Digital business models Archives | Page 293 of 564

Musk’s robotaxi ambitions threatened as Tesla faces a $243 million autopilot verdict

A recent court verdict has required Tesla to pay approximately $243 million in damages following a 2019 fatal crash involving an Autopilot-equipped Model S.

The Florida jury found Tesla’s driver-assistance software defective, a claim the company intends to appeal, asserting that the driver was solely responsible for the incident.

The ruling may significantly impact Tesla’s ambitions to expand its emerging robotaxi network in the US, fuelling heightened scrutiny over the safety of the company’s autonomous technology from both regulators and the public.

The timing of this legal setback is critical as Tesla is seeking regulatory approval for its robotaxi services, crucial to its market valuation and efforts to manage global competition while facing backlash against CEO Elon Musk’s political views.

Additionally, the company has recently awarded CEO Elon Musk a substantial new compensation package worth approximately $29 billion in stock options, signalling the company’s continued reliance on Musk’s leadership at a critical juncture, since the company plans transitions from a struggling auto business toward futuristic ventures like robotaxis and humanoid robots.

Tesla’s approach to autonomous driving, which relies on cameras and AI instead of more expensive technologies like lidars and radars used by competitors, has prompted it to start a limited robotaxi trial in Texas. However, its aggressive expansion plans for this service starkly contrast with the cautious rollouts by companies such as Waymo, which runs the US’s only commercial driverless robotaxi system.

The jury’s decision also complicates Tesla’s interactions with state regulators, as the company awaits approvals in multiple states, including California and Florida. While Nevada has engaged with Tesla regarding its robotaxi programme, Arizona remains indecisive.

This ruling challenges Tesla’s narrative of safety efficacy, especially since the case involved a distracted driver whose vehicle ran a stop sign and collided with a parked car, yet the Autopilot system was partially blamed.

Source: Reuters

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Elon Musk’s Vine revival sparks surge in VINE coin

The VINE coin experienced a notable surge following Elon Musk’s announcement about restoring access to the old Vine video archive. Musk’s post about restoring Vine sparked renewed interest, boosting the token by over 8% in a day.

Musk’s push to revive Vine ties into a broader vision for X, his rebranded social media platform. The app aims to become an AI-driven ‘super-app’ with features including cryptocurrency-powered payments.

Other tokens linked to Musk, such as Dogecoin and Grok-related coins, have also enjoyed gains following his recent social media activity.

Vine, once a pioneering platform for viral six-second videos, was discontinued in 2017 but remains fondly remembered. Though launched independently, the VINE coin has gained from speculation linked to Musk’s revival plans.

Market watchers expect Musk’s influence could fuel further altcoin momentum linked to the app’s comeback and his crypto endorsements.

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Digital euro will not replace cash, says ECB

Cash will stay central to the eurozone’s financial system, the ECB confirmed, as work on the digital euro moves forward. A board member Piero Cipollone said euro banknotes and coins will be supplemented, not replaced, by a digital version to protect payment autonomy in Europe.

The ECB’s commitment follows a surge in the use of private digital currencies and stablecoins, which are increasingly used for daily transactions and international transfers. They see the digital euro as a secure answer to the rising influence of foreign stablecoins, especially US dollar-backed ones.

Despite the digital push, Cipollone stressed cash is vital, especially in crises when digital systems might fail. The ECB wants Europeans to have access to physical cash and digital euros alike, all with legal tender status and full usability.

Meanwhile, the ECB has acknowledged lukewarm interest from the public. A March study revealed Europeans were reluctant to allocate significant funds to a digital euro.

Separately, ECB adviser Jürgen Schaaf warned that Europe must implement unified regulation to avoid dominance by US dollar-backed stablecoins and preserve monetary sovereignty.

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AI adoption soothes stress even as job fears rise among employees

A recent Fortune survey indicates that 61 percent of white‑collar professionals expect AI to make their roles, or even their entire teams, obsolete within 3–5 years, yet most continue to rely on AI tools daily without visible concern.

Seventy percent of respondents credit AI with boosting their creativity and productivity, and 40  percent say it has eased stress and improved work‑life balance. Despite these benefits, many admit to ‘feigning’ AI use in workplace settings, often driven by peer pressure or a lack of formal training.

Executive commentary underscores the tension: senior business leaders, including Jim Farley and Dario Amodei, predict rapid AI‑driven disruption of white‑collar roles. Some executives forecast up to 50  percent of certain job categories could be eliminated, though others argue AI may open new opportunities.

Academic studies suggest a more nuanced impact: AI is reshaping role definitions by automating routine tasks while increasing demand for complementary skills, such as ethics, teamwork, and digital fluency. Wage benefits are growing in jobs that effectively blend AI with human oversight.

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Weak cyber hygiene in smart devices risks national infrastructure

The UK’s designation of data centres as Critical National Infrastructure highlights their growing strategic importance, yet a pressing concern remains over vulnerabilities in their OT and IoT systems. While IT security often receives significant investment, the same cannot be said for other technologies.

Attackers increasingly target these overlooked systems, gaining access through insecure devices such as IP cameras and biometric scanners. Many of these operate on outdated firmware and lack even basic protections, making them ideal footholds for malicious actors.

There have already been known breaches, with OT systems used in botnet activity and crypto mining, often without detection. These attacks not only compromise security in the UK but can destabilise infrastructure by overloading resources or bypassing safeguards.

Addressing these threats requires full visibility across all connected systems, with real-time monitoring, wireless traffic analysis, and network segmentation. Experts urge data centre operators to act now, not in response to a breach, but to prevent one entirely.

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Altman shares first glimpse of GPT-5 via Pantheon screenshot

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a screenshot on X showing GPT-5 in action. The post casually endorsed the animated sci-fi series Pantheon, a cult tech favourite exploring general AI.

When asked if GPT-5 also recommends the show, Altman replied with a screenshot: ‘turns out yes’. It marked one of the earliest public glimpses of the new model, hinting at expanded capabilities.

GPT-5 is expected to outperform its predecessors, with a larger context window, multimodal abilities, and more agentic task handling. The screenshot also shows that some quirks remain, such as its fondness for the em dash.

The model identified Pantheon as having a 100% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and described it as ‘cerebral, emotional, and philosophically intense’. Business Insider verified the score and tone of the reviews.

OpenAI faces mounting pressure to keep pace with rivals like Google DeepMind, Meta, xAI, and Anthropic. Public teasers such as this one suggest GPT-5 will soon make a broader debut.

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AI’s transformation of work habits, mindset and lifestyle

At Mindvalley’s AI Summit, former Google Chief Decision Scientist Cassie Kozyrkov described AI as not a substitute for human thought but a magnifier of what the human mind can produce. Rather than replacing us, AI lets us offload mundane tasks and focus on deeper cognitive and creative work.

Work structures are being transformed, not just in factories, but behind computer screens. AI now handles administrative ‘work about work,’ multitasking, scheduling, and research summarisation, lowering friction in knowledge work and enabling people to supervise agents rather than execute tasks manually.

Personal life is being reshaped, too. AI tools for finance or health, such as budgeting apps or personalised diagnostics, move decisions into data-augmented systems with faster insight and fewer human biases.

Meanwhile, creativity is co-authored via AI-generated design, music or writing, requiring humans to filter, refine and ideate beyond the algorithm.

Recognising cognitive change, AI thought leaders envision a new era where ‘blended work’ prevails: humans manage AI agents, call the shots, and wield ethical oversight, while the AI executes pipelines of repetitive or semi-intelligent tasks.

Scholars warn that this model demands new fairness, transparency, and collaboration skills.

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Hackers infiltrate Southeast Asian telecom networks

A cyber group breached telecoms across Southeast Asia, deploying advanced tracking tools instead of stealing data. Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 assesses the activity as ‘associated with a nation-state nexus’.

A hacking group gained covert access to telecom networks across Southeast Asia, most likely to track users’ locations, according to cybersecurity analysts at Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42.

The campaign lasted from February to November 2024.

Instead of stealing data or directly communicating with mobile devices, the hackers deployed custom tools such as CordScan, designed to intercept mobile network protocols like SGSN. These methods suggest the attackers focused on tracking rather than data theft.

Unite42 assessed the activity ‘with high confidence’ as ‘associated with a nation state nexus’. The Unit notes that ‘this cluster heavily overlaps with activity attributed to Liminal Panda, a nation state adversary tracked by CrowdStrike’; according to CrowdStrike, Liminal Panda is considered to be a ‘likely China-nexus adversary’. It further states that ‘while this cluster significantly overlaps with Liminal Panda, we have also observed overlaps in attacker tooling with other reported groups and activity clusters, including Light Basin, UNC3886, UNC2891 and UNC1945.’

The attackers initially gained access by brute-forcing SSH credentials using login details specific to telecom equipment.

Once inside, they installed new malware, including a backdoor named NoDepDNS, which tunnels malicious data through port 53 — typically used for DNS traffic — in order to avoid detection.

To maintain stealth, the group disguised malware, altered file timestamps, disabled system security features and wiped authentication logs.

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The US considers chip tracking to prevent smuggling to China

The US is exploring how to build better location-tracking into advanced chips, as part of an effort to prevent American semiconductors from ending up in China.

Michael Kratsios, a senior official behind Donald Trump’s AI strategy, confirmed that software or physical updates to chips are being considered to support traceability.

Instead of relying on external enforcement, Washington aims to work directly with the tech industry to improve monitoring of chip movements. The strategy forms part of a broader national plan to counter smuggling and maintain US dominance in cutting-edge technologies.

Beijing recently summoned Nvidia representatives to address concerns over American proposals linked to tracking features and perceived security risks in the company’s H20 chips.

Although US officials have not directly talked with Nvidia or AMD on the matter, Kratsios clarified that chip tracking is now a formal objective.

The move comes even as Trump’s team signals readiness to lift certain export restrictions to China in return for trade benefits, such as rare-earth magnet sales to the US.

Kratsios criticised China’s push to lead global AI regulation, saying countries should define their paths instead of following a centralised model. He argued that the US innovation-first approach offers a more attractive alternative.

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Google AI Mode raises fears over control of news

Google’s AI Mode has quietly launched in the UK, reshaping how users access news by summarising information directly in search results.

By paraphrasing content gathered across the internet, the tool offers instant answers while reducing the need to visit original news sites.

Critics argue that the technology monopolises UK information by filtering what users see, based on algorithms rather than editorial judgement. Concerns have grown over transparency, fairness and the future of independent journalism.

Publishers are not compensated for content used by AI Mode, and most users rarely click through to the sources. Newsrooms fear pressure to adapt their output to align with Google’s preferences or risk being buried online.

While AI may streamline convenience, it lacks accountability. Regulated journalism must operate under legal frameworks, whereas AI faces no such scrutiny even when errors have real consequences.

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