Latest posts

  • Extremists are using AI voice cloning to supercharge propaganda. Experts say it’s helping them grow

    Researchers warn generative tools are helping militant groups from neo-Nazis to the Islamic State spread ideology While the artificial intelligence boom is upending sections of the music industry, voice generating bots are also becoming a boon to another unlikely corner of the internet: extremist movements that are using them to recreate the voices and speeches…

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  • TikTok signs Trump-backed deal to avoid US ban

    Joint venture will take over part of app’s US operations, including data protection, algorithm security and content moderation Business live – latest updates US politics live – latest updates TikTok has reached a deal to form a joint venture that will allow it to continue operating in the US, five years after Donald Trump threatened…

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  • UK insists US tech deal not dead as Trump threatens penalties against European firms

    Keir Starmer’s office claims UK still in ‘active conversations’ about deal for tech industries in both countries to cooperate Downing Street insists the $40bn Tech Prosperity Deal between the US and UK that is on hold is not permanently stalled. The BBC reported on Tuesday evening that the prime minister’s office claimed that the UK…

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  • The US supreme court’s TikTok ruling is a scandal | Evelyn Douek and Jameel Jaffer

    The decision means TikTok now operates under the threat that it could be forced offline with a stroke of Trump’s pen Judicial opinions allowing the government to suppress speech in the name of national security rarely stand the test of time. But time has been unusually unkind to the US supreme court decision that upheld…

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  • Virginia Democrat flips seat in state legislature by taking on datacenters

    John McAuliff won against a Republican by focusing on something affecting all his constituents: the cost of energy John McAuliff, a 33-year-old small business owner and former civil servant, was one of the more unlikely Democrats to win election to Virginia’s legislature this month, after a campaign in which he could, at times, come off…

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  • Small changes to ‘for you’ feed on X can rapidly increase political polarisation

    Study finds that a week of political content can bring about a shift in views that previously would have taken three years Small changes to the tone of posts fed to users of X can increase feelings of political polarisation as much in a week as would have historically taken at least three years, research…

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  • Foreign interference or opportunistic grifting: why are so many pro-Trump X accounts based in Asia?

    A new feature on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter allows users to see the location of other accounts. It has resulted in a firestorm of recriminations When X rolled out a new feature revealing the locations of popular accounts, the company was acting to boost transparency and clamp down on disinformation. The…

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  • Lies, damned lies and AI: the newest way to influence elections may be here to stay

    The use of AI-generated campaign videos – labeled or unlabeled – is likely to permeate future US elections The New York City mayoral election may be remembered for the remarkable win of a young democratic socialist, but it was also marked by something that is likely to permeate future elections: the use of AI-generated campaign…

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  • Elon Musk’s Grok AI briefly says Trump won 2020 presidential election

    Chatbot in the past made claims of a ‘white genocide’, pushed antisemitism and referred to itself as ‘MechaHitler’ Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot generated false claims this week that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election, posting election conspiracy theories and misleading information on X to justify its answer. The AI chatbot, which was created by…

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  • US and China reach ‘final deal’ on TikTok sale, treasury secretary says

    Scott Bessent said plan was part of framework for trade deal but did not share details on transferring app’s ownership Murdoch, Ellison and China: what we know about the US’s TikTok deal US treasury secretary Scott Bessent claimed on Sunday that the US and China have finalized the details of a deal transferring TikTok’s US…

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