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Palantir CTO says tech innovators are building for America in shift since Trump returned to White House

FOX News

Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar said tech founders are building in the national interest since Donald Trump returned to the White House, discussing AI and defense tech on Ruthless Podcast.


Meet the REAL Pirates of the Caribbean: Incredible reconstruction reveals the infamous 'Piratetown' of Nassau in its heyday - as well as the buccaneers who lived there

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Using archaeological evidence, historical records and cutting-edge 3D technology, experts have created the first scientifically accurate reconstruction of Nassau during the Golden Age of Piracy. The digital model strips away centuries of Hollywood myth to reveal what the notorious pirate stronghold actually looked like in the early 1700s. Far from a bustling colonial city lined with grand stone buildings, Nassau was little more than a ramshackle settlement of wooden huts, pirate camps and crumbling ruins. The reconstruction also revives some of history's most infamous buccaneers, including Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, Calico Jack Rackham and Benjamin Hornigold, using AI based on historical engravings and contemporary descriptions. The recreations will feature in the finale of Wreckwatch TV's series about the real pirates of the Caribbean, Mystery of the Pirate King's Treasure.


US launches new attacks on Iran as Tehran targets Gulf sites

Al Jazeera

What is Iran's Pickaxe Mountain? The United States military says it has launched another wave of strikes on Iran, while Tehran says it retaliated with missile and drone attacks against US military assets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan. US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, said it concluded an evening wave of strikes against Iran at 9pm ET on Wednesday (01:00 GMT on Thursday), targeting "Iranian command centres, air defence sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities" in an effort to reduce Iran's ability to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian air defences were activated over the capital, Tehran, as state media reported attacks across much of the country. Explosions were reported in Bandar Abbas and on nearby Qeshm island in the south, as well as in the southeastern coastal towns of Sirik, Chabahar and Konarak. Iranian media also reported attacks further inland in Rask, Khondab, Khorramabad and Semnan.


Japan revises AI policy guidelines to bolster cybersecurity

The Japan Times

The Cabinet has adopted revised guidelines for artificial intelligence-related policies to bolster cybersecurity measures. The government has revised its guidelines for artificial intelligence-related policies, calling for constantly strengthening measures against cyberattacks in light of serious risks posed by cutting-edge AI models. The original AI policy guidelines were compiled only last December. The revision comes amid rapid technological innovation, including the launch of U.S. startup Anthropic's Claude Mythos. The revised guidelines, adopted at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, note the growing threat of cyberattacks against the backdrop of advancing AI capabilities, and call for collaborating with foreign government agencies and AI development companies to significantly strengthen the capabilities of Japan's AI Safety Institute. The guidelines also highlight the need to avoid excessive reliance on specific countries or companies for AI, and express the government's intention to develop domestic AI that addresses challenges facing Japan.


Facial recognition gates introduced at Ikebukuro Station

The Japan Times

A facial recognition system has been introduced at ticket gates at Ikebukuro Station on the Tobu Tojo Line in Tokyo. Hitachi and Tobu Railway on Wednesday introduced a facial recognition system at ticket gates at Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo's Toshima Ward. Passengers can pass through the ticket gates hands-free if they register their facial data and commuter pass information in advance. The companies hope to encourage other railway operators to adopt the system, which can be installed by simply adding cameras and other equipment to existing ticket gates. The system was jointly developed in cooperation with three ticket gate manufacturers, including Toshiba. This is the first time that the system has been installed at a major terminal station in Tokyo.


China sends robots out into the world to learn how to be human

The Japan Times

In an industrial park on the outskirts of Beijing, a humanoid arm picks up a bag of Lay's potato chips and places it neatly along a row of snacks on a shelf. Nearby, a worker films himself grabbing cushions off a sofa and folding sheets on a bed, recording videos that will be used to develop brains for robots. China is deploying more humanoids than ever before, sending thousands to logistics hubs, battery factories and other industrial locations at a faster pace than the U.S. Buoyed by support from the government and a flood of investment, startups are getting their most advanced machines out into the world in a bid to gather torrents of data that can fuel the development of smarter, more humanlike machines. President Xi Jinping is looking to the robotics industry for help beating the U.S. in a global technology race. China's manufacturing prowess and robust supply chain management position it well to reap the benefits of humanoids before its geopolitical rival. Xi is due to address the country's flagship AI conference this week for the first time, where the latest humanoids will be on display.


The 'heartbreaking' OCD that can make you doubt your relationship

BBC News

The'heartbreaking' OCD that can make you doubt your relationship Sophia, 24, has been in a loving relationship for more than a year, but she still finds herself questioning everything about it - from how compatible she and her boyfriend are to whether she loves him at all, and what action she might take as a result. I couldn't leave the house because I was so worried I would cheat on my boyfriend, says Sophia, a content creator and waitress from Leeds. At my worst, I couldn't go to work. I'd be lying in bed all day, asking [Chat] GPT hundreds of questions to try and get reassurance. Sophia is describing living with relationship OCD (ROCD), a form of obsessive compulsive disorder which experts say goes far beyond the normal relationship doubts that we can all experience.


xAI sues user for exploiting AI tool to sexualise minors

Al Jazeera

Elon Musk's xAI has filed a lawsuit against a South Carolina man who was arrested earlier this year on charges of sexually exploiting minors, alleging that he misused the company's AI tool to create sexually explicit content involving a child. The lawsuit, filed in a Texas federal court on Tuesday, alleges that Terry Harwood knowingly violated the company's terms of service to create the material. Despite expressly agreeing to abide by the xAI Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy, Defendant designed misleading prompts to circumvent Grok's built-in safeguards and then abused the tool to convert non-sexual photographs into sexually explicit images without the photograph subjects' knowledge or consent," the 12-page complaint said. The suit alleges that Harwood uploaded images of both adults and minors that were not sexual in nature and then tried to create so-called "deepfakes" that sexualised them. "A review of Defendant's xAI accounts further shows that on numerous occasions during the Relevant Period, Defendant submitted prompts to Grok to alter such images to sexualize the subjects of the images, which Grok responded to by refusing to follow the prompts on the basis that such material violated Grok's content moderation guardrails," the complaint added. "In response, Defendant repeatedly submitted further prompts, with alterations, in an effort to circumvent Grok's moderation efforts." The suit is the first brought by an AI company against one of its users and comes amid intense scrutiny of xAI around the world for allowing users to create this kind of content on the platform in the first place. Grok has been under the spotlight in Washington, been in the crosshairs of European regulators, and faced bans in both Malaysia and Indonesia regarding sexually explicit content that can be created on the platform. Earlier this year, Musk pushed back on allegations that Grok produced AI-generated sexualised images of children, especially nude images. "I [am] not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok.


Intel Officials Predict the Pentagon's Bill for the Iran War Will Exceed 100 Billion

WIRED

The Trump administration has not disclosed its cost estimates for the Iran war. President Donald Trump restarted the Iran conflict with days of missile strikes, and US intelligence officials now estimate the total military cost of the war for the Pentagon could exceed $100 billion, according to two people directly familiar with the matter. The officials were tracking the total cost of Operation Epic Fury to be in the $50 to $100 billion range at the end of May, dovetailing with confidential congressional estimates putting the costs to date at around $80 billion. The Trump administration has not disclosed its cost estimates for the Iran war. In June the White House made a request for $88 billion to cover some of the costs of the war, but even that is an undercounting, the people say.


Russia pounds Ukraine with missile, drone strikes

Al Jazeera

Is the war entering a new phase? Footage shows firefighters extinguishing a massive fire after Russia launched a flurry of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa early Wednesday morning. The strikes killed at least six people and wounded 20 others across the country, officials said. Pezeshkian vows Iran will defend'every inch' of its territory The history of the US and Iraq's complicated relationship