BBC News
The tech bros might show more humility in Delhi – but will they make AI any safer?
The tech bros might show more humility in Delhi - but will they make AI any safer? Those who shout the loudest about artificial intelligence tend to be in the West, notably the US and Europe. So it's significant that a gathering of powerful leaders is being held in the Global South, a region of the world that runs the risk of being left behind in the AI race. Tech bosses, politicians, scientists, academics and campaigners are meeting at the AI Impact Summit in India this week for top-level discussions about what the world should be doing to try to marshal the AI revolution in the right direction. At last year's AI Action Summit, as it was then known, an ugly power struggle broke out between some Western countries over who should be in charge.
- North America > United States (0.30)
- North America > Central America (0.15)
- Africa (0.06)
- (13 more...)
- Government > Regional Government (0.49)
- Media > Film (0.48)
- Leisure & Entertainment > Sports (0.42)
Reddit's human content wins amid the AI flood
Reddit's human content wins amid the AI flood For Ines Tan there's one particular site she turns to again and again for advice - and that's Reddit. Tan, who works in communications, regularly jumps on the site for skincare advice, to view reactions to shows she watches, such as The Traitors, and for help planning her upcoming wedding in May. It's a very empathetic place, she says of Reddit. For my wedding, I've found help emotionally, logistically and inspiration-wise. Tan believes people are consulting the online discussion platform more as they're craving human interaction in the world of increasing AI slop.
- North America > United States (0.15)
- North America > Central America (0.15)
- Oceania > Australia (0.05)
- (11 more...)
- Leisure & Entertainment (1.00)
- Media > News (0.93)
- Information Technology > Communications > Social Media (1.00)
- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Natural Language > Chatbot (0.48)
Ancient bone may prove legendary war elephant crossing of Alps
An elephant foot bone found by archaeologists digging in southern Spain may be evidence that a troop of war elephants stomped through ancient Europe. It would be the first concrete proof of the legendary Carthaginian General Hannibal's troop of battle elephants, according to academics. Drawings of Hannibal's war against the Romans had long suggested that the beasts were used in fighting, but no hard evidence backed up the theories. Now the creatures' skeletal remains appear to have been found in an Iron Age dig near Cordoba. Beyond ivory, the discovery of elephant remains in European archaeological contexts is exceptionally rare, says the team of scientists in a paper published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
- Europe > Spain (0.27)
- North America > United States (0.16)
- North America > Central America (0.15)
- (15 more...)
- Leisure & Entertainment > Sports (0.44)
- Media > Film (0.30)
Measles outbreak could see unvaccinated pupils excluded from schools in north London
Parents in north London have been told their children could be excluded from school if they are not fully vaccinated against measles amid an outbreak of the highly-contagious disease. Unvaccinated pupils identified as close contacts of people with measles could be excluded for 21 days in accordance with national guidelines, Enfield Council said in a letter to all parents in the borough in late January. At least 34 children have contracted measles in Enfield so far this year, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said, and a number sent to hospital. A local health chief meanwhile told the BBC: We are worried because actually, this is a significantly increased number than what we're used to. Asking unvaccinated, close contacts of measles cases to stay off school is fairly standard practice when there are local outbreaks.
- North America > United States (0.16)
- North America > Central America (0.15)
- Oceania > Australia (0.06)
- (12 more...)
Trump's new world order has become real and Europe is having to adjust fast
Trump's new world order has become real and Europe is having to adjust fast Downtown Munich is best-known for chic shops and flashy fast cars but right now its streets are bedecked with posters advertising next generation drones. Europe's security under construction boasts the slogan on an eye-catching set of sleek black-and-white photographs, festooned across a scaffolding-clad church on one of this town's best known pedestrian boulevards. Such an unapologetic public display of military muscle would have been unimaginable here just a few years ago, but the world outside Germany is changing fast, and taking this country with it. The southern region of Bavaria has become Germany's leading defence technology hub, focusing on AI, drones and aerospace. People here, like most other Europeans, say they feel increasingly exposed - squeezed between an expansionist Russia and an economically aggressive China to the east, and an increasingly unpredictable, former best pal, the United States, to the west.
- North America > United States (1.00)
- Asia > Russia (0.35)
- Europe > France (0.30)
- (31 more...)
- Government > Regional Government > North America Government > United States Government (1.00)
- Government > Regional Government > Europe Government (1.00)
- Government > Military (1.00)
- Leisure & Entertainment > Sports (0.71)
ByteDance to curb AI video app after Disney legal threat
Chinese technology giant ByteDance has pledged to curb a controversial artificial intelligence (AI) video-making tool, following threats of legal action from Disney and complaints from other entertainment giants. In the last few days, videos made using the latest version of the app Seedance have proliferated online. Many have been lauded for their realism. Disney's lawyers accused ByteDance of committing a virtual smash-and-grab of their intellectual property, including superheroes from Marvel, Star Wars and various cartoons. On Monday ByteDance told the BBC that the company respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0.
- North America > Central America (0.15)
- Oceania > Australia (0.06)
- Europe > United Kingdom > Wales (0.06)
- (12 more...)
- Media > Film (1.00)
- Leisure & Entertainment (1.00)
- Law > Intellectual Property & Technology Law (1.00)
No free pass for internet platforms on child safety, Starmer says
No online platform will get a free pass on children's safety on the internet in new plans, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said. The government is pledging to close loopholes in existing laws designed to protect children online and will consult on a social media ban for under-16s as part of plans for online safety. There are also plans to introduce powers to speedily change the law in response to developing online behaviours, and to update legislation to preserve children's social media and online data - as campaigned for by the group Jools' Law. Opponents accused the government of inaction, and have called for Parliament to be given a vote on the social media ban for children. The government had already said it would launch the public consultation in March, seeking opinions about restricting children's access to AI chatbots and limiting infinite scrolling features for children - also known as doomscrolling.
- North America > United States (0.30)
- North America > Central America (0.15)
- Oceania > Australia (0.06)
- (12 more...)
- Information Technology > Communications > Social Media (0.80)
- Information Technology > Artificial Intelligence > Natural Language > Chatbot (0.57)
'Trump will be gone in three years': Top US Democrats try to reassure Europe
'Trump will be gone in three years': Top Democrats try to reassure Europe US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the centre of attention at the Munich Security Summit, as European leaders wondered apprehensively what tone he would strike in his remarks on Saturday. While his speech did not fully allay their concerns, it has been viewed as a reassurance to allies that while US relations may have frayed under Donald Trump, they will not break. Rubio's was not the only American political voice at the security summit, however. And even if the secretary of state's remarks had not been so well-received - if he had sharply criticised Europeans the way Vice-President JD Vance did at the conference last year - there were other American politicians doing their best impression of the Persian poet, counselling: This too shall pass. If there's nothing else I can communicate today, California Governor Gavin Newsom said at a conference event on Friday, Donald Trump is temporary.
- Europe > Germany > Bavaria > Upper Bavaria > Munich (0.27)
- North America > United States > California (0.25)
- North America > Central America (0.15)
- (17 more...)
The spectacular multimillion-euro heist nobody noticed
It has been described as Germany's most spectacular bank heist in years. On a quiet weekend just after Christmas, a group of thieves broke into a High Street bank in the western town of Gelsenkirchen, by boring through a wall with an industrial drill. They looted more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes and made off with millions of euros. Over a month later, police have yet to make an arrest. For the bank's clients, some of whom say they have lost their life savings and precious family jewellery and valuables, this is a time of anger, confusion and shock.
- North America > United States (0.48)
- North America > Central America (0.15)
- Oceania > Australia (0.05)
- (15 more...)
- Leisure & Entertainment (1.00)
- Law Enforcement & Public Safety > Crime Prevention & Enforcement (1.00)
- Government > Regional Government (0.96)
- Law (0.95)
Rubio says US and Europe 'belong together' despite tensions
Rubio says US and Europe'belong together' despite tensions Marco Rubio has assured European leaders the US does not plan to abandon the transatlantic alliance, saying its destiny will always be intertwined with the continent's. The US secretary of state told the Munich Security Conference: We do not seek to separate, but to revitalise an old friendship and renew the greatest civilisation in human history. He criticised European immigration, trade and climate policies, but the overall tenor of the closely-watched speech was markedly different to Vice-President JD Vance's at the same event last year, during which he scolded continental leaders. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was very much reassured by Rubio's remarks. Rubio, the Trump administration's most senior diplomat, said it was neither our goal nor our wish to end the transatlantic partnership, adding: For us Americans, our home may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe.
- Asia > Russia (0.71)
- Europe > Ukraine (0.51)
- Europe > Germany > Bavaria > Upper Bavaria > Munich (0.25)
- (20 more...)