Big Tech’s AI Spending Rattles Markets

Big Tech’s AI Spending Rattles Markets

E-commerce giant Amazon reported strong earnings Thursday but, like its big tech peers Microsoft and Google, saw its stock price fall on concerns over high AI investment costs. The mounting expenses of data-intensive artificial intelligence and its infrastructure have cast a shadow over this earnings season, with only Facebook owner Meta winning Wall Street’s approval. … Read more

France opens probe into Musk’s X over algorithm – POLITICO

France opens probe into Musk’s X over algorithm – POLITICO

In his letter, seen by POLITICO, Bothorel underlines that “Elon Musk’s personal involvement in the management of the platform, but also in several elections concerning European countries, represents a real danger and threat to our democracies.” The probe is also based on a separate complaint, initially reported on by French weekly Le Canard enchaîné and obtained by … Read more

Commentary: Is DeepSeek triggering a Sputnik moment for the American AI industry?

Commentary: Is DeepSeek triggering a Sputnik moment for the American AI industry?

BLIND SPOTS EXPOSED Although there is some dispute about whether DeepSeek has told us the whole story, this episode has exposed “groupthink” within the American AI industry. Its blindness to alternative, cheaper, more promising approaches, combined with hype, is precisely what Simon Johnson and I predicted in Power and Progress, which we wrote just before … Read more

Sweden aims to introduce law letting police wiretap children as gang violence rises – POLITICO

Sweden aims to introduce law letting police wiretap children as gang violence rises – POLITICO

Sweden will rush through legislation allowing police to wiretap children under 15 after a recent spate of bombings ordered by criminal gangs recruiting teens, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced Thursday. “We are pushing the legislation to enter into force in the fall of 2025 … This is important to get at those who often … Read more

Is DeepSeek’s AI ‘distillation’ theft? OpenAI seeks answers over China’s breakthrough

Is DeepSeek’s AI ‘distillation’ theft? OpenAI seeks answers over China’s breakthrough

Since Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek rattled Silicon Valley and Wall Street with its cost-effective models, the company has been accused of data theft through a practice that is common across the industry. OpenAI said it has evidence that DeepSeek used “distillation” of its GPT models to train the open-source V3 and R1 models … Read more

World’s cartoonists on this week’s events

World’s cartoonists on this week’s events

First published on CagleCartoons.com, Jan. 22, 2025 | By Malcolm McGookin First published on CagleCartoons.com, Bulgaria, Jan. 22, 2025 | By Christo Komarnitski First published on CagleCartoons.com, The Netherlands, Jan. 21, 2025 | By Joep Bertrams First published on CagleCartoons.com, Jan. 21, 2025 | By Graeme MacKay First published on PoliticalCartoons.com, Canada, Jan. 23, 2025 … Read more

Malaysia’s bid to rally ASEAN in taking on Big Tech – good shot or ‘insurmountable challenge’?

Malaysia’s bid to rally ASEAN in taking on Big Tech – good shot or ‘insurmountable challenge’?

Big Tech is also likely to avoid negotiating such regulations with ASEAN as a bloc, given their “divide and conquer” approach to preserving profits and the money they have put into complying with laws in individual jurisdictions, the analysts said. At a seminar on Malaysia’s efforts to make the internet safer last Friday (Jan 17), … Read more

EU hate speech guidelines get folded into the Digital Services Act – POLITICO

EU hate speech guidelines get folded into the Digital Services Act – POLITICO

Under the code, online platforms agree to review two-thirds of takedown requests within 24 hours and better transparency over hate speech, the Commission said in a Monday press release. It also sets out a “clear methodology” for “monitoring reporters” – which can be civil society groups or public authorities – to flag problematic material and … Read more

Leaked memo reveals alarming German warnings over Trump – POLITICO

Leaked memo reveals alarming German warnings over Trump – POLITICO

Michaelis describes Trump’s vision as one focused on the “maximum concentration of power with the president at the expense of Congress and the [U.S.] states.” According to the document, key democratic institutions, including the legislature, law enforcement and the media, risk an erosion of their independence and could be “misused as a political arm.”  The … Read more

World’s cartoonists on this week’s events

World’s cartoonists on this week’s events

First published on CagleCartoons.com, Austria, Jan. 16, 2025 | By Marian Kamensky First published on PoliticalCartoons.com, Canada, Jan. 10, 2025 | By Dale Cummings First published on CagleCartoons.com, The Netherlands, Jan. 16, 2025 | By Tom Janssen First published on PoliticalCartoons.com, Jan. 15, 2025 | By Plop and KanKr First published on PoliticalCartoons.com, Jan. 16, … Read more