The EU plans to ban chatbots from simulating emotions or interpersonal relationships in interactions with anyone under the age of 18 as the bloc tries to stop children from developing emotional dependencies on the technology. The rules will be part of the EU Kids Act, proposed on Thursday, which includes similar restrictions on minors' access to social media and video-sharing platforms. Children under 13 will be banned from accessing chatbots without their guardians' supervision, and digital platforms will have to build child-safety protections into their products or face fines of up to 6% of total worldwide turnover, according to a draft of the legislation seen by WIRED. Chatbots operating in the EU will also not be allowed to retain memory of interactions between separate conversations under the new rules, since the Commission worries this could lead to systems accumulating sensitive data of minors over time and potentially reinforcing harmful interaction patterns. Providers of online social networking sites, video-sharing platforms, and games should not automatically activate or encourage the use of AI chatbots on their services, the proposed law will also stipulate.

The EU has announced plans to restrict social media access for under-15s across its member states, in a bid to increase wellbeing and tackle online safety. Under the plans, there would be a gradual approach to children using social media which would include banning under 13s from accessing platforms. Those aged 13 to 15 would only be able to access platforms for an hour per day via mini accounts set up through their parent or guardian's social media account. The European Commission said social media companies would need to prove their platforms were safe by design, while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said the move would put parents back in the driving seat. She added the legislation - called the EU Kids Act - would give parents the tools to help their children navigate a safer world.

Flock Once Touted Its Cameras as'Made in the USA.' Now It's Not So Clear Flock reveals little about where its license plate readers are assembled, but the answer could have geopolitical and cybersecurity implications. Flock CEO Garrett Langley has said the company made its first license plate cameras in his Atlanta home, permanently scratching his dining table with drill marks. A decade later, where the company assembles its signature--and fiercely debated --product has become more of a mystery. For years, Flock touted publicly that its devices were produced in the United States. But more recent marketing materials from the company reviewed by WIRED no longer specify where its cameras come from. One US manufacturer that previously identified Flock as a customer quietly removed a mention of the company from its website earlier this year as public backlash against the company's surveillance technology grew.

How much can fair budget-division rules resist manipulation? In our paper, we ask what the best achievable compromise is. We prove that the Nash product rule reaches the optimal frontier. We study settings in which a fixed, divisible resource must be distributed among candidates or projects. The resource might be public money, research funding, charitable donations or even screen time.

'Everybody was as one': Reverend reflects on search effort for Noah Woods The love shown by a community who rallied to search for missing three-year-old Noah Woods was a thread of positivity amongst the tragedy, a reverend has said. Noah disappeared from a playground in Brantham, Suffolk, at about 15:00 BST on Tuesday after becoming separated from a relative. At least 1,300 people helped to try to find him in the following 24 hours, before a child's body was discovered on Wednesday afternoon at a nearby pond. Reverend Chris Willis said: Everybody was as one... what we saw throughout was a real coming together of people and a willingness to work together which, in spite of the deep sadness, was a thread of real positivity seeing how people cared. About 100 bunches of flowers have been left at the playground where he was last seen and more than £21,000 has been donated to a fundraiser to support his family.

'This is an apartheid regime' Does Trump have real leverage over Netanyahu? As the world wrestles with the ethical implications of artificial intelligence and the dangers of removing humans from life-altering decisions, Israel has pressed ahead with deploying AI as part of its military arsenal. In Gaza, AI systems have been used to determine potential bomb targets, contributing to the scale of the killing of Palestinians there as recently documented in the award-winning documentary NAZA . The Turkish media outlet PalDigital, citing rights activists and Israeli media reports, highlighted how Israel uses AI tools - and specifically a product called ImiSight developed by the Israeli weapons manufacturer Rafael - to monitor vast swathes of land and observe changes that can then be used as justifications for demolitions. The tool was initially used by Israel in the Naqab desert, targeting Bedouin Palestinian citizens of Israel, PalDigital reported in July.

OpenAI says it has identified additional incidents of its AI models allegedly acting deceptively and taking unsanctioned actions during internal training and testing. Alongside these disclosures on Wednesday, the creator of ChatGPT stated it was introducing a public reporting framework intended to frequently share instances of what it termed as unexpected or misaligned AI behaviour. The company said the initiative aims to increase industry transparency around troubling model activities in the absence of standardised safety disclosure norms. The announcement comes amid broader calls from prominent technology leaders urging a slowdown in frontier AI development over concerns that rapid scaling could outpace human oversight and control. Last week, Anthropic claimed to have thwarted multiple malicious operations using its Claude models, ranging from cyber-espionage and weapons design to mass surveillance campaigns.

Sara Kahsai grew up in Sudan but moved to Birmingham, England, in 2022 after marrying a bus driver from the city. But as she settled into married life and her new home, she was coming to terms with a life-changing discovery. Sara realised she was a victim-survivor of Female Genital Mutiliation (FGM), a procedure she had endured as a young girl. She was floored by the revelation and, not least, the excruciating pain she was now beginning to fully understand. The shock was massive, she said.

An inquiry into allegations British Special Forces murdered unarmed Afghan civilians has cost UK taxpayers £58m, figures from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) show. When the inquiry was launched in 2023, its chair Lord Justice Haddon-Cave said it would aim to report, at least on an interim basis, within 12-18 months. However, the inquiry has now been running for more than three and a half years, and has yet to publish any findings. In a statement, the inquiry said its work was greater and more complex than it originally envisaged. It added that delays by the MoD in disclosing information had also affected the timetable.

Can AI regulation keep America ahead of China? Can AI regulation keep America ahead of China? As Washington debates how to regulate AI without falling behind China, industry experts say that governance doesn't have to mean hitting the brakes. Al Jazeera's'This is America' explores whether rules managing AI's risks can also give American companies room to innovate. Share Can AI regulation keep America ahead of China? on social media