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Election voting advice from AI chatbots 'inaccurate and unreliable'

The Guardian

A polling station in Budapest during Hungary's elections in April, on which the research was based. A polling station in Budapest during Hungary's elections in April, on which the research was based. AI chatbots provide inaccurate, inconsistent and unreliable guidance to voters asking which party they should back, a study suggests, often recommending the wrong party, not mentioning the right one, or listing parties not even running. "The results raise serious concerns about the reliability of general-purpose AI systems in electoral contexts," the study, published by the civil liberties group Liberties and based on research during this year's Hungarian parliamentary elections, concluded. "They misclassified profiles, omitted relevant parties and included parties not running in the election," said the report, shared with the Guardian.


Chinese AI sensation Moonshot's gamble on big models pays off

The Japan Times

Chinese AI sensation Moonshot's gamble on big models pays off People visit the Moonshot AI stand, featuring the Kimi K3 model, during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Saturday. Crowds rushed to an obscure corner of China's premier tech summit, moving past monumental booths from Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings to catch a glimpse of the hottest name in domestic artificial intelligence. Developers and users at the World AI Conference jostled for a closer look at Moonshot and its Kimi K3 -- the giant 2.8 trillion-parameter model whose release on Friday showed China was closing the gap on OpenAI and Anthropic PBC far quicker than anticipated. The startup became an instant global sensation, drawing comparisons to DeepSeek's 2025 breakout and plaudits from the likes of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Such was the crush over the weekend that Moonshot blew through its entire stock of branded swag in just a few hours. Moonshot's emergence is a vindication not just for the country's AI industry, but also for founder Yang Zhilin.


E-bike injuries are increasing rapidly in California. Many hurt are 14 or younger, study finds

Los Angeles Times

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. E-bike injuries are increasing rapidly in California. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here . See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search.


Rescued bald eagle may be internet-famous Jackie

Popular Science

Friends of Big Bear Valley is working with rescue organizations to monitor the situation. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy . An adult bald eagle recently rescued by the Los Angeles County Parks San Dimas Raptor Rescue is likely an internet-famous eagle mom named Jackie .


An Ebike Company Was Sued for Misleading Info on Safety. It Points to a Big Problem

WIRED

An Ebike Company Was Sued Over Alleged Safety Misinformation. Several Chinese businesses associated with the ebike brand Aipas settled a lawsuit with Amazon and the safety certification company UL in July. Amazon and UL, a company that tests and certifies that products meet safety standards, settled a lawsuit in July with several Chinese companies that manufacture ebikes under the Aipas brand name. The US companies accused the Chinese firms in January of claiming in Amazon listings and on Aipas' website that the ebikes had been certified by UL, giving recognizable, brand-name assurance to online shoppers worried about risks like ebike lithium-ion battery fires . On July 15, a federal judge signed off on a permanent injunction in which the companies agreed that they would no longer use the UL mark.


The ACLU Is Arming Lawyers to Expose State Surveillance Secrets

WIRED

A new toolkit for attorneys in Massachusetts targets the technologies police use--and conceal--to build criminal cases, from facial recognition to AI-written police reports. The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts says it's releasing an online toolkit this week for criminal defense attorneys designed to uncover whether police used surveillance technologies --facial recognition, automatic license plate readers, gunshot detection systems, and more--to build the cases against their clients in secret. The toolkit, which the group describes as the first of its kind, is built around handcrafted legal motions that, when granted by a judge, will force prosecutors to reveal whether surveillance technology was used against a defendant. It covers an array of technologies, from "stingray" phone trackers and location data sold by commercial brokers to AI-drafted police reports and forensic tools that crack phones and siphon data from car infotainment systems. It also includes preservation motions--demands that surveillance data be saved before it is deleted automatically--aimed at government agencies and private vendors alike.


Al-altered images on birdwatching forums putting research at risk

The Guardian

'Nobody is falling for a toucan sighting in Siberia' This image is AI-generated, using ChatGPT. 'Nobody is falling for a toucan sighting in Siberia' This image is AI-generated, using ChatGPT. For many birdwatchers, recording a species outside its normal range is the holy grail. In the UK, the discoveries often make national headlinesThe western reef heron, for example, usually found in Africa and southern Europe, spotted in a seaside town in north Wales in June, which was widely celebrated on birding forums. But a new scourge is threatening to disrupt the fun: AI slop.


Government use of automated AI decision-making to be curbed under new Australian rules

The Guardian

Federal departments and agencies still use automated decision-making in some service delivery functions, prompting fears AI systems could replace more human-led processes. Federal departments and agencies still use automated decision-making in some service delivery functions, prompting fears AI systems could replace more human-led processes. The use of AI in automated decision-making by government departments and agencies will be subject to tough rules under a new national plan, expected to extend to consumer protections, workplace safety and privacy. As the Albanese government grapples with the rapid growth in the use of artificial intelligence and a boom in datacentre construction, senior ministers have begun work to draw up new rules to ensure safety is built into AI processes inside government, prioritising fairness, accuracy and transparency. Federal departments and agencies continue to rely on automated decision-making in some service delivery functions, prompting fears increasingly sophisticated AI systems could replace more human-led processes.


Could AI be conscious?

The Guardian

Experts believe it's at least possible. I n January, the AI company Anthropic published a new constitution for Claude, its most advanced large language model (LLM), which contained the comment: "We are caught in a difficult position where we neither want to overstate the likelihood of Claude's moral patienthood nor dismiss it out of hand." A month later, Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei went on a podcast and said his company couldn't rule out the possibility that Claude was conscious. Philosopher David Chalmers, who coined the phrase "the hard problem of consciousness", has said there is a significant chance of conscious LLMs within a decade. When asked during testing to estimate the probability that it is a, meaning that its wellbeing matters in its own right, it gave numbers ranging from 5% to 40% and stressed how uncertain it was.


China's Moonshot plans IPO in six months after AI breakthrough

The Japan Times

China's Moonshot plans IPO in six months after AI breakthrough A Kimi logo is pictured at the Moonshot AI stand, featuring the Kimi K3 model, during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Saturday. Moonshot AI has told investors it's preparing to list in as early as six months, seizing the opportunity to tap capital markets after its latest model upended industry perceptions of China's burgeoning capabilities and sent global tech stocks reeling. The Chinese AI pioneer has officially distributed the shareholder resolution to its investors, seeking the blessing of its backers on a Hong Kong listing, people familiar with the matter said. The initiation of the notification process indicates an IPO could happen as soon as within the next six months. Moonshot is now in the process of wrapping a fundraising round that may value the three-year-old startup at more than $30 billion, the people said.