Artificial intelligence

Australian influencer family moves to UK over child social media ban

An Australian influencer family known as the Empire Family is relocating to the UK to avoid Australia’s new social media ban for under-16s, which begins in December. The law requires major platforms to take steps preventing underage users from creating or maintaining accounts.

The family, comprising mothers Beck and Bec Lea, their 17-year-old son Prezley and 14-year-old daughter Charlotte, said the move will allow Charlotte to continue creating online content. She has hundreds of thousands of followers across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, with all accounts managed by her parents.

Beck said they support the government’s intent to protect young people from harm but are concerned about the uncertainty surrounding enforcement methods, such as ID checks or facial recognition. She said the family wanted stability while the system is clarified.

The Australia ban, described as a world first, will apply to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube. Non-compliant firms could face fines of up to A$50 million, while observers say the rules raise new privacy and data protection concerns.

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An AI factory brings Nvidia compute into Samsung’s fabs

Nvidia and Samsung outlined a semiconductor AI factory that embeds accelerated computing into production. Over 50,000 GPUs will drive digital twins, predictive maintenance, and real-time optimisation. Partners present the project as a template for autonomous fabs.

The alliance spans design and manufacturing. Samsung uses CUDA-X and EDA tools to speed simulation and verification. Integrating cuLitho into OPC reports roughly twentyfold gains in computational lithography at advanced nodes.

Factory planning and logistics run on Omniverse digital twins and RTX PRO servers. Unified analytics support anomaly detection, capacity planning, and flow balancing. Managers expect shorter ramps and smoother changeovers with higher equipment effectiveness.

Robotics and edge AI extend intelligence to the line. Isaac Sim, Cosmos models, and Jetson Thor target safe collaboration, faster task retargeting, and teleoperation. Samsung’s in-house models enable multilingual assistance and on-site decision support.

A decades-long Nvidia–Samsung relationship underpins the effort, from NV1 DRAM to HBM3E and HBM4. Work continues on memory, modules, and foundry services, plus AI-RAN research with networks in South Korea and academia linking factory intelligence with next-gen connectivity.

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Google removes Gemma AI model following defamation claims

Google has removed its Gemma AI model from AI Studio after US Senator Marsha Blackburn accused it of producing false sexual misconduct claims about her. The senator said Gemma fabricated an incident allegedly from her 1987 campaign, citing nonexistent news links to support the claim.

Blackburn described the AI’s response as defamatory and demanded action from Google.

The controversy follows a similar case involving conservative activist Robby Starbuck, who claims Google’s AI tools made false accusations about him. Google acknowledged that AI’ hallucinations’ are a known issue but insisted it is working to mitigate such errors.

Blackburn argued these fabrications go beyond harmless mistakes and represent real defamation from a company-owned AI model.

Google stated that Gemma was never intended as a consumer-facing tool, noting that some non-developers misused it to ask factual questions. The company confirmed it would remove the model from AI Studio while keeping it accessible via API for developers.

The incident has reignited debates over AI bias and accountability. Blackburn highlighted what she sees as a consistent pattern of conservative figures being targeted by AI systems, amid wider political scrutiny over misinformation and AI regulation.

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Xi Jinping calls for stronger AI and green cooperation across Asia Pacific

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Asia Pacific economies to boost cooperation in digital innovation, green development, and inclusive growth at the 32nd APEC meeting in Gyeongju.

He said the region faces slowing economic growth and widening inequality, but also holds new opportunities through emerging technologies such as AI.

Xi proposed three areas of action. First, he urged countries to embrace digital and innovative technologies to boost innovation-driven growth. He called for responsible AI development and proposed the establishment of a World AI Cooperation Organisation to set standards and ensure regional access.

Second, Xi emphasised the importance of green and low-carbon development, highlighting China’s rapid progress in renewable energy and its significant contribution to global climate goals. He urged developed economies to aid developing ones with technology, funding, and capacity development for sustainable progress.

Finally, he stressed the importance of inclusive development and poverty reduction. Xi said APEC economies should advance digital literacy, enhance cooperation in sectors such as health and education, and promote equality for women and older people.

He reaffirmed China’s readiness to work with all nations to create a sustainable and shared future for the region.

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Japan’s KDDI partners with Google for AI-driven news service

Japan’s telecom leader KDDI is set to partner with Google to introduce an AI-powered news search service in spring 2026. The platform will use Google’s Gemini model to deliver articles from authorised Japanese media sources while preventing copyright violations.

The service will cite original publishers and exclude independent web scraping, addressing growing global concerns about the unauthorised use of journalism by generative AI systems. Around six domestic media companies, including digital outlets, are expected to join the initiative.

KDDI aims to strengthen user trust by offering reliable news through a transparent and copyright-safe AI interface. Details of how the articles will appear to users are still under review, according to sources familiar with the plan.

The move follows lawsuits filed in Tokyo by major Japanese newspapers, including Nikkei and Yomiuri, against US startup Perplexity AI over alleged copyright infringement. Industry experts say KDDI’s collaboration could become a model for responsible AI integration in news services.

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Apple plans to integrate multiple AI systems into Apple Intelligence

In a recent interview, Tim Cook confirmed that Apple plans to integrate more third-party AI systems into its new Apple Intelligence offering, describing the ambition as ‘over time’ and indicating both internal development and potential mergers and acquisitions.

Cook referenced existing integrations, such as the embedding of ChatGPT into Siri, and confirmed that other models like Google Gemini are under consideration.

He also emphasised that Apple remains open to acquiring AI companies that align with its roadmap for Apple Intelligence.

However, this announcement marks Apple’s strategic pivot in the AI era, shifting from a primarily closed system to one that supports a pluralistic ecosystem of AI tools.

The move has implications for how we think about platform-economy power, AI governance and interoperability.

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Stargate Michigan expands OpenAI’s US buildout

OpenAI will build a new campus in Saline Township, Michigan, as part of a 4.5 GW partnership with Oracle. Planned US capacity now exceeds 8 gigawatts. Investment over the next three years is expected to surpass $450 billion.

Leaders frame Stargate as a path to reindustrialise the United States while expanding access to AI benefits. Projects generate jobs during buildout and strengthen supply chains. Communities are intended to share gains.

Related Digital will develop the Michigan site, with construction expected in early 2026. More than 2,500 union construction roles are planned. A closed-loop cooling system will significantly reduce on-site water consumption.

DTE Energy will utilise existing excess transmission capacity to serve the campus. The project, not local ratepayers, will fund any required upgrades. Local energy supplies are expected to remain unaffected.

Expansion builds on previously announced sites in Texas, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Programmes aim to bolster modern energy and manufacturing systems. Michigan’s engineering heritage makes it a focal point for future AI infrastructure.

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When AI LLMs ‘think’ more, groups suffer, CMU study finds

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University report that stronger-reasoning language models (LLMs) act more selfishly in groups, reducing cooperation and nudging peers toward self-interest. Concerns grow as people ask AI for social advice.

In a Public Goods test, non-reasoning models shared 96 percent; a reasoning model shared 20 percent. Adding a few reasoning steps cut cooperation nearly in half. Reflection prompts also reduced sharing.

Mixed groups showed spillover. Reasoning agents dragged down collective performance by 81 percent, spreading self-interest. Users may over-trust ‘rational’ advice that justifies uncooperative choices at work or in class.

Comparisons spanned LLMs from OpenAI, Google, DeepSeek, and Anthropic. Findings point to the need to balance raw reasoning with social intelligence. Designers should reward cooperation, not only optimise individual gain.

The paper ‘Spontaneous Giving and Calculated Greed in Language Models’ will be presented at EMNLP 2025, with a preprint on arXiv. Authors caution that more intelligent AI is not automatically better for society.

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Australian police create AI tool to decode predators’ slang

Australian police are developing an AI tool with Microsoft to decode slang and emojis used by online predators. The technology is designed to interpret coded messages in digital conversations to help investigators detect harmful intent more quickly.

Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said social media has become a breeding ground for exploitation, bullying, and radicalisation. The AI based prototype, she explained, could allow officers to identify threats earlier and rescue children before abuse occurs.

Barrett also warned about the rise of so-called ‘crimefluencers’, offenders using social media trends to lure young victims, many of whom are pre-teen or teenage girls. Australian authorities believe understanding modern online language is key to disrupting their methods.

The initiative follows Australia’s new under-16 social media ban, due to take effect in December. Regulators worldwide are monitoring the country’s approach as governments struggle to balance online safety with privacy and digital rights.

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Korea ramps up AI infrastructure with NVIDIA partnership

South Korea is accelerating its AI development through a major partnership with NVIDIA, deploying over 260,000 GPUs across government, cloud providers, and industrial leaders.

The Ministry of Science and ICT is investing in sovereign AI infrastructure, while companies including Samsung, SK Group, Hyundai, and NAVER Cloud are building AI factories and expanding GPU capacity to support physical and enterprise AI workloads.

The initiative seeks to boost innovation in manufacturing, automotive, and telecoms, supporting large-scale AI model training, validation, and deployment.

Korean organisations are developing sovereign large language models through public-private partnerships with LG AI Research, SK Telecom, NC AI, Upstage, and NVIDIA.

The infrastructure will allow startups, researchers, and enterprises to access high-performance computing for AI applications and industrial digital twins.

Korea is also advancing AI-enabled quantum computing and scientific research. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) is creating a Center of Excellence using NVIDIA supercomputers, NVQLink for quantum processors, and PhysicsNeMo for physics-based AI models.

The goal is to strengthen research collaboration, AI innovation, and economic growth. Startups gain support through NVIDIA Inception and N-Up AI programs, accessing computing infrastructure, AI tools, and investment guidance to speed growth and industrial AI adoption.

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