Technology

Some experts say Google is just parroting your own beliefs right back to you. It may be worsening your own biases and deepening societal divides along the way.

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"Google's whole mission is to give people the information that they want, but sometimes the information that people think they want isn't actually the most useful," says Sarah Presch, digital marketing director at Dragon Metrics, a platform that helps companies tune their websites for better recognition from Google using methods known as "search engine optimisation" or SEO.

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"> What Google has done is they've pulled bits out of the text based on what people are searching for and fed them what they want to read" – Sarah Presch

Direct link to paper: https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AIES/article/view/31748/33915

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But WIRED reviewed posts from American Patriots Three Percent (AP3) groups and profiles that are still on the platform, including examples where members and leaders brandish AP3 insignia and share photos from their in-person training sessions.

There have also been some recent instances where Facebook has even auto-generated pages for militias. In May, Facebook auto-generated a page for AP3’s Arizona chapter. In June, Facebook auto-generated a page for “AP3 NM [New Mexico] Training Range.” If you hover over the information widget on the page, Facebook’s explainer reads: “This unofficial page was created because people on Facebook have shown interest in this place or business. It’s not affiliated with or endorsed by anyone associated with AP3 Training Range.” (Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has repeatedly come under fire in the past for auto-generating pages for extremist, white supremacist, and terrorist organizations; a whistleblower first flagged the issue in 2020 in a supplement to an earlier petition filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.)

Ironic, just saw the post about ChatGPT launching their own competitor

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4285233

The European Commission is set to launch an investigation into Chinese online retail platform Temu over whether it is in breach of rules meant to prevent the sale of illegal products online.

The move follows the Commission's request on 11 October for information from Temu under the Digital Services Act, asking what steps it is taking to stop illegal products being sold on its platform.

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Under the European Union's Digital Services Act, companies with more than 45 million users are designated "very large online platforms" (VLOPs) and are required to do more to fight illegal content as well as counterfeit products on their platforms.

Threat actors sponsored by China "compromised" Canadian government networks over the past five years and collected valuable information, says a new report from Canada's cyber spy agency.

The Communications Security Establishment, responsible for foreign signals intelligence, cyber operations and cyber security, released its updated national cyber threat assessment on Wednesday. The assessment flags threats the agency sees as the most pressing ones facing individuals and organizations in Canada.

"We're often asked, what keeps up at night? Well, pick the page," Caroline Xavier, CSE chief, told a news conference in Ottawa.

CSE's latest report, which casts ahead to the 2025-2026 fiscal year, names the People's Republic of China (PRC) as "the most comprehensive cyber security threat facing Canada today" and says the scale, tradecraft and ambitions China demonstrates online are "second to none."

Reddit’s advertising revenue grew to $315.1 million, while “other” revenue reached $33.2 million on account of “data licensing agreements signed earlier this year.” Both Google and OpenAI have cut deals with Reddit to train their AI models on its posts.

In a letter to shareholders, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman attributed the recent increase in users to the platform’s AI-powered translation feature. Reddit started letting users translate posts into French last year before expanding to Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and German. Now, Huffman says Reddit plans to expand translation to over 30 countries through 2025.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4231811

The UK Government has made substantial progress in removing China’s Hikvision surveillance cameras from sensitive sites, with over 50% of these devices already replaced, according to a report by the UK Defense Journal.

Efforts are ongoing to ensure full removal by April 2025 amid growing concerns about the security risks posed by Chinese-made technology in government buildings, the report by the UK Defense Journal said.

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However, the security concerns extend beyond surveillance equipment. Lord Coaker’s letter also addressed potential risks posed by electric and connected vehicles, particularly those manufactured in China.

He clarified that while the focus has often been on Chinese-made technology, the security risks apply to specific on-board systems found in a variety of vehicles, not solely Chinese or electric models.

“The potential national security risks apply to specific on-board systems, and therefore, these risks are not exclusive to Chinese-made vehicles or electric vehicles,” on lawmaker said.

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[Edit title for clarity.]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4219031

Chinese EV battery maker SVOLT Energy plans to shut its European operations by January 2025, in a move that clearly points to China’s retreat from the market - and declining EV sales in Europe.

In 2020, SVOLT announced plans to invest €2 billion in two battery plants in Germany’s Saarland, creating up to 2,000 jobs. However, it halted plans for a plant in Lauchhammer [in the German state of Brandenburg] due to losing a key customer and concerns over tariffs and subsidies.

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A lawsuit and local protests have also delayed a planned factory in Ueberherrn [in the German state of Saarland] until 2027. SVOLT's Heusweiler plant [in Saarland], intended to produce battery packs, was set to open in July, but reports suggest the company has now ceased all production in Germany.

Meanwhile, just like in the U.S., the EV market in Europe is cooling. New car sales in the EU dropped 18% in August, with Germany down 28%, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. EV market share fell 44%, with Chinese brand BYD selling only 218 cars in Germany, or 0.1% of the country's EV sales.

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SVOLT, spun off from Great Wall Motor in 2018, counts Geely Auto, XPeng, and Great Wall among its clients but has struggled financially, reporting a cumulative loss of 4.4 billion yuan ($618 million) from 2019 to 2022.

The company aimed to raise $2.1 billion through a Shanghai IPO in 2022 but abandoned the plan a year later.

In an interview on the StrictlyVC Download podcast, billionaire Frank McCourt shared his vision for transforming social media. By the potential sale footgear.

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Earlier this year, WIRED asked AI detection startup Pangram Labs to analyze Medium. It took a sampling of 274,466 recent posts over a six week period and estimated that over 47 percent were likely AI-generated. “This is a couple orders of magnitude more than what I see on the rest of the internet,” says Pangram CEO Max Spero. (The company’s analysis of one day of global news sites this summer found 7 percent as likely AI-generated.)

There is a new method used to calculate the least and most intrusive social media. The social media that collects personal data most might surprise you; I said might.

Microsoft and OpenAI announced they’re offering a select group of media outlets up to $10 million ($2.5 million in cash plus $2.5 million worth of “software and enterprise credits” from each) to try out AI tools in the newsroom.

The first round of funding will go to Newsday, The Minnesota Star Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Public Media, and The Seattle Times.

These outlets will receive a grant to hire a two-year fellow who will work to develop and implement AI tools using Microsoft Azure and OpenAI credits. The program is part of a collaboration between Microsoft, OpenAI, and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, which aims to promote local media.

This news comes while the two companies are still facing a slew of copyright lawsuits, including from The New York Times, The Intercept, Raw Story, AlterNet, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and the Alden Global Capital-owned New York Daily News and Chicago Tribune. Those have continued despite licensing deals reached with many media outlets, including The Verge’s parent company, Vox Media.

How Ireland’s new safety code affects video sharing site like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, etc.