Gareth Cooper

Andrew Tate filmed a video of himself saying he doesn't read books and then he got detained in Saudi Arabia. This is what happens when you don't do the assignment.

OpenAI Had Banned Military Use. The Pentagon Tested Its Models Through Microsoft Anyway Sources allege the Defense Department experimented with Microsoft’s version of OpenAI technology before the ChatGPT-maker lifted its prohibition on military applications.

Sources allege the Defense Department experimented with Microsoft’s version of OpenAI technology before the ChatGPT-maker lifted its prohibition on military applications. www.wired.com/story/openai...

The brutality of war measured in children’s lives as hostilities escalate in Iran Statement by UNICEF in the Middle East and North Africa

UNICEF is deeply concerned about the deadly impact the ongoing military escalation in Iran is having on children. Approximately 180 children have reportedly been killed and many more injured.

Full statement by UNICEF in the Middle East and North Africa:

Security Researchers Warn Age Verification Laws Are Building a Global Surveillance System The people who spent their careers building the security systems governments want to exploit for age verification have finally had enough.

371 security/ privacy academics, including a Turing Award winner, just issued a letter saying age verification laws are building global surveillance infrastructure. Every search, message, and article read would require ID verification.

Democrats are working w/ Republicans to push these laws through

CNN: Approval for President Trump's East Wing ballroom project – from a government commission that oversees planning for federal buildings and land in the nation's capital – is delayed after it received over 32,000 comments from the public overwhelmingly opposing the construction.

Senators demand investigation after ninth American killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers in West Bank Lawmakers cite ‘consistent pattern’ in which Americans are being killed ‘without justice or accountability’

Senators demand investigation after ninth American killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers in West Bank

Again, Farage, Badenoch and their fellow travellers on X are wildly out of touch with the public on Iran.

Even the majority of Reform supporters oppose their position.

ICO writes to Meta over 'concerning' AI smart glasses report Videos, including of glasses-wearers using the toilet or having sex, are sometimes reviewed by a Kenya-based subcontractor.

Last year when I was checking into a hotel, the desk person was wearing Meta glasses. I kindly asked them to take them off. They were annoyed. I said, “I do not consent to you looking at my credit card and ID with Meta glasses on.” My instincts were correct: www.bbc.com/news/article...

The AI PR problem Sector companies have been slow to address the concerns of ordinary people over the technology

The AI PR problem ft.trib.al/7O8Qm8Z | opinion

Another $5.6 million from ICE to Palantir, in part for its continued work on ELITE (Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement), which we revealed in January to be the Palantir tool ICE uses to find neighborhoods to raid

www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...

Following the event we will also publish a policy brief and two podcasts and we also have several publications in the pipeline so do also look out for those in due course! /7

It intended to identify the main promises and drivers behind official discourses of smart city programmes in relation to smart video surveillance in three Belgian cities: Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent. More info about the project can be found here: cris.research.vub.be/en/smart-vid... /5

Thread: Extremely excited that tomorrow we will hold the final event of our Research Foundation Flanders - FWO project Smart Video Surveillance in Smart Cities: Deconstructing #Surveillance and Security Discourses. We have a great group of stakeholders and academics joining us /1

Take two 7 year olds in a primary school in PM's constituency.

His Dad is a banker
Her Mum is cleaner at that bank

Does he say Pascal Banque's son gets perm status at age 10 while in primary school & working class classmate Marie Cleaner not until 22 (consequence: international student fees)

Smaller charities are losing out to national charities that can outmanoeuvre them in complex bidding processes - even when they would be able to deliver more effective, trusted services.

I called in Parliament for local charities to get priority for funding so they can continue their vital work.

Nissan warns of Sunderland closure if UK excluded from ‘Made in Europe’ rules EU proposals presented on Wednesday require vehicles for corporate fleets and small EVs to be assembled within the bloc

Nissan Sunderland production only running at 30% capacity + Nissan has been shutting down plants even in Japan, so this is not an empty threat. Nissan warns of Sunderland closure if UK excluded from ‘Made in Europe’ rules - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

This article is better than the clickbait headline so give it a chance rather than responding to the headline.. It's pointing out our involvement in sustaining ubiquitous #surveillance not saying that we are solely responsible for it... and that we don't have to play the part we've been assigned.

Sorry I'm not more open-minded about LLMs, it's just some fucking maniacs shoveled out a bunch of useless bloatware featuring that technology, did not give me any chance to opt out, reorganized the entire economy around it, zeroed out gains made by green energy, and made it impossible to buy RAM

Panel 1: Text: “Imagine an alternate universe in which people don’t have words for different forms of transportation, only the collective noun ‘vehicle’.” Illustration: a stick figure stands next to a much more detailed motorcycle, which a speech bubble saying “Woah! Sweet vehicle!” Panel 2: Text: “They use that word to refer to: cars, buses, bikes, spacecraft, and all other ways of getting from place A to place B.” Illustration: A car, a school bus, a bicycle, and a space shuttle, all with a stamp that says “vehicle” on them.

Panel 1: Text: “Conversations in this world are confusing.” Illustration: A speech bubble coming from the left: “Can you drive a vehicle?”, A speech bubble coming from the right: “Definitely!”, A illustration of a car crashed into a tree. Left speech bubble: “I thought you said you could drive!” Right speech bubble: “I can! I’m just used to ones with two wheels!” Panel 2: Text: “There are furious debates about whether or not vehicles are environmentally friendly… even though no one realizes that one side is talking about bikes and the other is talking about trucks. Illustration: Left speech bubble: “Vehicles produce so much pollution!” Right speech bubble: “That’s an exaggeration! They are actually very green!”

Panel 1: Text: “There is a breakthrough in rocketry, but the media focuses on how vehicles have gotten faster so people call there car (‘car’ is crossed out and replaced with ‘vehicle’) dealer to ask when faster models will be available.” Illustration: A TV news report with a picture of a rocket ship and a chyron saying “Breaking: Vehicles reach 1000 mph!”. Below that is a drawing of two stick figures talking at a car dealership. One says, “So I can take this to space, right?” Panel 2: Text: “Meanwhile, fraudsters have capitalize on the fact that consumers don’t know what to believe when it comes to vehicle technology, so scams are rampant in the vehicle sector.” Illustration: A stick figure with a mean smile and a sparkle next to his eye pats a car that has plane wings taped to it. A speech bubble says, “Oh yeah! You can fly this baby across the ocean!”

Panel 1: Text: “Now replace the word “vehicle” with “artificial intelligence” and we have a pretty good descriptor of the world we live in.” Illustration: One crowd of people say “AI is bad for the environment!” Underneath them is a large box that is labeled “Size of AI people are concerned about”, another crowd of people says “AI is used for climate research!” Underneath them is a much smaller box saying “Size of AI used for climate research”. In the foreground there is a person watching the debate with several question marks above it. Panel 2: Credits. “Text from AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference by Arvin’s Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor. Art by Ayla Taylor. www.aylataylor.com”

A silly little comic based on the opening section of AI Snake Oil by @randomwalker.bsky.social and @sayash.bsky.social.

a map of openai's influence on other media companies

Amazing site here via @timnitgebru.bsky.social - a map of big tech influence on media and media companies.

imo this goes a decent way to explaining why coverage of AI specifically has been so shockingly bad recently. Very useful resource!!

nananwachukwu.github.io/media-captur...

Andrew Tate • § @Cobratate• 1d I fly to Saudi tonight. X Will cross the desert to get into Dubai with War Room soldiers. While the rest of the world runs away like cowards we show respect to the greatest city on earth. Dubai. We're coming. * te x THE WAR ROOM MADMAX DUBAI ROAD FEATURING: ANDREW TATE I TRISTAN TATE +

As if the Middle East hasn’t got enough problems without becoming a magnet for loser grifters who would fall apart at the first sign of actual conflict.

Quietly, calmly and forensically, BBC just dismantled the Trump communications shitshow on Iran.

No hyperbole, just laying out an unprecedented military, diplomatic and reputational shambles.

Worth a watch.

(🎥 BBC News/BBC Verify)

Pentagon eyes Ukrainian interceptor drones to counter Iran Kyiv has pioneered cheap and mass-produced machines to battle Russian versions of the Shahed attack drone

No surprise there. I really hope that Ukraine can get something out of this for its own defence.

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Pentagon eyes Ukrainian interceptor drones to counter Iran

Dressing up for world book day is bullshit, even leaving the parental finance stuff aside. It's one of very few 'event' days in school calenders set aside for a solo, quiet, activity – and then it's turned into dress-up. Spectacularly misses the point. Schools should drop it from a great height.

I cannot wait for the insights on this! He's going to:

1. Sample some local street food.
2. Ride a train.
3. Visit a temple.
4. Not mention the pogroms that the serving Prime Minister presided over.
5. Smile at some elephants.
6. Top up his kids' private school fees.
7. Say "India is changing".

sometimes your human therapist is a mediator between you and ChatGPT, which is Not Ideal

shout out to the therapist who gave me a list of activities that might help me feel fulfilled despite the new limitations of my physical disabilities, which included a selection of things I am now physically incapable of, as well as ideas like “receiving military or civic honours”

Good news: Scientists were wrong about how bad sea level rise is.

Bad news: It’s even worse than we thought.

The international boycott of ChatGPT has absolutely exploded.

2.5M people have already joined, and this is just the beginning.

Go to quitgpt.org.
Cancel your subscription, delete your account.
And tell at least one person why.

My op-ed: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Exclusive: Iranian girls killed by ‘double-tap’ strikes on Minab school Eyewitnesses describe second blast which killed survivors as they sheltered in prayer hall

The girls’ school in Iran, where 165 people were killed by an apparent US-Israeli attack, was hit with two strikes, with the second missile killing sheltering survivors, two first responders and the parent of a slain child have told Middle East Eye.