AI is killing the old web, and the new web struggles to be born
By James Vincent Jun 27, 2023 In recent months, the signs and portents have been accumulating with increasing speed. Google is trying to kill the 10 blue links. Twitter is being abandoned to bots and blue ticks. There’s the junkification of Amazon and the enshittification of TikTok. Layoffs are gutting online media. A job […]
Wimbledon teams up with IBM to introduce generative AI video commentary and highlight clips
By Chantz Martin June 27, 2023 The prestigious Wimbledon tournament is set to introduce artificial intelligence-powered commentary in July. All England Club has tapped tech giant IBM’s Watsonx AI platform to create audio commentary and captions for its video highlight packages. Watsonx is the company’s enterprise AI and data platform. According to IBM’s […]
AI Act enters final phase of EU legislative process
By Luca Bertuzzi Published Jun 19, 2023 The European Parliament adopted its position on the AI rulebook with an overwhelming majority on Wednesday (14 June), paving the way for the interinstitutional negotiations set to finalise the world’s first comprehensive law on Artificial Intelligence. The AI Act is a flagship initiative to regulate this […]
Google should break up digital ad business over competition concerns, European regulators say
BY KELVIN CHAN AND SAMUEL PETREQUIN Published June 14, 2023 BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union regulators hit Google with fresh antitrust charges Wednesday, saying the only way to satisfy competition concerns about its lucrative digital ad business is by selling off parts of the tech giant’s main moneymaker. The unprecedented decision to push […]
Synthetic human embryos created in groundbreaking advance
Hannah Devlin 14 Jun 2023 Scientists have created synthetic human embryos using stem cells, in a groundbreaking advance that sidesteps the need for eggs or sperm. Scientists say these model embryos, which resemble those in the earliest stages of human development, could provide a crucial window on the impact of genetic disorders and […]
Spy Tool Helped FBI Solve Pipeline Hack, Other Major Crimes, U.S. Officials Say
By Dustin Volz Published June 13, 2023 WASHINGTON—Intelligence gleaned through a surveillance program due to lapse at the end of the year helped U.S. investigators solve a 2021 cyberattack that prompted the shutdown of the largest conduit of fuel on the East Coast, and claw back millions of dollars in ransom the pipeline’s operator paid to the perpetrators, senior […]
As the AI industry booms, what toll will it take on the environment?
Maanvi Singh 8 Jun 2023 One question that ChatGPT can’t quite answer: how much energy do you consume? “As an AI language model, I don’t have a physical presence or directly consume energy,” it’ll say, or: “The energy consumption associated with my operations is primarily related to the servers and infrastructure used to host and […]
Half of big international firms to cut office space in next three years – survey
Joanna Partridge 6 Jun 2023 Half of the largest international employers are planning to cut their office space in the next three years, according to a survey, as they struggle to manage the complex nature of the post-Covid workplace. The survey of 350 businesses by property consultants Knight Frank and commercial real estate firm […]
Universal basic income of £1,600 a month to be trialled in two places in England
By Dahaba Ali Hussen Published 4 Jun 2023 A universal basic income of £1,600 a month is to be trialled in England for the first time in a pilot programme. Thirty people will be paid a lump sum without conditions each month for two years and will be observed to understand the effects on their […]