More than a quarter of UK adults have used generative artificial intelligence such as chatbots, according to survey showing that 4 million people have also used it for work. Generative AI, which refers to AI tools that produce convincing text or images in response to human prompts, has gripped the public imagination since the launch of ChatGPT in November. The rate of adoption of the latest generation of AI systems exceeds that of voice-assisted speakers such as Amazon's Alexa, according to accounting group Deloitte, which published the survey. Deloitte said 26% of 16- to 75-year-olds have used a generative AI tool, representing about 13 million people, with one in 10 of those respondents using it at least once a day. "It took five years for voice-assisted speakers to achieve the same adoption levels. It is incredibly rare for any emerging technology to achieve these levels of adoption and frequency of usage so rapidly," said Paul Lee, a Deloitte partner.

How much does Sound of Freedom get right about child sex trafficking? On the whole, it's pretty misleading about the nature and root causes of the problem, Molly Olmstead writes. In addition to what the movie gets wrong, she explains the religious tradition it taps into and the controversies that surround the man at the film's center. Plus: What Next examines how Sound of Freedom wove QAnon conspiracy theories into box office gold. Sam Adams reviews the whole moviegoing experience.

Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, faced a grueling four hours of questioning during a House judiciary committee oversight hearing on Thursday. Republicans criticized Khan – an outspoken critic of big tech – for "mismanagement" and for "politicizing" legal action against large companies such as Twitter and Google as head of the powerful antitrust agency. In his opening statement, committee chair Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said Khan has given herself and the FTC "unchecked power" by taking aggressive steps to regulate practices at big tech companies such as Twitter, Meta and Google. He said Khan carried out "targeted harassment against Twitter" by asking for all communications related to Elon Musk, including conversations with journalists, following Musk's acquisition because she does not share his political views. Khan, a former journalist, said the company has "a history of lax security and privacy policies" that did not begin with Musk.

'Outnumbered' panelists discuss the vice president's approval after her latest comments on transportation and artificial intelligence. Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen argued Vice President Kamala Harris' abysmal approval is due, in part, to how she speaks to the American public. On "Outnumbered" Thursday, Thiessen responded to a montage of Harris' confusing statements by arguing that the VP "has a habit" of speaking as if she's talking to children. MARC THIESSEN: Why is she so unpopular? One may be that none of the issues she's taken on, like the border or anything else, she hasn't made any progress and so part of that is the failure of the administration.

The US Federal Trade Commission has reportedly launched an investigation into whether OpenAI, the company behind popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, has violated consumer protection laws. The FTC sent OpenAI a 20-page request for documents covering concerns related to data privacy and reputational harm, according to a report Thursday from The Washington Post. The agency also asked for details on OpenAI's large language model, the technology behind its generative AI chatbot, including all sources used to train the model and how data was obtained, according to the request, which was shared by the Post. CNET hasn't independently verified the request. The FTC declined to comment.

American regulators now appear to be clamping down on generative AI in earnest. The Washington Post has learned the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an investigation into OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and DALL-E. Officials have requested documents showing how the company tackles risks stemming from its large language AI models. The FTC is concerned the company may be violating consumer protection laws through "unfair or deceptive" practices that could hurt the public's privacy, security or reputation. The Commission is particularly interested in information linked to a bug that leaked ChatGPT users' sensitive data, including payments and chat histories.

São Paulo, Brazil – As the city of São Paulo prepares to roll out thousands of surveillance cameras with facial recognition, experts are raising concerns on the indiscriminate use of this technology in the Brazilian megalopolis could exacerbate problems such as structural racism and inequality, while also posing risks to data privacy and cybersecurity. The Smart Sampa project is the latest among a series of initiatives involving modern surveillance techniques in various Brazilian states. It is significant due to the sheer size of the population it will impact: São Paulo, the most populous city in the Southern Hemisphere, is home to 12 million people. The project aims to roll out a single video surveillance platform that integrates and supports the operations of emergency and traffic services, the city's public transport network, and police forces. By 2024, up to 20,000 cameras will be installed, and an equal number of third-party and private cameras will be integrated into the network.

Last month, the entire world was abuzz when five über wealthy explorers perished at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean near the grave of the once "unsinkable ship." Disturbingly, during the same week, hundreds of war-torn refugees drowned in the Mediterranean with little news of their plight. The irony of machine versus nature illustrates how tiny humans are in the universe, and that every soul rich or poor is precious. It is with this attitude that many roboticists have been tackling some of the hardest problems in the galaxy from space exploration to desert mining to oceanography to search & rescue. Following the news of the implosion of the Titan submersible, I reached out to Professor F. Javier Diez of Rutgers University for his comment on the rescue mission and the role of robots.

The US's top competition watchdog has opened an investigation into OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, on claims it has run afoul of consumer protection laws by putting personal reputations and data at risk. The move marks the strongest regulatory threat to the Microsoft-backed startup that kicked off the frenzy in generative artificial intelligence, enthralling consumers and businesses while raising concerns about its potential risks. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week sent a 20-page demand for records about how OpenAI addresses risks related to its AI models. The agency is investigating whether the company engaged in unfair or deceptive practices that resulted in "reputational harm" to consumers. One of the questions has to do with steps OpenAI has taken to address the potential for its products to "generate statements about real individuals that are false, misleading, or disparaging".

The US Federal Trade Commission has sent a request for information to startup OpenAI Inc. as part of a probe into its ChatGPT conversational AI bot, according to a person familiar with the request. The document request was sent recently to the Microsoft Corp.-backed AI company seeking information on whether ChatGPT harms consumers, according to the person, who asked not to be named discussing a non-public investigation. FTC Chair Lina Khan, who is set to appear before Congress Thursday, has raised concerns about AI, saying enforcers "need to be vigilant early" with transformative tools like artificial intelligence. The Washington Post earlier reported on the FTC's probe.