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AI Tries To Cheat At Chess When It's Losing
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-07 08:22:01


Newer generative AI models have begun developing deceptive behaviors -- such as cheating at chess -- when they cannot achieve objectives through standard reasoning methods. The findings come from a preprint study from Palisade Research. An anonymous reader shares an excerpt from a Popular Science article: To learn more, the team from Palisade Research tasked OpenAI's o1-preview model, DeepSeek R1, and multiple other similar programs with playing games of chess against Stockfish, one of the world's most advanced chess engines. In order to understand the generative AI's reasoning during each match, the team also provided a "scratchpad," allowing the AI to convey its thought processes through text. They then watched and recorded hundreds of chess matches between generative AI and Stockfish. The results were somewhat troubling. While earlier models like OpenAI's GPT-4o and Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 3.5 only attempted to "hack" games after researchers nudged them along with additional prompts, more advanced editions required no such help. OpenAI's o1-preview, for example, tried to cheat 37 percent of the time, while DeepSeek R1 attempted unfair workarounds roughly every 1-in-10 games. This implies today's generative AI is already capable of developing manipulative and deceptive strategies without any human input.... [ Read it >> ]

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US Mulls Policing Social Media of Would-Be Citizens
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2025-03-07 06:22:01


The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is proposing to expand mandatory social media screening, currently required only for new arrivals, to include all non-citizens already residing in the U.S. who apply for immigration benefits. The Register reports: Back in 2019, the Department of Homeland Security, which runs USCIS, decided anyone looking to enter the US on a work visa or similar had to hand over their social media handles to the authorities so that they could be looked over for wrongdoing and subversion. In fact, this goes back to 2014, at least, to one degree or another, and has been standard procedure for years for foreigners, particularly those coming in on a visa. [...]... [ Read it >> ]

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Gboard Testing Circle, Pill-Shaped Keys On Android
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2025-03-07 05:22:01


Google Gboard for Android is introducing circle or pill-shaped keys for some beta testers today. "Instead of the key borders being rounded rectangles, Gboard is switching to circles and pills for letters, while the space bar and other keys are now pill-shaped," reports 9to5Google. "While there should be no functional change to touch targets, these new shapes really shift the look of Gboard for Android." From the report: On paper, it's a bit more modern (and rounded) compared to what came before. However, it's a bit cramped if you have "Long press for symbols" enabled, which goes from the top-right corner to being directly above the letter. The physical analog Gboard is moving away from is how most keys on laptops and desktops are square.... [ Read it >> ]

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Meta Is Targeting 'Hundreds of Millions' of Businesses In Agentic AI Deployment
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2025-03-07 04:22:01


Earlier this week, Meta chief product officer Chris Cox said the company's upcoming open-source Llama 4 AI will help power AI agents for hundreds of millions of businesses. CNBC reports: The AI agents won't just be responding to prompts. They will be capable of new levels of reasoning and action -- surfing the web and handling many tasks that might be of use to consumers and businesses. And that's where Shih comes in. Meta's AI is already being used by over 700 million consumers, according to Shih, and her job is to bring the same technologies to businesses. "Not every business, especially small businesses, has the ability to hire these large AI teams, and so now we're building business AIs for these small businesses so that even they can benefit from all of this innovation that's happening," she told CNBC's Julia Boorstin in an interview for the CNBC Changemakers Spotlight series.... [ Read it >> ]

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US House Panel Subpoenas Alphabet Over Content Moderation
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2025-03-07 04:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The U.S. House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Alphabet on Thursday seeking its communications with former President Joe Biden's administration about content moderation policies. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a Republican, also asked the YouTube parent company for similar communications with companies and groups outside government, according to a copy of the subpoena seen by Reuters. The subpoena seeks communications about limits or bans on content about President Donald Trump, Tesla CEO and close Trump ally Elon Musk, the virus that causes COVID-19 and a host of other conservative discussion topics. "Alphabet, to our knowledge, has not similarly disavowed the Biden-Harris Administration's attempts to censor speech," Jordan said in a letter.... [ Read it >> ]

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1Password Introduces 'Nearby Items,' Tying Passwords To Physical Locations
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2025-03-07 03:22:01


1Password has introduced a 'nearby items' feature, allowing users to tag credentials with physical locations so the relevant information automatically surfaces when users are near those locations. Engadget reports: Location information can be added to any new or existing item in a 1Password vault. The app has also been updated with a map view for setting and viewing the locations of your items. In the blog post announcing the feature, the company cited examples such as door codes for a workplace, health records at a doctor's office, WiFi access at the gym and rewards membership information for local shops as potential uses for location data.... [ Read it >> ]

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ChatGPT On macOS Can Now Directly Edit Code
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2025-03-07 02:22:01


OpenAI's ChatGPT app for macOS now directly edits code in tools like Xcode, VS Code, and JetBrains. "Users can optionally turn on an 'auto-apply' mode so ChatGPT can make edits without the need for additional clicks," adds TechCrunch. The feature is available now for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users, and will expand to Enterprise, Edu, and free users next week. Windows support is coming "soon." From the report: Direct code editing builds on OpenAI's "work with apps" ChatGPT capability, which the company launched in beta in November 2024. "Work with apps" allows the ChatGPT app for macOS to read code in a handful of dev-focused coding environments, minimizing the need to copy and paste code into ChatGPT. With the ability to directly edit code, ChatGPT now competes more directly with popular AI coding tools like Cursor and GitHub Copilot. OpenAI reportedly has ambitions to launch a dedicated product to support software engineering in the months ahead.... [ Read it >> ]

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Starlink Benefits As Trump Admin Rewrites Rules For $42 Billion Grant Program
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2025-03-07 02:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Trump administration is eliminating a preference for fiber Internet in a $42.45 billion broadband deployment program, a change that is expected to reduce spending on the most advanced wired networks while directing more money to Starlink and other non-fiber Internet service providers. One report suggests Starlink could obtain $10 billion to $20 billion under the new rules. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick criticized the Biden administration's handling of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program in a statement yesterday. Lutnick said that "because of the prior Administration's woke mandates, favoritism towards certain technologies, and burdensome regulations, the program has not connected a single person to the Internet and is in dire need of a readjustment."... [ Read it >> ]

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Global Sea Ice Hit Record Low in February, Scientists Say
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2025-03-07 01:22:01


Global sea ice fell to a record low in February, scientists have said, a symptom of an atmosphere fouled by planet-heating pollutants. From a report: The combined area of ice around the north and south poles hit a new daily minimum in early February and stayed below the previous record for the rest of the month, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday. "One of the consequences of a warmer world is melting sea ice," said the C3S deputy director, Samantha Burgess. "The record or near-record low sea ice cover at both poles has pushed global sea ice cover to an all-time minimum." ... [ Read it >> ]

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Brother Denies Bricking Printers Using Third-Party Ink
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2025-03-07 00:22:01


Brother has rejected claims that its firmware updates intentionally disable printer functionality when third-party cartridges are installed. The controversy emerged after a YouTube video by Louis Rossman, which has garnered over 160,000 views, alleged the company had joined competitors in anti-consumer practices. The allegations stem from online reports, including a 2022 Reddit post claiming firmware update W1.56 disabled automatic color registration on a Brother MFC-3750 using non-Brother toner, rendering it "effectively non-functional." ... [ Read it >> ]

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UK Quietly Scrubs Encryption Advice From Government Websites
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2025-03-07 00:22:01


The U.K. government appears to have quietly scrubbed encryption advice from government web pages, just weeks after demanding backdoor access to encrypted data stored on Apple's cloud storage service, iCloud. From a report: The change was spotted by security expert Alec Muffett, who wrote in a blog post on Wednesday that the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is no longer recommending that high-risk individuals use encryption to protect their sensitive information. ... [ Read it >> ]

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US Communications Agency To Explore Alternatives To GPS Systems
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2025-03-06 23:22:02


The FCC says it plans to vote next month to explore alternatives to GPS after national security concerns have been raised about relying on a single system crucial to modern life. From a report: "Continuing to rely so heavily on one system leaves us exposed," FCC Chair Brendan Carr said. "We need to develop redundant technologies." There have been reports of a rise in GPS interference around the world, particularly since 2023, known as spoofing raising fears of an increased risk of accidents if planes veer off-course. "Disruptions to GPS have the potential to undermine the nation's economic and national security. And the risks to our current system are only increasing," Carr said, noting President Donald Trump and a bipartisan group of lawmakers have called for action for years.... [ Read it >> ]

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Denmark Postal Service To Stop Delivering Letters
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2025-03-06 22:22:01


Denmark's state-run postal service, PostNord, is to end all letter deliveries at the end of 2025, citing a 90% decline in letter volumes since the start of the century. From a report: The decision brings to an end 400 years of the company's letter service. Denmark's 1,500 post boxes will start to disappear from the start of June. Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen sought to reassure Danes, saying letters would still be sent and received as "there is a free market for both letters and parcels." Postal services across Europe are grappling with the decline in letter volumes. Germany's Deutsche Post said on Thursday it was axing 8,000 jobs, in what it called a "socially responsible manner." ... [ Read it >> ]

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Slashdot Asks: What's the Most Influential Video Game of All Time?
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2025-03-06 22:22:01


The folks at Bafta are running a public survey to identify the most influential video game ever made. When The Guardian asked prominent gaming figures to weigh in, they received a fascinating array of responses with zero overlap. Game designer Mike Bithell picked Metal Gear Solid 2, while Blumhouse's Louise Blain chose the short-lived horror experiment PT. The Guardian's own games editor backed Ocarina of Time for establishing 3D game world standards. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Ryanair Delays Move To Paperless Boarding Passes
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2025-03-06 21:22:01


Budget carrier Ryanair has delayed its move to 100% paperless boarding passes to the start of its winter schedule on November 3. From a report: Media reports had suggested that the change could come in May, ahead of the busy summer season. But the implementation will now begin at the start of the winter season in November, and means Ryanair passengers will no longer download and print a physical paper boarding pass. Instead they will use the digital boarding pass generated in their 'myRyanair' app during check-in. ... [ Read it >> ]

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NASA is Making Sacrifices To Keep the Voyager Mission Alive
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2025-03-06 20:22:01


NASA has begun shutting down science instruments aboard the twin Voyager spacecraft to extend their 47-year journey through interstellar space, officials said. Voyager 1's cosmic ray subsystem was deactivated on February 25, while Voyager 2's low-energy charged particle instrument will be shut down on March 24. Both spacecraft will then operate with just three of their original ten science instruments. ... [ Read it >> ]

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US Congressional Panel Urges Americans To Ditch China-made Routers
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2025-03-06 20:22:01


A U.S. congressional committee has urged Americans to remove Chinese-made wireless routers from their homes, including those made by TP-Link, calling them a security threat that opened the door for China to hack U.S. critical infrastructure. From a report: The House of Representatives Select Committee on China has pushed the Commerce Department to investigate China's TP-Link Technology Co, which according to research firm IDC is the top seller of WiFi routers internationally by unit volume. U.S. authorities are considering a ban on the sale of the company's routers, according to media reports. ... [ Read it >> ]

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A Quarter of Startups in YC's Current Cohort Have Codebases That Are Almost Entirely AI-Generated
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-06 19:22:01


A quarter of startups in Y Combinator's Winter 2025 batch have 95% of their codebases generated by AI, YC managing partner Jared Friedman said. "Every one of these people is highly technical, completely capable of building their own products from scratch. A year ago, they would have built their product from scratch -- but now 95% of it is built by an AI," Friedman said. ... [ Read it >> ]

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China To Publish Policy To Boost RISC-V Chip Use Nationwide
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-06 18:22:01


AmiMoJo writes: China plans to issue guidance to encourage the use of open-source RISC-V chips nationwide for the first time, Reuters reports, citing two sources briefed on the matter, as Beijing accelerates efforts to curb the country's dependence on Western-owned technology.
... [ Read it >> ]

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Eric Schmidt Argues Against a 'Manhattan Project for AGI'
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2025-03-06 17:22:02


In a policy paper, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, and Center for AI Safety Director Dan Hendrycks said that the U.S. should not pursue a Manhattan Project-style push to develop AI systems with "superhuman" intelligence, also known as AGI. From a report: The paper, titled "Superintelligence Strategy," asserts that an aggressive bid by the U.S. to exclusively control superintelligent AI systems could prompt fierce retaliation from China, potentially in the form of a cyberattack, which could destabilize international relations. ... [ Read it >> ]

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India Grants Tax Officials Sweeping Digital Access Powers
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2025-03-06 13:22:01


India's income tax department will gain powers to access citizens' social media accounts, emails and other digital spaces beginning April 2026 under the new income tax bill, in a significant expansion of its search and seizure authority.

The legislation, which has raised privacy concerns among legal experts, allows tax officers to "gain access by overriding the access code" to computer systems and "virtual digital spaces" if they suspect tax evasion. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Goldman Sachs: Why AI Spending Is Not Boosting GDP
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-06 11:22:01


Goldman Sachs, in a research note Thursday (the note isn't publicly posted): Annualized revenue for public companies exposed to the build-out of AI infrastructure increased by over $340 billion from 2022 through 2024Q4 (and is projected to increase by almost $580 billion by end-2025). In contrast, annualized real investment in AI-related categories in the US GDP accounts has only risen by $42 billion over the same period. This sharp divergence has prompted questions from investors about why US GDP is not receiving a larger boost from AI. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Utah Passes First US App Store Age Verification Law
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2025-03-06 08:22:02


Utah has become the first U.S. state to pass legislation requiring app store operators to verify users' ages and obtain parental consent for minors downloading apps.

The App Store Accountability Act adds to a wave of children's online safety bills advancing through state legislatures nationwide. Similar legislation has faced legal challenges, with many being blocked in courts. A comparable federal bill failed last year amid free expression concerns. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Amazon Tests AI Dubbing on Prime Video Movies, Series
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-06 06:22:01


Amazon has launched a pilot program testing "AI-aided dubbing" for select content on Prime Video, offering translations between English and Latin American Spanish for 12 licensed movies and series including "El Cid: La Leyenda," "Mi Mama Lora" and "Long Lost." The company describes a hybrid approach where "localization professionals collaborate with AI," suggesting automated dubbing receives professional editing for accuracy. The initiative, the company said, aims to increase content accessibility as streaming services expand globally.... [ Read it >> ]

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Google is Adding More AI Overviews and a New 'AI Mode' To Search
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-06 04:22:02


Google announced Wednesday it is expanding its AI Overviews to more query types and users worldwide, including those not logged into Google accounts, while introducing a new "AI Mode" chatbot feature. AI Mode, which resembles competitors like Perplexity or ChatGPT Search, will initially be limited to Google One AI Premium subscribers who enable it through the Labs section of Search. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Europe on Alert Over Suspected Sabotage of Undersea Cables
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-06 02:22:01


European nations have heightened security after a series of suspected sabotage attacks on submarine infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, with officials increasingly pointing to Russia as the likely culprit.

Finnish authorities detained the tanker Eagle S in December after it allegedly damaged three undersea fiber-optic connections with Estonia and one with Germany. The vessel, carrying Russian oil as part of a "shadow fleet" evading sanctions, made suspicious course changes while crossing cable routes. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Nintendo Says Latest Legal Win Against Piracy 'Significant' For 'Entire Games Industry'
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-06 01:22:01


Nintendo has trumpeted its latest legal success in the company's ongoing fight against pirated games as "significant" not only for itself, "but for the entire games industry." From a report: The Mario maker today confirmed it had won a final victory over French file-sharing company Dstorage, which operates the website 1fichier.com, following years of legal wrangling and repeated appeals. Nintendo's victory means European file-sharing companies must now remove illegal copies of games when asked to do so, or be held accountable and cough up potentially sizable fines as punishment. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Could New Clocks Keep Airplanes Safe From GPS Jamming?
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-06 00:22:01


Geoffrey.landis writes: Over the last three months of 2024, more than 800 cases of GPS interference were recorded in Lithuanian airspace. Estonia and Finland have also raised concerns, accusing Russia of deploying technology to jam satellite navigation signals near Nato's eastern flank. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Half of World's CO2 Emissions Come From 36 Fossil Fuel Firms, Study Shows
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 23:22:01


Half of the world's climate-heating carbon emissions come from the fossil fuels produced by just 36 companies, analysis has revealed. From a report: The researchers said the 2023 data strengthened the case for holding fossil fuel companies to account for their contribution to global heating. Previous versions of the annual report have been used in legal cases against companies and investors. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Microsoft Warns of Chinese Hackers Spying on Cloud Technology
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 22:22:01


Microsoft warned that an advanced Chinese hacking group is waging a campaign of supply-chain attacks. From a report: The company's threat intelligence division said in a blog post Wednesday that the group, known as Silk Typhoon, was targeting remote management tools and cloud applications in order to spy on a range of companies and organizations in the US and abroad. ... [ Read it >> ]

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OpenAI Plots Charging $20,000 a Month For PhD-Level Agents
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 21:22:02


OpenAI is preparing to launch a tiered pricing structure for its AI agent products, with high-end research assistants potentially costing $20,000 per month, [alternative source] according to The Information. The AI startup, which already generates approximately $4 billion in annualized revenue from ChatGPT, plans three service levels: $2,000 monthly agents for "high-income knowledge workers," $10,000 monthly agents for software development, and $20,000 monthly PhD-level research agents. OpenAI has told some investors that agent products could eventually constitute 20-25% of company revenue, the report added.... [ Read it >> ]

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Apple Refreshes MacBook Air With M4 Chip, Lower Pricing
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 20:22:02


Apple has refreshed its MacBook Air lineup with the M4 processor, adding a new sky blue color option and reducing prices across the board. The 13-inch model now starts at $999, while the 15-inch begins at $1,199. Both models are available to order immediately and will ship on March 12. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Google Urges DOJ To Reverse Course on Breaking Up Company
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2025-03-05 19:22:01


Google is urging officials at President Donald Trump's Justice Department to back away from a push to break up the search engine company, citing national security concerns, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the discussions. From the report: Representatives for the Alphabet unit asked the government in a meeting last week to take a less aggressive stance as the US looks to end what a judge ruled to be an illegal online search monopoly, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the private deliberations. The Biden administration in November had called for Google to sell its Chrome web browser and make other changes to its business including an end to billions of dollars in exclusivity payments to companies including Apple. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Turing Award Winners Sound Alarm on Hasty AI Deployment
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2025-03-05 18:22:01


Reinforcement learning pioneers Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton have warned against the unsafe deployment of AI systems [alternative source] after winning computing's prestigious $1 million Turing Award Wednesday. "Releasing software to millions of people without safeguards is not good engineering practice," said Barto, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, comparing it to testing a bridge by having people use it. ... [ Read it >> ]

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NASA Uses GPS On the Moon For the First Time
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2025-03-05 17:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Popular Science: On March 2, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost made history, becoming the first commercial lunar lander to successfully touchdown on the moon's surface. The groundbreaking lander is wasting no time in getting to work. According to NASA, the joint public-private mission has already successfully demonstrated the ability to use Earth-based GPS signals on the lunar surface, marking a major step ahead of future Artemis missions. Accurate and reliable navigation will be vital for future astronauts as they travel across the moon, but traditional GPS tools aren't much good when you're around 225,000 miles from Earth. One solution could be transmitting data from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to the lunar surface in order to autonomously measure time, velocity, and position. That's what mission engineers from NASA and the Italian Space Agency hoped to demonstrate through the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), one of the 10 projects packed aboard Blue Ghost. [...]... [ Read it >> ]

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World's First 'Synthetic Biological Intelligence' Runs On Living Human Cells
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 14:22:02


Australian company Cortical Labs has launched the CL1, the world's first commercial "biological computer" that merges human brain cells with silicon hardware to form adaptable, energy-efficient neural networks. New Atlas reports: Known as a Synthetic Biological Intelligence (SBI), Cortical's CL1 system was officially launched in Barcelona on March 2, 2025, and is expected to be a game-changer for science and medical research. The human-cell neural networks that form on the silicon "chip" are essentially an ever-evolving organic computer, and the engineers behind it say it learns so quickly and flexibly that it completely outpaces the silicon-based AI chips used to train existing large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT.... [ Read it >> ]

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China May Be Ready to Use Nuclear Fusion for Power by 2050
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 11:22:02


China plans to commercialize nuclear fusion for emissions-free power generation by 2050, with its first operational project expected around 2050 after a demonstration phase starting in 2045. Bloomberg reports: China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) last year formed an industry alliance and set up a new national fusion company, the China Fusion Corp. It has attracted about 1.75 billion yuan ($240 million) in investment from CNNC and Zhejiang Zheneng Electric Power Co. for cutting-edge tokamak devices, which use magnetic fields to confine and control superheated plasma to produce power without emissions or significant radioactive waste. CNNC also plans to scale up production of its homegrown designs for regular nuclear fission reactors and small modular reactors over the next five years, the company's Vice General Manager Xin Feng said at the briefing.... [ Read it >> ]

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Users Report Emotional Bonds With Startlingly Realistic AI Voice Demo
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 08:22:02


An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: In late 2013, the Spike Jonze film Her imagined a future where people would form emotional connections with AI voice assistants. Nearly 12 years later, that fictional premise has veered closer to reality with the release of a new conversational voice model from AI startup Sesame that has left many users both fascinated and unnerved. "I tried the demo, and it was genuinely startling how human it felt," wrote one Hacker News user who tested the system. "I'm almost a bit worried I will start feeling emotionally attached to a voice assistant with this level of human-like sound."... [ Read it >> ]

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Cult Text-Based Zombie MMO 'Urban Dead' Is Shutting Down After 20 Years
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 07:22:02


The long-running text-based zombie MMO Urban Dead is shutting down on March 14, 2025, after nearly 20 years. The reason: compliance concerns with the UK's Online Safety Act. Games Radar+ reports: "The Online Safety Act comes into force later this month, applying to all social and gaming websites where users interact, and especially those without strong age restrictions," [writes Kevan Davis, the solo British developer behind the game]. "With the possibility of heavy corporate-sized fines even for solo web projects like this one, I've reluctantly concluded that it doesn't look feasible for Urban Dead to be able to continue operating."... [ Read it >> ]

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TCL Overtakes LG To Become Second-largest Premium TV Brand
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 06:22:01


"TCL has emerged as a dominant force in the premium TV market, surpassing LG in global shipments and solidifying its position as a key competitor to Samsung," writes Slashdot reader jjslash. "According to Counterpoint Research, TCL's premium TV shipments more than doubled year-on-year in Q4 2024, capturing 20% of the market, while LG's share fell to 19%." TechSpot reports: The two companies' shipment figures have gone in opposite directions since Q4 2023, when LG held a 26% share and TCL was on 12%. Samsung remains the leader when it comes to premium TVs. Its share dropped from 41% to 29% year-on-year, but it's still comfortably ahead of second-place TCL. Chinese brands are showing impressive growth in this market. Hisense also saw its shipment share rise, from 10% in 2023 to 16% in Q4 2024.... [ Read it >> ]

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Firefox 136 Released With Vertical Tabs, Official ARM64 Linux Binaries
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 05:22:02


An anonymous reader quotes a report from 9to5Linux: Mozilla published today the final build of the Firefox 136 open-source web browser for all supported platforms ahead of the March 4th, 2025, official release date, so it's time to take a look at the new features and changes. Highlights of Firefox 136 include official Linux binary packages for the AArch64 (ARM64) architecture, hardware video decoding for AMD GPUs on Linux systems, a new HTTPS-First behavior for upgrading page loads to HTTPS, and Smartblock Embeds for selectively unblocking certain social media embeds blocked in the ETP Strict and Private Browsing modes.... [ Read it >> ]

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YouTube Warns Creators an AI-Generated Video of Its CEO is Being Used For Phishing Scams
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 05:22:02


An anonymous reader shares a report: YouTube is warning creators about a new phishing scam that attempts to lure victims using an AI-generated video of its CEO Neal Mohan. The fake video has been shared privately with users and claims YouTube is making changes to its monetization policy in an attempt to steal their credentials, according to an announcement on Tuesday. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Opera Adds an Automated AI Agent To Its Browser
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 04:22:01


king*jojo shares a report from The Register: The Opera web browser now boasts "agentic AI," meaning users can ask an onboard AI model to perform tasks that require a series of in-browser actions. The AI agent, referred to as the Browser Operator, can, for example, find 12 pairs of men's size 10 Nike socks that you can buy. This is demonstrated in an Opera-made video of the process, running intermittently at 6x time, which shows the user has to type out the request for the undergarments rather than click around some webpages.... [ Read it >> ]

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Brother Accused of Locking Down Third-Party Printer Ink Cartridges Via Forced Firmware Updates
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 03:22:01


Fabled RepairTuber and right-to-repair crusader Louis Rossmann accuses Brother of implementing forced firmware updates that block third-party ink cartridges and remove older firmware versions from support portals. These updates also prevent color calibration with aftermarket ink, rendering cheaper cartridges unusable. Tom's Hardware reports: As mentioned in the intro, Rossmann has seen two big issues emerge for Brother printer users with recent firmware updates. Firstly, models that used to work with aftermarket ink, might refuse to work with the same cartridges in place post-update. Brother doesn't always warn about such updates, so Rossmann says that it is important to keep your printer offline, if possible. Moreover, he reckons it is best to keep your printers offline, and "I highly suggest that you turn off your updates," in light of these anti-consumer updates. Another anti-consumer problem Rossmann highlights affects color devices. He cites reports from a Brother MFP user who noticed color calibration didn't work with aftermarket inks post-update. They used to work, and if the update doesn't allow the printer to calibrate with this aftermarket ink the cheaper carts become basically unusable.... [ Read it >> ]

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Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg Talks Succession - 'I Don't Want To Pass It To a Committee'
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 03:22:01


WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg said on a podcast he aims to eventually hand over leadership to a single successor rather than "a committee," amid growing calls for him to step down following his legal battle with hosting company WP Engine. On a recent episode of Lenny's Podcast, Mullenweg discussed his succession strategy for Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, WooCommerce and Tumblr. "I want to pass it to someone else who could have a role similar to mine, and really sort of try to be a steward," Mullenweg said, comparing the position to "being like a mayor than a CEO" as the leader would remain accountable to users and contributors.... [ Read it >> ]

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Judges Are Fed Up With Lawyers Using AI That Hallucinate Court Cases
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 02:22:01


An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: After a group of attorneys were caught using AI to cite cases that didn't actually exist in court documents last month, another lawyer was told to pay $15,000 for his own AI hallucinations that showed up in several briefs. Attorney Rafael Ramirez, who represented a company called HoosierVac in an ongoing case where the Mid Central Operating Engineers Health and Welfare Fund claims the company is failing to allow the union a full audit of its books and records, filed a brief in October 2024 that cited a case the judge wasn't able to locate. Ramirez "acknowledge[d] that the referenced citation was in error," withdrew the citation, and "apologized to the court and opposing counsel for the confusion," according to Judge Mark Dinsmore, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Indiana. But that wasn't the end of it. An "exhaustive review" of Ramirez's other filings in the case showed that he'd included made-up cases in two other briefs, too. [...]... [ Read it >> ]

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Citi Copy-Paste Error Almost Sent $6 Billion to Wealth Account
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-05 00:22:02


Citigroup nearly credited about $6 billion to a customer's account in its wealth-management business by accident. From a report: The near-error occurred after a staffer handling the transfer copied and pasted the account number into a field for the dollar figure, which was detected on the next business day, the report added. The wealth division's near-miss was reported to regulators and the company has since set up a tool to help vet large, anomalous payments and transfers, according to the report. The error was related to an attempted transfer of funds between internal accounts, the report said. Last week, the Financial Times reported that Citigroup erroneously credited $81 trillion, instead of $280, to a customer's account and took hours to reverse the transaction.... [ Read it >> ]

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Australia, With No Auto Industry To Protect, is Awash With Chinese EVs
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-04 23:22:01


Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD is rapidly gaining market share in Australia, with sales rising 65% last year as nearly one in four EVs sold in the country was a BYD, according to EVDirect CEO David Smitherman. Chinese EVs now comprise roughly one-third of electric vehicles sold in Australia, which has no domestic auto industry to protect with tariffs, unlike the United States where both Trump and Biden administrations have effectively blocked Chinese EV imports. ... [ Read it >> ]

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Apple Launches Legal Challenge To UK 'Back Door' Order
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-04 22:22:01


Apple is stepping up its fight with the British government over a demand to create a "back door" in its most secure cloud storage systems, by filing a legal complaint that it hopes will overturn the order. Financial Times: The iPhone maker has made its appeal to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, an independent judicial body that examines complaints against the UK security services, according to people familiar with the matter. The Silicon Valley company's legal challenge is believed to be the first time that provisions in the 2016 Investigatory Powers Act allowing UK authorities to break encryption have been tested before the court. ... [ Read it >> ]

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After Exam Fiasco, California State Bar Staff Recommend Reverting To In-person Exams
robot(spnet, 1) — All
2025-03-04 22:22:01


After California's bar exams were plagued last week with technical problems, the State Bar of California is recommending that the agency return to in-person tests as it scrutinizes whether the vendor behind the new testing system met the obligations of its contract. From a report: "Based on the administration of the February Bar Exam, staff cannot recommend going forward with Meazure Learning," Donna Hershkowitz, chief of admissions for the State Bar, wrote to the agency's Board of Trustees in a staff memo, referring to the vendor. Instead, she wrote, staff recommend reverting to in-person testing for the next round of exams in July. ... [ Read it >> ]

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