when Mike Schwede was first sitting on the Tesla Roadster 15 years ago, he felt like he was witnessing the future. In 2016, he became a proud Tesla owner, enjoying the admiration he received from other drivers as he cruised along European highways in his electric vehicle.
However, the shine of owning a Tesla has started to fade recently. For years, the brand was closely associated with Elon Musk and his stance on the climate crisis. Schwede was dismayed when Musk pledged to increase oil and gas production after supporting Donald Trump.
“He was becoming increasingly bizarre,” said Swiss entrepreneur and digital strategist Schwede. The final straw came when Musk made a fascist-style salute during Trump’s inauguration in January. “It was completely repulsive to me,” Schwede stated. “I was no longer enjoying being a Tesla owner.”
Data from the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers revealed that nearly half of new Tesla car sales in Europe had plummeted last month. Analysts attribute this decline to customers turning away from the brand due to Musk’s far-right political affiliations.
The Texas-based automaker sold 9,945 vehicles in Europe in January, a 45% drop from the previous year, according to the association.
The parody “Tesla – Swastical” ad was posted at a London bus stop. Photo: People vs Elon
Existing Tesla owners who are discontented with Musk’s views are beginning to voice their concerns.
Schwede considered selling his car, but with over 60,000 miles already driven, the resale value was minimal. Instead, he decided to donate 10 cents per kilometer driven to various charities, aiming to support LGBTQ+ youth and combat hatred, extremism, and far-right movements. “That didn’t sit well with Elon,” Schwede remarked. “It was my way of seeking personal retribution.”
Some European Tesla owners are pushing back against Musk’s political associations by engaging in small acts of resistance, demonstrating their displeasure with his far-right leanings.
Patrick Schneider from Germany created an “anti-Elon sticker” line for Tesla cars to express his dissatisfaction. The stickers, featuring messages like “Buying this before Elon went crazy,” have gained popularity in response to Musk’s political alliances.
Far-right AFD Alice Weidel is talking online with Elon Musk during her speech at the start of the campaign. Photo: Hannibal Hanschke/EPA
Demand for these stickers has surged, with up to 2,000 being sold daily, not only in German-speaking countries but also internationally. Schneider noted, “Elon Musk inadvertently fueled this for us.”
Envision the future of HR. Picture receiving a notification on your phone informing you that due to recent organizational changes, new personnel need to be recruited. The message includes a list of six well-qualified candidates who align with the organizational culture and are available to start within a month. Your task is simply to choose the best candidate to interview.
Much of this future scenario is already a reality. Platforms like Employment Heroes offer advanced AI tools to assist small businesses in managing HR and recruitment. These tools can even predict future needs and suggest potential candidates proactively.
Utilizing AI tools, Employment Heroes analyzes clients’ businesses, including organizational structure, turnover rates, and hiring timelines, making it easier for small businesses to operate. This global employment management platform uses AI to provide insights and recommendations, such as identifying when a position needs to be filled.
This workforce planning capability has traditionally been inaccessible to small and medium-sized businesses, placing them at a disadvantage in recruitment and staffing. Now, they have access to expertise and support equivalent to that of large corporations.
The right candidates can already line up as soon as a vacancy occurs. Photo: Maria Corniva/Getty Images
This type of predictive HR is particularly beneficial for high-growth SMEs. By providing insights into future staffing needs, it enables strategic planning that ensures the right talent is in place at the right time.
Looking ahead, AI-enabled HR platforms will automate various employment management processes, from employment terms to bonus structures, streamlining operations for small businesses and ensuring fairness and transparency.
Baillie, the Head of People at Mobile Marketing Agency ConsultmyApp, highlights the impact of the Employment Hero platform on recruitment processes, emphasizing its role in enhancing inclusivity and ensuring competitive pay packages.
SmartMatch enables SMEs to deliver competitive packages by analyzing industry trends. Photo: FG Trade/Getty Images
Employment Heroes’ SmartMatch feature offers real-time data insights on industry trends, helping small businesses set competitive pay ranges and attract top talent.
By leveraging data-driven benchmarks, small businesses can align their compensation packages with market standards and ensure they remain competitive in attracting and retaining the best employees.
Let’s reimagine the possibilities. Discover how Employment Hero can revolutionize your work processes.
Four British parents who are suing Tiktok for the alleged unlawful deaths of their children express concerns about the suspected deletion of their child’s data from social media platforms.
These parents have filed a lawsuit in the US claiming that four children died in 2022 after participating in the “Blackout Challenge,” a viral trend that emerged on social media in 2021.
A week after the lawsuit was filed, Tiktok executives mentioned that certain data had been deleted due to legal requirements. UK GDPR regulations mandate that platforms do not retain excessive personal data.
The parents were surprised by how quickly their child’s data was removed.
Isaac and Lisa Kennevan. Lisa expressed doubts on Tiktok’s claim of removing her son’s data.
“My initial reaction was that it’s a complete lie,” said Lisa Kennevan, whose son Isaac passed away at 13.
Liam Walsh remains skeptical about Tiktok deleting data on her daughter Maia, who passed away at 14, as the investigation is ongoing. He has issued a statement.
Ellen Room is advocating in Congress for the introduction of “Jules’ Law” in memory of her 12-year-old son Julian.
“If you have a physical diary in [your children’s] bedroom, I’m sure you’d read it to understand. Nowadays, they’ve moved online, and social media serves as a diary for kids. So why not examine their online diaries for potential answers?” she remarked.
Archie Battersbee and her mother, Hollie Dance. Dance has struggled to obtain access to Archie’s data despite him being under 13 when he passed away. Photo: Distribution materials
Hollie Dance should have automatic rights to the data, as her son Archie Battersbee was 12 years old, but she faces challenges in accessing it. “There are still three [of his] active accounts. I can see them myself,” she noted.
Tiktok has stated that searches related to dangerous challenges have been blocked since 2020. The platform aims to remove harmful content preemptively and direct users to safety resources.
Dance mentioned that she has screenshots of dangerous challenges that were easily accessible.
The parents expressed their wish to restrict their children’s access to social media and were unaware of the limited rights they have to their children’s data.
“Essentially, we’re handing the kids loaded guns,” Kennevan remarked. “A child’s brain isn’t fully developed until around 25. The amount of exposure to content isn’t healthy. They’ve witnessed harmful content, such as porn, at ages 10 and 11. They don’t need social media.”
Isaac Kennevan passed away at 13.
This year, the Online Safety Act was enforced, obliging platforms to take action against illegal or harmful content. Walsh expressed skepticism towards Ofcom.
Dance suggested that the organization should screen all videos before they are uploaded to the platform.
Walsh revealed that a US court exposed a video of her child, leading to a damaging impact on her mental state. She intends to press manslaughter charges against the company in UK courts.
Room explained that the family resorted to a US lawsuit after being unable to file a case in the UK due to legal constraints.
Ellen Room and her son Julian; Ellen highlighted how social media is akin to a child’s diary. Photo: Distribution materials
She emphasized on making a difference for other families and parents. “It’s challenging and emotionally draining, but we’re going to make an impact here,” she mentioned.
Artificial intelligence is trained on human-created content, known as actual intelligence. To train AI to write fiction, novels are used, while job descriptions are used to train AI for writing job specifications. However, a problem arises from this approach. Despite efforts to eliminate biases, humans inherently possess biases, and AI trained on human-created content may adopt these biases. Overcoming bias is a significant challenge for AI.
“Bias is prevalent in hiring and stems from the existing biases in most human-run recruitment processes,” explains Kevin Fitzgerald, managing director of UK-based employment management platform Employment Hero. The platform utilizes AI to streamline recruitment processes and minimize bias. “The biases present in the recruitment team are embedded in the process itself.”
One way AI addresses bias is through tools like SmartMatch offered by Employment Hero. By focusing on candidates’ skills and abilities while omitting demographic information such as gender and age, biases can be reduced. This contrasts with traditional methods like LinkedIn and CVs, which may unintentionally reveal personal details.
AI helps businesses tackle bias when screening for CVs. Photo: Fiordaliso/Getty Images
Another concern is how AI processes information compared to humans. While humans can understand nuances and subtleties, AI may lack this capability and rely on keyword matching. To address this, tools like SmartMatch evaluate a candidate’s entire profile to provide a holistic view and avoid missed opportunities due to lack of nuance.
SmartMatch not only assists in matching candidates with suitable roles but also helps small businesses understand their specific hiring needs. By analyzing previous hires and predicting future staffing requirements, SmartMatch offers a comprehensive approach to recruitment.
Understanding SME needs and employment history allows SmartMatch to introduce you to suitable candidates. Photo: Westend61/Getty Images
By offering candidates the ability to maintain an employment passport, Employment Hero empowers both job seekers and employers. This comprehensive approach to recruitment ensures that both parties benefit from accurate and efficient matches.
For small and medium-sized businesses, the impact of poor hiring decisions can be significant. By utilizing advanced tools like SmartMatch, these businesses can access sophisticated recruitment solutions previously available only to larger companies.
Discover how Employment Hero can revolutionize your recruitment process.
Kevin Fitzgerald, managing director of UK Employment Heroes, emphasizes the importance of managers in businesses. He mentions that technology has advanced greatly, especially in the past decade, allowing for the digitization of many administrative tasks. According to Fitzgerald, AI should not be seen as a vague or scary new technology, but rather as a practical way to streamline and automate time-consuming tasks, enabling employees to focus on more valuable and interesting work.
The Employment Hero Survey revealed that 52% of respondents found the platform improved organizational efficiency, with 42% reporting faster processes and 65% using less paper.
By using AI to handle tasks like onboarding and data entry, employees have more time to focus on important aspects like welcoming new recruits and integrating them into the team quickly. Fitzgerald also mentions how AI can help with tasks like organizing employment contracts and setting up new employees in payroll systems swiftly.
Integrating AI into the workplace aligns with the shift towards flexible and hybrid work practices. This approach not only helps manage time effectively but also boosts employee engagement and energy levels.
Using AI for tasks such as payroll and HR automation is part of a long-term trend in digital transformation. Small and medium-sized businesses can now access tools like the Employment Operating System for Employment Heroes, consolidating multiple functions onto one platform for efficiency and cost savings.
AI’s ability to automate routine tasks and handle complex data processing makes it an invaluable tool in enhancing productivity and job satisfaction. By freeing up time and minimizing distractions, employees can engage in deep work, leading to improved efficiency and overall satisfaction.
Fitzgerald emphasizes that AI is user-friendly and embedded in platforms like Employment Heroes, providing powerful tools for staff to enhance their work. Embracing AI not only accelerates productivity but also empowers employees to work smarter, fostering a positive work environment.
Rethink what is possible with Employment Hero and revolutionize the way you work.
Grace Oh, like many HR experts, used to dread the end of the month. It was the time to handle the company’s payroll, one of the most time-consuming and critical tasks in her department.
As the Director of People at Audio and Media Company Communicorp UK, ensuring smooth monthly payroll processes was essential for the employees’ well-being and productivity.
Although Oh had already implemented digital systems to streamline administration, she felt there was room for improvement. About a year ago, she decided to introduce a new AI-powered system from Employment Hero. This system reduced her monthly payroll processing time to just an hour, allowing her team to focus on more strategic tasks.
Grace Oh: “Let AI do the job, and we humans can do our thing.”
For Oh and her team, the AI-powered system not only automated payroll but also transformed other HR functions like onboarding, probation check-ins, and feedback processes. The AI system ensured that new recruits had a positive experience and that employee engagement was enhanced through consistent and structured interactions.
By utilizing AI, the company was able to conduct regular one-on-one meetings with staff, improving communication and accountability. Additionally, AI tools were deployed for performance reviews, goal setting, and recruitment, leading to more efficient and effective processes.
With AI handling routine tasks, Oh and her team were able to focus on more impactful work that required critical thinking skills. AI’s ability to automate administrative tasks allowed HR professionals to concentrate on building relationships and driving employee engagement.
By having AI take care of “shallow work,” HR professionals can focus on building relationships with their employees. Photo: Miquel Llonch/Stocksy United
While implementing AI in HR functions can raise concerns, Oh’s experience showed that addressing fears and providing training is crucial for successful adoption. Leading by example, choosing the right technology vendor, and providing ongoing support are key factors in AI integration.
A year later, Oh has no regrets about implementing AI. She has witnessed positive feedback from employees and executives, highlighting the system’s efficiency and impact on the organization’s goals.
Rethink what’s possible with Employment Hero and transform the way you work.
tHe could be the smallest and cheapest line of Samsung’s new Galaxy S25 line to buy, offering it to lessen top performance and latest AI features, and mini Android is still great It’s proof.
Unlike the previous generation of Samsung’s smaller models sold in the UK and Europe, the regular S25 has the same top-flight chip as the huge and expensive ultra models.
The rest of the S25 has not changed significantly since last year. It still has a great 6.2-inch screen, three cameras on the back, flat aluminum sides, and front and rear glass. This makes it the most compact of high-end Android phones that compete with Apple’s iPhones at a size that others, including Google’s Pixel 9, are steadily growing.
The regular S25 is significantly smaller and lighter than the S25 Ultra’s Superphone siblings. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Samsung is good for squeezing solids for 37 hours from the S25, but the smaller battery is most modern Android. It was generally used with a mixture of 5G and WiFi, and actively using the screen for more than six hours to charge the phone every other day. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip makes the S25 one of the fastest mobile phones, perfect for gaming, but also densely packs battery life.
AI Upgrade
All major changes to the S25 are software and AI-based. Runs one UI 7 (Android 15) with the same latest version as the S25 Ultra. This includes a variety of new AI tools that extend the writing, summarization, and drawing tools introduced last year.
Most of the new tools are designed to find the information you need in advance and predict what you want to do to perform multiple complex tasks on your phone via text or voice commands.
Gemini replaces Bixby and Google Assistant on the S25, and is far more capable. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Google’s Next Generation Gemini Assistant It’s the biggest upgrade, allowing you to interact with information from the mobile phone’s web and apps without having to manually tap on a button. Ask you to date your calendar from the party invitation flyer that you have been texted and it can do so. Find restaurant recommendations and send them to friends as dinner suggestions with simple voice commands. You can also understand what’s on the screen from text, photos, and videos to answer questions, find more information, and take actions.
When it works, it can almost become magical. But you can’t rely on getting things right every time. It can lead to trivial things like spelling different names. It also allows you to confidently hallucinate information that is clearly visible at first glance, but is actually completely wrong. Neither Google nor Samsung have solved these basic issues that plague all AI bots at this time.
Samsung’s New “now” bar at the bottom of the lock screen It’s more successful as a useful place to see timely information widgets, timers, media play controls, and other useful bits. You can swipe through those stacks to see what’s going on and quickly change tracks.
Samsung supports S25 with software and security updates Seven years since releasematches the best from Google and Apple.
specification
Main screen: 6.2in FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Galaxy Elite
Ram: 12GB
Storage: 128, 256, or 512GB
operating system: 1 UI 7 (Android 15)
camera: 50mp + 12mp 0.6x + 10mp 3x; 12MP front
Connectivity: 5G, USB-C, WiFi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.4, UWB, GNSS
water resistance: IP68 (1.5m in 30 minutes)
size: 146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2mm
Weight: 162g
Sustainability
The S25 has wireless and USB-C charging, reaching 50% full power in 25 minutes for over an hour (power adapter not included). Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Samsung doesn’t provide the battery with the expected lifespan, but it should last more than 500 full charge cycles at least 80% of its original capacity.
Mobile phones contain multiple recycled materials such as aluminum, cobalt, copper, glass, gold, plastic, rare earth elements, and steel. Samsung offers trade-in Recycling scheme For old devices. The company is open to Annual Sustainability Report and affects impact assessments Some individual products.
Three cameras on the back, including a 3x telephoto camera, will boost Apple and Google’s dual camera rivals to the S25. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The S25 has a triple camera setup with a 50-megapixel main, 12MP Ultra Wade, and 10MP 3X telephoto. This hasn’t really changed since the 2022 S22 and is the exact same combination as last year’s model.
That is, you generally take very good photos with three cameras. The main is the best and can produce some great shots, but it tends to over-brighten some scenes, and highlights are blown away, such as bright direct light washing people’s shots. Masu. The S24 has improved the zoom by 2x and is slightly more detailed, but the 3x zoom is solid, but out of reach compared to the average 5x camera, a slightly more expensive rival there is. The Ultrawide is equally solid, closing off a great but less groundbreaking package.
The S25 also shoots excellent videos, excellent portraits, and features many modes with one exception. There is no macro photography mode. This is a shame. Overall, the S25 has a great camera system. It’s not a problem with the Pixel 9 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro, but it’s perfect for size and money.
aSk what the most important kit of SK Any DJ is. Whether you play a laptop, CDJS, or deck, a decent pair of headphones is a portal for mixes and is a key element to getting right.
Fortunately, we have put together some of the world’s best selectors to help them faithfully and faithfully evangelize the gospel, from trusted professional brands to traditional one-year models. That very important bass.
My favorite headphones DJ
Sennheiser HD 25
129 lbs at Sennheiser
£117 on Amazon
I love bass, bass, bass, bass. I first bought these headphones in 1993 and currently use the HD 25-C-II model. They are perfect for people with small heads and ears that require fat bottom ends and crystal clear monitoring. Sound must have the ability to push away the noise of festival spaces, yet be accurate in a quieter, more intimate environment, and Sennheiser’s small closed ear cups provide the best sound isolation.
They had to work hard, and each set was repeatedly shot from my head repeatedly, and a 3M spiral cable (or curly pigtail extension cable, as I’m calling it nostalgic) was an essential lifeline . It gives me a huge range of movements. And did I say they’re hammering? They may look cheap and plastic, but it’s hard to beat the build, and every part is interchangeable. They are tired and hardworking. DJ Polett
I’ve been away from lollipops for a long time, as these one headphones were always considered New York’s. Everyone was following Larry Levan. You love Jimi Hendrix, so you’re going to buy a Fender Stratocaster. If you love basketball, you’ll be wearing anything LeBron James wears. Larry was the superstar DJ of the day, and everyone followed. But I’m from Detroit.
However, one of the main reasons I started using lollipops has to do with protecting my hearing. Most of our DJs play too loudly, not just the booth, but also to hear us queue. They were hurting my ears when my headphones were always tied to my head. With Lollipop, I don’t always have to have it. Often I hold it in my hand.
I use reloops because they are inexpensive and utilitarian. You don’t have to look sexy. I haven’t taken him to dinner. Let’s look like a hammer. It doesn’t have to be titanium, it needs to work. I have some $2,000 headphones, and I can get on stage and everyone will think, “Oh, he’s so great with those headphones on.” But no, reloops do their job. I don’t care anything else. Carl Craig
Headphones are probably the most important thing to make DJs right. I have been using these technologies for over 20 years. This is the same as the legendary turntable. The bass sounds really well through them, and I rarely take them off. Move your headphones past your ears and over your head to listen to the monitor. They are not too bulky and are good value for money. The only downside is that the leather headband can sweat when the club temperature gets hot in the summer. But that hasn’t stopped me from wearing them for most of my career. Seveno
m
A favorite thing about Monster Hunter is that despite its name, it often feels more like a prey than a predator. Armed with swords several times with your own size and weight, you often go beyond time to become an incredible creature in this action game. The weather will often beat you at Monster Hunter Wild next week. As storm clouds gather, the daily hunt of relatively unthreatened creatures brings you a scary lightning dragon that will eat you for breakfast. The monsters intertwined with each other, tearing them with their teeth and claws as they turn their tails towards the hill.
Over the past few weekends, players have practiced Wilds in the Beta Test, trying out exquisite character creators and several hunts against the scary lions (doshaguma) and overgrown poisonous chickens (gypseros). As someone old enough to play these games on the PlayStation 2, I’ve been distorted uncomfortably with my fingers with my fingers as the PlayStation appeared in portable during the overseas grades of Japan. Ta. What was once a hard, dense game that hid all the thrills behind the barricades of a Mushroom Rally Quest, is now fluid, charming and globally popular. The 2018 entry, Monster Hunter World, broke Capcom records, reaching sales of 203 million people.
Ryozo Tsujimoto, the series producer and son of Capcom founder Kenzo Tsujimoto, has been with Monster Hunter since the early 00s, when Capcom’s online gaming designer. Obviously it still excites him. He is in front and center of many Wild promotions. “It’s really good to see our team play so many people playing games at the same time,” he told me at a recent Tokyo Game Show. “There are many things we can discover by watching players pick up and try out the game. It’s something we don’t see in our own tests. So we can see how players are responding. And we have some masks of the developer team at the booth.”
The main innovation in Wild is how monsters interact with each other. Previously, herbivores were Potter about herd grazing, but only the addition of the current generation consoles has been able to create a seamless ecosystem where teams meet each other and get caught up in the war on the grass. “To have the creatures travel together realistically is challenging in terms of making it look plausible,” says Wiles manager Yuya Tokuda. “If they all moved perfectly in sync, it would be a bit creepy and unconvincing as animal behavior in the pack. But if each monster was a complete wildcard like before, then it would be. It would be unacceptable to keep everything together. While each creature has personality, hitting the balance between herd and puck actions is a lot of work, and we do nothing I had to make sure not to do that.”
www.theguardian.com
Apple is saying goodbye to the home button after 18 years with the launch of the new iPhone 16E.
The budget-friendly iPhone 16E replaces the 2022 iPhone SE, marking the end of Apple products with Touch ID buttons that started with the iPhone X in 2017.
Priced at £599 (709 Euros/$599/$999), the iPhone 16E offers a modern experience similar to the regular iPhone 15 and the latest iPhone 16. To achieve a lower price, some features have been omitted. This new model replaces the £599 iPhone 14 and £429 iPhone SE, representing a significant price increase for the cheapest new iPhone when it ships on February 28th.
The iPhone 16E is similar to the iPhone 14, but comes with the latest A18 chip. Photo: Apple
The iPhone 16E features an aluminum frame, glass front and back, and a 15.4cm (6.1 inch) OLED screen with slim bezels. It is available in black or white only and retains the notch design from the iPhone 14, housing the Face ID sensor for unlocking the phone and authorizing payments.
Starting with 128GB of storage, the iPhone 16E is powered by Apple’s latest A18 chip, enabling access to the company’s AI tools. It includes 5G, Apple’s first new modem, satellite emergency messaging, USB-C charging, and action buttons instead of a mute switch.
Unlike other models, the iPhone 16E has a single 48-megapixel camera and does not include the newly added camera control button.
With the introduction of the iPhone 16E, Apple aims to capture market share in countries like China and attract more users to its intelligent features. This move positions the company to compete with rivals like Google Pixel and Samsung devices.
Nigeria has filed a lawsuit seeking $79.5 billion from the government for economic losses caused by $2 billion in cryptocurrency exchange operations and back taxes, according to court documents filed on Wednesday.
Authorities have criticized Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, blaming it for the devaluation of the Nigerian currency. Two executives of the company were arrested in 2024 after local Naira trading websites emerged as popular platforms. Binance, which is not registered in Nigeria, has not yet commented on the situation.
The Nigerian Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS) claims that Binance owes corporate income tax due to its significant economic presence in the country. FIRS is seeking income tax payments for 2022 and 2023, along with a 10% annual penalty on the outstanding amounts. Additionally, FIRS is demanding an unpaid tax rate of 26.75% based on the interest rate of the Nigerian central bank.
Nigeria is already facing four counts of tax evasion related to the cryptocurrency industry, including non-payment of VAT, company income tax, failure to file tax returns, and conspiracy to help customers evade taxes through the platform.
In response to the allegations, Binance announced in March that it had halted all Naira transactions. The company is also facing separate allegations of institutional money laundering, which it has denied.
EU copyright law architects assert the necessity of the law to safeguard writers, musicians, and creatives left vulnerable by the “irresponsible” legal gap in the EU’s artificial intelligence legislation.
This intervention occurred as 15 cultural organizations penned a letter to the European Commission, highlighting a draft rule under the AI Act that cautioned about copyright protections being compromised and a concerning legal loophole being exploited.
Axel Voss, a member of the European Parliament, emphasized that the 2019 copyright directive was not designed to address generative AI models, raising concerns about the unintended consequences of the law.
The introduction of ChatGpt, an AI chatbot capable of generating content like essays and jokes, has brought attention to the urgent need for copyright protections in light of the rapid advancements in AI technology and their impact on creative works.
Issues arising from the EU AI legislation negotiations have highlighted the challenges of securing strong copyright safeguards to protect creative content, with concerns surrounding the legal gap that favors Big Tech over European creatives.
The debate around AI and copyright law intensifies as generative AI models like ChatGpt and Dall-E become more widely used, leading to legal disputes over copyright infringement and the ethical implications of using AI to produce creative content.
The lack of enforceable rights for authors and creators in the AI law framework has raised alarms among cultural organizations and industry stakeholders, prompting calls for greater transparency and accountability in the use of AI technologies.
As the European Commission considers the future of AI regulation and its implications for copyright protection, the need for robust measures to safeguard the rights of creatives and uphold the integrity of their work remains a top priority.
tBelow are some video game developers who are not as vocal as Joseph Fares of Hazelight. Fares is known for his viral rant at a live streamed awards show and is considered a refreshing and unpredictable voice in the industry. He believes in speaking his mind and finds it strange that people can’t express their thoughts freely in interviews.
Although Fares is seen as a passionate advocate for cooperative gameplay in the gaming community, in his native Sweden, he is best known as an award-winning film director. His films range from comedy to more introspective works like Zozo, which explores his experiences as a child during the Lebanese civil war.
With no formal training, Fares learned by trial and error, eventually leading him to the world of game development. His passion for storytelling and gaming culminated in the creation of Hazelight Studios, dedicated to producing story-driven cooperative games.
“There was a lot of trial and error. I just did it, did it, and did it until I got it right.”… Brothers: A story about two sons. Photo: 505 Games
Fares’s latest game, Split Fiction, continues his tradition of innovative storytelling and gameplay. He believes in pushing the boundaries of the medium and creating unique experiences for players. Despite the challenges of interactive storytelling, Fares is determined to explore new ways of narrative in gaming.
“New things in the industry were extremely challenging”… it takes two.
Fares remains critical of the gaming industry’s shift towards live service games and believes in balancing creativity with commercial success. He values the artistry of game development and aims to create memorable experiences for players.
bThe reality competition series of East Games and Amazon Prime Video is hosted by YouTubers MrBeastnot a well-made show. That’s certainly expensive Show, Beast, the alter ego of Jimmy Donaldson, 26, of Greenville, North Carolina, likes to remind viewers frequently. The series is a shocking feat for viewers outside of YouTube territory, especially Donaldson’s territory: 1,000 contestants, and 1,000 contestants filmed on a 1,107 camera system, $5 million They fight each other with the prize money. Donaldson. For the competition, Donaldson and his group designed warehouse war zones modeled after the squid game of the Netflix dystopian series, built bespoke cities, and purchased private islands (and also included Lamborghini and others). (It will be given along with other gorgeous prizes). The contestants who are eliminated in the first episode are dropped into invisible depths through the trapdoor. There is a pirate ship with cannons.
But due to all the exaggerated displays of wealth, the show still looks terrible. Many point out that the central conceit of the show has broken Americans’ psychological battles for abandoned it and lavish prizes. For our age of clothing, Donaldson a Self-style Willy Wonka figure.
Certainly, Beast Games has rotten rot, but it’s a terrible, compelling core, but it also conveys its surface. At the style level, the show erases any remaining lines between YouTube and TV. Beast Games has a higher production budget than any of MrBeast’s YouTube videos, reaching over 360 million subscribers in 15-30 minutes. (Almost everything incorporates the concept of a basic magnet, bound by the ocean, stuck in the great pyramids, or helping the blind man to see again. looks Like YouTube content, content is an operator word (Donaldson made the first three episodes available on YouTube).
And it’s popular. Beast Games is currently from Amazon Prime Video The least viewed non-script series So far, it has reached 50 million viewers in 25 days (although it is worth noting that Amazon has not disclosed what counts as “viewers”). It reached number one on Amazon in 80 countries. According to Netflix, in 2021, Squid Game reached 142 million households for reference. The show is not a change of ocean. Many reality shows look awful. Many Americans have long consumed YouTube videos as sources of entertainment, but as television changes both shape and function, it’s a line in the sand.
What is TV in 2025? Is it a device? style? format? It’s hard to say – the content is Shift from linear platforms to streaming platforms device usage shifts to YouTube. In the US, people watch YouTube on TV more than any other device, CEO Neal Mohan declared in him Annual letter This month, “YouTube is a new TV.” YouTube doesn’t make television in itself, but it does. Global viewers Streaming According to the company, last year there was over 100 million hours of “content” on television screens. 400m hours Probably an audio-only podcast month. The company closed its original division in 2022, but is now promoting children’s entertainment. We are looking for a dedicated head of family entertainment and learning Second half of 2024.
Functionally, YouTube may not be as new as the next evolution. Formally, they are converging. YouTube talent (and digitally native influencers like Tiktok talent) I had a hard time breaking into Hollywood. Despite the vast numbers of fans, the spirit of the platform – the incentive structure of more eyeballs, ring light glare, the maximalist aesthetic for the biggest audience – is a dovetail with evolving Hollywood logic.
As one Mrbeast director I said time: “These algorithms are toxic to humanity. They prioritize addictive isolated experiences over ethical social design, all with advertising alone. That’s not MrBeast I have a problem. Next It’s a platform that encourages someone like me to study holding graphs so that videos can be made more addictive. In other words, value-neutral entertainment for the arts. Content as a means of end. This isn’t much different from the business logic of streaming platforms. Hollywood has its own race for its viewers. The rise of mid-TV, Major cheap Netflix gloss, Infinite scrolls in the “Content” library – It reflects the spirit of MrBeast’s lowest common denominator attention economy.
After all, Donaldson leads the Amazon show, which styled after the Netflix original series. This is explicitly fixed in “entertainment.” The show, as it says, “making history of entertainment,” is the biggest, brightest, most shocking, and most interesting. Similarly, products with no complexity, value, or even storytelling, due to the one value of attracting attention. Using Entertainment’s MrBeast-Ifive as Vox’s Rebecca Jennings Please put it downthe line between content, entertainment, television and influencers is more blurry than before. He went beyond what divisions remained – does Hollywood subscribe?
tYears ago, Parisian studios did not effectively create a new subgenre of narrative adventures, with teenage mystery life is strange. Part thriller, some relationship drama, it created an emotional Paean with unwavering friendship, using music, art and friendly characters. After a series of sequels, Nod's Montreal Studios created a new story about teenage relationships, split into two episodes or tapes.
In 1995, the introverted teen Swan faces his last quiet summer in a rural Velvet, Michigan town before his family moved to Vancouver. However, in the parking lot of a local video store, she meets fellow 16-year-old Nora, Autumn, and Kat, and the four girls bond about boredom and frustration with small town life. Soon they are inseparable, hiking in the nearby forest, setting camp fire, and confessing their secrets. Here they form the Bloom & Rage of the riot grrrl band, leading their dreams, desires and fear into fantasies of fame and revenge against silly boys and oppressive parents. However, when their swirling emotions seem to awaken a supernatural being in the forest, something terrible happens and the girls swear each other to the secrets of their lives.
A quiet summer, and… Lost record: Bloom & Rage. Photo: Don't nod
Twenty-seven years later, the group meets again in a rough bar on the outskirts of the town, which holds a special connection to their stories. Fall received an ominous package addressed to their band. Anything in the box could be the horrifying result of that tumultuous summer.
In the typical style of Not Nod, the game captivates interactive scenes and cinematic sequences, controlling the conversation that subtly shapes your relationships and story direction. The story interacts between two timelines that remind you of 2022 and two pivotal summers together in 1995. Sometimes the decision you make at the bar as 43-year-old Swann is renovated into her youthful experience, creating a fascinating ambiguity of causality and memory.
As with how we edit memories, just as it actually happens… Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. Photo: Don't nod
Certainly, this game is about how we create and edit memories, just as we do what actually happens to girls. Swann is an avid filmmaker, and 1990s video cameras are with you throughout the game. You can always press the appropriate trigger and see the world through the camcorder lens. In the main story, we use it to shoot a band's music video, but you can record it at any time. This feature is incentivized by a bunch of theme checklists. Record 10 different birds, or 5 ruined playground rides, or graffiti snatches. But you can also capture your own scenes from and around town, record friends casually, and build sequences of themes that can be stored and edited. The interface recalls games like No Man's Sky and Marvel's Spider-Man, where shooting objects are practical gameplay components, but here the camcorder is also a factor of recollection and nostalgia. At the same time, we ask an interesting question about how the role of a player, both as a gamer and a cinematographer, relates to the protagonist, which we embodies in the game.
It's not the only clever trick the game plays in formats and conventions. For example, the dialogue system is specially designed to capture the dynamic energy and chaos of excitatory groups. Options and responses vary depending on who you are watching while you are speaking, characters screaming at each other and comments are lost in the noise. Sometimes you can time out the options in the dialog and choose not to say anything. In some great moments, this mechanic captures the desperate improvisational nature of a teen relationship, moments of wobbling or fleeting eye contact with one comment all day long.
You may find the dialogue to be robust and overly listened, and the sense of authenticity is increased. Those who have played Life Is Strange also see many similarities with the game, especially between Swann and Max Caulfield.
But like its predecessor, Lost Records stunningly captures the way in which seemingly insignificant moments are billed in meaning in younger adults. There's a picnic by the lake, then there's a game of truth or a crackle with absolute strength. The 90s setting is well supported with support with spot-on-contemporary references, from grunge band mixtapes to video players and trawldolls.
In the background, there is subtly a hint of the mystery at the heart of the game, and there is much to expect from the second part. Mainly, it's the character and its vulnerable relationship that sticks to you. Three days after finishing the game, I'm still thinking about them. Unless you simply refuse to indulge in emotional young adult drama, you will be there too.
Meta has revealed plans to construct the longest underwater cable project in the world that will connect the US, India, South Africa, Brazil, and other regions.
The tech company, now known as Meta, announced that Project Waterworth will span 50,000km (31,000 miles) of submarine cable.
With a 24-pair fiber system, the cable will have increased capacity to support AI projects, according to Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
In a blog post, Meta stated: “Project Waterworth will provide top-tier connectivity to the US, India, Brazil, South Africa, and other major regions.”
“This initiative aims to facilitate greater economic collaboration, enhance digital inclusion, and create opportunities for technological advancement in these regions.
“In countries like India, where significant growth and investment in digital infrastructure have already been seen, Waterworth will further accelerate progress and support the nation’s ambitious digital economy plans.”
Over the past decade, Meta has collaborated with various partners to develop over 20 submarine cables, including multiple deployments of industry-leading cables with 24 fiber pairs compared to the typical 8-16 pairs of other systems.
The UK currently has around 60 submarine cables, through which 99% of data is connected to the global network.
Submarine cables handle over 95% of internet traffic worldwide, raising concerns about vulnerability to attacks, accidents, and geopolitical tensions during conflicts.
NATO initiated a mission in January to increase surveillance of Baltic vessels following incidents that damaged key submarine cables the previous year.
The UK Parliamentary Committee recently requested evidence on the nation’s ability to safeguard subsea cable infrastructure from threats and ensure national resilience in the event of significant and prolonged damage.
In 2018, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Russian companies allegedly involved in providing underwater capabilities to Moscow to monitor the underwater network.
In July, much of Tonga experienced a blackout after submarine internet cables connecting the island network were damaged, causing disruption for local businesses.
Meta stated in a blog post that the cable systems will be laid at depths of 7,000 meters and will utilize enhanced burial techniques in high-risk fault areas, such as shallow waters near the coast, to avoid hazards like ship anchors.
In January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the completion of professional fact-check reviews on Facebook and Instagram, aiming to “dramatically reduce censorship,” a move that garnered significant criticism.
I“I’ve always hated getting up in the winter. As a kid, I threw a Harkle Darkle at me while I watched my uniform warm up with the radiator. Recently, I had a few minutes of smartphone alarms. I set it up continuously. It’s too dark and I’m too groggy.
I’ve heard a sunrise alarm clock before the filterI was asked to review them, but I didn’t think they could solve my awakening anguish. Essentially, they are a combination of an alarm clock and a light therapy device that will glow as the brightness increases as your wake-up time approaches. Light interacts with our circadian rhythms, just like when the sun rises, so we wake up biologically prepared for the day.
How a sunrise alarm clock made my morning better
As a tech-interested author, I often review attractive and useful gadgets, from electric heaters to ERMs to cat smart drinking fountains. It’s fun, but in the long run, only a few products will change my lifestyle. Sunrise alarm clocks were quickly proven to fall into this exclusive category. Throughout the majority of winter, I woke up in the darkness so that my organs probably cannot receive signals from my brain and prepare for the day.
My Top Sunrise Alarm Clock Picks – Lumi Body Cooks Park 100 and Philips Smart Sleep Wake Light – have changed the equation clearly. I wake up, feel more energetic, less grogled and mentally sharp.
What’s important about sunrise alarm clocks
All sunrise alarm clocks I tested had strengths such as alarm sounds, soothing design and useful features, but only certain models have a brightness threshold that appears to wind a circadian clock. The value exceeded. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) lamps are often advertised with Lux ratings for brightness, but this important statistic tends to be absent in the sunrise alarm spec sheet. One great indicator is whether it is certified as a medical device, as is present in the Body Cooks Park 100.
How these devices play in a healthy sleep
Sleep is personal and there is no device suitable for all slingers. For me, the sunrise alarm clock benefited my sleep and wake cycle more than any other product. It probably excludes my memory foam mattress. Very good models like the Lumie Sunrise alarm can be purchased for under £40. So if you find dark mornings difficult, it’s definitely worth a try.
An important advantage of sunrise alarm clocks is that your phone no longer includes your morning waking up. Stopping the alarm on your smartphone means your day starts with your on-screen eyes. And the path from here to Doom scroll is the length of Thumbprint. With all sorts of alarm clocks, you can start without a smartphone in the morning.
If you’re still waking up on the other side of your bed, you can find additional recommendations for the best mattresses, sleep AIDS and electric blankets in the filter guide. The mornings are made by people who are not born.
This week’s pick
Editor’s Pick
Ella Foot will be testing a cold-water swimsuit at Lago di Nenbia in Trentino, Italy. Photo: Ella Foot
Guardian readers are no strangers to cold water dips. I also include myself. So we thought it was time for the filter to put some outdoor swimming kits at that pace.
Luckily, a new kind of thermal swimsuit (not wetsuits) is available in the market designed for colder temperatures. So, we’re still deep into the cold-water swimming season, but we asked experienced outdoor swimmers and writer Ella Hoot to test these swimsuits. She also rounded up her favorites wisely. hat, glovesthe flask and other items will warm up afterwards.
Hannah Booth Editor, filter
Just in case you missed it…
The elements are ready… a guide to waterproof jacket. Photo: Thomas Eversley/Alamy
If you’re keen to get wet outdoors, strictly tested waterproof jackets for men and women will keep you dry even in the most fierce downpours. Paddy Maddison and Sian Lewis of Keen Hikers have gone hundreds of paces over the years and know what to look for in high-performance jackets. It could be a valuable investment in a country that rains more than 150 days a year.
Please participate
thank you! Tell us how you can make things last longer. Photo: Uchida Kyoko/alamy
Do you have something that isn’t doing the job at all? It could be an expensive suitcase with unstable wheels, a beloved armchair with hanging springs, or your favorite jumper is a tattered jumper. If so, we’d love to hear a new advice column from you. I also want to hear how you see yours, from shoes to coffee machines, to make yours last longer.
Reply to this newsletter or email thefilter@theguardian.com.
Protesters gathered outside Tesla dealers across the United States on Saturday in response to Elon Musk’s efforts to sculpt government spending under President Donald Trump.
Groups of up to 100 demonstrators gathered outside the electric car manufacturer’s showrooms, including New York, Seattle, Kansas City and across California. Organizers said the protests took place in dozens of locations.
While the protests were scattered, they highlighted the risks to the car companies that have a close ties with Musk’s underlying right-wing agenda. Many protesters likened the Trump administration to the Nazis to carry placards. This is a characteristic that masks have previously highlighted.
Musk leads Doge, whose name comes from the US president’s “government efficiency,” or the Internet dog meme. Doge’s actions have rapidly dismantled government agencies, fired large federal workers across the United States, and have been criticized by some constitutional experts as illegal.
Some Tesla investors have asked whether Musk and the Trump administration’s relationship, including spending more than $200 million on a presidential campaign, will dent sales, particularly in liberal regions of the United States. Locations, including California, tended to be the largest market for U.S. electric vehicles, while Republicans and the Trump administration were actively opposed to technology.
Protest outside Tesla dealer in New York Saturday. Photo: Justin Lane/EPA
American musician Sheryl Crow posted a video of himself on Saturday, bidding farewell to Tesla, led by the Instagram social network. She said she sold the car and donated money to the US National Public Radio Station (NPR), which is “under threat by President Musk.”
“My parents always said… you’re the one you hang out with,” she wrote. “It’s time you have to decide who you’re going to suit. A very long Tesla.”
People within the Tesla business claim that the company is separate from the CEO. But that surge in valuation has played a key role in building the wealth of masks used to fund Trump’s campaign, thanks to previously burgeoning sales.
Tesla’s stock accounts for about a third of Musk’s wealth, according to Bloomberg. The private rocket company SpaceX is another third of ownership, while the rest links to Xai, X Social Network, Boring Company, Tunnel Business, and stakes from Brain-Computer Interface Company NeuralInk. Musk uses Tesla and SpaceX shares to secure personal loans worth billions of dollars.
Tesla reported its first annual sales decline in 2024 amid a tough time for the global automotive industry. It is not yet clear whether Musk’s right-wing politics contributed to its decline, and the company could potentially be able to compensate for the lost left-wing clientele with new enthusiasts on the right.
Some commentators have linked the sharp decline in German Tesla sales with a December declaration of support for the far-right alternative Deutschland (AFD). German Tesla sales fell 60% year-on-year in January, but delivery schedules could be affected by other factors that exceeded demand.
Tesla could be vulnerable to political backlash in other ways. In the UK, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davy said this week that the Labour government should impose tariffs on Tesla vehicles in retaliation from the White House, which taxes steel imports.
Ultra is Samsung’s biggest and largest mobile phone, packed gills with the latest technology. This means more artificial intelligence than ever before.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra leads the new wave of Android phones that promise to do it all. Combining Google’s advanced AI support with various Samsung tools for writing, drawing, photography, and chat.
However, at £1,249 (€1,449/$1,299.99/$2,149), the reality is slightly less futuristic than expected. While some AI tools can be impressive, others may falter.
The S25 Ultra is a modern glass slab enclosed in a titanium band. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The Ultra boasts a slimmer design, 14g lighter than its predecessor, with sharp flat sides and minimal bezels on a large, breathtaking screen. It is nearly a glass slab with a vibrant display.
It features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Chip, outpacing even the recent OnePlus 13 in performance tests. The chip’s performance is remarkable, enabling users to accomplish tasks smoothly on the phone. With a battery life lasting two full days of moderate use and 7.5 hours of active usage on tasks like photography and media, the Ultra stands out as one of the longest-lasting devices on the market.
specification
Main screen: 6.9 inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X (500PPI) 120Hz
Connectivity: 5G, USB-C, WiFi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.4, UWB, GNSS
water resistance: IP68 (1.5m in 30 minutes)
size: 162.8 x 77.6 x 8.2mm
Weight: 218g
Sustainability
Samsung claims that the S25 Ultra is The most durable ever, although a case is still recommended for drops. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Samsung does not specify the expected battery lifespan, but it is designed to retain at least 80% of its original capacity after 500 full charge cycles.
Phone repairs are possible, with screen replacements costing £204 at authorized service centers, including battery replacement. Samsung also offers a self-healing program. The phone scored 5 out of 10 for repairability by experts at iFixit.
The device contains recycled materials such as aluminum, cobalt, copper, glass, gold, plastic, rare earth elements, and steel. Samsung provides a trade-in recycling scheme for old devices. The company also releases annual sustainability reports and impact assessments for some specific products.
More AI in more places
Some new AI tools are useful, while others are a bit gimmicky or unreliable. The Drawing Assist tool turns rough sketches into art (left). Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Samsung has integrated numerous “Galaxy AI” tools, including new drawing features and AI selection tools introduced last year. These tools allow users to interact with images, text, icons, and more on the screen, offering options like drawing, editing, searching, and more.
The “Now” bar on the lock screen displays various widgets like Google’s Live Sports Score, current music, timers, flight reminders, and more. It resembles Google’s At a Glance feature and Apple’s dynamic widgets, providing convenient access to timely information. Live notifications, such as sports scores, can also be shown in the status bar.
The AI-curated snapshots feature local weather, calendar events, photos, reminders, health information, Spotify playlists, and more. It even warns users about using the phone while walking. However, some may find these features less useful.
The S-pen stylus remains for drawing on the screen, but one of the important selling points since the Galaxy Note series era – the magic wand and the remote feature have been removed. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Introducing the Next Generation of Google’s Gemini Assistant, promising to perform multiple tasks efficiently. While the capabilities are impressive when they work, they can sometimes falter, leading to frustration with inaccuracies. Trusting the AI tools completely can be a challenge.
The overall software experience with One UI 7 is smooth, resembling Apple’s iOS in some aspects but offering enough customization options to personalize the phone’s look and functionality. Samsung’s commitment to providing software and security updates for the S25 Ultra for seven years after release rivals the best support from Google and Apple.
camera
The camera app is fairly easy to operate despite its functionality. Photo: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
The S25 Ultra features a revamped camera system similar to its predecessor, offering a range of options from the main 200mp camera to various telephoto lenses. The new and improved 50MP Ultra Wide Camera provides better low-light performance compared to previous models, producing sharper images in dimly lit environments.
Equipped with numerous modes and tools, including portrait modes and manual controls, the camera app allows users to capture unique and high-quality photos. The standout feature remains the adaptability to use multiple lenses for different scenarios, offering versatility in photography.
price
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra starts at £1,249 (€1,449/$1,299.99/A$2,149) with 256GB of storage.
Comparatively, the Galaxy S25 is priced at £799, the S25+ at £999, the Z-fold 6 at £1,519, and the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL at £1,099. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is priced at £1,199.
verdict
The Galaxy S25 Ultra sets a high standard for Android phones with its powerful features and versatility.
Boasting multiple lens options in the camera system, top-of-the-line Android chip, long battery life, expansive storage, a large screen, and a stylus, the Ultra offers a complete package for users.
However, while it excels in many areas, the design and lack of significant innovation may leave some users wanting more. The AI features, while impressive at times, can also be hit or miss, affecting the overall user experience.
The Ultra stands out as a top-tier mobile phone, but buyers should temper their expectations regarding exaggerated AI capabilities.
Strong Points: A massive 120Hz screen, a highly capable camera with 3x optical zoom, excellent software with 7 years of support, top android chip, long battery life, access to the latest AI features.
Cons: The huge and extremely expensive S-Pen doesn’t have the small magic of the previous version, and does not significantly improve the formula of its predecessor.
Nadia Odunayo may not have had the intention of taking on the formidable global giant that is Amazon, but she has undoubtedly become a hero for many book lovers who believe they don’t need Amazon.
For 18 years, bibliophiles logged their readings, left reviews and star ratings behind, and received their next reading suggestions from Goodreads, a platform founded by two Stanford University graduates in California.
In 2013, the creator of Goodreads sold the platform to Amazon, causing its already massive popularity to soar. Currently, Goodreads boasts an estimated 150 million users.
Among these users since 2012 is Odunayo, a software engineer and developer based in London. Six years ago, she sat down and envisioned an app that could complement Goodreads.
After creating a demo for several friends, she quickly realized that she had inadvertently created a potential competitor. The app leveraged AI to provide reader tracking tools, trends, and personalized book recommendations. As of this week, Storygraph has amassed 3.8 million active users, many of whom have made the switch from Goodreads.
In a blog post titled “Leave Goodreads in 2025!” just before Christmas, a book blogger and reviewer known as Bunny expressed dissatisfaction with Goodreads, stating, “I feel Goodreads is outdated. Its interface is clunky and offers limited functionality… I found Goodreads’ recommendations overwhelming and heavily skewed towards popular titles.”
Bunny announced her decision to switch to Storygraph, emphasizing, “I’ve loved it from the start! Not only is it female-owned, but it also offers a plethora of wonderful features.”
A Goodreads representative mentioned that the platform welcomes millions of readers, facilitating the exploration of hundreds of millions of books within the community. The spokesperson emphasized strong growth in user engagement with the platform.
Odunayo, 33, remarked, “I believe people appreciate the diversity of data we offer. With many exciting features and a engaged reader community…”
“But when people compare us to Goodreads, the prevailing sentiment is, ‘It’s the fact that Amazon doesn’t own it.”
Storygraph has attempted to address concerns surrounding malicious reviews and personal attacks by disallowing private messages and comments on reviews. Odunayo emphasized the importance of avoiding a scenario where users face unwarranted criticism or harassment.
Despite the increasing user base, Storygraph remains independently operated by Odunayo, who actively engages with users through social media and shares insights about the app and her reading habits.
As Storygraph experiences continued growth, the question arises: can it endure? What if Amazon attempts to acquire Goodreads competitors with lucrative offers?
Odunayo firmly states, “That’s not something we’re interested in. StoryGraph has had zero external investment; it’s a fully self-sustained venture. While anything is possible, we are currently content and committed to StoryGraph. I believe it’s the culmination of our life’s work.”
She further adds, “I believe there’s no cap on our potential growth while maintaining our current ethos. Our goal is to reach more users and become a globally acclaimed app.”
For Odunayo, the initial motivation behind all this stands stronger than ever – the love for books. Reflecting on her journey, she states, “I recall a friend caught up in social media for years, only managing to read 45 books.” She realized, “I’m single, no kids; with a 9 to 6 job, I only read 13 books this year.”
Currently, Odunayo reads 70 to 80 books yearly, distinguishing between fiction and non-fiction. Her current book is Time saving by Kaliane Bradley. She credits interacting with readers for broadening her reading choices and emphasizes, “Reading is ingrained in my identity as not just a CEO but a committed reader.”
The recent opening rejected a $97.4 billion bid by a consortium led by billionaire Elon Musk for ChatGpt makers, stating that the startup is not up for sale.
This unsolicited offer is Musk’s latest attempt to thwart a startup co-founded with CEO Sam Altman.
“Openai is not for sale. The board unanimously turned down this latest attempt to disrupt Musk’s competition. Openai emphasized that their mission is to ensure that AGI benefits humanity and mentioned the possibility of a reorganization as a nonprofit organization.”
Altman confirmed in an interview with Axios that Openai is not for sale, and he responded to Musk’s offer with a simple “no thanks,” prompting Musk to call him a “swindler.”
A consortium, including Musk-led AI startup Xai, stated that they would withdraw their bid for Openai’s nonprofit status if plans to become a for-profit organization were removed, as per a court application filed on Wednesday.
Two days ago, the consortium introduced new terms in the proposal through a court filing. The filing exposed that the client’s “published ‘bids’ were not actual bids at all.” The Openai board communicated their position to Musk’s lawyer on Friday.
Other investors in the consortium include Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, and Hollywood Power Broker Ari Emanuel.
Altman and Musk have been in conflict for several years.
After Musk’s departure in 2019, Openai established a for-profit division that attracted significant fundraising, leading Musk to claim that the startup was deviating from its original mission and focusing more on profits than public good.
Musk filed a lawsuit against Altman, Openai, and their major supporter Microsoft in August last year on grounds of breach of contract.
In November, Musk requested a preliminary injunction from a US district judge to prevent the transition to a for-profit structure.
wHEN Congress was postponed to the holiday in December. This is a groundbreaking bill aimed at overhauling how technology companies protect the youngest users. The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) introduced in 2022 was intended to be a massive calculation for Big Tech. Instead, the bill waned and died in the House despite sailing through the Senate in July with a 91-3 vote.
Kosa is passionately defended by families who say children have fallen victim to the harmful policies of social media platforms, and advocates who say bills that curb the unidentified power of big technology have been postponed for a long time is. They are seriously disappointed that a strong chance to check out Big Technology has failed due to Congress' indifference. However, human rights groups argued that the law could have led to unintended consequences that impacted freedom of speech online.
What is the Kids Online Safety Act?
Kosa was introduced nearly three years ago in the aftermath of a bomb revelation by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen, and the extent to which the social media platform's impact on younger users. Platforms like Instagram and Tiktok would have required that children be affected through design changes and address online risks to allow younger users to opt out of algorithmic recommendations.
“This is a basic product praise bill,” said Alix Fraser, director of the Council on Responsible Social Media Issues. “It's complicated because the internet is complex and social media is complex, but essentially it's just an effort to create basic product driving standards for these companies.”
The central and controversial element of the bill is its “duty of care” clause, declaring that businesses “have an obligation to use the platform to act in the best interests of minors,” and the regulatory authority It has declared it open to interpretation by They would have also requested that the platform implement measures to reduce harm by establishing “safeguards for minors.”
Critics argued that the lack of clear guidance on what constitutes harmful content encourages businesses to filter content more aggressively, resulting in unintended consequences for free speech. Delicate but important topics such as gun violence and racial justice can be considered potentially harmful and may subsequently be ruled out by the corporation itself. These censorship concerns are particularly prominent in the LGBTQ+ community, saying that opponents of the Kosa could be disproportionately affected by conservative regulators and reduce access to critical resources.
“Using Kosas we see a truly intentional but ultimately ambiguous bill that requires online services to adopt online services to take unspecified actions to keep children safe. A policy analyst at the Center for Democracy Technology, who opposes the law and receives money from technology donors such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.
The complex history of the Kosa
When the bill was first introduced, over 90 human rights groups signed letters against it, highlighting these and other concerns. In response to such criticism, the bill's author published a revision in February 2024. Most notably, the state attorney general changed the enforcement of its “duty of care” provisions to the Federal Trade Commission. Following these changes, many organizations, including the Glaad, the Human Rights Campaign and the Trevor project, have withdrawn their opposition, saying the amendments “significantly reduce the risk of the matter.” [Kosa] It has been misused to suppress LGBTQ+ resources and to curb young people's access to online communities. ”
However, other civil rights groups have maintained their opposition, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the ACLU and the future battle, calling Kosa a “censorship bill” that harms vulnerable users and freedom of speech. They argued that the duty-of-care provision could easily be weaponized by conservative FTC chairmen against LGBTQ+ youth, as well as the state attorney general. These concerns are reflected in the appointment of Republican Andrew Ferguson, Trump's FTC chairman; Who said in the leaked statement He had planned to use his role to “fight the trans agenda.”
Concerns about how Ferguson will manage online content are “what LGBTQ youth wrote and called Congress hundreds of times over the past few years in this fight,” says Saraphilips of the Future Fight. Ta. “The situation they were afraid of has come to fruition. Anyone who ignores it is really just putting their heads in the sand.”
Opponents say that even if KOSA doesn't pass, they've already achieved a calm effect on content available on certain platforms. recently Report User MAG has found that hashtags for LGBTQ+-related topics are classified as “sensitive content” and are restricted from search. Laws like Kosa, Bhatia of the Center for Democracy Technology, said it doesn't take into account the complexity of the online landscape, and it's likely that the platform will lead preemptive censorship to avoid litigation.
“Children's safety holds an interesting and paradoxical position in technology policy, where children benefit greatly from the internet, as well as vulnerable actors,” she said. . “Using policy blunt instruments to protect them can often lead to consequences that don't really take this into consideration.”
Supporters will make backlash at Kosa an aggressive lobbying from the tech industry, but fight for the future – two top opponents – EFF will be supported by large tech donors Not there. Meanwhile, the large tech companies have been split up by KOSA, with X, SNAP, Microsoft and Pinterest quietly supporting the bill, Meta and Google.
“The Kosa was a very robust law, but what's more robust is the power of big technology,” Fraser is the power of problem 1. “They hired all the lobbyists in town to take it down, and they succeeded with it.”
Fraser added that supporters are disappointed that Kosa didn't pass, but “will not take a break until federal law is passed to protect children online.”
Potential revival of Kosa
Besides Ferguson as FTC Chairman, it is unclear what the changing composition of the new Trump administration and Congress will mean for the future of Kosa. Trump has not directly expressed his views on Kosa, but some of his close circles are Revealed support After last minute amendments to the 2024 bill Promoted by Elon Musk's X.
The death of the Congress in Kosa may seem like the end of a winding and controversial path, but defenders on both sides of the fight say it's too early to write legislative obituaries.
“We shouldn't expect the Kosa to go quietly,” said Prem Trivedi, policy director at the Institute for Open Technology, which opposes Kosa. “Whether it's being reintroduced or seeing if a different incarnation is introduced, it will continue to focus more broadly on online safety for children.”
Senator Richard Blumental, who co-authored the bill with Senator Marsha Blackburn, has promised to reintroduce it in future legislative sessions, and other defenders of the bill say they won't give It’s.
“I want to talk about the worst days of their lives over and over again, in front of lawmakers, in front of staff, in front of the press, knowing something is known. I've worked with a lot of parents who think that, and to change,” Fraser said. “They don't intend to stop.”
Triple J played continuously for 8 hours. The DJ remixed it, the dancers grooved to it, and many of us listened, sat down, and felt frustrated.
Slowly, Centrelink Hold Music has become a part of the cultural landscape, serving as the backdrop for art and going viral on TikTok.
Influencer and comedian Lyanna Kea’s TikTok dance in 2024 garnered 91,000 likes and 2,297 comments, echoing the frustration of a caller on hold.
“Everyone recognizes the tune on Centrelink,” Kea remarked. “Everyone knows the feeling of being stuck on hold for hours before being abruptly disconnected.”
“It’s ingrained in everyone’s minds.”
In 1989, Tim Carlton, a 16-year-old American at the time, created a song that was later used by Cisco, a major supplier of corporate mobile phones, and has since gained global recognition.
The tune is now known worldwide for its presence on Cisco’s hold music playlist. It was even featured in a 2023 Bud Light commercial and has garnered millions of plays on Spotify.
In 2018, Centrelink swapped its classic hold music for Opus No. 1 synth melodies, even reaching audiences in countries like Switzerland and Poland.
Both Australians and global citizens have been impacted. Artist Jonathan Hobbsey created a performance piece for the Fringe Festival in 2023, inspired by lockdown experiences.
“I wanted to evoke a communal experience that resonated with people,” Hobbsey explained. “Music is the sound of limbo.”
Music On Hold Australia’s manager Jenny Crosby emphasized the importance of a good hold song having consistent beats, volume, and minimal emotional content.
“Hold music may seem dull in the music world, but it serves a purpose,” she noted.
Twenty years ago, Crosby curated a collection of songs for the ATO, with some still playing today, proving their lasting appeal.
Lauren Roseworn, a social sciences professor, suggested that Centrelink embrace its hold music legacy to connect with people’s shared experiences.
“Instead of dwelling on the negative, we can find humor and solidarity in these familiar tunes,” she concluded.
The UK semiconductor designer ARM reportedly plans to launch its own chip this year after landing Meta as one of its first customers.
The move represents a massive overhaul of the SoftBank-owned group’s business model, licensing chip blueprints to Apple and Nvidia.
ARM CEO Rene Haas is set to announce its first in-house chip as early as this summer, according to a Financial Times report citing people familiar with the plan.
Since the company was founded in 1990, more than 300 million chips have been shipped based on ARM design, and almost all world smartphones are based on ARM technology. Moving from chip design to manufacturing a full, proprietary processor could also compete with the largest customers in the £500 million semiconductor industry.
ARM declined to comment. The company’s shares rose more than 6% on Thursday after finance reported its plans.
Financial Times also has its own intellectual property by creating a vast infrastructure network for AI, which has shifted to the production of AI chips by the son of SoftBank founder Masayoshi, and building a vast infrastructure network for artificial intelligence. It reported that it is one step in a big plan to make more money from.
Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank Group. Photo: Mitsui/Aflo/Rex/Shutterstock
Last month, Son announced its Stargate initiative at Openai. It spends an estimated £400 million building AI infrastructure, funded by Abu Dhabi State Fund MGX and Oracle, and is armed as a major technology partner alongside Microsoft and Nvidia.
According to those familiar with the plan, ARM’s chips are the central processing units (CPUs) of servers in large data centers and are expected to be customizable for clients, including Meta. These people said production will be outsourced to manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
Another transaction essential to ARM’s chipmaking project is SoftBank’s anticipated acquisition of Ampere. It could be valued at nearly $6.5 billion (£5.155 billion).
Cambridge Headquarted Arm has more than doubled to $173 million since it was listed on the Nasdaq in 2023. Before SoftBank took over it in 2016, ARM was previously listed in London.
Meta is the latest big tech company that looks to ARM for power-efficient server chips instead of Intel and AMD. Meanwhile, ARM’s Nvidia partnership with Amazon has driven the rapid growth of data centers that power Openai, Meta, and human AI assistants.
In May 2024, a Fantastic ads Going viral on social media, “There are real cases of fraud and abuse across the country. [election] “The system that erodes our trust.” advertisement The “whistleblower” who shared evidence of election fraud has vowed that he will “reward on payments from the $5 million fund.”
This reward was courtesy of the group that had just been announced. Fair Election Funddocumented documents show that there is a deep connection to Elon Musk’s political network.
The fair election fund “emphasis on these cases” to share their stories with “a large portion of the group’s budget is dedicated to whistleblower payments” and “affective pay and earned.” We have pledged to launch a “media campaign.”
It followed after that Another ad It was run in swing states during the Olympics, telling viewers to share evidence of election fraud, saying, “You might qualify for compensation.”
Despite the group’s high-profile, deep pocket supporters and favorable bounty offers, no evidence of voters or election fraud was revealed. Instead, the group incorporates a series of unrelated detours into tangential areas like third-party voting access, and efforts to reveal fraud have concluded that many research, court decisions, and bipartisan investigations have concluded. I’ve reaffirmed that I’m there. Voter fraud is extremely rare.
The Fair Election Fund is now radio silent. SiteMap data shows that the website has not been updated since October and that the group’s X/Twitter account has not been posted since November. Group’s SpokesmanFormer national team member Doug Collins has appeared. Trump’s Veterans Secretaryand still is Leading the government’s ethics bureau.
Close relationship with the world’s wealthiest man
The Fair Election Fund is the fictitious name of another 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, and the documented documentation is revealed and operated within a network run by Musk’s top political advisors. You can do it. The group received funds from the same dark money vehicle that Musk used to guide his political spending, and also routed the funds to another musk-backed nonprofit.
The group is now housed in a nonprofit organization called the Interstate, and previously known as the fund. It was formed on January 3, 2023, a nonprofit organization. We raised $8,226,000 from a single donation in 2023.
The naming of two sax-led groups, and naming them for the Republic and it’s for funding – and the timing of their creation in January 2023 was originally the group currently housed a fair election fund. It suggests that it was intended to support operations. Mask was the first to support him.
Sachs’ involvement continues until 2024, and her name will appear on record This was accompanied by the purchase of the Fair Election Fund’s broadcast.
Musk has been like that since 2022 Secretly channel his political spending Through a dark money nonprofit organization called Building America’s Future. The group is run by General and Phil Cox, two Republican operatives involved in the failed presidential bid for DeSantis. I’ll give advice to Musk now. Building the future of America It is reportedly In 2024, we supported the Fair Election Fund. That too Half provided of Republic’s comprehensive funding in 2023.
Ron DeSantis, whose presidential bid for the Florida Governor, was endorsed by the Republic Group. Photo: Cristóbal Herrera/EPA
The Fair Election Fund/Interstate Priorities also served as a conduit to support other musk-backed groups. Group’s 2023 Tax Return It shows that he has won a $1,550,000 grant to citizens for his sanity. Masks were funded in 2022 by building the future of Americaand aired racist and transphobic ads of that election cycle. The grant created almost entire citizens for sanity Funding for 2023.
During the 2024 election cycle, Musk released at least $277 million in political contributions to the super PACs he worked to elect President Trump and other Republicans. I don’t know how much he gave to other politically active groups disguised as donors.
Detours to third-party voting access
The fair election fund’s goal of exposing election fraud at first glance seemed to have no significance.
Of the $5 million fund, the group announced $75,000 in payments of “prizes” and released it $50,000 July 2024 and $25,000 September 2024. Fair Election Fund It was promised While we will not “emphasis” the narratives of election fraud collected through these payments via “active payments and acquired media campaigns,” we suggest that any evidence generated is consequential or reliable. Not there.
Instead, the group detoured in July 2024: $175,000 advertisement “Blitz” targeting North Carolina Election Commission (NCSBE) members delay Third-party presidential candidates Cornell West and Robert F. Kennedy JR will be on the poll. Back then, Republicans and their allies believed West and Kennedy would do. I’ll act as a spoiler to help Trumpby sucking up left-leaning votes away from the Democratic presidential candidate.
Ironically, the NCSBE delayed decisions regarding Western and Kennedy’s eligibility and is based on evidence. The petition was obtained through fraudulent means – Concerns that appear to coincide with the Fair Election Fund’s mission to expose election fraud.
Fair Election Fund advertisement NCSBE Democrats declared “threatening your right to vote” and provided compensation for evidence of members’ “shady backroom deals.” The group too Projected image I drove next to the NCSBE building. Mobile sign Around the agency’s headquarters.
Mark Elias, a Democratic lawyer who tried to stay west of votes in North Carolina and elsewhere, was a frequent target for the group. October 2024, Group announcement Performing six-figure ad purchases to “troll” Elias. The ads included mobile billboards around Elias Law Group Office and full-page ads for the Washington Post. “We’ve broken Mark Elias and his racist voter suppression lawsuit. Cornell West, but the fair election fund has stopped him.”
The fair election fund was then directed towards a series of efforts to chase other trending right-wing conspiracy theories.
For example, fair election funds over the summer are Online Funding Platform ActBlueclaiming he found it.”60,000 potential contradictionsIn ActBlue Facilitation’s contribution to the Biden-Harris campaign, based on a survey conducted “from late July to early August.” The group is “I spent $250,000 About these initial findings” – Amazing
mThe butt effect is some of the best science fiction ever made. That might sound like an epic comment, but it's true. As a trilogy, original games from 2007 to 2013 are easy to pick the most brain ideas from the sci-fi genre and invested them into memorable military role-playing games that have been the first to the controversial end. I slotted it.
Whether you prefer Asimov's hopeful optimistic outlook, Shelley's dark and reflective commentary, Star Trek's accessible thought experiment, or BattleStar Galactica's arch melodrama, Mass Effect is it I have everything. The trilogy grazes Star Wars West-inspired ratios as happily as Iain M Banks' “hard” sci-fi, bringing all its moods and micro-story into a galaxy that is captivating and believable Melding, walking in one way or another breathtaking optimism, and a choking smile.
Mass effects are special. And, like a successful video game series, franchise achievement rests on the shoulders of the developers' vast assemblies. Bioware project director Casey Hudson and studio co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk have earned plenty of credits, but much of their souls comes from other creatives at Bioware. Written by Drew Calpisin, Derek Watts's Art Direction, Lead Designer Preston Wattmaniuk's vision, and Jack Wall's rising film music.
Every time you play, you can feel the choking inevitability of closed sacrifices around you. I needed music to match
“I made the Jade Empire soundtrack very successful in BioWare before Mass Effect,” Wall tells me that he asks how he became part of the team working on the original title. “Then they put out an audition process for what the team called SFX, the codename for Mass Effect. It was a blind audition, and Bioware got files back from many composers. The team was , I listened to all these different things and decided who nailed it the most. And I won that audition blind.”
Soon, Casey Hudson began working on giving an overview to the wall. “His mission was, 'I want this to sound like '80s science fiction music'. There is no Star Wars. There's nothing like the Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, or Blade Runner. Those were the main ideas. “Hudson specifically guides vintage analog synth sounds (particularly in films) that defined science fiction of the era, and wants to imagine a multi-layered multi-removal approach from the Tangerine Dream as the perfect accompaniment to a dense, complex mass-effect universe. I was thinking that.
Wall explains that Bioware played music written by another composer called Sam Hulick. Although Hulick was not chosen as a lead composer (as he was considered too junior for his job), Wall gave him equal credibility on the soundtrack.
Up until Mass Effect 2, music really became itself and essential to the whole experience. If Mass Effect has this almost utopian outlook, then the sequel is dark if mid-20th century science fiction optimism was established to establish the universe. The end of everything is nearing. From the off point, the final act is a “suicide mission” and it is said that the problem should be sorted out before reaching the return point. There is extensive pessimism, and with each moment you play, you can feel the choking inevitability of closed sacrifices around you. I needed music to match.
“At the beginning of development, Casey Hudson came in and said, 'I want to write the ending now,'” Wall says. I want it to be the main moment everyone remembers. He gave me some guidance and told me through what he wanted. [players] Feeling – This is always the best way to work with the supervisor. ”
“The team will decide who nailed it the most”… Jack Wall.
This track may be the aptly named Suicide Mission, which may be the most important part of the entire trilogy. It has an orchestral bias more than anything in the first game and reflects a serious overall tone. It shows how quickly they mature from one game to the next.
“It had to be epic, it had to feel like a movie, it had to feel 'one guy against everything',” Wall says. “You had to feel like you were saving the world and saving the galaxy. I came up with that main theme. [Hudson] I liked it right away. ”
However, before Wall and Hudson began installing the pieces together there was maintenance to do. Bioware and Wall were not impressed by how the music from the first game was patched to the final product. “The transition was awful,” Wall says, asking for an example.
“So, what we decided is that in Mass Effect 2, we'll do all the implementations we've never done before,” he continues. “I had an amazing assistant called Brian Didomenico who worked with me in my studio every day. He sat in my vocal booth with a desk and a PC. I told him I was my track. Sent, he implemented them into the game and did playtests there. And we tweak it until it really gets better… Bioware puts out the game when it's ready Things were delayed a lot because they were known for it, but the fans were very happy when they got it.”
Wall remembers finishing the game. It's noted that the entire ending sequence passed “in a tiny little video spitted out by the game engine.” He took the files and fed them to his Mac's film editor, stitched together the endings and edited the suicide mission. He then wrote various endings on the track, reflecting the player's choices.
“The end of everything is near”…Mass Effect 2. Photo: EA
“It was the biggest heart that I've ever done in my life,” he laughs. “And no one walked me around because they were surprised when they were about to finish the game. I handed it over and they had a lot of massages at their end to make it work. It had to, but they did it…and the result is one of the best ending sequences of the game I've ever played. It was worth the effort.”
Wall didn't return to the score for Mass Effect 3, the most popular game in the trilogy. “Casey wasn't particularly pleased with me at the end,” he says. “But I'm very proud of that score. It was nominated for BAFTA and it really worked… [even if] It didn't go as well as Casey had hoped. “Talk to the wall, I feel a near-Fleetwood Mac level creative tension between him and Hudson. The duo have created something amazing that will live forever in the minds of sci-fi and RPG enthusiasts, but at the expense of some relationships.
“That kind of fallout is just part of the transaction,” he says. “It's one of the few things in my career and it was a tough time, but that's it.”
You can survive the final mission in Mass Effect 2. Make all the right choices and execute your plans with absolute clarity and determination, and you can save all your crew as your hero and all your crew stare at a particular death. But, at least for most players, a much more likely outcome is losing at least one member of the team. This bundle of ragtags of heroes splits, gets injured, loses morale and sets foot into the climax of a series that is hopeless. For me, it reflects the brutal reality that good science fiction reveals.
Elon Musk has stated that he will retract a $97 billion offer to purchase the nonprofit organization behind Openai if the makers of ChatGpt agree to abandon plans to convert them into for-profit entities.
“If the board of Openai, Inc is willing to uphold its charitable mission and ensure that any “sales” are conducted without conversions, Musk will withdraw his bid,” he stated on Wednesday. “If not, the nonprofit must be compensated based on the amount paid by the prospective buyer for the assets.”
Earlier this week, Musk and a group of investors made their offer, adding a new twist to the ongoing controversy surrounding the artificial intelligence company he co-founded a decade ago.
Openai is currently operated by a nonprofit board dedicated to its original mission of developing AI “safer and more advanced than humans” for the public good. However, as the business grows, it has announced plans to change its corporate structure formally.
Musk, along with his AI startup Xai and a group of investment firms, seeks control over Openai by transforming the nonprofit into a for-profit subsidiary.
Openai CEO Sam Altman swiftly dismissed the unsolicited offers in a social media post, reiterating at AI’s Paris Summit that the company is not for sale. Openai’s board chairman, Bret Taylor, echoed these sentiments at the event on Wednesday.
Musk and Altman were instrumental in launching Openai in 2015, but had disagreements over leadership, leading to Musk stepping down from the board in 2018 only to rejoin in 2024.
During a video call at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Musk criticized Altman once again, comparing Openai to turning the Amazon rainforest into a timber company. Altman countered that Musk’s legal challenges were influenced by his competing startups.
Musk is currently seeking a California federal judge’s intervention to prevent Openai’s commercial conversions, alleging breach of contract and antitrust violations. While the judge has shown doubt about some of Musk’s arguments, no ruling has been issued yet.
A speech by US vice president JD Vance represented a disruptive consensus on how to approach AI. He attended the summit alongside other global leaders including India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen. I did.
In his speech at Grand Palais, Vance revealed that the US cannot be hampered by an over-focus on global regulations and safety.
“We need an international regulatory system that promotes the creation of AI technology rather than strangle it. In particular, our friends in Europe should look to this new frontier, optimistic rather than fear. ” he said.
China was also challenged. Vance worked with the “authoritarian” regime in warning his peers before the country’s vice-president Zhang Guoqing with a clear reference to Beijing.
“Some of us in this room learned from our experience partnering with them, and what we’ve learned from your information to the authoritarian masters who try to penetrate, dig into your information infrastructure and seize your information. It means taking the country with you,” he said.
A few weeks after China’s Deepshek rattles US investors with a powerful new model, Vance’s speech revealed that America is determined to remain a global leader in AI .
2. Go by yourself
Naturally, in light of Vance’s exceptionalism, the US refused to sign the diplomatic declaration on “comprehensive and sustainable” AI, which was released at the end of the summit. However, the UK, a major player in AI development, also rejected it, saying the document is not progressing enough to address AI’s global governance and national security implications.
Achieving meaningful global governance for AI gives us even more distant prospects, as we failed to achieve consensus over seemingly incontroversial documents. The first summit held in Bletchley Park in the UK in 2023, at least voluntarily reached an agreement between major countries and high-tech companies on AI testing.
A year later, the gathering in Bletchley and Seoul had been carefully agreed, but it was already clear by opening night that this would not happen at the third gathering. In his welcoming speech, Macron threw the shade with a focus on Donald Trump’s fossil fuels, urging investors and tech companies to view France and Europe as AI hubs.
Looking at the enormous energy consumption required by AI, Macron said France stands out because of its nuclear reliance.
“I have a good friend on the other side of the ocean who says, ‘drills, babes, drills’. There is no need to drill here. Plugs, babysitting, plugs. Electricity is available,” he said. We have identified various national outlooks and competitive trends at the summit.
Nevertheless, Henry de Zoete, former AI advisor to Rishi Sunak on Downing Street, said the UK “played the blind man.” “If I didn’t sign the statement, I’d brought about a significant will with Trump’s administrators at almost cost,” he wrote to X.
3. Are you playing safely?
Safety, the top of the UK Summit agenda, has not been at the forefront of Paris despite continued concerns.
Yoshua Bengio, a world-renowned computer scientist and chairman of the major safety report released before the summit, told the Guardians of Paris that the world deals with the meaning of highly intelligent AI. He said that it wasn’t.
“We have a mental block to the idea that there are machines that are smarter than us,” he said.
Demis Hassabis ir, head of Google’s AI unit, called for Unity when dealing with AI after there was no agreement over the declaration.
“It’s very important that the international community continues to come together and discuss the future of AI. We all need to be on the same page about the future we are trying to create.”
Pointing to potentially worrying scenarios such as powerful AI systems behave at first glance, he added: They are global concerns that require intensive and international cooperation.
Safety aside, some key topics were given prominent hearings at the summit. Macron’s AI envoy Anne Boubolot says that AI’s current environmental trajectory is “unsustainable” and Christy Hoffman, general secretary of the UNI Global Union, says that AI is productivity at the expense of workers. He said that promoting improvements could lead to an “engine of inequality.” ‘ Welfare.
4. Progress is accelerating
There were many mentions of the pace of change. Hassavis said in Paris that the theoretical term for AI systems that match or exceed human on any intellectual task is “probably five years or something apart.”
Dario Amodei, CEO of US AI company Anthropic, said by 2026 or 2027, AI systems will be like a new country that will take part in the world. It resembles a “a whole new nation inhabited by highly intelligent people who appear on the global stage.”
Encouraging governments to do more to measure the economic impact of AI, Amodei said advanced AI could represent “the greatest change to the global labor market in human history.” I’ve warned.
Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGpt developer Openai, has flagged Deep Research, the startup’s latest release, released at the beginning of the month. This is an AI agent, a term for a system that allows users to perform tasks on their behalf, and features the latest, cutting-edge model O3 version of OpenAI.
Speaking at the Fringe Event, he said the deep research was “a low percentage of all tasks in the world’s economy at the moment… this is a crazy statement.”
5. China offers help
Deepseek founder Liang Wenfeng had no shortage of discussion about the startup outcomes, but he did not attend the Paris Summit. Hassavis said Deepshek was “probably the best job I’ve come out of China.” However, he added, “There were no actual new scientific advances.”
Guoqing said China is willing to work with other countries to protect security and share AI achievements and build a “community with a shared future for humanity.” Zhipu, a Chinese AI company in Paris, has predicted AI systems that will achieve “consciousness” by 2030, increasing the number of claims at the conference that large capacity AI is turning the corner.
6. Musk’s shadow
The world’s wealthiest person, despite not attending, was still able to influence events in Paris. The consortium led by Elon Musk has launched a bid of nearly $100 billion for the nonprofit that manages Openai, causing a flood of questions for Altman, seeking to convert the startup into a for-profit company.
Altman told reporters “The company is not on sale,” and repeated his tongue counter offer, saying, “I’m happy to buy Twitter.”
We were asked about the future of Openai’s nonprofit organizations. This is to be spun as part of the overhaul while retaining stocks in the profit-making unit. Things…and we’re completely focused on ensuring we save it.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Altman said the mask bid was probably an attempt to “slow us down.” He added: “Perhaps his life is from a position of anxiety. I feel the man.”
Tiktok was made available on the US App Store by Apple and Google on Thursday after President Donald Trump postponed the ban on Chinese-owned social media apps. This ensured that the tech giants would not face fines for distributing or maintaining the app.
The popular short video app, used by nearly half of all Americans, faced a temporary ban last month. However, the ban was scheduled to take effect on January 19th due to national security concerns surrounding its Chinese ownership. The owners were asked to sell the app or risk being banned.
Following this, Trump signed an executive order the next day, delaying the enforcement of the ban by 75 days, allowing Tiktok to continue its operations in the US temporarily.
After receiving Trump’s assurance, Tiktok resumed its service, but Google and Apple continued to remove the app from the US App Store.
Tiktok, the second-most downloaded app in the US last year, announced on Thursday that the latest version of the app was now available for download.
Analysts speculate that there was a delay as Google and Apple were waiting for guarantees that they would not be penalized for hosting or distributing the app.
Trump’s order ensured that companies would not face fines for running the Tiktok app.
According to Market Intelligence Firm Sensor Tower, Tiktok was downloaded over 52 million times in 2024. The majority of downloads came from Apple’s App Store, with the rest from Google Play in the US.
Regulations demanding the sale of Tiktok’s US assets by a deadline, or the possibility of a ban, were put in place in April last year by then-President Joe Biden. This was in response to national security fears and concerns about potential surveillance by China through video sharing apps.
The US has never banned major social media platforms, and the law enacted last year gives the government the authority to ban or require the sale of other Chinese-owned apps.
Trump mentioned on Thursday that the 75-day deadline for Tiktok could be extended.
The uncertainty surrounding Tiktok has attracted interest from potential buyers, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.
Trump indicated that he has been in talks with various parties regarding the purchase of Tiktok and is likely to make a decision on the app’s future in February.
wHensimon Waite began working as a private rental driver in 2017. It gave him the flexibility and income to spend time with his children. “School is my son’s soccer, and I was able to make money in my life,” he says.
But over the past few years, the 41-year-old Waite from Hertfordshire says he has to spend dramatically more time on the roads to make a living. “It took me about 50 hours to make £1,000 a week a few years ago, but now it’s about 70 hours. Most drivers will need to pay insurance, taxes, vehicle fees, maintenance, fuel, license, rent, bills, and maintenance fees. Living costs.”
Waite claims that drivers reduced fares to compensate for costs after the Supreme Court was classified as eligible to acquire workers’ rights, such as holidays and sick pay in 2021.
To challenge his working conditions, Waite will not work for the private rental driving app on Valentine’s Day from 4pm to 10pm. He has taken part in logoff actions against Uber, Bolt, and Addison Lee and withdraws his labor Thousands of others Requires better pay, rights, and safety measures.
Friday’s action is organized by three drivers and supported by the Independent Workers Union UK (IWGB). “The driver reports that he just got worse. [2021] The ruling responded to the enforcement of rights by lowering its fees,” the IWGB said. Approximately 200 drivers from cities across the country contacted the Guardian and shared their opinions on the actions.
Wait, who is signed up with Bolt, says Uber is a great app that “has done so many amazing things about how people avoid it.” But he says the decline in wages has “at a place I can’t.” He is considering quitting his job.
Valentine’s Day action is about raising awareness among drivers [and] We build that momentum,” Waite said. “We’re going to strengthen Uber and run this system. If we’re united, we can actually make changes.”
Another driver scheduled to log off on Friday is Isaac Mohammed, 30, a part-time Cardiff driver since 2016.
Isaac Mohammed, 30, said fares could drop to £1 per mile. Photo: Isaac Mohammed/Guardian Community
“It used to be the best ride app, but things have changed dramatically over the past two years,” says Mohammed. It was often 3 pounds per mile.
“Today, having a takeaway for me is considered a luxury,” he says. “Unless you live in your car, it’s very difficult to survive.”
The core issue of Mohammed is what counts as working time. Uber calculates it from when the ride is accepted until the passengers leave the exit, but he says this doesn’t take into account the time they wait for the ride.
Also involved is Kieran Airey, 36, of Merseyside, driving for Uber and a local private employment company. He says he realized in early 2024 it was taking time to reach his £200 a day goal. This meant rising from 55-60 hours a week, up from 45 hours. “At one point, I was basically working seven days a week,” he says.
“I just want fair wages for fair work,” says 36-year-old Kieran Airey. Photo: Kieran Airey/Guardian Community
He had to take his 14-year-old son to soccer and had to take a weekend nap, as he had eaten a processed microwave meal rather than a home-cooked dinner due to increased fatigue. So, “I had enough energy to do the job then, then.”
Airey says he is frustrated with the lack of transparency around the algorithms and payment structure. “I just want to make fair payments for fair work,” he says.
Uber claims that drivers are being paid unfairly. “Uber offers a national living wage guarantee for all drivers, and while they can earn money below that level, most drivers can make more money,” the spokesman said. Ta.
“All drivers are paid weekly as cash, representing an additional 12% of the revenues paid each week.
A spokesman for Addison Lee said the company has “close collaboration with our drivers” and “doesn’t expect to see disruptions with volume or service levels” on Friday. I contacted Bolt for comment.
Gavin, a 45-year-old driver from Uber and Bolt of Birmingham, says he sympathizes with some concerns but has not taken part in the action.
“I really have to thank Uber for giving me this opportunity to acquire a private employment driver,” he says. More than his previous work.
But with Martin Hayward, 54-year-old Southampton, a private employment driver for 20 years, joining in, he says the logoff action hasn’t gone far enough to make an impact. “I’m happy to log off for a week,” he says.
“I work seven days a week for under £500,” says Martin Hayward. Photo: Martin Hayward/Guardian Community
He claims he could earn around £750 a week ago by October last year, but now he’s earning around £450 in the same time.
“I work seven days a week for under £500. I don’t have a social life,” he says. “The worst thing about being a driver is always having a place to have a good time, whether it’s a theatre, a holiday, a trip, or a cruise. You’re just thinking… I’m not going to do these things. you can’t.
Scarlett Johansson raised concerns about the “immediate threat of AI” following the circulation of deepfake videos featuring her and other well-known Jewish celebrities in response to recent anti-Semitic comments made by Kanye West.
The deepfake video showcased AI-generated versions of numerous celebrities, such as Johansson, David Schwimmer, Jerry Seinfeld, Drake, Adam Sandler, Steven Spielberg, and Mila Kunis.
It began with a deepfake representation of Johansson wearing a t-shirt with raised hands and fingers adorned with the Star of David and Kanye’s name. The video was set to the tune of “Habanagira,” a traditional Jewish song typically played at celebratory cultural events and concluded with a message urging viewers to join the fight against anti-Semitism.
Other celebrities depicted in the video included Sacha Baron Cohen, Jack Black, Natalie Portman, Adam Levine, Ben Stiller, and Lenny Kravitz.
Johansson expressed her distress over the dissemination of AI-generated videos featuring her likeness online in response to anti-Semitic sentiments. In a statement to People, she stated, “As a Jewish woman, I unequivocally denounce all forms of anti-Semitism and hate speech. However, I believe the potential dangers posed by hate speech-enabled AI are far more concerning. We must hold AI accountable, as it presents a significant threat. Regardless of the AI’s message, there is a risk of inciting misuse of AI or real-life repercussions.”
A user known as Nishi made derogatory remarks, self-identifying as a “Nazi,” and lauding Hitler on social media before deactivating their account.
Nishi also featured in advertisements during the Super Bowl and directed viewers to their website, which was subsequently shut down by Shopify for policy violations. Fox TV station CEO Jack Abernethy also criticized the ads in a memo to staff.
Johansson has been an outspoken advocate against the unauthorized use of AI. She previously threatened legal action against OpenAI for using a voice resembling hers in their ChatGPT product. OpenAI eventually removed the prominently featured audio option from ChatGPT following significant backlash.
Johansson emphasized, “While I have been a prominent target of AI misuse, the reality is that the threat of AI affects us all.”
She further stated, “There is a pressing need for progressive nations to enact regulations safeguarding citizens from the imminent perils posed by AI, which regrettably the US government appears inert in addressing. It is alarming that the US lags in taking action.”
The actor urged lawmakers to enact legislation combating AI abuse, highlighting it as “a bipartisan issue with profound implications for humanity’s immediate future.”
The AI-generated video was created by Ori Bejerano, as indicated in his Instagram Bio. His original post noted that the content was digitally altered or generated with AI to create a realistic appearance.
eYou need to switch between fantasy realms. Who am I again? What do I do here? Who are all these people? It’s been a golden age for fantasy recently, and inhaling Dragon’s Dogma 2, Metaphor: Rifantagiothe seasons of Dragon House and all seasons of Rebecca Jaros are beginning to blur the details of one kingdom with another, less than a year later.
Avowed’s Fantasy Universe is ready-made from other Eternity Games pillars of developer Obsidian. The lore is dense, the in-game text is rich and the characters are redundant, but thankfully the land between them is fascinating to see the territory of Eora, full of political tensions and cool monsters. I remember valuable names and historical details, but I remember some of my experiences with this game – big enough for a crazy priest to build as a huge automaton inside The view from the rattle road hugging the walls of an underground cave and the secrets of the skin crawling I discovered in the basement of my fellow family homes. The appearance is annihilation and obliv with fungal and floral details that embroidery the structures and people you encounter, embroidering the ever-present tension between organic and rot.
The land in between is destroyed by a disturbing plague that angers people before it is consumed by mushroom-like growth. You, an envoy from the distant centre of the Empire, have been sent to investigate. You are like God, touched immortal, through this strange place, by the sacred voice in your head and the various native companions I felt truly enlightened. You will be guided. Avowed has many choices and self-direction, and it is a game that always respects your intelligence. The characters are interestingly written (densely) and there are many ways to respond to them. That’s far less than the Whedon-esque man/bad guy/joker reaction, as the cries echoes other games force you out of you.
I was hoping for a lively adventure of Obsidian sci-fi comedy The Outer Worlds for 20 hours, but readers, this is it’s not. This game is immeasurable. We spent some time in the opening area of Dawnshore and spent some old time familiarizing ourselves with spider-equipped caves (there are a lot of these, but this is not an Arachnophovictic game). Booty. (This is because I’m stagnant in the main quest, and I forgot about the important information that was displayed once in the text tutorial for about 5 seconds.) Only after 15 hours on this comfortable coastal land, I’d say I met one of my central antagonists. A memorable and terrifying warrior dressed in intricate armor and a mask with smoldering eyes. Then I found myself in a densely rotten jungle swamp filled with amazingly cheerful necromancers, and it big From Dawn Shore. When I arrived at my third new location about 30 hours later, I realized that there was no measure of this world at all.
Unfortunately, AVOWED is better It was 20 hours long. I’ve always been lost on strike from town and have come across something interesting like Skyrim and Fallout. However, there are two stickiness issues that suck fun over time. The first is common to many open world games. Once you arrive at a new location, all the quests and battles are a little difficult. After hours of quests, exploring weapons and armor, and upgrading, it hits a short sweet spot that all feels challenging but conquering. Then you start to feel like everything is too easy and empowering yourself, and it’s like a box-chic movement. This pattern repeatedly eroded my patience in the game.
The second problem is that the combat in Avowed is not as fun as it thinks. A lot of it. There are an impressive number of weapons and techniques, including Grimoire and Staff for spells, giant two-handed axes, bows and pistols, maces, shields, and more. But no matter what you choose, it feels inaccurate and boring, and the likelihood of success is determined by invisible numbers rather than skills. Make sure to take on enemies above your level, and how well you dodge the Great Sword path, or how cleverly you combine your magical effects to freeze undead skeletons. It hardly matters whether to grind it. The key is the quality of the gear. This should be continuously and painstakingly upgraded with random materials from warehouses that are found in every chest or lockbox. I was extremely tired of destroying R2 and firing magic projectiles, hacking tree monsters with my sword, and being so determined that I was missing from hit points. My companions either didn’t feel particularly useful in the fight.
All the diversity and textures in the fiction here are lacking in combat and loot. The end of the most interesting quests is home to unique swords and trinkets, but the fun of exploration is rarely found outside the scenery or characters. If you come across a powerful enemy, you may be losing your strength for the fight. If you find an appetizing, glowing breast in a cave, it can be filled with pennies, chunks of iron, and some fur.
Avowed began as Obsidian’s answer to Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series, reminding me of many oblivion and Skyrim in an exciting moment when I tripped over something unexpected in the wild. But it also shares a tendency to repeat those games and a sense of weightlessness in their fight. My first 15 or so hours on the land felt potentially rich, but I was tired of it long before the end.
The US State Department has allocated $400 million to purchase new Tesla armored vehicles, despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk leading efforts to reduce government spending during Donald Trump’s term.
Sector-generated procurement forecasts indicate a proposed expenditure of $400 million (£320 million) for “armored Teslas (production units).” These vehicles could potentially be the Cybertrucks, Tesla’s latest electric pickup model, touted by Musk as being bulletproof.
This revelation raises concerns about a possible conflict of interest for Musk, who is a major beneficiary of US government contracts through his various companies.
While Musk’s wealth primarily comes from Tesla, his rocket company SpaceX is a key contractor providing space launch services to the US government.
Despite Musk’s efforts to streamline government spending, particularly through his initiative named Doge, Trump has also involved him in government efficiency efforts. These actions have been criticized for potentially violating the US Constitution.
State Department documents suggest that the Tesla contract will be finalized by the end of September.
The department’s website originally included a forecast document dated December 13, 2024, showing the Tesla procurement plan. However, a later version corrected this entry after it was reported by Drop Site News, replacing “Tesla” with “armored electric vehicles” (EVs) without specifying the brand.
In addition to Tesla, the US government also procures armored vehicles from other manufacturers, as indicated in the procurement documents.
The former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, warns that rogue nations like North Korea, Iran, and Russia could utilize artificial intelligence to harm innocent people. Schmidt, who served as the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2017, expressed his concerns on BBC Radio 4 about the misuse of technology and weapons by malevolent entities.
He emphasized the potential dangers posed by countries with malicious intentions, such as North Korea, Iran, and Russia, who could exploit advanced technology for harmful purposes. Schmidt highlighted the urgency of addressing this threat, citing the devastating impact it could have on innocent individuals.
In response to the export controls implemented by President Joe Biden to restrict the sale of AI-related microchips, Schmidt voiced his support for government oversight of tech companies developing AI models. However, he cautioned against excessive regulation that could stifle innovation.
While acknowledging the importance of government understanding and monitoring technological advancements, Schmidt also underscored the need for collaboration between tech leaders and policymakers to navigate ethical concerns and potential risks.
Speaking from Paris at the AI Action Summit, Schmidt highlighted the importance of international cooperation in addressing AI-related challenges. While some countries, like the UK and the US, did not sign a comprehensive AI agreement due to concerns about national security and regulatory impact on innovation, Schmidt stressed the need for a balanced approach to driving progress in AI.
Regarding the use of smartphones by children, Schmidt expressed concerns about their safety and advocated for measures to protect young users from online threats. He supported initiatives to regulate social media use for children and emphasized the importance of safeguarding children in the digital age.
IT is said to host a magical artisan cheese festival every 100 years, a small fishing village on the south coast of an unknown fantasy realm. As an ethically produced dairy adventurer and fan, you decide to take part in the legendary event and arrive at the dock of a small boat with a few gold coins and dreams. This is the worst role-playing adventure background I've ever experienced, and by chance it's the only one I've ever designed.
The game-making package RPG maker has been around since 1992, the first version to be released on Japanese PC-98 computers. Since then, development has been handed over from veteran Japanese developer ASCII to Enterbrain and then to Chiyoda-based Gotcha Gotcha games, with dozens of installments coming up. Although it has become increasingly complicated over the years, RPG makers have no development experience and remain a very intuitive way to make adventure games.
The package comes with thousands of pre-built maps, buildings, characters and items that creators can use and modify. But you can also start from scratch and create your own assets and create unique games. Your project can be shared with the RPG maker community, and several highly acclaimed indie games have been programmed into the program, including To the Moon, Corpse Party, and Omori. Artisan Cheese Quest can tell you not to participate in them.
Exclusive screenshots of the RPG Maker's Artisan Cheese Quest. Photo: NIS America
To be fair, the game only took me and my 19-year-old son Zac, using the PlayStation 5 version of RPG Maker (released February 21st). Initially, we chose swamp locations from many types of ready-made maps. It mainly offers traditional fantasy and sci-fi options. Then we chose the characters – cute little anime style warriors. From here we begin the actual process of creating a game that offers challenging things. Everything that takes place in the world is called events and is necessary to create the events necessary to build a set of conditions using a very simple visual programming language.
If you've tried Scratch, a popular coding tool used in schools around the world, you're probably at home. Suppose you want to hide the magic key in the treasure chest: Place your chest on the map and place the key inside using the menu system. Add a locked door and then place the state on that door. If the player has a key, the door will open.
Using the same system, you can add branch dialogs with characters, plan enemy patrol passes, and ultimately create a combat system. During lockdown, Zack and I used scratch to create a very simple maze game, where we led the mouse towards a block of cheese, so we stuck to the game design expertise established here. I've done it. They built a tavern, installed the tavern interior to the main landscape map building, added characters to provide hints, and hidden artisan cheese festival passes in a small island treasure chest. We didn't use the original assets, but we wrote all the dialogue. The story – find the pass, open the tavern door, eat cheese – was completely ours. Remember us for the best narratives of this year's BAFTA Games Award.
PlayStation 5 RPG maker. Photo: NIS America
Most importantly, this process was very enjoyable. I was able to choose background music and sound effects and cried with laughter in search of very inappropriate options. Our treasure chest cried out as you opened it. The villagers barked randomly and groaned. And no matter how basic the end result is, you still get that thrill of making something that works and looks like a real game. Once you get used to the system, your ambitions grow: we later added zombies wandering around the map complaining about his lactose intolerance.
I'm not going to lie – the system is intuitive, but it gets Very Requests when you start thinking about creating a multi-stage boss encounter or designing a character leveling system. If you don't deal with game mechanics where long routines, subroutines, or game mechanics are confused with each other, then there's a long way to go. Certainly, whenever we didn't know how to make something work, the online gaming community helped us. There are hundreds of videos on YouTube, and there are many helpful people on Reddit. But we feel that it's some way from making something a little more similar to commercial games.
Perhaps at some point in the future, Artisan Cheese Quest will be one of the best Fromage-based fantasy role-playing adventures available on the PlayStation 5. For now, I'm going to continue adding stupid sound effects until they become interesting. Honestly, don't hold your breath.
Google executives discussed the tech giant’s diversity initiative, announcing its sunset and the removal of the pledge to create artificial intelligence for weapons and surveillance during all-staff meetings. Former Head of Diversity, Melonie Parker, mentioned updates to the company’s diversity and inclusion training programs. Parker, now Vice Chairman of Googler Engagement, highlighted the impact of changing geopolitical dynamics on Google’s AI principles, emphasizing the importance of being part of societal conversations. Company executives addressed questions from employees, including concerns about the removal of AI construction bans for weapons and surveillance. Google CEO Sundar Pichai reiterated the company’s commitment to following legal guidelines while striving for a diverse workforce that mirrors its global user base.
Google’s recent shift away from diversity goals and employment targets for underrepresented groups aligns with industry trends influenced by government policies. The company’s decision to collaborate on defense contracts, including the provision of AI services to the Israeli Defense Forces, has sparked internal and external discussions. Employee questions addressed concerns about the removal of AI principles related to weapons and surveillance, prompting further examination of Google’s ethical standards and corporate values.
The connection between Google’s DEI program and AI initiatives has raised questions about the company’s direction and ethical considerations. Employee activism within Google has highlighted the complex balance between corporate interests and societal impacts. As Google navigates its role in technology development and defense contracting, internal conversations around AI ethics and transparency continue to shape the company’s decision-making processes.
Google’s use of AI to summarize and address employee queries reflects the company’s efforts to streamline communication and address concerns effectively. Employee questions range from ethical AI development to corporate transparency, highlighting the need for open dialogue within the organization. As Google grapples with evolving industry standards and societal expectations, ongoing discussions about AI ethics and diversity initiatives will shape its future trajectory.
bSquare Enix, which ACK purchased the series from Eidos in 2013, has released a reboot of the 1990s hit action game Tomb Raider. I I loved that game despite the first nearby semi-assault scene, I later came to consider it a bit nasty. I wasn’t the only one. It was very well received, selling 3.4 million copies in the first month alone. After that, Square Enix came out. I called it a disappointment.
The sale did not meet the publisher’s expectations. It was What are your expectations? Was it supposed to sell 5m? One month? If the book sells 10,000 copies in a week, it is considered a bestseller. Even at its popularity in the 90s, no Tomb Raider game sold over millions. Square Enix’s expectations were clearly unrealistic. That’s not the last one. In a 2016 interview with Hajime Tabata, director of Final Fantasy XV, he told me that he needs to sell 10m for the game to succeed.
In last week’s revenue call, EA executives had to explain their lack of profits. It was driven primarily by EA FC. This is the ubiquitous football series, which saw revenue declines the previous year, but CEO Andrew Wilson also chose to go single-out for the much-anticipated RPG Dragon Age: Bailguard, which was announced last October. “Dragon Age had a high quality launch and was well reviewed by critics and those who played it. However, in this highly competitive market, it didn’t resonate with a wide audience,” he says. I did.
Dragon Age “reached 1.5 million players” for several months since its release. This is likely to include people paying through subscription services and direct sales. If 3.4m was Square Enix’s disappointment in 2013, then the game can imagine 1.5m was a disaster for EA in 2024.
But as Polygon’s Maddie Myers points out Detailed analysis of comparable games 1. Last year’s genre breakout hit, Dragon’s Dogma, sold 3.3m over six months.
During a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Harrison Ford commended voice actor Troy Baker’s performance in the latest video game featuring Indiana Jones. Ford emphasized that stealing his essence doesn’t require artificial intelligence, but rather good ideas and talent. The ongoing strike by SAG-AFTRA Union video game performers is primarily focused on the use of AI in the industry. The union is advocating for compensation, consent, and transparency when it comes to AI-generated performances. Major video game publishers like Activision Blizzard, Disney, Warner Bros, and Electronic Arts are involved in the conflict, resulting in the absence of English voice performances in recent titles such as Destiny 2: Heresy and Genshin Impact. Voice actor Sarah Elmaleh, chair of the SAG-AFTRA committee negotiating with the gaming industry, echoes Ford’s sentiment on the importance of human-to-human interactions in game performances.
Many video game developers are open to meeting the union’s demands, with over 160 video game productions already signing AI protection contracts. However, major publishers are still pushing back against some of the union’s proposals. SAG-AFTRA is battling to prevent motion capture work from being classified as “data” rather than “performance” in the gaming industry. Despite the challenges, Elmaleh remains resolute in fighting for actors’ rights and fair compensation across all entertainment sectors. Ford’s advocacy sheds light on the importance of safeguarding actors’ work and preventing exploitation in the digital age.
As negotiations continue, the struggle for fair treatment of actors in the gaming industry persists. The commitment to protecting performers’ rights remains a top priority for SAG-AFTRA, as they push for industry standards that uphold the value of human performances over AI-generated replicas. Ford’s intervention serves as a reminder of the ongoing battle for recognition and compensation for all actors, regardless of their level of fame or the medium in which they work.
Hello, return to TechScape. This week in Tech, Elon Musk and Donald Trump are using brinkmanship as a negotiation tactic. US immigration and customs enforcement are optimizing search engines during arrests and deportations. Spotify is working on improving its image with more human-centered public relations. Thank you for reading.
Zone Flood: Trump’s Executive Order and Musk’s Doji
Donald Trump has been busy issuing executive orders, from ending birthright citizenship to imposing bans on gender transitions. Elon Musk, known as the world’s wealthiest person and in charge of the “Government’s Ministry of Efficiency,” is targeting federal agencies to reduce waste. Both Trump and Musk are using brinkmanship tactics to achieve their goals in negotiations.
Trump recently threatened tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, only to delay them after agreements were reached. Musk, on the other hand, is reshaping government agencies, with USAID likely being folded into the State Department. Their aggressive tactics aim to overwhelm opposition and media coverage.
Musk has a history of using similar tactics in business dealings, such as with X, where he made bold moves and threats but later backtracked. His approach, while effective at times, has faced challenges and scrutiny.
Silicon Valley companies like Musk move fast and disrupt the status quo, aligning with Trump’s approach. Their next targets could be Medicare and Medicaid, signaling potential upheavals in the healthcare sector.
The Logical End of SEO: Deportation Mirage in Google Search Results
SEO tactics are crucial for ranking on Google search results, but even governmental agencies are using these tactics. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently updated old press releases to appear as recent enforcement actions, highlighting the challenges of SEO manipulation.
Reports of immigrant arrests have sparked controversy, with ICE press releases dominating search results. However, closer inspection reveals that many of these actions took place years ago but are presented as recent events, showcasing the power of SEO in shaping perceptions.
Spotify Balances Human Touch and AI Features
Spotify has faced criticism from artists like Björk for its impact on the music industry. However, the company is emphasizing the role of AI in transforming music discovery while also highlighting the human touch behind its recommendations.
Despite the shift towards AI-generated playlists, Spotify is showcasing the human element through stories like that of Sulinna Ong, who brings a personal touch to finding new hits. While AI plays a significant role, Spotify is keen on maintaining a human connection with its users.
By leveraging AI for improved recommendations, Spotify aims to balance technology with human interaction. While facing criticism from some artists, the company is focused on providing a personalized experience for its users.
Google’s online and mobile calendars no longer feature Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and LGBTQ+ Holidays.
Previously, the world’s largest search engine acknowledged the beginning of Black History Month in February and Pride Month in June, but they will not be included in 2025.
The removal of these holidays was first reported by The Verge last week.
Google spokesperson Madison Cushman Veld shared a statement with The Guardian stating that the listed holidays were not “sustainable” for the model.
“A few years ago, the calendar team started manually adding broader cultural moments in many countries worldwide. It was noted that several other events and countries were missing, making it unsustainable to maintain hundreds of moments globally. So, in mid-2024, we decided to only display public holidays and national compliance from Timeanddate.com worldwide, allowing users to manually add other important moments,” the statement said.
The decision to remove black, LGBTQ+ and women’s holidays is another change by Google following Donald Trump’s second presidency.
Recently, Google announced a rollback of previous commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in employment policy following an order by the US President to end DEI in federal agencies.
Google also revealed that US users will now be referred to as “American Gulf,” following an executive order by Trump to rename Alaska’s mountains to “Mount McKinley”. The company announced the name change for US users will take effect on Monday.
Many users on social media have expressed disappointment and frustration at Google’s latest decision. Users who wish to track events like Pride Month, Black History Month, and Indigenous Month will need to manually add them to their calendar.
Google assured The Guardian that changes to the calendars will not impact future Google Doodles, which typically celebrate these events with digital artwork on the website’s homepage. The company stated, “Google continues to actively celebrate and promote our cultural moments as a company,” and offers a Black History Month Playlist on YouTube Music.
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