From smart glasses to AI pins, privacy fears challenge tech's next big bet Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers a speech, as a pair of Ray-Ban smart glasses appear on screen, during the Meta Connect event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 27, 2023. SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK - Companies betting artificial intelligence devices will usher in a post-smartphone era are fueling privacy fears around the globe that could slow adoption of the emerging technology. The backlash against devices that can see, hear and respond to the world around them has been strongest against Meta's Ray-Bans, which made smart glasses mainstream by pairing EssilorLuxottica's trendy designs with AI from the social media giant chasing "personal superintelligence." The glasses have become a lightning rod for growing unease over AI-powered devices, drawing scrutiny from courts weighing privacy lawsuits, users fearing covert recordings and critics warning of a future in which ubiquitous AI eyewear erodes expectations of anonymity and consent. Several U.K. venues, including one of the country's biggest pub chains, Wetherspoon, have restricted the use of the frames.

Fake and divisive ads proliferate in Israel's first AI election Artificial intelligence-crafted distortions are saturating the Israeli information environment just weeks before the country's most consequential elections in decades. In a recent video widely circulated online, Israel's top justices and its attorney general are seen being dragged by security guards from a chaotic anti-government protest that never took place. The 33 seconds of emotionally-charged footage was originally posted by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a fierce opponent of the judiciary, and triggered an immediate backlash. Critics said it incited violence, while supporters said it was justified because they accuse the leaders of Israel's legal system of a left-wing plot to stymie the government's policies. But the depicted scenes are fake -- no such protest took place and the video carries a tell-tale watermark to identify content made using artificial intelligence.

As China and the U.S. race to build separate artificial intelligence supply chains, investors are playing both sides, with U.S. banks fundraising for AI upstarts in China and Chinese money flowing to U.S. tech. The stakes are sizable, with Wall Street banks acting as book-runners on 19 Chinese high-tech equity capital market deals worth $17.2 billion so far this year, according to LSEG data, accounting for nearly 30% of the sector's total issuance. U.S. stocks, particularly semiconductors, are also the favorite destination for China's outbound mutual funds. The value of U.S. equity held by Hong Kong residents and mainland Chinese has jumped 23% in the past year to top $750 billion, U.S. data shows. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Alibaba says it is developing an artificial intelligence model up to four times larger than its current flagship iteration, Qwen 3.8 Max. BEIJING - Alibaba Group said on Tuesday it was developing an artificial intelligence model up to four times larger than its flagship system and unveiled a next-generation AI chip it called China's most powerful, sending shares up 5%. The launch comes as Chinese technology companies race to develop domestic alternatives to Nvidia's AI processors amid tightening U.S. export curbs. The announcements at Alibaba Cloud's annual Apsara conference in the eastern city of Hangzhou underscore the Chinese technology giant's push to build out every layer of its AI business. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

VILNIUS/WARSAW - Lithuania is planning defenses against military drones at a key future power grid substation linking the Baltic states with western Europe, in an area intelligence sources say Russia could target with a false-flag attack. The construction plans include fencing strong enough to resist an explosives-laden truck, sensors searching for possible tunnels dug by hostile actors, and concrete "sarcophagi" for transformers to withstand any drone attack, according to Litgrid CEO Andrius Semeskevicius. "Previously, when designing our grid, we planned for natural disasters. Now, we think about all possible hybrid and nonhybrid threats", he said in an interview. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group, speaks at the SoftBank World forum in Tokyo in July. SoftBank Group is seeking the equivalent of more than $11 billion in what would be one of the biggest junk bond deals ever, people familiar with the matter said Monday, as billionaire Masayoshi Son's conglomerate ramps up its investments in ChatGPT creator OpenAI. The company is looking to issue $10 billion of dollar securities across three tenors, and €1 billion ($1.1 billion) of euro notes across two maturities, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private. The money will be used in part to fund a follow-on investment in OpenAI expected to close next month, the people said. The deal may price on Thursday, they added.

Bessent hails'very successful' China talks on AI and trade U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent lauded "very successful" talks with his Chinese counterparts that spanned artificial intelligence, trade and investment ahead of this week's summit between leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Bessent, speaking to reporters after hours of talks in New York with China's Vice Premier He Lifeng and other officials, said the two sides agreed to set up a dialogue on AI aimed at reaching a common understanding on goals and threats. They plan to meet again, with top Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang saying the talks were held in a good atmosphere and a working group would continue discussions on Monday. "The U.S. has proposed that we have a notification mechanism between the two countries, and we want a shared vision of common goals and common threats," Bessent said, adding that it would be called the "U.S.-China AI dialogue." Later this week, Trump is scheduled to host Xi at the White House in the Chinese leader's first state visit to Washington in more than a decade.

AI's wobbly house of cards puts markets and U.S. economy at risk Protesters during a demonstration calling for a slowdown in the development of advanced artificial intelligence systems outside city hall in San Francisco on Thursday. The heads of America's leading AI development labs have started a national conversation about tapping the brakes on a technology that's offering so much promise for society, while at the same time showing it can do a frightening amount of harm. It's a debate that needs to be had, and a real solution invariably will be hard to come by. But considering the trillions of dollars of investment gains and market value that have been built on the assumption that AI will keep growing at breakneck speed for years and years to come, what happens to Wall Street -- and more importantly Main Street -- if it doesn't? "People may not fully grasp just how wound up the market and the economy is in all of this," said Jim Morrow, chief executive officer of the Boston investment firm Callodine Capital Management.

Beijing - While AI researchers in the United States fret over out-of-control superintelligence wiping out humanity, Chinese policymakers have until now been more focused on immediate risks -- from deepfakes to child safety. But the alarming hacking abilities of top artificial intelligence models are leading Beijing to see the dangers in a new light, with the spy agency chief warning last week that the technology could jeopardize national security. The potential vulnerability of Chinese mega-app WeChat was also revealed recently when a small team of programmers in California said it had used AI to build a cyberattack "worm" that, if unleashed, could easily compromise millions of WeChat accounts. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

People walk past a sign reading No drone zone in an alley in Beijing on Sept. 14. | AFP-JIJI Beijing - Drone owners in Beijing flocked to designated buy-back sites in recent days, looking to sell their devices for as much as possible ahead of an impending citywide ban. New rules in the Chinese capital ban not just the flying of unmanned aerial vehicles but the possession or storage of them, meaning owners have until November 15 to get rid of their drones. At several authorized buyer sites across the city, reporters witnessed queues of people waiting for staff to appraise their drones and negotiate prices. All sites had a visible police presence, indicating the sensitivity of the new laws, and most people there did not want to talk to reporters. At the flagship store for the world's largest drone-maker DJI in Beijing's business district, around a dozen people queued on Thursday morning hoping to sell their drones back for a reasonable price.