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Meta and X questioned by lawmakers over lack of rules against AI-generated political deepfakes

6Oct

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Technology

Meta and X questioned by lawmakers over lack of rules against AI-generated political deepfakes

[ad_1] Deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence are having their moment this year, at least when it comes to making it look, or sound, like celebrities did something uncanny. Tom Hanks hawking a dental plan. Pope Francis wearing a stylish puffer jacket. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul sitting on the Capitol steps in a red bathrobe.But what happens next year ahead of a U.S. presidential election? Google was the first big tech company to say it would impose new labels on deceptive AI-generated political advertisements that could fake a candidate's voice or actions. Now some U.S. lawmakers are calling on social media platforms X, Facebook and Instagram to explain why they aren't doing the same. Two Democratic members of Congress sent a letter Thursday to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and X CEO Linda ...

F-35 Fighter Jet – The World’s Costliest Weapons Program – Just Got More Expensive

3Oct

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F-35 Fighter Jet – The World’s Costliest Weapons Program – Just Got More Expensive

[ad_1] The world's most expensive weapons program - the US's F-35 fighter jet - got even more costly, according to the Pentagon. The program to develop and procure the plane will cost a total of $438 billion, up $26 billion from the last estimate a year ago, according to the F-35's new Selected Acquisition Report released Monday. The 6.5% increase is actually relatively modest by the standards of the program, which originally was $233 billion when Lockheed Martin Corp. won the contract in 2001.“The cost data in question was driven after accounting for inflation” and readjustment of the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps production plans which extend from 2044 to 2049, the program office said in a statement. The new estimate does not change the total number of planned aircraft, which inclu...

Why PayPal’s stablecoin is likely to succeed where Facebook’s Libra failed

21Aug

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Why PayPal’s stablecoin is likely to succeed where Facebook’s Libra failed

[ad_1] PayPal's stablecoin is likely to succeed where Facebook's failed, thanks to the payment giant's standing in Washington and policymakers' greater understanding of the issues in the last three years.PayPal this month said it was launching PayPal USD, a crypto token pegged to the U.S. dollar, making it the second major global company to launch a stablecoin after Facebook, now Meta Platforms, unveiled Libra in June 2019. The move, which comes as PayPal transitions to a new CEO announced last week, seems risky after Facebook's stablecoin was crushed by political opposition, and as regulators home in on the crypto sector following several meltdowns. But PayPal is in a stronger position than Facebook, said former officials, executives and analysts. Policymakers are more familiar with st...

Ex-intel officer says US hiding info on alien craft

28Jul

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Ex-intel officer says US hiding info on alien craft

[ad_1] We are not alone -- and American authorities are covering up the evidence, a former US intelligence officer told a congressional committee on Wednesday.David Grusch testified that he "absolutely" believes the government is in possession of unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs -- which has replaced the term UFO in official parlance -- as well as remains of their non-human operators. "I was informed, in the course of my official duties, of a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse-engineering program," Grusch said. "I made the decision, based on the data I collected, to report this information to my superiors and multiple inspectors general, and in effect becoming a whistleblower," he said.Pressed for details in the course of the hearing, Grusch repeatedly said he could n...

AI Leaders Create Industry Watchdog as Government Scrutiny Grows

27Jul

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AI Leaders Create Industry Watchdog as Government Scrutiny Grows

[ad_1] Facing calls to put guardrails on artificial intelligence development, a group of tech companies including Alphabet Inc.'s Google and OpenAI Inc. are creating an industry body to ensure that AI models are safe.The effort, also backed by AI startup Anthropic and Microsoft Corp., aims to consolidate the expertise of member companies and create benchmarks for the industry, according to a statement Wednesday. The group, known as the Frontier Model Forum, said it welcomed participation from other organizations working on large-scale machine-learning platforms. The fast proliferation of generative AI tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, which can create text, photos and even video based on simple prompts, has put pressure on tech giants to tread carefully. The companies involved in the Fron...

Whistleblower tells Congress the US is concealing ‘multi-decade’ program that captures UFOs

27Jul

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Whistleblower tells Congress the US is concealing ‘multi-decade’ program that captures UFOs

[ad_1] The U.S. is concealing a longstanding program that retrieves and reverse engineers unidentified flying objects, a former Air Force intelligence officer testified Wednesday to Congress. The Pentagon has denied his claims.Retired Maj. David Grusch's highly anticipated testimony before a House Oversight subcommittee was Congress' latest foray into the world of UAPs — or “unidentified aerial phenomena," which is the official term the U.S. government uses instead of UFOs. While the study of mysterious aircraft or objects often evokes talk of aliens and “little green men,” Democrats and Republicans in recent years have pushed for more research as a national security matter due to concerns that sightings observed by pilots may be tied to U.S. adversaries. Grusch said he was asked in 201...

Biden administration wants water heaters to be more energy efficient

22Jul

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Biden administration wants water heaters to be more energy efficient

[ad_1] The Biden administration is moving forward with tightened energy efficiency standards for new residential water heaters, taking aim at what is the second-largest energy using appliances in most households.The Energy Department said their proposal, which would take affect in 2030, would save consumers some $11.4 billion in energy and water costs annually, while reducing hundreds of millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the rules 30 year lifetime. Under the agency's proposal, the most commonly-used electric water heaters would be required to use heat pump technology in place of electric resistance, while gas-fired instantaneous water heaters would be required to use condensing technology. The rule also sets standards for gas-fired storage water heaters and oil-fired wat...

Amazon, Google, Meta and other tech firms agree to AI safeguards set by the White House

21Jul

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Amazon, Google, Meta and other tech firms agree to AI safeguards set by the White House

[ad_1] President Joe Biden said Friday that new commitments by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other companies that are leading the development of artificial intelligence technology to meet a set of AI safeguards brokered by his White House are an important step toward managing the “enormous” promise and risks posed by the technology.Biden announced that his administration has secured voluntary commitments from seven U.S. companies meant to ensure their AI products are safe before they release them. Some of the commitments call for third-party oversight of the workings of commercial AI systems, though they don't detail who will audit the technology or hold the companies accountable. “We must be clear eyed and vigilant about the threats emerging technologies can pose," Biden said, ad...

Bipartisan bill in US Congress seeks to compel disclosure of U.F.O. records

14Jul

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Bipartisan bill in US Congress seeks to compel disclosure of U.F.O. records

[ad_1] A new rule proposed by Senator Chuck Schumer from New York aims to make the US government documents about U.F.O.s and aliens available to the public. The senator wants to create a commission that will have the power to reveal classified information on unidentified flying objects and extraterrestrial matters. This move is intended to counter conspiracy theories and concerns that the government is hiding important information, according to The New York Times report. The proposal has support from both Democrats and Republicans, including Senator Mike Rounds from South Dakota and Senator Marco Rubio from Florida. Senator Rubio has previously championed similar legislation that forced the government to release reports on unidentified phenomena. It is likely that the House of Represent...

Insider Q&A: John Riccitiello, CEO of video game software company Unity, on AI and gaming’s future

26Jun

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Technology

Insider Q&A: John Riccitiello, CEO of video game software company Unity, on AI and gaming’s future

[ad_1] SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — John Riccitiello, the CEO of video game software company Unity, has seen the video game industry evolve and shift during his more than two-decade-long career, beginning in 1997 when he became the head of games giant Electronic Arts.Unity Software Inc., was founded in Denmark and is now based in San Francisco. It's working with Apple to help bring games to its upcoming virtual reality headset, the Vision Pro. Riccitiello recently spoke with The Associated Press about how artificial intelligence is transforming how video games are created and played. The Associated Press: What are the biggest trends coming down the pike in gaming? Riccitiello: I think AI will change gaming in a couple of pretty profound ways. One of them is it's going to make making games faste...