Friday, 29 Mar, 2024

Tech

Hundreds of families sue 'harmful' Big Tech firms 

Hundreds of families are suing some of the world's biggest technology companies - who, they say, knowingly expose children to harmful products.  One plaintiff explains why they are taking on the might of Silicon Valley. "I literally was trapped by addiction at age 12.

Ex-OpenAI boss back at HQ but unlikely to be 

The ex-boss of leading artificial intelligence firm OpenAI has posted a photo of himself at its HQ, but he's reportedly unlikely to return to the helm of the start-up. Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Sam Altman is pictured holding a guest ID pass, commenting: "First and last

SpaceX’s Starship reaches space for first time but explodes

SpaceX’s uncrewed spacecraft Starship, developed to carry astronauts to the moon and beyond, reached space for the first time on Saturday but was presumed to have failed minutes later. It was Starship’s second test after its first attempt to reach space ended in an

OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

The OpenAI board is in discussions with Sam Altman to return to the company as its CEO, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. One of them said Altman, who was suddenly fired by the board on Friday with no notice, is “ambivalent” about coming back and would

Amazon shifts focus to AI, cuts hundreds of jobs in Alexa unit

US-based e-commerce and tech firm Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs in its voice assistant unit Alexa to focus on artificial intelligence (AI). "As we continue to invent, we're shifting some of our efforts to better align with our business priorities, and what we know matters

X ad boycott gathers pace amid antisemitism storm

An advertising boycott of social media platform X is gathering pace amid an antisemitism storm on the site formerly known as Twitter. Apple, Disney, Comcast and Warner Brothers Discovery have all halted advertising on X, US media report, following hot on the heels of IBM. The

AI boss Sam Altman ousted after board loses confidence

Sam Altman, the head of artificial intelligence firm OpenAI, has been ousted by the company's board, which said it had lost confidence in his ability to lead the company. The board said Mr Altman had not been "consistently candid with his communications", hindering its

Apple agrees to improve texting between iPhones and Androids

Apple plans to adopt a messaging standard that will allow for a smoother texting experience between iPhones and Android devices, long a point of contention with rival Google. For years, Apple has refused to make its products play nice with devices not designed under its roof, a dynamic

Nepal bans TikTok citing 'indecent materials'

Nepal has banned TikTok, the government said on Monday, in a bid to preserve "social harmony." Communications Minister Rekha Sharma said the decision had been made at a cabinet meeting on Monday and that internet providers had already started blocking access to the Chinese

Man crushed to death by robot in South Korea

A man has been crushed to death by a robot in South Korea after it failed to differentiate him from the boxes of food it was handling, reports say. The incident occurred when the man, a robotics company employee in his 40s, was inspecting the robot. The robotic arm, confusing the

Europe’s Euclid space telescope releases first images

The first images from Europe’s Euclid space telescope were released on Tuesday, showing a nebula resembling a horse’s head, never-before-seen distant galaxies and even “circumstantial evidence” of elusive dark matter. Euclid blasted off in July on the

Musk says his new AI chatbot has 'a little humour'

Elon Musk has launched an AI chatbot called Grok on his social media site X, formerly Twitter, but so far it is only available to selected users. "In some important respects, it is the best that currently exists," he posted on X, before its release. Mr Musk boasted that

UN chief calls for 'united' response to AI threats

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a "united, sustained, global response" to the threats posed by artificial intelligence (AI) during the inaugural AI Safety Summit held at Bletchley Park, north of London. The two-day summit, which included representatives from

Crypto king accused of ‘deceit’ as trial concludes 

Prosecutors have accused former crypto boss Sam Bankman-Fried of deceit as his US fraud trial draws to a close, claiming he repeatedly lied to customers, the public and the jury. Mr Bankman-Fried is facing charges of fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors say he precipitated the

Collins English Dictionary names 'AI' word of the year

The contraction of artificial intelligence — AI — has been named as Collins' Word of the Year for 2023, the dictionary publisher announced on Tuesday. "Considered to be the next great technological revolution, AI has seen rapid development and has been much talked

Canada bans Chinese app WeChat from government devices

Canada has announced it will ban WeChat on government devices. The Chinese-owned app is sometimes referred to as the "everything app" - like WhatsApp, Facebook, Amazon and Tinder all in one. However Western governments have security concerns about it, mainly that the app

Elon Musk expected to attend AI summit in UK

Elon Musk is expected to attend a global summit on artificial intelligence in the UK this week. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would do a live interview with the tech billionaire after Thursday's event. The summit, at Bletchley Park, hopes to bring together AI experts and

Mouse embryos grown in space for first time

Mouse embryos have been grown on the International Space Station (ISS) and developed normally in the first study, indicating it could be possible for humans to reproduce in space, a group of Japanese scientists said.   The researchers, including Teruhiko Wakayama, a professor at

FTX’s Bankman-Fried admits ‘mistakes’, denies fraud at trial

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has admitted to making mistakes but denied defrauding customers while testifying in his own defence at his high-profile fraud trial in New York. Bankman-Fried said on Friday that a “lot of people got hurt” when FTX collapsed last year, but he

China to send youngest-ever crew to space station

China will send its youngest-ever crew of astronauts to its Tiangong space station this week, officials said Wednesday, as Beijing pursues plans for a manned mission to the Moon by the end of the decade. The Shenzhou-17 module carrying the three space travellers is scheduled to blast