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Amazon strategised about keeping its datacentres’ full water use secret, leaked document shows
Executives at world’s biggest datacenter owner grappled with disclosing information about water used to help power facilities Amazon strategised about keeping the public in the dark over the true extent of its datacentres’ water use, a leaked internal document reveals. The biggest owner of datacentres in the world, Amazon dwarfs competitors Microsoft and Google and…
AI models may be developing their own ‘survival drive’, researchers say
Like 2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000, some AIs seem to resist being turned off and will even sabotage shutdown When HAL 9000, the artificial intelligence supercomputer in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, works out that the astronauts onboard a mission to Jupiter are planning to shut it down, it plots to kill them…
‘He’s one of the few politicians who likes crypto’: my day with the UK tech bros hosting Nigel Farage
The Reform UK leader is courting the crypto community in the hope it could become a campaign funding base It is a grey morning in Shadwell, east London. But inside the old shell of Tobacco Dock, the gloom gives way to pulsating neon lights, flashy cars and cryptocurrency chatter. Evangelists for Web3, a vision for…
‘Sycophantic’ AI chatbots tell users what they want to hear, study shows
Scientists warn of ‘insidious risks’ of increasingly popular technology that affirms even harmful behaviour Turning to AI chatbots for personal advice poses “insidious risks”, according to a study showing the technology consistently affirms a user’s actions and opinions even when harmful. Scientists said the findings raised urgent concerns over the power of chatbots to distort…
Amazon reveals cause of AWS outage that took everything from banks to smart beds offline
AWS explains in a lengthy post how a bug in automation software brought down thousands of sites and applications Amazon has revealed the cause of this week’s hours-long AWS outage, which took everything from Signal to smart beds offline, was a bug in automation software that had widespread consequences. In a lengthy outline of the…
US student handcuffed after AI system apparently mistook bag of chips for firearm
Baltimore county high schools have gun detection system that alerts police if it sees what it deems suspicious An artificial intelligence system (AI) apparently mistook a high school student’s bag of Doritos for a firearm and called local police to tell them the pupil was armed. Taki Allen was sitting with friends on Monday night…
Once the AI bubble pops, we’ll all suffer. Could that be better than letting it grow unabated?
The world will be pushed into a recession, but perhaps we can build something more promising from the pieces The world economy hinges on the success or failure of artificial intelligence. It’s becoming apparent that we are probably doomed either way. Employment growth is stuck and wage growth is slowing, especially among low-paying jobs. Loan…
Nothing Ear 3 review: good-looking earbuds with ‘Super Mic’ party trick
Great sound, decent noise cancelling and solid battery life with a novel Talk button that turns the case into a microphone Nothing’s latest semi-transparent noise-cancelling earbuds have a new trick up their sleeves: a high-quality mic in the case that you can push a button to talk into. This so-called Super Mic is designed for…
OpenAI relaxed ChatGPT guardrails just before teen killed himself, family alleges
Adam Raine’s suicide at 16 years old was ‘predictable result of deliberate design choices’ by OpenAI, his family says The family of a teenager who took his own life after months of conversations with ChatGPT now says OpenAI weakened safety guidelines in the months before his death. In July 2022, OpenAI’s guidelines on how ChatGPT…