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                        <title>Latest Technology News, Tech News Pakistan | The Express Tribune</title>
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			<title>PM Shehbaz orders operationalisation of virtual asset regulatory system</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2605855/pm-shehbaz-orders-operationalisation-of-virtual-asset-regulatory-system</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2605855/pm-shehbaz-orders-operationalisation-of-virtual-asset-regulatory-system#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 01 May 26 14:24:08 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Web Desk]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Stresses regulatory system to boost investor confidence in digital economy sector in meeting with PVARA chairman]]>
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				<![CDATA[Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday directed the early and full operationalisation of an effective, internationally aligned regulatory system for the virtual assets sector to promote the&nbsp;digital economy and enhance investor confidence.

The directive came during a meeting with Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Chairman Bilal Bin Saqib, the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office said in a statement.

According to the statement, the prime minister stressed the need to strengthen regulatory mechanisms in line with global standards.



لاہور: یکم مئی، 2026.

وزیراعظم محمد شہباز شریف سے وزیر مملکت اور چیئرمین پاکستان ورچوئل ایسیٹس ریگولیٹری اتھارٹی بلال بن ثاقب کی ملاقات ہوئی.

وزیرِ اعظم محمد شہباز شریف نے ہدیات کی کہ پاکستان میں ڈیجیٹل معیشت کے فروغ اور سرمایہ کاروں کے اعتماد میں اضافے کیلئے ورچوئل اثاثہ جات&hellip; pic.twitter.com/nEngUkqiaZ
&mdash; Prime Minister&#39;s Office (@PakPMO) May 1, 2026


&ldquo;An effective and internationally aligned regulatory system in the virtual assets sector should be made fully operational as soon as possible to promote the digital economy and increase investor confidence in Pakistan,&rdquo; the prime minister said.

He also underlined the importance of equipping the country&rsquo;s workforce with skills for emerging technologies.

&ldquo;Youth should be provided training in modern technologies, particularly artificial intelligence and digital finance, so that the country&rsquo;s human resources are aligned with future requirements,&rdquo; he added.

During the meeting, Saqib briefed the premier on the operational transition of PVARA&nbsp;into a regulator, as well as the launch of a regulatory sandbox.

The briefing highlighted ongoing initiatives aimed at introducing innovation in areas such as AI-driven payment systems and regulated virtual asset services. It was also noted that work was underway to prepare national institutions, the workforce&nbsp;and the regulatory framework for the next phase of economic transformation driven by digital technologies.

The meeting followed Saqib&rsquo;s interaction a day earlier with founders, chief executives, technologists, and financial innovators from Pakistan&rsquo;s digital assets sector, where he was briefed on industry developments.



Pakistan is not watching the future of finance from the sidelines. We are building the rails for it.

At the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office, PVARA brought together technology entrepreneurs to discuss innovation can unlock the next chapter of Pakistan&rsquo;s digital economy. pic.twitter.com/l6SBSttTWl
&mdash; Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (@PakistanVARA) April 30, 2026


Speaking at the briefing, he urged stakeholders to increase investment in Pakistan across artificial intelligence, robotics, and blockchain.

He noted that Pakistan received&nbsp;$38.3 billion in annual remittances and had&nbsp;over 100 million adults outside the formal financial system, adding that virtual assets should be viewed as infrastructure rather than a peripheral technology trend.

The PVARA chairman also announced plans to establish a formal industry consultative group under PVARA to bring leading practitioners together with the authority for developing the regulatory framework.

Pakistan&rsquo;s digital assets sector, he said, was entering a new phase with a defined legal structure and an active regulator.

PVARA was initially established in July 2025 through a presidential ordinance and later granted legal status through the Virtual Assets Act 2026, which formally set up the authority and its regulatory framework.

Under the law, measures will be implemented to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. The authority has been mandated to licence virtual asset service providers operating in or from Pakistan, regulate markets, supervise compliance with financial and security standards, and ensure alignment with international requirements.

Last month, the State Bank of Pakistan allowed banks to open accounts for licensed virtual asset service ​providers, overriding a 2018 ban,&nbsp;as the country movef&nbsp;to integrate digital assets into the regulated financial system.

The ​move followed the enactment of the&nbsp;Virtual Assets Act, ​2026, and marked&nbsp;Pakistan&rsquo;s first formal step toward bringing ⁠crypto-related businesses into the banking system under strict anti-money-laundering ​and compliance rules.]]>
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			<title>Judicial top brass introduces guidelines for use of AI</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2605478/judicial-top-brass-forms-introduces-guidelines-for-use-of-ai</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2605478/judicial-top-brass-forms-introduces-guidelines-for-use-of-ai#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 26 12:47:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Web Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Says guidelines position AI as powerful assistive tool that will enhance performance while preserving human judgment]]>
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				<![CDATA[The National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC) on Wednesday formally issued national guidelines for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in judicial institutions.

According to the statement issued by the Supreme Court, the NJPMC, in its 57th meeting, set up a &quot;clear and forward-looking framework&quot; for integrating AI into judicial processes across the country.

&ldquo;At a time when courts face mounting caseloads and increasing demands for efficiency and transparency, the guidelines position AI as a powerful assistive tool - one that enhances judicial performance while firmly preserving human judgment, constitutional safeguards, and judicial independence,&rdquo; it said.

The statement also highlighted that key guidelines included a human-centric approach that will &ldquo;assist - not replace - judicial decision-making, ensuring judges remain the ultimate arbiters&rdquo;.

{{pdf}}

It added that ethical and transparent use was a priority, with strong safeguards in place to reduce bias and focus on explainability and accountability.

The guidelines also stressed data protection, ensuring strict privacy and data security standards to protect litigants and stakeholders.

Practical applications of AI include aiding in &ldquo;case management, legal research, predictive analytics and document processing&rdquo;.

The guidelines call for capacity building, providing training for judges and court staff to ensure responsible use of emerging technologies.

The statement said that the framework was developed through an extensive consultative process led by the National Judicial Automation Committee (NJAC), headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar. Feedback was incorporated from all high courts and expert institutions, aligning the guidelines with international best practices while adhering to Pakistan&rsquo;s constitutional and institutional context.

Read More: Pentagon makes deal to expand use of Google AI: reports

While setting a unified national standard, &ldquo;the guidelines respect the administrative and judicial autonomy of high courts, enabling each jurisdiction to tailor implementation according to its specific needs and capacities.&rdquo;

It added that the initiative marked a &quot;significant milestone in Pakistan&rsquo;s judicial reform journey - striking a careful balance between technological innovation and the enduring principles of justice, fairness and independence&quot;.]]>
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			<title>Pentagon makes deal to expand use of Google AI: reports</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2605416/pentagon-makes-deal-to-expand-use-of-google-ai-reports</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2605416/pentagon-makes-deal-to-expand-use-of-google-ai-reports#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 26 06:32:13 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2605416</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Anthropic's AI model, Claude, was the only one authorised for use in classified operations within the US military]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Pentagon has arranged a deal to increase its use of Google&#39;s artificial intelligence in classified operations, US media outlets reported on Tuesday.

The news comes as the US military looks to wean itself off Anthropic&#39;s AI due to the company&#39;s objection to its technology being used for mass domestic surveillance or autonomous killing machines.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In February, Trump instructed the US government to &quot;immediately cease&quot; using Anthropic&#39;s technology after Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth designated Anthropic as a national security supply chain risk -- a label typically reserved for organizations from unfriendly foreign countries.

The company is now fighting these measures in court.

Anthropic&#39;s AI model, Claude, was the only one authorised for use in classified operations within the US military.
Following the Anthropic crisis, rival OpenAI reached an agreement with the government to integrate its AI interfaces into this framework.

According to technology news website The Information, Elon Musk&#39;s AI firm xAI also struck a deal with the Pentagon after its clash with Anthropic.

Read:&nbsp;Google signs classified AI deal with Pentagon, The Information reports

&quot;Overreliance on one vendor is never a good thing,&quot; Pentagon chief digital officer Cameron Stanley said in an interview with broadcaster CNBC.

The Pentagon&#39;s agreements with technology providers is reported to include only using AI tools in ways allowed by law.
More than 600 Google employees demanded Monday that the company reject a proposed Pentagon deal that would allow its artificial intelligence technology to be deployed in classified military operations, a statement said.

A letter addressed to Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai was signed by workers from several company divisions.
&quot;Classified workloads are by definition opaque,&quot; said one organizing employee, who was not named in the statement.
&quot;Right now, there&#39;s no way to ensure that our tools wouldn&#39;t be leveraged to cause terrible harms or erode civil liberties away from public scrutiny&quot;.

Read more:&nbsp;Google breaks ground on Indian AI megahub

The Pentagon has pushed for broad wording in AI agreements, arguing that it is necessary to maintain operational flexibility.
In 2018, an employee movement successfully pushed Google to abandon Project Maven, a Pentagon program to integrate AI into drone operations.

But in recent years Google has embarked on a strategy shift, steadily rebuilding its military business and competing with rivals for defense cloud contracts.]]>
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			<title>An experimental cafe run by AI opens in Stockholm</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2605444/an-experimental-cafe-run-by-ai-opens-in-stockholm</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2605444/an-experimental-cafe-run-by-ai-opens-in-stockholm#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 26 09:11:22 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2605444</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Cafe powered by Google's Gemini hires staff, orders supplies and manages operations with mixed results]]>
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				<![CDATA[The avocado toasts and baristas making foamy lattes make it look like any other cafe, except at this one, located in a Stockholm residential neighbourhood, artificial intelligence (AI) is running the place.

The cafe features a minimalist design: a few tables decorated with small plants and grey walls. Behind the counter is barista Kajetan Grzelczak, who was hired by &quot;Mona&quot;, the AI cafe manager, which is powered by Google&#39;s Gemini. Grzelczak told AFP that &quot;ordering isn&#39;t really her best suit&quot;.

&quot;So, I made for her... a wall of shame,&quot; he said, pointing to shelves behind him.

The wall display showcases some of Mona&#39;s unnecessary purchases, including 10 litres (2.6 gallons) of cooking oil or 15 kilogrammes (33 pounds) of canned tomatoes.&nbsp;Grzelczak laments that he can&#39;t use those for anything that &quot;Mona&quot; has put on the menu. Orders can either be placed with Mona or one of the employees.

Read: Pentagon makes deal to expand use of Google AI: reports

In one corner, a large screen shows the cafe&#39;s revenue and balance in real time, and a phone lets customers talk to Mona.&nbsp;The screen also displays a description of the unusual cafe -- which is an experiment by San Francisco-based startup Andon Labs.

Ethical questions

&quot;We think that AI will be a big part of society and the job market in the future,&quot; Hanna Petersson, a member of the technical team at the company, which has 10 employees, told AFP. &quot;We want to test that before that&#39;s the reality and see what ethical questions arise when, for example, an AI employs human beings,&quot; she explained.

Once the premises were found, the lease, along with some starting capital, was handed to the AI with a simple mission: run the cafe profitably.

Mona quickly got to work, requested the necessary permits, created the menu, found suppliers, and handled daily restocking. The AI also realised that a person was needed to make the coffee and ended up hiring two people. &quot;She posted job listings on Indeed and LinkedIn and held phone interviews and then made hiring decisions,&quot; Petersson said.

When he saw the ad, Grzelczak first thought it was a joke, especially since it had been posted on April 1. But after a 30-minute interview with the AI, he got the job. The salary he receives is good, but his right to disconnect from work is not respected at all, the barista remarked. Mona sends him messages at all hours of the night, does not remember his holiday requests and regularly asks him to cover purchases out of his own pocket.

Read More: Google breaks ground on Indian AI megahub

Examining such issues is part of the experiment, Petersson noted. &quot;What salary did she decide on? What other benefits did she decide on? I think she did a good job. She gives a good salary. If she hadn&#39;t, we would have stepped in,&quot; she said.

The cafe has only been open for a week but already draws between 50 and 80 curious customers a day.

Urja Risal, a 27-year-old AI researcher, came by to enjoy a beverage with her friend. &quot;You hear so much about AI is about to take our jobs, but what does that look like,&quot; Risal told AFP.&nbsp;&quot;I hope more people interact with &#39;Mona&#39; and think about the actual risks of having an AI manager... like if someone gets injured, how would Mona react to that?&quot; she said.]]>
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			<title>Google breaks ground on Indian AI megahub</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2605279/google-breaks-ground-on-indian-ai-megahub</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2605279/google-breaks-ground-on-indian-ai-megahub#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 26 12:53:16 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2605279</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Vizag is being pitched as a landing point for submarine internet cables linking India to Singapore]]>
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				<![CDATA[Tech giant Google on Tuesday marked the ceremonial start of work on its largest artificial intelligence hub outside of the United States with a groundbreaking ceremony in India.

The firm promised in October 2025 to spend $15 billion over five years to construct the vast centre in Visakhapatnam, a southeastern port in Andhra Pradesh state of around two million people, popularly known as &quot;Vizag&quot;.

&quot;Today marks the first concrete milestone in Google&#39;s largest commitment to India&#39;s digital future,&quot; Bikash Koley, Google&#39;s vice president for global infrastructure, told the ceremony.

&quot;This project represents a $15 billion blueprint to deliver a full-stack AI ecosystem,&quot; he added.

&quot;At its core is our gigawatt-scale data centre campus, purpose-built for the immense computational demand of the AI era, powering services like Gemini and Google Search.&quot;

Read More: Google signs classified AI deal with Pentagon, The Information reports

Nara Lokesh, information technology minister for Andhra Pradesh state, said he was &quot;excited as we embark on this journey to build India&#39;s most coveted AI and deep-tech hub&quot;.

Vizag is being pitched as a landing point for submarine internet cables linking India to Singapore.



#GoogleBreaksGroundInVizag
HISTORY IS MADE TODAY. 28.04.2026 will be etched in time. #Vizag is now India&rsquo;s AI data hub.

Today marks the journey for Vizag from steel to silicon, from coast to global command center. ₹1.35 lakh crore. 1 GW. Up to 2 lakh direct and indirect&hellip; pic.twitter.com/b6bMJWtl1h
&mdash; Lokesh Nara (@naralokesh) April 28, 2026


&quot;By establishing Vizag as an international subsea gateway, we will add vital diversity from the existing landings, in Mumbai and Chennai, increasing the resilience of India&#39;s digital backbone and improving economic security,&quot; Koley added.

&quot;New strategic fibre optic routes will further connect India with the rest of the world.&quot;

Globally, data centres are an area of phenomenal growth, fuelled by the need to store massive amounts of digital data and to train and run energy-intensive AI tools.

&quot;This is a pivotal moment for India, Vizag, and for Google,&quot; Koley added.]]>
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			<title>Microsoft CEO warns AI could stall without global economic impact</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2588272/microsoft-ceo-warns-ai-could-stall-without-global-economic-impact</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2588272/microsoft-ceo-warns-ai-could-stall-without-global-economic-impact#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 21 Jan 26 11:40:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Web Desk]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[AI's long-term success hinges on adoption beyond 'Big Tech', according to Satya Nadella]]>
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				<![CDATA[Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella warned on Wednesday that Artificial Intelligence (AI) could falter in the coming market downturn unless it delivered&nbsp;real economic value across the wider world, the Financial Times reported.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Nadella said AI&rsquo;s long-term success depended&nbsp;on its adoption beyond the technology sector and affluent economies.&nbsp;His remarks come amid growing concerns that the current AI boom may be unsustainable if its benefits remain concentrated among a few firms.

Nadella said the technology must be applied in sectors such as healthcare, education, agriculture, and public services to demonstrate that it could&nbsp;improve outcomes for ordinary people. He told the forum that if AI&rsquo;s advantages were only seen in Silicon Valley and wealthy nations, it could become akin to a financial bubble rather than a force for broad productivity growth.

An AI bubble is thought to emerge when investors pour money into the sector based on expectations rather than proven financial performance.

Record spending, soaring valuations of AI-related companies, and comparisons to past tech manias like the dot-com era have fuelled these concerns. Market watchers, economists, and popular YouTubers have debated whether an AI bubble exists. The rapid rise in AI investment is contributing to a cycle where investment outpaces actual economic returns.

Read: AI: bubble, rubble and trouble

Companies tied to AI have been trading at high valuation multiples relative to earnings, and investor optimism sometimes appears detached from current revenue-generation realities. A July MIT study indicates that many enterprise AI projects have yet to deliver measurable productivity gains at scale, potentially slowing their contribution to economic growth if expectations remain high.

However, some economists, including the Head of Portfolio Management at JP Morgan, argue that while caution makes sense, the foundations of AI growth remain solid, with profitability and long-term demand supporting valuations in many cases.

{{pdf}}

&ldquo;AI has to be used to change outcomes for people, communities, and industries,&rdquo; Nadella said, arguing that democratising access to AI tools will determine which countries and companies lead in the next phase of technological change.

Nadella also echoed concerns from other industry figures that the divide in AI adoption between rich and developing nations risks widening global inequality. He cited early use cases &mdash; such as AI systems helping rural workers access information &mdash; as examples of how the technology could drive inclusive growth if deployed responsibly.]]>
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			<title>OpenAI introducing ads to ChatGPT</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2587528/openai-introducing-ads-to-chatgpt</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2587528/openai-introducing-ads-to-chatgpt#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 26 19:36:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Ads will initially appear in the US for free and lower-tier users, the company said]]>
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				<![CDATA[OpenAI announced Friday it will begin testing advertisements on ChatGPT in the coming weeks, as the wildly popular artificial intelligence chatbot seeks to increase revenue to cover its soaring costs.

The ads will initially appear in the United States for free and lower-tier subscribers, the company said in a blog post outlining its long-anticipated move into advertising.

The integration of advertising has been a key question for generative AI chatbots, with companies largely reluctant to interrupt the user experience with ads.

But the exorbitant costs of running AI services may have forced OpenAI&#39;s hand.

Only a small percentage of its nearly one billion users pay for subscription services, putting pressure on the company to find new revenue sources.

Since ChatGPT&#39;s launch in 2022, OpenAI&#39;s valuation has soared to $500 billion in funding rounds -- higher than any other private company. Some expect it could go public with a trillion-dollar valuation.

But the ChatGPT maker burns through cash at a furious rate, mostly on the powerful computing required to deliver its services.

With its move, OpenAI brings its business model closer to tech giants Google and Meta, which have built advertising empires on the back of their free-to-use services.

Unlike OpenAI, those companies have massive advertising revenue to fund AI innovation -- with Amazon also building a solid ad business on its shopping and video streaming platforms.

Read More: Global pressure forces X to restrict Grok over sexualised deepfake images

&quot;Ads aren&#39;t a distraction from the gen AI race; they&#39;re how OpenAI stays in it,&quot; said Jeremy Goldman, an analyst at Emarketer.

&quot;If ChatGPT turns on ads, OpenAI is admitting something simple and consequential: the race isn&#39;t just about model quality anymore; it&#39;s about monetizing attention without poisoning trust,&quot; he added.

OpenAI&#39;s pivot comes as Google gains ground in the generative AI race, infusing services including Gmail, Maps and YouTube with AI features that -- in addition to its Gemini chatbot --&nbsp; compete directly with ChatGPT.

To address concerns about its pivot into advertising, OpenAI pledged that ads would never influence ChatGPT&#39;s answers and that user conversations would remain private from advertisers.

&quot;Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you,&quot; the company stated. &quot;Answers are optimized based on what&#39;s most helpful to you. Ads are always separate and clearly labeled.&quot;

In an apparent reference to Meta, TikTok and Google&#39;s YouTube -- platforms accused of maximizing user engagement to boost ad views -- OpenAI said it would &quot;not optimize for time spent in ChatGPT.&quot;

&quot;We prioritize user trust and user experience over revenue,&quot; it added.

The commitment to user well-being is a sensitive issue for OpenAI, which has faced accusations of allowing ChatGPT to prioritize emotional engagement over safety, allegedly contributing to mental distress among some users.]]>
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			<title>India proposes forcing smartphone makers to give source code in security overhaul</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2586562/india-proposes-forcing-smartphone-makers-to-give-source-code-in-security-overhaul</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2586562/india-proposes-forcing-smartphone-makers-to-give-source-code-in-security-overhaul#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 26 12:54:09 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[India wants apps removable &amp; camera/mic use blocked in background to prevent misuse]]>
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				<![CDATA[India proposes requiring smartphone makers to share source code with the government and make several software changes as part of a raft of security measures, prompting behind-the-scenes opposition from giants like Apple and Samsung.

The tech companies have countered that the package of 83 security standards, which would also include a requirement to alert the government to major software updates, lacks any global precedent and risks revealing proprietary details, according to four people familiar with the discussions and a Reuters review of confidential government and industry documents.

The plan is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s efforts to boost security of user data as online fraud and data breaches increase in the world&#39;s second-largest smartphone market, with nearly 750 million phones.

IT Secretary S. Krishnan told Reuters that &quot;any legitimate concerns of the industry will be addressed with an open mind&quot;, adding it was &quot;premature to read more into it&quot;. A ministry spokesperson said it could not comment further due to ongoing consultation with tech companies on the proposals.

Read More:&nbsp;Meta partners with US nuclear companies to power AI data centers

Ongoing tug of war over government requirements

Apple , South Korea&#39;s Samsung , Google , China&#39;s Xiaomi and MAIT, the Indian industry group that represents the firms, did not respond to requests for comment.

Indian government requirements have irked technology firms before. Last month it revoked an order mandating a state-run cyber safety app on phones amid concerns over surveillance. But the government brushed aside lobbying last year and required rigorous testing for security cameras over fears of Chinese spying.

Xiaomi and Samsung - whose phones use Google&#39;s Android operating system - hold 19% and 15%, respectively, of India&#39;s market share and Apple 5%, Counterpoint Research estimates.
Among the most sensitive requirements in the new Indian Telecom Security Assurance Requirements is access to source code - the underlying programming instructions that make phones work. This would be analysed and possibly tested at designated Indian labs, the documents show.

The Indian proposals also require companies to make software changes to allow pre-installed apps to be uninstalled and to block apps from using cameras and microphones in the background to &quot;avoid malicious usage&quot;.

&quot;Industry raised concerns that globally security requirement have not been mandated by any country,&quot; said a December IT ministry document detailing meetings that officials held with Apple, Samsung, Google and Xiaomi.

The security standards, drafted in 2023, are in the spotlight now as the government is considering imposing them legally. IT ministry and tech executives are due to meet on Tuesday for more discussions, sources said.

Companies say source code review, analysis &#39;not possible&#39;

Smartphone makers closely guard their source code. Apple declined China&#39;s request for source code between 2014 and 2016, and US law enforcement has also tried and failed to get it.
India&#39;s proposals for &quot;vulnerability analysis&quot; and &quot;source code review&quot; would require smartphone makers to perform a &quot;complete security assessment&quot;, after which test labs in India could check their claims through source code review and analysis.

&quot;This is not possible ... due to secrecy and privacy,&quot; MAIT said in a confidential document drafted in response to the government proposal, and seen by Reuters. &quot;Major countries in the EU, North America, Australia and Africa do not mandate these requirements.&quot;

MAIT asked the ministry last week to drop the proposal, a source with direct knowledge said.
The Indian proposals would mandate automatic and periodic malware scanning on phones. Device makers would also have to inform the National Centre for Communication Security about major software updates and security patches before releasing them to users, and the centre would have the right to test them.

MAIT&#39;s document says regular malware scanning significantly drains a phone&#39;s battery and seeking government approval for software updates is &quot;impractical&quot; as they need to be issued promptly.

India also wants the phone&#39;s logs - digital records of its system activity - to be stored for at least 12 months on the device.

&quot;There is not enough room on device to store 1-year log events,&quot; MAIT said in the document.

&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Experts say oceans soaked up record heat levels in 2025</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2586322/experts-say-oceans-soaked-up-record-heat-levels-in-2025</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2586322/experts-say-oceans-soaked-up-record-heat-levels-in-2025#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 09 Jan 26 18:47:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2586322</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Ocean heat rose ~23 zettajoules in 2025, equal to nearly 40 years of global energy use]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The world&#39;s oceans absorbed a record amount of heat in 2025, an international team of scientists said Friday, further priming conditions for sea level rise, violent storms, and coral death.

The heat that has accumulated in the oceans last year increased by approximately 23 zettajoules -- an amount equivalent to nearly four decades of global primary energy consumption.

This finding -- published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences -- was the highest reading of any year since modern record keeping began in the early 1950s, researchers said.

To derive these calculations, more than 50 scientists from 31 research institutions used multiple sources including a thousands-strong fleet of floating robots that track ocean changes to depths of 2,000 metres.

Peering into the depths, rather than fluctuations at the surface, provides a better indicator of how oceans are responding to &quot;sustained pressure&quot; from humanity&#39;s emissions, said study co-author Karina von Schuckmann.

&quot;The picture is clear: results for 2025 confirm that the ocean continues to warm,&quot; von Schuckmann, an oceanographer from French research institute Mercator Ocean International, told AFP.

Read More: Allies, scientists alarmed as US quits global bodies

Oceans are a key regulator of Earth&#39;s climate because they soak up 90 percent of the excess heat in the atmosphere caused by humanity&#39;s release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.

All that additional energy has a powerful knock-on effect. Warmer oceans increase moisture in the atmosphere, providing fuel for tropical cyclones and destructive rainfall.

Hotter seas also directly contribute to sea level rise -- water expands when it warms up -- and make conditions unbearable for tropical reefs, whose corals perish during prolonged marine heatwaves.

&quot;As long as the Earth continues to accumulate heat, ocean heat content will keep rising, sea level will rise and new records will be set,&quot; said von Schuckmann.

Humanity&#39;s choice

Ocean warming is not uniform, with some areas warming faster than others.

The tropical oceans, the South Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the northern Indian Ocean, and the Southern Ocean were among waters that absorbed record amounts of heat in 2025.

This occurred even as average sea surface temperatures decreased slightly in 2025 -- yet still remained the third-highest value ever measured.

This decrease is explained by the shift from a powerful, warming El Nino event in 2023-2024 to La Nina-type conditions generally associated with a temporary cooling of the ocean surface.

In the long term, the rate of ocean warming is accelerating due to a sustained increase in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere caused mainly by burning fossil fuels.

As long as global warming is not addressed and the amount of heat trapped in the atmosphere keeps rising, oceans will keep breaking records, the researchers said.

&quot;The greatest uncertainty in the climate system is no longer the physics, but the choices humanity makes,&quot; said von Schuckmann.

&quot;Rapid emission reductions can still limit future impacts and help safeguard a climate in which societies and ecosystems can thrive.&quot;]]>
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			<title>Google AI health summaries under scrutiny over accuracy concerns</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2585452/google-ai-health-summaries-under-scrutiny-over-accuracy-concerns</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2585452/google-ai-health-summaries-under-scrutiny-over-accuracy-concerns#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 04 Jan 26 19:11:48 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[News Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2585452</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Google’s “AI Overview” shows brief summaries atop search results but can give inaccurate guidance]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Concerns have emerged over the reliability of Google&rsquo;s AI-generated health summaries, after a Guardian investigation revealed instances of misleading and potentially harmful medical information.

The feature, known as &ldquo;AI Overview,&rdquo; appears at the top of Google search results and provides brief, AI-generated summaries of complex topics. While designed to offer quick, authoritative insights, several cases showed the tool delivering inaccurate guidance.

Examples cited include incorrect dietary advice for pancreatic cancer patients, misleading interpretations of liver blood tests, and false information regarding women&rsquo;s cancer screening. Health professionals warned that such errors could prompt patients to ignore symptoms, delay treatment, or adopt unsafe practices.

Charities and experts highlighted the lack of context in AI summaries, noting that variability in answers to identical queries further undermines trust. Sophie Randall, director of the UK Patient Information Forum, said the findings &ldquo;demonstrate that Google&rsquo;s AI Overview can pose health risks by placing inaccurate health information at the top of online searches.&rdquo;

Read More:&nbsp;Grok says safeguard lapses led to images of &#39;minors in minimal clothing&#39; on X

Pancreatic Cancer UK&rsquo;s Anna Jewell echoed the concern, explaining that following the AI&rsquo;s dietary guidance could prevent patients from consuming enough calories, jeopardizing their ability to tolerate treatments or life-saving surgeries.
Google responded, asserting that most AI Overviews are &ldquo;accurate and helpful,&rdquo; and that the company is investing in improving the quality of health-related summaries. A spokesperson emphasized that the summaries are linked to reliable sources and recommended consulting medical professionals for definitive advice.


The investigation underscores the challenges of integrating AI into health information, as experts stress the importance of human oversight to prevent potential harm.

&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Are gaming cafes making a return?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2603560/are-gaming-cafes-making-a-return</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2603560/are-gaming-cafes-making-a-return#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 19 Apr 26 00:39:40 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Nabil Tahir]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[T-Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2603560</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Many young gamers in Pakistan still  make their way to informal gaming zones to hone their talent and competitive edge]]>
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				<![CDATA[The room was never designed for ambition. It has a few rows of ageing computers, their screens glowing in a dimly lit space, fans whirring louder than the voices around them. Someone shouting instructions, someone else arguing over a missed shot, a queue forming behind a chair as another hour came to an end. Time here moved quickly. You paid, you played, you lost, and you tried again.

Across cities like Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, these small gaming zones became more than just places to pass time. For many, they were the first real introduction to competition. It was in spaces like these that players such as Arslan Ash and Sumail Hassan first developed their craft, without any coaches, or a structured system. They honed their skill through repetition, instinct, and the constant presence of someone better sitting a few seats away.

Over time, these gaming spaces began to fade. As internet access improved, gaming shifted to mobile screens, and many cafes shut down. The crowds thinned, and the culture that once filled these rooms slowly moved into homes. Gaming became more individual, more accessible, but also more isolated.

Now, that shift appears to be turning again.

A new version of these spaces is beginning to emerge. The cramped rooms have been replaced, in some areas, by more refined setups. High-performance PCs, console stations, and even racing simulators are finding their way into dedicated esports hubs. The environment looks different, but the intent feels familiar. Players are still chasing improvement, still measuring themselves against others.

For beginner-level Valorant players, like Asad Laiq, the experience has not changed as much as it seems. &ldquo;In a cafe, everyone is focused,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s pressure. That environment helps a lot in improving.&rdquo;

What has changed, however, is everything around that gaming chair. The talent has always been there, but the system to support it has not. There are no academies, and little consistency in tournaments or exposure. Even today, players are largely dependent on shared spaces, unstable internet connections, and their own persistence to move forward.

If that missing layer were to exist, the impact could be immediate. The same spaces that once introduced players to competition could evolve into proper training grounds, feeding into leagues, organisations, and eventually international stages. The journey from a neighbourhood cafe to a global arena would no longer depend on chance or individual struggle, but on a system designed to carry players forward.

For now, that system remains incomplete. And so, for many, the journey still begins in a chair across a shared screen.



Where it begins

Even today, for most players trying to move beyond casual gaming, access remains the first barrier. High-end systems, stable internet, and the right environment are not easily available at home. That is where cafes continue to play their role. As Danyal Chishty, Founder of a Lahore-based esports company, explains, the starting point has not shifted as much as one might expect. The journey, he says, still usually begins in local gaming cafes, where players move from playing casually to taking competition seriously.

For some, that shift is less a choice and more a necessity. Ibrahim, who now plays at a competitive level, traces his own journey back to a similar setting. He started playing in a gaming cafe because he could not afford a proper system at home. Over time, the hours spent there, competing against better players, translated into improvement and eventually an opportunity to join a team.

However, in some cases, the cramped gaming rooms are being reimagined with a different purpose. According to a Karachi-based esports hub owner Shehzad Akber, cafes were never originally designed for performance. They were merely places to gather, to play, to compete informally. The newer setups are introducing better equipment, more structured environments, and a different kind of intent.

That transition is still uneven and traditional gaming zones continue to operate much as they always have.

The grind

For most players, the shift from playing for fun to taking the game seriously does not happen overnight. It builds slowly, often without a clear moment of decision. A few extra hours at a cafe. A few better players to compete against. A growing sense that this could be more than just a way to pass time.

For Laiq, that shift began when playing at home no longer felt enough. He had started casually, like many others, mostly on mobile. But without access to a proper setup, he found himself returning to a nearby gaming cafe. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where I actually started taking it seriously,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;At the cafe, I saw better players, and that pushed me to improve. Before that, I didn&rsquo;t really know what competitive gaming looked like.&rdquo;

At a more competitive level, the structure becomes slightly clearer, but the challenges remain. Ibrahim, the team lead of team Flex esports that plays first-person shooting games, describes a routine that becomes more intense as tournaments approach, with teams practising daily for several hours. But even then, the setup is far from ideal. Without sponsorships or the ability to bring players together physically, practice continues remotely. &ldquo;Since most players are from different cities and teams are often unsponsored, they cannot afford bootcamps,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;As a result, practice is typically done from their homes.&rdquo;

In between these routines sits a common ambition: the desire of going professional, of competing at a higher level. &ldquo;I think a lot of players here want to go pro,&rdquo; Laiq says. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s not very clear how to get there. You just keep playing, improving, and hope you get noticed somehow.&rdquo;

That uncertainty does not mean the path does not exist. For some, it has worked. Ibrahim gives his own example as proof that progress is possible, even from limited beginnings. &ldquo;It is absolutely possible to build a professional career starting from a gaming zone,&rdquo; he says.



The shift

For a long time, gaming cafes were seen as places to gather rather than places to improve. You went there to play with friends, to pass time, or to compete in the moment. What happened inside those rooms rarely translated into something more structured. That perception is beginning to change.

According to Akber, who runs an esports hub in Karachi, the difference lies in intent. &ldquo;Cafes have always been there, but they were built around access, not performance,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;We wanted to create a space where the focus shifts from just playing to actually improving.&rdquo; In that shift, the environment starts to matter as much as the game itself. It is no longer just about logging hours, but about how those hours are spent.

&ldquo;The biggest difference we see is in consistency and control,&rdquo; Akber says. &ldquo;At the start, most users struggle with basic handling, but over time, regular players start understanding racing lines, braking points, and overall race discipline. It becomes less about reacting and more about anticipating.&rdquo; The longer a player stays in that environment, the more deliberate their approach becomes.

For players, the value of these spaces often comes from the people around them. Ibrahim describes cafes as an early stage of learning. There is still a gap between playing and training. Most cafes are not structured in a way that supports long-term development, and improvement often depends on individual effort. But the shift, however gradual, is evident.



The gap

If cafes are where the journey begins, they are also, for many, where it slows down.

The progression from casual play to competitive gaming exists in theory. Players improve, form teams, and begin to compete locally. But moving beyond that stage is where the process starts to break. Not because the skill is not there, but because the system around it is incomplete.

At the player level, the frustration is immediate. &ldquo;You hear about players making it, but for most of us, the path is not clear,&rdquo; says Laiq. &ldquo;It feels more like having luck or connections than a proper system.&rdquo; The effort continues, but without direction. Over time, that uncertainty begins to weigh on players who are trying to take it seriously.

Beyond infrastructure, players also point to the absence of institutional support. Ibrahim believes that recognition at a national level could change how players are treated and supported. He argues that esports players need to be recognised as athletes, with easier access to visas and documentation for international events. At the same time, he highlights the lack of sponsorship and branding opportunities, noting that without visibility and financial backing, even the most skilled players struggle to sustain themselves in the long run.

That drop-off is not always visible, but it is constant. At the infrastructure level, the issue becomes one of continuity. Spaces like gaming cafes and esports hubs provide an entry point, but they are not connected to a larger system that can carry players forward. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no clear pathway for a player to follow,&rdquo; says Akber. &ldquo;Spaces like ours can help players develop the initial skill and mindset. From there, they need tournaments, organisations, and exposure to take the next step. Right now, those pieces exist, but they&rsquo;re not fully connected.



The bridge and the future

Many organisations are attempting to create some form of continuity between local talent and higher levels of competition. The focus, according to Chishty, has been on introducing a level of consistency that the local scene has historically lacked. By hosting events and building competitive platforms, the aim is to give players a space where their skills can be tested beyond informal settings, and where performance can translate into recognition.

That effort, however, is still part of a larger transition. There is also a gradual shift in how gaming spaces themselves are being viewed. The idea of cafes evolving into more structured environments is no longer distant. Chishty believes the model can change, but it requires support.]]>
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			<title>China tech giant Tencent logs 16% jump in annual net profit</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2598277/china-tech-giant-tencent-logs-16-jump-in-annual-net-profit</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2598277/china-tech-giant-tencent-logs-16-jump-in-annual-net-profit#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 26 11:14:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category><category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2598277</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Tencent ramps up AI investment amid strong gaming-led revenue growth]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Chinese internet giant Tencent on Wednesday reported a 16 percent jump in full-year net profit, with gaming still its main business driver even as the company extends its AI push.

Tencent, the world&#39;s largest video game publisher, is competing to offer artificial intelligence tools with its domestic tech rivals including Alibaba, Baidu and ByteDance.

&quot;We sustained healthy growth rates in 2025, as AI capabilities improved our ad targeting and supported more engagement with our games,&quot; CEO Ma Huateng said in a statement. &quot;Our highly resilient and cash generative core businesses provide us with the resources to fund our increasing investments in AI.&quot;

The Shenzhen-based company has recently branched out into the world of AI agents -- tools that execute real-life tasks such as sending emails or booking flights -- with its WorkBuddy app.

The tool, released this month, is a foray into an area some see as the technology&#39;s next frontier after chatbots such as ChatGPT.

On Wednesday, Tencent said net profit for 2025 came to 224.8 billion yuan ($32.6 billion), beating estimates of 221.9 billion yuan in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Tencent, which owns the developer of popular eSports including &quot;League of Legends&quot;, also has sizeable operations in other sectors from cloud computing to entertainment.

Read: A mystery AI model has developers buzzing: Is this DeepSeek&#39;s latest blockbuster?

So far Tencent has been seen as a cautious artificial intelligence player, although Ma recently vowed to increase investment in the sector, calling it &quot;the only field worth investing in&quot;.

The company has sought in recent years to integrate AI into WeChat, the multifunctional app it operates that is widely used in China.

It has also been among the Chinese tech giants racing to take advantage of a surge in interest in the country in OpenClaw, an AI agent platform created by an Austrian programmer.

Tencent -- China&#39;s most valuable tech company by market capitalisation -- and its rivals are offering simplified installation and affordable coding plans to help users host OpenClaw agents on cloud servers.

The Financial Times reported this month that the White House was debating whether Tencent&#39;s investment in US and Finnish gaming groups pose a national security risk.

Discussions over its stakes in &quot;Fortnite&quot; creator Epic Games, Riot Games and Supercell centres around the implications for US user data privacy, the British newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Tencent did not respond to an AFP inquiry seeking comment on the report.]]>
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			<title>GTA 6 physical release may slip to 2027 as Rockstar looks to prevent leaks</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2589191/gta-6-physical-release-may-slip-to-2027-as-rockstar-looks-to-prevent-leaks</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2589191/gta-6-physical-release-may-slip-to-2027-as-rockstar-looks-to-prevent-leaks#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 26 Jan 26 18:15:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Pop Culture &amp; Art]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2589191</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[GTA 6 may launch digitally in 2026, with physical copies reportedly delayed to 2027 due to leak concerns]]>
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				<![CDATA[The physical release of Grand Theft Auto VI could be delayed until 2027, according to a new insider report that has sparked fresh debate among fans eagerly awaiting Rockstar Games&rsquo; next blockbuster title.

GTA 6 is currently scheduled to launch digitally on November 19, 2026, but a report from Polish outlet PPE suggests that Rockstar and its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, may hold back the boxed edition to reduce the risk of leaks. The claim comes from insider Graczdari, who has previously shared accurate information about titles such as Oblivion: Remastered.

According to the report, Take-Two is not planning to release a physical version of GTA 6 alongside the digital launch. The reasoning is reportedly tied to preventing early leaks, an issue that has plagued Rockstar throughout the game&rsquo;s development. The studio has already dealt with major unauthorized gameplay footage and confirmed that several leaked details circulating online were legitimate.

There is currently no consensus on how long the delay could last. Some sources cited by PPE suggest physical copies could arrive three to four weeks after the digital release. Others believe the boxed edition may not be available until early 2027, potentially leaving collectors waiting months longer.

More clarity may come soon. Take-Two&rsquo;s next quarterly earnings call is scheduled for February 3, which could bring updates on GTA 6 pre-orders and release plans. Industry watchers expect Rockstar to gradually ramp up its marketing campaign in the months ahead.

Given GTA 6&rsquo;s massive anticipation and Rockstar&rsquo;s history with leaks, delaying the physical release may be a strategic move. For now, fans should expect more official details as the 2026 launch window approaches.]]>
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			<title>Apple plans affordable iPhone 17e with upgraded chip</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2591746/apple-plans-affordable-iphone-17e-with-upgraded-chip</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2591746/apple-plans-affordable-iphone-17e-with-upgraded-chip#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 26 05:58:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Web Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2591746</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[It is also expected to include Apple’s in-house cellular, Wi-Fi chips]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Apple is preparing to introduce a more affordable version of the iPhone 17 alongside an upgraded version of its Siri voice assistant, according to a recent report by Bloomberg.

The company is planning to launch the iPhone 17e, which will follow last year&rsquo;s iPhone 16e &mdash; a lower-priced model that used older hardware to reduce costs.

According to Bloomberg, the new iPhone 17e will feature a more powerful processor, matching that of the standard iPhone 17. It is also expected to include Apple&rsquo;s in-house cellular and Wi-Fi chips.

The report adds that, for the first time, a lower-priced iPhone model will support wireless MagSafe charging.

Despite the upgrades, the device is expected to retain its price tag of $599 or &pound;599, with no increase anticipated.

Read:&nbsp;Everything Apple announced at its September 2025 iPhone 17 keynote event

Earlier on September 9, 2025,&nbsp;Apple unveiled its latest products during the highly anticipated iPhone 17.

They introduced the iPhone 17 lineup, a new ultra-slim model called the iPhone Air, updated Apple Watches, and the long-awaited AirPods Pro 3.

The highlight was the iPhone Air, Apple&rsquo;s thinnest iPhone ever, at just 5.6mm. Positioned as part of a multi-year redesign strategy, the Air aims to redefine Apple&rsquo;s smartphone form factor. Alongside it, the standard iPhone 17 iPhone 17 Pro and iphone 17 Pro Max also made their debut with upgraded cameras and design refinements.

On the wearable front, Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 11, featuring 5G connectivity, improved durability, and new health-monitoring capabilities, including hypertension alerts. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 introduced satellite connectivity, a larger edge-to-edge display, and up to 42 hours of battery life.

Meanwhile, the entry-level Apple Watch SE 3 received upgrades including an always-on display, the faster S10 processor, sleep apnea detection, and 5G support, starting at $249.

&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Samsung unveils Galaxy Z TriFold, its most expensive foldable yet</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2580147/samsung-unveils-galaxy-z-trifold-its-most-expensive-foldable-yet</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2580147/samsung-unveils-galaxy-z-trifold-its-most-expensive-foldable-yet#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 25 08:43:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2580147</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Samsung says the 10-inch triple-fold model is a ‘special edition’, not aimed at mass sales]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Galaxy Z TriFold will go on sale on December 12 and costs more than twice as much as the new iPhone 17 at $2,443.

Super thin, it unfolds to a 10-inch (25.4 centimetre) display, offering &quot;increased possibilities for creating and working&quot;, the South Korean tech giant said. The triple fold function is not a world-first, as&nbsp;China&#39;s Huawei beat Samsung to the punch last year with a phone at a similar price.

Growth has been patchy in the competitive smartphone market, prompting manufacturers to find innovative, eye-catching ways to differentiate their products.

Offered solely in a black design, Samsung&#39;s new device comes in at 309 grams&nbsp;and at its thinnest point measures less than 0.2 inches. Generative artificial intelligence features are integrated into the phone, which can give real-time help through screen or camera sharing.

Samsung admitted the Galaxy Z TriFold was &quot;not intended for mass sales&quot;. Alex Lim, executive vice president at Samsung Electronics, said it was a &quot;special edition&quot; product.

The launch comes as recent industry numbers suggest Apple is on track to overtake Samsung for the first time in 14 years as the world&#39;s top smartphone maker through 2029.

Apple has also long been rumoured to be planning a foldable iPhone, possibly as early as next year.

The US company&#39;s smartphone shipments are expected to reach a global share of 19.4% in 202,5, while Samsung is expected to hold 18.7%, with Apple effectively dethroning its rival for the first time, according to research firm Counterpoint.]]>
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			<title>Pebble smartwatches make comeback with August 2025 release</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2558860/pebble-smartwatches-make-comeback-with-august-2025-release</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2558860/pebble-smartwatches-make-comeback-with-august-2025-release#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 31 Jul 25 07:50:29 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Web Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2558860</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Pebble 2 Duo and Time 2, priced at $149-$225, revive PebbleOS with August shipping; US orders face $10 tariff]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The iconic Pebble smartwatch brand is set to make a comeback, with founder Eric Migicovsky announcing that his company, Core Devices, has reacquired the Pebble trademark.

Two upcoming smartwatches, previously known as Core 2 Duo and Core Time 2, will now launch as Pebble 2 Duo and Pebble Time 2, reviving the name that pioneered the smartwatch market.

Migicovsky, who founded Pebble before its closure in 2016, revealed the rebranding in a blog post.



Posted a big Pebble update! https://t.co/V7OpcQAqXe pic.twitter.com/iEZbFrFYeI
&mdash; Eric Migicovsky (@ericmigi) July 25, 2025



The watches, powered by the open-source PebbleOS, are designed to recapture the charm of the original devices. The Pebble 2 Duo is in beta testing, while the Pebble Time 2 is undergoing engineering verification.

Both are available for pre-order on Core Devices&rsquo; rePebble website, priced at $149 for the Pebble 2 Duo and $225 for the Pebble Time 2.

The Pebble 2 Duo is expected to begin shipping by late August, delayed from an earlier July target due to enhanced waterproofing tests and the addition of a waterproof speaker.

US&nbsp;customers face a $10 tariff per Pebble 2 Duo, as the watches are shipped from Hong Kong, with non-US&nbsp;orders unaffected.

Migicovsky noted the Pebble 2 Duo&rsquo;s Bluetooth range reaches approximately 140 metres in open areas, slightly more in urban settings.

The Pebble Time 2 has received a sleeker design, though details remain sparse as it progresses through testing.

The return of the Pebble name, nearly a decade after its discontinuation, has sparked excitement among smartwatch enthusiasts.&nbsp;



I can&#39;t remember the last time I was legitimately giddy to receive something in the mail

From the first @Kickstarter in 2012 to now, the new @Pebble Alpha, have been a supporter for over a decade now

damn i&#39;m old pic.twitter.com/dNFfOee4qS
&mdash; Josh Cohenzadeh (@jshchnz) July 15, 2025



&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>WhatsApp rolls out fun filters and backgrounds for video calls</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2500381/whatsapp-rolls-out-fun-filters-and-backgrounds-for-video-calls</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2500381/whatsapp-rolls-out-fun-filters-and-backgrounds-for-video-calls#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 03 Oct 24 06:55:50 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[News Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2500381</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[These new features are expected to be available to all WhatsApp users in the coming weeks.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[WhatsApp is rolling out new features designed to make video calls more engaging and fun. The messaging app has introduced filters and backgrounds, allowing users to add a personal touch to their video calls, whether it&#39;s a one-on-one conversation or a group call.

Although these features are already available on competitor apps like Zoom, WhatsApp is bringing them to an app primarily used for social, rather than work-related, calls.

Similar to Instagram&#39;s filters (also owned by Meta), WhatsApp&rsquo;s filters allow users to adjust the look of their video during a call.

This means there&rsquo;s no need to worry about tidying up your space or arranging a backdrop to impress&mdash;users can simply select a background that hides any mess or distraction, making it easier to focus on the conversation.

With 10 backgrounds available, users can choose from options like Blur, Office, Living Room, Caf&eacute;, Beach, Sunset, Pebbles, Foodie, Celebration, Forest, and the quirky Smoosh.

These backgrounds give users the flexibility to transform their environment instantly, hiding clutter or adding a polished touch to their surroundings.

In addition, there are 10 filter options, including Warm, Cool, Black &amp; White, and Vintage TV, providing a playful way to change the atmosphere of your video.

WhatsApp has also introduced Touch up and Low Light features, which &ldquo;can help you feel more confident and comfortable by naturally enhancing the look and brightness of your environment, making your video calls more vibrant and enjoyable,&rdquo; according to the announcement.

To access these effects, users can simply tap the effects icon during a video call and choose from the available options.

These new features are expected to be available to all WhatsApp users in the coming weeks, further enhancing the video call experience.]]>
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			<title>Meta bans Russian state media outlets over 'foreign interference'</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2496794/meta-bans-russian-state-media-outlets-over-foreign-interference</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2496794/meta-bans-russian-state-media-outlets-over-foreign-interference#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 17 Sep 24 08:50:46 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[News Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2496794</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Meta accuses outlets RT and Rossiya Segodnya of employing tactics to manipulate public opinion and evade detection]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, announced a global ban on Russian state media outlets, including RT and Rossiya Segodnya.

This decision is part of an intensified crackdown on alleged foreign interference, with Meta accusing these outlets of employing deceptive tactics to manipulate public opinion and evade detection.

The ban follows recent US actions, including money-laundering charges against two RT employees who allegedly orchestrated a scheme to influence the 2024 election.

According to Meta, Russian state-controlled media have previously attempted to evade detection through covert activities, prompting the company to take more stringent measures.

Meta&#39;s move marks a significant escalation in its approach to Russian state media, which had previously faced only limited restrictions, such as ad bans and reduced post visibility.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called for treating Russian media operations as covert intelligence activities, reinforcing the government&#39;s stance on combating foreign influence.

He recently announced new sanctions against RT, labeling it as an extension of Russian intelligence operations aimed at undermining democratic processes.

RT has dismissed these accusations, labeling them as attempts to stifle its journalistic activities.

In response to Meta&#39;s ban, RT&#39;s spokesperson denounced the actions as unfounded and politically motivated.

The ban on these Russian media outlets is expected to be enforced over the coming days.

Meta has also been censoring Palestinian creators and activists during Israel&#39;s brutal onslaught on besieged Gaza.

The social media company was recently found censoring posts made by the Prime Minister of Malaysia,&nbsp;several Turkish government officials along with journliats and activitsts. Some of these take downs were attributed to glitches, which coinidently were always targeted pro-Palestinian voices in favour of Israel.

A Human Rights Watch report last year revealed that Meta&rsquo;s policies and practices have been suppressing voices advocating for Palestine and Palestinian human rights on Instagram and Facebook.&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Meet Noor Pakistan: The multilingual chatbot ready to assist at the defence exhibition</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2495041/meet-noor-pakistan-the-multilingual-chatbot-ready-to-assist-at-the-defence-exhibition</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2495041/meet-noor-pakistan-the-multilingual-chatbot-ready-to-assist-at-the-defence-exhibition#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 10 Sep 24 12:02:30 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[News Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2495041</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Around 40 mobile chatbot robots offering support in 25 different languages are being prepared for the IDEAS exhibition]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Chatbots, created by engineering universities in Pakistan, will now be able to&nbsp;assist and guide international delegates at a defence exhibition taking place this November.

The AI-powered chatbot project is a collaborative effort between Dawood University of Engineering and Ziauddin University, and it has been named &ldquo;Noor Pakistan.&rdquo;

The Noor Pakistan robot, designed to assist delegates at major national events in Pakistan, is being led by Dr. Samreen, Vice Chancellor of Dawood University of Engineering.

The team developing the chatbot is guided by Dr. Sheikh Mohammad Nafeh from the Computer Science and Software Engineering Department at Ziauddin University.

The student team includes Sharif Khan, Zoha, Mohammad Saeed, and others.

Dr. Sheikh Mohammad Nafeh, speaking about the project, explained that the goal is to create a bot capable of generating its own responses about major events. This bot was first unveiled at the IEEEP exhibition.

This bot will be officially presented at the IDEAS 2024 defence exhibition in November. Noor Pakistan, equipped with artificial intelligence, will function like a brain, capable of understanding and responding in multiple languages.

The chatbot will be designed in the form of a robot to provide on-the-go assistance and guidance to delegates.

For the IDEAS exhibition, around 40 mobile chatbot robots will be prepared, offering support in 25 different languages. In addition to answering questions about the IDEAS exhibition, they will guide delegates to specific halls or stalls.]]>
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			<title>Indonesia to restrict social media access for children under 16, minister says</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2596121/indonesia-to-restrict-social-media-access-for-children-under-16-minister-says</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2596121/indonesia-to-restrict-social-media-access-for-children-under-16-minister-says#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 26 09:20:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2596121</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[&quot;The process will be done gradually until all platforms perform their obligations&quot; said Indonesia's digital minister]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Indonesia will restrict access to social media platforms for children under 16, its communications and digital ministry said on Friday, making it the latest country to install online guardrails to reduce the risks of addiction and cyberbullying.

A number of governments have imposed curbs on social media for children amid mounting concerns over the impact that social media is having on the safety and mental health of minors.

Australia introduced a ban on social media for under-16s in December, and Spain also said last month that it would ban access to social media for minors under 16.

Indonesia&#39;s neighbour Malaysiaannounced in November that it would also ban social media for users under the age of 16 starting from 2026.

Meutya Hafid, Indonesia&#39;s Communications and Digital Minister, said in a video statement that the government will &quot;delay access&quot; to social media accounts for children under 16 through a ministerial regulation issued on Friday.

Starting March 28, accounts owned by children under 16 on &quot;high risk platforms&quot; will be gradually deactivated, Meutya said, adding the platforms include TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Roblox.

&quot;The process will be done gradually until all platforms perform their obligations,&quot; she said, without elaborating on what they need to do to meet the new requirements.

&quot;We realise this may cause discomfort in the beginning. Children may complain and parents may be confused dealing with their complaints.&quot;

&quot;Our children are facing risks, from porn, cyberbullying, online fraud to most importantly, addiction,&quot; she said, adding Indonesia will be the first non-Western country to impose such restrictions.

TikTok, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and Roblox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The details of the new regulation have yet to be revealed. Ministry officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Internet penetration in Indonesia, a country of about 280 million people, reached 79.5% in 2024, according to a survey of 8,700 people by the Indonesia internet service providers&#39; association.

The survey showed 48% of children under 12 had access to the internet, with some respondents of that age group using Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. The survey showed internet penetration stood at 87% among &quot;Gen Z&quot; users aged 12 to 27.]]>
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			<image>
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			<title>Meta offers support for AI models as Pakistan deepens digital push</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2555152/meta-offers-support-for-ai-models-as-pakistan-deepens-digital-push</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2555152/meta-offers-support-for-ai-models-as-pakistan-deepens-digital-push#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 25 11:23:48 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2555152</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Meta presented its latest developments in AI, including LLaMA, generative AI tools, and Urdu-language AI models]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, met with a high-level delegation from Meta, led by Sarim Aziz, Director of Public Policy for South and Central Asia, to discuss strengthening Pakistan&rsquo;s digital infrastructure, scaling artificial intelligence adoption, and empowering youth through technology.

Meta presented its latest developments in AI, including the LLaMA open-source models, Generative AI tools for public sector innovation, and work on Urdu-language AI models.

The company also expressed interest in helping Pakistan build local AI capacity and expanding technical training initiatives.

Shaza Fatima reiterated the government&#39;s full commitment to a digital Pakistan, emphasizing that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally chairs weekly meetings on the country&rsquo;s shift toward a cashless economy.

She stressed that digital skills for youth remain a top national priority, and that public-private partnerships like this are essential to unlocking the country&rsquo;s future potential.

&ldquo;The effective use of AI is not optional&mdash;it is foundational for Pakistan&rsquo;s next phase of development,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Initiatives that enhance youth capacity and improve public service delivery are not just welcome&mdash;they&rsquo;re necessary.&rdquo;

Both sides agreed to explore deeper collaboration in digital skilling, AI adoption in governance, and innovation-driven partnerships that can accelerate Pakistan&rsquo;s digital transformation.]]>
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			<title>Spain to probe X, Meta, TikTok over AI-generated child sexual abuse material</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2593046/spain-to-probe-x-meta-tiktok-over-ai-generated-child-sexual-abuse-material</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2593046/spain-to-probe-x-meta-tiktok-over-ai-generated-child-sexual-abuse-material#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 26 09:05:05 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2593046</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Announcement comes as European regulators are cracking down on big tech companies]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Spanish government has ordered prosecutors to investigate social media platforms X, Meta META.O and TikTok for allegedly spreading AI-generated child sexual abuse material, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday.

The announcement comes as European regulators are cracking down on big tech companies, alleging the prevalence of abusive practices on online platforms ranging from anti-competitive behaviour in digital advertising to deliberate design of addictive features on social media.

The three companies named by Sanchez did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

&quot;These platforms are undermining the mental health, dignity, and rights of our children,&quot; Sanchez wrote on his X account. &quot;The state cannot allow this. The impunity of these giants must end.&quot;

He said the government would ask prosecutors to &quot;investigate the crimes that X, Meta, and TikTok may be committing through the creation and dissemination of child pornography using their AI&quot;.

Read: France moves to ban social media for users under 15

Spain is not the only country probing sexually explicit content generated by Elon Musk&#39;s xAI chatbot Grok on X - other governments have launched investigations, bans and demands for safeguards in a growing global push to curb illegal material.

Earlier this month, Sanchez announced several measures aimed at curbing online abuse and protecting children, including a proposed ban on access to social media platforms for those under the age of 16.

On the same day, French police raided the offices of Musk&#39;s X and prosecutors ordered the tech billionaire to face questions in a widening investigation amid growing scrutiny of the platform by authorities across Europe.

In November, Sanchez said that Spain&#39;s parliament would investigate Meta for possible privacy violations of its Facebook and Instagram users.

Meanwhile, Ireland&#39;s Data Protection Commission said on Tuesday it had opened a formal investigation into Grok over the processing of personal data and its potential to produce harmful sexualised images and video, including of children.]]>
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				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/Spanish-Prime-Minister-Pedro-Sanchez1694269801-1/Spanish-Prime-Minister-Pedro-Sanchez1694269801-1.png" class="featured_image"/>
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			<title>‘The Core’: Al Jazeera rolls out AI system for news production</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2583477/the-core-al-jazeera-rolls-out-ai-system-for-news-production</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2583477/the-core-al-jazeera-rolls-out-ai-system-for-news-production#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 25 08:55:18 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Web Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category><category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2583477</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Partnership aims to combine AI-driven content creation with human editorial expertise]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Al Jazeera Media Network has announced&nbsp;a new ArtificiaI Intelligence&nbsp;initiative,&nbsp;developed in&nbsp;partnership with Google Cloud&nbsp;aimed at integrating AI more deeply into newsroom operations.

The project, named &ldquo;The Core,&rdquo; was announced on December 15 as an integrative AI‑driven model designed to AI&#39;s role in journalism from a passive tool to an active partner in news production, while retaining editorial control.





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Built on what Al Jazeera describes as a &ldquo;cognitive operating model,&rdquo; The Core embeds generative AI across multiple stages of the news lifecycle, including information gathering, data analysis, content creation and distribution, with human editors overseeing all editorial decisions.

According to Al Jazeera and Google Cloud, The Core integrates Google&rsquo;s AI suite across six interdependent pillars that form the system&rsquo;s backbone. These include:


	AJ Now: a central platform that assists with suggesting questions, generating angles and drafting summaries, which will use Google Cloud&#39;s compute engine, Gemini Enterprise, Vertex AI Search and other generative tools.
	AJ‑LLM (Editorial Brain): a large language model (LLM) fine‑tuned on Al Jazeera&rsquo;s own archives to help with translation, summarisation and real‑time contextual analysis.
	AJ Vision: supports immersive content creation with generative AI tools, including Imagen, Veo, and others.
	AJ Data Lake: uses data analytics to uncover trends and support data‑driven reporting using BigQuery and Gemini Data Agents.
	Operations&nbsp;Engine: focused on automating internal workflows through Gemini for Workspace.
	Academic and Knowledge Arm: Offers training for journalists on advanced AI tools.


Some observers have raised questions about potential bias associated with the use of Google Cloud, citing the company&rsquo;s broader regional technology partnerships, including Project Nimbus. Al Jazeera has said the system&rsquo;s language model will be trained on its own editorial archives and remain under continuous human oversight, which it says will help mitigate such concerns.

Sheikh Nasser bin Faisal Al Thani, director general of Al Jazeera Media Network, said the initiative reflected the organisation&rsquo;s ambition to build &ldquo;a global technological ecosystem&rdquo; that strengthens its position in the AI era, while preserving editorial judgment.

Alex Rutter, managing director for AI in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Google Cloud, said the initiative&rsquo;s tools were designed to reshape how journalists research, produce and publish news, as well as how audiences engage with it.

Under the expanded partnership, Al Jazeera will deploy Google Cloud&rsquo;s AI infrastructure and agent-based systems across its global operations. Both organisations stressed that editors and reporters would remain central to all editorial decisions, with AI serving a supporting role.

Details regarding data-centre locations, regional infrastructure and deployment timelines have not been publicly disclosed.]]>
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			<title>Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2583469/meta-is-earning-a-fortune-on-a-deluge-of-fraudulent-ads-documents-show</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2583469/meta-is-earning-a-fortune-on-a-deluge-of-fraudulent-ads-documents-show#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 25 06:33:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category><category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2583469</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Meta internally estimated 10% of its 2024 revenue could come from scam-linked advertising, documents show]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Meta internally projected late last year that it would earn about 10% of its overall annual revenue &ndash; or $16 billion &ndash; from running advertising for scams and banned goods, internal company documents show.

A cache of previously unreported documents reviewed by Reuters also shows that the social-media giant for at least three years failed to identify and stop an avalanche of ads that exposed Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp&rsquo;s billions of users to fraudulent e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal online casinos, and the sale of banned medical products.

On average, one December 2024 document notes, the company shows its platforms&rsquo; users an estimated 15 billion &ldquo;higher risk&rdquo; scam advertisements &ndash; those that show clear signs of being fraudulent &ndash; every day. Meta earns about $7 billion in annualized revenue from this category of scam ads each year, another late 2024 document states.

Much of the fraud came from marketers acting suspiciously enough to be flagged by Meta&rsquo;s internal warning systems. But the company only bans advertisers if its automated systems predict the marketers are at least 95% certain to be committing fraud, the documents show. If the company is less certain &ndash; but still believes the advertiser is a likely scammer &ndash; Meta charges higher ad rates as a penalty, according to the documents. The idea is to dissuade suspect advertisers from placing ads.

The documents further note that users who click on scam ads are likely to see more of them because of Meta&rsquo;s ad-personalization system, which tries to deliver ads based on a user&rsquo;s interests.


Meta estimates that it shows its users 15 billion scam ads a day. These screenshots show false ads Meta removed from Facebook after Reuters flagged them. Spice maker McCormick confirmed the ad in its name was fake. Elon Musk, the White House and law firm Hogan Lovells had no comment. Screenshot via REUTERS

The details of Meta&rsquo;s confidential self-appraisal are drawn from documents created between 2021 and this year across Meta&rsquo;s finance, lobbying, engineering and safety divisions. Together, they reflect Meta&rsquo;s efforts to quantify the scale of abuse on its platforms &ndash; and the company&rsquo;s hesitancy to crack down in ways that could harm its business interests.

Meta&rsquo;s acceptance of revenue from sources it suspects are committing fraud highlights the lack of regulatory oversight of the advertising industry, said Sandeep Abraham, a fraud examiner and former Meta safety investigator who now runs a consultancy called Risky Business Solutions.

&ldquo;If regulators wouldn&rsquo;t tolerate banks profiting from fraud, they shouldn&rsquo;t tolerate it in tech,&rdquo; he told Reuters.

In a statement, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the documents seen by Reuters &ldquo;present a selective view that distorts Meta&rsquo;s approach to fraud and scams.&rdquo; The company&rsquo;s internal estimate that it would earn 10.1% of its 2024 revenue from scams and other prohibited ads was &ldquo;rough and overly-inclusive,&rdquo; Stone said. The company had later determined that the true number was lower, because the estimate included &ldquo;many&rdquo; legitimate ads as well, he said. He declined to provide an updated figure.

&ldquo;The assessment was done to validate our planned integrity investments &ndash; including in combatting frauds and scams &ndash; which we did,&rdquo; Stone said. He added: &ldquo;We aggressively fight fraud and scams because people on our platforms don&rsquo;t want this content, legitimate advertisers don&rsquo;t want it and we don&rsquo;t want it either.&rdquo;

&quot;Over the past 18 months, we have reduced user reports of scam ads globally by 58 percent and, so far in 2025, we&rsquo;ve removed more than 134 million pieces of scam ad content,&rdquo; Stone said.

Some of the documents show Meta vowing to do more. &quot;We have large goals to reduce ad scams in 2025,&quot; states a 2024 document, with Meta hoping to reduce such ads in certain markets by as much as 50%. In other places, documents show managers congratulating staffers for successful scam reduction efforts.

At the same time, the documents indicate that Meta&rsquo;s own research suggests its products have become a pillar of the global fraud economy. A May 2025 presentation by its safety staff estimated that the company&rsquo;s platforms were involved in a third of all successful scams in the U.S. Meta also acknowledged in other internal documents that some of its main competitors were doing a better job at weeding out fraud on their platforms.

&ldquo;It is easier to advertise scams on Meta platforms than Google,&rdquo; concluded an internal Meta review in April 2025 of online communities where fraudsters discuss their trade. The document doesn&rsquo;t lay out the reasons behind that conclusion.

The insights from the documents come at a time when regulators worldwide are pushing the company to do more to protect its users from online fraud. In the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Meta for running ads for financial scams, according to the internal documents. In Britain, a regulator last year said it found that Meta&rsquo;s products were involved in 54% of all payments-related scam losses in 2023, more than double all other social platforms combined.

The SEC and the UK regulator didn&rsquo;t respond to questions for this report. Meta&rsquo;s Stone referred Reuters to the company&rsquo;s latest SEC disclosures, which state that the company&rsquo;s efforts to address illicit advertising &ldquo;adversely affect our revenue, and we expect that the continued enhancement of such efforts will have an impact on our revenue in the future, which may be material.&rdquo;

The regulatory pressure on Meta to do more to fight scams occurs as the company, in a race with competitors, is pouring money into artificial intelligence and plans as much as $72 billion this year in overall capital expenditures. While acknowledging the spending is &ldquo;a massive amount of capital,&rdquo; chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has sought to reassure investors that Meta&rsquo;s advertising business can bankroll it.

&quot;We have the capital from our business to do this,&quot; he said in July, when announcing that to support AI, Meta was constructing a data center in Ohio that will be the size of New York City&rsquo;s Central Park.

In the internal documents, Meta weighs the costs of beefing up its enforcement of scam ads against the toll of financial penalties from governments for failing to protect its users.

The documents make clear that Meta aims to reduce its illicit revenue stream in the future. But the company is concerned that abrupt reductions of scam advertising revenue could affect its business projections, according to a 2025 document that discusses the impact of &ldquo;violating revenue&rdquo; &ndash; income from ads that violate Meta&rsquo;s standards, such as scams, illegal gambling, sexual services or dubious health products.

The documents note that Meta plans to try to cut the share of Facebook and Instagram revenue derived from scam ads. In the meantime, Meta has internally acknowledged that regulatory fines for scam ads are certain, and anticipates penalties of up to $1 billion, according to one internal document.

But those fines would be much smaller than Meta&rsquo;s revenue from scam ads, a separate document from November 2024 states. Every six months, Meta earns $3.5 billion from just the portion of scam ads that &ldquo;present higher legal risk,&rdquo; the document says, such as those falsely claiming to represent a consumer brand or public figure or demonstrating other signs of deceit. That figure almost certainly exceeds &ldquo;the cost of any regulatory settlement involving scam ads.&rdquo;

Rather than voluntarily agreeing to do more to vet advertisers, the same document states, the company&rsquo;s leadership decided to act only in response to impending regulatory action.

Stone disputed the strategy documents&rsquo; assertions that Meta should only act if forced. That isn&rsquo;t the company&rsquo;s policy, he said.

&quot;It is easier to advertise scams on Meta platforms than Google.&quot;
Internal Meta review from April 2025.

Meta has also placed restrictions on how much revenue it is willing to lose from acting against suspect advertisers, the documents say. In the first half of 2025, a February document states, the team responsible for vetting questionable advertisers wasn&rsquo;t allowed to take actions that could cost Meta more than 0.15% of the company&rsquo;s total revenue. That works out to about $135 million out of the $90 billion Meta generated in the first half of 2025.

&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s be cautious,&rdquo; wrote the manager overseeing the effort, noting that the allowed revenue hit included both scam ads and &ldquo;benign&rdquo; ones that were mistakenly blocked. &ldquo;We have specific revenue guardrails.&rdquo;

Meta&rsquo;s Stone said that the 0.15% figure cited came from a revenue projection document and was not a hard limit.

Amid intensifying pressure to do more to combat scams on Meta&rsquo;s platforms, executives presented Zuckerberg with a plan in October 2024 for what they called a moderate approach to scam enforcement. Instead of a rapid crackdown, the company would focus its efforts on countries where it feared near-term regulatory action, according to a document that outlined the strategy.

Following the meeting with the CEO, Meta executives in charge of enforcing the integrity of the company&#39;s platforms settled on trying to reduce the percentage of revenue attributable to scams, illegal gambling and prohibited goods from an estimated 10.1% in 2024 to 7.3% by the end of 2025. By the end of 2026, Meta aims to further cut that figure to 6%, and then to 5.8% in 2027, the strategy memo and other documents show.



An excerpt from a November 2024 strategy document discussing Meta&rsquo;s scam ad revenue and legal risks. Screenshot via REUTERS

A surge in online fraud

In 2022, a document from that year notes, Meta discovered a six-figure network of accounts pretending to be members of the U.S. military deployed in war zones. The accounts were sending millions of messages a week trying to charm Facebook users into losing their money. Sextortion &ndash; in which scammers obtain sexual images of a user, often a teenager, under false pretenses and then blackmail them &ndash; also was becoming commonplace on Meta&rsquo;s platforms. And a torrent of fake accounts pretending to be celebrities or represent major consumer brands were bamboozling users worldwide.

But despite the surge in online fraud, another 2022 document notes the company&rsquo;s &ldquo;lack of investment&rdquo; in automated scam detection back then. Meta classified scam ads as a &ldquo;low severity&rdquo; problem &ndash; viewing them as a bad &ldquo;user experience,&rdquo; the document says.

Internal documents show that Meta directed staffers then to focus mainly on fraudsters masquerading as celebrities and usurping major brands. Such &ldquo;impersonation scams&rdquo; risked upsetting advertisers and public figures, one 2022 document notes, and thus threatened to reduce user engagement and revenue.

But ongoing layoffs at Meta were hindering enforcement. A planning document for the first half of 2023 notes that everyone who worked on the team handling advertiser concerns about brand-rights issues had been laid off. The company was also devoting resources so heavily to virtual reality and AI that safety staffers were ordered to restrict their use of Meta&rsquo;s computing resources. They were instructed merely to &ldquo;keep the lights on.&rdquo;

Stone said that while layoffs had occurred, the company had substantially expanded the number of staff addressing scam advertising in recent years.

Meta also was ignoring the vast majority of user reports of scams, a document from 2023 indicates. By that year, safety staffers estimated that Facebook and Instagram users each week were filing about 100,000 valid reports of fraudsters messaging them, the document says. But Meta ignored or incorrectly rejected 96% of them.

Meta&rsquo;s safety staff resolved to do better. In the future, the company hoped to dismiss no more than 75% of valid scam reports, according to another 2023 document.

Erin West, a former Santa Clara County prosecutor who now runs a nonprofit devoted to combating scams, said Meta&rsquo;s default response to users flagging fraud was to ignore them.

&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know I&rsquo;ve ever seen something taken down as the result of a single user report,&rdquo; she said.

Last October, a recruiter for the Royal Canadian Air Force woke up to find herself locked out of her Facebook account. The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of her military status, had been hacked.

Soon a picture of a fake employment badge with her face on it appeared on her account &ndash; along with the text, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m super happy to announce I&rsquo;m crypto currency certified.&rdquo;



A sign at Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California. &ldquo;We aggressively fight fraud and scams because people on our platforms don&rsquo;t want this content, legitimate advertisers don&rsquo;t want it and we don&rsquo;t want it either,&rdquo; says spokesman Andy Stone. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

The recruiter said she immediately filed multiple reports with Meta. As weeks went by without a response, her account began claiming that she had struck it rich with crypto &ndash; even acquiring land for a dream home &ndash; and she wanted to give her friends the same opportunity.

The recruiter said her supervisor tried to get the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to help, but was told that Meta doesn&rsquo;t usually respond to hacked-account reports from the Mounties. So the recruiter warned her friends not to interact with her account and asked them to report her account to Meta, too.

Asked about the incident, the RCMP said it regularly raises reports of abuse on platforms such as Meta, but declined to comment on the specific case.

Nothing happened. After about a month, Mike Lavery, a former Canadian army officer who the recruiter had worked with years before, called her. He&#39;d lost C$40,000 (about $28,000) after investing in the crypto scam.

&ldquo;I thought I was talking to a trusted friend who has a really good reputation,&rdquo; Lavery told Reuters about the recruiter&rsquo;s hijacked Facebook account. &ldquo;Because of that, my guard was down.&rdquo;

The recruiter said she cried when Lavery told her what had happened. &ldquo;People were being harmed because they trust me,&rdquo; she said. She said she pleaded with friends to continue reporting her rogue account.

&ldquo;Dozens of people reported it, multiple times each,&rdquo; she said, estimating that Meta received more than 100 reports. By the time Meta finally took her hacked account offline, at least four other military colleagues had been defrauded, she said.

Brian Mason, an Edmonton Police investigator, was able to help track C$65,000 of the victims&rsquo; stolen funds to Nigeria. But recovering the money would likely be difficult or impossible, he told Reuters, because &ldquo;the money was converted into bank accounts in Nigeria that we can&rsquo;t touch.&rdquo;

Meta declined to comment on the air force recruiter&rsquo;s hacked account or its victims.

How meta polices fraud

Internally, Meta refers to scams like this one as &ldquo;organic,&rdquo; meaning they don&rsquo;t involve paid ads on its platforms. Organic scams include fraudulent classified ads placed for free on Facebook Marketplace, hoax dating profiles and charlatans touting phony cures in cancer-treatment groups.

According to a December 2024 presentation, Meta&rsquo;s user base is exposed to 22 billion organic scam attempts every day. That&rsquo;s on top of the 15 billion scam ads presented to users daily.

Meta polices fraud in a way that fails to capture much of the scam activity on its platforms, some of the documents indicate.

After police in Singapore gave the company a list of 146 examples of scams targeting that country&rsquo;s users last fall, Meta staff found that only 23% actually violated the platform&rsquo;s policies. The other 77% &ldquo;violate the spirit of the policy, but not the letter,&rdquo; a Meta presentation about the police reports notes.

The deceptive marketing flagged by Singaporean police that Meta didn&rsquo;t act on included &ldquo;too good to be true&rdquo; offers of 80% off a designer fashion brand, promotions for fake concert tickets, and job ads posted by entities falsely claiming to be major tech companies.

Other Meta safety staffers also documented instances in which the company&rsquo;s rules on scams didn&rsquo;t appear to cover obviously bad behavior. In April, staffers noted that they&rsquo;d discovered $250,000 in scam crypto ads from an account claiming to belong to Canada&rsquo;s prime minister.

&ldquo;Current policies would not flag this account!&rdquo; an internal document says. Meta&rsquo;s Stone said the ads were removed for other reasons. The prime minister&rsquo;s office didn&rsquo;t reply to a request for comment.



An excerpt from a 2025 document noting that Meta&rsquo;s rules on scams had &ldquo;gaps.&rdquo; Screenshot via REUTERS

The &lsquo;scammiest scammers&rsquo; list and &lsquo;penalty bids&rsquo;

Even when advertisers are caught red-handed, the rules can be lenient, the documents indicate. A small advertiser would have to get flagged for promoting financial fraud at least eight times before Meta blocked it, a 2024 document states. Some bigger spenders &ndash; known as &ldquo;High Value Accounts&rdquo; &ndash; could accrue more than 500 strikes without Meta shutting them down, other documents say.

Fraudulent ad campaigns can reach massive size: Four removed by Meta earlier this year were responsible for $67 million in monthly advertising revenue, a document reviewed by Reuters shows.

To draw attention to the company&rsquo;s perceived failures, an employee earlier this year began issuing reports highlighting that week&rsquo;s &ldquo;Scammiest Scammer.&rdquo; The report profiled whichever advertiser had earned the most user complaints about scams in the past week.

Colleagues praised the initiative. But being name-checked in the report wasn&rsquo;t always enough for such accounts to get shut down. A check by Reuters of five accounts cited in one Scammiest Scammer report found that two were still live more than six months later, including one that was running ads for unlicensed online casinos. After Reuters flagged those two accounts to Meta, they were taken down.

Reuters was unable to reach the entities behind the accounts.

The company last year developed a novel approach to reduce scam advertising and keep its enforcement costs low: It began charging suspected fraudsters more.

To advertise on Meta&rsquo;s platforms, a business has to compete in an online auction. Before the bidding, the company&rsquo;s automated systems calculate the odds that an advertiser is engaged in fraud. Under Meta&rsquo;s new policy, likely scammers who fall below Meta&rsquo;s threshold for removal would have to pay more to win an auction.

Documents from last summer called such &ldquo;penalty bids&rdquo; a centerpiece of Meta&rsquo;s efforts to reduce scams. Marketers suspected of committing fraud would have to pay Meta more to win ad auctions, thus impacting their profits and reducing the number of users exposed to their ads.

For Meta, the financial impact was mixed: While the company would sell fewer scam ads, it would make more money from those that it did, offsetting some of the lost revenue.

Stone said that the goal of the effort was to reduce overall scam advertising by making suspicious advertisers less competitive in Meta&rsquo;s ad auctions.

In the months following the implementation of the penalty bid program, Stone said, testing showed both a decline in scam reports and a slight decline in overall ad revenue.



Zuckerberg at a January 2024 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child sexual exploitation. Regulators worldwide are pushing Meta to do more to protect users from child predators, online fraud and other risks. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein]]>
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			<title>Govt to distribute 700,000 Chromebooks under PM youth initiative</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2581959/govt-to-distribute-700000-chromebooks-under-pm-youth-initiative</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2581959/govt-to-distribute-700000-chromebooks-under-pm-youth-initiative#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 13 Dec 25 09:08:29 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Web Desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category><category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2581959</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Students from all provinces, including AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, will be covered under the scheme]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Prime Minister&rsquo;s Youth Programme has announced the distribution of 700,000 Chromebooks to students across the country to expand digital access and support technology-driven education.

The initiative was unveiled by PM Youth Programme Chairman Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, who said the move aims to equip young people with modern learning tools and help bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas.

He said the Chromebooks would be provided to deserving students enrolled in schools, colleges and universities, adding that the programme would be implemented in phases to ensure transparency and effective monitoring.

According to the PMYP, students from all provinces, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, will be covered under the scheme.

The announcement comes as Pakistan moves toward local assembly of Chromebooks. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar recently described the start of Chromebook assembly in the country as an industrial milestone, saying it would support technology adoption, create jobs and strengthen the local manufacturing ecosystem.

Officials have said locally assembled devices would help reduce costs and improve access to affordable technology, particularly for students and educational institutions.

Rana Mashhood said Pakistan&rsquo;s youth was the country&rsquo;s most valuable asset and access to digital technology was essential to prepare them for future academic and professional challenges.

Officials said further details regarding eligibility criteria and the application process would be announced in due course.]]>
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			<title>OpenAI launches GPT‑5.2 AI model after ‘code red’ to counter Google competition</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2581822/openai-launches-gpt52-ai-model-after-code-red-to-counter-google-competition</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2581822/openai-launches-gpt52-ai-model-after-code-red-to-counter-google-competition#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 12 Dec 25 12:13:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2581822</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[GPT‑5.2 Instant, Thinking and Pro versions launching first on paid plans]]>
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				<![CDATA[OpenAI on Thursday launched its GPT-5.2 artificial intelligence model, after CEO Sam Altman reportedly issued an internal &quot;code red&quot; in early December pausing non‑core projects and redirecting teams to accelerate development in response to Google&#39;s Gemini 3.

GPT-5.2 comes with improvements in general intelligence, coding and long-context understanding, the company said in a statement.

The new model is expected to bring even more economic value for users, as it is better at creating spreadsheets, building presentations and handling complex multi-step projects, OpenAI said.

Alphabet&#39;s Google&nbsp;launched the latest version&nbsp;of its Gemini in November, highlighting Gemini 3&#39;s lead position on several popular industry leaderboards that measure AI model performance.

&quot;Gemini 3 has had less of an impact on our metrics than we feared,&quot; Altman said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday, alongside Disney&#39;s CEO Bob Iger.

Google did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Disney said on Thursday it is&nbsp;investing $1 billion in OpenAI&nbsp;and will let the startup use characters from Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel franchises in its Sora AI video generator.

Microsoft-backed&nbsp;OpenAI said that it currently has no plans to drop GPT‑5.1, GPT‑5, or GPT‑4.1 from its application programming interface.

GPT-5.2 Instant, Thinking, and Pro will begin rolling out in ChatGPT on Thursday, beginning with paid plans.]]>
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			<title>Anthropic unveils Opus 4.5 with major performance and memory upgrades</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2579554/anthropic-unveils-opus-45-with-major-performance-and-memory-upgrades</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2579554/anthropic-unveils-opus-45-with-major-performance-and-memory-upgrades#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 28 Nov 25 08:16:40 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Web Desk]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2579554</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Opus 4.5 delivers state-of-the-art results in coding tasks, tool-use evaluations, general reasoning tests]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Anthropic has introduced Opus 4.5, the latest and final release in its 4.5 series of AI models. The rollout follows earlier launches of Sonnet 4.5 in September and Haiku 4.5 in October.

The company says Opus 4.5 delivers state-of-the-art results across several benchmark categories, including coding tasks (SWE-Bench, Terminal-bench), tool-use evaluations (tau2-bench, MCP Atlas), and general reasoning tests such as ARC-AGI 2 and GPQA Diamond. It is also the first model to score above 80% on SWE-Bench Verified, a widely cited benchmark for code generation accuracy.

Anthropic is pairing the model with upgrades to its productivity tools. With the release of Opus 4.5, the company is expanding access to Claude for Chrome and Claude for Excel. The Chrome extension will now be available to all Max users, while the Excel-focused tool will be offered to Max, Team, and Enterprise subscribers.

Read: Sindh launches Pakistan&rsquo;s first-ever million-rupee esports championship

The model includes significant improvements in long-context performance, requiring changes to how it handles and manages memory. Speaking to TechCrunch, Anthropic&rsquo;s head of product management for research, Dianne Na Penn, said long context alone is not enough for high-quality output. &ldquo;Knowing the right details to remember is really important in addition to just having a longer context window,&rdquo; she said.

Those changes have enabled a long-requested &ldquo;endless chat&rdquo; feature for paying Claude users. Instead of stopping when the model reaches its context limit, Opus 4.5 can now compress earlier parts of the conversation automatically, without notifying the user.

Read also: Google to retire Assistant in March 2026 as Gemini takes over

Anthropic says many of the upgrades are designed for complex &ldquo;agentic&rdquo; workflows in which Opus serves as a lead system orchestrating tasks handled by smaller, Haiku-powered agents. These scenarios require strong working-memory capabilities, an area the company claims has seen substantial gains in this release.

Opus 4.5 enters a competitive field. Other major AI developers have introduced flagship models in recent weeks, including OpenAI with GPT 5.1 on November 12 and Google with Gemini 3 on November 18.]]>
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			<title>Google plans data hub on Christmas Island with green energy goals</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2577998/google-plans-data-hub-on-christmas-island-with-green-energy-goals</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2577998/google-plans-data-hub-on-christmas-island-with-green-energy-goals#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 18 Nov 25 06:11:38 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2577998</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The remote island will gain a tech boost as Google builds a hub tied to major subsea cables]]>
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				<![CDATA[Australia&#39;s remote Indian Ocean outpost of Christmas Island has enough power to support a new Google data centre without depriving locals, but its arrival could spur a push to renewable energy, the island&#39;s biggest employer and the tech giant said.

Alphabet&#39;s&nbsp;Google announced on Monday it will build a data hub on the tiny island located 350 km (220 miles) south of Indonesia, confirming a&nbsp;Reuters report.

It said it would also build a subsea cable system connecting Christmas Island to the Maldives and Oman, with two new data hubs to &quot;deepen the resilience of internet infrastructure in the Indian Ocean Region&quot;.

Google&#39;s plans had raised concern there would not be enough power to meet the needs of locals, the island&#39;s phosphate mine and the data centre, but Phosphate Resources chief executive, Nicholas Gan, said supply was ample for now.

The phosphate company, which employs half the island&#39;s population of 1,600, imports diesel to run a power generator that supplies the mine and meets Australian defence force needs.

&quot;The power grid can supply both Google&#39;s requirements and our requirements comfortably,&quot; Gan said.

Capacity would be strained, however, if the island&#39;s detention centre for asylum seekers or a shuttered resort were to reopen, he said, adding that Google&#39;s arrival bolsters the case for switching to renewable energy, which would be cheaper than importing diesel.

Australia&#39;s infrastructure department is in discussions with Google to ensure its energy requirements are met without impacting supply to Christmas Island&#39;s residents and businesses.

Boom-Bust cycle on remote island

Another two planned Google&nbsp;subsea cables stretching&nbsp;east from Christmas Island will land near key Australian military bases, Reuters previously reported. Military experts say such a facility on the island would be valuable for using AI drones to monitor Chinese submarine activity.

Google said the island&#39;s data hub would be smaller than some other Google data centres, and it would share its digital infrastructure with local users.

&quot;The power required for a connectivity hub can still be a lot for some smaller locations, and where it is, Google is exploring using its power demand to accelerate local investment in sustainable energy generation,&quot; its statement said.

A member of the island&#39;s economic future working group, Gan said Google&#39;s project will bring economic activity to an island 1,600 km from mainland Australia, with a history of boom and bust cycles, as it faced &quot;the last era for mining&quot;.

About 23 years ago, Australia and Russia planned to build a commercial spaceport on Christmas Island, but it prompted concern from Indonesia and was never opened, Australian parliament records show.

A casino that opened in 1993 attracted high rollers arriving by private jet from Jakarta but closed five years later amid an Asian economic downturn, the records show.

A detention centre for asylum seekers trying to reach Australia by boat dominated the island for two decades, until a shift in Australia&#39;s immigration policy saw it largely emptied in 2023.]]>
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