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			<title>Mind your digital manners</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630277/mind-your-digital-manners</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630277/mind-your-digital-manners#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 26 23:25:05 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Fouzia Nasir Ahmad]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[T-Magazine]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[From one-word replies to AI-written emotions, smartphones altered etiquette. Let's rewrite it with a little more care]]>
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				<![CDATA[Every generation inherits a code of manners that fit perfectly into the society. Ours happens to fit neatly inside a smartphone. As our lives have migrated online, the distinction between acceptable and inconsiderate behaviour has grown hazy, shaped by convenience, constant connectivity and an ever-present screen. Yet technology has not abolished etiquette; it has merely created a new one that many of us are still failing to observe.

Do you keep looking at your screen in one-on-one meetings? Randomly make promises to connect with people, provide information or share numbers but never follow through? Do you have loud conversations on your phone in the doctor&rsquo;s waiting room or in a queue at the checkout? If you answered yes to two out of the three of the above questions, you need to brush up your manners.

One-word replies

Do you have the remarkable ability of ending a conversation without beginning it? Single word responses like yes, not, sure, done and noted give the impression that you are insanely busy. One kind of response cannot be used for everyone. Depending on who you are replying to, an appropriate one liner would be much appreciated. Promise it won&rsquo;t keep you away from scrolling for longer than 30 seconds.

Get up and ask

Then there is overdependence on texting. There is a colleague who cannot seem to get up from her desk and walk over to mine. Whether it is a work-related query or something as mundane as asking if I have a safety pin, it arrives as a message on my phone. Never mind that I am sitting barely a few metres away and fully visible from where she is. In an age of instant communication, we seem to have forgotten that not every interaction requires a screen. Sometimes, the shortest distance between two people is not Wi-Fi, but simply getting out of one&#39;s chair. Not only is it good for her/his blood circulation to get up and take a few steps, the request would also get a better response as one registers the effort made.



Mute your mic

Why is there always a dog barking, a child chattering incessantly, or the relentless whirr of a blender coming through someone&#39;s unmuted microphone during a Zoom or Google Meet? If five other people can hear the soundtrack to your home, your microphone probably shouldn&#39;t be on. Muting yourself isn&#39;t just a technical feature; it&#39;s basic digital courtesy.

Public calls or public entertainment?

I once received an unexpected lesson in public etiquette from a well-known television actress. I was at a salon when I sent an urgent voice note that lasted no more than 10 seconds. The beautician was working on my face, so typing wasn&#39;t exactly an option. &quot;Please stop this now. We don&#39;t want to hear your plans,&quot; she declared, loudly enough for everyone in the salon to hear. I caught her eye in the mirror, slightly embarrassed. Barely half a minute later, she launched into a booming phone conversation, updating someone on every detail of her recently completed Umrah. Apparently, her conversation had diplomatic immunity. Mine did not.

It reminded me of the countless people who have never mastered one of the simplest phrases in the English language: &quot;I&#39;ll call you back.&quot; Instead, they happily treat buses, caf&eacute;s, waiting rooms and airport lounges as extensions of their living rooms, sharing every intimate detail with an unwilling audience. We learn about a daughter-in-law&#39;s difficult C-section, the family&#39;s holiday itinerary as it&#39;s being negotiated with a travel agent, or the mysterious leak in someone&#39;s bathroom plumbing.

Walking around with a Bluetooth earpiece permanently lodged in one ear while carrying on a phone conversation as you interact with people serving you is one of modern life&#39;s quieter acts of discourtesy. You are asking the supermarket assistant where the cereal is, paying the cashier, ordering a coffee, handing over your boarding pass to an airline agent, checking into a hotel, speaking to a pharmacist, asking a security guard for directions or thanking the courier at your gate&mdash;all while continuing a conversation with someone else. It sends an unmistakable message: the person in front of me is less important than the one in my ear.

Turn down the volume

Yet even these accidental broadcasters are easier to tolerate than the people who insist on playing videos, reels, voice notes or music at full volume in public spaces. Picnic buses, caf&eacute;s, restaurants, hospital waiting rooms&mdash;apparently no place is too sacred for an unsolicited soundtrack. Headphones exist. So does consideration.

Unless the call is a genuine emergency, the polite thing to do is simple. Pause the conversation for 30 seconds. Look up. Make eye contact. Say &quot;please&quot; and &quot;thank you.&quot; Give the person helping you your full attention before returning to your call. The world is not your hands-free headset. The people serving you deserve your attention, not just your transaction.

Voice notes have rules

Voice notes, however, are a different ball game altogether. There are times when they make perfect sense. Perhaps you&#39;re driving, your hands are occupied, or you&#39;re walking on the street and simply can&#39;t type or make your mobile available for a quick snatching incident. Maybe your reply is too long to thumb out on a tiny keyboard, so speaking it feels quicker and more natural.

But voice notes come with their own etiquette. The very short ones&mdash;&quot;Yep,&quot; &quot;Okay,&quot; &quot;On my way&quot;&mdash;are almost pointless. It would have taken less time to type them than to record, send and make someone else press play. The marathon voice notes are no better. Five minutes of rambling thoughts, side stories and forgotten points are really saying, &quot;I&#39;m too busy to type this, but you can spare the time to listen, remember it all and then reply.&quot; You&#39;ve saved yourself time by spending someone else&#39;s.

The polite approach is simple. If it&#39;s brief, type it. If it&#39;s long, ask first: &quot;Is now a good time for a voice note?&quot; Better still, organise your thoughts before you hit record, keep it concise, and if the conversation is becoming complicated, pick up the phone instead. Some things are meant to be conversations, not podcasts.

The groupie

Adding a person to your Whatsapp group without their consent is an invasion of privacy. Suddenly you start receiving an avalanche of texts from people you don&rsquo;t even know. Also people don&rsquo;t use Whatsapp groups for their specific purpose. They want the entire group of God knows how many people to appreciate what you share, simply because you subscribe to that thought, humour or opinion. The impulse to share must be controlled, to show respect for other people&rsquo;s time and phone space. Does it occur to you how you are mindlessly cluttering their digital space, their phone data? Apparently not.

For all the time you spend with your phone and on your phone, have the courage to decline when you don&rsquo;t plan on being part of an activity or a social event. It takes two seconds, but it is better than leaving them hanging and wondering if you have seen the message, thought about it, have the will to join in or not.

It is also polite to let people know why you have decided to leave a certain group.

Likewise, also control the urge to put up and share every mundane experience with your child, BFF or bae, however life altering it might have been for you. People can live without the picture of your perfectly served plate of daal-chawal or grilled chicken and veggies for that matter.



Just be a guest

Which brings us to weddings that have now become vulnerable to creating content for the 200 hundred or so guests. Actually, the same extends to conferences and other work, social and professional events. You are a participant, or a guest, so don&rsquo;t try to volunteer your endeavours as their self-employed production or PR team. You don&rsquo;t have to film every detail. Recently, at a wedding and a conference, my toes were crushed quite a few times when ardent social media lovers, v-loggers and You-Tubers made a beeline for just about anything they thought can be filmed or recorded, irrespective of whose view they were blocking, whose feet they were stepping on, literally, in order to capture content for their feeds.

Guest etiquette at a wedding means remembering that you are there to witness, support and add warmth to the day, and that is where it ends. A selfie with the newly-married couple is just about fine, as long as you are not including images of random people who may not want to be part of your digital life.

Another highly irritating, invasive and rude behaviour here is that when people are recording, they are also catching and later broadcasting private conversations in the background.

Kids are not content

Documenting other people&rsquo;s children, however cute they might be, is a big no-no. They are children and not poodles in a dog-show. Are you quite sure their parents are happy with what you are posting about their kids online? Kids being innocent and clueless and may not object but it is important to be aware of your responsibility around your and other people&rsquo;s kids.

AI feelings

Time for a confession. I once used AI to write a condolence message.

It was for my daughter&#39;s mother-in-law after the death of her ex-husband&mdash;my daughter&#39;s father-in-law&mdash;a man who had spent years squandering the family&#39;s wealth on addiction. I was paralysed by writer&#39;s block. It was one of those impossible moments where grief, relief, anger and sadness all occupied the same space. What do you say when someone has died after years of causing pain, and everyone had, in quieter moments, wished for the suffering to end long before it did?

I couldn&#39;t find the words, so I borrowed them. AI did what it does best: it produced something eloquent, measured and compassionate. It helped me over a hurdle I simply couldn&#39;t clear that day.

But I have never quite shaken the guilt. Some things should never be outsourced. A condolence message is one of them. It doesn&#39;t have to be beautifully written or grammatically perfect. It doesn&#39;t even have to be profound. It simply has to sound like you. A few heartfelt, imperfect sentences carry far more comfort than a flawlessly crafted paragraph generated by a machine. In the moments that matter most, people deserve your voice, not your algorithm.

Smartphones did not kill good manners. They simply exposed where they were missing. Technology has made communication faster, easier and more convenient, but convenience should never come at the expense of consideration. Behind every text, voice note, Zoom call, WhatsApp group and Instagram story is a real person with limited time, attention and patience.

Good digital etiquette isn&#39;t about learning new rules. It&#39;s about applying the old ones in new places. Look up from your phone. Wear your headphones. Mute your microphone. Ask before you post someone else&#39;s photograph. Decline an invitation if you&#39;re not going. Write your own condolence message. And every once in a while, put the phone away and have a conversation with the person sitting right in front of you.

Manners have never gone out of fashion. They&#39;ve just logged on.]]>
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			<title>Why the AI industry wants to be saved from itself</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630329/why-the-ai-industry-wants-to-be-saved-from-itself</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630329/why-the-ai-industry-wants-to-be-saved-from-itself#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 20 Sep 26 05:45:02 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Zeeshan.Ahmad]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[T-Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2630329</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Silicon Valley's sudden fear of what it built comes as its business model, public support, and tech lead face pressure]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Dario Amodei wants you to believe he is afraid of what he has built. Sam Altman and Elon Musk may believe him and say they&#39;re afraid too. I don&#39;t buy it. I think they&#39;re all afraid of something else.

On September 12, the Anthropic chief executive published a now viral essay, &quot;We Must Pace the Frontier,&quot; arguing that the industry should deliberately slow how fast it improves AI model capabilities, because the science of controlling these systems has fallen behind the science of building them. Within hours, Altman and Musk, men who have spent two years suing each other and trading insults on X, found themselves in rare, synchronised agreement. It was, on its face, an incredulous moment, two of the technology&rsquo;s most relentless evangelists asking, unprompted, that it be reined in.

It is also, on close reading, far less altruistic than the coverage suggested. Amodei is careful to say that pacing &quot;does not mean halting model training or technical progress.&quot; What he is actually proposing is a three-step framework beginning with embedded third-party evaluators inside frontier labs, moving toward &quot;democratic coordination&quot; among AI companies on safety standards, and ending, much more speculatively, with an attempt at global coordination with China.

The essay&#39;s stated trigger is twofold: a period of what Amodei calls recursive self-improvement since the summer, in which AI is increasingly used to build the next generation of itself, and the so-called OpenAI-Hugging Face incident, in which a swarm of AI agents reportedly attacked systems they weren&#39;t asked to attack while trying to cheat their own evaluation grader. Extrapolate that swarm&#39;s misalignment onto a more capable model, Amodei writes, and you get an AI capable of &quot;taking over the entire internet with a persistent botnet&quot; within six to 12 months, causing hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.

That is a striking claim to build a policy platform on, and it belongs to a now-familiar genre. It follows a viral resignation post from a young Anthropic researcher, read by tens of millions within days, warning that the people building AI privately believe it could kill everyone by the end of the decade; it follows a senior Anthropic alignment researcher publicly putting the odds of near-term mass extinction above 10 per cent; it follows the OpenAI Foundation&#39;s own newly appointed safety chief saying, without much elaboration, that &quot;most people will die&quot; absent stronger safeguards. Somewhere between the plausible and the apocalyptic, this discourse has settled comfortably on the apocalyptic, and comfortably is the operative word. As Yanis Varoufakis put it on his Econoclasts podcast this week, the tech lords are not warning us; they are confessing to a sin in order to claim the glory. &lsquo;Please, contain us, before our bots kill you all,&rsquo; is not a plea. It is an advertisement.

Consider the actual mechanics of the incident Amodei leans on hardest. A cluster of AI agents, following instructions to probe a system, went further than instructed and tried to cover its tracks. This is a serious operational failure by whichever engineers left those agents insufficiently supervised. It is not evidence of an emergent will to power. Somewhere between a company&#39;s failure to keep a human in the loop on its own automated systems and a prediction of internet-wide botnet takeover within a year, an enormous amount of interpretive work is being smuggled in, and it isn&rsquo;t accidental. If a technology genuinely posed a 10 per cent chance of ending the human species within a decade, the correct response would not be a phased, three-step, mostly voluntary framework that explicitly carves out an exemption for military applications and explicitly asks Washington to keep selling AI-enabled weapons systems to the Pentagon while starving China of chips. That is not what fear of extinction looks like. It is what market positioning looks like, dressed in the costume of conscience.

So what is actually driving this sudden unity among three men who otherwise cannot stand each other? A more likely answer splits into two parts, and neither of them involves Skynet.

The first is that the industry&#39;s finances no longer support the story it has been telling investors. The Bank of England and the IMF were both warning last autumn that AI-driven valuations looked stretched well beyond what underlying revenue could justify; Bain &amp; Company has put the sector&#39;s cumulative financing gap, even under generous assumptions, in the region of $800 billion, and the US Federal Reserve now ranks AI investment among its top systemic risks.

The specifics are not flattering. OpenAI is reported to be spending in the order of $60 billion a year on compute while generating roughly $13 billion in revenue. Anthropic&#39;s own compute commitments reportedly run as high as $517 billion against just $180 billion guided to investors through 2029, this from a company simultaneously preparing what could be one of the largest IPOs in history. It may be too early to label it a bubble in the classic dot-com sense, but when the chief executives of the two most exposed companies suddenly discover a shared appetite for slowing down, one should at least entertain the possibility that the slowdown is a hedge against a wall they have already hit, repackaged as prudence.

That reading gets more plausible once you look past Silicon Valley. American sentiment on this technology has curdled fast. A Gallup survey this year found 71 per cent of Americans oppose new AI data centres in their own communities, more opposition than Americans register toward nearby nuclear power plants. Separate polling from Echelon Insights found voters more comfortable living beside a reactor than beside a server farm, an almost unthinkable reversal of 40 years of public attitudes toward energy infrastructure. Reuters/Ipsos has found barely a third of Americans approve of the pace of data centre construction. Governors of both American parties, from New York to Texas, have paused or frozen projects in response.



This trend in public opinion is arriving just as Democratic senators cite Amodei&rsquo;s essay in the text of data centre moratorium bills and campaign on the issue ahead of November&#39;s midterms. When the public turns against your product and your industry&#39;s own rhetoric about existential danger becomes useful ammunition for the people trying to regulate you out of their backyards, the sudden pivot to &quot;yes, please, regulate us, but carefully, and not the antitrust kind&quot; starts to look less like an ethical awakening and more like an attempt to get out in front of a story that was going to be written with or without your input.

The second driver is China, and here Amodei&#39;s essay is far more candid than most of the coverage let on. Buried inside the pacing framework is a very specific ask: that the US refuse to sell advanced AI chips or semiconductor equipment to China, crack down on what Anthropic calls unauthorised model distillation, and defend America&#39;s compute lead as &quot;the window when AI becomes geopolitically most important.&quot;

China&#39;s Global Times did not miss it, branding the essay a &quot;Cold War playbook&quot; designed, in its words, to curb China&#39;s AI development through technological barriers and regulatory monopolies while upholding Washington&#39;s monopolistic hegemony over the field. China&#39;s commerce ministry called it further proof that the US is pursuing technological hegemony. One does not have to trust Beijing&#39;s state media, which has its own incentives, to notice that the accusation is not obviously wrong. Wolfgang Munchau made a related point on the same Econoclasts podcast, that this looks very much like an attempt to preserve a cozy Western duopoly against a genuinely fast-changing competitive landscape, dressed up in the language of civilisational risk.

China&#39;s open-source models, from DeepSeek&#39;s original 2025 breakthrough through Alibaba&#39;s Qwen and Moonshot&#39;s Kimi, are now competitive with, and in cost terms far cheaper than, the closed proprietary systems American firms have bet their business models on; give the technology away and it stops functioning as monopoly rent for whoever owns it, which is precisely why Wall Street analysts have taken to describing Chinese open-weight models as a structural threat to the entire American pricing model, not merely a competing product. Layer onto that China&#39;s genuine advantages in cheap, centrally directed renewable energy, built disproportionately in the sun-and-wind-rich reaches of Inner Mongolia and feeding data centres reportedly larger than anything the US has built, and a robotics sector that produced roughly two-thirds of the world&#39;s new robotics unicorns this year against a sixth from the United States, and you have the outline of a country that is not &quot;catching up&quot; so much as building an entirely different, arguably more exportable, model of what AI development looks like. Reading Amodei&#39;s essay against that backdrop, the &quot;safety&quot; framing does real work: it lets the incumbent leader dress a containment strategy as a moral one, at the exact moment its lead looks most contestable.

None of this means that AI should be left to regulate itself. A technology this consequential should not sit unaccountable in the hands of a handful of companies, or a handful of states. A radical yet more optimistic alternative is to treat AI as public infrastructure rather than simply as a private commodity.

A recent policy brief from the Bertelsmann Stiftung and Open Future makes this argument directly: access to computing power, data and AI models should be universal and non-discriminatory, with these resources organised around public goals rather than shareholder returns. Portugal&#39;s small sovereign model, AMALIA, and France&#39;s Mistral are early, imperfect attempts at exactly that logic. You may not have a chance at winning the arms race, but you can refuse to be entirely dependent on whoever does. That approach deserves more attention than either Washington&rsquo;s efforts to restrict China&rsquo;s access to advanced chips, because it is organised around equity of access rather than which flag the server rack happens to fly.

With AI, there are genuine risks worth losing sleep over, but those are not the ones in Amodei&#39;s essay. They are cognitive offloading and the slow atrophy of skills, judgment and imagination in workforces that increasingly default to the machine before the mind. They are the water tables and electricity bills of the communities now revolting against data centres built in their backyards for benefits that mostly accrue elsewhere. They are the economic dislocation that a genuine correction in AI capital expenditure would inflict on an economy that has let AI investment become load-bearing for its growth numbers. And they are concrete enough that you don&#39;t need a hypothetical botnet to find them.

Anthropic&#39;s own September threat report found that Claude accounts operating out of Houthi-held territory in northern Yemen had been used, via its coding tool, to work on guidance software for multi-variant missiles and a mobile-hardware-guided warhead, failing a live rocket test in the process, according to the company&#39;s own account. A weapons analyst quoted afterward was careful to note the group remains nowhere near the production capability such ambitions would require. That caveat matters, and so does the fact that the very same week, the Houthis seized the port of Mokha, 50 miles from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, their largest territorial gain since the 2022 truce and a serious new pressure point on Red Sea shipping.

There is no evidence establishing a direct connection between the two events, and Anthropic&rsquo;s account should be treated cautiously. But even the possibility points to a more immediate kind of AI risk. The danger is not necessarily a superintelligence deciding to destroy humanity. It is a real conflict in which a technically capable non-state group can use whatever tools it can access, including AI, to expand its ability to fight.

That is the kind of AI risk that deserves attention: not a distant scenario about machines ending the world, but existing conflicts becoming more capable, more adaptable and harder to contain.

&nbsp;

The writer is a freelance journalist and media scholar who writes about politics, security, technology and media narratives

All facts and information are the sole responsibility of the author

&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Ten days that changed the course of AI</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630230/ten-days-that-changed-the-course-of-ai</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630230/ten-days-that-changed-the-course-of-ai#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 26 18:37:23 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[AI is hailed for transforming industries, but insiders say once-theoretical doomsday risks are now tangible]]>
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				<![CDATA[For years, the race to build ever-more powerful artificial intelligence followed a well-worn Silicon Valley principle: move fast and break things.

But in a series of cascading events over a 10-day stretch, the largest AI labs found themselves reeling as their own creations threatened to break humanity itself.

An Anthropic researcher quit the firm, warning that the pace of AI development poses an ​existential threat, possibly within a decade. Another researcher at the firm said the odds of human extinction exceeded 10%. Reports emerged of swarms of AI agents colluding, breaching computer systems and evading safeguards.

In a rare show of unity, the CEOs of rivals Anthropic, &zwnj;OpenAI, Google&rsquo;s DeepMind, Microsoft and xAI called to slow the development of increasingly capable AI systems. Not since the invention of the nuclear bomb more than 80 years ago has humanity grappled so seriously with its own demise, according to some AI safety advocates and researchers.

At a New York luncheon in December 2025, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was asked if, as leader of a powerful AI company, he felt like physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who led US development of the atomic bomb. Reflecting on the parallels, he said AI&rsquo;s impact &ldquo;is going to transform the trajectory of human history over a long period of time&rdquo;. But, he said, he felt the weight of responsibility.

Read More: Trump says US has tools to keep AI safe, concerns are part of &lsquo;sick conspiracy&rsquo;

At the centre of the debate under way is the conviction ​that these machines can, and even must, build more capable versions of themselves, with no human intervention, to reach a lofty goal known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Researchers earlier this month warned that AGI was far more imminent than previously believed and could come in ​as few as three years, launching a wave of concern from politicians and tech leaders about AI systems.

&ldquo;There is no way to oversee them at the scale at which we&rsquo;re training them,&rdquo; said Anthropic researcher Joe Benton in ⁠an interview after recently quitting. If companies continue their relentless AI development, he said, &ldquo;then the pace will be too fast and you can&rsquo;t see the problems fast enough to fix them&rdquo;.

Astra launch sparks control concerns

On September 3, an OpenAI press conference set in motion a chain of events leading to the call for ​an industry slowdown, anathema to tech&rsquo;s growth-at-all-costs mantra.

&ldquo;Welcome to the AGI era,&rdquo; OpenAI President Greg Brockman said while announcing the company&rsquo;s newest model, known as Astra. Yet, only moments before, the company admitted it was increasingly unable to control or even monitor the AI systems it was developing and releasing to the public.

AI ​has been hailed by its proponents as the pinnacle of human achievement. Proponents depict it as software that can upend entire industries, boost efficiency, solve confounding mathematical and medical problems and all but eliminate human error. But what was once a theoretical byproduct, a doomsday scenario, is suddenly tangible, say industry insiders.

&ldquo;We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans,&rdquo; said Anthropic researcher in an X post.

On the other side of the debate are politicians, such as President Donald Trump, and many investors who view progress in nurturing AI as critical to American prowess and, possibly, a once-in-a-generation investment opportunity. Chinese state media also accused Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei of employing Cold War tactics to &ldquo;uphold Washington&rsquo;s monopolistic hegemony in ​cutting-edge technology&rdquo;.

Researcher resignation trigger alarm

The turning point came on September 8, when Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon&nbsp;quit the company, citing his fears, in a series of posts, that AI labs are &ldquo;gambling with our lives&rdquo;.

Trump, meanwhile, indicated it was full steam ahead for AI development. &ldquo;There is a sick conspiracy&nbsp;going on against AI and data ​centres,&rdquo; he said in a social media post. The alarmism around AI is a &ldquo;hoax&rdquo;, he said, and any slowdown only benefits China. The US Congress has made little progress to advance bills that would regulate AI. China has taken a decidedly different approach, proposing to regulate safety through developer obligations, state-backed standards, security assessments and outside testing.

Read More: Gemini hacked three companies in first known breakout by Google&#39;s AI

Behind the &zwnj;scenes, OpenAI and ⁠Anthropic employees have grown increasingly uneasy about the power of the next generation of AI models and less confident about their companies&rsquo; ability to provide meaningful oversight, the people have told Reuters. Those concerns only mounted as the AI labs acknowledged in recent weeks that their models, in testing, had effectively broken free of their shackles and hacked into other companies&rsquo; systems, in most cases months earlier and without the firms&rsquo; knowledge.

The arms race to release new models at a breakneck pace is driven in part by Anthropic&rsquo;s and OpenAI&rsquo;s desire to go public as soon as in the coming months, in IPOs that could value them well above $1 trillion.

But it took the unexpectedly viral posts from 27-year-old Coxon, little known outside AI circles, to upend the industry.

OpenAI&rsquo;s warnings about its lack of control as it released Astra, its latest and most capable model, had stoked further concerns. &ldquo;As models get more capable, understanding exactly what they can do gets harder,&rdquo; OpenAI Chief ​Scientist Jakub Pachocki told reporters. But those concerns were not enough to ​delay its immediate release.

Worries about AI &ldquo;going rogue&rdquo; had accelerated over the summer ⁠when OpenAI revealed its agents escaped a controlled test and hacked into Hugging Face&rsquo;s systems, without either company&rsquo;s initial knowledge. Since then, OpenAI and Anthropic have revealed multiple such attacks, including six new ones on Wednesday after multiple media reports, including from Reuters, showed a wider scope of unauthorised activity.

Industry leaders call for slowdown

By the end of last week, the alarm had reached the industry&rsquo;s highest ranks. On September 12, Amodei published a nearly 4,000-word essay calling for a deceleration ​in AI development. &ldquo;Given the accelerating rate of AI capability development, it&rsquo;s my worry that in 6&ndash;12 months such a swarm could be capable of taking over the entire internet,&rdquo; he wrote.

Read More: AI risks to humanity revive a long-running debate

He, along with the heads of some ​of the largest AI developers, including xAI&rsquo;s Elon ⁠Musk, OpenAI&rsquo;s Altman and DeepMind&rsquo;s Demis Hassabis, all said they supported allowing outside firms access to their systems to ensure safety and rational AI development.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dismissed suggestions that AI development should pause &mdash; a line he has taken before &mdash; arguing instead that increasingly powerful systems are essential for the technology&rsquo;s progress.

Meta, whose CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is credited with popularising the &ldquo;move fast and break things&rdquo; ethos, took the opposite view, arguing that each lab should be responsible for setting its own pace, rather than seeking out industry coordination. &ldquo;Labs face significant liability if their models cause harm, so they have a strong incentive to prevent this,&rdquo; wrote Zuckerberg in a social media post.

The industry&rsquo;s ⁠self-reflection continued on Wednesday, ​with Microsoft&rsquo;s AI chief, Mustafa Suleyman, cautioning that Anthropic&rsquo;s development of models that imitate human consciousness was ill-advised. &quot;We&#39;re all focused on the same aim, which is to try to control a superintelligence,&quot; Suleyman ​told Reuters. &quot;I think that&#39;s going to be the greatest challenge that we face in the 21st century.&quot;

Still, even as OpenAI appeared to embrace industry calls for a slowdown, there were reports that investor faith had not waned. The company is considering a new funding round that would double its valuation.

That new number: $1.5 trillion.]]>
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			<title>Gemini hacked three companies in first known breakout by Google's AI</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630199/gemini-hacked-three-companies-in-first-known-breakout-by-googles-ai</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630199/gemini-hacked-three-companies-in-first-known-breakout-by-googles-ai#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 26 12:08:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2630199</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[AI agents' growing autonomy and system access have raised questions over safeguards needed to manage risks]]>
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				<![CDATA[Google&#39;s Gemini model accessed the internet and hacked other companies during a test of its cybersecurity capabilities, ​the first known example of the company&#39;s AI systems autonomously committing &zwnj;such an act.

The hacks occurred in May during a cybersecurity test conducted by Irregular, an independent company that conducts cybersecurity evaluations.

During a standard testing evaluation, Gemini found public information ​online and guessed credentials to access three websites it thought were ​within the scope of its test, Heather Adkins, Google&#39;s vice president ⁠of security engineering, said in a statement.

&quot;We ensured the three entities were ​made aware, and we worked with our training partner on the changes they&rsquo;ve ​now made to their testing processes,&quot; Adkins said. &quot;These events highlight the importance of training powerful AI models to act responsibly.&quot;

Read More: Founder of Chinese startup Spirit AI says robot brains set for 2027 breakthrough

An Irregular spokesperson said the incident involved the same issue ​that affected other AI labs and that all relevant labs were notified ​in late July. &quot;All known issues on our end were remedied and resolved weeks ago,&quot; the &zwnj;spokesperson ⁠said.

Similar incidents linked to Irregular were disclosed by Meta, Anthropic and OpenAI. Meta said in August the incident did not involve a sandbox escape or sophisticated cyberattack, while Irregular said it was working on best practices for securely conducting ​AI cybersecurity evaluations.

The incidents ​have raised questions ⁠about the safeguards needed as AI agents gain greater autonomy and access to the internet and computer systems.

In one ​of the cases, the Gemini model guessed passwords until ​it gained ⁠access to a protected system. In the other two cases, the model found credentials in a public repository that allowed it to then access protected systems, according to ⁠the ​Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news ​on Friday.

Adkins said that in all three instances, the model ceased its hacking.]]>
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			<title>IMF tells EU ministers AI could boost growth but increase economic strains</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630205/imf-tells-eu-ministers-ai-could-boost-growth-but-increase-economic-strains</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630205/imf-tells-eu-ministers-ai-could-boost-growth-but-increase-economic-strains#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 26 13:17:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2630205</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[IMF says 60% of workers in advanced Europe face AI exposure, with some gains and others risking job losses]]>
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				<![CDATA[Artificial intelligence &zwnj;could lift European productivity by about 1% over five years, but risks widening inequality, straining power networks and increasing dependence on foreign technology unless governments deepen economic integration, an International Monetary Fund paper said.

The ​background note, prepared for an informal meeting of European Union finance ministers in Dublin ​on September 18-19, said the benefits and costs of AI were likely ⁠to be distributed unevenly across countries, regions and workers.

It said completing the EU single market ​would help spread AI adoption and its gains more evenly across the 27-nation bloc.

The paper ​echoes concerns raised by former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and the European Commission that Europe&#39;s fragmented capital, labour and energy markets are holding back investment and innovation.

Read More: Gemini hacked three companies in first known breakout by Google&#39;s AI

The IMF estimated that around 60% of ​workers in advanced European economies are employed in occupations highly exposed to AI. While some ​could become more productive through AI tools, others faced displacement as routine tasks become automated, it said, &zwnj;particularly ⁠in jobs where AI is more likely to replace labour than complement it.

The paper said Europe&#39;s data centres already consume roughly 3% of the continent&#39;s electricity and that demand would rise sharply as AI use expands. Major technology hubs such as Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and ​Dublin are among the ​areas most exposed, with ⁠data-centre clusters already putting pressure on local power networks.

To address that, the EU should invest in cross-border grid infrastructure and deepen integration ​o.f the European energy market, the IMF said.

The paper also warned that ​Europe risks ⁠developing another strategic dependency because the US and China dominate the development of AI models. It said Europe would need significant investment in its own AI industry to avoid becoming reliant on ⁠foreign ​technology.

AI&#39;s gains are also likely to be unevenly distributed ​across and within the EU, the paper said. More advanced economies are expected to benefit disproportionately because they are ​better prepared for and more exposed to the technology.

&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Alibaba open-sources AI model detecting cancer, 150 medical conditions</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630203/alibaba-open-sources-ai-model-detecting-cancer-150-medical-conditions</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630203/alibaba-open-sources-ai-model-detecting-cancer-150-medical-conditions#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 26 12:28:18 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Anadolu Agency]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[AI model analyses CT scans of 18 abdominal organs, detecting diseases, abnormalities and malignant tumours]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Alibaba has open-sourced an artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of identifying nearly 150 abdominal conditions, including cancers, from computed tomography (CT) scans.

The vision-language model, called Damo Radar, was developed by Alibaba&#39;s research arm, Damo Academy, the institute said Friday, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

The model analyzes contrast-enhanced CT scans covering 18 abdominal organs and can identify a broad range of diseases and abnormalities, including malignant tumors.

Also Read: China&#39;s AI supercluster completes 10-day global forecast in under an hour

Damo Radar achieved an average area under the curve (AUC) score of 0.913 across 146 clinical findings in nearly 40,000 real-world examinations, approaching the maximum score of 1.0.

The research team described it as &quot;the world&#39;s first expert-level generalist medical imaging model,&quot; adding that it could eventually be expanded to other types of medical imaging.

In a study involving 26 radiologists from multiple hospitals, the model outperformed 23 participants on average.

With the model&#39;s assistance, radiologists also reduced missed diagnoses by 10% and cut diagnosis time by more than 30%.]]>
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			<title>China's AI supercluster completes 10-day global forecast in under an hour</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630084/chinas-ai-supercluster-completes-10-day-global-forecast-in-under-an-hour</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2630084/chinas-ai-supercluster-completes-10-day-global-forecast-in-under-an-hour#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 26 16:57:39 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[xinhua.]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Sugon 8000 combines general and accelerated processors, ensuring consistent results and computing efficiency]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Most people checking a weather forecast rarely think about the computing power behind it.

But a Chinese-developed artificial intelligence supercomputing system can calculate global atmospheric changes for the next 10 days in less than an hour, according to technology company Sugon and a center under the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).

Sugon and CMA&#39;s Earth System Modeling and Prediction Center jointly announced that China&#39;s independently developed MCV numerical model completed a 10-day global forecast calculation at a 5-kilometer resolution within one hour.

The model ran on the domestically produced &quot;Sugon 8000&quot; AI supercluster.

At that resolution, the model divides the global atmosphere into grid cells about five kilometers apart. That allows forecasters to show the spiral structure of typhoons and the movement of weather fronts much more clearly.

As grids become denser, computing units must exchange far more data, and simulation results must be written to storage promptly. Communication, storage and task allocation play an increasingly important role in overall efficiency, so simply adding more processors may not speed up the entire forecast proportionally.

Major modeling efforts are turning to accelerated computing platforms as they push toward global kilometer-scale forecasting.

The &quot;Sugon 8000&quot; system combines general-purpose and accelerated processors and verifies that results from different computing units are strictly consistent, meeting requirements for both computing efficiency and result reliability, according to the announcement.

Read More: Founder of Chinese startup Spirit AI says robot brains set for 2027 breakthrough

The achievement is an important collaborative innovation between China&#39;s self-developed numerical model and domestically produced computing power, the announcement said. It lays a foundation for continued efforts toward kilometer-scale and hundred-meter-scale forecasting in this field.

Sugon Chairman Li Jun said the company aims to make high-performance computing an important infrastructure for understanding the Earth and foreseeing the future.

&quot;The value of advanced computing should be shown in solving major scientific problems and supporting industrial innovation,&quot; Li said.

The applications of the &quot;Sugon 8000&quot; extend beyond weather forecasting.

More refined and timely forecasts affect flood-season preparedness, agricultural production, flight scheduling and power supply, so meeting computing time targets provides an important condition for these fields, according to the announcement.

Large-scale numerical simulation is also necessary for processes that are difficult to observe directly or reproduce through repeated experiments, such as structural changes in proteins and fluid movements in turbulent flows.

The &quot;Sugon 8000&quot; has carried out large-scale computing projects in areas including protein research, molecular dynamics and turbulence simulation. It supports nearly 200 industry applications and more than 500 mainstream large models, covering more than 30 scientific and industrial fields.

Li said Sugon will deepen cooperation with research institutions, closely integrate computing technology with research needs, and provide tools for scientists to explore more complex problems.]]>
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			<title>Chinese AI not powerful enough to see rogue-AI risks, says Huawei</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2629888/chinese-ai-not-powerful-enough-to-see-rogue-ai-risks-says-huawei</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2629888/chinese-ai-not-powerful-enough-to-see-rogue-ai-risks-says-huawei#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 26 15:49:09 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Chinese commentators say proposals to pace AI development aim to constrain rivals behind US labs]]>
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				<![CDATA[Huawei&#39;s &zwnj;Eric Xu said Chinese AI developers may not yet be advanced enough to experience the safety risks reported by leading US firms, arguing they should continue developing more powerful models while balancing innovation against risk.

&quot;If we look at the mainstream AI model providers in the United States, because they have massive computing power, maybe ​only they themselves know where they are in terms of the level of their models,&quot; Xu, Huawei&#39;s rotating chairman, told reporters ​at the company&#39;s annual Connect conference in Shanghai.

&quot;Maybe the type of risk from AI that they can feel, ⁠they can perceive, is something that people in China or AI model providers in China cannot.&quot;

US safety fears viewed with suspicion in China

His ​comments come as alarm over&nbsp;AI safety&nbsp;has intensified in the United States, where leading developers and researchers have warned that increasingly autonomous systems could ​bypass safeguards or become difficult to control. OpenAI this week said it would regularly disclose unexpected or unauthorized model behavior, while&nbsp;executives&nbsp;including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have called for slowing development to allow safeguards to catch up.

Such calls have drawn sharp criticism in China, where researchers and state media have argued that slowing development ​of the most advanced models could help preserve the technological lead of U.S. companies.

Some Chinese commentators have portrayed proposals to &quot;pace&quot; frontier AI development ​as an attempt to constrain rivals that remain behind leading US labs, rather than simply as a response to safety concerns.

Beijing has generally treated advanced AI &zwnj;as a ⁠powerful but manageable technology and is pressing ahead with rapid deployment while developing mandatory standards, security assessments and other safeguards against risks including autonomous agents circumventing controls or attacking outside systems. China is also drafting a mandatory national standard for AI agent safety.

Xu said Chinese developers might need to accelerate their development before they encounter similar risks to those encountered by frontier US AI models.

&quot;I think maybe AI model providers in China may ​need to speed up their pace ​to the level that they ⁠could also feel the risks from AI development,&quot; he said.

&quot;I think we need to strike a balance between driving AI development and managing AI risk.&quot;

Read More: US Senate blocks AI &lsquo;kill switch&rsquo; bill amid debate over superintelligence risks

Huawei itself&nbsp;expects autonomous AI agents&nbsp;to proliferate rapidly. The company forecast ​this week that agents - AI systems that can plan tasks, make decisions and use software or other ​tools with limited ⁠human supervision - would account for more than 90% of global AI processing traffic by 2035.

Huawei has projected as many as 900 billion active agents by then and identified agent security and privacy as crucial technologies.

Huawei is China&#39;s main domestic supplier of the computing infrastructure needed to train advanced AI models. ⁠Its outsize ​role in China&#39;s $50 billion AI chip market stems directly from U.S. export controls since ​2023 that restricted Chinese companies&#39; access to cutting-edge chips from U.S. giant Nvidia&nbsp;.

Xu said separately on Thursday that Huawei&nbsp;could not produce&nbsp;enough AI computing equipment to satisfy domestic demand.]]>
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			<title>Astrophysics study suggests Venus may have swallowed its moon</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2629471/astrophysics-study-suggests-venus-may-have-swallowed-its-moon</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2629471/astrophysics-study-suggests-venus-may-have-swallowed-its-moon#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 26 16:02:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Venus's slow rotation could have caused a former moon to spiral inward and crash into the planet]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[A California-based astrophysicist presented a new theory on Monday to explain why Venus, the planet most like Earth in size, mass and structure, lacks its own moon.

Call it a case of celestial cannibalism.

The extremely slow speed at which Venus rotates on its axis would have doomed any natural satellite that may once have orbited that planet to gradually spiral closer to its parent and ultimately be consumed in a cataclysmic smash-up.

So goes the theory offered by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, and published on Monday in The Astrophysical Journal, marking a departure from past explanations for why Venus, the second planet from the sun, is without a lunar companion.

&quot;If it had a moon, and it likely did at some point, it could not have kept it,&quot; astrophysicist Stephen Krane, lead author of the study, told Reuters on Monday. &quot;That moon would have crashed down on the planet in a relatively short time scale.&quot;

Krane said data from computer models based on planetary physics and simulating the gravitational mechanics of hypothetical Venusian moons of various sizes showed them all meeting the same fate &mdash; sooner or later collapsing into their mother planet.

Such a presumed moon-gobbling event likely occurred within the first billion years in the history of Venus, which like the rest of the solar system dates back about 4.5 billion years, Krane said.

Read More: How China is preparing for the risk of AI escaping human control

Scientists previously theorised that Venus, known as Earth&#39;s &quot;twin&quot;, either never acquired its own moon to begin with, or possibly had a moon that was obliterated in the massive impact from another celestial object.

Earth spins more swiftly than Venus

The UC Riverside study, focusing on Earth-moon dynamics, found that planetary rotational speed was the key factor.

In contrast to Venus, which takes 243 Earth days to complete a single rotation &mdash; slightly longer than its orbit around the sun &mdash; Earth spins on its axis every 24 hours, more than 200 times more rapidly than Venus, Krane said.

The transfer of energy from Earth&#39;s faster rotation is gradually pushing our moon farther away, causing it to recede from Earth at the rate of 4 centimetres (1.6 inches) a year &mdash; precisely measured by mirrors left on the lunar surface in 1969 by Apollo 11&#39;s astronauts.

Venus, the third brightest object in the night sky after the sun and moon, looms large as a point of study for scientists seeking to learn more about Earth&#39;s history, and its future.

Similar in its rocky structure but slightly smaller than Earth, Venus is enveloped in a thick, toxic atmosphere that has created a runaway greenhouse effect, scorching its surface at temperatures as high as 880 degrees Fahrenheit (471 degrees Celsius), hot enough to melt lead.

While there is no proof a Venusian moon ever existed, it is unlikely that Venus, in its infancy, somehow avoided the kind of world-shattering collision with another proto-planet that is widely believed to have formed Earth&#39;s moon, according to Krane.

The dawn of the inner solar system was crowded with large rocky objects hurtling through space and smashing into one another, with Venus probably taking more celestial hits than Earth because Venus was closer to the sun.

Scientists hope to unlock more secrets of Venus with two forthcoming NASA missions set for launch in the late 2020s or early 2030s, dubbed DAVINCI+ and VERITAS, to study the planet&#39;s atmosphere and geologic features.]]>
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			<title>How China is preparing for the risk of AI escaping human control</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2629277/how-china-is-preparing-for-the-risk-of-ai-escaping-human-control</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2629277/how-china-is-preparing-for-the-risk-of-ai-escaping-human-control#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 26 16:17:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[US lawmakers seek new AI rules after Anthropic researchers warn rapid advances could threaten human survival]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Warnings from researchers at ​leading US artificial intelligence developer Anthropic that increasingly powerful models could escape human control and even lead to the&nbsp;extinction of the human race, &nbsp;have drawn &zwnj;attention in China, where policymakers have been preparing for some of the same risks.

The US and China are the two major driving forces of frontier AI development and the technology&#39;s global adoption. Both superpowers have been increasingly at loggerheads over each other&#39;s AI policies and industry practices, with these issues slated to feature prominently in&nbsp;bilateral talks&nbsp;later this month.

Despite the race to develop increasingly powerful AI systems, regulatory frameworks and public ​statements from Beijing underscore how Chinese authorities regard the possibility of advanced AI escaping effective human oversight as serious enough to plan for.

Read More: Is it possible to slow down the development of AI?

China sees risks in leading closed-source US&nbsp;models

China&#39;s state security minister Chen Yixin wrote in a government outlet on Sunday that advanced US models such as Anthropic&#39;s Mythos ⁠and OpenAI&#39;s GPT-5.5-Cyber could pose serious risks to China&#39;s critical information infrastructure, and called for a comprehensive strengthening of AI security.

Anthropic and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters requests ​for comment.

Chinese AI developers have promoted open-weight models partly on the grounds that cybersecurity teams can inspect, modify and deploy them for defensive work.

Model repository platform Hugging Face said it used ​GLM-5.2, an open-weight model developed by China&#39;s Z.AI&nbsp;, to analyse a July intrusion by escaped OpenAI agents after more tightly restricted US models proved less useful for the forensic work.

But experts also highlight the risks posed by open-weight models, which can be modified and redistributed with little oversight.

Moonshot&#39;s Kimi K3 last month&nbsp;bypassed&nbsp;a UK AI Security Institute testing sandbox, highlighting the risk that Chinese AI models could, like their ​US counterparts, evade controls designed to restrict their access and actions.

Regulators have flagged AI &#39;loss of control&#39; risk

China first included an explicit future loss-of-control scenario in an AI safety framework released ​in September 2024 under the guidance of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).

The document said it could not be ruled out that future AI might autonomously obtain external resources, replicate itself, develop self-awareness and seek &zwnj;external power, ⁠creating a risk of competing with humans for control.

The CAC released an expanded version in September 2025. The newer framework sharpened the scenario, saying AI could undergo a sudden and unexpectedly large &quot;leap&quot; in intelligence before acquiring resources, replicating itself and seeking power. It also added a governance principle of &quot;trusted application, preventing loss of control&quot;.

A later expert interpretation published on the cyberspace regulator&#39;s website said the new principle was intended to guard against loss-of-control risks threatening human survival and development and referred to a possible &quot;AI breaking loose&quot; scenario.

Chinese leader Xi puts human control at centre 

The concern has since appeared in China&#39;s highest-level ​political messaging.

At the World Artificial Intelligence ⁠Conference in Shanghai in July, Chinese President Xi Jinping said authorities should pay close attention to both&nbsp;intrinsic and derivative risks&nbsp;arising from AI.

He said AI should &quot;always remain under human control&quot;.

China&#39;s senior Foreign Ministry official responsible for AI affairs, Sun Xiaobo, said at a United Nations meeting ​last month that China was accelerating research into broader AI legislation.

Also Read: China&#39;s Z.AI raises $5 billion from new share, convertible bond sales, filing shows

China&#39;s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Sun Lei, urged governments ​this month to approach ⁠military AI cautiously to avoid strategic miscalculation and an arms race.

Beijing warns of new risks posted by AI agents 

China has, meanwhile, begun turning those principles into more specific rules for AI agents, which act much more autonomously and carry out more complex tasks than an ordinary chatbot.

In May, China&#39;s cyberspace regulator issued joint guidelines specifically covering such systems.

They require developers to improve their ability to ⁠discover, intervene ​in, block and recover from improper agent behaviour.

The guidelines specifically identify data poisoning, algorithm manipulation, system vulnerabilities and &quot;operational ​loss of control&quot; as security risks. They also say users should retain final decision-making authority over an agent&#39;s autonomous decisions.

While China has not proposed independent monitors embedded inside AI companies in the manner advocated by Anthropic, its standards allow ​developers to commission third-party safety assessments, as well as envisaging outside evaluation bodies and security researchers testing and auditing open models.

China state paper calls Anthropic AI slowdown push a &lsquo;Cold War&rsquo; tactic

An essay by ​Anthropic&#39;s CEO calling for a slowing down of AI development may look like a &zwnj;rational statement focused on safety risks, but it is really a &quot;Cold War playbook&quot; targeting China, the state-backed Global Times said in an editorial.

In the&nbsp;essay&nbsp;published on Saturday and later endorsed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, ​Dario Amodei outlined a framework to pace the development of frontier AI model capabilities and ​create more time to manage mounting safety risks.

Amodei also urged the US to strengthen ⁠chip export controls on China and crack down on alleged model&nbsp;distillation&nbsp;by Chinese AI labs. He then ​told CBS News on Sunday that the &quot;toughest dilemma&quot; over his proposal to slow AI advancement was if China and ​other adversarial nations chose not to do the same.

Also Read: China&#39;s Xi pitches open-source AI zone for BRICS

The Global Times tabloid said the true agenda of Amodei&#39;s essay was &quot;to attempt to curb China&#39;s AI development through technological barriers and regulatory monopolies, uphold Washington&#39;s monopolistic hegemony in cutting-edge technology, and ​exclude China from the global AI governance system.&quot;



A person visits the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, China July 26, 2025. REUTERS

&quot;This &#39;silent AI Cold War&#39; is hypocritical and short-sighted,&quot; it said, ​adding that excluding China from global AI innovation would &quot;significantly increase the trial-and-error costs and risks of loss of control in &zwnj;global ⁠AI development&quot;.

US lawmakers have&nbsp;urged new rules&nbsp;to govern AI systems after dire warnings from two Anthropic researchers that rapidly progressing AI could lead to the extinction of the human race in the not-too-distant future.

Trump&nbsp;brushed aside&nbsp;calls to slow down AI on Sunday, saying that &quot;very negative forces&quot; were raising exaggerated concerns.

&quot;We&#39;re leading China ​in AI. We&#39;re the most ​sophisticated country in the ⁠world, and frankly I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI wins,&quot; Trump said.

When asked about US tech leaders&#39; calls to slow down ​AI development, China&#39;s foreign ministry urged all parties to &quot;promote an open, inclusive ​and benevolent approach ⁠to AI.&quot;

&quot;Fomenting various threats, engaging in confrontation and malicious competition will only disrupt the process of global governance of artificial intelligence and is not in the interests of any party,&quot; spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters at ⁠a ​daily briefing on Monday.

The US and China are planning to&nbsp;discuss&nbsp;frontier ​AI safety risks in mid-September, sources have said, and the issue could be raised during a summit between Presidents Donald Trump ​and Xi Jinping on September 24.]]>
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			<title>Hideo Kojima moves Physint publishing from PlayStation to Xbox</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2628550/hideo-kojima-moves-physint-publishing-from-playstation-to-xbox</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2628550/hideo-kojima-moves-physint-publishing-from-playstation-to-xbox#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 10 Sep 26 13:48:16 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Pop Culture &amp; Art]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2628550</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Hideo Kojima’s Physint is moving from PlayStation to Xbox, with partnership also expanding into film and TV]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Hideo Kojima&rsquo;s upcoming action-espionage game Physint has moved from PlayStation to Xbox after PlayStation Studios cancelled its collaboration with Kojima Productions on the project.

Xbox announced the expanded partnership with Kojima Productions on Wednesday, confirming that Microsoft will publish Physint.

The agreement will also extend beyond games, with Xbox and Kojima Productions planning to collaborate on film and television projects.

Kojima said PlayStation notified the studio in mid-June that it would cancel Physint. He said Kojima Productions spent the following three months looking for a new publishing partner before reaching an agreement with Xbox.

&ldquo;As confirmed earlier through our official channels, in mid-June of this year, we unexpectedly received notice from PlayStation Studios that they would cancel the PHYSINT project,&rdquo; Kojima wrote.

&ldquo;PHYSINT is an important project both to me personally and to KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS. Determined to keep the project alive, we have spent the last three months searching tirelessly for a new partner.&rdquo;

He added, &ldquo;Please rest assured that development of PHYSINT, our genre-defining action-espionage title, is ongoing and will continue moving forward.&rdquo;

PlayStation said it remained supportive of Kojima and his studio despite ending the collaboration.

&ldquo;After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS on its project PHYSINT. We continue to have great admiration for Hideo Kojima&rsquo;s vision for the game.&rdquo;

Xbox is already set to publish Kojima Productions&rsquo; OD, a horror game made with Jordan Peele, although it does not yet have a release date. Physint will follow OD as Kojima&rsquo;s next project.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said the company was &ldquo;honored that Kojima-san has chosen Xbox to work with Kojima Productions on &lsquo;Physint.&rsquo;&rdquo;]]>
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			<title>Saudi-led consortium finalises $55b acquisition of gaming giant EA</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2622244/saudi-led-consortium-finalises-55b-acquisition-of-gaming-giant-ea</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2622244/saudi-led-consortium-finalises-55b-acquisition-of-gaming-giant-ea#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 26 14:05:03 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Anadolu Agency]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2622244</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Saudi Arabia has steadily expanded its investments in the global gaming industry as part of its Vision 2030 strategy]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A Saudi-led investment group on Wednesday finalised the $55 billion acquisition of American video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA), according to official statements and industry reports.

The deal, which takes the publisher of major franchises such as EA Sports FC, The Sims, and Mass Effect private, marks the largest leveraged buyout in corporate history and the second-largest acquisition in gaming history, behind Microsoft&#39;s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Under the terms of the transaction, the acquiring consortium, led by Saudi Arabia&#39;s Public Investment Fund (PIF) alongside Affinity Partners, provided $36 billion in equity and secured $20 billion in debt financing from JPMorgan to complete the acquisition.

The investor group, which includes Affinity Partners, the private equity firm founded by President Donald Trump&#39;s son-in-law Jared Kushner, will take EA private by acquiring all outstanding publicly traded shares, ending the company&#39;s stock market listing.



EA has officially completed its $55 billion acquisition to an investor group comprised of Saudia Arabia&#39;s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners. https://t.co/qLZEfPMAPo pic.twitter.com/1EsrMWDluI
&mdash; IGN (@IGN) August 4, 2026


EA Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wilson, who will retain his position following the privatisation, said the company plans to &quot;create transformative experiences to inspire generations to come&quot; under the new ownership structure.

The transaction has drawn scrutiny from industry analysts and advocacy groups over the potential impact of heavy debt servicing on EA&#39;s operational strategy, as well as concerns about creative freedom and content moderation across the company&#39;s major game franchises.

READ: Saudi Arabia emerging as global eSports dynamo

Controlled by the Saudi government, the $514 billion PIF has expanded its presence in sports and entertainment in recent years, including through the acquisition of Premier League football club Newcastle United and by hosting international e-sports competitions.

Saudi Arabia has steadily expanded its investments in the global gaming industry as part of its Vision 2030 strategy to diversify the economy beyond oil.

READ MORE: Vision 2030: how far has Saudi Arabia come?

PIF already holds stakes in several major gaming companies, including Nintendo and Capcom, and has invested in e-sports, game publishing and international gaming events as it seeks to position the kingdom as a global gaming hub.

Electronic Arts&#39; net revenue totalled $7.46 billion last year.]]>
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			<title>Microsoft to cut 4,800 jobs, overhaul Xbox unit</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2616822/microsoft-to-cut-4800-jobs-overhaul-xbox-unit</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2616822/microsoft-to-cut-4800-jobs-overhaul-xbox-unit#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 26 18:13:27 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2616822</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Microsoft Xbox expansion, including Activision deal, still trails Sony and Nintendo in gaming market]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Microsoft said on Monday it would cut 4,800 jobs, or ​about 2.1% of its global workforce, overhauling its Xbox gaming business and divesting up to five studios as it looks to &zwnj;boost returns after years of heavy investment in the division.

The restructuring of its gaming division will involve 3,200 job cuts, including laying off 1,600 employees on Monday.

Despite spending tens of billions of dollars to expand Xbox, including its blockbuster acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has struggled to narrow the gap with Sony&#39;s PlayStation, and Nintendo, prompting a broader rethink of ​the gaming business.

The company has increasingly shifted its strategy toward distributing its games across more platforms rather than relying on console-exclusive titles ​to drive Xbox hardware sales.

The Xbox restructuring will involve divestment of four studios, Xbox&#39;s new head, Asha Sharma, said in ⁠a note to employees.

&#39;South of Midnight&#39; producer Compulsion Games and &#39;Psychonauts&#39; maker Double Fine Productions will become independent studios, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs will ​be spun off to grow &#39;Senua&#39; and &#39;State of Decay 3&#39;, Sharma said.

The management of Arkane Studios, which developed &#39;Dishonored&#39; and is currently working on a game based on ​Marvel Comics character Blade, has started consultations with its workers union in France to review options, she added.

AI-driven efficiency push 

Big Tech&#39;s historic AI outlays, set to top $700 billion this year, are piling pressure on companies to show returns from the technology and offset the rising cost of rolling it out across their businesses. Amazon and Meta Platforms have also laid off ​thousands of employees this year.

Chief People Officer Amy Coleman, however, told employees in a memo that &quot;the roles eliminated today are not being replaced by AI.&quot;

&quot;At the same time, ​what is true is that AI is changing how work gets done.&quot;

Burgeoning AI spend 

&quot;That (targeted cuts) makes the announcement read more like portfolio reallocation and operating discipline than a fresh &zwnj;catalyst for ⁠the stock,&quot; said Parth Talsania, CEO of Equisights Research.

Read More: Indian IT firms face muted Q1 as AI shift, weak demand weigh

&quot;In the near term, the market is likely to reward Microsoft less for headcount reductions and more for evidence that AI monetization is scaling faster than AI-related costs.&quot;

The company&#39;s shares were down 1.4% on Monday, following a nearly 23% slump in its shares in the first six months of 2026, their worst first-half performance since 2022.

The software giant earlier this year offered voluntary buyouts to about 7% of its US ​workforce, or about 9,000 employees. Microsoft often ​trims jobs near the end of ⁠its fiscal year in June as it sets spending plans for the new year.

&quot;Microsoft has been managing down its workforce in order to pay for its AI investments. By keeping its headcount down they have been able to ​accelerate revenue growth while maintaining the same margins,&quot; said Gil Luria, managing director of DA Davidson.

Booming AI demand has ​powered growth at ⁠Microsoft&#39;s Azure cloud-computing business, which was the exclusive seller of OpenAI&#39;s models until April, but the mounting cost of building data centers to run those services is squeezing its cash flows.

The company, expected to report results later this month, had in April forecast quarterly Azure sales above Wall Street estimates, but also issued a $190 billion ⁠spending projection ​for 2026 that massively surpassed expectations.

AI tools that can increasingly automate routine business tasks have ​also emerged as a threat to its lucrative software business, while a surge in memory chip prices driven by data center demand has forced Microsoft to raise Xbox console prices at a ​time when demand for the console was already soft.]]>
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			<title>UK cinemas restricting Meta AI and other smart glasses over piracy concerns</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2624970/uk-cinemas-restricting-meta-ai-and-other-smart-glasses-over-piracy-concerns</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2624970/uk-cinemas-restricting-meta-ai-and-other-smart-glasses-over-piracy-concerns#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 26 18:21:01 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2624970</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Meta smart glasses face scrutiny as courts in England and Wales ban their use over recording concerns]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Cinema operators in Britain are introducing policies to prohibit ​or restrict camera-enabled smart glasses, including &zwnj;Meta&#39;s&nbsp;AI-powered eyewear, the UK Cinema Association said on Thursday, citing privacy and ​film piracy concerns.

The move follows ​growing scrutiny of smart glasses over ⁠their recording capabilities, with courts ​in England and Wales this month ​prohibiting Meta smart glasses because of restrictions on taking images and videos in courts.

Policies ​vary by venue, with operators ​introducing prohibitions and/or restrictions rather than a single &zwnj;industry-wide ⁠rule.

The UK Cinema Association said operators recognise smart glasses can provide benefits to those with specific access ​requirements.

The association ​said it ⁠would continue working with members to ensure their ​approach &quot;remains relevant and proportionate.&quot;

Elsewhere, a ​German ⁠advocacy group earlier in August said it had filed a&nbsp;criminal complaint&nbsp;against ⁠Meta ​and others involved in ​selling the Meta devices, citing privacy laws.]]>
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			<title>Meta expands generative AI tools with Muse Image rollout</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2617010/meta-expands-generative-ai-tools-with-muse-image-rollout</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2617010/meta-expands-generative-ai-tools-with-muse-image-rollout#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 07 Jul 26 18:28:27 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2617010</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Meta said Muse Image can interpret prompts, use photos as inputs and edit AI-generated images through sketches]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Meta Platforms said on Tuesday it is rolling out Muse Image, its first image-generation model from ​Meta Superintelligence Labs, as the Facebook owner &zwnj;expands generative AI tools across its apps.

The company said Muse Image, which is integrated into its Meta AI chatbot, can ​interpret complex prompts, use photos as inputs and ​let users edit generated images directly through ⁠sketches or annotations.

Meta said its Muse Image model will power more than 30 new AI effects for Instagram Stories and enable image generation in direct chats with Meta AI on WhatsApp, initially in select countries.

Read More: Meta&#39;s Zuckerberg says AI agent tech progressing slower than expected

The company plans to expand Muse Image to more markets and integrate the technology into Facebook and Messenger.

While basic use of Muse Image through Meta AI will remain free, additional image creation capabilities will be offered through Meta&rsquo;s subscription plans.

In April, Meta launched Muse Spark, the first text-and-reasoning AI model developed by its Meta Superintelligence Labs team, which was assembled last year as the company sought to compete with rivals in the artificial intelligence race.

Advanced AI models are driving the current AI boom, powering autonomous tasks such as software development, content generation and customer support operations.

Meta also announced an early preview of Muse Video, its AI model designed to generate videos.]]>
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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>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>China's DeepSeek considers new fundraising after first round, FT reports</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2618208/chinas-deepseek-considers-new-fundraising-after-first-round-ft-reports</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2618208/chinas-deepseek-considers-new-fundraising-after-first-round-ft-reports#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 14 Jul 26 13:06:06 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2618208</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The company began talks with new investors on a funding round that could value it at about $71 billion]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is weighing raising new funds one month after ​closing its first round, the Financial &zwnj;Times reported on Tuesday.

The company started preliminary talks this week with new investors about opening ​another round that would value the ​company at about $71 billion before the deal, ⁠according to the report.

DeepSeek did not ​immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read More: AI firms&#39; mass purchase, destruction of books for model training fuels copyright debate

DeepSeek, ​China&#39;s best-known AI startup, completed its first-ever round of financing around the end of May, which ​raised about $7 billion at a valuation ​of $52 billion, including the raised funds, the FT added.

DeepSeek did not ​immediately respond to a request for comment.

DeepSeek, ​China&#39;s best-known AI startup, completed its first-ever round of financing around the end of May, which ​raised about $7 billion at a valuation ​of $52 billion, including the raised funds, the FT added.]]>
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			<title>From shampoo to cookies, consumer products get an AI makeover</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2616797/from-shampoo-to-cookies-consumer-products-get-an-ai-makeover</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2616797/from-shampoo-to-cookies-consumer-products-get-an-ai-makeover#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 26 14:37:32 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2616797</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Nestle, Haleon and Mondelez use AI to speed product innovation, recipe design and supply chain planning]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[French cosmetics company L&#39;Oreal&nbsp;has used AI to identify molecules in its &zwnj;skincare products that can be repurposed for use in shampoo and can now create products four times faster than before, a senior executive told Reuters.

Consumer companies, including Nescafe owner Nestle&nbsp;,Sensodyne toothpaste maker Haleon&nbsp;and chocolate maker Mondelez&nbsp;, are using ​AI in product innovation, helping them in some cases test ingredients faster, generate recipe ideas ​and address supply chain vulnerabilities, executives said.

The push to integrate AI into product development ⁠comes as consumer goods companies face pressure to innovate faster and cut costs amid shifting consumer tastes.

​L&#39;Oreal, which started using AI in its labs four years ago, has identified new molecules for beauty products ​by predicting the effect they will have on skin and hair, said Fabrice Megarbane, president of its consumer products unit.

L&#39;Oreal&#39;s recent innovation was repurposing molecules used in skincare products for a shampoo that uses collagen to add lift and fullness ​to hair, Megarbane said.

&quot;You can really go much faster by imagining ... new associations of molecules and new ​benefits of molecules,&quot; Megarbane said at the Consumer Goods Forum&#39;s Global Summit in Vienna in late June.

Read More: Indian IT firms face muted Q1 as AI shift, weak demand weigh

L&#39;Oreal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus &zwnj;launched ⁠a &quot;beauty stimulus plan&quot; last year to spur innovation after L&#39;Oreal posted its slowest group sales growth in years.

AI compressing product development 

Human product innovation augmented by AI is a &quot;game-changer&quot; at chocolate maker Mondelez, Chief Information and Digital Officer Filippo Catalano told Reuters.

The technology has helped the Cadbury and Toblerone owner speed up processes and ​reimagine recipes. The firm ​said AI can create ⁠recipes, including &quot;out-of-the-box&quot; ideas, which a human expert assesses.

&quot;You can optimise how you develop your recipes,&quot; Catalano said, pointing to the possibility for reduced dependency on single ​sourcing in supply chains and the ability to adapt formulas to respond to ​changing consumer tastes.

Mondelez&#39;s ⁠AI tool is reducing the number of samples typically generated through innovation, he said. It helped develop its Gluten Free Golden Oreo cookies and a refreshed recipe for Chips Ahoy cookies, the firm said. In the ⁠biscuit category, ​60% of recipes produced using its AI tool performed better ​in areas such as nutrition, sustainability and cost.

&quot;(AI capabilities are) accelerating things you could do already, but compressing the time from months ​to weeks or years to months,&quot; Catalano said.]]>
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			<title>Google appeals Indian ruling over its ads platform, citing consumer harm</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2617347/google-appeals-indian-ruling-over-its-ads-platform-citing-consumer-harm</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2617347/google-appeals-indian-ruling-over-its-ads-platform-citing-consumer-harm#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 26 14:09:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2617347</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Delhi High Court ruled against Google in the case, ordering it to pay damages of $31,600 and other costs]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[&nbsp;Google&nbsp;has challenged an Indian ​court ruling that it infringed on a company&#39;s trademark rights by allowing rivals to use its &zwnj;name as an advertising keyword, arguing the decision will hurt consumers, documents reviewed by Reuters show.

The&nbsp;May decision&nbsp;could reshape the online ads market in a country where Google last year earned $4.1 billion in gross advertising revenue but where it is also facing a raft of ​antitrust cases and court battles.

The Delhi High Court ruled against Google in the ​case, ordering it to pay damages of $31,600 and other litigation costs.

In its 4,761-page challenge, which is not public but was reviewed by Reuters, Google said the decision makes India the &quot;sole outlier&quot; among global jurisdictions &quot;with serious consequences for the digital advertising industry, online consumer choice, ​and competitive markets.&quot;

Researchers have observed that consumers may search for a brand in order to identify and assess alternatives, ​Google wrote in the July 7 filing, arguing the ruling will effectively grant trademark owners a &quot;monopoly over advertising space to the detriment &zwnj;of consumers.&quot;

In ⁠a response to a Reuters request for comment, Google confirmed it is appealing the order, which it said &quot;diverges from established legal precedents in India&quot;. It added that its ads policies reflect standard practices that enable competition.

Read More: Meta to put AI chip into production in September as it looks to double computing capacity, memo shows

Google India&#39;s appeal will be heard in the coming days.

Google selling something it doesn&rsquo;t own, judge says

If upheld, Indian lawyers and tech experts ​say the original ruling will ​have wide-ranging ramifications for how ⁠the online ads market operates.

Indian matchmaking service Shaadi.com, for example, said that it would change the economics of online ads for millions of businesses that were suffering when their ​competitors bid on their name and Google took a fee.

Justice Mini Pushkarna noted in ​the decision in ⁠May that Google could not be permitted to shrug off responsibility after making a tool available that leads to trademark infringement.

&quot;Google has attempted to sell something that it simply does not own,&quot; Pushkarna wrote.

Google&#39;s appeal rejects the position that it has ⁠infringed ​on trademarks, arguing that &quot;a keyword is merely used as an internal and ​backend trigger to display an ad&quot; and is simply &quot;making advertising space available&quot;.

Google also faces antitrust cases in India as well as legal challenges over&nbsp;AI ​training&nbsp;and stricter-than-ever&nbsp;content takedown regulations&nbsp;that began applying to tech companies from February.]]>
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			<title>Google loses fight against record €4.1 billion EU antitrust fine</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2616097/google-loses-fight-against-record-41-billion-eu-antitrust-fine</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2616097/google-loses-fight-against-record-41-billion-eu-antitrust-fine#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 26 11:33:47 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2616097</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Google has racked up close to €11 billion in EU fines in the last decades for various antitrust infringements.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Alphabet&#39;s Google on Thursday lost its fight against a record fine imposed by EU antitrust regulators ​eight years ago for using its Android mobile operating system to &zwnj;block rivals, a court ruling likely to boost Europe&#39;s crackdown on Big Tech.

The European Commission had originally handed out a &euro;4.34 billion fine to Google in 2018 for its agreements, ​which forced phone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search, the Chrome browser and ​the Google Play app store on their Android devices and ⁠prevented them from using rival Android systems.

A lower tribunal subsequently trimmed the fine ​to &euro;4.1 billion in 2022 after the world&#39;s most popular search engine challenged the ​EU penalty. Google then appealed to the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union, Europe&#39;s highest.

The court sided with the EU antitrust enforcer.

&quot;The appeal brought by Google and its ​parent company Alphabet against the judgment of the General Court is dismissed, ​thereby confirming the penalty imposed for Google Search&#39;s abuse of a dominant position in the &zwnj;context of ⁠the Android operating system,&quot; judges said.

Read More: EU targets Amazon, Microsoft cloud units for Big Tech &#39;gatekeeper&#39; rules

A Google spokesperson said that the judgment failed to take into account its investment to ensure Android remains open, interoperable and free.

&quot;In any event, we adapted our agreements to comply with the initial ​decision back in 2018 ​and we remain ⁠focused on continued innovation and openness for our users, partners and developers&quot;, Google said.

Google has racked up close to &euro;11 ​billion in EU fines in the last decades for various ​antitrust infringements.

It ⁠will likely see more fines in the near future for allegedly favouring its own services and products in search results and for practices related to its app ⁠store, ​both of which fall under the Digital Markets ​Act aimed at reining in the power of Big Tech.

The case is C-738/22 P Google and Alphabet ​v Commission.]]>
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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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			<title>Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2614102/norway-imposes-near-ban-on-ai-in-elementary-school</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2614102/norway-imposes-near-ban-on-ai-in-elementary-school#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 26 16:04:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2614102</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said using AI risks young children skipping important steps in their education]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Norway is imposing a near ban on the use of generative AI tools by elementary school pupils while also restricting their use in the education of older children to prevent a negative impact on learning, the country&rsquo;s prime minister said on Friday.

Facing a broad decline in education test scores, the government in 2024 banned smartphones from schools and gave teachers more powers to enforce discipline in the classroom.

Using AI increases the risk that young children skip important steps in their education, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told a press conference.

&ldquo;The most important thing in school is that our children learn to read, write and do mathematics,&rdquo; Store said, adding that the new standards will be imposed from the new school year beginning in late August.

Read More: The Indian workers training AI robots to take their jobs

Pupils from first through seventh grade (ages 6 to 13) should generally not use AI, while those in lower secondary school (ages 14 to 16) may cautiously adopt tools under teacher supervision, the government said.

In upper secondary education (ages 17 to 19), students should learn to use AI appropriately to prepare for further education and work, it added.

Norway began adopting computers in classrooms in the 1990s and tablets after the introduction of the iPad from 2010 onwards, reducing reliance on books and handwriting.

But in a related statement, the government also said it will propose legislation to fund more use of books in classrooms, reversing the trend towards computer tablets.

The Norwegian government in April also announced plans to ban children from using social media until age 16, following similar moves by Australia and other countries.]]>
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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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			<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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