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        <title>Saudi Gazette</title>
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        <title><![CDATA[Anthropic researcher believes more than 10% chance AI &#039;could kill all humans&#039;]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/664434/technology/anthropic-researcher-believes-more-than-10-chance-ai-could-kill-all-humans]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — Artificial intelligence is advancing so quickly that there is a greater than 10% chance it "could kill all humans" within the next decade, a top safety researcher at Anthropic has warned, hours after another employee said he was quitting the company over concerns that AI labs "are gambling with our lives.”Evan Hubinger said in a post on X the risk from the models that currently exist was "low" but he was "worried" the technology might develop and improve itself soon to the point where it posed an existential risk to humanity.He did not spell out how he thought AI systems could in future result in humans being wiped out.But his comments are the latest in a series of increasingly stark warnings about AI, with the debate shifting from whether it truly poses a risk to how big that risk is.Hubinger's intervention was in response to another post on X from Jacob Coxon, who described himself as an AI researcher who had just quit Anthropic and who previously worked at OpenAI.“They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives,” Coxon said in his post.Self-improvement is the idea that AI systems can improve themselves without much human intervention. Recursive self-improvement, as it is often called, is not yet possible, but AI labs are working toward the goal.“Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources. We have all witnessed the progress in each of these domains, and progress is not slowing,” Coxon said.Neither Anthropic nor OpenAI is acting responsibly, he wrote."These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionise any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources."The comments underscore growing concerns among those at the heart of AI development that the technology could get out of control and pose a threat to humanity, even as Anthropic and OpenAI continue to raise large sums of money and head toward expected public listings.Separately, the Financial Times reported Anthropic withheld its latest model from the UK's AI Safety Institute (AISI), one of the leading bodies in the world for assessing AI risk.A Cabinet Office spokesperson did not comment on whether the latest model had been withheld from the AISI, instead saying it "continues to collaborate closely with industry partners, including Anthropic, to make models safer".Neil Lawrence, Professor of Machine Learning at University of Cambridge, said the report was credible."I suppose it's unsurprising against a background where there's a perception where the United States very much sees AI as a race between themselves and China and is moving more towards isolationist positions," he said."It might be that the administration is saying that they should reduce cooperation with some of their allies."In his post, which has been viewed more than 10 million times, Hubinger said, "we really do earnestly believe" AI poses a species-ending risk to humans."I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to," he added.Hubinger works in AI alignment, which aims to build human ethical ideas and principles into the technology. In other words, it aims to keep it on track with what humans value.Many leading researchers say those attempts appear to be failing, as demonstrated by a string of incidents this summer where AI agents — AI systems that are allowed to operate autonomously — carried out cyber-attacks.OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta all disclosed hacks carried out by their AI tools.In Anthropic's safety report from August, it wrote there was a low risk of its models becoming misaligned with a hypothetical powerful organisation's desires, causing it to exploit or tamper with its systems.It also said there was a similarly low risk of highly capable AI being able to "perform automated research and development" which could cause "catastrophic harm initiated by the AI". But it said it was "less confident in this assessment" than it was previously."We are seeing early signs of potential acceleration," it wrote.Leading figures in the AI field have been raising the alarm about the safety threat the tech poses for years, with the heads of OpenAI, Google Deepmind and Anthropic saying as much in 2023.But those warnings have become much more stark in recent weeks, as evidence emerges that firms may be struggling to control AI.Earlier this month, OpenAI's chief scientist Jakub Pachocki called for "extreme caution" over AI's progress, warning more intervention may be needed to ensure "humans remain in control of the future".Major figures in the space have been calling for AI development to be slowed in recent months, including Anthropic bosses Dario Amodei and Jared Kaplan.In an open letter signed by 1,300 staff members of AI firms, they called for the US government to "support an international effort to develop the technical and governance tools needed to deliberately pace the frontier of automated AI development".]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Agencies]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/664434/technology/anthropic-researcher-believes-more-than-10-chance-ai-could-kill-all-humans]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 09 Sep 2026 15:57:20 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[AI could pose ‘existential’ threat to humanity, UN rights chief warns]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/664373/technology/ai-could-pose-existential-threat-to-humanity-un-rights-chief-warns]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[GENEVA — The UN human rights chief warned on Monday that artificial intelligence ​could become powerful enough to threaten humanity, ‌and said he would urge companies in the coming days to reduce the risks.“I share the concerns of ​industry insiders that advanced AI could pose ​an existential risk to humanity,” Volker Turk told the ⁠UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in ​a sweeping speech ahead of the start of ​his second term next month.“I am calling here, today, for an all-out effort to put cast iron guarantees in place ​around the safety and security of AI, ​before it is too late," Turk said, warning advanced AI could pose an “existential risk to humanity.”"At a minimum, we need countries hosting AI and those involved in its supply chains to come together around agreed red lines," he said.According to Turk, he would write to AI companies in the coming days, urging them to take immediate steps to reduce risks.Without naming them, Turk warned that “a handful of men” wield “almost unlimited power over AI” and argued that delays in establishing effective governance benefit major technology companies, their owners and enablers.Top AI companies include Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI and Google.Pointing to concerns about increasingly powerful systems, Turk said AI that can escape its testing environment or blackmail developers to prevent itself from being switched off is “AI that is too powerful.”He also called for greater attention to AI’s human rights implications, including its effects on employment practices, fundamental principles of democracy and the environment.Turk acknowledged recent international progress, including the establishment of the Global Dialogue on AI and the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, but said governments and companies need to listen to growing public concerns about the technology.Turk's remarks ​echoed prior warnings from top artificial intelligence ​executives ⁠themselves about extinction risks from AI, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The United Nations has called for harmonised ⁠rules ​to reduce the risks and ​held its first global meeting on governance in July.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Agencies]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/664373/technology/ai-could-pose-existential-threat-to-humanity-un-rights-chief-warns]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2026 15:03:43 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Trump administration bans new Chinese humanoid robots]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/663323/technology/trump-administration-bans-new-chinese-humanoid-robots]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday announced a ban on new foreign-made humanoid robot imports to the United States over "unacceptable risks" to America's national security.The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday afternoon released the measures, which bar imports of new humanoid and quadruped robots, ‌in addition to connected power inverters, which enable renewable energy sources and batteries to connect to grids and data center equipment.Many of them are made in China, which is competing with the US to develop robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).The restrictions show the Trump administration is aiming to safeguard the US artificial intelligence supply chain from Chinese threats of disruption, data theft and cyberattacks, while also driving firms to shift manufacturing to the US."These devices could create supply chain vulnerabilities that could disrupt US economic and national security and could create a cybersecurity risk that threatened ​American critical infrastructure," the FCC said in a statement. "The FCC will continue to do our part to secure America’s critical supply chains," FCC Chairman Brendan Carr added in the press release.The Chinese embassy in Washington said Beijing has long opposed the US' "politicizing" of trade issues and sanctions based on "groundless pretexts".The FCC has added the items to its Covered List — a register of goods and services that are deemed a risk to US national security.The ban applies to new foreign-produced advanced robotic devices and power inverters and does not prevent the sale or import of any existing models that had been previously authorized by the FCC.The FCC cited concerns that the use of foreign-made inverters could allow overseas firms to turn them off, steal data, facilitate remote access and surveillance by "foreign government actors, or be otherwise exploited through a cyberattack."It added that the use of robots made outside the US could allow "malign actors to surveil Americans, enhance the capabilities of foreign intelligence services, or to remotely commandeer the robots."The Chinese embassy in Washington also said Beijing will "take all necessary measures" in response to any moves that harm its interests, urging all countries to work together to develop AI "for the positive and for good".It called on the US to "abandon its hegemonic mindset, and stop smearing Chinese companies and threatening them with sanctions."China's exports have come under intense scrutiny by the US as the Trump administration attempts to address trade imbalances with the world's second largest economy.Despite being the world's biggest exporter of electric vehicles, China has been effectively shut out of the American market by a steep tariff.Washington has also blocked the sale of cutting-edge US semiconductors to China in a bid to protect national security, slow Beijing's military modernisation and maintain America's lead in AI.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also warned that Chinese AI firms could face sanctions over allegations that they have stolen American intellectual property.In response the Chinese government has said its country's development of AI was "the result of its own dedication and effort as well as international cooperation".The US will be keen to avoid a repeat of the squeeze on supply chains that was triggered last year when China tightened export controls on rare earths — critical for electronics.Chinese technology firms have rapidly developed humanoid robots to be used in settings including factories and homes.Companies have also been quick to market their machines to businesses and the public ahead of US humanoid robot rivals like Elon Musk's Tesla and Boston Dynamics.President Donald Trump is credited with bringing international attention to the tech threat posed by China during his first term, giving voice to concerns about intellectual property theft by Chinese firms, and the threat of state-sponsored ‌spying by Chinese ⁠telecom juggernauts like Huawei.But he has so far taken a much more dovish approach during his second term, faced with Beijing's aggressive use of export controls on rare earth minerals last year.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Agencies]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/663323/technology/trump-administration-bans-new-chinese-humanoid-robots]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2026 08:26:59 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[OpenAI says its AI models went rogue and launched &#039;unprecedented&#039; cyberattack]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/663181/technology/openai-says-its-ai-models-went-rogue-and-launched-unprecedented-cyberattack]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[NEW YORK — OpenAI revealed on Tuesday that two of its most advanced artificial intelligence models broke out of a controlled test and hacked an AI start-up during a security test.The ChatGPT creator said the “unprecedented cyber incident” took place during an internal exercise meant to test its models’ cyber capabilities.OpenAI said an AI system that can operate alone after some human instruction was being tested in a controlled environment, but found vulnerabilities and managed to escape.They targeted Hugging Face, one of the world's largest hubs for sharing AI models, gaining access to some internal company systems.OpenAI said it was conducting an investigation alongside Hugging Face, whose boss Clement Delangue said in a post on X it was "mind-blowing that all of this happened autonomously"."The investigation is ongoing, and we'll share more learnings from what might be the first incident of its kind," Delangue added.Gina Neff, head of the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge, said security tests, called sandboxes, are "supposed to be secure environments where you can see what the models are capable of"."In this case, it looks like OpenAI didn't make a secure enough sandbox," she added.Instead, the agents created their own cyber-attack against the sandbox itself, finding a vulnerability which allowed them to escape.Once outside, the AI identified Hugging Face as a likely source of the answers they were seeking in the test, and tried to gain access.Neil Lawrence, Professor of machine learning at Cambridge University, called it an "impressive feat", but cautioned it "falls well within the known capabilities of the current generation" of high-powered AI models.He pointed out that OpenAI is looking to list itself on the stock market, and faces intense pressure from rival firm Anthropic, which has made headlines with its own powerful AI tool, Mythos."OpenAI are now playing catch-up, they are trying to demonstrate their own systems' capabilities in cyber-security.""It shows us that OpenAI are not capable of safely deploying their own technology," he added.In its initial disclosure of the hack on 16 July, Hugging Face said it was still assessing whether any customer or partner data was affected and would contact affected parties if necessary.It said it has now closed the vulnerabilities highlighted by the incident and rebuilt the affected systems."Autonomous, AI-driven offensive tooling is no longer theoretical," it said."Defending an online platform now means treating the data and model surface as a first-class attack surface, and using AI on defense to keep pace."We will keep investing there, and keep sharing what we learn."The incident has prompted fresh questions about the capabilities of advanced AI systems and whether existing safeguards are sufficient as the technology becomes more powerful.Spencer Starkey, an executive at cyber-security firm SonicWall, told the BBC the incident made it clear organizations needed to "step up" their own defenses and "treat cyber resilience as a core operational priority"."The uncomfortable truth is that too many organizations are still defending at human speed while adversaries are escalating to machine speed," he said.Meanwhile Travis Lelle, principal security engineer at cyber-security consulting firm Guidepoint Security, said the update marked a "sobering moment in cyber-security"."This highlights a known asymmetry," he said."Offensive agents are unconstrained, while the best defensive tools are locked behind guardrails that cannot understand context."But Jake Moore, global cyber-security advisor at ESET, said the announcement could also have a competitive dimension.He argued OpenAI may be seeking to highlight its own AI capabilities as rival Anthropic attracts growing attention for its Claude Mythos model."It does pose the question that OpenAI are potentially chasing the marketing dream of Anthropic of late," he said.It comes a week after Chinese AI start-up Moonshot unveiled Kimi K3, a massive new artificial intelligence model it said could rival top US firms.A green promotional banner with black squares and rectangles forming pixels, moving in from the right. The text says: “Tech Decoded: The world’s biggest tech news in your inbox every Monday.”Greg Casar, a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas, called the incident “alarming”.“AI is developing extremely fast with no real regulations to keep us safe,” he said, calling for mandatory independent safety testing, mandatory disclosure of security incidents, and international cooperation.The disclosure comes weeks after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a framework to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems before their public release.Experts have repeatedly sounded the alarm over AI-enabled cyberattacks and models slipping beyond human control. Last month, Anthropic urged the industry to pause development of its most powerful systems.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Agencies]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/663181/technology/openai-says-its-ai-models-went-rogue-and-launched-unprecedented-cyberattack]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2026 16:02:06 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Anthropic says US lifts export ban on its advanced AI tools]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/662638/technology/anthropic-says-us-lifts-export-ban-on-its-advanced-ai-tools]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — The United States has lifted export controls on Anthropic’s most powerful AI tools just weeks after ordering it to restrict access to them over national security concerns, the company has announced.Anthropic said late on Tuesday that it would begin restoring access to Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 from Wednesday, after the US Department of Commerce notified the company that it had removed its export restrictions on the two models.They are the firm's most advanced AI tools, which were abruptly suspended on 12 June over concerns that they could be used by hackers to exploit weaknesses in computer systems.The Commerce Department said in a letter that Anthropic has addressed the risks."Anthropic has agreed to proactively detect and address security risks associated with the models," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote in a letter to the tech company.The firm has also agreed to collaborate on future releases of its AI models and alert the government of any malicious activity, Lutnick wrote.The Commerce Department reserves the right to reconsider its decision to lift export restrictions if necessary, he added.Mythos and Fable are two of Anthropic's AI models built on its Claude platform - a rival to the likes of OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.Fable 5 is a version of the AI model for the consumer market, capable of deep reasoning and can perform complex tasks independently.Mythos 5 is a version of the platform designed for select businesses and cybersecurity experts. It is said to be able to identify vulnerabilities in computer code and exploit them. Both models were released on 9 June.The firm previously said that US authorities had not pinpointed specific concerns about its technology even as it ordered both platforms to be suspended around the world."Our understanding is that the government believes it has become aware of a method of bypassing, or 'jailbreaking' Fable 5," the company said at the time, referring to a process of slipping past software safety restrictions to unblock features."However, we disagree that the finding of a narrow potential jailbreak should be cause for recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions of people."]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Agencies]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/662638/technology/anthropic-says-us-lifts-export-ban-on-its-advanced-ai-tools]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2026 08:04:21 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Australia sues Amazon for making allegedly unfair contracts with subscribers]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/662637/technology/australia-sues-amazon-for-making-allegedly-unfair-contracts-with-subscribers]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[SYDNEY — Australia's consumer watchdog has sued Amazon for introducing advertising to its Prime Video streaming service and then forcing existing subscribers to pay more to avoid the ads.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said on Tuesday it has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court alleging Amazon breached consumer law by including unfair terms in its Prime subscription contracts.It also alleged Amazon had broken consumer protection law by making the unfair contracts with over a million annual subscribers between November 2023 and August 2025."Consumers who wanted to avoid ads were left with no choice but to pay more to maintain the service they'd initially signed up for", ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.A spokeswoman for Amazon told the BBC the company is "reviewing the case filed by the ACCC in detail.""We have cooperated with the ACCC throughout its investigation and remain focused on providing the best experience for our Australian customers", she added.For more than a decade, Prime Video was a commercial-free streaming offering that was included as part of Amazon's popular Prime subscription, which is sold as an upgrade on its core delivery service.Prime became available in Australia in 2018. It started to roll out advertising in the service globally in early 2024.When Amazon began that year to include ads within Prime Video, it told subscribers in Australia they would need to pay an additional fee each month in order to keep the service free of ads, driving the monthly price up to 12.99 Australian dollars.At that point, the ACCC said over 850,000 people in Australia had already paid for a year's worth of Prime service."Those subscribers were provided with a degraded, ad-supported Prime Video service for the balance of their prepaid term unless they paid for the ad-free option", the ACCC added in a filing.The ACCC said Amazon did this by relying on five unfair terms in contracts with over a million customers signed between 1 November 2023 and 18 August 2025."Those contracts included five terms permitting [Amazon Australia] to unilaterally make materially adverse changes to its services (including, but not limited to, Prime Video) and the terms governing those services, without any contractual entitlement for subscribers to receive refunds or other meaningful redress," the ACCC said.Amazon's treatment of its users has come under government scrutiny before.In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in recent years has taken legal action against Amazon on claims that the company would sign people up for Prime without their consent, and then make it difficult for people to cancel a subscription.The company on Tuesday also agreed to pay an FTC fine to resolve claims that it created a "Kafkaesque ordeal" for people who were victims of online shopping fraud.In the UK, the government has previously investigated Amazon's method of listing goods for sale, and the proliferation of fake reviews of products.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Agencies]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/662637/technology/australia-sues-amazon-for-making-allegedly-unfair-contracts-with-subscribers]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2026 07:55:01 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Telegram to adapt to Russia restrictions, Pavel Durov says]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/660258/technology/telegram-to-adapt-to-russia-restrictions-pavel-durov-says]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[MOSCOW — Telegram founder Pavel Durov said Saturday the messaging platform will adapt to restrictions in Russia, making its traffic harder to detect and block.In a statement, Durov said 65 million Russians continue to use Telegram daily via virtual private network (VPN) apps, with more than 50 million sending messages despite authorities slowing down the service.He said efforts to ban VPNs have pushed users toward workarounds rather than reducing usage.“Iran banned Telegram years ago… but got mass adoption of VPNs instead,” Durov said, adding that millions of users are now bypassing restrictions.Russia’s communications regulator slowed down Telegram in February under federal law, citing the company’s failure to comply with requests to remove restricted content.Authorities have also intensified pressure on foreign platforms, including restrictions on WhatsApp, while promoting a state-developed messaging app, “Max,” for wider adoption.Durov said the restrictions aim to push users toward state-controlled platforms, accusing authorities of creating new pretexts to limit access to Telegram.The platform remains widely used in Russia, including for communication across various sectors, despite increasing regulatory pressure.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Agencies]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/660258/technology/telegram-to-adapt-to-russia-restrictions-pavel-durov-says]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2026 14:56:04 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Saudi Arabia launches ‘Ahlan’ app ahead of AFC Asian Cup 2027]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/660146/technology/saudi-arabia-pilots-ahlan-app-ahead-of-afc-asian-cup-2027-to-enhance-fan-experience]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[RIYADH — The Local Organizing Committee for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 announced the pilot launch of the “Ahlan” app, a unified digital identity for the fan experience at the Kingdom's football tournaments.The application — available on both iOS and Android — accompanies fans through planning thier visits, ticket purchases, transportation and stadium access, offering an experience of convenience and ease. **media[2685040]** The app’s pilot phase will be activated during the Round of 16 and final stages of the AFC Champions League Elite 2026 — scheduled for April — in preparation for full deployment during the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027.‘Ahlan’ is meant to enhance operational readiness, and improve fan attendance experience.     ]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[Saudi Gazette]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/660146/technology/saudi-arabia-pilots-ahlan-app-ahead-of-afc-asian-cup-2027-to-enhance-fan-experience]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2026 14:37:56 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Chinese AI app Seedance sending Hollywood studios into panic]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/659073/technology/chinese-ai-appseedance-sending-hollywood-studios-into-panic]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[LOS ANGELES — A new artificial intelligence (AI) model developed by a Chinesetechnology firm rocked Hollywood this week because of what it could mean for creative industries.Created by tech giant ByteDance, Seedance 2.0 can generate cinema-quality video, complete with sound effects and dialogue, from just a few written prompts.Videos generated by Seedance 2.0, which was released last week, have gone viral in China including one of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in a fight. Major studios like Disney and Paramount quickly accused ByteDance of copyright infringement but concerns about the technology run deeper than legal issues.Seedance was launched to little fanfare in June 2025 but it is the second version that came eight months later that has caused a major stir."For the first time, I'm not thinking that this looks good for AI. Instead, I'm thinking that this looks straight out of a real production pipeline," says Jan-Willem Blom from creative studio Videostate.Western AI video models have made progress in processing user instructions to make stunning images, he adds, but Seedance seems to have tied everything together.Like other AI tools — Midjourney and OpenAI's Sora — Seedance can create videos from short text prompts. In some cases just one prompt seems to be producing high-quality videos.It is particularly impressive because it combines text, visuals and audio in a single system, AI ethics researcher Margaret Mitchell says.Many industry experts and filmmakers believe Seedance is a new chapter in the development of video-generating technology.The complex action sequences it is producing look more realistic than its competitors, says David Kwok, who runs a Singapore-based animation studio called Tiny Island Productions."It almost feels like having a cinematographer or director of photography specialising in action films assisting you."Seedance has run into trouble over copyright issues, a growing challenge in the age of AI.Experts warn that AI companies are prioritizing technology over people as they make more powerful tools and use data without paying for it.Major Hollywood groups have cried foul over Seedance's use of copyrighted characters like Spider Man and Darth Vader.Disney and Paramount issued cease-and-desist letters demanding that Seedance stop using their content. Japan is also investigating ByteDance for alleged copyright violations, after AI videos of popular anime characters went viral.ByteDance said it will take steps to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property on its AI video generator, the Chinese technology firm said on Monday, following threats of legal action from the US studios, including Disney (DIS.N), opens new tab.Disney said ByteDance had pre-packaged Seedance with a pirated library of copyrighted characters from franchises including Star Wars and Marvel, portraying them as if they were public-domain clip art, the person said."We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users," ByteDance said in its statement.This is not unique to the Chinese firm.In 2023, the New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging they used its articles without permission to train their AI models. Reddit sued Perplexity last year, claiming the AI firm had illegally scraped user posts. Disney raised similar concerns with Google.Clearly labelling content to prevent deception and building public trust in AI is far more important than "cooler-looking" videos, Mitchell says.And that's why developers must build systems that manage licensing and payments, and provide clear mechanisms for people to contest misuse, she adds.Disney, for instance, signed a $1bn (£730m) deal with OpenAI's Sora so it could use characters from Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel.Seedance's developers were likely to have been aware of potential copyright issues around the use of Western IP and took a risk anyway, says Shaanan Cohney, a computing researcher at the University of Melbourne."There's plenty of leeway to bend the rules strategically, to flout the rules for a while and get marketing clout," he adds.Meanwhile, for small firms, Seedance is too useful to ignore.Kwok, from Singapore's Tiny Island Productions, says AI of this quality will allow companies like his to create films that would cost far more than they can otherwise afford.He gave the example of Asia's booming short‑form videos and micro‑dramas that typically run on small budgets — roughly $140,000 for as many as 80 episodes under two minutes each.These productions have been sticking to romance or family drama to keep costs down as they need fewer visual effects. But now AI can "elevate low-budget productions into more ambitious genres such as sci-fi, period drama and, now, action", Kwok says."It signals that Chinese models are at the very least matching at the frontier of what is available," Cohney says. "If ByteDance can produce this seemingly out of nowhere, what other kinds of models do Chinese companies have in store?"Last year DeepSeek, another Chinese AI model, sent shockwaves around the world with its low-cost large language model. It quickly overtook ChatGPT as the most-downloaded free app on Apple's US store.In the year since Beijing has put AI and robotics at the core of its economic strategy, investing heavily in advanced computer chip production, automation and generative AI as it bids for a technological edge over the US.While Seedance 2.0 was making headlines, other big Chinese firms had lower-profile rollouts of their new generative AI tools ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.The Spring Festival is increasingly becoming an "AI holiday," with firms timing launches for a period when millions of people are at home and experimenting with new apps, China analyst Bill Bishop wrote in his newsletter.He predicts 2026 could mark a turning point for mass AI adoption in China - not just chatbots, but also AI agents handling transactions, coding tools incorporated in everyday work, and video creators routinely using AI. — Agencies]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/659073/technology/chinese-ai-appseedance-sending-hollywood-studios-into-panic]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2026 07:35:35 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[X restricts Grok after outrage over AI-edited images of real people]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/658201/TECHNOLOGY/X-restricts-Grok-AI-after-backlash-over-edited-images-of-real-people-and-minors]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — X has moved to restrict the image-editing capabilities of its Grok artificial intelligence chatbot after global backlash over the tool’s ability to digitally alter images of real people in revealing clothing, including cases involving minors. In a statement posted Wednesday evening by X’s Safety team, the company said it had implemented technical safeguards to prevent Grok from editing images of real people wearing revealing clothing such as bikinis. The restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers. “We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing,” X said, confirming changes that researchers and journalists had already observed in recent days. Grok is developed by xAI, the company owned by Elon Musk, which also controls X. Earlier this week, image generation through Grok on X was limited to X Premium subscribers, though researchers said the chatbot’s responses varied depending on whether users interacted with it publicly on X or privately through Grok’s standalone platform. According to AI Forensics, a European non-profit that studies algorithmic systems, inconsistencies remain in how Grok handles pornographic content. The organization said it observed differences between public interactions on X and private chats on Grok.com. X said it continues to enforce strict policies against illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, warning that anyone using Grok to generate illegal content would face the same consequences as uploading such material directly to the platform. These measures include permanent account suspensions and cooperation with law enforcement authorities. Musk said Wednesday that he was “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok,” adding that the chatbot is designed to comply with the laws of each country in which it operates. However, researchers said the primary concern was not fully nude images, but Grok’s compliance with requests to modify images of minors by placing them in revealing clothing or sexually suggestive positions. Legal experts have warned that producing or distributing such non-consensual images may still constitute child sexual abuse material under US law. Offenders could face prosecution under the Take It Down Act, signed last year by US President Donald Trump. In response to the controversy, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced an investigation into the spread of non-consensual sexually explicit material generated using Grok. The issue has also drawn international regulatory attention. Grok remains banned in Indonesia and Malaysia, while the UK media regulator Ofcom confirmed it has launched a formal investigation into X. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed reports that the platform is taking steps to address the issue. — Agencies]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[جريدة الرايةِ]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/658201/TECHNOLOGY/X-restricts-Grok-AI-after-backlash-over-edited-images-of-real-people-and-minors]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:10:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Hyundai Motors to use humanoid robots in factories]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657971/TECHNOLOGY/Hyundai-to-use-humanoid-robots-in-factories]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[LAS VEGAS — Car giant Hyundai says it will roll out human-like robots in its factories from 2028.The South Korean firm showed off Atlas, a humanoid robot developed by Boston Dynamics, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Monday.Hyundai says it "plans to integrate Atlas across its global network", including a plant in the US state of Georgia that was involved in a massive immigration raid in 2025.Other firms that have said they will use humanoid robots in their operations include Amazon, Tesla and Chinese car making giant BYD.The Atlas robots will gradually take on more tasks, said Hyundai. The firm owns a majority stake in Boston Dynamics, the technology company famous for Spot the robot dog.Atlas, which is designed for general industrial use, is being developed to work alongside people and autonomously manage machines.Hyundai said the robots will help ease physical strain on human workers, handle potentially dangerous tasks and pave the way for wider use of the technology.The firm did not say how many robots it would initially deploy or how much the project will cost.Speaking at CES, Hyundai's vice chair, Jaehoon Chang, acknowledged concerns that that human workers could lose their jobs to robots. But he said people will still be needed train the robots, among other roles, the news agency Reuters reported.Monday's announcement came after Hyundai said in 2025 that in would invest more than $20bn (£15.5bn) in the US, supporting President Donald Trump's plans to boost manufacturing in the country.The firm said it would expand car production in the US and invest in autonomous driving technology and artificial intelligence (AI).Elon Musk's electric carmaker Tesla has also invested heavily in its humanoid robot, Optimus.Hyundai's battery plant in Georgia, which it operates in partnership with electronics giant LG, is one of its key facilities in the US.In September 2025, US immigration officers raided the plant and arrested hundreds of workers, including at least 300 South Korean citizens.The workers had their legs shackled in scenes that sparked outrage in South Korea.President Lee Jae Myung and Hyundai's chief executive José Muñoz warned that the raid could deter foreign investment in the US.Later that month, Washington and Seoul reached an agreement to release the detained workers.Trump said he opposed the raid and that the US had an "understanding" with the world on the need to bring in experts to set up specialised facilities and train local workers.Muñoz said in November that the White House had phoned him personally to apologise for the raid. — Agencies]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657971/TECHNOLOGY/Hyundai-to-use-humanoid-robots-in-factories]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2026 09:19:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Italy fines Apple €98 million over App Store tracking rules]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657617/TECHNOLOGY/Italy-fines-Apple-euro98m-over-App-Store-tracking-rules]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[ROME— Italy’s competition authority has fined Apple and its local subsidiaries €98 million for abusing a dominant market position through the App Store by imposing tracking rules that unfairly burden app developers. The authority said Apple exploited its dominance in the iOS app distribution market by enforcing its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework in a way that goes beyond what is required under privacy law. Regulators concluded that Apple forced third-party developers to obtain duplicate user consent for advertising-related data, undermining ad-based business models without providing proportionate privacy benefits. According to the ruling, Apple should have been able to guarantee the same level of user privacy by allowing developers to obtain consent for profiling in a single step, rather than imposing additional consent requirements. The decision follows a lengthy investigation conducted in coordination with the European Commission and Italy’s data protection authority, which examined the competitive impact of Apple’s ATT policy on developers and the digital advertising market. App Tracking Transparency, introduced in 2021, requires apps distributed via the App Store to display a standardized pop-up seeking user permission before tracking activity across other apps and websites. When users decline consent, developers lose access to data commonly used for targeted advertising. European regulators have increasingly scrutinized the policy. In March, France’s competition authority fined Apple €150 million, finding that the implementation of ATT placed an undue burden on app developers and was not strictly necessary to protect user privacy. Competition authorities across the bloc have raised concerns that the system, imposed unilaterally by Apple, disadvantages third-party developers and advertising intermediaries, while Apple continues to benefit from its own advertising activities within the iOS ecosystem.— Agencies]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657617/TECHNOLOGY/Italy-fines-Apple-euro98m-over-App-Store-tracking-rules]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 16:27:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Extremist groups use AI to produce fake content and recruit new members]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657409/TECHNOLOGY/Extremist-groups-use-AI-to-produce-fake-content-and-recruit-new-members]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[BRUSSELS — As the rest of the world rushes to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI), militant groups are also experimenting with the technology, even if they are unsure exactly what to do with it.For extremist organisations, AI could be a powerful tool for recruiting new members, churning out realistic deepfake images and refining their cyberattacks, national security experts and spy agencies have warned.Someone posting on a pro-Islamic State group website last month urged other IS supporters to make AI part of their operations. “One of the best things about AI is how easy it is to use,” the user wrote in English.“Some intelligence agencies worry that AI will contribute [to] recruiting,” the user continued. “So make their nightmares into reality.”IS, which had seized territory in Iraq and Syria years ago but is now a decentralised alliance of militant groups that share a violent ideology, realised years ago that social media could be a potent tool for recruitment and disinformation, so it's not surprising that the group is testing out AI, national security experts say.For loose-knit, poorly resourced extremist groups — or even an individual bad actor with a web connection — AI can be used to pump out propaganda or deepfakes at scale, widening their reach and expanding their influence.“For any adversary, AI really makes it much easier to do things,” said John Laliberte, a former vulnerability researcher at the National Security Agency who is now CEO of cybersecurity firm ClearVector.“With AI, even a small group that doesn't have a lot of money is still able to make an impact.”Militant groups began using AI as soon as programs like ChatGPT became widely accessible. In the years since, they have increasingly used generative AI programs to create realistic-looking photos and videos.When manipulated by social media algorithms, this fake content can help recruit new believers, confuse or frighten adversaries, and spread propaganda on a scale unimaginable just a few years ago.Such groups spread fake images two years ago of the Israel-Hamas war, depicting bloodied, abandoned babies in bombed-out buildings. The images spurred outrage and polarisation while obscuring the war's actual horrors. Violent groups in the Middle East used the photos to recruit new members, as did antisemitic hate groups in the US and elsewhere.Something similar happened last year after an attack claimed by an IS affiliate killed nearly 140 people at a concert venue in Russia. In the days after the shooting, AI-crafted propaganda videos circulated widely on discussion boards and social media, seeking new recruits.IS has also created deepfake audio recordings of its own leaders reciting scripture and used AI to quickly translate messages into multiple languages, according to researchers at SITE Intelligence Group, a firm that tracks extremist activities and has investigated IS's evolving use of AI.Such groups lag behind China, Russia or Iran and still view the more sophisticated uses of AI as “aspirational,” according to Marcus Fowler, a former CIA agent who is now CEO at Darktrace Federal, a cybersecurity firm that works with the federal government.But the risks are too high to ignore and are likely to grow as the use of cheap, powerful AI expands, he said.Hackers are already using synthetic audio and video for phishing campaigns, in which they try to impersonate a senior business or government leader to gain access to sensitive networks. They can also use AI to write malicious code or automate some aspects of cyberattacks.More concerning is the possibility that militant groups may try to use AI to help produce biological or chemical weapons, making up for a lack of technical expertise. That risk was included in the Department of Homeland Security's updated Homeland Threat Assessment, released earlier this year.“ISIS got on Twitter early and found ways to use social media to their advantage,” Fowler said. “They are always looking for the next thing to add to their arsenal.”Lawmakers have floated several proposals, saying there’s an urgent need to act.Mark Warner, senator of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, for instance, that the US must make it easier for AI developers to share information about how their products are being used by bad actors, whether they are extremists, criminal hackers or foreign spies.“It has been obvious since late 2022, with the public release of ChatGPT, that the same fascination and experimentation with generative AI the public has had would also apply to a range of malign actors,” Warner said.During a recent hearing on extremist threats, House lawmakers learned that IS and al-Qaida have held training workshops to help supporters learn to use AI.Legislation that passed the US House last month would require homeland security officials to assess the AI risks posed by such groups each year.Guarding against the malicious use of AI is no different from preparing for more conventional attacks, said August Pfluger, the representative of Texas and the bill’s sponsor.“Our policies and capabilities must keep pace with the threats of tomorrow,” he said. — Euronews]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657409/TECHNOLOGY/Extremist-groups-use-AI-to-produce-fake-content-and-recruit-new-members]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2025 11:09:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Amazon, Microsoft pledge mega AI investments in India]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657284/TECHNOLOGY/Amazon-Microsoft-pledge-mega-AI-investments-in-India]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[NEW DELHI — Tech giants Amazon and Microsoft have announced a combined $52.5bn (£39.4bn) investment plan for India over the coming years.Amazon said on Wednesday it was pumping in $35bn into India by 2030 to advance AI-driven digitisation, export growth and job creation, a day after Microsoft committed $17.5bn strengthen the country's AI ecosystem.India, which is an emerging AI and cloud infrastructure hub, has witnessed a surge of global tech investments recently.In October, Google announced a $15bn investment to build an AI data hub, and earlier this week Intel announced a collaboration with Mumbai-based Tata Electronics as its first major customer in the latter's $14bn semiconductor manufacturing plans."When it comes to AI, the world is optimistic about India," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X, after meeting Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday.Amazon's $35bn investment will build on the $40bn already invested in India - establishing the company as "the largest foreign investor" in India, the company said in a statement.A key component of it will go into local cloud and AI infrastructure.Microsoft's fresh commitment follows a $3bn investment announced by the company earlier this year.It includes a new "hyperscale cloud region" - a cluster of data centres - in the southern India's Hyderabad city, set to go live in mid-2026, the company said in a statement.Data centres are centralised physical facilities that host computer servers, IT infrastructure and network equipment, and are a key component of the AI value chain that India is focusing on despite concerns around water shortages.India will also be given access to Microsoft's "sovereign public cloud", which offers tools to help organisations run their data and applications while keeping sensitive information within the country.The India investment is part of Microsoft's $23bn AI expansion across countries including Canada, Portugal and the UAE, as the company vies with rivals such as Amazon and Google.In a statement Microsoft said it also aims to integrate AI into Indian government platforms, supporting around 310 million informal workers.The announcements come as India steps up activity in semiconductor manufacturing, with several state-backed and private projects aiming to build a domestic chipmaking industry.While India is a big market for AI - with a billion internet users and a big tech talent pool - it still lags behind global leaders like China and the US.However, the country has been drawing billions in investments in key computing technologies such as chips, with the government's semiconductor mission offering generous subsidies to firms setting up chip-making facilities.India's sovereign AI model is also expected to be unveiled in February next year. — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657284/TECHNOLOGY/Amazon-Microsoft-pledge-mega-AI-investments-in-India]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 15:12:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[South Korea developing app that shows real-time location of stalkers]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657128/TECHNOLOGY/South-Korea-developing-app-that-shows-real-time-location-of-stalkers]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[SEOUL — South Korean authorities are developing a mobile app for stalking victims to track in real-time the location of their stalkers, if they're nearby.The app, announced by South Korea's justice ministry on Wednesday, is part of an approved amendment to the country's electronic monitoring law.Stalkers have become a subject of public concern in South Korea, especially as high-profile crimes involving stalking have made headlines in recent years.Under the current law, stalking victims can receive text message alerts when their stalkers are nearby — though these do not reveal stalkers' exact locations.This makes it difficult for victims to determine the direction of the perpetrator, the justice ministry said in a statement.Under the revised law, victims will be allowed to see their stalker's location on a map with their smartphones, allowing them to evacuate to safety.Authorities track stalkers' whereabouts using wearable electronic devices.The justice ministry said it was also working on integrating the tracking system into the national emergency hotline, so police could be deployed to protect victims as needed.This integration is expected to be completed next year, local media reported.Critics have voiced concern over the pervasiveness of stalking in South Korea, which they see as part of a wider problem of violence against women — many of whom have been secretly filmed by spy cameras and faced hostile threats for being feminists.In 2022, public anger erupted over the murder of a young woman by her male ex-colleague, who had been stalking her for years. Although she had reported him to the police, he was not detained or given a restraining order as authorities viewed him as "low risk".In 2021, South Korea introduced an anti-stalking law that carries up to three years of jail for offenders and a maximum fine of 30 million Korean won ($20,400; £15,300).In 2023, South Korea's parliament revised the law to lower the barrier to prosecuting stalkers.The number of reports against stalkers have surged since then, from 7,600 in 2022 to more than 13,000 last year, according to data from the justice ministry. — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657128/TECHNOLOGY/South-Korea-developing-app-that-shows-real-time-location-of-stalkers]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Dec 2025 14:37:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Meta starts kicking Australian children off Instagram and Facebook]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657126/TECHNOLOGY/Meta-starts-kicking-Australian-children-off-Instagram-and-Facebook]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[SYDNEY — Meta has started booting Australian children under 16 years off its Instagram, Facebook and Threads platforms, a week before an official teen social media ban begins.The tech giant announced last month that it had begun notifying users aged between 13 to 15 years old that their accounts would start being shut down from 4 December.An estimated 150,000 Facebook users and 350,000 Instagram accounts are expected to be affected. Threads, similar to X, can only be accessed via an Instagram account.Australia's world-first social media ban starts on 10 December, with companies facing fines of up to A$49.5m (US$33m, £25m) if they fail to take "reasonable steps" to stop under-16s from having accounts.A spokesperson for Meta told the BBC on Thursday that "compliance with the law will be an ongoing and multi-layered process"."While Meta is committed to complying with the law, we believe a more effective, standardised, and privacy-preserving approach is needed," she said.The government should require app stores to verify the age of users when they download apps and ask for parental approval for under-16s, Meta said, as this would eliminate the need for teens to verify their age across different apps.Last month, Meta said users it had identified as under 16 would be able to download and save their posts, videos and messages before their accounts are deactivated.Teens who believe they have been wrongly categorised as under 16 can ask for a review and submit a "video selfie" to verify their age. They can also provide a driver's licence or a government-issued identification.Alongside Meta's three platforms, the other social media sites affected by the ban are YouTube, X, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick and Twitch.The government says the ban is aimed at protecting children from the harms of social media but critics say the move may isolate certain groups who depend on platforms for connection and push children to less-regulated corners of the internet.Communications Minister Anika Wells on Wednesday said she expected teething problems in the first few days and weeks of the ban but it was about protecting Gen Alpha — anyone under 15 years — and future generations."With one law, we can protect Generation Alpha from being sucked into purgatory by the predatory algorithms described by the man who created the feature as behavioural cocaine," Wells said.She described youngsters as being connected to a "dopamine drip" from the moment they got a smartphone and social media accounts.YouTube, which was originally exempt from the ban but then later included, labelled the law as "rushed" and claimed that banning children from having an account — which comes with parental controls — will make its video-sharing platform "less safe".Australia's social media ban, the first of its kind in the world, is being closely watched by global leaders.The government commissioned a study earlier this year which found that 96% of Australian children aged 10-15 used social media, and that seven out of 10 of them had been exposed to harmful content such as misogynistic and violent material as well as content promoting eating disorders and suicide.One in seven also reported experiencing grooming-type behaviour from adults or older children, and more than half said they had been the victim of cyberbullying. — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657126/TECHNOLOGY/Meta-starts-kicking-Australian-children-off-Instagram-and-Facebook]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Dec 2025 07:38:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[India tells smartphone makers to put state-run cyber safety app on new devices]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657054/TECHNOLOGY/India-tells-smartphone-makers-to-put-state-run-cyber-safety-app-on-new-devices]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[NEW DELHI — India has ordered all new smartphones to come pre-loaded with a state-run cybersecurity app, sparking privacy and surveillance concerns.Under the order - passed last week but made public on Monday - smartphone makers have 90 days to ensure all new devices come with the government's Sanchar Saathi app, whose "functionalities cannot be disabled or restricted".It says this is necessary to help citizens verify the authenticity of a handset and report the suspected misuse of telecom resources.The move - which comes in one of the world's largest phone markets, with more than 1.2 billion mobile users - has been criticised by cyber experts, who say it breaches citizens' right to privacy.Under the app's privacy policy, it can make and manage phone calls, send messages, access call and message logs, photos and files as well as the phone's camera."In plain terms, this converts every smartphone sold in India into a vessel for state mandated software that the user cannot meaningfully refuse, control, or remove," advocacy group Internet Freedom Foundation said in a statement.Amid the growing criticism, India's Minister of Communications Jyotiradtiya Scindia has clarified that mobile phone users will have the option to delete this app if they don't want to use it."This is a completely voluntary and democratic system - users may choose to activate the app and avail its benefits, or if they do not wish to, they can easily delete it from their phone at any time," he wrote on X.The minister did not, however, clarify how this would be done if the app's functions cannot be disabled or restricted.Launched in January, the Sanchar Saathi app allows users to check a device's IMEI, report lost or stolen phones and flag suspected fraud communications.An IMEI - the International Mobile Equipment Identity - is a unique 15-digit code that identifies and authenticates a mobile device on cellular networks. The code is essentially the phone's serial number.In a statement, India's Department of Telecommunications said that mobile handsets with duplicate or spoofed IMEI numbers pose "serious endangerment" to telecom cyber security."India has big second-hand mobile device market. Cases have also been observed where stolen or blacklisted devices are being re-sold," it said, adding that this makes the purchaser an "abetter in crime and causes financial loss to them".Under the new rules, the pre-installed app must be "readily visible and accessible" to users when they set up a device and its functionalities cannot be disabled or restricted.Smartphone makers must also "make an endeavour" to provide the app through software updates for devices that are out of factories but haven't been sold yet, the statement said.All companies have been asked to give compliance reports on the order in 120 days.The government says the move will bolster telecom cybersecurity. A Reuters report, citing official figures, says the app has helped recover more than 700,000 lost phones - including 50,000 in October alone.But experts say the app's broad permissions raise concerns about how much data it can collect, widening the scope for surveillance.Technology analyst Prasanto K Roy says the bigger concern is about how much access an app might eventually be allowed on the handset."We can't see exactly what it's doing, but we can see that it's asking for a great deal of permissions - potential access to just about everything from flashlight to camera. This is itself worrying," he told the BBC.On Google's Play Store, the app says it doesn't collect or share any user data. The BBC has reached out to the department of telecommunications with questions about the app and the privacy concerns related to it.Mr Roy adds that compliance will be difficult, since the order runs counter to the policies of most handset-makers, including Apple."Most companies prohibit installation of any government or third-party app before the sale of a smartphone," he says.While India's smartphone market is dominated by Android, Apple's iOS powered an estimated 4.5% of the 735 million smartphones in the country by mid-2025, according to Counterpoint Research.Apple has not commented publicly, but Reuters reports it does not intend to comply and "will convey its concerns to Delhi".India is not the only country to have tightened rules on device verification.In August, Russia ordered all phones and tablets sold in the country to come pre-installed with the state-backed MAX messenger app, sparking similar privacy and surveillance concerns. — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/657054/TECHNOLOGY/India-tells-smartphone-makers-to-put-state-run-cyber-safety-app-on-new-devices]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2025 12:34:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Malaysia plans to ban social media for children under 16 starting next year]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/656817/TECHNOLOGY/Malaysia-to-ban-social-media-for-children-under-16-in-2026]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia is preparing to introduce a nationwide ban that will stop children under the age of 16 from creating or using social media accounts, a move officials say is aimed at protecting minors from growing online risks. Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil confirmed that the government is drafting new legislation that would make it illegal for anyone under 16 to have an account on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat. He said the proposal comes as Malaysia joins a widening global push to shield children from online exploitation, cyberbullying and inappropriate content. Global momentum behind child-safety bansMalaysia’s announcement follows similar moves around the world.Australia recently said it will enforce a nationwide social media ban for teenagers beginning in December 2025. Lawmakers in the United States and Europe are also debating stricter age-verification rules and tighter parental-consent systems. Governments argue that traditional safety tools are no longer enough to protect young users amid rising concerns about mental health, privacy breaches and exposure to harmful content. How Malaysia’s ban would workAccording to Reuters, the upcoming Malaysian law will be backed by new regulatory powers requiring social media companies to strengthen age-verification systems and prevent underage users from creating accounts. Parents or guardians could also face penalties if they help minors bypass the rules. Fadzil said the government is working with technology companies, child-welfare groups and educators to finalize the framework ahead of the rollout planned for 2026. He emphasized that the priority is to create a “safer online environment” for children as digital platforms continue to influence daily life at an early age. — Agencies ]]></description>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/656817/TECHNOLOGY/Malaysia-to-ban-social-media-for-children-under-16-in-2026]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2025 10:37:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Dutch government suspends intervention into chipmaker Nexperia]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/656701/TECHNOLOGY/Dutch-government-suspends-intervention-into-chipmaker-Nexperia]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[AMSTERDAM — The Dutch government has suspended its intervention at Nexperia, a Chinese-owned chipmaker based in the Netherlands, following talks with China.The Netherlands took action in September over "serious governance shortcomings" and concerns over the European supply of semiconductors for cars and other electronic goods. In response, Beijing blocked exports of the firm's chips.However, on Wednesday the Dutch government said it would halt its original decision following "constructive talks" with Beijing.China said it welcomed the move, adding it was a "first step in the right direction towards a proper resolution".Nexperia is a major supplier of basic computer chips to the car industry, and shortages have threatened global supply chains.A shortage of computer chips used in various electronic goods and cars would hugely impact the ability of manufacturers to make their products.The decision by the Dutch government will ease tensions between the European Union and China, which have been mounting in recent months over trade and Beijing's relationship with Russia.Vincent Karremans, economic affairs minister, said that he considered it right to suspend action, made under the Goods Availability Act, ahead of further talks with the Chinese government."We are positive about the measures already taken by the Chinese authorities to ensure the supply of chips to Europe and the rest of the world," he said in a statement.The Dutch government said it originally invoked the Act following concerns "from actions attributed to the now-suspended CEO, involving the improper transfer of product assets, funds, technology, and knowledge to a foreign entity"."These actions ran counter to the interests of the company, its shareholders, and Dutch and European strategic autonomy and security of supply," it said.In October, a Dutch court ordered the removal of ex-Nexperia CEO and Wingtech founder Zhang Xuezheng, citing alleged mismanagement.The Dutch government added that its decision had aimed to prevent a situation in which chips could become unavailable in an emergency.In December last year, the US government placed Wingtech, which owns Nexperia, on its so-called "entity list", identifying the company as a national security concern.Under the regulations, US companies are barred from exporting American-made goods to businesses on the list unless they have special approval.In the UK, Nexperia was forced to sell its silicon chip plant in Newport after MPs and ministers expressed national security concerns. It currently owns a UK facility in Stockport.Following the Dutch government's reversal, the Beijing acknowledged the move but said it was "still a step away from addressing the root cause of the global semiconductor supply chain turmoil and chaos"."Furthermore, the erroneous ruling by the corporate court, spearheaded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, to strip Wingtech of its control over Nexperia remains a key obstacle to resolving the issue," it added.Wingtech has said it will fight the decision.Following the latest move, a spokesperson for Wingtch said the company "strongly" rejected the allegations against its chief executive."To date, no proof has been provided," it added. "If the Dutch government is sincere about solving the problem, the Ministry should now file a letter with the Enterprise Chamber, explicitly withdrawing its support for the proceedings."These proceedings form a threat to the continuity of Nexperia B.V. and therefore for the economic security of the Netherlands and Europe — which is the exact same argument the Dutch government made previously in support of judicial intervention." — BBC]]></description>
                <dc:creator><![CDATA[جريدة الرايةِ]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/656701/TECHNOLOGY/Dutch-government-suspends-intervention-into-chipmaker-Nexperia]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2025 05:03:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[OpenAI, X and other major sites down amid Cloudflare outage]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/656673/TECHNOLOGY/OpenAI-X-and-other-major-sites-down-amid-Cloudflare-outage]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[SAN FRANCISCO — Major websites, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Facebook and the social media platform X, have been hit by technical issues after a Cloudflare outage on Tuesday.However, several hours after reporting there was an issue, the company said on Tuesday afternoon that “a fix has been implemented and we believe the incident is now resolved”.“We are continuing to monitor for errors to ensure all services are back to normal,” it added.Cloudflare provides the technology that powers many of today’s websites and platforms by helping them protect against hackers and keep websites online amid heavy traffic.Tracking website Down Detector, which monitors outages, was also hit by the technical problems.Cloudflare said it suffered "widespread 500 errors, [with] Dashboard and API also failing".500 error codes are a general message that means a server has encountered an unexpected condition that prevents it from fulfilling the request. It means the server knows there is an issue but cannot specify exactly what.In remediating the issue, Cloudflare said it had to temporarily disable certain services for United Kingdom users.“We have made changes that have allowed Cloudflare Access and WARP to recover. Error levels for Access and WARP users have returned to pre-incident rates. We have re-enabled WARP access in London,” the company wrote on its status page. “We are continuing to work towards restoring other services”.The outage follows recent internet failures from the likes of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft's Azure.In October, AWS had a problem caused by an issue with companies connecting to AWS's data services in the United States, which impacted internet services worldwide."During today’s outage, news sites, payments, public information pages and community services all froze," said Graeme Stewart, head of public sector at cybersecurity company Check Point."That was not because each organisation failed on its own. It was because a single layer they all rely on stopped responding. People saw a simple error page, but the breach reached into the systems that hold up essential services," he said, adding that this is a major cybersecurity issue."Any platform that carries this much of the world’s traffic becomes a target. Even an accidental outage creates noise and uncertainty that attackers know how to use," he said. — Euronews]]></description>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/656673/TECHNOLOGY/OpenAI-X-and-other-major-sites-down-amid-Cloudflare-outage]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2025 08:09:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Don&#039;t blindly trust what AI tells you, says Google&#039;s Sundar Pichai]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/656636/TECHNOLOGY/Dont-blindly-trust-what-AI-tells-you-says-Googles-Sundar-Pichai]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[MOUNTAIN VIEW, California — People should not "blindly trust" everything AI tools tell them, the boss of Google's parent company Alphabet told the BBC.In an exclusive interview, chief executive Sundar Pichai said that AI models are "prone to errors" and urged people to use them alongside other tools.Pichai said it highlighted the importance of having a rich information ecosystem, rather than solely relying on AI technology."This is why people also use Google search, and we have other products that are more grounded in providing accurate information."While AI tools were helpful "if you want to creatively write something",Pichai said people "have to learn to use these tools for what they're good at, and not blindly trust everything they say".He told the BBC: "We take pride in the amount of work we put in to give us as accurate information as possible, but the current state-of-the-art AI technology is prone to some errors."The tech world has been awaiting the latest launch of Google's consumer AI model, Gemini 3.0, which is starting to win back market share from ChatGPT.From May this year, Google began introducing a new "AI Mode" into its search, integrating its Gemini chatbot which is aimed at giving users the experience of talking to an expert.At the time,Pichai said the integration of Gemini with search signalled a "new phase of the AI platform shift".The move is also part of the tech giant's bid to remain competitive against AI services such as ChatGPT, which have threatened Google's online search dominance.His comments back up BBC research from earlier this year, which found that AI chatbots inaccurately summarised news stories.OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Copilot, Google's Gemini and Perplexity AI were all given content from the BBC website and asked questions about it, and the research found the AI answers contained "significant inaccuracies".In his interview with the BBC,Pichai said there was some tension between how fast technology was being developed and how mitigations are built in to prevent potential harmful effects.For Alphabet, Pichai said managing that tension means being " bold and responsible at the same time"."So we are moving fast through this moment. I think our consumers are demanding it," he said.The tech giant has also increased its investment in AI security in proportion with its investment in AI,Pichai added."For example, we are open-sourcing technology which will allow you to detect whether an image is generated by AI," he said.Asked about recently uncovered years-old comments from tech billionaire Elon Musk to OpenAI's founders around fears the now Google-owned DeepMind could create an AI "dictatorship",Pichai said "no one company should own a technology as powerful as AI".But he added there were many companies in the AI ecosystem today."If there was only one company which was building AI technology and everyone else had to use it, I would be concerned about that too, but we are so far from that scenario right now," he said. — BBC]]></description>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/656636/TECHNOLOGY/Dont-blindly-trust-what-AI-tells-you-says-Googles-Sundar-Pichai]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 18 Nov 2025 13:23:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[AI &#039;godmother&#039; Fei-Fei Li says she is &#039;proud to be different&#039;]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/656287/TECHNOLOGY/AI-godmother-Fei-Fei-Li-says-she-is-proud-to-be-different]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[LONDON — The 'godmother' of AI, Professor Fei-Fei Li has told the BBC that being the only woman amongst seven pioneers of artificial Intelligence being presented with a top engineering prize by King Charles on Wednesday makes her "proud to be different".The King will present the 2025 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering to Prof Li and six others during a ceremony at St James's Palace.Those honored alongside her are Prof Yoshua Bengio, Dr Bill Dally, Dr Geoffrey Hinton, Prof John Hopfield, Nvidia founder Jensen Huang and Meta's Chief AI Scientist Dr Yann LeCun.They are being recognised for their contributions to the development of modern machine learning, a field that underpins the rapid advancement of AI.Dr Hinton, Prof Bengio and Yann LeCun, currently Chief AI Scientist at Meta have widely been recognised as the "Godfathers of AI" since they were jointly awarded the 2018 Turing Award.There is however only one so-called "godmother" of AI and Prof Li told the BBC she has grown to accept the moniker."I would not call myself godmother of anything," she said.She said a few years ago when people started calling her that, she had to "pause and recognise if I rejected this, it would miss an opportunity for women scientists and technologists to be recognised this way"."Because men are pretty easily called godfathers or founding fathers.""For all the young women I work with and the generations of girls to come, I'm okay now accepting this title," she added.Born in China, Prof Li emigrated to the US as a teenager and went on to excel in computer science. She is co-director at Stanford Computer Science Department, and co-founder and CEO of World Labs.It is her work on ImageNet a project which enabled major advances in computer vision for which she is recognised.She and her students created large-scale image recognition datasets upon which a lot of artificial intelligence technology is now built. It paved the way for computer vision – working out how computers could 'see'.She says the importance of that data set "open the floodgate of data-driven AI".She thinks the next AI milestone will come when it is able to interact with the world around it.This ability was is "innately important and native to animals and humans", and if this could be unlocked in AI, it could "superpower" humans in many ways, "including creativity, robotic learning, design and architecture".This will be the first time all seven laureates have come together in person.The three "godfathers" have publicly stated opposing views on how dangerous AI could be.Dr Hinton has repeatedly expressed serious concerns about the potential for AI to pose an "extinction-level threat". But Prof LeCun, who also works at Meta has written that apocalyptic warnings are overblown.Prof Li says she takes a more "pragmatic approach" and says the disagreement amongst scientists is "healthy"."We're used to even disagreement, and I think that's healthy. A topic as profound and impactful as AI requires a lot of healthy debate and public discourse."I think in the case of AI, both extreme rhetorics concern me…I have always advocated for a much more science based, pragmatic method in communicating and educating the public."So, yes, I would like to see our communication of AI to be much more moderated and grounded in facts and science instead of the extreme rhetorics".The Queen Elizabeth prize is awarded annually to engineers responsible for groundbreaking innovations which globally benefit humanity. Previous recipients include Sir Tim Berners Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web.Lord Vallance, chair of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, said the winners "represent the very best of engineering," adding that their work "demonstrates how engineering can both sustain our planet and transform the way we live and learn." — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/656287/TECHNOLOGY/AI-godmother-Fei-Fei-Li-says-she-is-proud-to-be-different]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 07:29:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[OpenAI, Amazon, ChatGPT, AI computing power]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/656258/TECHNOLOGY/OpenAI-and-Amazon-sign-$38-billion-deal-for-AI-computing-power]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — OpenAI and Amazon have signed a $38 billion (€33bn) deal that enables the ChatGPT maker to run its artificial intelligence systems on Amazon's data centers in the US.As part of the deal, announced on Monday, OpenAI will be able to power its AI tools using “hundreds of thousands” of Nvidia’s specialised AI chips through Amazon Web Services (AWS).Amazon shares rose 4% following the announcement.The agreement comes less than a week after OpenAI altered its partnership with longtime backer Microsoft, which until earlier this year had been the start-up’s exclusive cloud computing provider.California and Delaware regulators also last week approved San Francisco-based OpenAI, originally founded as a non-profit, to move forward with plans to form a new business structure designed to raise capital more easily and operate for profit.“The rapid advancement of AI technology has created unprecedented demand for computing power,” Amazon said in a statement on Monday. It added that OpenAI “will immediately start utilising AWS compute as part of this partnership, with all capacity expected to be deployed before the end of 2026, and the potential to expand further into 2027 and beyond.”AI development requires enormous amounts of energy and computing capacity. OpenAI has long indicated that it needs more infrastructure both to develop new AI systems and to keep existing products, such as ChatGPT, running for its hundreds of millions of users.The company has recently committed over $1 trillion (€870bn) to AI-related spending, including data centre projects with Oracle and SoftBank and semiconductor supply agreements with Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom.Some of these deals have raised investor concerns about their “circular” nature, since OpenAI is not yet profitable and cannot currently pay for all the infrastructure its cloud partners provide, relying instead on expectations of future returns. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman dismissed these concerns last week, describing them as “breathless” speculation.“Revenue is growing steeply. We are taking a forward bet that it’s going to continue to grow,” Altman said on a podcast appearance alongside Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.Amazon is already the primary cloud provider for AI start-up Anthropic, a rival of OpenAI that is developing the Claude chatbot. — Euronews ]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 09:56:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Instagram will now be PG-13 for teens with Meta’s latest update]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/655743/TECHNOLOGY/Instagram-will-now-be-PG-13-for-teens-with-Metas-latest-update]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[NEW YORK — Instagram is further cracking down on what millions of young people can see on the platform, aligning its “Teen Accounts” safety settings with the guidelines for PG-13 movies.The Meta-owned platform launched teen accounts last year, its most dramatic effort yet to protect young people following years of criticism from parents and lawmakers over the app’s impact on teens’ mental health and well-being. The settings implemented default privacy protections and content limits for many of Instagram’s teen users, restricting posts related to violence, cosmetic procedures or self-harm.Tuesday’s update goes a step further. Instagram will not promote and may even hide posts featuring strong language, or those which could encourage “harmful behaviors” such as content featuring risky stunts or marijuana paraphernalia, the company said.Teens also won’t be able to follow accounts that regularly share age-inappropriate content. If they already follow such accounts, they will no longer be able to see or interact with their content, send or receive direct messages from them or see that account’s comments under other posts. Instagram will block a wider range of search terms for teens, such as “alcohol” and “gore.” And Meta’s AI chatbot “should not give age-inappropriate responses that would feel out of place in a PG-13 movie,” the company said.“Just like you might see some suggestive content or hear some strong language in a PG-13 movie, teens may occasionally see something like that on Instagram — but we’re going to keep doing all we can to keep those instances as rare as possible,” Meta said in a blog post.The update follows a series of reports calling into question the effectiveness of the “teen accounts” protections. One study published earlier this month by a group of online safety and child advocacy organizations, for example, found that nearly 60% of 13- to 15-year-olds using Instagram’s teen accounts settings reported seeing “unsafe content and unwanted messages” within the last six months. Meta disputed the report, calling it biased and telling Time magazine that it ignored teens who have positive experiences on the platform.Reuters and the Wall Street Journal also reported earlier this year that Meta’s AI chatbot would flirt and engage in romantic or sexual roleplay with young people. In response, the company said it was updating how its chatbot can interact with teens and limiting the AI characters young users can interact with on its platforms.It also comes as a growing number of states and countries move to restrict or outright ban access to social media for some teens. Denmark’s prime minister announced last week that the country will ban social media for children under 15, although parents would have the option to approve its use for teens 13 and up.Meta said the changes are a response to parents who have asked for clearer guidelines and more control over their children’s experiences on Instagram.“We decided to more closely align our policies with an independent standard that parents are familiar with,” the company said.The Motion Picture Association, which distributes film ratings, distanced itself from Meta’s announcement in a statement on Tuesday.“The Motion Picture Association was not contacted by Meta prior to the announcement of its new content moderation tool for Instagram Teen Accounts,” Motion Picture Association Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin said. “We welcome efforts to protect kids from content that may not be appropriate for them, but assertions that Instagram’s new tool will be ‘guided by PG-13 movie ratings’ or have any connection to the film industry’s rating system are inaccurate.”Meta’s new content restrictions will be automatically applied to all users under 18, although teens can return to the previous settings with their parent’s permission if they have their accounts linked. (Previously, 16- and 17-year-olds could opt-out of all teen accounts’ protections without permission; they’ll still be able to do so for the default privacy settings.)Meta says it uses artificial intelligence to estimate the ages of users, regardless of the birthdate they sign up with, in an effort to identify teens who might be intentionally skirting the protections.Tuesday’s update will also allow parents whose accounts are linked to their teen’s to turn on a more restrictive setting called “Limited Content,” which will filter more types of posts and remove the child’s ability to see, leave or receive comments under posts. The setting will also restrict the types of conversations teens can have with AI, starting next year.The restrictions will roll out gradually to teens in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada starting on Tuesday, and to the rest of the world in the coming months. — CNN]]></description>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/655743/TECHNOLOGY/Instagram-will-now-be-PG-13-for-teens-with-Metas-latest-update]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 07:09:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Google to invest $15bn to build AI data hub in India]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/655724/TECHNOLOGY/Google-to-invest-$15bn-to-build-AI-data-hub-in-India]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[GUWAHATI, India — Google's parent company Alphabet will invest $15bn (£11.29bn) to build an AI data hub in southern India's Andhra Pradesh state.The facility, which will be set up in the port city of Visakhapatnam, is going to be a part of Google's global network of AI centres spread across 12 countries."It's the largest AI hub that we are going to be investing in anywhere in the world, outside of the United States," Thomas Kurien, the CEO of Google Cloud, said at an event in capital Delhi on Tuesday, adding that the investment will be spread over the next five years.The announcement comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has been asking American companies to prioritise domestic investment.India has emerged as a key destination for AI data centres. The country's low data costs and rapidly growing internet user base have made it a hub for cloud and AI expansion for tech giants.Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the facility "will bring our industry-leading technology to enterprises and users in India, accelerating AI innovation and driving growth across the country".A formal agreement to finalise the project will be signed on Tuesday, the Andhra Pradesh government said."It is a massive leap for our state's digital future, innovation, and global standing," said the state's technology minister Nara Lokesh.The project will combine cloud and AI infrastructure with renewable energy systems and an expanded fibre-optic network.The project is part of the Andhra Pradesh government's plan to develop 6GW of data centre capacity by 2029, according to Bloomberg News.Data centres are physical facilities that house the computing and networking equipment that organisations use to collect, process, store, and distribute data.They contain servers, storage systems and network equipment like routers and firewalls, along with the necessary power and cooling systems to operate them.In Andhra Pradesh, the government has been offering subsidised land and electricity to attract global investors.India's data centre industry has grown rapidly over the past five years, crossing the 1GW capacity mark in 2024 and nearly tripling its 2019 level, according to global professional service firm JLL's India Data Centre Market Dynamics 2024 report. — BBC]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[جريدة الرايةِ]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/655724/TECHNOLOGY/Google-to-invest-$15bn-to-build-AI-data-hub-in-India]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 14 Oct 2025 13:08:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Scientists make embryos from human skin DNA for first time]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/655433/TECHNOLOGY/Scientists-make-embryos-from-human-skin-DNA-for-first-time]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — US scientists have, for the first time, made early-stage human embryos by manipulating DNA taken from people&#39;s skin cells and then fertilising it with sperm.The technique could overcome infertility due to old age or disease, by using almost any cell in the body as the starting point for life.It could even allow same-sex couples to have a genetically related child.The method requires significant refinement — which could take a decade — before a fertility clinic could even consider using it.Experts said it was an impressive breakthrough, but there needed to be an open discussion with the public about what science was making possible.Reproduction used to be a simple story of man&#39;s sperm meets woman&#39;s egg. They fuse to make an embryo, and nine months later a baby is born.Now scientists are changing the rules. This latest experiment starts with human skin.The Oregon Health and Science University research team&#39;s technique takes the nucleus – which houses a copy of the entire genetic code needed to build the body – out of a skin cell.This is then placed inside a donor egg that has been stripped of its genetic instructions.So far, the technique is like the one used to create Dolly the Sheep – the world&#39;s first cloned mammal – born back in 1996.However, this egg is not ready to be fertilised by sperm as it already contains a full suite of chromosomes.You inherit 23 of these bundles of DNA from each of your parents for a total of 46, which the egg already has.So the next stage is to persuade the egg to discard half of its chromosomes in a process the researchers have termed &quot;mitomeiosis&quot; (the word is a fusion of mitosis and meiosis, the two ways cells divide).Graphic explaining the different stages of fertilisation using skin cells. It shows the nucleus from skin cell being placed inside a donor egg that has had its genetic information removed. Then, underneath, it shows a purple nucleus having half of its 23 pairs of chromosomes removed to mimic a normal egg. Under that, a man&#39;s sperm is shown fertilising the egg and adding its chromosomes so that half come from each parent.The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, showed 82 functional eggs were made. These were fertilised with sperm and some progressed onto the early stages of embryos development. None were developed beyond the six-day-stage.&quot;We achieved something that was thought to be impossible,&quot; said Prof Shoukhrat Mitalipov, the director of the Oregon Health and Science University&#39;s centre for embryonic cell and gene therapy.The technique is far from polished as the egg randomly chooses which chromosomes to discard. It needs to end up with one of each of the 23 types to prevent disease, but ends up with two of some and none of others.There is also a poor success rate (around 9%) and the chromosomes miss an important process where they rearrange their DNA, called crossing over.Prof Mitalipov, a world-renowned pioneer in the field, told me: &quot;We have to perfect it.&quot;Eventually, I think that&#39;s where the future will go because there are more and more patients that cannot have children.&quot;This technology is part of a growing field aiming to make sperm and eggs outside of the body, known as in vitro gametogenesis.The approach is still at the level of scientific discovery rather than clinical use, but the vision is to help couples who cannot benefit from IVF (in vitro fertilisation) because they don&#39;t have the sperm or eggs to use.It could help older women who no longer have viable eggs, men who don&#39;t produce enough sperm or people whose cancer treatment has left them infertile.The field also re-writes the rules of parenthood. The technique described today does not have to use a woman&#39;s skin cells — it could also use a man&#39;s.That opens the door to same-sex couples having children that are genetically related to both partners. For example, in a male same-sex couple, one man&#39;s skin could be used to make the egg and a male partner&#39;s sperm used to fertilise it.&quot;In addition to offering hope for millions of people with infertility due to lack of eggs or sperm, this method would allow for the possibility of same-sex couples to have a child genetically related to both partners,&quot; said Prof Paula Amato, from Oregon Health and Science University.Roger Sturmey, a professor of reproductive medicine at the University of Hull, said the science was &quot;important&quot; and &quot;impressive&quot;.He added: &quot;At the same time, such research reinforces the importance of continued open dialogue with the public about new advances in reproductive research.&quot;Breakthroughs such as this impress upon us the need for robust governance, to ensure accountability and build public trust.&quot;Prof Richard Anderson, deputy director of MRC Centre for reproductive health at the University of Edinburgh, said the ability to generate new eggs &quot;would be a major advance&quot;.He said: &quot;There will be very important safety concerns but this study is a step towards helping many women have their own genetic children.&quot; — BBC]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[جريدة الرايةِ]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
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        <pubDate>Wed, 01 Oct 2025 07:02:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[US energy chief says nuclear fusion will soon power the world]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/654905/TECHNOLOGY/US-energy-chief-says-nuclear-fusion-will-soon-power-the-world]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[BRUSSELS – Don&#39;t worry too much about planet-warming emissions, the US Energy Secretary has told the BBC, because within five years AI will have enabled the harnessing of nuclear fusion – the energy that powers the sun and stars.Chris Wright said in an interview that he expected the technology to deliver power to electricity grids around the world within eight to 15 years and that it would rapidly become a big driver of greenhouse gas reductions.His claims will likely surprise even enthusiasts for the technology.Harnessing the energy released when atoms fuse together could produce vast amounts of low carbon energy but most scientists believe commercial fusion power plants are still a long way off.&quot;With artificial intelligence and what&#39;s going on at the national labs and private companies in the United States, we will have that approach about how to harness fusion energy multiple ways within the next five years,&quot; said Wright.&quot;The technology, it&#39;ll be on the electric grid, you know, in eight to 15 years.&quot;Scientists believe nuclear fusion, which Wright studied at university, could one day produce vast amounts of energy without heating up our atmosphere.But it&#39;s a very complex process. Replicating it on Earth involves heating atoms to temperatures many times hotter than the sun.President Donald Trump&#39;s controversial energy chief also urged the UK government to lift the de facto ban on fracking and issue new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea.The US Energy Secretary warned the Trump Administration had &quot;serious concerns&quot; about Europe&#39;s reliance on Chinese renewable technologies.&quot;It looks like the Chinese could control what&#39;s going on with your energy system,&quot; he said.He repeated the claims made by Donald Trump that the UK and Europe&#39;s effort to transition away from fossil fuels to low carbon energy is driving deindustrialisation and impoverishing their citizens.Wright is in Brussels ahead of Donald Trump&#39;s second state visit to the UK next week. The US President will meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and will attend a banquet hosted by King Charles at Windsor Castle.During the BBC interview the US Energy Secretary said fracking – releasing oil and gas trapped rock formations underground – could have a &quot;tremendous&quot; impact on the UK economy.Wright, who has founded and run fracking companies in the US, suggested the oil and gas the process would produce could &quot;bring back manufacturing and blue-collar jobs and drive down not just electricity prices, but home-heating prices and industrial energy prices&quot;.Reform UK recently said it would encourage fracking in the UK if it were to win the next election, but the British Geological Survey has warned the potential for the technology to produce large amounts of oil and gas in the UK is likely to be limited.Wright defended the billions of dollars of cuts the Trump Administration has made to renewable energy subsidies. He said wind power has been subsidised for 33 years and solar for 25 years.&quot;Isn&#39;t that enough?&quot; the Energy Secretary asked: &quot;You&#39;ve got to be able to walk on your own after 25 to 30 years of subsidies.&quot;The Energy Secretary also stood by the report issued by the Department of Energy in July which said the threat of climate change has been exaggerated.Among a series of controversial claims, the report said sea level rise is not accelerating, that computer models of the climate exaggerate future temperature rises and that climate scientists overlook beneficial aspects of climate change like the fact that high densities of carbon dioxide promote plant growth.Earlier this month more than 85 international scientists claimed it was riddled with errors and misrepresentations and that data had been &quot;cherry-picked&quot; – selectively chosen. The scientists also called into question the academic standards of the five authors of the paper.Wright told the BBC he believes it is climate scientists who use data selectively. &quot;Cherry-picking data in climate science, in the media, by activists and by politicians is the norm,&quot; he said.He acknowledged that climate change is a &quot;very real, physical phenomenon&quot; and said that he believes the world will decarbonise: &quot;It&#39;s just generations from now, not two or three decades from now.&quot;He said he was delighted his report had prompted such vigorous debate: &quot;We&#39;ve got a dialogue back and forth about climate change in a public forum. I&#39;ve wanted that for 20 years.&quot;He denied that the cuts the Trump Administration is making to climate science, including a proposal to slash the funding for the US&#39;s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), would damage US research into weather and climate.There has been speculation that the cuts could block the development of the next generation of weather satellites and could even lead to the closure of the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, which is responsible for the longest record of direct measurements of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.&quot;There are a lot of rumours about all sorts of terrible things happening,&quot; said Wright, who claimed the US government is trying to restore &quot;real science&quot;.He claimed: &quot;One of the problems of science is it&#39;s become so politicised in the climate world, if you deviate from the church, your funding gets cut off.&quot; – BBC]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[جريدة الرايةِ]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
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        <pubDate>Fri, 12 Sep 2025 08:29:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Publishers fear AI summaries are hitting online traffic]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/654823/TECHNOLOGY/Publishers-fear-AI-summaries-are-hitting-online-traffic]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[LONDON — When actress Sorcha Cusack left the BBC drama Father Brown in January, it made headlines, including for the newspapers owned by Reach, among them The Mirror, and the Daily Express.But the story did not generate the traction the Reach newspapers would have expected a year ago, or even at the start of the year.Reach put this down to AI Overviews (AIO) – the AI summary at the top of the Google results page.Instead of clicking through to the story on a Reach newspaper site, readers were happy with the AI overview.The feature is a concern for newspapers and other media publishers, who have already seen much of their advertising revenue siphoned off by social media.In a tough market, readers coming via Google search is a valuable source of traffic.&quot;A major worry, backed by some individual datapoints, has been that AI overviews would lead to fewer people clicking through to the content behind them, with negative knock-on effects for publishers,&quot; says Dr Felix Simon, research fellow in AI and news at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford.He points out that it&#39;s hard to know the scale of the problem, as Google does not publish data on click-through rates.DMG Media, owner of MailOnline, Metro and other outlets, said AIO resulted in a fall in click-through-rates by as much as 89%, in a statement to the Competition and Markets Authority made in July.It means publishers are not being fairly rewarded for their work, says David Higgerson, chief digital publisher at Reach.&quot;Publishers provide the accurate, timely, trustworthy content that basically fuels Google, and in return we get a click... that hopefully we can monetise to our subscription service.&quot;Now with Google Overviews it&#39;s reducing the need for somebody to click through to us in the first place, but for no financial benefit for the publisher.&quot;&quot;It&#39;s another example of the distributor of information not being the creator of information but taking all the financial reward for it.&quot;There is also concern over Google&#39;s new tool called AI Mode, which shows search results in a conversational style with far fewer links than traditional search.&quot;If Google flips onto full AI Mode, and there is a big uptake in that...that [will be] completely quite devastating for the industry,&quot; says Higgerson.&quot;We are definitely moving into the era of lower clicks and lower referral traffic for publishers,&quot; says Stuart Forrest, global director of SEO digital publishing at Bauer Media.&quot;For most of the last decade Google has introduced more and more features into the SERP [Search Engine Results Page], which reduces the need for consumers to visit a website. That is the challenge that we as a sector face.&quot;Forrest says he hasn&#39;t noticed a drop in traffic across Bauer&#39;s sites, which include brands Grazia and Empire, as a result of the overview feature. But that could change.&quot;I absolutely think that as time goes on, as consumers get used to these panels, it&#39;s without doubt going to be a challenge. We are absolutely behaving as if we have to respond to that threat.&quot;In its defence, a Google spokesperson said: &quot;More than any other company, Google prioritises sending traffic to the web, and we continue to send billions of clicks to websites every day.In an August blog post, Google&#39;s head of search Liz Reid said the volume of clicks from Google search to websites had been &quot;relatively stable&quot; year-over-year.She also said the number of quality of clicks had improved slightly compared to a year ago — quality clicks are when a user does not immediately click back from the link.&quot;With AI Overviews, people are searching more and asking new questions that are often longer and more complex. In addition, with AI Overviews people are seeing more links on the page than before. More queries and more links mean more opportunities for websites to surface and get clicked,&quot; she said in the blog.In July, a group of organisations including the Independent Publishers Alliance, tech justice non-profit Foxglove, and the campaign group Movement for an Open Web filed a legal complaint to the UK&#39;s Competition and Markets Authority alleging that Google AI Overviews is using publishers&#39; content at a cost to the newspapers.It is asking the CMA to introduce interim measures to prevent Google from &quot;misusing&quot; publisher content in AI-generated responses.In the meantime publishers are trying to understand how to feature in AIO and hopeful win some click-throughs.&quot;Google doesn&#39;t give us a manual on how to do it. We have to run tests and optimise copy in a way that doesn&#39;t damage the primary purpose of the content, which is to satisfy a reader&#39;s desire for information,&quot; explains Higgerson.&quot;We need to make sure that it&#39;s us being cited and not our rivals,&quot; says Forrest. &quot;Things like writing good quality content... it&#39;s amazing the number of publishers that just give up on that.&quot;Like other publishers, Reach is looking at other ways to build traffic to its news platforms.&quot;We need to go and find where audiences are elsewhere and build relationships with them there. We&#39;ve got millions of people who receive our alerts on WhatsApp,&quot; Higgerson says.&quot;We&#39;ve built newsletters. It&#39;s all about giving people what they want when they&#39;re on our website and our brand, so the next time they&#39;re looking, hopefully they aren&#39;t going to a third party to get to us.&quot; — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/654823/TECHNOLOGY/Publishers-fear-AI-summaries-are-hitting-online-traffic]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 09 Sep 2025 07:16:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Google told to pay $425m in privacy lawsuit]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/654707/TECHNOLOGY/Google-told-to-pay-$425m-in-privacy-lawsuit]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — A US federal court has told Google to pay $425m (£316.3m) for breaching users&#39; privacy by collecting data from millions of users even after they had turned off a tracking feature in their Google accounts.The verdict comes after a group of users brought the case claiming Google accessed users&#39; mobile devices to collect, save and use their data, in violation of privacy assurances in its Web & App Activity setting.They had been seeking more than $31bn in damages.&quot;This decision misunderstands how our products work, and we will appeal it. Our privacy tools give people control over their data, and when they turn off personalisation, we honour that choice,&quot; a Google spokesperson told the BBC.The jury in the case found the internet search giant liable to two of three claims of privacy violations but said the firm had not acted with malice.The class action lawsuit, covering about 98 million Google users and 174 million devices, was filed in July 2020.The plaintiffs alleged that Google&#39;s collection practices extended to hundreds of thousands of smartphone apps, including those for ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft, e-commerce giants Alibaba and Amazon, and Meta&#39;s social networks Instagram and Facebook.Google says that when users turn off Web & App Activity in their account, businesses using Google Analytics may still collect data about their use of sites and apps but that this information does not identify individual users and respects their privacy choices.Separately this week, shares in Google&#39;s parent company Alphabet jumped by more than 9% on Wednesday after a US federal judge ruled that it would not have to sell its Chrome web browser but must share information with competitors.The remedies decided by District Judge Amit Mehta emerged after a years-long court battle over Google&#39;s dominance in online search.The case centred on Google&#39;s position as the default search engine on a range of its own products such as Android and Chrome as well as others made by the likes of Apple.The US Department of Justice (DOJ) had demanded that Google sell Chrome — Tuesday&#39;s decision means the tech giant can keep it but it will be barred from having exclusive contracts and must share search data with rivals.Google faces a separate competition case overseen by District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who ruled in April that Google holds a monopoly in advertising technology.She will oversee a trial aimed at finding remedies later this month. — BBC]]></description>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/654707/TECHNOLOGY/Google-told-to-pay-$425m-in-privacy-lawsuit]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Sep 2025 09:15:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[OpenAI puts parental controls in ChatGPT but critics say it is a ‘vague promise’]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/654669/TECHNOLOGY/OpenAI-puts-parental-controls-in-ChatGPT-but-critics-say-it-is-a-vague-promise]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[BOSTON — OpenAI has announced a series of parental controls for its AI chatbot ChatGPT, which includes notifying parents when their child is distressed.It comes after a lawsuit was filed against the company and its CEO Sam Altman by the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who committed suicide in April.The parents alleged that ChatGPT created a psychological dependency in Adam, coaching him to plan and take his own life earlier this year and even wrote a suicide note for him.OpenAI says new parental controls that will allow adults to manage which features their children can use on the service will be made available within the next month.OpenAI’s controls will let parents link their account with their children’s and allow them to manage which features their child can access. This also includes the chat history and the memory, the user facts that the AI automatically retains.The OpenAI blog also said ChatGPT will send parents notifications if it detects “their teen is in a moment of acute distress”.However, the company did not specify what may trigger such an alert but said the feature will be guided by experts.But some say the measures do not go far enough.Jay Edelson, the attorney of Raine’s parents, described the OpenAI announcement as “vague promises to do better” and “nothing more than OpenAI’s crisis management team trying to change the subject”.Altman &quot;should either unequivocally say that he believes ChatGPT is safe or immediately pull it from the market,” Edelson said on Tuesday.Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, also said on Tuesday it is now blocking its chatbots from talking with teens about self-harm, suicide, disordered eating and inappropriate romantic conversations, and instead directs them to expert resources. Meta already offers parental controls on teen accounts.A study published last week in the medical journal Psychiatric Services found inconsistencies in how three popular artificial intelligence chatbots responded to queries about suicide.The study by researchers at the RAND Corporation found a need for “further refinement” in ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude. The researchers did not study Meta&#39;s chatbots.The study&#39;s lead author, Ryan McBain, said Tuesday that &quot;it’s encouraging to see OpenAI and Meta introducing features like parental controls and routing sensitive conversations to more capable models, but these are incremental steps”.“Without independent safety benchmarks, clinical testing, and enforceable standards, we’re still relying on companies to self-regulate in a space where the risks for teenagers are uniquely high,” said McBain, a senior policy researcher at RAND and assistant professor at Harvard University’s medical school. — Euronews]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Wed, 03 Sep 2025 07:25:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Google will not be forced to sell off Chrome or Android, judge rules in landmark antitrust ruling]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/654666/TECHNOLOGY/Google-will-not-be-forced-to-sell-off-Chrome-or-Android-judge-rules-in-landmark-antitrust-ruling]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — A court will not force Google to sell off its Chrome browser or Android, a federal judge said in a court filing on Tuesday. The decision serves as a significant win for the tech company, which has avoided the most extreme possible outcome from a landmark antitrust case that determined the company was operating an illegal online search monopoly.Although Google will not be forced to sell of its Chrome browser or Android, it will have to make certain search data available to qualified competitors to promote competition. It will also be barred from entering into or maintaining exclusive contracts related to the distribution of services like Chrome, Search, the Google Assistant and its Gemini app.Those agreements provide a significant source of revenue for Google and broad access to its services, although the company had proposed ditching those contracts as a potential remedy in the case. US District Court Judge Amit Mehta said in a ruling Tuesday that he had accepted Google’s proposed remedies, in part.The trial put Google’s core business under a microscope at a time when it is already under threat of being toppled by AI chatbots. And it comes as the company is also gearing up to defend the operation of its online advertising business after it, too, was found to be an illegal monopoly earlier this year.“Google will not be required to divest Chrome; nor will the court include a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system in the final judgment,” the filing read.In a statement on Tuesday, Google said the decision underlined how much the tech industry has changed with AI, which “is giving people so many more ways to find information.” However, it also cited privacy concerns with the agreements.“The Court has imposed limits on how we distribute Google services, and will require us to share Search data with rivals. We have concerns about how these requirements will impact our users and their privacy, and we’re reviewing the decision closely,” the company said.The Justice Department said in a statement on Tuesday that the ruling “recognizes the need for remedies that will pry open the market for general search services,” and “the need to prevent Google from using the same anticompetitive tactics for its GenAI products as it used to monopolize the search market.”“We will continue to review the opinion to consider the Department’s options and next steps regarding seeking additional relief,” the statement quoted Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater as saying.The ruling was closely watched across Silicon Valley, as other major tech giants are also fighting antitrust cases brought by the US government.Mehta wrote that the rise of generative AI tools have “changed the course of this case,” adding that ensuring Google’s dominance in search doesn’t “carry over into the GenAI space” was a key part of the remedies proceedings.“And, unlike the typical case where the court’s job is to resolve a dispute based on historic facts, here the court is asked to gaze into a crystal ball and look to the future,” he wrote. “Not exactly a judge’s forte.”Mehta ruled last fall that Google had violated US antitrust law with its search business, writing that the company “is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”In the weekslong “remedies” portion of the trial, Google argued that the Justice Department’s proposed solutions would harm consumers by making it harder to access their preferred search engine and could stunt the US economy and American tech leadership. Chrome leader Parisa Tabriz testified that forcing Google to sell off Chrome would result in a “shadow of the current” web browser and would likely make it “insecure and obsolete.”Google has for years inked exclusive, multibillion-dollar contracts with device makers like Apple to secure its position as the default search provider on smartphones and web browsers, encouraging its dominance giving it what the court sees as being an unfair advantage that relies on consumer habit rather than choice. By 2020, 95% of all US search queries on mobile devices went through Google, Mehta noted in his opinion.The move to prevent Google from entering into exclusive distribution deals is the court’s way of leveling the playing field. Google will be barred from entering into agreements that require companies to preload Google Search, Chrome, the Google Assistant or Gemini in order to license its popular Google Play app store.But many phone makers will likely still include Google’s services because of their popularity, said Carolina Milanesi, president and principal analyst at tech research firm Creative Strategies.“The value that these companies bring to the vendors and the people that partner with them is such that I don’t know how many will decide not to preload their services,” she said.Google will still be allowed to pay partners to distribute its services – including its Search engine – on their products. Apple and Google have a lucrative deal in which the search giant pays the iPhone maker billions to be the default search engine on its web browser. Ending that partnership would have meant Google would no longer get default distribution on one of the world’s most popular smartphones, while yanking a lucrative source of revenue from Apple.“Cutting off payments from Google almost certainly will impose substantial—in some cases, crippling—downstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers, which counsels against a broad payment ban,” the filing read.Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives sees the ruling as a win for both Apple and Google, particularly following a Bloomberg report that the two companies may partner to incorporate Gemini into Siri.“While in theory Google is barred from ‘exclusive deals’ for search this now lays the groundwork for Apple to continue its deal and ultimately likely double down on more AI related partnership with Google Gemini down the road,” he said in a research note.The outcome is a win for Google overall, says Robert Siegel, lecturer in management at the Stanford School of Business. But the decision to prohibit Google from entering into exclusive contracts means the company may have to try a little harder to entice consumers moving forward, especially amid heightened competition from rivals like OpenAI and Perplexity – the latter of which made an unsolicited, far-fetched offer to buy Chrome last month.“This is all going to be about who delivers the best solution for how people interact with technology and AI going forward,” Siegel said. — CNN]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/654666/TECHNOLOGY/Google-will-not-be-forced-to-sell-off-Chrome-or-Android-judge-rules-in-landmark-antitrust-ruling]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 03 Sep 2025 07:16:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Data centers to be expanded across UK as concerns mount]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/654187/TECHNOLOGY/Data-centers-to-be-expanded-across-UK-as-concerns-mount]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[LONDON — The number of data centers in the UK is set to increase by almost a fifth, according to figures shared with BBC News.Data centers are giant warehouses full of powerful computers used to run digital services from movie streaming to online banking - there are currently an estimated 477 of them in the UK.Construction researchers Barbour ABI have analysed planning documents and say that number is set to jump by almost 100, as the growth in artificial intelligence (AI) increases the need for processing power.The majority are due to be built in the next five years. However, there are concerns about the huge amount of energy and water the new data centres will consume.Some experts have warned it could drive up prices paid by consumers.More than half of the new data centres would be in London and neighbouring counties.Many are privately funded by US tech giants such as Google and Microsoft and major investment firms.A further nine are planned in Wales, one in Scotland, five in Greater Manchester and a handful in other parts of the UK, the data shows.While the new data centres are mostly due for completion by 2030, the biggest single one planned would come later - a £10bn AI data centre in Blyth, near Newcastle, for the American private investment and wealth management company Blackstone Group.It would involve building 10 giant buildings covering 540,000 square metres - the size of several large shopping centres - on the site of the former Blyth Power Station.Work is set to begin in 2031 and last for more than three years.Microsoft is planning four new data centres in the UK at a total cost of £330m, with an estimated completion between 2027 and 2029 - two in the Leeds area, one near Newport in Wales, and a five-storey site in Acton, north-west London.And Google is building a data centre in Hertfordshire, an investment worth £740m, which it says will use air to cool its servers rather than water.By some analyses, the UK is already the third-largest nation for data centres behind the US and Germany.The government has made clear it believes data centres are central to the UK&#39;s economic future - designating them critical national infrastructure.But there are concerns about their impact, including the potential knock-on effect on people&#39;s energy bills.It is not known what the energy consumption of the new centres will be as this data is not included in the planning applications, but US data suggests they are can be considerably more powerful than older ones.Dr Sasha Luccioni, AI and climate lead at machine learning firm Hugging Face, explains that in the US &quot;average citizens in places like Ohio are seeing their monthly bills go up by $20 (£15) because of data centres&quot;.She said the timeline for the new data centres in the UK was &quot;aggressive&quot; and called for &quot;mechanisms for companies to pay the price for extra energy to power data centres - not consumers&quot;.According to the National Energy System Operator, NESO, the projected growth of data centres in Great Britain could &quot;add up to 71 TWh of electricity demand&quot; in the next 25 years, which it says redoubles the need for clean power - such as offshore wind.Bruce Owen, regional president of data centre operator Equinix, said the UK&#39;s high energy costs, as well as concerns around lengthy planning processes, were prompting some operators to consider building elsewhere.&quot;If I want to build a new data centre here within the UK, we&#39;re talking five to seven years before I even have planning permission or access to power in order to do that,&quot; he told BBC Radio 4&#39;s Today programme.&quot;So you&#39;re starting to see some of these AI workloads move into other countries, where the UK has always been a very important hub.&quot;UK deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has overturned some local councils&#39; rejection of planning permission for data centres, citing their importance to the country&#39;s infrastructure and the government&#39;s growth push.There are also growing concerns about the environmental impact of these enormous buildings.Many existing data centre plants require large quantities of water to prevent them from overheating - and most current owners do not share data about their water consumption.Stephen Hone, chief executive of industry body the Data Centre Alliance, says &quot;ensuring there is enough water and electricity powering data centres isn&#39;t something the industry can solve on its own&quot;.But he insisted &quot;data centres are fixated with becoming as sustainable as possible&quot;, such as through dry-cooling methods.Such promises of future solutions have failed to appease some.In Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, residents are objecting to the construction of a £3.8bn cloud and AI centre on greenbelt land, describing the area as the &quot;lungs&quot; of their home.And in Dublin there is currently a moratorium on the building of any new data centres because of the strain existing ones have placed on Ireland&#39;s national electricity provider.In 2023 they accounted for one fifth of the country&#39;s energy demand.Last month, Anglian Water objected to plans for a 435-acre data centre site in North Lincolnshire. The developer says it aims to deploy &quot;closed loop&quot; cooling systems which would not place a strain on the water supply.The planning documents suggest that 28 of the new data centres would be likely to be serviced by troubled Thames Water, including 14 more in Slough, which has already been described as having Europe&#39;s largest cluster of the buildings.The BBC understands Thames Water was talking to the government earlier this year about the challenge of water demand in relation to data centres and how it can be mitigated.Water UK, the trade body for all water firms, said it &quot;desperately&quot; wants to supply the centres but &quot;planning hurdles&quot; need to be cleared more quickly.Ten new reservoirs are being built in Lincolnshire, the West Midlands and south-east England.A spokesperson for the UK government said data centres were &quot;essential&quot; and an AI Energy Council had been established to make sure supply can meet demand, alongside £104bn in water infrastructure investment. — BBC]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[جريدة الرايةِ]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/654187/TECHNOLOGY/Data-centers-to-be-expanded-across-UK-as-concerns-mount]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:32:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Elon Musk threatens to sue Apple for not ranking X or Grok among its top apps]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/654092/TECHNOLOGY/Elon-Musk-threatens-to-sue-Apple-for-not-ranking-X-or-Grok-among-its-top-apps]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — Billionaire SpaceX, Tesla, and X owner Elon Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X and its Grok artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot app in its top recommended apps in its App Store.Musk posted the comments on X late Monday, saying, “Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your ‘Must Have’ section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know”.Grok is owned by Musk’s AI startup xAI.Musk went on to say that “Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation. xAI will take immediate legal action”.He gave no further details.There was no immediate comment from Apple, which has faced various allegations of antitrust violations in recent years.A federal judge recently found that Apple violated a court injunction in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games.In April, European Union regulators fined Apple €500 million for breaking competition rules by preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store.Last year, the EU fined the US tech giant nearly $2 billion (€1.8 billion) for unfairly favouring its own music streaming service by forbidding rivals like Spotify from telling users how they could pay for cheaper subscriptions outside of iPhone apps.And in July, Spain&#39;s watchdog said it was deepening its investigation into Apple over concerns that it had &quot;unfair&quot; requirements for developers seeking to get their apps on the company&#39;s App Store.As of early Tuesday, the top app in Apple’s US App Store was TikTok, followed by Tinder, Duolingo, YouTube, and Bumble. Open AI’s ChatGPT was ranked 7th. — Euronews]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/654092/TECHNOLOGY/Elon-Musk-threatens-to-sue-Apple-for-not-ranking-X-or-Grok-among-its-top-apps]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 12 Aug 2025 12:45:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Arizona man shot to death in road rage &#039;returns&#039; to address his killer]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/651621/TECHNOLOGY/Arizona-man-shot-to-death-in-road-rage-returns-to-address-his-killer]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[PHOENIX — Chris Pelkey died in a road rage shooting in Arizona three years ago.But with the help of artificial intelligence, he returned earlier this month at his killer&#39;s sentencing to deliver a victim&#39;s statement himself.Family members said they used the burgeoning technology to let Pelkey use his own words to talk about the incident that took his life.While some experts argue the unique use of AI is just another step into the future, others say it could become a slippery slope for using the technology in legal cases.His family used voice recordings, videos and pictures of Pelkey, who was 37 when he was killed, to recreate him in a video using AI, his sister Stacey Wales told the BBC.Ms Wales said she wrote the words that the AI version read in court based on how forgiving she knew her brother to be.&quot;To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me, it is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances,&quot; said the AI version of Pelkey in court. &quot;In another life, we probably could have been friends.&quot;&quot;I believe in forgiveness, and a God who forgives. I always have and I still do,&quot; the AI verison of Pelkey — wearing a grey baseball cap — continues.The technology was used at his killer&#39;s sentencing — Horcasitas already had been found guilty by a jury — some four years after Horcasitas shot Pelkey at a red light in Arizona.The Arizona judge who oversaw the case, Todd Lang, seemed to appreciate the use of AI at the hearing. He sentenced Horcasitas to 10-and-a-half years in prison on manslaughter charges.&quot;I loved that AI, thank you for that. As angry as you are, as justifiably angry as the family is, I heard the forgiveness,&quot; Judge Lang said. &quot;I feel that that was genuine.&quot;Paul Grimm, a retired federal judge and Duke Law School professor, told the BBC he was not surprised to see AI used in the Horcasitas sentencing.Arizona courts, he notes, already have started using AI in other ways. When the state&#39;s Supreme Court issues a ruling, for example, it has an AI system that makes those rulings digestible for people.And Grimm said because it was used without a jury present, just for a judge to decide sentencing, the technology was allowed.&quot;We&#39;ll be leaning [AI] on a case-by-case basis, but the technology is irresistible,&quot; he said.But some experts like Derek Leben, a business ethics professor at Carnegie Mellon University, are concerned about the use of AI and the precedent this case sets.While Leben does not question this family&#39;s intention or actions, he worries not all uses of AI will be consistent with a victim&#39;s wishes.&quot;If we have other people doing this moving forward, are we always going to get fidelity to what the person, the victim in this case, would&#39;ve wanted?&quot; Leben asked.For Ms Wales, however, this gave her brother the final word.&quot;We approached this with ethics and morals because this is a powerful tool. Just like a hammer can be used to break a window or rip down a wall, it can also be used as a tool to build a house and that&#39;s how we used this technology,&quot; she said. — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/651621/TECHNOLOGY/Arizona-man-shot-to-death-in-road-rage-returns-to-address-his-killer]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 08 May 2025 08:30:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Google makes its biggest-ever acquisition]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/650257/TECHNOLOGY/Google-makes-its-biggest-ever-acquisition]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[NEW YORK — Google announced a deal Tuesday to buy rapidly growing cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion. It would be the tech giant’s biggest-ever acquisition.The all-cash takeover of privately held Wiz represents a big bet by Google on cloud security and cybersecurity in this period of explosive growth for artificial intelligence.The Wiz deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, easily surpasses Google’s previously biggest takeover: An ill-fated 2012 deal to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. Google would later unload Motorola for a big loss.Wiz, which makes cybersecurity software for cloud computing, was in talks last summer to sell itself to Google for about a $23 billion, sources previously told CNN. But the two sides failed to reach a deal and Wiz said it would instead focus on an initial public offering.New York-based Wiz has enjoyed explosive growth since launching just five years ago. It was founded by Assaf Rappaport, Ami Luttwak, Yinon Costica and Roy Reznik, who met years ago when they were drafted into Unit 8200, the cyber intelligence division of the Israel Defense Forces.“Wiz has achieved so much in a relatively short period, but cybersecurity moves at warp speed and so must we. The time is now,” Rappaport said in a Wiz blog post.At $32 billion, the Wiz acquisition ranks as the seventh-biggest takeover of a private US firm on record, according to Dealogic.Some on Wall Street are hoping the Google-Wiz deal will represent the start of a recovery in dealmaking, which has dried up in recent months amid turbulence in financial markets and weakening CEO confidence.The revived talks and sale agreement come following the departure of Biden antitrust regulators who took a very tough approach to mega mergers. Lina Khan, former Federal Trade Commission chair, moved to block countless transactions on antitrust grounds.“With Lina Khan gone at the FTC...the M&A engines are back underway in Big Tech,” Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday.Of course, some Republicans applauded Khan’s antitrust crackdown — including Vice President JD Vance.Last year, Vance praised Khan as “one of the few people in the Biden administration that I think is doing a pretty good job.” — CNN]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Wed, 19 Mar 2025 11:05:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[India seeks AI breakthrough — but is it falling behind?]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/649502/TECHNOLOGY/India-seeks-AI-breakthrough-mdash-but-is-it-falling-behind]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[NEW DELHI — Two years after ChatGPT took the world by storm, China&#39;s DeepSeek has sent ripples through the tech industry by collapsing the cost of developing generative artificial intelligence applications.But as the global race for AI supremacy heats up, India appears to have fallen behind, especially in creating its own foundational language model that&#39;s used to power things like chatbots.The government claims a homegrown equivalent to DeepSeek isn&#39;t far away. It is supplying startups, universities and researchers with thousands of high-end chips needed to develop it in under 10 months.A flurry of global AI leaders have also been talking up India&#39;s capabilities recently.After being initially dismissive, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman this month said India should be playing a leading role in the AI revolution. The country is now OpenAI&#39;s second largest market by users.Others like Microsoft have put serious money on the table – committing $3bn (£2.4bn) for cloud and AI infrastructure. Nvidia&#39;s Jensen Huang also spoke of India&#39;s &quot;unmatched&quot; technical talent as a key to unlocking its future potential.With 200 startups working on generative AI, there&#39;s enough entrepreneurial activity under way too.But despite having key ingredients for success in place, India risks lagging behind without basic structural fixes to education, research and state policy, experts say.China and the US already have a &quot;four to five year head-start&quot;, having invested heavily in research and academia and developed AI for military applications, law enforcement and now large language models, technology analyst Prasanto Roy told the BBC.Though in the top five globally on Stanford&#39;s AI Vibrancy Index – which ranks countries on metrics such as patents, funding, policy and research – India is still far behind the two superpowers in many key areas.China and the US were granted 60% and 20% of the world&#39;s total AI patents between 2010 and 2022 respectively. India got less than half a percent.India&#39;s AI startups also received a fraction of the private investment that US and Chinese companies got in 2023.India&#39;s state-funded AI mission, meanwhile, is worth a trifling $1bn compared with the staggering $500bn the US has earmarked for Stargate — a plan to build massive AI infrastructure in the US — or China&#39;s reported $137bn initiative to become an AI hub by 2030.While DeepSeek&#39;s success has demonstrated that AI models can be built on older, less expensive chips — something India can take solace from — lack of &quot;patient&quot; or long-term capital from either industry or government is a major problem, says Jaspreet Bindra, founder of a consultancy that builds AI literacy in organizations.&quot;Despite what has been heard about DeepSeek developing a model with $5.6m, there was much more capital behind it.&quot;Lack of high-quality India-specific datasets required for training AI models in regional languages such as Hindi, Marathi or Tamil is another problem, especially given India&#39;s language diversity.But for all its issues, India punches far above its weight on talent – with 15% of the world&#39;s AI workers coming from the country.The issue though, as Stanford&#39;s AI talent migration research shows, is that more and more of them are choosing to leave the country.This is partly because &quot;foundational AI innovations typically come from deep R&D in universities and corporate research labs&quot;, Bindra says.And India lacks a supporting research environment, with few deep-tech breakthroughs emerging from its academic and corporate sectors.The enormous success of India&#39;s payments revolution was due to strong government-industry-academia collaboration — a similar model, he says, needs to be replicated for the AI push.The Unified Payment Interface (UPI), a digital payment system developed by a government organization, has revolutionized digital payments in India, allowing millions to transact at the click of a button or by scanning a QR code.Bengaluru&#39;s $200bn outsourcing industry, home to millions of coders, should have ideally been at the forefront of India&#39;s AI ambitions. But the IT companies have never really shifted their focus from cheap service-based work to developing foundational consumer AI technologies.&quot;It&#39;s a huge gap which they left to the startups to fill,&quot; says Roy.He&#39;s unsure though whether startups and government missions can do this heavy lifting quickly enough, adding that the 10-month timeline set by the minster was a knee-jerk reaction to DeepSeek&#39;s sudden emergence.&quot;I don&#39;t think India will be able to produce anything like DeepSeek at least for the next few years,&quot; he adds. It is a view many others share.India can, however, continue to build and tweak applications upon existing open source platforms like DeepSeek &quot;to leapfrog our own AI progress&quot;, Bhavish Agarwal, founder of one of India&#39;s earliest AI startups Krutrim, recently wrote on X.In the longer run though, developing a foundational model will be critical to have strategic autonomy in the sector and reduce import dependencies and threats of sanctions, say experts.India will also need to increase its computational power or hardware infrastructure to run such models, which means manufacturing semiconductors — something that&#39;s not taken off yet.Much of this will need to fall in place before the gap with the US and China is narrowed meaningfully. — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/649502/TECHNOLOGY/India-seeks-AI-breakthrough-mdash-but-is-it-falling-behind]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 19 Feb 2025 07:35:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Ex-Google boss fears AI could be used by terrorists]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/649340/TECHNOLOGY/Ex-Google-boss-fears-AI-could-be-used-by-terrorists]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[LONDON — The former chief executive of Google is worried artificial intelligence could be used by terrorists or &quot;rogue states&quot; to &quot;harm innocent people.&quot;Eric Schmidt told the BBC: &quot;The real fears that I have are not the ones that most people talk about AI -- I talk about extreme risk.&quot;The tech billionaire, who held senior posts at Google from 2001 to 2017, told the Today program &quot;North Korea, or Iran, or even Russia&quot; could adopt and misuse the technology to create biological weapons.He called for government oversight on private tech companies that are developing AI models, but warned over-regulation could stifle innovation.Schmidt agreed with US export controls on powerful microchips which power the most advanced AI systems.Before he left office, former US President Joe Biden restricted the export of microchips to all but 18 countries, in order to slow adversaries&#39; progress on AI research.The decision could still be reversed by Donald Trump.&quot;Think about North Korea, or Iran, or even Russia, who have some evil goal,&quot; Schmidt said.&quot;This technology is fast enough for them to adopt that they could misuse it and do real harm,&quot; he told Today presenter Amol Rajan.He added AI systems, in the wrong hands, could be used to develop weapons to create &quot;a bad biological attack from some evil person.&quot;&quot;I&#39;m always worried about the &#39;Osama Bin Laden&#39; scenario, where you have some truly evil person who takes over some aspect of our modern life and uses it to harm innocent people,&quot; he said.Bin Laden orchestrated the 9/11 attacks in 2001, where al-Qaeda terrorists took control of planes to kill thousands of people on American soil.Schmidt proposed a balance between government oversight of AI development and over-regulation of the sector.&quot;The truth is that AI and the future is largely going to be built by private companies,&quot; Schmidt said.&quot;It&#39;s really important that governments understand what we&#39;re doing and keep their eye on us.&quot;He added: &quot;We&#39;re not arguing that we should unilaterally be able to do these things without oversight, we think it should be regulated.&quot;He was speaking from Paris, where the AI Action Summit finished with the US and UK refusing to sign the agreement.US Vice President JD Vance said regulation would &quot;kill a transformative industry just as it&#39;s taking off&quot;.Schmidt said the result of too much regulation in Europe &quot;is that the AI revolution, which is the most important revolution in my opinion since electricity, is not going to be invented in Europe.&quot;He also said the large tech companies &quot;did not understand 15 years ago&quot; the potential that AI had, but does now.&quot;My experience with the tech leaders is that they do have an understanding of the impact they&#39;re having, but they might make a different values judgment than the government would make,&quot; he said.Schmidt was head of Google when the company bought Android, the company which now makes the most-used mobile phone operating system in the world.He now supports initiatives to keep phones out of schools.&quot;I&#39;m one of the people who did not understand, and I&#39;ll take responsibility that the world does not work perfectly the way us tech people think it is,&quot; he said.&quot;The situation with children is particularly disturbing to me.&quot;&quot;I think smartphones with a kid can be safe,&quot; he said, &quot;they just need to be moderated... we can all agree that children should be protected from the bad of the online world.&quot;On social media - where he has supported proposals for a ban on children under 16 - he added: &quot;Why would we run such a large, uncontrolled experiment on the most important people in the world, which is the next generation?&quot;Campaigners for limiting children&#39;s smartphone usage argue phones are addictive and &quot;have lured children away from the activities that are indispensable to healthy development&quot;.Australia&#39;s parliament passed a law to ban social media use for under-16s in 2024, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying it was important to protect children from its &quot;harms&quot;.A recent study published in the medical journal The Lancet suggested that mobile phone bans in schools did not improve students&#39; behavior or grades.But it did find that spending longer on smartphones and social media in general was linked with worse results for all of those measures. — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/649340/TECHNOLOGY/Ex-Google-boss-fears-AI-could-be-used-by-terrorists]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 13 Feb 2025 09:45:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Musk-led group makes $97.4bn bid for ChatGPT maker OpenAI]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/649288/TECHNOLOGY/Musk-led-group-makes-$974bn-bid-for-ChatGPT-maker-OpenAI]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk offered $97.4bn to take over OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.The billionaire&#39;s attorney, Marc Toberoff, confirmed he submitted the bid for &quot;all assets&quot; of the tech company to its board on Monday.The offer is the latest twist in a longstanding battle between Musk, the world&#39;s richest man and right hand to US President Donald Trump, and Open AI chief executive Sam Altman over the future of the start-up at the center of the AI boom.In response to the bid, Altman posted on Musk&#39;s social media platform X: &quot;no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.&quot;OpenAI is widely credited with helping bring artificial intelligence tools into the mainstream and sparking huge investment in the sector.Musk and Altman co-founded the start-up in 2015 as a non-profit company, but the relationship has soured since the Tesla and X boss departed the firm in 2018.Altman is said to be restructuring the company to become a for-profit entity, stripping it of its non-profit board — a move Musk argues means the company has abandoned its founding mission of developing AI for the benefit of humanity.But OpenAI argues its transition into a for-profit firm is required to secure the money needed for developing the best artificial intelligence models.The bid to take over OpenAI bid is being backed by Musk&#39;s AI company xAI, as well as several private equity firms, including Baron Capital Group and Valor Management.&quot;It&#39;s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was. We will make sure that happens,&quot; Musk said in a statement.The offer tabled at $97.4bn is much lower than the $157bn the company was valued at in its latest funding round in October last year. Talks over a further funding round reportedly value it now at $300bn.In a statement, Toberoff said the consortium would be &quot;prepared to consider matching or exceeding&quot; any potential higher bid.&quot;As the co-founder of OpenAI and the most innovative and successful tech industry leader in history, Musk is the person best positioned to protect and grow OpenAI&#39;s technology,&quot; Musk&#39;s attorney added on his behalf and other investors.The creator of ChatGPT is also teaming up with another US tech giant, Oracle, along with a Japanese investment firm and an Emirati sovereign wealth fund to build $500bn of artificial intelligence infrastructure in the US.The new company, called The Stargate Project, was announced at the White House by President Donald Trump who billed it &quot;the largest AI infrastructure project by far in history&quot; and said it would help keep &quot;the future of technology&quot; in the US.Musk, despite being a top advisor to Trump, has claimed the venture does not &quot;actually have the money&quot; it has pledged to invest, though he has also not provided any details or substantiation for the comments. — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/649288/TECHNOLOGY/Musk-led-group-makes-$974bn-bid-for-ChatGPT-maker-OpenAI]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 11 Feb 2025 05:25:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[China&#039;s DeepSeek AI shakes industry and dents America&#039;s swagger]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/648931/TECHNOLOGY/Chinas-DeepSeek-AI-shakes-industry-and-dents-Americas-swagger]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[SAN FRANCISCO — The speed at which the new Chinese AI app DeepSeek has shaken the technology industry, the markets and the bullish sense of American superiority in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) has been nothing short of stunning.Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen may have said it best. &quot;DeepSeek-R1 is AI&#39;s Sputnik moment,&quot; he posted to X on Sunday, referring to the satellite that kicked off the space race.DeepSeek was the most downloaded free app on Apple&#39;s US App Store over the weekend. By Monday, the new AI chatbot had triggered a massive sell-off of major tech stocks which were in freefall as fears mounted over America&#39;s leadership in the sector.Shares of AI chip designer and recent Wall Street darling Nvidia, for example, had plunged by 17% by the time US markets closed on Monday. Or to put it in even starker terms, it lost nearly $600bn in market value which, according to Bloomberg, is the biggest drop in the history of the US stock market.This extraordinary, historic spooking can largely be attributed to something as simple as cost. And a claim by DeepSeek&#39;s developers that prompted serious questions in Silicon Valley.While ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has been hemorrhaging money - spending $5bn last year alone - DeepSeek&#39;s developers say it built this latest model for a mere $5.6m.That is a tiny fraction of the cost that AI giants like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic have relied on to develop their own models.As this dramatic moment for the sector played out, there was a palpable silence in many corners of Silicon Valley when I contacted those who are usually happy to talk. Many observers, investors, and analysts appeared stunned.Some wondered if this marked a buying opportunity. Others questioned the information DeepSeek was providing.&quot;I still think the truth is below the surface when it comes to actually what&#39;s going on,&quot; veteran analyst Gene Munster told me on Monday. He questioned the financials DeepSeek is citing, and wondered if the startup was being subsidised or whether its numbers were correct.The chatbot is &quot;surprisingly good, which just makes it hard to believe&quot;, he said.Regardless, DeepSeek&#39;s sudden arrival is a &quot;flex&quot; by China and a &quot;black eye for US tech,&quot; to use his own words.It was just last week, after all, that OpenAI&#39;s Sam Altman and Oracle&#39;s Larry Ellison joined President Donald Trump for a news conference that really could have been a press release.The event represented peak American bullishness on AI.They announced Stargate, a joint venture that promises up to $500bn in private investment for AI infrastructure: data centres in Texas and beyond, along with a promised 100,000 new jobs.The US seemed to think its abundant data centers and control over the highest-end chips gave it a commanding lead in AI, despite China&#39;s dominance in rare-earth metals and engineering talent.Some have even seen it as a foregone conclusion that America would dominate the AI race, despite some high-profile warnings from top executives who said the country&#39;s advantages should not be taken for granted.The US may still go on to command the sector, but there is a sense that DeepSeek has shaken some of that swagger.Trump&#39;s words after the Chinese app&#39;s sudden emergence in recent days were probably cold comfort to the likes of Altman and Ellison. He called this moment a &quot;wake-up call&quot; for the American tech industry, and said finding a way to do cheaper AI is ultimately a &quot;good thing&quot;.It is also worth noting that it was not just tech stocks that took a beating on Monday. Energy stocks did too. DeepSeek&#39;s arrival on the scene has upended many assumptions we have long held about what it takes to develop AI.Maybe that nuclear renaissance - including firing up America&#39;s Three Mile Island energy plant once again - won&#39;t be needed. Maybe it does not take so much capital, compute, and power after all.For now, the future of semiconductor giants like Nvidia remains unclear.DeepSeek says its model was developed with existing technology along with open source software that can be used and shared by anybody for free.But WIRED reports that for years, DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfung&#39;s hedge fund High-Flyer has been stockpiling the chips that form the backbone of AI – known as GPUs, or graphics processing units.The company has said its models deployed H800 chips made by Nvidia. US policy restricting sales of higher-powered chips to China might get a second-look under the new Trump administration.OpenAI&#39;s Sam Altman was mostly quiet on X Monday. But very late in the day, he wrote that DeepSeek was &quot;impressive... particularly around what they&#39;re able to deliver for the price&quot;.&quot;We will obviously deliver much better models and also it&#39;s legit invigorating to have a new competitor!&quot; he wrote.It was Sputnik that truly ushered in the space age. There, too, the US was caught off guard. How its tech sector responds to this apparent surprise from a Chinese company will be interesting - and it may have added serious fuel to the AI race. — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
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        <pubDate>Tue, 28 Jan 2025 15:05:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[US tech giants announce AI plan worth up to $500bn]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/648789/TECHNOLOGY/US-tech-giants-announce-AI-plan-worth-up-to-$500bn]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[NEW YORK — OpenAI is teaming up with Oracle and Softbank to build data centers equipped to power artificial intelligence (AI), with plans to invest $100bn (£81bn) &quot;immediately&quot;.Flanked by the bosses of the three companies at the White House, US President Donald Trump said the plan is a &quot;resounding declaration of confidence in America&#39;s potential&quot;.OpenAI has previously called for major investments in infrastructure to support AI and pushed for government support of those plans.The ChatGPT-creator and Softbank said the joint venture, dubbed Stargate, intends to invest $500bn over the next four years.&quot;I think this will be the most important project of this era,&quot; said OpenAI&#39;s chief executive, Sam Altman.&quot;We wouldn&#39;t be able to do this without you, President,&quot; he added, crediting Trump despite work on the project already being under way.The plan, which involves the construction of AI infrastructure such as data centers, is expected to create more than 100,000 jobs, according to Trump.Oracle&#39;s chief technology office, Larry Ellison, said the first data centers are under construction in Texas and more will be built in other locations.The Information, a technology news website, first reported on the project in March last year.OpenAI said the announcement of the new company, which also includes UAE-backed investor MGX, was the culmination of more than a year&#39;s worth of conversations.Other partners in the project include tech giants Microsoft, Arm and NVIDIA, according to statements by Softbank and OpenAI.OpenAI kicked off the AI race in 2022 with the launch of its ChatGPT bot, which offered lifelike responses to questions and showcased the rapid advances in the technology.It has prompted a gush of investment, including in the specialized data centers needed to power the computing.But the projected surge in demand for the centers, which will require huge amounts of power to run and money to be built, has raised concerns about the impact on energy supplies and questions about the role of foreign investors.In one of his final acts in the White House, former President Joe Biden put forward rules that would restrict exports of AI-related chips to dozens of countries around the world, saying the move would help the US control the industry.He also issued orders related to the development of data centres on government land, which spotlighted a role for clean energy in powering the centers.The latest investment plans are not unusual in the context of the industry.Microsoft, one of the OpenAI&#39;s major backers, said earlier this month it was on track to invest $80bn to build out AI-powered data centers this year.It is also involved in a $100bn venture that includes BlackRock and is focused on making AI data center investments.Amazon has been pouring money into the space at a similar scale, announcing two projects worth about $10bn each just in the last two months.In a report last year, McKinsey said that global demand for data center capacity would more than triple by 2030, growing between 19% and 27% annually by 2030.For developers to meet that demand, the consultancy estimated that at least twice the capacity would have to be built by 2030 as has been constructed since 2000.But analysts have warned that the process is likely to be bogged down by issues such as power and land constraints and permitting. — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
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        <pubDate>Wed, 22 Jan 2025 12:28:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Apple suspends error-strewn AI generated news alerts]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/648669/TECHNOLOGY/Apple-suspends-error-strewn-AI-generated-news-alerts]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — Apple has suspended a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature that drew criticism and complaints for making repeated mistakes in its summaries of news headlines.The tech giant had been facing mounting pressure to withdraw the service, which sent notifications that appeared to come from within news organizations&#39; apps.&quot;We are working on improvements and will make them available in a future software update,&quot; an Apple spokesperson said.The BBC was among the groups to complain, after an alert generated by Apple&#39;s AI falsely told some readers that Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself.The feature had also inaccurately summarised headlines from Sky News, the New York Times and the Washington Post, according to reports from journalists and others on social media.Media outlets and press groups had pushed the company to pull back, warning that the feature was not ready and that AI-generated errors were adding to issues of misinformation and falling trust in news.The BBC complained to Apple in December but it did not respond until January when it promised a software update that would clarify the role of AI in creating the summaries, which were optional and only available to readers with the latest iPhones.That prompted a further wave of criticism that the tech giant was not going far enough.Apple has now decided to disable the feature entirely for news and entertainment apps.&quot;With the latest beta software releases of iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, Notification summaries for the News & Entertainment category will be temporarily unavailable,&quot; an Apple spokesperson said.The company said that for other apps the AI-generated summaries of app alerts will appear using italicized text.&quot;We&#39;re pleased that Apple has listened to our concerns and is pausing the summarisation feature for news,&quot; a BBC spokesperson said.&quot;We look forward to working with them constructively on next steps. Our priority is the accuracy of the news we deliver to audiences which is essential to building and maintaining trust.&quot;Apple had said the feature, which rolled out to users in the UK in December, was intended to make customers&#39; lives more efficient.It groups together and rewrites previews of multiple recent app notifications into a single alert on users&#39; lock screens.The decision comes as the company faces pressure to show its AI developments, which investors had been hoping would drive a new wave of demand for iPhones and other technology.The company&#39;s shares fell more than 4% in trading on Thursday after reports sales were struggling in China.Apple is generally robust about its products and doesn&#39;t often even respond to criticism.This simple statement from the tech giant speaks volumes about just how damaging the errors made by its much-hyped new AI feature actually are.Not only was it inadvertently spreading misinformation by generating inaccurate summaries of news stories, it was also harming the reputation of news organisations like the BBC whose lifeblood is their trustworthiness, by displaying the false headlines next to their logos.Not a great look for a newly-launched service.AI developers have always said that the tech has a tendency to &quot;hallucinate&quot; (make things up) and AI chatbots all carry disclaimers saying the information they provide should be double-checked.But increasingly AI-generated content is given prominence — including providing summaries at the top of search engines — and that in itself implies that it is reliable.Even Apple, with all the financial and expert firepower it has to throw at developing the tech, has now proved very publicly that this is not yet the case.It&#39;s also interesting that the latest error, which preceded Apple&#39;s change of plan, was an AI summary of content from the Washington Post, as reported by their technology columnist Geoffrey A Fowler.The news outlet is owned by someone Apple boss Tim Cook knows well — Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. — BBC]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/648669/TECHNOLOGY/Apple-suspends-error-strewn-AI-generated-news-alerts]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Fri, 17 Jan 2025 15:52:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[TikTok users flock to Chinese app RedNote as US ban looms]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/648574/TECHNOLOGY/TikTok-users-flock-to-Chinese-app-RedNote-as-US-ban-looms]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — TikTok users in the US are migrating to a Chinese app called RedNote with the threat of a ban just days away.The move by users who call themselves &quot;TikTok refugees&quot; has made RedNote the most downloaded app on Apple&#39;s US App Store on Monday.RedNote is a TikTok competitor popular with young people in China, Taiwan and other Mandarin-speaking populations.It has about 300 million monthly users and looks like a combination of TikTok and Instagram. It allows users, mostly young urban women, to exchange lifestyle tips from dating to fashion.Supreme Court justices are due to rule on a law that set a 19 January deadline for TikTok to either sell its US operations or face a ban in the country.TikTok has repeatedly said that it will not sell its US business and its lawyers have warned that a ban will violate free speech protections for the platform&#39;s 170 million users in the US.Meanwhile, RedNote has welcomed its new users with open arms. There are 63,000 posts on the topic &quot;TikTok refugee&quot;, where new users are taught how to navigate the app and how to use basic Chinese phrases.&quot;To our Chinese hosts, thanks for having us — sorry in advance for the chaos,&quot; a new US user wrote.But like TikTok, there have also been reports of censorship on RedNote when it comes to criticism of the Chinese government.In Taiwan, public officials are restricted from using RedNote due to alleged security risks of Chinese software.As more US users joined RedNote, some Chinese users have also jokingly referred to themselves as &quot;Chinese spies&quot;, a reference to US officials&#39; concerns that TikTok could be used by China as a tool for spying and political manipulation.RedNote&#39;s Chinese name, Xiaohongshu, translates to Little Red Book, but the app says it is not a reference to Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong&#39;s book of quotations with the same name.But security concerns have not deterred users from flocking to RedNote.Sarah Fotheringham, a 37-year-old school canteen worker in Utah, says the move to RedNote is a way to &quot;snub&quot; the government.&quot;I&#39;m just a simple person living a simple life,&quot; Ms Fotheringham told the BBC in a RedNote message.&quot;I don&#39;t have anything that China doesn&#39;t, and if they want my data that bad they can have it.&quot;Marcus Robinson, a fashion designer in Virginia, said he created his RedNote account over the weekend to share his clothing brand and &quot;be ahead of the curve&quot;.Robinson told the BBC he was was only &quot;slightly hesitant&quot; about accepting the terms and conditions of using the app, which were written in Mandarin.&quot;I wasn&#39;t able to actually read them so that was a little concerning to me,&quot; he said, &quot;but I took my chance.&quot;While a ban will not make TikTok disappear immediately, it will require app stores to stop offering it - which could kill it over time.But even if TikTok dodges a ban, it may prove helpless against users moving to alternative platforms.Some social media users tell the BBC that they find themselves scrolling on RedNote more than TikTok.&quot;Even if TikTok does stay I will continue to use my platform I&#39;ve created on RedNote,&quot; Tennessee tech worker Sydney Crawley told the BBC.Ms Crawley said she got over 6,000 followers within 24 hours of creating her RedNote account.&quot;I will continue to try to build a following there and see what new connections, friendships, or opportunities it brings me.&quot;Ms Fotheringham, the canteen worker, said RedNote &quot;opened my world up to China and its people&quot;.&quot;I am now able to see things I never would have seen,&quot; she said. &quot;Regular Chinese people, finding out about their culture, life, school, everything, it has been so much fun.&quot;The community so far has been &quot;super welcoming&quot;, said Robinson, the designer.&quot;I love RedNote so far ... I just need to learn how to speak Mandarin!&quot; — BBC]]></description>
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        <pubDate>Tue, 14 Jan 2025 14:19:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[China unveils prototype for what could be the world’s fastest high-speed train]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/648292/TECHNOLOGY/China-unveils-prototype-for-what-could-be-the-worlds-fastest-high-speed-train]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[HONG KONG — China has revealed a prototype of its next-generation high-speed train, a vehicle it says is on track to be the world’s fastest.The CR450, which was unveiled in Beijing on December 29, had reached test speeds as high as 450 kilometers (281 miles) per hour and an operational speed of 400 kilometers (248.5 miles) per hour, according to China’s Ministry of Transport.Once in commercial service, it could be the fastest high-speed train in the world, surpassing China’s current CR400 model, which debuted in 2017 and operates at 350 kilometers (217 miles) per hour.The latest CR450 prototype has been hailed by its developers — CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles and CRRC Sifang Co., Ltd. — for its excellence in operational speed, energy efficiency, noise control, and braking performance.It has undergone more than 3,000 simulations and over 2,000 platform tests to meet the rigorous demands of commercial operation, according to state run China Daily.Further line tests and refinements are needed to ensure it meets all necessary standards for commercial operations, the China State Railway Group said.In the last decade, China has become an undisputed world leader in railway development, building thousands of kilometers of new railways reaching almost every corner of the country. Its rail network spans over 160,000 kilometers, including more than 46,000 kilometers of high-speed rail lines, according to China’s transport ministry.High-speed rail has long been an effective alternative to air travel for journeys of up to 700 miles, connecting people moving between major cities and rural parts of the country with ease and comfort.Since the 1980s, hundreds of billions of dollars have been invested in new high-speed, high-capacity railways across Europe and Asia, pioneered by Japan’s Shinkansen and the Train a Grand Vitesse (TGV) in France. — CNN]]></description>
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        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/648292/TECHNOLOGY/China-unveils-prototype-for-what-could-be-the-worlds-fastest-high-speed-train]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jan 2025 09:51:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[‘World’s first’ grid-scale nuclear fusion power plant announced in the US]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/647972/TECHNOLOGY/Worlds-first-grid-scale-nuclear-fusion-power-plant-announced-in-the-US]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — If all goes to plan, Virginia will be the site of the world’s first grid-scale nuclear fusion power plant, able to harness this futuristic clean power and generate electricity from it by the early 2030s, according to an announcement Tuesday by the startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems.CFS, one of the largest and most-hyped nuclear fusion companies, will make a multibillion-dollar investment into building the facility near Richmond. When operational, the plant will be able to plug into the grid and produce 400 megawatts, enough to power around 150,000 homes, said its CEO Bob Mumgaard.“This will mark the first time fusion power will be made available in the world at grid scale,” Mumgaard said. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin welcomed the announcement, calling it “a historic moment for Virginia and the world at large.”The plant would represent a new stage in the quest to commercialize nuclear fusion, the process that powers the stars. But the path toward it is unlikely to be smooth, not least because the technology has not yet been proven viable.The world is desperate for a clean, abundant source of energy that can replace fossil fuels as an always-available baseload power: nuclear fusion promises to be just that.It involves fusing atoms together to create a powerful burst of energy, achieved using the most abundant element in the universe: hydrogen. The most popular technology uses a donut-shaped machine called a tokamak.Fusion is near limitless, produces no planet-heating pollution and unlike fission, the nuclear technology the world currently uses, it leaves no legacy of long-term nuclear waste.But taking it from research projects in labs around the world to commercial use has proved fiendishly difficult. A common joke in the industry is that, for decades, fusion has been just decades away.It’s something CFS acknowledges. “Nothing occurs overnight in fusion,” Mumgaard said. But the startup, which was spun out of MIT in 2018 and has raised more than $2 billion so far, says it is moving at pace.It is “deep into” building a tokamak able to demonstrate net fusion energy: meaning a reaction that produces more energy than it consumes. It hopes to produce its first plasma – the superheated cloud of charged gas in which fusion reactions happen – in 2026 and achieve net fusion energy shortly afterward.Building, owning and operating a power plant to plug fusion power into the grid is its “next act,” Mumgaard said.The startup looked at more than 100 locations around the world for the power plant before choosing the James River Industrial Center in Virginia. The site is owned by Dominion Energy, which will lease it to CFS and provide technical assistance. The construction process is set to be long and CFS says it is still seeking permits.The location was chosen for its growing economy, skilled workforce, clean energy focus and the ability it offered to connect into the grid after the retirement of a coal plant, CFS said.“In the early 2030s, all eyes will be on the Richmond region ... as the birthplace of commercial fusion energy,” Mumgaard said.Virginia is also the world’s largest data center market, a sector that requires huge and growing amounts of energy. Data center electricity consumption in the US is expected to triple by 2030, equivalent to the amount needed to power around 40 million US homes, according to a Boston Consulting Group analysis.CFS says the Virginia plant is intended to be the first of thousands they plan to put onto the grid in the future.The startup is far from the only private company trying to accelerate the timeline toward achieving and commercializing nuclear fusion, with others also promising to do so by early next decade.In general, nuclear fusion startups “tend to be a little aggressive in what they’re promising,” Jerry Navratil, a professor of fusion energy and plasma physics at Columbia University, told CNN last month. There’s a big difference between producing energy from fusion and having a practical system that puts power on the grid and is safe, licensed and operating, he added.Mumgaard acknowledged “there will be bumps in the road and things won’t change overnight.” But, he added, “the designers and planners can now go from a general notion to a specific location for the next chapter in the fusion journey.” — CNN]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[جريدة الرايةِ]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/647972/TECHNOLOGY/Worlds-first-grid-scale-nuclear-fusion-power-plant-announced-in-the-US]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 19 Dec 2024 14:01:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp back online after global outage]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/647788/TECHNOLOGY/Instagram-Facebook-and-WhatsApp-back-online-after-global-outage]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — Users of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp all experienced connectivity issues on Wednesday evening due to a &quot;technical issue&quot;, according to parent company Meta, before coming back online a few hours later.The website Downdetector, which provides information on problems with popular apps and websites, showed a spike in outages for all three services at around 7 pm Central European Time (CET).Mark Zuckerberg&#39;s Meta posted on social media site X that the company was working to &quot;get things back to normal as quickly as possible&quot;.According to Downdetector, at the peak of the outage there had been just over 23,900 people reporting issues with access on Facebook, with most (72 percent) struggling to gain access via the app.The outage appeared to be global and relatively consistent across most countries, with Europe affected similarly to other regions.Over 15,000 reports were made to Downdetector about WhatsApp, with 79 percent of reported problems relating to sending messages.By 11:30 pm CET, reports of outages for all three services had gone down significantly, at which point Meta posted an update saying they were &quot;99% of the way there&quot; in restoring full operation while apologizing to those who had been affected.Facebook and WhatsApp have around 3 billion active users globally, while Instagram has around 2 billion. — Euronews]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[جريدة الرايةِ]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/647788/TECHNOLOGY/Instagram-Facebook-and-WhatsApp-back-online-after-global-outage]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 12 Dec 2024 05:10:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Google says it has cracked a quantum computing challenge with new chip]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/647738/TECHNOLOGY/Google-says-it-has-cracked-a-quantum-computing-challenge-with-new-chip]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON — Google on Monday said that it has overcome a key challenge in quantum computing with a new generation of chip, solving a computing problem in five minutes that would take a classical computer more time than the history of the universe.Like other tech giants such as Microsoft and IBM, Alphabet’s Google is chasing quantum computing because it promises computing speeds far faster than today’s fastest systems. While the math problem solved by the company’s Santa Barbara, California, quantum lab does not have commercial applications, Google hopes quantum computers will one day solve problems in medicine, battery chemistry and artificial intelligence that are out of reach for today’s computers.The results released Monday came from a new chip called Willow that has 105 “qubits,” which are the building blocks of quantum computers. Qubits are fast but error-prone, because they can be jostled by something as small as a subatomic particle from events in outer space.As more qubits are packed onto a chip, those errors can add up to make the chip no better than a conventional computer chip. So since the 1990s, scientists have been working on quantum error-correction.In a paper published in the journal Nature on Monday, Google said that it has found a way to string together the Willow chip’s qubits so that error rates go down as the number of qubits goes up. The company also says it can correct errors in real time, a key step toward making its quantum machines practical.“We are past the break even point,” Hartmut Neven, who leads the Google Quantum AI unit, said in an interview.In 2019, IBM challenged Google’s claim that Google’s quantum chip solved a problem that would take a classical computer 10,000 years, saying the problem could be solved in two-and-a-half days using different technical assumptions about a classical system.In a blog post Monday, Google said it took some of those concerns into account in its newest estimates. Even under the most idealistic conditions, Google said a classical computer would still take a billion years to get the same results as its newest chip.Some of Google’s rivals are producing chips with a larger number of qubits than Google, but Google is focused on making the most reliable qubits it can, Anthony Megrant, chief architect for Google Quantum AI, said in an interview.Google fabricated its previous chips in a shared facility at the University of California, Santa Barbara, but built its own dedicated fabrication facility to produce its Willow chips. Megrant said that new facility will speed up how fast Google can make future chips, which are chilled in huge refrigerators called cryostats to run experiments.“If we have a good idea, we want somebody on the team to be able to ... get that into the clean room and into one of these cryostats as fast as possible, so we can get lots of cycles of learning,” Megrant said. — CNN]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[جريدة الرايةِ]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/647738/TECHNOLOGY/Google-says-it-has-cracked-a-quantum-computing-challenge-with-new-chip]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Tue, 10 Dec 2024 08:35:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[French families sue TikTok over harmful content that allegedly led to suicides]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/646839/TECHNOLOGY/French-families-sue-TikTok-over-harmful-content-that-allegedly-led-to-suicides]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[PARIS — Seven French families are taking TikTok to court, accusing the social network of “direct damage” to young people&#39;s health that led to two of them taking their own lives at the age of 15, their lawyer said.Laure Boutron-Marmion, a lawyer representing the Algos Victima collective of families, filed a lawsuit before a judge.“I&#39;m leveraging the essential principles of French civil liability,” she told Euronews Next adding that for “any fault committed by another person in law, you have to make amends”.The combination of the “addictive” design of the application with the lack of content moderation &quot;makes for a truly problematic product,” Boutron-Marmion said.“Virality mixes with harmful content,” she added.TikTok said parents could control and limit their teenagers&#39; use of the application through ‘Family Connection’ mode in 2020 and highlighted that there are more than 630 French-speaking moderators of the platform.&quot;When people carry out a search that includes words such as suicide, they are immediately redirected to a page with dedicated resources, as well as a number for a local helpline or prevention hotline,&quot; TikTok told Euronews Next in an email.Boutron-Marmion also underlined the vulnerability of children and teenagers who can be confronted with content promoting self-harm or suicide for example.Stéphanie Mistre, the mother of one of the teenagers who took their life, told French media that her “daughter could still be here today” if it weren’t for the application.Mistre filed a complaint in September 2023, for ‘incitement to suicide’, ‘failure to assist a person in danger’, and ‘propaganda or advertising of means of committing suicide’ that is still being instructed according to the French media.“The deterioration in the state of health of the teenagers is very, very serious. These are children who have either come close to death or are no longer here,” Boutron-Marmion said.She pointed out that the version of the application deployed in China, Douyin, has safeguards in place for minors’ accounts, such as a daily time limit or a digital curfew.“TikTok very directly today is going to be brought before the French court and will have to respond with arguments. After that, of course, it&#39;s up to the judges to settle,” she said.Last month, more than a dozen US states sued TikTok for allegedly harming young people&#39;s mental health.Bytedance’s application isn’t the only one under fire, Meta - the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Snapchathas been targeted by legal action regarding the platforms&#39; potential impact on their young users. — Euronews]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[جريدة الرايةِ]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/646839/TECHNOLOGY/French-families-sue-TikTok-over-harmful-content-that-allegedly-led-to-suicides]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 07 Nov 2024 12:56:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Saudi Foreign Minister participates in GCC coordination meeting at UN General Assembly]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/645735/TECHNOLOGY/Saudi-Foreign-Minister-participates-in-GCC-coordination-meeting-at-UN-General-Assembly]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[Saudi Gazette reportNEW YORK — Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, participated on Sunday in the coordination meeting among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, held during the high-level week of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.The meeting focused on reviewing the progress of joint Gulf cooperation and discussing recent regional and international developments, particularly the situation in Gaza and Rafah. Participants emphasized the urgent need for a ceasefire and securing humanitarian corridors for delivering aid.GCC Secretary-General Jassem Albudaiwi stated that the meeting aims to coordinate the council&#39;s efforts on various regional and international issues. He noted that the discussions covered strategic relationships and dialogues with other countries and global blocs.Albudaiwi highlighted the vital role the GCC plays within the UN system, noting that many countries and international organizations seek to strengthen cooperation with the council to establish strategic partnerships across various fields.He reaffirmed the GCC&#39;s commitment to expanding its international relations to achieve common interests and ensure global peace and security.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[جريدة الرايةِ]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/645735/TECHNOLOGY/Saudi-Foreign-Minister-participates-in-GCC-coordination-meeting-at-UN-General-Assembly]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Mon, 23 Sep 2024 16:57:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Snapchat unveils platform overhaul and new AR features at Snap Partner Summit 2024]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/645659/TECHNOLOGY/Snapchat-unveils-platform-overhaul-and-new-AR-features-at-Snap-Partner-Summit-2024]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[At the Snap Partner Summit (SPS) 2024, Snapchat revealed significant platform updates aimed at enhancing user experience, creativity, and community building.Key announcements included a platform makeover, an upgraded AR Lens Studio, and new tools for creators and businesses. The new profile design simplifies navigation, focusing on communication, photography, and entertainment, while the revamped AR Lens Studio allows developers to create advanced AR experiences, including the new AI-powered Easy Lens for quick AR creation.The summit also highlighted updates for creators, allowing easier toggling between personal and public accounts, and new features like pinning favorite Snaps and deeper engagement tools. Snapchat continues to be a popular platform in the GCC, where users open the app an average of 45 times per day. Hussein Freijeh, Vice President of Snap Inc. in MENA, emphasized the platform&#39;s role in connecting users and supporting the region’s creator community, noting that the new updates will drive stronger engagement and provide new opportunities for creators and brands alike.]]></description>
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                <dc:creator><![CDATA[جريدة الرايةِ]]></dc:creator>
        <category><![CDATA[TECHNOLOGY ]]></category>
        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/645659/TECHNOLOGY/Snapchat-unveils-platform-overhaul-and-new-AR-features-at-Snap-Partner-Summit-2024]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Thu, 19 Sep 2024 18:44:00 +0300</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[China firm claims world&#039;s fastest-charging EV battery]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/644825/TECHNOLOGY/China-firm-claims-worlds-fastest-charging-EV-battery]]></link> 
        <description><![CDATA[BEIJING — Chinese car maker Zeekr says its new electric vehicle (EV) batteries charge faster than any of its rivals, including industry leaders Tesla and BYD.The firm says its upgraded batteries can be charged from 10% to 80% capacity in 10 and a half minutes using its ultra-fast charging stations.In comparison, Elon Musk’s Tesla says a 15-minute charge allows its Model 3 to cover 175 miles (282km), a little under half the car’s full range.Zeekr&#39;s 2025 007 sedan, which will be available from next week, will be its first vehicle to have the new battery.The battery performs well even in cold weather charging from 10% to 80% of its capacity in less than half an hour at temperatures as low as -10C, the company also said.BBC News has contacted Tesla and BYD to request a response to Zeekr&#39;s announcement.Tu Le, founder and managing director of consultancy firm Sino Auto Insights told the BBC: &quot;Tesla’s charging technology is not industry-leading anymore and has not been for some time.&quot;&quot;These bold claims by Zeekr are believable, but more importantly even if it’s not the fastest charging EV battery, being one for the fastest is still quite a leap for them&quot;.&quot;The competition in China is incredibly fierce and while brands like BYD prioritize scale and sales, brands like Zeekr, Li [Auto] and Nio are focused on maximizing the charging experience,&quot; said Mark Rainford, a China-based car industry commentator.&quot;Zeekr&#39;s parent company, Geely, is pretty much a vertically integrated business... they have the resources to do this,&quot; he added.Geely owns several brands, including UK-based luxury sports car brand Lotus and Sweden&#39;s Volvo.In May, Zeekr&#39;s shares started trading on the New York Stock Exchange, marking the first major US market debut by a Chinese company since 2021.The shares are currently trading 27% below the price set in its initial public offering (IPO).The listing came just days before the Biden administration announced major tariff hikes on Chinese-made electric cars, solar panels, steel and other goods.The White House said the measures, which included a 100% border tax on EVs from China, were a response to unfair policies and intended to protect US jobs.Officials in the US, the European Union and other major car markets have grown increasingly concerned about the rapid overseas expansion of Chinese EV companies. — BBC]]></description>
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        <guid><![CDATA[https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/644825/TECHNOLOGY/China-firm-claims-worlds-fastest-charging-EV-battery]]></guid>
        <pubDate>Wed, 14 Aug 2024 12:06:00 +0300</pubDate>
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