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AI site faces backlash for copying Southern Oregon news

A major publishing organisation has issued a formal warning to Good Daily News, an AI-powered news aggregator, demanding it cease the unauthorised scraping of content from local news outlets across Southern Oregon and beyond. The News Media Alliance, which represents 2,200 publishers, sent the letter on 25 March, urging the national operator to respect publishers’ rights and stop reproducing material without permission.

Good Daily runs over 350 online ‘local’ news websites across 47 US states, including Daily Medford and Daily Salem in Oregon. Though the platforms appear locally based, they are developed using AI and managed by one individual, Matt Henderson, who has registered mailing addresses in both Ashland, Oregon and Austin, Texas. Content is reportedly scraped from legitimate local news sites, rewritten by AI, and shared in newsletters, sometimes with source links, but often without permission.

News Media Alliance president Danielle Coffey said such practices undermine the time, resources, and revenue of local journalism. Many publishers use digital tools to block automated scrapers, though this comes at a financial cost. The organisation is working with the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and exploring legal options. Others in the industry, including Heidi Wright of the Fund for Oregon Rural Journalism, have voiced strong support for the warning, calling for greater action to defend the integrity of local news.

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Fujitsu launches AI scanner to assess tuna fat

Fujitsu has developed a new AI-powered inspection device that determines the fat content of frozen albacore tuna with unprecedented speed and accuracy. Replacing the traditional practice of slicing and thawing tuna tails for human evaluation, the technology uses ultrasonic waves and artificial intelligence to analyse the internal marbling of the fish without causing damage.

The system scans each tuna from four angles, generating waveforms that an AI algorithm interprets to assess fat levels. Results are displayed in seconds with labels such as ‘highly marbled’ or ‘low fat’, dramatically reducing the time required compared to manual inspection. While visual assessment typically takes around a minute, Fujitsu’s device completes the process in just 12 seconds.

Developed in partnership with Tokai University and with support from machinery firm Ishida Tech, the device promises greater consistency and the ability to inspect every fish in a catch, something previously considered too labour-intensive. Scheduled to launch in June, it will be priced between 30 million and 35 million yen (£160,000–£187,000). Fujitsu aims to expand the system to evaluate additional species like yellowfin and bonito, and to assess freshness and texture in future updates.

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Gerry Adams targets Meta over use of his books

Gerry Adams, the former president of Sinn Féin, is considering legal action against Meta for allegedly using his books to train AI. Adams claims that at least seven of his books were included in a large collection of copyrighted material Meta used to develop its AI systems.

He has handed the matter over to his solicitor. The books in question include his autobiography Before the Dawn, prison memoir Cage Eleven, and reflections on Northern Ireland’s peace process Hope and History, among others.

Adams is not the only author voicing concerns about Meta’s use of copyrighted works. A group of writers filed a US court case in January, accusing Meta of using the controversial Library Genesis (LibGen) database, which hosts over 7.5 million books, many believed to be pirated.

The discovery followed a searchable database of titles from LibGen being published by The Atlantic, which led several authors to identify their works being used to train Meta’s Llama AI model.

The Society of Authors has condemned Meta’s actions, with chair Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin calling the move ‘shocking and devastating’ for authors.

Many authors are concerned that AI models like Llama, which power tools such as chatbots, could undermine their work by reproducing creative content without permission. Meta has defended its actions, claiming that its use of information to train AI models is in line with existing laws.

Adams, a prolific author and former MP, joins other Northern Irish writers, including Booker Prize winner Anna Burns, in opposing the use of their work for AI training without consent.

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Rapid AI growth raises global energy demands

The global demand for AI technology is set to consume nearly as much energy by 2030 as Japan does today, with much of that coming from data centres. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), electricity demand from data centres will more than double by 2030, driven largely by AI.

Some AI data centres will require up to 20 times more energy than the average one, raising concerns about the environmental impact.

While AI’s rapid adoption could increase energy consumption, the IEA believes it also holds the potential for reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions. AI could improve energy efficiency, assist in designing grids for renewable energy, and optimise industrial processes.

However, the report warns that without careful regulation, AI’s growth could strain energy systems and harm the environment, particularly if fossil fuel-powered plants are used to meet energy demand.

Efforts to mitigate the impact of AI include harnessing its capabilities to design energy-efficient systems, optimise transport, and assist in critical infrastructure management. Yet, some experts argue that AI’s energy demands might outpace these benefits unless governments take proactive steps.

Claude Turmes, former Luxembourg energy minister, warned that the IEA’s optimistic outlook overlooks the severe risks to energy systems, urging stronger regulatory measures.

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EU prepares new data strategy for AI growth

The European Commission will soon launch a consultation on its upcoming Data Union Strategy, a key part of efforts to boost Europe’s leadership in AI.

The strategy, set to be published by the end of the year, aims to make it easier for businesses and public bodies to share data securely and efficiently across the EU.

The initiative supports the broader AI Continent Action Plan, expected to be unveiled this week, which seeks to encourage faster adoption of AI technologies by European companies.

Instead of relying on fragmented systems, the Commission wants to improve data access, digital infrastructure, and cloud capabilities while investing in talent and streamlining complex processes.

The plan includes the creation of AI factories where companies can train models using EU-based resources, and a separate Cloud and AI Development Act later this year will promote energy-efficient investments to support these goals.

Public feedback on the Data Union Strategy will be gathered from April to June as part of the consultation process.

Despite the ambition, the Commission acknowledges ongoing concerns such as uncertainty around international data flows and challenges accessing suitable data for generative AI.

Strict privacy laws like the GDPR, instead of enabling wider AI training, have led to frustration from major tech firms over regulatory delays in Europe.

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New AI feature lets WordPress users build sites in minutes

WordPress.com has introduced a new AI website builder designed to help users create an entire website in just minutes.

Available now in early access, the feature allows anyone with a WordPress.com account to try it out free of charge. It uses a conversational interface that responds to user prompts to generate complete sites, including written content, images, colour schemes, and layouts.

Users begin by describing what kind of website they need—whether a blog, portfolio, or business site—and the AI does the rest.

The more specific the initial description, the more tailored the outcome will be. If the first version isn’t quite right, users can continue refining their site simply by chatting with the builder. Once the result is satisfactory, the website can be published directly through WordPress.com.

Currently limited to basic websites, the new tool does not yet support complex features such as ecommerce or external integrations. WordPress has indicated that more functionality is coming soon.

The generated sites remain fully customisable using the usual WordPress tools, giving users full control over editing and manual adjustments post-creation.

At launch, users get 30 free prompts before needing to choose a hosting plan, with pricing starting at $18 per month.

While similar AI tools have been introduced by platforms like Wix and Squarespace, WordPress’s version brings such technology to a significantly wider audience, given that the platform powers over 40% of all websites worldwide.

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Victims of AI-driven sex crimes in Korea continue to grow

South Korea is facing a sharp rise in AI-related digital sex crimes, with deepfake pornography and online abuse increasingly affecting young women and children.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Women’s Human Rights Institute, over 10,000 people sought help last year, marking a 14.7 percent increase from 2023.

Women made up more than 70 percent of those who contacted the Advocacy Center for Online Sexual Abuse Victims.

The majority were in their teens or twenties, with abuse often occurring via social media, messaging apps, and anonymous platforms. A growing portion of victims, including children under 10, were targeted due to the easy accessibility of AI tools.

The most frequently reported issue was ‘distribution anxiety,’ where victims feared the release of sensitive or manipulated videos, followed by blackmail and illegal filming.

Deepfake cases more than tripled in one year, with synthetic content often involving the use of female students’ images. In one notable incident, a university student and his peers used deepfake techniques to create explicit fake images of classmates and shared them on Telegram.

With over 300,000 pieces of illicit content removed in 2024, authorities warn that the majority of illegal websites are hosted overseas, complicating efforts to take down harmful material.

The South Korean government plans to strengthen its response by expanding educational outreach, supporting victims further, and implementing new laws to prevent secondary harm by allowing the removal of personal information alongside explicit images.

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Microsoft pauses $1 billion data centre project in Ohio

Microsoft has announced it is ‘slowing or pausing’ some data centre construction projects, including a $1 billion plan in Ohio, amid shifting demand for AI infrastructure.

The company confirmed it would halt early-stage development on rural land in Licking County, near Columbus, and will repurpose two of the sites for farmland.

The decision follows Microsoft’s rapid scaling of infrastructure to meet the soaring demand for AI and cloud services, which has since softened. The company acknowledged that such large projects require continuous adaptation to align with customer needs.

While Microsoft did not specify other paused projects, it revealed the suspension of later stages of a Wisconsin data centre expansion.

The slowdown also coincides with changes in Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI, with the two companies revising their agreement to allow OpenAI to build its own AI infrastructure. This move reflects broader trends in AI computing needs, which are expensive and energy-intensive.

Despite the pause in Ohio, Microsoft plans to invest over $80 billion in AI infrastructure this fiscal year, continuing its global expansion, though it will now strategically pace its growth to align with evolving business priorities.

Local officials in Licking County expressed their disappointment, as the area had been a hub for significant tech investments, including those from Google and Meta.

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Google unveils new AI agent toolkit

This week at Google Cloud Next in Las Vegas, Google revealed its latest push into ‘agentic AI’. A software designed to act independently, perform tasks, and communicate with other digital systems.

Central to this effort is the Agent Development Kit (ADK), an open-source toolkit said to let developers build AI agents in under 100 lines of code.

Instead of requiring complex systems, the ADK includes pre-built connectors and a so-called ‘agent garden’ to streamline integration with data platforms like BigQuery and AlloyDB.

Google also introduced a new Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol, aimed at enabling cooperation between agents from different vendors. With over 50 partners, including Accenture, SAP and Salesforce, already involved, the company hopes to establish a shared standard for AI interaction.

Powering these tools is Google’s latest AI chip, Ironwood, a seventh-generation TPU promising tenfold performance gains over earlier models. These chips, designed for use with advanced models like Gemini 2.5, reflect Google’s ambition to dominate AI infrastructure.

Despite the buzz, analysts caution that the hype around AI agents may outpace their actual utility. While vendors like Microsoft, Salesforce and Workday push agentic AI to boost revenue, in some cases even replacing staff, experts argue that current models still fall short of real human-like intelligence.

Instead of widespread adoption, businesses are expected to focus more on managing costs and complexity, especially as economic uncertainty grows. Without strong oversight, these tools risk becoming costly, unpredictable, and difficult to scale.

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Google pushes AI limits with Ironwood

Google has announced Ironwood, its latest and most advanced AI processor, marking the seventh generation of its custom Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) architecture.

Designed specifically for the growing demands of its Gemini models, particularly those requiring complex simulated reasoning, which Google refers to as ‘thinking’, Ironwood represents a significant leap forward in performance.

Instead of relying solely on software updates, Google is highlighting how hardware like Ironwood plays a central role in boosting AI capabilities, ushering in what it calls the ‘age of inference.’

However, this TPU is not just faster but dramatically more scalable. Ironwood chips will operate in tightly connected clusters of up to 9,216 units, each cooled by liquid and linked through an enhanced Inter-Chip Interconnect.

These chips can also be deployed in smaller 256-chip servers, offering flexibility for cloud developers and researchers.

Instead of offering modest improvements, Ironwood delivers a peak throughput of 4,614 teraflops per chip, alongside 192GB of memory and 7.2 terabits per second of bandwidth, making it vastly superior to its predecessor, Trillium.

Google says this advancement is more than a performance boost, it’s a foundation for building AI agents that can act on a user’s behalf by gathering information and producing outputs proactively.

Rather than functioning as passive tools, AI systems powered by Ironwood are intended to behave more independently, reflecting a growing trend toward what Google calls ‘agentic AI.’

While Google’s comparison to supercomputers like El Capitan may be flawed due to differing hardware standards, there’s no doubt Ironwood is a substantial upgrade. The company claims it is twice as powerful per watt as the v5p TPU, even if the newer Trillium (v6) chip wasn’t included in the comparison.

Regardless, Ironwood is expected to power the next generation of AI breakthroughs, as the company prepares to move beyond its current Gemini 2.5 model.

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