-
‘AI accountability agenda’: US senator unveils package of bills to curb tech’s harms
Democratic US senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts has unveiled a package of bills he calls an “AI accountability agenda”, aimed at curbing what he sees as the wide-ranging harms of unregulated artificial intelligence. The agenda targets energy- and water-intensive datacenters, intrusive workplace surveillance, biased algorithms, AI overriding human judgment and deepening economic inequality, framed as…
-
Robot Dogs, Teslas, and Rescue Helicopters: The UN AI Summit Was a Lot
The tenth annual “AI for Good” summit, organised by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union (ITU), gathered public- and private-sector representatives in Geneva to debate how artificial intelligence might be steered towards benefiting humanity rather than harming it. Held against a backdrop of Washington testimony on superintelligence risks and shifting US export controls on chips,…
-
South Korea chip maker SK hynix rides AI boom raising $26.5bn in huge US listing
South Korean chip maker SK hynix has priced a major US stock listing aimed at raising $26.5bn, making it one of the largest share sales in history. The company, a key supplier of advanced memory chips to Nvidia, has seen its profits surge amid the global rush to build AI datacentres, and the flotation reflects…
-
Reeves to launch City ‘skills compact’ committing firms to retrain staff in AI
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to launch a government-backed City “skills compact” that will commit major financial firms to retraining thousands of UK staff for the AI era. The initiative, to be announced on Tuesday during what is likely her final Mansion House speech before Andy Burnham’s expected move into No 10, responds to fears…
-
SAG-AFTRA Recommends Members Opt-Out Of Meta’s AI Feature: “Take Action To Protect Your Likeness”
The actors’ union SAG-AFTRA has urged its members, and all Instagram users, to opt out of Meta’s newly launched AI image tool, Muse Image, amid growing privacy concerns. In a statement issued on Thursday, the union provided instructions on how to adjust Instagram’s settings to “protect your likeness”, warning that “Meta now lets anyone use…
-
‘A lot of red flags’: plans for New Zealand’s first datacentre spark concern as locals demand greater transparency
Plans for New Zealand’s first AI datacentre, a NZ$3.5bn (US$2bn) facility to be built by Singapore-based company Datagrid in Makarewa, north of Invercargill, have prompted concern among local residents who are demanding greater transparency. Their worries centre on the centre’s substantial electricity and water consumption, potential noise and light pollution, and a sense that the…
-
OpenAI says GPT 5.6 is the ‘preferred model’ for Microsoft Copilot amid breakup chatter
OpenAI has announced that its newly launched GPT 5.6 will be the “preferred model” powering Microsoft’s 365 Copilot, a move widely read as an attempt to dampen speculation that the two companies are drifting apart. The declaration, made during Thursday’s launch of the GPT 5.6 family, follows a Bloomberg report earlier in the week that…
-
Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s No. 2 Executive, to Step Down to Focus on Recovery From Chronic Illness
Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s second-most senior executive and CEO of artificial general intelligence deployment, is stepping down from her full-time role to concentrate on recovering from a chronic illness she has lived with for seven years. Announcing the move in a note on X on Thursday, Simo said a severe flare-up of the condition three months…
-
Fidji Simo steps down from leading OpenAI’s AGI work due to illness
Fidji Simo is stepping down from her full-time role leading OpenAI’s work on artificial general intelligence (AGI), moving instead to a position as a “part-time advisor,” she announced on X. The change follows her earlier decision in April to take medical leave shortly after assuming the AGI chief title, and matters because it marks the…
-
OpenAI’s CEO of AGI Deployment, Fidji Simo, Is Stepping Down
Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s chief executive of AGI deployment, is stepping down from her full-time role and moving into a part-time advisory position. The change follows a months-long medical leave prompted by a worsening chronic neuroimmune condition, which Simo said in a post on X had deteriorated more severely than expected and now required her full…