TikTok Is Now Collecting Even More Data About Its Users. According to its new privacy policy, TikTok now collects more data on its users, including their precise location, after majority ownership officially switched to a group based in the US. When TikTok users in the US opened the app today, they were greeted with a pop-up asking them to agree to the social media platform's new terms of service and privacy policy before they could resume scrolling. These changes are part of TikTok's transition to new ownership. In order to continue operating in the US, TikTok was compelled by the US government to transition from Chinese control to a new, American-majority corporate entity.

But ChatGPT has been hit with a major outage this morning, users unable to access the app or website. According to DownDetector, hundreds of people globally have been affected since 8am BST. OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT, has acknowledged the outage with a statement saying: 'We are currently investigating this issue.' Down Detector gets network status updates from various sources including social media and reports submitted to its website. According to the site, 79 per cent of those affected said they had problems with ChatGPT generally, while others were more specific – 15 per cent said they had trouble with the app and 6 per cent with the website.

Google has updated its Inappropriate Content Policy to include language that expressly prohibits advertisers from promoting websites and services that generate deepfake pornography. While the company already has strong restrictions in place for ads that feature certain types of sexual content, this update leaves no doubt that promoting "synthetic content that has been altered or generated to be sexually explicit or contain nudity" is in violation of its rules. Any advertiser promoting sites or apps that generate deepfake porn, that show instructions on how to create deepfake porn and that endorse or compare various deepfake porn services will be suspended without warning. They will no longer be able to publish their ads on Google, as well. The company will start implementing this rule on May 30 and is giving advertisers the chance to remove any ad in violation of the new policy.

Two of the biggest deepfake pornography websites have now started blocking people trying to access them from the United Kingdom. The move comes days after the UK government announced plans for a new law that will make creating nonconsensual deepfakes a criminal offense. Nonconsensual deepfake pornography websites and apps that "strip" clothes off of photos have been growing at an alarming rate--causing untold harm to the thousands of women they are used to target. Clare McGlynn, a professor of law at Durham University, says the move is a "hugely significant moment" in the fight against deepfake abuse. "This ends the easy access and the normalization of deepfake sexual abuse material," McGlynn tells WIRED.

CyberGuy explains how Walmart is using artificial intelligence to enhance the shopping experience. Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is using artificial intelligence to transform how we shop. The retailer is not only using generative AI to automate its office tasks but also to improve its customer service and the way we discover and see products. Walmart launched a generative AI app for its office workers in August. The app, called "My Assistant," can help employees with various tasks, such as scheduling meetings, booking travel, ordering supplies and generating reports.

We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. There are almost 350 million people worldwide with blindness or some other form of visual impairment who need to use the internet and mobile apps just like anyone else. Yet, they can only do so if websites and mobile apps are built with accessibility in mind -- and not as an afterthought. Consider these two sample buttons that you might find on a web page or mobile app. Each has a simple background, so they seem similar.

Already behind other countries in nurturing the IT professionals indispensable to a digital transformation, Japan in 2030 is expected to have 270,000 artificial intelligence and Internet of Things jobs that it will be unable to fill. With few graduates holding STEM degrees -- those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- Japan sees gloom in its future and the need to invest more in human resources. "We cannot develop a system to forecast demand for products, though we need it," lamented a food-maker executive in charge of digital transformation. Although the company has increased its IT staff by 1.6 times, it has yet to nurture hires familiar with cutting-edge technologies. Japan has a considerable number of IT workers.

NEW DELHI: Want to go online! Now a computer will help create your website using artificial intelligence, with negligible human intervention. Builder, a software created by engineer.ai, The best part is that the cost of this is nearly one-third of what a normal web developer may charge you, and even the timing is near real-time, claims Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Engineer.ai Human-assisted AI can provide users with a range of customisation for their products.

USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham explains how you can tell Google, Facebook and Amazon to stop following you around the web. LOS ANGELES -- Like many, I downloaded the data this week that Facebook compiled about me over the years, and frankly, it was spooky. I love the social network for showing off my latest photos, staying in contact with old friends and catching up on the latest news. This happened when I joined and Facebook asked if I wanted to connect with other friends by importing my contacts from my computer, which happened to have their phone numbers and sometimes addresses. Facebook has lived with this info since I joined in 2007.

From reports Amazon's same-day delivery is less available in black neighbourhoods to Microsoft's'racist' chatbots, signs of online prejudice are becoming increasingly common. Scientists now say they can spot racist and sexist software using a code that finds out if there is implicit bias in algorithms running on websites and apps. By changing specific variables - such as race, gender or other distinctive traits - the online code Themis claims to know if data is discriminating against specific people. Previous research suggests technology is generally becoming racist and sexist as it learns from humans - and as a result, hindering its ability to make balanced decisions. Themis is a freely available code that mimics the process of entering data - such as making a loan application - into a given website or app.