ICT news

• Judge Rules White House Pressured Social Networks To 'Suppress Free Speech'

  05-07-2023 23:40 via politics.slashdot.org
  
  A federal judge yesterday ordered the Biden administration to halt a wide range of communications with social media companies, siding with Missouri and Louisiana in a lawsuit (PDF) that alleges Biden and his administration violated the First Amendment by colluding with social networks "to suppress disfavored speakers, viewpoints, and content." Ars Technica reports: The Biden administration argued that it communicated with tech companies to counter misinformation related to elections, COVID-19, a
  
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• Man Who Tried To Kill Queen With Crossbow Encouraged By AI Chatbot, Prosecutors Say

  05-07-2023 23:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: On Christmas Day 2021, royal protection officers detained 19-year-old Jaswant Singh Chail at Windsor Castle, where he scaled the grounds' walls carrying a loaded high-powered crossbow. He intended to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II, who was staying in the residence nearby. During a sentencing hearing for his case this week, prosecutors revealed that Chail's Star Wars-inspired plan was aimed at avenging the 1919 Jallianwalla Bagh massacre and t
  
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• 'Piracy Is Coming Back'

  05-07-2023 20:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Tessa Kaur, writing at The Gamer: This week, Disney removed a film called Crater from Disney Plus, which had been released on May 12, 2023. This means it was on the streaming platform for just 48 days, or about seven weeks. Disney hasn't said why, but it seems most likely that it didn't perform well enough and the company decided to remove it to write down the value of its "content assets," therefore lowering their taxes. It's all about the money, and always has been, and there are unfortunate c
  
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• Financial Models on Climate Risk 'Implausible,' Say Actuaries

  05-07-2023 19:20 via slashdot.org
  
  Financial institutions often did not understand the models they were using to predict the economic cost of climate change and were underestimating the risks of temperature rises, research led by a professional body of actuaries shows. From a report: Many of the results emerging from the models were "implausible," with a serious "disconnect" between climate scientists, economists, the people building the models and the financial institutions using them, a report by the Institute and Faculty of Ac
  
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• Booming Traffic To OpenAI's ChatGPT Posts First Ever Monthly Dip in June

  05-07-2023 18:40 via slashdot.org
  
  ChatGPT, the wildly popular AI chatbot launched in November, saw monthly traffic to its website and unique visitors decline for the first time ever in June, according to analytics firm Similarweb. From a report: Worldwide desktop and mobile traffic to the ChatGPT website decreased by 9.7% in June from May, while unique visitors to ChatGPT's website dropped 5.7%. The amount of time visitors spent on the website was also down 8.5%, Similarweb data shows.
  ChatGPT set off a frenzied use of generativ
  
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• Amazon CEO Asks His Hollywood Studio To Explain Its Big Spending

  05-07-2023 18:06 via slashdot.org
  
  Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is taking a hard look at how much the company's Hollywood studio spends on original TV programming. From a report: In recent weeks, he has asked executives for detailed budget analyses of some of their biggest shows, according to people familiar with the matter, scrutinizing the studio's ballooning costs and mixed track record with audiences. The world's largest online retailer is engaged in a companywide cost-cutting program, with plans to eliminate at least 27,000 jobs. A
  
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• NYC's Anti-Bias Law For Hiring Algorithms Goes Into Effect

  05-07-2023 17:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  After months of delays, New York City today began enforcing a law that requires employers using algorithms to recruit, hire or promote employees to submit those algorithms for an independent audit -- and make the results public. From a report: The first of its kind in the country, the legislation -- New York City Local Law 144 -- also mandates that companies using these types of algorithms make disclosures to employees or job candidates. At a minimum, the reports companies must make public have
  
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• Grammys CEO: Music Containing AI-Created Elements Eligible

  05-07-2023 16:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Last month, the Recording Academy announced a series of changes to the Grammy Awards to better reflect an evolving music industry. Of those newly instituted guidelines, protocols involving technological advancements in machine learning sparked headlines: "Only human creators" could win the music industry's highest honor in a decision aimed at the use of artificial intelligence in popular music. "A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any
  
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• Lamborghini Takes Last Combustion Engine Model Order

  05-07-2023 16:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Lamborghini's combustion engine models are sold out until the end of production, its chief executive was quoted as saying in the WELT newspaper on Wednesday, as the luxury carmaker transitions towards a pure hybrid lineup. From a report: Order books for its Hurucan and Urus models are full, marking the end of combustion engine vehicle production for the company, Stephan Winkelmann, head of the Volkswagen subsidiary, said. Lamborghini announced last July it would be investing at least 1.8 billion
  
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• TV's Golden Era Proved Costly To Streamers

  05-07-2023 15:00 via entertainment.slashdot.org
  
  Consumers are winning from the streaming revolution but across most of Hollywood, the businesses churning out TV and movies are losing. From a report: Services such as Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+ and Max have become the default entertainment options for homes across America rather than cable, saving many consumers money. For the titans of Hollywood, that shift has been costly. Traditional media and entertainment companies have reported losses of more than $20 billion combined since early 2020 o
  
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• Zuckerberg Under Fire in China After Report of Quest Sale Talks

  05-07-2023 11:31 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Mark Zuckerberg is in hot water in China-- again. From a report: An influential social media account affiliated with the official Beijing Daily on Wednesday raked the Meta Platforms founder over the coals for his previous criticisms of Chinese censorship and alleged intellectual property theft. The lengthy editorial emerged after the Wall Street Journal reported Meta was in talks with Tencent Holdings about helping sell the Quest VR headset in China, despite a block on its mainstay social media
  
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• Nintendo's CEO Says its Online Accounts Key To Its Next Console Transition

  05-07-2023 08:45 via games.slashdot.org
  
  At Nintendo's 83rd annual shareholders meeting last week, president and CEO Shuntaro Furukawa said the company is hoping for a smooth transition from the Switch to its unannounced next game console, pointing to Nintendo Accounts as being key to the generational hand-off. From a report: Nintendo has pointed to its accounts as being integral to future business in the past, as in the Nintendo Account segment of a special report it released at the end of 2021.
  In response to an investor asking if th
  
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• UK Plans To Drop Flagship $14.7 Billion Climate Pledge

  05-07-2023 06:30 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The government is drawing up plans to drop the UK's flagship $14.7bn climate and nature funding pledge, the Guardian can reveal, with the prime minster accused of betraying populations most vulnerable to global heating. From the report: The disclosure provoked fury from former ministers and representatives of vulnerable countries, who accused Rishi Sunak of making false promises. A leaked briefing note to ministers, given to the Foreign Office and seen by the Guardian, lays out reasons for dropp
  
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• India Aims To Make Domestic Microchips By End of 2024

  05-07-2023 04:30 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  India will break ground on its first semiconductor assembly plant next month and begin producing the country's first domestically manufactured microchips by the end of 2024, according to a senior government official who is overseeing New Delhi's $10bn chipmaking foray. From a report: Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's minister of electronics and information technology, said US semiconductor company Micron Technology, which is setting up a chip assembly and test facility in Gujarat, would start constructi
  
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• World Registers Hottest Day Ever Recorded on July 3

  05-07-2023 03:02 via science.slashdot.org
  
  July 3 was the hottest day ever recorded globally, according to data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction. From a report: The average global temperature reached 17.01 degrees Celsius (62.62 Fahrenheit), surpassing the August 2016 record of 16.92C (62.46F) as heatwaves sizzled around the world. The southern U.S. has been suffering under an intense heat dome in recent weeks. In China, an enduring heatwave continued, with temperatures above 35C (95F). North Africa has seen te
  
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• Mars Helicopter Finally Makes Contact After Two Months of Silence

  05-07-2023 02:46 via science.slashdot.org
  
  JoeRobe writes: After 63 days of agonizing silence, NASA's Martian chopper finally phoned home. The Ingenuity helicopter reestablished communication with mission control on June 28, officially logging its 52nd flight as a success, NASA recently announced. The space agency lost contact with Ingenuity as the helicopter was descending towards the surface of the Red Planet following its most recent flight on April 26.
  The reason behind the communication drop was that a hill was inconveniently positi
  
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