ICT news

• Experts Favor New US Agency To Govern AI

  05-09-2023 23:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Long-time Slashdot reader Mr_Blank shares a report from Axios: AI experts at leading universities favor creating a federal "Department of AI" or a global regulator to govern artificial intelligence over leaving that to Congress, the White House or the private sector. That's the top-level finding of the new Axios-Generation Lab-Syracuse University AI Experts Survey of computer science professors from top U.S. research universities. The survey includes responses from 213 professors of computer sci
  
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• Apple To Acquire Major Classical Music Labels BIS Records

  05-09-2023 22:40 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple will acquire the major Swedish classical music record label BIS Records, intending to fold it into Apple Music Classical and Platoon. MacRumors reports: BIS Records was founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr. The label focuses on a range of classical music, with particular focus on works that are not well represented by existing recordings. It is an award-winning name in the world of classical music, acclaimed for its vast catalog and impressive audio quality. The label celebrates its 50th ann
  
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• Intel and Tower Ink Major Foundry Deal, $300 Million Investment

  05-09-2023 22:02 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Two weeks after Intel said it would cancel its plan to acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion amidst pushback from regulators, the two companies intend to work together anyway. Intel today said that it would provide foundry services and 300mm manufacturing capacity to Tower. As part of the deal, Tower would use Intel's plant in New Mexico, operated by Intel Foundry Services (IFS), investing up to $300 million to "acquire and own equipmen
  
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• CBP Tells Airports Its New Facial Recognition Target is 75% of Passengers Leaving the US

  05-09-2023 21:25 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Slash_Account_Dot writes: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has told airports it plans to increase its targets for scanning passengers with facial recognition as they leave the U.S., according to an internal airport email obtained by 404 Media. The new goal will be to scan 75 percent of all passengers, the email adds. The news signals CBP's increasing focus on biometric, and in particular facial recognition, systems at airports. Although it is unclear if related to the shift in goals, one trav
  
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• Israel PM Pitches Fiber Optic Cable To Link Asia, Middle East With Europe

  05-09-2023 20:47 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Israel's prime minister on Sunday floated the idea of building infrastructure projects such as a fiber optic cable linking countries in Asia and the Arabian Peninsula with Europe through Israel and Cyprus. From a report: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he's "quite confident" such an infrastructure "corridor" linking Asia to Europe through Israel and Cyprus is feasible. He said such projects could happen if Israel normalizes relations with other countries in the region. The 2020 U.S.-broke
  
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• 'Alarming' Scale of Marine Sand Dredging Laid Bare by New Data Platform

  05-09-2023 19:25 via news.slashdot.org
  
  One million lorries of sand a day are being extracted from the world's oceans, posing a "significant" threat to marine life and coastal communities facing rising sea levels and storms, according to the first-ever global data platform to monitor the industry. From a report: The new data platform, developed by the UN Environment Programme (Unep), tracks and monitors dredging of sand in the marine environment by using the AIS (automatic identification systems) data from ships. Using data from 2012-
  
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• Inside Meta's AI Drama: Internal Feuds Over Compute Power

  05-09-2023 18:48 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: Meta Platforms' releases of its large-language models, Llama and Llama 2, in the past six months have won the company praise for offering free, open-source alternatives to models from OpenAI and Anthropic. But for some of the scientists and engineers who worked on Llama, that praise was too little, too late. Many have quit, embittered by a previously unreported internal battle over computing resources with another Meta research team working on a rival model t
  
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• Microsoft To Stop Forcing Windows 11 Users Into Edge in EU Countries

  05-09-2023 18:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Microsoft will finally stop forcing Windows 11 users in Europe into Edge if they click a link from the Windows Widgets panel or from search results. From a report: The software giant has started testing the changes to Windows 11 in recent test builds of the operating system, but the changes are restricted to countries within the European Economic Area (EEA). "In the European Economic Area (EEA), Windows system components use the default browser to open links," reads a change note from a Windows
  
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• Apple To Launch 'Low-Cost' MacBook Series Next Year To Rival Chromebooks, Report Says

  05-09-2023 17:22 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple is developing a low-cost MacBook series to compete with Chromebook models in the education sector that could be launched as early as the second half of 2024, claims a new report out of Taiwan. From a report: According to DigiTimes' industry sources, Apple will likely launch the new product line to differentiate it from the company's existing MacBook Air and Pro lines. The outer appearance will still use a metal casing but will be made of "different materials" and the cost of the mechanical
  
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• Australian MPs To Lobby US To Drop Julian Assange Prosecution or Risk 'Very Dangerous' Precedent for Russia and China

  05-09-2023 16:41 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Julian Assange's supporters will urge the US to drop the prosecution of the Australian citizen on the basis the "very dangerous" precedent will be exploited by China and Russia. From a report: Six Australian politicians are expected to focus on freedom-of-speech arguments when they fly to Washington DC later this month to warn against extraditing the WikiLeaks founder from the UK. The MPs and senators from across the political spectrum are aiming to help build momentum for the prime minister, An
  
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• It's Time To Put Oceans To the Test in the Climate Fight, Scientists Say

  05-09-2023 16:06 via science.slashdot.org
  
  More than 200 scientists have signed onto a letter pushing for "responsible" research into ways to trap planet-heating carbon dioxide in the world's oceans. They want to take urgent action on the climate crisis, while making sure they don't trigger any new problems by relying on oceans to help in the fight. From a report: Polluters have trashed the world's atmosphere with carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. That blanket of pollution is already warming the planet and causing more extreme
  
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• Baidu CEO Says More Than 70 Large AI Language Models Released in China

  05-09-2023 15:13 via slashdot.org
  
  More than 70 large artificial intelligence language models with over 1 billion parameters have been released in China, Baidu CEO Robin Li told an industry event in Beijing on Tuesday. From a report: Baidu joins several other Chinese companies that launched AI chatbots last week after securing regulatory approval for mass market releases. These include facial recognition firm SenseTime and AI startups Baichuan Intelligent Technology, Zhipu AI, and MiniMax. Li said the latest version of Baidu's AI
  
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• China To Launch $40 Billion State Fund To Boost Chip Industry

  05-09-2023 14:00 via slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader shares a report: China is set to launch a new state-backed investment fund that aims to raise about $40 billion for its semiconductor sector, two people familiar with the matter said, as the country ramps up efforts to catch up with the U.S. and other rivals. It is likely to be the biggest of three funds launched by the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, also known as the Big Fund. Its target of 300 billion yuan ($41 billion) outdoes similar funds in 2014 and
  
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• Telecom Companies in India Want Tech Firms To Pay For Network Usage

  05-09-2023 11:12 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Telecom operators in India, the second largest wireless market, would like internet companies to compensate for using their networks, a recommendation they've made to the local regulatory body, echoing a viewpoint that is gaining some momentum in other parts of the world but also stoking fears about violation of net neutrality. From a report: Jio, India's largest telecom operator with more than 450 million subscribers, recommended to the local regulator that internet companies should be made to
  
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• China Reaches Peak Gasoline in Milestone for Electric Vehicles

  05-09-2023 08:00 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Chinese oil giant Sinopec last month made a surprise announcement that mostly flew under the radar. It's now expecting gasoline demand in China to peak this year, two years earlier than its previous outlooks. The main culprit? The surging number of electric vehicles on the road. Bloomberg: Calling peaks is often a no-win endeavor for industry analysts. The call will either be correct but seem obvious after the fact, or wrong and lead to years of mockery. But this isn't an analyst calling a peak;
  
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• Pentagon Has the Worst IT Helpdesk in the US Govt

  05-09-2023 05:30 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  When it comes to US government employee satisfaction with IT services, one agency finds itself continually at the bottom of the heap: The rather crucial Department of Defense. From a report: Results from the General Services Administration's (GSA) Mission-Support Customer Satisfaction Survey published on Wednesday found the DoD was trailing the other 23 US federal government agencies included in the research. Of the seven technology user areas surveyed, the DoD came dead last in user satisfactio
  
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• Wanted: Skilled Workers To Combat the Rise in Cyber Crime

  05-09-2023 02:30 via news.slashdot.org
  
  As a growing number of hackers target companies, organisations and industries with debilitating attacks, more skilled cyber security workers are urgently needed to combat the threat.ÂFrom a report: ISC2, the world's largest association of cyber professionals, estimates that the cyber security workforce in 2022 stood at about 4.7mn people globally. But a further 3.4mn roles remain unfilled. "The gap is massive," says Clar Rosso, ISC2's chief executive. "This shortfall is felt more acutely i
  
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• US Spy Agency Dreams of Surveillance Underwear

  05-09-2023 00:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  The future of wearable technology, beyond now-standard accessories like smartwatches and fitness tracking rings, is ePANTS, according to the intelligence community. The Intercept: The federal government has shelled out at least $22 million in an effort to develop "smart" clothing that spies on the wearer and its surroundings. Similar to previous moonshot projects funded by military and intelligence agencies, the inspiration may have come from science fiction and superpowers, but the basic applic
  
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