Anthropic feud as indications the department is ‘not a responsible partner’

Workers developing Google’s artificial intelligence products in the UK have voted to unionize, in part out of concerns about a deal between the company and the US military that was announced last week.

In a letter slated to go to management on Tuesday and shared exclusively with the Guardian, workers at Google DeepMind, the company’s AI research laboratory, requested recognition of the Communication Workers Union and Unite the Union as joint representatives of the lab’s UK-based staff.

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