Last week, after briefly deposed CEO Sam Altman was reinstalled at OpenAI, two reports claimed that a top-secret project at the company had rattled some researchers there with its potential to solve intractable problems in a powerful new way. "Given vast computing resources, the new model was able to solve certain mathematical problems," Reuters reported, citing a single unnamed source. "Though only performing math on the level of grade-school students, acing such tests made researchers very optimistic about Q*'s future success." The Information said that Q* was seen as a breakthrough that would lead to "far more powerful artificial intelligence models," adding that "the pace of development alarmed some researchers focused on AI safety," citing a single unnamed source. Reuters also reported that some researchers sent a letter expressing concerns about Q*'s potential power to the nonprofit board that ejected Altman, although a WIRED source familiar with the board's thinking says that was not the case.

A team of researchers found it shockingly easy to extract personal information and verbatim training data from ChatGPT. "It's wild to us that our attack works and should've, would've, could've been found earlier," said the authors introducing their research paper, which was published on Nov. 28. First picked up by 404 Media, the experiment was performed by researchers from Google DeepMind, University of Washington, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of California Berkeley, and ETH Zurich to test how easily data could be extracted from ChatGPT and other large language models. The researchers disclosed their findings to OpenAI on Aug. 30, and the issue has since been addressed by the ChatGPT-maker. "Our paper helps to warn practitioners that they should not train and deploy LLMs for any privacy-sensitive applications without extreme safeguards," explain the authors.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. City lawmakers in Brazil have enacted what appears to be the nation's first legislation written entirely by artificial intelligence -- even if they didn't know it at the time. The experimental ordinance was passed in October in the southern city of Porto Alegre and city councilman Ramiro Rosário revealed this week that it was written by a chatbot, sparking objections and raising questions about the role of artificial intelligence in public policy. Rosário told The Associated Press that he asked OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT to craft a proposal to prevent the city from charging taxpayers to replace water consumption meters if they are stolen.

As the year comes to a close, different companies are finding ways to quantify their consumers' trends from the year prior, and the Google Play Store is no different. For Android users, the Google Play Store is their one-stop shop for all their downloading needs, such as games, music, movies, and books, and now, Google Play is highlighting the best of 2023. On Wednesday, Google Play released its Google Play's Best of 2023 Awards, which includes a roundup of the best apps, games, and books in their catalog. Also: Apple names the 14 best apps and games of 2023. The winners cover a range of different functions, including streaming music, traveling a galaxy in a role-playing video game, and even chatting with an AI chatbot.

Scientists have developed tiny robots using human cells that could one day patrol our bodies, searching for and healing diseased cells and tissue. So-called'anthrobots,' assembled from human cells can repair damage to brain cells in a dish, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Advanced Science. Scientists at Tufts University in Massachusetts developed the SIZE robots to heal diseases, but foresee the technology repairing cell and tissue damage from conditions such as Alzheimer's. These bots - whose name means'human robots' - were made from human airway cells. To build the anthrobots, scientists started with samples of the cells that line human lungs.

Several years ago, Google added a "Smart Fill" feature to Sheets that would automatically learn what a user regularly types and predict and autocomplete what was coming next. For example, if someone was working with two columns of names, Smart Fill might learn they're transferring names from one column to another and automatically fill in the rest. Also: What are Google Docs Building Blocks, and how do you use them? But now Google is rolling out "Enhanced Smart Fill." Unfortunately, the feature is only available to Google Duet subscribers willing to shell out $30 a month.

US Senators John Kennedy (R-LA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced a bipartisan bill Wednesday to end involuntary facial recognition screening at airports. The Traveler Privacy Protection Act would block the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from continuing or expanding its facial recognition tech program. It would also require the government agency to explicitly receive congressional permission to renew it, and it would have to dispose of all biometric data within three months. Senator Merkley described the TSA's biometric collection practices as the first steps toward an Orwellian nightmare. "The TSA program is a precursor to a full-blown national surveillance state," Merkley wrote in a news release.

Microsoft will take a non-voting, observer position on OpenAI's board, CEO Sam Altman said in his first official missive after taking back the reins of the company on Wednesday. The observer position means Microsoft's representative can attend OpenAI's board meetings and access confidential information, but it does not have voting rights on matters including electing or choosing directors. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who had recruited Altman to Microsoft after Altman's ouster from OpenAI, had said earlier that governance at the ChatGPT maker needs to change. OpenAI announced a new initial board last week that consists of former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor as chair and Larry Summers, former US treasury secretary. Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo, who was part of the board who fired Altman, also stayed on.

The Biden White House recently enacted its latest executive order designed to establish a guiding framework for generative artificial intelligence development -- including content authentication and using digital watermarks to indicate when digital assets made by the Federal government are computer generated. Here's how it and similar copy protection technologies might help content creators more securely authenticate their online works in an age of generative AI misinformation. Analog watermarking techniques were first developed in Italy in 1282. Papermakers would implant thin wires into the paper mold, which would create almost imperceptibly thinner areas of the sheet which would become apparent when held up to a light. Not only were analog watermarks used to authenticate where and how a company's products were produced, the marks could also be leveraged to pass concealed, encoded messages.

Sam Altman admitted he was "hurt and angry" after OpenAI's board of directors fired him for "failing to be consistently candid in his communications," according to an interview with The Verge. He told the tech outlet that he was defiant when some board members asked him to return, but he pushed past the "ego and emotions" to come back. Altman told The Verge that the whole ousting situation "sucked," but despite his bitter feelings, he went back. "I really loved the company and had poured my life force into this for the last four and a half years full time, but really longer than that with most of my time. And we're making such great progress on the mission I care so much about, the mission of safe and beneficial [artificial general intelligence]," he said.