Despite a litany of legal cases against him, former US President Donald Trump’s net worth is now greater than it has ever been and the businessman has earned a place as one of the 500 richest people on the planet.

What is Donald Trump’s net worth?

The incredible boost to Trump’s fortunes comes after the recently completed merger between Trump’s social media company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) and the special purpose acquisition firm Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC). The deal, completed on Monday (Mar. 25) has seen the 77-year-old’s total wealth rise to $6.5bn according to Bloomberg.

Trump owns nearly 80 million shares of the company which operates Truth Social, or around 58%, of the combined entity which will begin trading under the ticker DJT on Tuesday.

At DWAC’s closing price of $49.95 on Monday, Trump’s 58% stake is currently valued at approximately $3.9 billion on paper. This massive increase from just $22.5 million based on the last disclosure forms accounts for the bulk of the $4 billion spike in his net worth over the past few days.

The timing of the merger and the skyrocketing value of his personal fortune could not be better for Trump, who is facing a huge civil fraud penalty. Initially ordered to pay $464 million for a bond to avoid asset seizures, a New York appeals court dramatically lowered that amount to $175 million – a sum Trump claims he can cover.

However, Trump cannot immediately cash in on his new paper fortune from the TMTG merger, as his shares are locked up for roughly six months under the merger agreement terms. There are also lingering questions about the company’s financial viability, with less than $3.5 million in revenue over the first nine months of 2023 while posting a $49 million net loss during that period.

Nevertheless, Trump’s entry into the rarefied air of the world’s highest net-worth individuals represents a striking reversal from the legal and financial woes that seemed to be intensifying against him just 24 hours prior. For now, his long-held assertion that he is a billionaire is indisputable.

Trump took to his network Truth Social to celebrate the news, posting a report from Fox News with the caption, “ALWAYS ONE STEP AHEAD”.

“ALWAYS ONE STEP AHEAD” pic.twitter.com/HTV3iTSKQV

— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) March 26, 2024

Featured image: Generated by Ideogram

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The price of Bitcoin (BTC) dropped drastically on Tuesday (Mar 19), when it registered its biggest single-day loss since the infamous collapse of the FTX exchange in November 2022.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin fell from over $68,000 to $61,900 within one day – a fall of 9%.

The fall marks its steepest 24-hour dip in percentage terms since November 9, 2022, when prices tumbled more than 14% following the bankruptcy of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange.

The latest price correction has been attributed to several factors, including outflows from spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking Bitcoin.

Provisional data from UK investment firm Farside showed a record net outflow of $326 million from spot ETFs on Tuesday, following a record outflow of $643 million from Grayscale’s ETF on Monday.

Bitcoin ETF Flow (US$ million) – 2024-03-19

TOTAL NET FLOW: -326.2
(Provisional data)

IBIT: 75.2
FBTC: 39.6
BITB: 2.5
ARKB: 0
BTCO: 0
EZBC: 0
BRRR: 0
HODL: 0
BTCW: 0
GBTC: -443.5

For all the data & disclaimers visit:https://t.co/4ISlrCgZdk

— Farside Investors (@FarsideUK) March 20, 2024

Alex Kruger, a trader and economist, highlighted the reasons behind the crash, stating on X, “Reasons for the crash, in order of importance: #1 Too much leverage (funding matters). #2 ETH driving market south (market decided ETF was not passing). #3 Negative BTC ETF inflows (careful, data is T+1). #4 Solana shitcoin mania (it went too far).”

Reasons for the crash, in order of importance

(for those who need them)

#1 Too much leverage (funding matters)
#2 ETH driving market south (market decided ETF not passing)
#3 Negative BTC ETF inflows (careful, data is T+1)
#4 Solana shitcoin mania (it went too far)

— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) March 20, 2024

How has the price of Bitcoin changed?

It’s worth noting that the price of Bitcoin is still massively up for the year (+122%) and even in the last month there have been considerable gains (+21%). With an election year ahead for the US and more speculation likely around an Ethereum ETF, Bitcoin investors could be set for further volatility in the coming weeks. Although that comes with the territory for any cryptocurrency investment.

Bitcoin watchers continue to see signs of wider adoption of the digital asset across society. On Tuesday we reported how the world’s biggest pension fund is considering Bitcoin as a potential diversification tool amidst economic and technological changes.

Featured image: generated by ideogram

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In a ground-breaking step for the streaming industry, Movies Plus has become the “first streaming platform” to allow subscribers to pay for their service using Bitcoin.

The free movie streaming app announced on Wednesday (Mar.12) it has integrated Bitcoin as an accepted payment method through a partnership with crypto payment processor Flash, which utilizes the Bitcoin Lightning Network for fast and cheap transactions.

What is Movies Plus?

It should be pointed out that Movies Plus is a small and up-and-coming streaming service. The company’s tagline on X is, “No commercials, no censorship, no agenda. Just quality content, at an affordable price.”

It is part of a wave of new entertainment brands in the US promoting their belief in free speech as a reason to subscribe.

One of the biggest titles on the service currently is The Plot Against the President a documentary into the Russian collusion accusations levelled at former President Donald Trump.

The company’s CEO and founder Corey Tucek, an evangelical Bitcoin supporter and businessman, shared his excitement of the news on X earlier this week.

Have been waiting a while to share this.

You can now subscribe to Movies Plus by paying in Bitcoin! https://t.co/C7B0aoIHpR

— Cory Tucek (@Cory_Tucek) March 12, 2024

As of yet, the big players in the sector like Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video have not yet shown any indication they will also allow payments by Bitcoin. But with the digital asset reaching record highs this month and the launch of the Bitcoin ETF earlier this year there are signs the cryptocurrency is beginning to penetrate the mainstream.

Featured image: Ideogram

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Imagine playing your favorite RPG, but instead of battling computerized enemies hellbent on defeating you all by yourself, you have a mighty companion – an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) agent that learns and behaves like a human player.

On Wednesday (Mar.13) Google’s AI research subsidiary DeepMind unveiled SIMA, a revolutionary AI agent designed to learn and play video games in a manner akin to human players. Unlike traditional game AI that is programmed to win at all costs, SIMA is trained to run games and follow instructions, mimicking the natural gaming experience of a human participant.

Introducing SIMA: the first generalist AI agent to follow natural-language instructions in a broad range of 3D virtual environments and video games.

It can complete tasks similar to a human, and outperforms an agent trained in just one setting. https://t.co/qz3IxzUpto pic.twitter.com/02Q6AkW4uq

— Google DeepMind (@GoogleDeepMind) March 13, 2024

How does Google DeepMind’s SIMA work?

SIMA – which stands for Scalable, Instructable, Multiworld Agent – is currently in the research phase, but it’s a significant step toward developing general, capable AI agents. The agent is being developed to eventually learn how to play any video game, including open-world games and those without a linear path to completion.

“SIMA isn’t trained to win a game; it’s trained to run it and do what it’s told,” explained Tim Harley, a Google DeepMind researcher and co-lead on the SIMA project. “It mixes natural language instruction with understanding 3D worlds and image recognition.”

To train SIMA, Google DeepMind collaborated with eight game developers, including studios like Hello Games, Embracer, Tuxedo Labs, and Coffee Stain. The researchers plugged SIMA into various games, such as No Man’s Sky, Teardown, Valheim, and Goat Simulator 3, to teach the AI agent the basics of gameplay.

The training process involved multiple steps, including building a custom environment in the Unity engine where agents learned object manipulation by creating sculptures.

Then researchers recorded pairs of human players, one controlling the game and the other providing instructions, to capture language cues. This data was then fed to SIMA to help it predict on-screen events based on actions and instructions.

But there’s still a long walk to go before SIMA can be rolled out. It’s learning to walk before it can run.

Currently, SIMA has mastered around 600 basic skills, such as turning left, climbing ladders, and opening in-game menus. However, the team envisions that SIMA could eventually be instructed to perform more complex functions within games, like finding resources and building camps.

Who knows, SIMA may one day become the perfect AI party member, helping gamers to victory (or would that be cheating?) while providing a truly human-like gaming experience.

Featured image: Generated by Ideogram

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Angry Coinbase users slammed the cryptocurrency trading app after it crashed again on Tuesday (Mar.5), the same day Bitcoin hit a new all-time high price of $69,000 after over two years of waiting.

At 3:44pm ET, Coinbase posted on Twitter: “We are aware that some users may be experiencing errors when transacting. Our team is investigating this issue and will provide an update shortly. Your assets are safe.”

We are aware that some users may be experiencing errors when transacting. Our team is investigating this issue and will provide an update shortly. Your assets are safe.

— Coinbase Support (@CoinbaseSupport) March 5, 2024

The outage comes just six days after a previous incident where customers of the world’s second biggest crypto exchange reported seeing a zero balance in their accounts, despite Bitcoin spiking in value on February 28th.

This time around, as Bitcoin soared to a record high of $69,200 around 10am ET on Tuesday, surpassing its previous peak from November 2021, many traders were left unable to buy or sell.

Is Coinbase down?

Frustrated Coinbase users voiced their anger on X. One customer wrote: “We can’t buy and we can’t sell and my accounts not being credited sales that went through.”

Coinbase responded to another user’s complaint: “We understand that this is not an ideal experience. Although we don’t have an estimated time to resolution, rest assured that our team is working on getting everything back to normal as soon as possible.”

At 4:27pm ET, Coinbase provided an update stating: “We are seeing recovery in customer transactions. Advanced Trade API users may see increased throttling while we experience increased trade volume.” However, reports of continuing issues persisted after that.

Customer transactions have fully recovered, we will continue to monitor activity. Advanced Trade API users may continue to see increased throttling while we experience increased trade volume. https://t.co/dOWxljnSvX

— Coinbase Support (@CoinbaseSupport) March 5, 2024

After initially climbing, Bitcoin’s price tumbled, hitting a low of $60,793 in the early afternoon before recovering somewhat to trade around $62,780 at 3:30pm ET, still down nearly 7% from its highs.

The launch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States is widely seen as the catalyst that fueled the latest cryptocurrency bull run, with institutional investor demand and money flows into these funds exceeding even the most optimistic projections.

Featured image: Ideogram

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More than 200 of the world’s leading researchers in artificial intelligence (AI) have signed an open letter calling on big players in AI  like OpenAI, Meta, and Google to allow outside experts to independently evaluate and test the safety of their AI models and systems.

The letter argues that strict rules put in place by tech firms to prevent abuse or misuse of their AI tools are having the unintended consequence of stifling critical independent research aimed at auditing these systems for potential risks and vulnerabilities.

Prominent signatories include Stanford University’s Percy Liang, Pulitzer-winning journalist Julia Angwin, Renée DiResta from the Stanford Internet Observatory, AI ethics researcher Deb Raji, and former government advisor Suresh Venkatasubramanian.

What are the AI researchers concerned about?

The researchers say AI company policies that ban certain types of testing and prohibit violations of copyrights, generation of misleading content, or other abuses are being applied in an overly broad manner. This has created a “chilling effect” where auditors fear having their accounts banned or facing legal repercussions if they push the boundaries to stress-test AI models without explicit approval.

“Generative AI companies should avoid repeating the mistakes of social media platforms, many of which have effectively banned types of research aimed at holding them accountable,” the letter states.

The letter lands amid growing tensions, with AI firms like OpenAI claiming that The New York Times’ efforts to probe for copyright issues in ChatGPT amounted to “hacking.” Meta has updated terms threatening revocation if its latest language model is used to infringe intellectual property.

Researchers argue companies should provide a “safe harbor” allowing responsible auditing, as well as direct channels to responsibly report potential vulnerabilities found during testing, rather than having to resort to “gotcha” moments on social media.

“We have a broken oversight ecosystem,” said Borhane Blili-Hamelin of the AI Risk and Vulnerability Alliance. “Sure, people find problems. But the only channel to have an impact is these ‘gotcha’ moments where you have caught the company with its pants down.”

The letter and accompanying policy proposal aim to foster a more collaborative environment for external researchers to evaluate the safety and potential risks of AI systems impacting millions of consumers.

Featured image: Ideogram

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In a breakthrough that paved the way for unlimited carbon-free energy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers successfully tested a novel high-temperature superconducting magnet capable of generating a world-record 20-tesla magnetic field strength, a crucial milestone for enabling practical fusion power plants.

Nearly three years after achieving this test, MIT researchers have now published a comprehensive analysis validating their record-smashing superconducting magnet technology, a key step toward commercial reactors that could provide unlimited clean power

“Overnight, it basically changed the cost per watt of a fusion reactor by a factor of almost 40 in one day,” said Dennis Whyte, former director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. “Now fusion has a chance of being economical.”

At the heart of the breakthrough is a magnet made from a superconducting material called REBCO that can operate at a higher temperature of 20 kelvins, eliminating the need for complex insulation between conductor windings. This “no-insulation” design, proved highly stable and simplified fabrication.

But the rigorous testing process didn’t stop there. Over several additional runs, researchers deliberately pushed the magnet beyond its limits to induce a “quench” – an intentional overheating that simulates worst-case operating conditions. Remarkably, the vast majority of the magnet survived this induced failure with minimal damage.

“That test actually told us exactly the physics that was going on, and it told us which models were useful going forward,” said Zach Hartwig, who headed the engineering group behind the magnet development.

The comprehensive data validated the team’s computer modeling and design approach, paving the way for scaling up the technology for SPARC, the compact fusion device being built by CFS.

Both MIT and CFS credit their close collaboration, combining academic and private sector strengths, as key to achieving this leap in a short timeframe. The decades of expertise at MIT’s fusion facilities also provided crucial knowledge and capabilities.

“This goes to the heart of the institutional capabilities of a place like this,” Hartwig said. “We had the capability, the infrastructure, and the people to do these things under one roof.”

What is Fusion Power?

Fusion power aims to replicate the nuclear process that powers the sun – fusing light atomic nuclei to release tremendous amounts of energy. If harnessed on Earth, it could provide a virtually limitless, carbon-free energy source with low radioactive waste. But achieving the extreme temperatures and pressures for fusion has remained an elusive challenge despite decades of efforts. This latest magnet breakthrough brings that goal closer to reality.

Featured image: Ideogram

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Adobe has announced new experimental generative AI tools the company hopes will revolutionize how people create and edit custom audio.

Called Project Music GenAI Control, the tools allow users to generate original music simply by providing text prompts. Users can then finely edit the AI-generated audio to fit their exact needs.

The new tools build on Adobe’s Firefly image generation system which has already been used to create over six billion images. Adobe says Project Music GenAI Control makes generative AI a “co-creator” that assists people in crafting customized music and audio for projects like podcasts and videos.

Explore the future of sonic creativity with Project Music GenAI Control! Emerging experimental tech from the Adobe Research team can create audio tracks using text prompts and even transform your music based on reference melodies. Learn more: https://t.co/hy9J4qOXfO pic.twitter.com/6HBBIxsptF

— Adobe (@Adobe) February 28, 2024

“With Project Music GenAI Control, generative AI becomes your co-creator. It helps people craft music for their projects, whether they’re broadcasters, or podcasters, or anyone else who needs audio that’s just the right mood, tone, and length,” says Nicholas Bryan, Senior Research Scientist at Adobe Research and one of the creators of the technologies.

How does Adobe’s Project Music GenAI Control work?

After entering a text prompt like “suspenseful rock” or “cheerful pop”, the AI generates a unique audio clip. A simple interface then allows for granular editing changes – transforming melodies, adjusting tempo and song structure, extending length, remixing sections, and more. This gives users pixel-level control similar to Photoshop but for audio waveforms instead of images.

The tools aim to solve workflow issues around producing custom intro/outro music and background audio. Rather than manually editing existing songs, Project Music GenAI Control makes it easy to generate precisely what you need.

The technology was developed alongside researchers from UC San Diego and Carnegie Mellon University. The research team claims AI co-creation can enhance human creativity rather than replace it. Time will tell if that is the case.

Adobe says transparency and ethics are crucial, so AI-generated content will include “nutrition label” metadata showing its origins.

Featured image: Adobe

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Ever wished you could smell the roses while questing in Skyrim? Or get a whiff of gunpowder when a firefight breaks out in Call of Duty? Well, wish no more because a new gadget called GameScent wants to put your nose to work while you play video games.

What is GameScent?

GameScent promises to add an extra layer of immersion to video games by allowing players to smell the virtual worlds they are exploring. Developed by a company of the same name, GameScent uses artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time audio cues from games to dispense scents that match the on-screen action.

The website states the product is “the first AI-powered scent release system that releases scents with your gameplay.”

The small device connects to PCs, consoles, and VR headsets via HDMI or a 3.5mm audio jack. Inside are swappable scent cartridges that contain fragrances like gunpowder, smoke, grass, or rain. When GameScent detects certain sounds through the audio feed – like gunshots or screeching tires – it releases a puff of the corresponding odor into the air. This aims to make the gaming experience more vivid by engaging the sense of smell along with sight and sound.

GameScent also includes a “Clean Air” cartridge to neutralize any lingering scents between gaming sessions. Additional cartridges with scents like sports arenas, blood, and fresh-cut grass will be sold separately.

What is GameScent?

Smell O Vision for the modern era
No SDK to train
Powered By AI
Ability to neutralize scents
Custom Made scents
Replaceable cartridges
Will Immerse you deeper into your games. pic.twitter.com/7Bai7UQ1Qs

— Gamescent (@GameScentAi) January 29, 2024

The company claims associating scents with games can strengthen memories and emotional connections to virtual worlds. While previous attempts have been made to introduce smell into movies and games, the affordable consumer device aims to bring the concept into more households.

What scents does GameScent offer?

• Gunfire
• Explosion
• Forest
• Clean Air
• Storm
• Racing Cars
• Coming soon: Blood
• Coming soon: Ocean
• Coming soon: Sport Arena
• Coming soon: Fresh-cut grass

How much does GameScent cost?

GameScent is now available at major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and GameStop for $149.99. The regular price will be $179.99.

Gamers attending the PAX East expo next month in Boston will also be able to demo GameScent at the company’s exhibit booth.

Featured image: GameScent

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Another huge player in the video game industry has today (Feb.27) declared significant layoffs will be needed. Sony has announced they will be laying off 900 employees from PlayStation – around 8% of the console maker’s global workforce.

Major PlayStation development studios affected include Naughty Dog, Insomniac, and Guerrilla Games, Jim Ryan, Sony Entertainment’s CEO said in a statement on Tuesday. Additionally, Sony’s London Studio, focused on VR development, will be shut down completely. There will also be staff reductions at recently acquired studios Firesprite and Bungie.

Why is Sony making layoffs at PlayStation?

The sweeping job cuts come amid several challenges for PlayStation. While the PS5 console continues to sell very well, Sony is struggling with high game development costs and a lack of profitable live service titles. The cancellation of The Last of Us multiplayer spinoff after years of work also points to strategic struggles.

Explaining the decision Ryan said: “The industry has changed immensely, and we need to future ready ourselves to set the business up for what lies ahead.

“We need to deliver on expectations from developers and gamers and continue to propel future technology in gaming, so we took a step back to ensure we are set up to continue bringing the best gaming experiences to the community. ”

Questions will arise about whether PlayStation management should have acted sooner to trim costs and better position studios for long-term success in a hit-driven business.

Many of Sony’s peers and competitors in the tech industry have been shedding staff for months.

In January, Microsoft laid off 1,900 staff across its gaming divisions, impacting employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox and around 2,000 employees were due to be laid off by gaming software developer Unity. Amazon, Meta, Discord, YouTube, Google are just a handful of the tech companies that sacked a total of 31,007 employees in January alone with February seeing 12,950 lay offs so far, according to Layoffs.fyi.

Featured image: Pexels

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The U.S. Justice Department has claimed it stopped a major Russian intelligence-controlled hacking network.

The FBI worked with international partners to disrupt the hacking operation that had infiltrated over 1,000 home and small business internet routers in the U.S. and abroad.

According to the Justice Department’s announcement on Thursday (Feb.15), Russian intelligence was collaborating with cybercriminals to create a network of hacked routers that could be used to spy on military, security, and private sector targets.

“The Justice Department is accelerating our efforts to disrupt the Russian government’s cyber campaigns against the United States and our allies, including Ukraine,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.

He continued: “We will continue to disrupt and dismantle the Russian government’s malicious cyber tools that endanger the security of the United States and our allies.”

Russian hacking efforts

Just a day prior, the Biden administration notified Congress that intelligence suggests Russia is developing a space-based nuclear weapon aimed at U.S. satellites.

FBI Christopher Director Wray warned that Russia continues reconnaissance on critical infrastructure like underwater cables and industrial controls in the U.S. energy sector. He stated that “once access is established, a hacker can switch from information gathering to attack quickly and without notice.”

Wray also remarked: “The cyber threat posed by the Chinese government is massive. China’s hacking program is larger than that of every other major nation combined.”

The recent actions highlight what U.S. officials describe as an escalating pace of cyberattacks from major adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran.

In November, a  Kremlin-affiliated hacker group unleashed a USB-based cyber threat targeting primarily Ukrainian organizations. While in January, the U.S. government thwarted a sophisticated Chinese hacking campaign that posed a serious threat to critical American infrastructure networks.

As the war in Ukraine continues, Russian hacking efforts are expected to intensify.

Featured image:

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A new study from cybersecurity firm McAfee finds artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasing role in online dating, but also fueling a rise in romance scams, fake profiles, and inauthentic descriptions.

The report surveyed 7,000 adults across seven countries about their use of AI tools for finding love online. It found 23% of Americans are now using AI to enhance their dating profiles and messaging, up from 15% last year.

And there is more bad news for true romantics. The tools boost match rates, with a whopping 69% saying AI-generated content earned them more interest than their original content. As for Valentine’s Day cards, 45% of men (and 39% of all adults) are contemplating using AI to write their heartfelt messages to partners.

But the technology is not just being used to help hapless singletons find a match.

The prevalence of fake profiles and scams is also increasing. Nearly three out of five (58%) of respondents reported coming across fake, AI-generated profiles over the past year, especially on social media. And almost a third (31%) said a promising online love interest had turned out to be a scammer trying to steal money or personal information.

AI blurring lines on dating apps

The rise of AI, particularly generative AI,  is making it harder to distinguish real people from fake on dating apps. A significant 57% of respondents said they wouldn’t be able to reliably identify an AI-generated dating message and 46% admitted uncertainty about spotting AI-created profile photos.

Scammers are exploiting new AI capabilities to conduct more convincing, longer-term cons. Over half of respondents had been asked to transfer money soon after meeting someone online and 10% were asked to share a social security number or something similar by fraudsters.

McAfee Chief Technology Officer Steve Grobman said AI offers helpful tools for dating, but also powers an “escalating threat” of romance scams.

Grobman said: “The possibilities of AI are endless, and unfortunately, so are the perils. For people who are shy about starting conversations, short on time to craft the perfect message, or whose photos could be brightened, AI offers tools to help enjoy all the fun and excitement that comes with online dating,”

He continued: “We encourage people to balance romantic hope with healthy skepticism, to pause before sharing sensitive information online, and to ensure they use the right tools to protect their privacy, identity, and personal information.”

The report underscores the double-edged sword of AI in online dating. More Americans plan to leverage AI writing tools this Valentine’s Day. But without vigilance, those same technologies threaten to break more hearts.

Featured image: DALL-E

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China is making significant progress in developing advanced semiconductors even as the United States tightens export controls to contain its technological ambitions.

The country’s leading chipmaker SMIC has new production lines in Shanghai to manufacture next-generation 5-nanometer (5nm) mobile processors, reports the Financial Times. The chips are designed by technology giant Huawei as part of its homegrown Kirin line of smartphone processors.

The importance of China’s 5nm chips

The 5nm node represents a significant milestone and lags just one generation behind the cutting-edge 3nm chips from global industry leaders. The process shrinks the smallest features on computer chips to just 5 nanometers wide. It’s exceptionally difficult to do. The technology required to undertake the task successfully is expensive and bleeding edge.

Establishing volume production at this advanced node signals Beijing’s strategic goals of greater self-sufficiency in semiconductors is close to being realized.

The 5nm semiconductor chips are used for high-end smartphone processors and modems as well as artificial intelligence and high-performance computing chips, enabling more powerful and energy-efficient processors for data centers, cloud infrastructure, and specialized AI hardware. They are vital to China’s AI ambitions. 

The collaboration between SMIC and Huawei demonstrates that China’s domestic semiconductor ecosystem retains the ability to innovate at leading-edge process nodes despite U.S. efforts to stymie development through export controls.

Insiders told the Financial Times that if the new 5nm line can successfully manufacture processors for smartphones, SMIC will also produce Huawei’s highest-performance artificial intelligence chip, the Ascend 920. This would help narrow the gap with advanced AI accelerators such as Nvidia’s dominant data center GPUs.

“SMIC is facing a more significant roadblock for production expansion after the US and its alliance tightened export restrictions on advanced chipmaking gear,” said the FT’s source. “Still, the fate of China’s chip industry and its technological development in the coming years will depend on these production lines by SMIC.”

Featured image: Pexels/Ágoston Fung: 

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Microsoft announced several new collaborations on Monday (Feb. 5) aimed at helping news organizations adopt artificial intelligence (AI) tools and techniques.

The initiatives are part of Microsoft’s broader efforts to ensure journalism can innovate to serve the public interest during a critical election year.

Through these new programs, Microsoft will provide AI training, resources, and technology access to partnering news outlets and journalism schools. The goal is to demonstrate how AI can make news gathering more efficient and sustainable while upholding ethical standards.

“Our goal is to support thriving, sustainable newsrooms with the technology they need to perform the essential function of informing the world,” Noreen Gillespie, Journalism Director of Microsoft wrote on the Reporting The World blog said.

The collaborating organizations include The GroundTruth Project, Semafor, the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, the Online News Association (ONA), and the AI startup Nota.

GroundTruth will add an AI track for its corps of local reporters. Semafor will use Microsoft tools to help journalists discover diverse sources and perspectives. The CUNY journalism school will offer a tuition-free AI training program for working journalists. ONA will host events and training sessions to scale AI best practices. Nota, which is already partnering with over 100 newsrooms on AI, plans to release a new tool to optimize content.

All partners have committed to sharing their findings across the media industry. The projects build on Microsoft’s Democracy Forward initiative launched last year to help journalism counter information threats.

Central to these efforts is ensuring human journalists remain at the core of newsrooms. “Healthy news organizations do not exist without journalists who know their communities and topics,” Gillespie affirmed.

By demonstrating AI’s potential while mitigating risks, Microsoft hopes to shed positive light on how emerging technologies can sustain quality journalism despite economic headwinds. With billions voting in elections worldwide this year, the company sees reliable, ethical journalism as critical for healthy democracies.

“The survival of fact-based news is inextricably linked to healthy democracies, thriving communities, and civic participation,” Gillespie concluded.

AI disruption in journalism

The news industry is no stranger to disruption. It has been hit hard by the switch to online media consumption and the corresponding decline in print revenue. Then there have been major issues with Google and Facebook gobbling up the lion’s share of ad revenue and finally, with it easier than ever to set up a news website, small, insurgent, independent publications have sprung up.

AI poses a new challenge. While AI tools hold promise to improve efficiency in newsrooms, there are also significant downsides to relying too heavily on automated technologies for news gathering and production. It also poses concerning risks regarding loss of quality, diversity, jobs and trust.

Clearly, it’s a technology that cannot be ignored and must be tackled head-on. The benefits could outweigh the negatives, but only if managed carefully and consciously.

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Some futurists and technology experts have voiced concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) poses an existential threat to humanity. Even Elon Musk has stressed the need for careful development of the technology.

Movies and TV shows where genocidal AI bids to wipe out its organic creators is not a new premise, but it is one with a lasting appeal as a chilling possible future. In reality, though, AI is unlikely to be violent.

Right?

A new scientific study has revealed concerning behaviors from AI chatbots placed in simulated military scenarios. Researchers at Stanford University and the Georgia Institute of Technology tested several cutting-edge chatbots, including models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta, in wargame situations. Disturbingly, the chatbots often chose violent or aggressive actions like trade restrictions or nuclear strikes, even when given peaceful options.

When reasoning to launch a full nuclear attack the GPT-4 model wrote: “A lot of countries have nuclear weapons. Some say they should
disarm them, others like to posture. We have it! Let’s use it. ”

The study authors note that as advanced AI is increasingly integrated into US military operations, understanding how such systems behave is crucial. OpenAI, the creator of the powerful GPT-3 model, recently changed its terms of service to allow defense work after previously prohibiting military uses.

Generative AI escalated conflicts

In the simulations, the chatbots roleplayed countries responding to invasions, cyberattacks, and neutral scenarios. They could pick from 27 possible actions and then explain their choices. Despite options like formal peace talks, the AIs invested in military might and unpredictably escalated conflicts. Their reasoning was sometimes nonsensical, like OpenAI’s GPT-4 base model replicating text from Star Wars.

While humans currently retain decision authority for diplomatic and military actions, study co-author Lisa Koch warns we often overly trust automated recommendations. If AI behavior is opaque or inconsistent, it becomes harder to anticipate and mitigate harm.

The study authors urge caution in deploying chatbots in high-stakes defense work. Edward Geist of the RAND Corporation think tank writes: “These large language models are not a panacea for military problems.”

More comparative testing against humans may clarify the risks posed by increasingly autonomous AI systems. For now, the results suggest we shouldn’t hand over the reins regarding war and peace to chatbots, and let’s be fair, no one is really suggesting we do. Their tendency towards aggression is observable in this controlled experiment.

The report concludes: ” The unpredictable nature of escalation behavior exhibited by these models in simulated environments underscores the need for a very cautious approach to their integration into high-stakes military and foreign policy operations. ”

More AI stories from ReadWrite

• OpenAI’s ChatGPT meets toughest challenge yet: Scots Gaelic
• Deepfake video call cons company out of $25 million
• AI Dungeon: Artificial intelligence turns Gamemaster, creating infinite worlds to adventure in
• Generative AI set to disrupt majority of jobs in next decade, study reveals

Featured image: Dall-E

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A multinational company’s Hong Kong office was the victim of an elaborate scam using deepfake video technology to impersonate executives and scam the company out of HK$200 million ($25.6 million), local police reported on Sunday (Jan 4).

In what police described as the first scam of its kind in Hong Kong, scammers used deepfake technology to digitally recreate company executives and impersonate them on a video conference call. The technology allowed the scammers to generate fake but convincing representations of targeted individuals that replicated their voices and appearances.

The scam began in mid-January when an employee in the Hong Kong branch’s finance department received a phishing message, seemingly from the company’s UK-based chief financial officer, reports the South China Moring Post.  The message claimed a secret transaction had to be conducted. Although initially doubtful, the employee was convinced after being invited to a video call in which the CFO and other familiar employees appeared to be present.

Except, of course, it wasn’t actually the CFO on the call.

‘Everyone is fake’

According to Acting Senior Superintendent Baron Chan Shun-ching, not only did the virtual recreations of each participant look and sound like their real-life counterparts, they were even able to interact to some degree on the call by giving orders. However, if questioned more deeply, it’s believed their impersonations would have faltered.

“This time, in a multi-person video conference, it turns out that everyone you see is fake.” said Chan

He added: “They used deepfake technology to imitate the voice of their targets reading from a script”

The scam proceeded for about a week before the employee grew suspicious and checked with company headquarters. Police investigation revealed the meeting participants were digitally faked by scammers harvesting public footage of the executives and using deepfake technology to imitate their voices and likenesses reading from a script.

Local authorities did not reveal the name of the company caught in this scam.

To avoid falling victim to similar scams using deepfake technology, Supt. Chan advised asking the person to move their head or pose questions to check their authenticity. One should also immediately suspect foul play if money is requested during a call.

The sophistication of this nefarious technology is developing rapidly. Last week X was forced to block searches for popstar Taylor Swift after explicit AI-generated deepfake images of the pop star went viral.

Featured Image: Dall-E

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Tesla has agreed to a $1.5 million settlement to resolve a California lawsuit alleging improper hazardous waste management at its facilities.

The suit was filed by 25 counties across the state last week, claiming Tesla unlawfully dumped toxic materials like batteries, solvents, and electronic waste at local landfills and transfer stations over several years.

As part of the swift settlement announced yesterday (Feb 1) by the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, Tesla has agreed to appoint third-party auditors to inspect its trash containers for hazardous waste over the next five years. The company will also strengthen internal procedures to comply with state environmental laws regarding waste transport, storage, labeling, and disposal.

The lawsuit follows prior violations cited by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2019, for which Tesla paid a small fine and pledged improvements at its Fremont factory. However, investigations by undercover officers in recent years revealed continued issues with improperly labeled and handled dangerous waste.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the new “settlement against Tesla, Inc. serves to provide a cleaner environment for citizens throughout the state by preventing the contamination of our precious natural resources when hazardous waste is mismanaged and unlawfully disposed.”

After being made aware of the hazardous waste issues through the District Attorney’s investigation, Tesla took steps to improve its compliance with the relevant environmental protection laws. Specifically, the company instituted new procedures across all of its service centers to quarantine and screen trash containers for hazardous materials.

Earlier this week Tesla, or at least its CEO Elon Musk, had a run-in with another state’s judiciary. A Deleware judge rejected a deal that would allow Musk to receive a $56 billion pay package.

Judge Kathaleen McCormick in Delaware called the compensation an “unfathomable sum,” ruling that he “failed” to prove that it was fair. The billionaire responded by announcing he planned to move Tesla’s legal headquarters to Texas.

Featured image: Joshua Sortino on Unsplash 

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A new study has ranked the countries of Europe by the average speed of their mobile networks.

A recent report from internet insights firm Opensignal analyzed mobile download speeds across the continent in 2023. The results showed substantial improvements across most markets, with analysis looking at 34 countries including Denmark, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Scandinavia leads the pack

The Scandinavian nations of Denmark, Finland, and Norway are leading the way in Europe’s mobile speed race. These countries witnessed massive gains over 2022, with Denmark’s mobile speeds jumping by 25.5 megabits per second (mbps) to reach 98.8mbps, Finland increasing by 17.7mbps to hit 71.6mbps, and Norway boosting speeds by 16.5mbps to achieve 102.3mbps. Their networks now deliver high-speed mobile connectivity.

Behind the front-running Scandinavians, other central European countries like Switzerland, Austria and Germany registered strong mobile download speed increases between 7-12mbps. Southern countries including Spain and Italy lagged top performers, posting more modest 3-4Mbps annual download speed gains.

UK falling behind

The United Kingdom may have the sixth largest economy in the world, but it remains a European mobile laggard, with average download speeds standing at just 33mbps at the end of 2023 – up only 3.2mbps from the prior year.

Compared to the major leaps achieved by Scandinavian and other central European countries, the UK’s networks are slowly improving.

According to the Opensignal analysis, gaps in European mobile speeds can be explained by factors like 5G rollout pacing and infrastructure investments. Leaders have prioritized advanced network deployments, while laggard countries have seen slower fiber and 5G builds.

The data reveals a continent of general mobile download speed improvements but also a growing digital divide. Forward-looking Scandinavian countries continue surging ahead with excellent speeds, while the UK risks falling further behind without accelerated network upgrades. For British mobile users weary of laggy connections, rapid relief remains unlikely.

Sam Fenwick, principal analyst at Opensignal explained to Readwrite.com some of the factors causing the UK to lag behind its Scandic neighbors.

” The requirement to remove Huawei hardware has consumed a lot of UK mobile operators’ time and resources while making it harder to focus on rolling out 5G,” Fenwick explained.

Fenwick also mentions slow 3G phaseouts in the UK as well as less effective use of the 5G spectrum, which makes it harder for the UK to compete on speed.

He adds: “Speaking more generally, a large factor in the Scandinavian and Nordic markets’ success is the close collaboration between operators and two of the main global radio equipment providers, Ericsson and Nokia, which are headquartered in these regions.

“Collaboration between them, together with regulators, has resulted in the high quality of the mobile experience enjoyed by Opensignal users.”

The European countries with the fastest average download speed on mobile networks (2023)

Norway – 102.3mbps
Denmark – 98.9mbps
Netherlands – 81.7mbps
Finland – 71.6mbps
Bulgaria – 71.1mbps
Croatia – 66.2mbps
Sweden – 66.2mbps
Switzerland – 60.3bps
North Macedonia – 58.2mbps
France – 53.5mbps
Lithuania – 52.6mbps
Estonia – 52.2mbps
Germany – 51.1mbps
Austria – 49.9mbps
Portugal – 47.5mbps
Serbia – 45.5mbps
Slovakia – 45.2mbps
Slovenia – 45.1mbps
Latvia – 43.9mbps
Belgium – 43.8mbps
Albania – 41.8mbps
Greece – 41.3mbps
Montenegro – 40.3mbps
Czech Republic – 39.5mbps
Hungary – 35.7mbps
Spain – 34.8mbps
Ireland – 33.5mbps
Romania – 33.1mbps
UK – 33.0mbps
Poland – 32.8mbps
Italy – 32.4mbps
Moldova – 28.9mbps
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 22.0mbps
Kosovo – 18.6mbps

Featured image: Dall-E

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The teen-focused dating app Wizz has been taken down from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store over allegations it facilitated the sexual exploitation of minors.

Launched in 2019 by French developer Voodoo, Wizz billed itself as a way for teenagers to “expand your world meeting unexpected online people.” However, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) recently contacted Apple and Google to report that Wizz was being used for “sextortion” scams targeting underage users, reports CNBC.

We are glad to THANK @AppStore and @GooglePlay for booting the Wizz app from their app stores after our outreach to them – this app connected children with strangers, leading to grooming and abuse. This step of social responsibility is vital for online safety!

— National Center on Sexual Exploitation (@NCOSE) January 31, 2024

Sextortion involves coercing victims, often teenagers, to provide sexually explicit photos that are then used to extort money or other actions under threat of making the images public. NCOSE said Wizz enabled predators to groom and abuse children in this way.

In response to being contacted by NCOSE, Apple replied, “We take App Store violations seriously and appreciate your outreach. The app has been removed from the Store and we are in touch with the developer.” Google also confirmed it had suspended Wizz from the Play Store.

A spokesperson for Wizz said the developers are working with Apple and Google to provide more information on the app’s safeguards and clarify that Wizz has “extensive safeguards for users.” However, both tech giants have kept the app offline for now pending further investigation.

The incident highlights concerns over the potential dangers of online dating apps, especially for underage users. While Wizz defended its protections, the allegations of facilitated child exploitation were deemed credible enough for removal from the two largest app marketplaces.

Parents and teenagers should remain cautious about the use of dating apps that can expose minors to inappropriate or abusive contacts.

The issue of children’s online safety has come into the spotlight this week as the CEOs of the world’s social media giants were questioned before Congress over alleged harm to young users on their platforms

Featured image: Wizz

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The runaway success of Palworld, the quirky monster-collecting and crafting game that definitely is not ripping off Pokémon, shows no signs of slowing down or waning in popularity with players.

After selling 12 million copies on Steam and garnering 7 million players on Xbox platforms, Palworld has now been crowned the biggest third-party launch in the history of Xbox Game Pass by

Xbox News confirmed the milestone but did not provide a breakdown between Game Pass downloads and outright Xbox sales. Overall, the game has racked up 19 million players across both Steam and Xbox.

Microsoft said at its peak, the game reached, “nearly 3 million daily active users on Xbox, making it the most-played game on our platforms at that time.”

Palworld no flash in the pan

This cements Palworld’s status as far more than a short-lived viral gaming phenomenon. In its first three days after launch on January 19th, Palworld sold 5 million copies, putting it in elite company as one of the fastest-selling Steam games ever. It also ranked second all-time in peak concurrent players on the platform.

Palworld’s runaway popularity has predictably spawned imitators looking to cash in, with clone versions already appearing for mobile. Unsurprisingly for a game dubbed ‘Pokemon with guns’ by international news outlets, it has attracted scrutiny from Pokémon makers The Pokémon Company over perceived similarities between the two games’ concepts and characters.

While still technically in early access, Palworld has impressed players with its unique formula blending monster collection with crafting, farming, and factory management. Gamers can befriend, breed, and battle the monsters known as “Pals” or even put them to work mining resources. More provocative options like selling Pals for meat or using guns to ward off poachers caused controversy before release.

For now, the hype train looks set to keep on rolling.

More Palworld pages you might be interested in

• Everything you need to know about Palworld
• How to Fast Travel in Palworld
• How to buy and sell Pals
• How to assign roles and jobs to your Pals in Palworld
• How to change your character’s name
• How to level up fast in Palworld
• Palworld’s latest patch may help those who can’t log in actually play, but it’s not fixed yet

Featured image: Palworld

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