Prominent personalities

AMD powers US AI factory supercomputers for national research

The US Department of Energy and AMD are joining forces to expand America’s AI and scientific computing power through two new supercomputers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Named Lux and Discovery, the systems will drive the country’s sovereign AI strategy, combining public and private investment worth around $1 billion to strengthen research, innovation, and security infrastructure.

Lux, arriving in 2026, will become the nation’s first dedicated AI factory for science.

Built with AMD’s EPYC CPUs and Instinct GPUs alongside Oracle and HPE technologies, Lux will accelerate research across materials, medicine, and advanced manufacturing, supporting the US AI Action Plan and boosting the Department of Energy’s AI capacity.

Discovery, set for deployment in 2028, will deepen collaboration between the DOE, AMD, and HPE. Powered by AMD’s next-generation ‘Venice’ CPUs and MI430X GPUs, Discovery will train and deploy AI models on secure US-built systems, protecting national data and competitiveness.

It aims to deliver faster energy, biology, and national security breakthroughs while maintaining high efficiency and open standards.

AMD’s CEO, Dr Lisa Su, said the collaboration represents the best public-private partnerships, advancing the nation’s foundation for science and innovation.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright described the initiative as proof that America leads when government and industry work together toward shared AI and scientific goals.

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Celebrity estates push back on Sora as app surges to No.1

OpenAI’s short-video app Sora topped one million downloads in under a week, then ran headlong into a likeness-rights firestorm. Celebrity families and studios demanded stricter controls. Estates for figures like Martin Luther King Jr. sought blocks on unauthorised cameos.

Users showcased hyperreal mashups that blurred satire and deception, from cartoon crossovers to dead celebrities in improbable scenes. All clips are AI-made, yet reposting across platforms spread confusion. Viewers faced a constant real-or-fake dilemma.

Rights holders pressed for consent, compensation, and veto power over characters and personas. OpenAI shifted toward opt-in for copyrighted properties and enabled estate requests to restrict cameos. Policy language on who qualifies as a public figure remains fuzzy.

Agencies and unions amplified pressure, warning of exploitation and reputational risks. Detection firms reported a surge in takedown requests for unauthorised impersonations. Watermarks exist, but removal tools undercut provenance and complicate enforcement.

Researchers warned about a growing fog of doubt as realistic fakes multiply. Every day, people are placed in deceptive scenarios, while bad actors exploit deniability. OpenAI promised stronger guardrails as Sora scales within tighter rules.

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Qualcomm and HUMAIN power Saudi Arabia’s AI transformation

HUMAIN and Qualcomm Technologies have launched a collaboration to deploy advanced AI infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, aiming to position the Kingdom as a global hub for AI.

Announced ahead of the Future Investment Initiative conference, the project will deliver the world’s first fully optimised edge-to-cloud AI system, expanding Saudi Arabia’s regional and global inferencing services capabilities.

In 2026, HUMAIN plans to deploy 200 megawatts of Qualcomm’s AI200 and AI250 rack solutions to power large-scale AI inference services.

The partnership combines HUMAIN’s regional infrastructure and full AI stack with Qualcomm’s semiconductor expertise, creating a model for nations seeking to develop sovereign AI ecosystems.

However, the initiative will also integrate HUMAIN’s Saudi-developed ALLaM models with Qualcomm’s AI platforms, offering enterprise and government customers tailor-made solutions for industry-specific needs.

The collaboration supports Saudi Arabia’s strategy to drive economic growth through AI and semiconductor innovation, reinforcing its ambition to lead the next wave of global intelligent computing.

Qualcomm’s CEO Cristiano Amon said the partnership would help the Kingdom build a technology ecosystem to accelerate its AI ambitions.

HUMAIN CEO Tareq Amin added that combining local insight with Qualcomm’s product leadership will establish Saudi Arabia as a key player in global AI and semiconductor development.

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MLK estate pushback prompts new Sora 2 guardrails at OpenAI

OpenAI paused the ability to re-create Martin Luther King Jr. in Sora 2 after Bernice King objected to user videos. Company leaders issued a joint statement with the King estate. New guardrails will govern depictions of historical figures on the app.

OpenAI said families and authorised estates should control how likenesses appear. Representatives can request removal or opt-outs. Free speech was acknowledged, but respectful use and consent were emphasised.

Policy scope remains unsettled, including who counts as a public figure. Case-by-case requests may dominate early enforcement. Transparency commitments arrived without full definitions or timelines.

Industry pressure intensified as major talent agencies opted out of clients. CAA and UTA cited exploitation and legal exposure. Some creators welcomed the tool, showing a split among public figures.

User appetite for realistic cameos continues to test boundaries. Rights of publicity and postmortem controls vary by state. OpenAI promised stronger safeguards while Sora 2 evolves.

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Church of Greece launches AI tool LOGOS for believers

LOGOS, a digital tool developed by the Metropolis of Nea Ionia, Filadelfia, Iraklio and Halkidona alongside the University of the Aegean, has marked the Church of Greece’s entry into the age of AI.

The tool gathers information on questions of Christian faith and provides clear, practical answers instead of replacing human guidance.

Metropolitan Gabriel, who initiated the project, emphasised that LOGOS does not substitute priests but acts as a guide, bringing believers closer to the Church. He said the Church must engage the digital world, insisting that technology should serve humanity instead of the other way around.

An AI tool that also supports younger users, allowing them to safely access accurate information on Orthodox teachings and counter misleading or harmful content found online. While it cannot receive confessions, it offers prayers and guidance to prepare believers spiritually.

The Church views LOGOS as part of a broader strategy to embrace digital tools responsibly, ensuring that faith remains accessible and meaningful in the modern technological landscape.

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Diella 2.0 set to deliver 83 new AI assistants to aid Albania’s MPs

Albania’s AI minister Diella will ‘give birth’ to 83 virtual assistants for ruling-party MPs, Prime Minister Edi Rama said, framing a quirky rollout of parliamentary copilots that record debates and propose responses.

Diella began in January as a public-service chatbot on e-Albania, then ‘Diella 2.0’ added voice and an avatar in traditional dress. Built with Microsoft by the National Agency for Information Society, it now oversees specific state tech contracts.

The legality is murky: the constitution of Albania requires ministers to be natural persons. A presidential decree left Rama’s responsibility to establish the role and set up likely court tests from opposition lawmakers.

Rama says the ‘children’ will brief MPs, summarise absences, and suggest counterarguments through 2026, experimenting with automating the day-to-day legislative grind without replacing elected officials.

Reactions range from table-thumping scepticism to cautious curiosity, as other governments debate AI personhood and limits; Diella could become a template, or a cautionary tale for ‘ministerial’ bots.

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AI deepfake videos spark ethical and environmental concerns

Deepfake videos created by AI platforms like OpenAI’s Sora have gone viral, generating hyper-realistic clips of deceased celebrities and historical figures in often offensive scenarios.

Families of figures like Dr Martin Luther King Jr have publicly appealed to AI firms to prevent using their loved ones’ likenesses, highlighting ethical concerns around the technology.

Beyond the emotional impact, Dr Kevin Grecksch of Oxford University warns that producing deepfakes carries a significant environmental footprint. Instead of occurring on phones, video generation happens in data centres that consume vast amounts of electricity and water for cooling, often at industrial scales.

The surge in deepfake content has been rapid, with Sora downloaded over a million times in five days. Dr Grecksch urges users to consider the environmental cost, suggesting more integrated thinking about where data centres are built and how they are cooled to minimise their impact.

As governments promote AI growth areas like South Oxfordshire, questions remain over sustainable infrastructure. Users are encouraged to balance technological enthusiasm with environmental mindfulness, recognising the hidden costs behind creating and sharing AI-generated media.

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Sky acquisition by OpenAI signals ChatGPT’s push into native workflows

OpenAI acquired Software Applications Incorporated, the maker of Sky, to accelerate the development of interfaces that understand context, adapt to intent, and act across apps. Sky’s macOS layer sees what’s on screen and executes tasks. Its team joins OpenAI to bake these capabilities into ChatGPT.

Sky turns the Mac into a cooperative workspace for writing, planning, coding, and daily tasks. It can control native apps, invoke workflows, and ground actions in on-screen context. That tight integration now becomes a core pillar of ChatGPT’s product roadmap.

OpenAI says the goal is capability plus usability: not just answers, but actions completed in your tools. VP Nick Turley framed it as moving from prompts to productivity. Expect ChatGPT features that feel ambient, proactive, and native on desktop.

Sky’s founders say large language models finally enable intuitive, customizable computing. CEO Ari Weinstein described Sky as a layer that ‘floats’ over your desktop, helping you think and create. OpenAI plans to bring that experience to hundreds of millions of users.

A disclosure notes that a fund associated with Sam Altman held a passive stake in Software Applications Incorporated. Nick Turley and Fidji Simo led the deal. OpenAI’s independent Transaction and Audit Committees reviewed and approved the acquisition.

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At UMN, AI meets ethics, history, and craft

AI is remaking daily life, but it can’t define what makes us human. The liberal arts help us probe ethics, meaning, and power as algorithms scale. At the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, that lens anchors curiosity with responsibility.

In the College of Liberal Arts, scholars are treating AI as both a tool and a textbook. They test its limits, trace its histories, and surface trade-offs around bias, authorship, and agency. Students learn to question design choices rather than just consume outputs.

Linguist Amanda Dalola, who directs the Language Center, experiments with AI as a language partner and reflective coach. Her aim isn’t replacement but augmentation, faster feedback, broader practice, richer cultural context. The point is discernment: when to use, when to refuse.

Statistician Galin Jones underscores the scaffolding beneath the hype. You cannot do AI without statistics, he tells students, so the School of Statistics emphasises inference, uncertainty, and validation. Graduates leave fluent in models, and in the limits of what models claim.

Composer Frederick Kennedy’s opera I am Alan Turing turns theory into performance. By staging Turing’s questions about machine thought and human identity, the work fuses history, sound design, and code. Across philosophy, music, and more, CLA frames AI as a human story first.

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Australia demands answers from AI chatbot providers over child safety

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has issued legal notices to four major AI companion platforms, requiring them to explain how they are protecting children from harmful or explicit content.

Character.ai, Nomi, Chai, and Chub.ai were all served under the country’s Online Safety Act and must demonstrate compliance with Australia’s Basic Online Safety Expectations.

The notices follow growing concern that AI companions, designed for friendship and emotional support, can expose minors to sexualised conversations, suicidal ideation, and other psychological risks.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the companies must show how their systems prevent such harms, not merely react to them, warning that failure to comply could lead to penalties of up to $825,000 per day.

AI companion chatbots have surged in popularity among young users, with Character.ai alone attracting nearly 160,000 monthly active users in Australia.

The Commissioner stressed that these services must integrate safety measures by design, as new enforceable codes now extend to AI platforms that previously operated with minimal oversight.

A move that comes amid wider efforts to regulate emerging AI technologies and ensure stronger child protection standards online.

Breaches of the new codes could result in civil penalties of up to $49.5 million, marking one of the toughest online safety enforcement regimes globally.

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