Amazon has initiated legal action against AI startup Perplexity, alleging that the company covertly accessed customer accounts and mimicked human activity to automate shopping and order placement through its browser feature. Amazon’s legal team emphasized that Perplexity's unauthorized actions, carried out via software, constitute unlawful trespass despite lacking physical intrusion.
Epic Games and Google have announced a comprehensive settlement that may conclude their five-year legal battle over Google's Play Store policies. The dispute centered on Epic's challenge to Google’s control of app distribution on Android devices. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney praised the agreement as a very positive development on social media.
The global surge in artificial intelligence investment is driving a forecasted $3tn expenditure on datacentres, crucial hubs supporting AI technologies like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google’s Veo 3. While these massive facilities are fundamental to AI development and operation, concerns have emerged over the heavily debt-financed growth, raising fears of a potential financial backlash.
Amazon has confirmed it will lay off 14,000 corporate workers as part of significant job cuts affecting tens of thousands of roles. The Seattle-based company is reversing its pandemic-era expansion by reducing costs and streamlining its operations. Recently, Amazon's CEO warned white-collar staff that advances in artificial intelligence may threaten their jobs in the coming years.
Every social media post and online message relies on old, vulnerable infrastructure. Experts warn that certain events could cause a total internet shutdown. Imagine waking up the day after the internet disappears. While you might think you'd be happy, you'd soon realize how much daily life depends on connectivity. You could try paying with a chequebook if you still have one, or call work on a landline if it still works. Driving to a store without GPS would be next, assuming you remember how to navigate manually.
Amazon has disclosed that a bug in its automation software led to a major AWS outage affecting numerous services, from messaging app Signal to connected smart beds. In a detailed report, AWS explained how a series of failures triggered a cascading effect that brought down thousands of websites and applications relying on its cloud infrastructure.
While the US promotes a hands-off stance on regulating AI applications like chatbots, it strategically controls crucial AI components such as AI chips. The federal government, under both Trump and Biden, has implemented targeted interventions—like restricting chip sales to competitors such as China and forming strategic deals with countries like the UAE—to shape the foundational technology of AI systems. This reveals a nuanced regulatory approach beyond the surface deregulatory rhetoric.
The global economy is at a crossroads due to the impact of artificial intelligence, facing a potential recession regardless of AI's trajectory. Employment growth is stagnant and wage increases are slowing, especially for lower-income jobs. Rising loan delinquencies and bankruptcies reflect growing financial strain, while consumer confidence has significantly dropped. Additionally, policy decisions such as trade restrictions, immigration clampdowns, and government shutdowns are exacerbating economic challenges, affecting sectors from agriculture to healthcare.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have added their voices to those of AI experts and Nobel Prize winners in advocating for a ban on the creation of superintelligent AI systems. This group calls for a moratorium on artificial superintelligence (ASI), AI that would surpass human intelligence in all cognitive functions, until there is broad agreement that it can be developed safely.
Google announced a significant advancement in quantum computing with a new algorithm that outperformed traditional supercomputers. This algorithm successfully computed the structure of a molecule, potentially accelerating discoveries in medicine and materials science. While promising, experts note that practical applications are still several years away.