Intellectual property rights

AI cheating drives ACCA to halt online exams

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has announced it will largely end remote examinations in the UK from March 2026, requiring students to sit tests in person unless exceptional circumstances apply.

The decision aims to address a surge in cheating, particularly facilitated by AI tools.

Remote testing was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic to allow students to continue qualifying when in-person exams were impossible. The ACCA said online assessments have now become too difficult to monitor effectively, despite efforts to strengthen safeguards against misconduct.

Investigations show cheating has impacted major auditing firms, including the ‘big four’ and other top companies. High-profile cases, such as EY’s $100m (£74m) settlement in the US, highlight the risks posed by compromised professional examinations.

While other accounting bodies, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, continue to allow some online exams, the ACCA has indicated that high-stakes assessments must now be conducted in person to maintain credibility and integrity.

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Millions watch AI-generated brainrot content on YouTube

Kapwing research reveals that AI-generated ‘slop’ and brainrot videos now dominate a significant portion of YouTube feeds, accounting for 21–33% of the first 500 Shorts seen by new users.

These rapidly produced AI videos aim to grab attention but make it harder for traditional creators to gain visibility. Analysis of top trending channels shows Spain leads in AI slop subscribers with 20.22 million, while South Korea’s channels have amassed 8.45 billion views.

India’s Bandar Apna Dost is the most-viewed AI slop channel, earning an estimated $4.25 million annually and showing the profit potential of mass AI-generated content.

The prevalence of AI slop and brainrot has sparked debates over creativity, ethics, and advertiser confidence. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan calls generative AI transformative, but rising automated videos raise concerns over quality and brand safety.

Researchers warn that repeated exposure to AI-generated content can distort perception and contribute to information overload. Some AI content earns artistic respect, but much normalises low-quality videos, making it harder for users to tell meaningful content from repetitive or misleading material.

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MIT-IBM researchers improve large language models with PaTH Attention

Researchers at MIT and the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab have introduced a new attention mechanism designed to enhance the capabilities of large language models (LLMs) in tracking state and reasoning across long texts.

Unlike traditional positional encoding methods, the PaTH Attention system adapts to the content of words, enabling models to follow complex sequences more effectively.

PaTH Attention models sequences through data-dependent transformations, allowing LLMs to track how meaning changes between words instead of relying solely on relative distance.

The approach improves performance on long-context reasoning, multi-step recall, and language modelling benchmarks, all while remaining computationally efficient and compatible with GPUs.

Tests demonstrated consistent gains in perplexity and content-awareness compared with conventional methods. The team combined PaTH Attention with FoX to down-weight less relevant information, improving reasoning and long-sequence understanding.

According to senior author Yoon Kim, these advances represent the next step in developing general-purpose building blocks for AI, combining expressivity, scalability, and efficiency for broader applications in structured domains such as biology.

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Japan investigates AI search services over news use

The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) announced it will investigate AI-based online search services over concerns that using news articles without permission could violate antitrust laws.

Authorities said such practices may amount to an abuse of a dominant bargaining position under Japan’s antimonopoly regulations.

The inquiry is expected to examine services from global tech firms, including Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, as well as US startup Perplexity AI and Japanese company LY Corp. AI search tools summarise online content, including news articles, raising concerns about their effect on media revenue.

The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association warned AI summaries may reduce website traffic and media revenue. JFTC Secretary General Hiroo Iwanari said generative AI is evolving quickly, requiring careful review to keep up with technological change.

The investigation reflects growing global scrutiny of AI services and their interaction with content providers, with regulators increasingly assessing the balance between innovation and fair competition in digital markets.

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Creators embrace AI music on YouTube

Increasingly, YouTube creators are utilising AI-generated music to enhance video quality, saving time and costs. Selecting tracks that align with the content tone and audience expectations is crucial for engagement.

Subtle, balanced music supports narration without distraction and guides viewers through sections. Thoughtful use of intros, transitions and outros builds channel identity and reinforces branding.

Customisation tools allow creators to adjust tempo, mood and intensity for better pacing and cohesion with visuals. Testing multiple versions ensures the music feels natural and aligns with storytelling.

Understanding licensing terms protects monetisation and avoids copyright issues. Combining AI music with creative judgement keeps content authentic and original while maximising production impact.

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AI search services face competition probe in Japan

Japan’s competition authority will probe AI search services from major domestic and international tech firms. The investigation aims to identify potential antitrust violations rather than impose immediate sanctions.

The probe is expected to cover LY Corp., Google, Microsoft and AI providers such as OpenAI and Perplexity AI. Concerns centre on how AI systems present and utilise news content within search results.

Legal action by Japanese news organisations alleges unauthorised use of articles by AI services. Regulators are assessing whether such practices constitute abuse of market dominance.

The inquiry builds on a 2023 review of news distribution contracts that warned against the use of unfair terms for publishers. Similar investigations overseas, including within the EU, have guided the commission’s approach.

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AI reshapes media in North Macedonia with new regulatory guidance

A new analysis examines the impact of AI on North Macedonia’s media sector, offering guidance on ethical standards, human rights, and regulatory approaches.

Prepared in both Macedonian and English, the study benchmarks the country’s practices against European frameworks and provides actionable recommendations for future regulation and self-regulation.

The research, supported by the EU and Council of Europe’s PRO-FREX initiative and in collaboration with the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services (AVMU), was presented during Media Literacy Days 2025 in Skopje.

It highlights the relevance of EU and Council of Europe guidelines, including the Framework Convention on AI and Human Rights, and guidance on responsible AI in journalism.

AVMU’s involvement underlines its role in ensuring media freedom, fairness, and accountability amid rapid technological change. Participants highlighted the need for careful policymaking to manage AI’s impact, protecting media diversity, journalistic standards, and public trust online.

The analysis forms part of broader efforts under the Council of Europe and the EU’s Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye, aiming to support North Macedonia in aligning media regulation with European standards while responsibly integrating AI technologies.

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AI shows promise in scientific research tasks

FrontierScience, a new benchmark from OpenAI, evaluates AI capabilities for expert-level scientific reasoning across physics, chemistry, and biology.

The benchmark measures Olympiad-style reasoning and real-world research tasks, showing how AI can aid complex scientific workflows. Generative AI models like GPT‑5 are now used for literature searches, complex proofs, and tasks that once took days or weeks.

The benchmark consists of two tracks: FrontierScience-Olympiad, with 100 questions created by international Olympiad medalists to assess constrained scientific reasoning, and FrontierScience-Research, with 60 multi-step research tasks developed by PhD scientists.

Initial evaluations show GPT‑5.2 scoring 77% on the Olympiad set and 25% on the Research set, outperforming other frontier models. The results show AI can support structured scientific reasoning but still struggles with open-ended problem solving and hypothesis generation.

FrontierScience also introduces a grading system tailored to each track. The Olympiad set uses short-answer verification, while the Research set employs a 10-point rubric assessing both final answers and intermediate reasoning steps.

Model-based grading allows for scalable evaluation of complex tasks, although human expert oversight remains ideal. Analyses reveal that AI models still make logic, calculation, and factual errors, particularly with niche scientific concepts.

While FrontierScience does not capture every aspect of scientific work, it provides a high-resolution snapshot of AI performance on difficult, expert-level problems. OpenAI plans to refine the benchmark, extend it to new domains, and combine it with real-world tests to track AI’s impact on scientific discovery.

The ultimate measure of success remains the novel insights and discoveries AI can help generate for the scientific community.

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Streaming platforms face pressure over AI-generated music

Musicians are raising the alarm over AI-generated tracks appearing on their profiles without consent, presenting fraudulent work as their own. British folk artist Emily Portman discovered an AI-generated album, Orca, on Spotify and Apple Music, which copied her folk style and lyrics.

Fans initially congratulated her on a release she had not made since 2022.

Australian musician Paul Bender reported a similar experience, with four ‘bizarrely bad’ AI tracks appearing under his band, The Sweet Enoughs. Both artists said that weak distributor security allows scammers to easily upload content, calling it ‘the easiest scam in the world.’

A petition launched by Bender garnered tens of thousands of signatures, urging platforms to strengthen their protections.

AI-generated music has become increasingly sophisticated, making it nearly impossible for listeners to distinguish from genuine tracks. While revenues from such fraudulent streams are low individually, bots and repeated listening can significantly increase payouts.

Industry representatives note that the primary motive is to collect royalties from unsuspecting users.

Despite the threat of impersonation, Portman is continuing her creative work, emphasising human collaboration and authentic artistry. Spotify and Apple Music have pledged to collaborate with distributors to enhance the detection and prevention of AI-generated fraud.

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New law requires AI disclosure in advertising in the US

A new law in New York, US, will require advertisers to disclose when AI-generated people appear in commercial content. Governor Kathy Hochul said the measure brings transparency and protects consumers as synthetic avatars become more widespread.

A second law now requires consent from heirs or executors when using a deceased person’s likeness for commercial purposes. The rule updates the state’s publicity rights, which previously lacked clarity in the context of the generative AI era.

Industry groups welcomed the move, saying it addresses the risks posed by unregulated AI usage, particularly for actors in the film and television industries. The disclosure must be conspicuous when an avatar does not correspond to a real human.

Specific expressive works such as films, games and shows are exempt when the avatar matches its use in the work. The laws arrive as national debate intensifies and President-elect Donald Trump signals potential attempts to limit state-level AI regulation.

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