Alderik Oosthoek

‘A lot of this is speculative’: faith and fear mix amid $3tn global datacentre boom | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian Many believe planned investment will bring prosperity, while others worry its debt-fuelled exuberance will backfire

“The global investment spree in artificial intelligence is producing some remarkable numbers and a projected $3tn (£2.3tn) spend on datacentres is one of them. [..] There are 11,000 datacentres globally already, up 500% over the past 20 years.” www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Italy to launch age verification system for porn sites New system takes effect on 12 November in move to prevent minors from accessing porn. Italy is to introduce a new age verification system for users attempting to access pornographic websites, the Italian Communications Authority (AGCOM) said on Friday. The move will take effect from 12 November and is aimed at preventing minors from accessing pornography online, in line with the European Digital Service Act to protect minors. AGCOM published an initial list of around 50 websites which will be subject to the stringent new rules, including well-known sites such as PornHub, YourPorn and OnlyFans, with the list set to be updated over time. The pilot programme will require users to verify their age when attempting to access websites featuring pornography or gambling as well as online platforms offering the sale of alcohol and cigarettes. Currently, to access porn sites, users simply have to declare that they are \18 or older\ with the click of a button, leaving the system wide open to minors. How the new system works The key change from 12 November will be the elimination of this self-declaration of age, with the new two-step system requiring verification from \certified third parties\ such as a company, bank or mobile operator which already has this data. The third party verifies that the person is 18 years of age and then issues a code that can be used to access the porn site. The code contains only information about the person's age and no other information about their identity. The porn site then verifies the validity of the code and grants the user access. It will also be possible to use dedicated apps installed on users' smartphone or device, such as those linked to digital identity wallets. This age verification system must be carried out each time users access the site. Double anonymity The new system centres on privacy protection and the concept of \double anonymity\, ensuring that the website only receives proof that the user is over 18, without knowing their identity. Simultaneously, the age verification provider knows the user's identity but not the specific website they are trying to access. Caivano Decree In addition to following European regulations, the new AGCOM rules stem from the provisions set out in the so-called Caivano Law, the legislative decree approved in 2023 by Giorgia Meloni's government, which introduced several new measures to combat juvenile crime. Websites found to be in violation of the new rules after 12 November will reportedly be given 20 days to comply or risk being blocked within Italy by AGCOM. UK example On Friday, Pornhub said the number of UK visitors to its website was down 77 per cent compared with July, when more rigorous age checks for sexually explicit sites were introduced under the Online Safety Act, the BBC reports. Britain's telecom and media regulator Ofcom said that visits to pornography sites in general in the UK have reduced by almost a third in the three months since age checks came into force on 25 July.

“The move will take effect from 12 November and is aimed at preventing minors from accessing pornography online, in line with the European Digital Service Act to protect minors.” www.wantedinrome.com/news/italy-t...

Google to pay $1.375B in Texas privacy lawsuit settlement - Austin Business Journal Texas and Google have finalized a huge settlement tied to a privacy lawsuit.

Google has agreed to pay $1.375 billion to settle a case that Texas brought against it for allegedly tracking and collecting user data and geolocation without proper consent.
www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/...

Bluesky hits 40 million users, introduces 'dislikes' beta | TechCrunch As users "dislike" posts, the system will learn what sort of content they want to see less of. This will help to inform more than just how content is ranked in feeds, but also reply rankings.

“As users ‘dislike’ posts, the system will learn what sort of content they want to see less of. This will help to inform more than just how content is ranked in feeds, but also reply rankings.”

That’s the million-dollar question. Connolly won the Irish presidential election, despite the GAI video. I suppose the effect in the NL is nearly impossible to measure.

That underpins the concerns even more. Thank you!

Thanks for sharing! May I ask one question: the numbers on your website concern GAI generated images and videos rather than texts, right?

Google Parent Company Alphabet Reports First-Ever $100B Quarter Google's parent company, Alphabet, reported record quarterly revenue this week, with Google Cloud, Search and YouTube each growing at a double-digit pace.

“Google Cloud, which includes Alphabet’s AI services, saw revenue rise 34% year-over-year. [..] Google Search and YouTube each saw double-digit growth. Google Search revenue rose by 15% to $56.6 billion while YouTube ads increased by 15% to $10.3 billion.” www.entrepreneur.com/business-new...

The week that AI deepfakes hit Europe’s elections – POLITICO Dutch and Irish elections show voters now have to worry if the political content they consume is real.

“In a study of some 20,000 election-related posts in the Netherlands, researchers [..] found that over 400 posts were AI-generated. The party of far-right leader Geert Wilders, the Party for Freedom (PVV), came out on top in its use of AI.” www.politico.eu/article/elec...

Danish Presidency backs away from 'chat control' | Euractiv The Danes will seek to propose a voluntary detection regime in the CSAM proposal, instead of controversial mandatory detection orders

“Today, Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard told local press that the Council presidency would move away from mandatory detection orders – and instead support CSAM detections remaining voluntary.” www.euractiv.com/news/danish-...

In a surprise development on #ChatControl, the Danish government has sent out a press release that it will drop mandatory detection orders, and instead propose to make the current voluntary detection scheme permanent […]

“The International Criminal Court (ICC) will switch its internal work environment away from Microsoft Office to Open Desk, a European open source alternative [..] Open Desk is developed by the German Centre for Digital Sovereignty of the Public Administration (Zendis), a publicly owned company.”

French lawmakers progress tax on American Big Tech amid huge pushback PARIS — French lawmakers are moving ahead with plans to double a tax on big tech firms — backing away from a more aggressive push amid fears of provoking U.S. trade retaliation. France’s National A…

French lawmakers are moving ahead with plans to double a tax on big tech firms — backing away from a more aggressive push amid fears of provoking US trade retaliation.

BREAKING: Russian propaganda site promotes far-right party ahead of Netherlands elections.

"The party's channel is also in the top 10 sources on which the website has relied since its inception."

defenddemocracy.eu/russian-prav...

#TK2025 #NLpol #verkiezingen

The European Ombudsman "has opened an inquiry into whether the European Commission acted secretively in its dealings with industry before launching a series of business-friendly initiatives".

The Ombudsman was acting on a complaint by the Corporate Europe Observatory
www.politico.eu/article/ombu...

You’re too good! 😄

"Norway is moving ahead swiftly in the debate over children's use of social media as it develops a plan for a strict minimum age of 15, the country's digital minister has said. Australia is the poster child for banning social media, but Norway is now a European pioneer." www.mlex.com/mlex/article...

Big Tech lobby budgets hit record levels | Corporate Europe Observatory New figures show that the digital industry as a whole is now spending €151 million a year on lobbying the EU, a major increase to what was already considerable firepower.

“While the digital sector employed an 699 lobbyists (Full Time Equivalents - FTEs) in 2023, this number has now increased to 890 FTEs. There are now more full-time lobbyists influencing the EU’s digital policies, than there are MEPs in the European Parliament.” corporateeurope.org/en/2025/10/b...

Mexico is considering slapping an eight percent tax on violent video games Mexico's government is considering a sweeping tax on video games that have mature content.

“Mexico's Chamber of Deputies approved a comprehensive financial package that includes an eight percent tax on video games with mature content. [..] [it] would apply to digital and physical copies of affected games, as well as any in-game purchases.” www.engadget.com/gaming/mexic...

Austria’s Ministry of Economy takes decisive steps toward digital sovereignty - Nextcloud Discover why the Austrian Ministry of Economy trusts Nextcloud for secure and digitally sovereign collaboration and data management.

“Within just four months between Proof of Concept and rollout, the ministry went live with a secure Nextcloud environment, operated on its own infrastructure in Austria and designed to meet strict transparency and compliance requirements.” nextcloud.com/blog/austria...

Chatbots Are Pushing Sanctioned Russian Propaganda ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, and Grok are serving users propaganda from Russian-backed media when asked about the invasion of Ukraine, new research finds.

“OPENAI’S CHATGPT, GOOGLE’S Gemini, DeepSeek, and xAI’s Grok are pushing Russian state propaganda from sanctioned entities—including citations from Russian state media, sites tied to Russian intelligence or pro-Kremlin narratives—when asked about the war against Ukraine, according to a new report.“

Amazon strategised about keeping its datacentres’ full water use secret, leaked document shows | Technology | The Guardian Executives at world’s biggest datacenter owner grappled with disclosing information about water used to help power facilities

“Amazon strategised about keeping the public in the dark over the true extent of its datacentres’ water use, a leaked internal document reveals.

The biggest owner of datacentres in the world, Amazon dwarfs competitors Microsoft and Google” www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

“The Commission also preliminarily found Meta, for both Instagram and Facebook, in breach of its obligations to provide users simple mechanisms to notify illegal content, as well as to allow them to effectively challenge content moderation decisions.”

Meta Layoffs Included Employees Who Monitored Risks to User Privacy - The New York Times While the company announced job cuts in artificial intelligence, it also expanded plans to replace privacy and risk auditors with more automated systems.

“The company laid off more than 100 people in its risk review organization, [..] That group is largely staffed by employees responsible for making sure Meta’s products abide by [..] privacy rules set by regulatory bodies around the world, the people said.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/t...

Deepfake video of Irish presidential candidate rocks campaign The Irish presidential election campaign has been disrupted by an artificial intelligence-generated deepfake video of candidate Catherine Connolly announcing her “withdrawal” from the race. “It is …

The Irish presidential election campaign has been disrupted by an artificial intelligence-generated deepfake video of candidate Catherine Connolly announcing her “withdrawal” from the race.

Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory An intensive international study was coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and led by the BBC

- 45% of all AI answers had at least one significant issue.
- 31% of responses showed serious sourcing problems – missing, misleading, or incorrect attributions.
- 20% contained major accuracy issues, including hallucinated details and outdated information.

www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...

Google hails breakthrough as quantum computer surpasses ability of supercomputers | Computing | The Guardian Algorithm performed task beyond capability of classical computers, although experts say real-world application still years away

“The algorithm breakthrough, enabling a quantum computer to operate 13,000 times faster than a classical computer, was detailed in a peer-reviewed paper [..] Google acknowledged, however, that real-world use of quantum computers remained years away.” www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Google just killed Privacy Sandbox: How will this affect you? Google has confirmed that it has killed off its Privacy Sandbox initiative, which aimed to deliver a more private approach to advertising.

“Google launched Privacy Sandbox in 2019, with the expected aim of replacing third-party cookies. However, the decision to kill the project comes over a year after the search giant announced that it wouldn’t drop third-party cookies after all.“ www.androidauthority.com/google-kills...

“US tech giants Apple and Google face stricter competition oversight in the UK after the country’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) designated their mobile platforms as having so-called “strategic market status” (SMS) on Wednesday.” www.euractiv.com/news/apple-a...

“The parent of Facebook and Instagram reorganized its AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs in June after senior staff departures and a poor reception for its open-source Llama 4 model. CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally led an aggressive hiring spree for the unit to revitalize Meta's AI efforts.”