Meta warned of ‘real-world harm’ over ending fact-checks

WASHINGTON: A global network on Thursday cautioned that there would be “real-world harm” if Meta expands its decision to do away with fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram, while refuting Mark Zuckerberg’s assertion that this kind of moderation is tantamount to censorship. Countries like Australia and Brazil are alarmed by surprise announcement of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta, this week to drastically reduce content filtering regulations in the US. The tech tycoon said fact-checkers were “too politically biased” and the programme had led to “too much censorship”. But…

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EU monitor says 1.5°C warming limit crossed in last two years

Global temperatures over the past two years have, on average, exceeded a critical warming threshold for the first time, reaching levels “beyond what modern humans have ever experienced,” an EU agency reported on Friday. While this does not indicate that the internationally-agreed 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit has been permanently breached, the Copernicus Climate Change Service warned that it is alarmingly close to being crossed. The EU monitor confirmed that 2024 was the hottest year on record, surpassing 2023 and extending a streak of extraordinary heat that fuelled climate extremes…

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WhatsApp to bring new ‘events’ feature for seamless experience

Meta-owned WhatsApp, which is known for bringing updates and new features to improve the user experience, is developing a new “events” feature. The new feature will ensure that events are also present in regular chats after community tabs for a more seamless experience for all users, according to WABetaInfo. The platform’s feature is scheduled for release in a future update. The events which will be created by users in their individual chats will be similar to the ones created in the group chats in order to maintain consistency across the platform.…

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Complete resolution of internet slowdown expected in few days: PTCL

In a positive development, the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) said Wednesday that a complete resolution of the internet slowdown is expected in the next few days. The telecom company issued an update on the on the AAE-1 submarine cable issue, saying it added an additional bandwidth which has majorly resolved the matter of internet slowness. “However, slowness might be experienced on Meta-related services (WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram) during peak hours,” the PTCL said. The statement added that PTCL and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) were working diligently to ensure the earliest…

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Emirati billionaire promises $20bn in US data centres: Trump

PALM BEACH: Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani promised a $20 billion investment in the booming US data centre industry in the coming years, he and US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday at Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Florida. With an election victory largely driven by voters’ economic concerns, Trump has doubled down on bolstering investments in domestic industries and proposed higher tariffs on Chinese goods as the US tries to curb China’s access to the chips needed for advanced data centres. “We’re planning to invest $20 billion and even more…

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Suspect used ChatGPT in Cybertruck blast in Las Vegas

WASHINGTON: It has been revealed that the suspect involved in the Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day, used artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT to plan the blast, officials told reporters on Tuesday. The suspect, identified as Matthew Livelsberger, 37, used ChatGPT to try and work out how much explosive was needed to trigger the blast, the officials added. Authorities last week identified Livelsberger, an active-duty Army soldier from Colorado Springs, and said that he acted alone. Authorities last week identified the person found dead inside the Cybertruck as Matthew…

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Red carpet rolled out for Trump by big tech

WASHINGTON: With Facebook’s announcement that it would end its US fact-checking programme the latest victory for Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, tech leaders continue to fall in line around the president-elect. Meta’s move into fact-checking came in the wake of Trump’s shock election in 2016, which critics said was enabled by rampant disinformation on Facebook and interference by foreign actors, including Russia, on the platform. It was long-criticised by conservatives who found themselves ensnared in its anti-disinformation work. Its paring down comes days before Trump’s inauguration, and…

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Microsoft to invest $3bn in India’s AI, cloud infrastructure

MUMBAI: In a major development, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Tuesday his company plans to invest $3 billion in the country’s artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud infrastructure over the next two years. In the last few years, the South Asian country has become a key AI battleground with US tech giants looking to find new users for their services and tap into fresh pools of talent. In recent months, top executives including Nvidia boss Jensen Huang and Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun have visited India. On Tuesday, Nadella said the $3…

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Here’s what to know about Moon’s temperature

Moon, the Earth’s natural satellite, may seem like a lifeless cold rock but how cold does it actually get on the lunar surface and what is the temperature on it? In actuality, the Moon is not that cold, at least not all the time. Similar to Earth, the moon’s surface temperature changes depending on whether sunlight hits it. Notably, these fluctuations in temperature can be quite dramatic, reported Live Science. “The temperature just wildly swings from extremely hot to extremely cold,” John Monnier, a professor of astronomy at the University of…

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Elon Musk’s Starlink registered with SECP, confirms state minister

ISLAMABAD: Elon Musk’s satellite broadband company, Starlink, has been registered with the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja confirmed to Geo.tv on Monday. “[Following the approval] the space board authority is looking into various technical aspects and we have communicated [about this] to Starlink,” she said. Furthermore, the IT minister said, a regulatory regime was being worked out so that all low earth orbit (LEO) satellite companies including Starlink “is open to all international companies”. The development came two days after…

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