Goto

Collaborating Authors

France


EU agrees 'historic' deal with world's first laws to regulate AI

The Guardian

The world's first comprehensive laws to regulate artificial intelligence have been agreed in a landmark deal after a marathon 37-hour negotiation between the European Parliament and EU member states. The agreement was described as "historic" by Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner responsible for a suite of laws in Europe that will also govern social media and search engines, covering giants such as X, TikTok and Google. Breton said 100 people had been in a room for almost three days to seal the deal. He said it was "worth the few hours of sleep" to make the "historic" deal. Carme Artigas, Spain's secretary of state for AI, who facilitated the negotiations, said France and Germany supported the text, amid reports that tech companies in those countries were fighting for a lighter touch approach to foster innovation among small companies.


Congress and EU diverge on AI policy, as Brussels races to reach deal

Washington Post - Technology News

People familiar with the talks who spoke on the condition of the anonymity to describe delicate negotiations said France appeared to be the strongest obstacle to a deal, based in part on its desire to protect a burgeoning company developing AI foundation models: Paris-based Mistral, as well as other French AI firms. A bid to limit AI in police work, meanwhile, comes as France is set to deploy AI-powered smart cameras for policing and security at the 2024 Summer Olympics and as French cities have already entered legal gray areas by deploying or testing such technology.


Researchers create AI tool with a nose for fraudulent wine

The Guardian

Fraudsters who pass off ropey plonk as a high-end tipple may soon have artificial intelligence on their case; scientists have trained an algorithm to trace wines to their origins based on routine chemical analyses. Researchers used machine learning to distinguish wines based on subtle differences in the concentrations of scores of compounds, allowing them to track the wines back not only to a particular vine-growing region, but to the estate where the wine was made. "There's a lot of wine fraud around with people making up some crap in their garage, printing off labels, and selling it for thousands of dollars," said Prof Alexandre Pouget at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. "We show for the first time that we have enough sensitivity with our chemical techniques to tell the difference." To train the program, the scientists turned to gas chromatography, which had been used to analyse 80 wines harvested over 12 years from seven different estates in the Bordeaux region of France.


E.U.'s AI Regulation Could Be Softened After Pushback From Biggest Members

TIME - Tech

A key aspect of the E.U.'s landmark AI Act could be watered down after the French, German, and Italian governments advocated for limited regulation of the powerful models--known as foundation models--that underpin a wide range of artificial intelligence applications. A document seen by TIME that was shared with officials from the European Parliament and the European Commission by the three biggest economies in the bloc over the weekend proposes that AI companies working on foundation models regulate themselves by publishing certain information about their models and signing up to codes of conduct. There would initially be no punishment for companies that didn't follow these rules, though there might be in future if companies repeatedly violate codes of conduct. They are some of the most powerful, valuable and potentially risky AI systems in existence. Many of the most prominent and hyped AI companies--including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, xAI, Cohere, InflectionAI, and Meta--develop foundation models.


'Earthquake' at ChatGPT developer as senior staff quit after sacking of boss Sam Altman

The Guardian

The crisis at artificial intelligence firm OpenAI deepened this weekend amid a reported exodus of senior staff in the wake of boss Sam Altman's mystery firing. OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT bot, abruptly ousted Altman on Friday for allegedly misleading the board. In a statement, it said it had lost confidence in its 38-year-old co-founder after "a deliberative review process" concluded he had not been "consistently candid in his communications", without specifying how. Shortly afterwards, Greg Brockman, the company's president, announced he had resigned. "Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today… We too are still trying to figure out exactly what happened," he wrote on X.


Scientists use AI to revive Edith Piaf's voice so she can 'narrate' her own biopic

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Ediaf Piaf's rich tones will once again delight music fans as she stars in her own biopic - despite having passed away over 60 years ago. An AI recreation of Piaf's unmistakable voice will be used to narrate'Piaf', an upcoming film about her tumultuous life. Scientists from Warner Music Group have trained an AI on hundreds of recordings of Piaf, some over 80 years old, in order to'revive' Piaf's voice and image. Animation will be used alongside archival footage to tell the story of how Piaf rose to become an icon, including some previously unknown aspects. Julie Veille, who conceived the idea for the film, says that this will'help bring her story into the 21st century.' 'Piaf' will be a 90-minute film about the life of Edith Piaf and will be narrated by an AI reconstruction of the singer's voice The film, 'Piaf', will feature animation as well as archival footage of interviews, performances, and personal footage to tell the story of one of France's most iconic musicians Vielle said: 'It has been the greatest privilege to work alongside Edith's Estate.


The Good Robot Podcast: featuring Giada Pistilli on good corporations, AI ethics and value pluralism

AIHub

Hosted by Eleanor Drage and Kerry Mackereth, The Good Robot is a podcast which explores the many complex intersections between gender, feminism and technology. In this episode, we talk to Giada Pistilli, Principal Ethicist at Hugging Face, which is the company that Meg Mitchell joined, following her departure from Google. Giada is also completing a PhD in philosophy and ethics of applied conversational AI at Sorbonne University. We talk about value pluralism and AI, which means building AI according to the values of different groups of people. We also explore what it means for an AI company to actually take AI ethics really seriously as well as the state of feminism in France right now.


France to host next AI safety summit as European nations jockey for tech leadership

FOX News

AI expert Marva Bailer tells Fox News Digital how the open availability of artificial intelligence can have negative impacts and talks potential federal legislation to control it. European nations continue to jockey for leadership on artificial intelligence (AI), with Paris announcing it will host the next safety summit shortly after Britain hosted the first one. "The first edition of the Artificial Intelligence Security Summit, organized by the United Kingdom, provides an opportunity to develop international cooperation in the field of security, a crucial issue for the years to come. It was, therefore, natural for France to host the second edition of this summit," French Minister Delegate for the Digital Economy Jean-Noël Barrot said in a press release. The future of AI remains up for grabs, with many nations trying to position themselves at the forefront of the race.


Google Maps launches Immersive View tool that lets you virtually explore 15 cities - and it even works inside buildings

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Ever wanted to take a stroll down Paris' Champs-Élysées? Or maybe take a look around that new restaurant before you make a reservation? Now, Google Maps' Immersive View tool will let you do all this from the comfort of your phone. Rolling out this week, the new AI-powered feature will allow users to explore accurate 3D models of cities and even look around the inside of buildings. By combining millions of street view images and satellite photos, Google has made the tool available in 15 cities including London, Dublin, and Paris.


AI fakes are everywhere -- how to spot them

FOX News

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Tom Hanks isn't trying to sell you a dental plan. I knew this stage of AI tomfoolery was coming, but it's still surprising how fast it's happening. Let's take a closer look at how free and cheap tools are fueling fraud -- and the signs to watch for.