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How Putin became master of the image

BBC News

Throughout his time as Russian President, Vladimir Putin has been alert to the power of visual imagery. The first time I interviewed him in 2001, an aide swooped in just before the cameras went live and snatched away the small water glasses on the table in front of us. Why did you do that? We wouldn't want anyone to think they were for vodka, came the reply. And anyway, we can't risk a glass spilling live on TV.


Meta Is in Crisis, Google Search's Makeover, and AI Gets Booed by Graduates

WIRED

Meta Is in Crisis, Google Search's Makeover, and AI Gets Booed by Graduates This week on, the team discusses Meta's recent layoffs and what they've been hearing from employees about the increasingly grim vibes at the company. They also talk about Elon Musk losing his lawsuit against OpenAI and share highlights from Google's annual conference--including an ambitious AI vision to change how people search the web. Finally, what do recent college graduates and women whose spouses work in AI have in common? Google Search Goes Agentic--and Doesn't Need You Anymore Write to us at [email protected] . You can always listen to this week's podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here's how: If you're on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link . We spoke to more than a dozen employees and it turns out the job cuts are far from the only reason why Meta employees are really going through it. He lost his lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI in really as full a way as you can, as dramatically as possible. I know, Zoë, you're looking forward to talking about that. We're going to get into why young adults might be using AI, but they have very complicated feelings about it. And later in the show, we're going to hear about why women married to AI bros have had enough . This week, the company is letting go of roughly 10 percent of its workforce, which is about 8,000 employees total. It's the latest round of job cuts, adding to the roughly 25,000 jobs that have been cut in the past few years as part of Mark Zuckerberg's Year of Efficiency that started in 2023 and now the latest AI-forward workplace, which he is trying to develop and impose. And while these latest cuts are not as big as some of the rounds of layoffs that have already happened, they're getting a ton of attention because Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO, has said that the reason they're happening, in part at least, in large part, is because the company is spending so much money on AI and data centers.


Morgan Wallen fans erupt with rage after country star is snubbed at popular awards show

FOX News

Chiefs heiress Gracie Hunt might have set a bridesmaids record, fighting in the Dover parking lot & wings! Nothing to see here: Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and his ex's bridesmaid are just friends Can't sleep, Japanese bear-fighting robo-wolves will eat me and a gorilla trade captivates the nation A replica of KITT from'Knight Rider' got a traffic ticket in another state despite being in a museum Jena Sims covers her butt with a bow at the SI Swimsuit party, the NFL saves us from Romo & is Star Wars dead? Taylor Sheridan shocks'Yellowstone' fans with new spinoff series, provides viewers with dark ride Early reviews for new'Star Wars' movie are generally horrific, but does anyone even care at this point? Retired Navy admiral makes bombshell claim about UFOs and'non-human intelligence' controlling them Mother's Day chaos at a steakhouse includes knives thrown at waiters and a touching mother-daughter arrest Japanese bear-fightin' robo-wolves are pure unleaded nightmare fuel but they're working Dr. Ben Carson urges Americans to'stand up for what they believe in' after Rededicate 250 event Trump sends WARNING to Iran: 'CLOCK IS TICKING' Trump warns Iran'the clock is ticking' as US discusses military options The'Tennessee Fan' singer's album'I'm the Problem' went 4x Platinum but he left without a single trophy Country music star Reba McEntire says the cowboy way of life brought her and boyfriend Rex Linn together in an interview with Fox News Digital ahead of the ACM Awards. Morgan Wallen was iced out Sunday at the ACM Awards, and country music fans aren't happy.


Trump's Tech Posse in China, Who's Winning in Musk v. Altman, and Hantavirus Conspiracy Theories

WIRED

Today on, we discuss how Donald Trump's visit to China could influence conversations between world leaders at a moment when the economic and foreign policy stakes couldn't be higher. This week on, the team dives into Trump's selected entourage for his high-stakes visit to China, ranging from Silicon Valley's tech billionaires to director Brett Ratner. We also break down the latest developments in Elon Musk's lawsuit against Sam Altman, alleging that OpenAI abandoned its original nonprofit mission for profit-driven goals, and whether either side is actually gaining an edge in the trial. Plus, Leah shares with us some of the most outlandish conspiracy theories that have been swirling around the hantavirus outbreak. Elon Musk Had'Hair-Raising' Idea of Passing OpenAI On to His Kids, Sam Altman Says Write to us at [email protected] . You can always listen to this week's podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here's how: If you're on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link . The high profile testimonies we've heard this week, including from OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman himself, have resurfaced a lot of past events and a lot of drama, but we're asking will this actually be consequential to the trial's verdict? He's accompanied by a select number of Silicon Valley's top CEOs. We'll discuss how their presence could influence conversations between world leaders at a moment when the economic and foreign policy stakes could not be higher for the US. A lot of them have been recycling very similar conspiracy theories from the Covid-19 pandemic . We're going to tell you what they're sharing and also how to spot this kind of harmful misinformation.


Why the Future of College Could Look Like OnlyFans

The New Yorker

Universities have become generic, one professor and former dean argues. In the A.I. era, students may demand something they can't get elsewhere. Last week, I asked whether, as a forty-six-year-old father of two, I should keep contributing to my children's college funds, or if perhaps some combination of anti-establishment fervor, A.I., and a shifting economy could save me some money. I don't have a particularly good answer yet, at least not one good enough to inspire the purchase of a midlife-crisis car, my son's and daughter's futures be damned. But, after wrestling with that query in Part 1 of what will be a series of articles, I think there may be a better one to ask. The question is not, I think, "How will A.I. change higher education?" I wanted to talk with someone who stood outside the polite consensus which holds that college as we know it will survive, if only because, as I wrote last week, humans will always want to differentiate their children from other people's children.


Trump Pivots on AI Regulation, Worker Ousted by DOGE Runs for Office, and Hantavirus Explained

WIRED

Today on, we're diving into recent reports that the Trump administration is considering an executive order that would establish some sort of federal oversight over new AI models. This week on, the team discusses the surprising reports of the Trump administration seemingly reversing its stance when it comes to AI safety and regulation. We also look into what exactly is going on with the Hantavirus outbreak, and whether you should be worried. Also, we get into the story of how a former federal employee who was ousted by Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency is now running for office. Plus, a Spirit Airlines laid off employee shares with us how they experienced the company's shutdown news last weekend and what they'll miss most about the job. A Federal Worker Was Fired for Filming DOGE. Write to us at [email protected] . You can always listen to this week's podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here's how: If you're on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link . And we're going to talk about whether this move actually signals a meaningful shift in future regulation of this technology.


Musk v. Altman Kicks Off, DOJ Guts Voting Rights Unit, and Is the AI Job Apocalypse Overhyped?

WIRED

In this episode of “Uncanny Valley,” we get into how the Elon Musk-Sam Altman trial goes way beyond their rivalry and could have major implications both for OpenAI and also the AI industry at large.


Ethical Considerations for Responsible Data Curation

Neural Information Processing Systems

HCCV datasets constructed through nonconsensual web scraping lack crucial metadata for comprehensive fairness and robustness evaluations. Current remedies are post hoc, lack persuasive justification for adoption, or fail to provide proper contextualization for appropriate application. Our research focuses on proactive, domain-specific recommendations, covering purpose, privacy and consent, and diversity, for curating HCCV evaluation datasets, addressing privacy and bias concerns. We adopt an ante hoc reflective perspective, drawing from current practices, guidelines, dataset withdrawals, and audits, to inform our considerations and recommendations.


Interview with Deepika Vemuri: interpretability and concept-based learning

AIHub

The latest interview in our series with the AAAI/SIGAI Doctoral Consortium participants features Deepika Vemuri who is working on interpretability and concept-based learning. We found out more about the two aspects of concept-based models that she's been researching. Could you tell us a bit about your PhD - where are you studying, and what is the topic of your research? I'm a PhD student from IIT Hyderabad working with Dr Vineeth N Balasubramanian, supported by the PMRF Fellowship. Most current state-of-the-art models are black boxes, which is especially problematic when these models are used in high-stakes applications like criminal justice and healthcare, where people's lives depend on the decisions of these models.


Resource-constrained image generation and visual understanding: an interview with Aniket Roy

AIHub

In the latest in our series of interviews meeting the AAAI/SIGAI Doctoral Consortium participants, we caught up with Aniket Roy to find out more about his research on generative models for computer vision tasks. Tell us a bit about your PhD - where did you study, and what was the topic of your research? I recently completed my PhD in Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University, where I worked under the supervision of Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Rama Chellappa. My research primarily focused on developing methods for resource-constrained image generation and visual understanding. In particular, I explored how modern generative models can be adapted to operate efficiently while maintaining strong performance.