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  • Palantir: the world’s ‘scariest company’? – podcast

    How far will tech firm Palantir go to ‘save the West’? With Michael Steinberger and Johana Bhuiyan Why do some consider Palantir the world’s ‘scariest company’ and who is its chief executive, Alex Karp? Michael Steinberger, the author of The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir and the Rise of the Surveillance State, describes…

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  • Scores of UK parliamentarians join call to regulate most powerful AI systems

    Exclusive: Campaign urges PM to show independence from US and push to rein in development of superintelligence More than 100 UK parliamentarians are calling on the government to introduce binding regulations on the most powerful AI systems as concern grows that ministers are moving too slowly to create safeguards in the face of lobbying from…

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  • Is AI a bubble that’s about to pop? – podcast

    Should we be worried about the vast amounts of money pouring into AI? And what will happen if the bubble bursts? Blake Montgomery reports For months there have been fears that artificial intelligence is a bubble and that it is about to burst. As the Guardian US tech editor Blake Montgomery explains, the magnificent seven…

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  • Artificial intelligence research has a slop problem, academics say: ‘It’s a mess’

    AI research in question as author claims to have written over 100 papers on AI that one expert calls a ‘disaster’ A single person claims to have authored 113 academic papers on artificial intelligence this year, 89 of which will be presented this week at one of the world’s leading conference on AI and machine…

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  • AI deepfakes of real doctors spreading health misinformation on social media

    Hundreds of videos on TikTok and elsewhere impersonate experts to sell supplements with unproven effects TikTok and other social media platforms are hosting AI-generated deepfake videos of doctors whose words have been manipulated to help sell supplements and spread health misinformation. The factchecking organisation Full Fact has uncovered hundreds of such videos featuring impersonated versions…

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  • New York Times sues AI startup for ‘illegal’ copying of millions of articles

    Perplexity AI also faces lawsuit from Murdoch-owned Dow Jones and New York Post for its use of copyrighted content The New York Times sued an embattled artificial intelligence startup on Friday, accusing the firm of illegally copying millions of articles. The newspaper alleged Perplexity AI had distributed and displayed journalists’ work without permission en masse.…

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  • Chatbots can sway political opinions but are ‘substantially’ inaccurate, study finds

    ‘Information-dense’ AI responses are most persuasive but these tend to be less accurate, says security report Chatbots can sway people’s political opinions but the most persuasive artificial intelligence models deliver “substantial” amounts of inaccurate information in the process, according to the UK government’s AI security body. Researchers said the study was the largest and most…

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  • Anti-immigrant material among AI-generated content getting billions of views on TikTok

    Researchers uncovered 354 AI-focused accounts that had accumulated 4.5bn views in a month Hundreds of accounts on TikTok are garnering billions of views by pumping out AI-generated content, including anti-immigrant and sexualised material, according to a report. Researchers said they had uncovered 354 AI-focused accounts pushing 43,000 posts made with generative AI tools and accumulating…

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  • Sam Altman issues ‘code red’ at OpenAI as ChatGPT contends with rivals

    Chief executive tells staff it is ‘critical time’ for chatbot as it faces intense competition from Google’s new Gemini 3 Sam Altman has declared a “code red” at OpenAI to improve ChatGPT as the chatbot faces intense competition from rivals. According to a report by tech news site the Information, the chief executive of the…

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  • Datacentres demand huge amounts of electricity. Could they derail Australia’s net zero ambitions?

    Banks of servers operating 24/7 generate massive amounts of heat, requiring power to run and cool them Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here Datacentre power demand in Australia could triple in five years and is forecast to exceed…

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