United News of Bangladesh

Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, driven by strong growth in artificial intelligence (AI), digital advertising and cloud services. The California-based technology company said on Wednesday that it earned $112.11 billion, or $9.11 per share, during the April-June quarter, up sharply from $28.2 billion, or $2.31 per share, in the same period last year. Revenue increased 24 percent to $119.8 billion, compared with $96.43 billion a year earlier, exceeding Wall Street analysts’ average estimate of $117.06 billion, according to FactSet. Alphabet said its net income was boosted by a $98 billion gain, mainly from increases in the value of its equity investments, particularly SpaceX, which went public in June. “Our AI investments are redefining what’s possible across every part of our business,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement. Industry analysts said the results highlight the company’s growing strength in AI. Emarketer analyst Nate Elliott said Google’s AI chatbot Gemini is close to reaching one billion users, joining AI Overviews and AI Mode as major AI products. He also said growing demand for AI services is driving rapid expansion in Google Cloud, while strong search advertising performance suggests AI is strengthening, rather than replacing, Google’s core search business. Advertising remained Alphabet’s biggest source of revenue, helped by strong demand linked to the FIFA World Cup, particularly on YouTube. The company also reported solid growth in its cloud business, supported by rising demand for its AI products and services, including chips, AI models, data, security and AI agent platforms. Following the earnings announcement, Alphabet shares rose $2.71 to $344.62 in after-hours trading.

OpenAI said Tuesday that one of its artificial intelligence systems independently hacked into another AI company's servers during internal testing, describing it as an "unprecedented cyber incident." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company experienced a major security incident while evaluating its AI models. The disclosure follows a statement from AI startup Hugging Face last week, which said it had detected an unauthorized intrusion into its data processing systems. The company suspected the attack was carried out by an AI agent acting without human direction. Hugging Face co-founder and CEO Clément Delangue said the company initially believed the attack may have originated from a leading AI research lab because of the sophistication of the AI agent. "We suspected last week's cyberattack might have come from a frontier lab," Delangue said, adding that the investigation later confirmed it was linked to OpenAI. The incident comes as concerns grow over the cybersecurity risks posed by increasingly powerful AI systems. In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring the federal government to review the national security risks of the most advanced AI models for up to 30 days before they are released publicly. OpenAI said the incident highlighted how rapidly advancing AI capabilities are changing cybersecurity. "AI is accelerating the discovery and exploitation of vulnerabilities," the company said, adding that AI safety and security measures must advance just as quickly as the technology itself. Delangue said he had worked closely with OpenAI over the past 24 hours and that both companies believed there was no malicious intent behind the incident. He described the event as "mind-blowing" because it appeared to have happened entirely on its own and said it could be the first known case of its kind. According to OpenAI, the intrusion involved several of its AI models, including its newly released GPT-5.6 Sol and a more advanced model that is still undergoing internal testing. The company said the AI system used stolen login credentials and identified a previously unknown software vulnerability to gain access to Hugging Face's servers. OpenAI said the AI went to "extreme lengths" to achieve a limited testing objective and found ways to obtain confidential information that could help it bypass the evaluation process.

France has approved a nationwide ban on social media use by children under the age of 15, becoming the first European Union country to pass such a broad restriction amid growing concerns over the impact of online content on young users. Both houses of the French Parliament voted in favour of the measure on Tuesday, making it one of the flagship initiatives of President Emmanuel Macron's second term. The legislation also prohibits the use of mobile phones in high schools. The move comes as concerns mount over the harmful effects of social media on children's mental health. Several French families have filed lawsuits against TikTok, alleging that harmful content on the platform contributed to teenage suicides. Children's rights advocates and many parents welcomed the decision. "We've been campaigning for this bill from the start because, frankly, we have no other option to counter the tech giants," said Gaëlle Berbonde, a mother from the Paris region. "The only thing we can do is protect our children, just as we protect them from drinking alcohol." Berbonde told The Associated Press that her daughter received her first smartphone while in seventh grade. Although the family used parental control software, they were unaware of the nature of content on TikTok. Within months, they discovered their daughter was engaging in self-harm and struggling with anorexia and depression. After spending a year and a half in hospital, she has now recovered and is 16 years old. Macron seeks implementation by September The legislation is among the final major reforms adopted before Macron leaves office next year. He wants the law to take effect at the beginning of the new school year in September. However, the bill is expected to undergo a constitutional review, which could delay its implementation. "France is leading the way in Europe in protecting our children and our teenagers," Macron said, adding that the government would continue its efforts in this area. The ban does not apply to online encyclopedias, educational websites or scientific directories. Lawmakers from the left-wing France Unbowed party opposed the bill, arguing that its constitutional basis remains uncertain, it could undermine online anonymity and would be difficult to enforce. Ines Legendre, legal adviser at online child protection group e-Enfance, said the legislation would not immediately result in a complete ban. She said authorities would still need to determine how to identify and suspend existing accounts held by children under 15 and establish an effective age-verification system for all new users. Growing concerns over children's online safetyAccording to France's health watchdog, one in every two teenagers spends between two and five hours a day using a smartphone. A report published in December found that about 90% of children aged 12 to 17 access the internet daily through smartphones, while 58% use them mainly for social networking. The report linked excessive social media use to lower self-esteem and greater exposure to harmful content related to self-harm, drug use and suicide. The legislation was amended after the European Commission found that an earlier version overlapped with provisions of the EU's Digital Services Act, which regulates online platforms. Following negotiations, lawmakers agreed on a revised version before giving it final approval. Similar restrictions gaining support worldwideFrance's decision comes as governments around the world consider tighter restrictions on children's access to social media. Australia became the first country in 2024 to ban children under 16 from holding social media accounts. Under the law, platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram can face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (about US$35 million) if they fail to prevent underage users from creating accounts. In Europe, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has proposed restricting social media access for children under 16. Denmark and Greece have also announced plans for similar measures, while the United Kingdom has said it is considering comparable restrictions. Earlier this month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also called for stricter limits on children's use of social media. An EU expert panel recommended banning access for children under 13 until technology companies can prove their platforms are safe for young users. Von der Leyen also said children under the age of three should not be exposed to screens at all and urged technology companies to address addictive features such as infinite scrolling. The European Commission is expected to present proposals for consideration by the EU's 27 member states in the near future.

China's top technology companies displayed hundreds of advanced products, including humanoid robots and artificial intelligence systems, at the World AI Conference in Shanghai. The country's flagship annual AI event, held from July 17 to 20, came at a time of intensifying technology competition between China and the United States. More than 1,100 companies took part in the conference. According to Chinese state media, the country has developed more than 400 humanoid robot products, accounting for over half of the global total. Chinese open-source AI models are also gaining wider international use, posing increasing competition to leading AI models developed in the United States.

Chinese artificial intelligence startup Moonshot AI has introduced a new large-scale AI model, Kimi K3, claiming it can compete with leading US models developed by OpenAI and Anthropic. The company said Kimi K3 has 2.8 trillion parameters, a key measure of an AI model's size and computing capability. Its full features, including coding, reasoning and knowledge-based tasks, will become available when the model is released as open source on July 27. If launched as planned, Kimi K3 will become the world's first freely downloadable and customizable open-source AI model in the three-trillion-parameter class, allowing developers worldwide to use and modify it. The launch signals China's rapid progress in artificial intelligence, narrowing the technology gap with US companies and challenging the long-held belief that Chinese AI developers lag behind their American counterparts. The announcement comes weeks after the US government temporarily ordered American AI company Anthropic to withdraw its flagship Fable and Mythos models over cybersecurity concerns. Although those restrictions have since been lifted, Washington has increasingly treated advanced AI systems as critical national security assets and imposed tighter export controls on related technologies. Despite US restrictions on advanced chip exports, Moonshot's latest model suggests Chinese AI companies continue to make significant progress using domestic resources. Supported by Chinese technology giants Alibaba and Tencent, Moonshot AI has quickly emerged as one of the country's leading developers of generative AI. In a statement, the company described Kimi K3 as its "most capable flagship model" so far. Unlike the closed AI systems offered by OpenAI and Anthropic, Kimi K3 will be open source, enabling developers to customize it for complex software development, reasoning and other advanced applications. Moonshot said the model is designed to perform engineering, coding and other complicated tasks with minimal human supervision. Independent evaluations by Artificial Analysis and Arena.ai found that Kimi K3 performs at a level similar to leading US AI models, including OpenAI's GPT and Anthropic's Claude. According to the benchmark results, Kimi K3 ranked first in web interface engineering and outperformed Anthropic's Fable model in blind human preference tests. Although the model requires powerful computing hardware to run locally because of its massive size, analysts say its open-source release could reshape the AI market by giving developers free access to advanced technology. Following the announcement, shares of Moonshot's Chinese rivals Zhipu and MiniMax fell sharply in Hong Kong, dropping about 27% and 16%, respectively. Source: BBC

India on Friday launched its first domestically built hydrogen-powered train, marking a major step in the country's efforts to promote clean energy across its railway network. The new train, consisting of two hydrogen-powered driving cars and eight passenger coaches, will operate in the northern state of Haryana. Railway officials said it can reach a top speed of 75 kilometres per hour and carry up to 2,600 passengers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the "NaMo Green Rail" service at Jind railway station in Haryana. "NaMo" is a commonly used abbreviation of Modi's name. Calling it an important milestone, Modi said in a post on X that the launch reflects India's progress towards self-reliance and sustainable development. The pilot project also includes hydrogen storage and refuelling facilities to test the technology for wider use on the country's railway network, officials said. Hydrogen fuel cell technology produces electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen, with water vapour being the only direct emission. Several countries have already introduced hydrogen-powered trains as a cleaner alternative to diesel on railway routes that are not fully electrified. The launch is part of India's wider plan to expand the use of green hydrogen and reduce carbon emissions. The country has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070, and Indian Railways is exploring hydrogen-powered trains as an environmentally friendly replacement for diesel services on selected routes.

A new study by the Meta Oversight Board has raised concerns that leading artificial intelligence chatbots may be reinforcing government restrictions on free expression by refusing to generate criticism of leaders in countries with strict speech controls. The report found that while Anthropic’s Claude readily created content critical of US President Donald Trump and Britain’s King Charles III, it declined similar requests involving China’s leader, Thailand’s king and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince. The board warned that AI developers risk extending illegitimate restrictions on free speech globally if they fail to conduct proper human rights assessments. Hundreds of economists urge immediate action to tackle AI's impact on jobs and economy The study evaluated 10 major AI models, including those developed by Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic, using prompts related to political criticism. It found the systems were more willing to criticize authorities in countries with stronger protections for free speech than governments where dissent is legally restricted. The findings follow a separate study published in Nature, which showed that AI models trained on non-English data may reflect government-influenced narratives. Researchers found ChatGPT gave different responses about China's democracy when questioned in English and Chinese. Experts said AI systems inherit biases from the information used to train them and urged developers to improve multilingual audits and reduce the influence of repeated state-backed narratives in training data.

More than 200 economists and artificial intelligence (AI) experts have signed an open letter urging governments and institutions to take immediate steps to address the growing economic impact of AI, warning that the technology could transform the global economy while displacing large numbers of workers. The statement, released on Monday, has been signed by leading economists, computer scientists and executives from major technology companies, including Anthropic, Google and OpenAI. The letter, organised by Stanford University's Digital Economy Lab, says AI could become "radically more powerful" over the next decade, bringing economic changes on a scale greater than the Industrial Revolution but happening much more quickly. According to the signatories, AI has the potential to significantly improve living standards but also poses serious risks, including widespread job losses. The four-sentence letter calls on policymakers and institutions to act now by creating the right incentives, safeguards and institutions to ensure AI develops in ways that support people and benefit society rather than replace human workers. Stanford's Digital Economy Lab said the letter has so far been endorsed by more than 200 economists and AI researchers, including 16 Nobel Prize winners. Among the signatories is AI pioneer and computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, who said the rapid pace of AI development makes it highly likely that the technology will dramatically reshape economies. "We must make deliberate and democratic decisions about how AI is developed and used, instead of leaving its future entirely to market forces and risking that many people are left behind," said Bengio, a professor at the University of Montreal.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday called for possible age restrictions on children's use of social media as an EU advisory panel recommended blocking access for users under 13 until technology companies can prove their platforms are safe. The debate comes amid growing global concerns over the impact of social media on children's mental and emotional development. Several countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Indonesia, have introduced or approved measures restricting access to platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram for younger users. Von der Leyen, who trained as a physician, said children below the age of three should not have any exposure to screens. She suggested that access to digital platforms should be introduced gradually depending on children's age and maturity. “Childhood won’t wait and once it’s gone, we can never give it back,” she told reporters, stressing the need for legal limits on when children can use social media. Drawing a comparison with existing rules on driving and alcohol consumption, she said society sets age limits for activities that require maturity and should similarly determine when children can access social media. Von der Leyen highlighted features such as endless scrolling as examples of potentially addictive designs that technology companies need to address. Although she did not propose a specific age limit beyond restrictions for very young children, the European Commission is expected to prepare recommendations for consideration by the EU's 27 member states. Her policy initiatives often influence discussions among EU governments. The EU panel tasked with examining online child safety submitted its report to von der Leyen on Monday. It said technology companies, rather than regulators, parents or children, should bear responsibility for proving that their services are safe. “Until they demonstrate that their services are safe by design, social media and other digital services providers should have restricted access to children under the age of 13 in the EU,” the report said. The panel also recommended that EU member states consider additional precautionary age limits for children older than 13 to further protect young users online.  

Meta has disabled a feature in its newly launched AI image-generation tool, Muse Image, following criticism that it automatically used photos from public Instagram accounts as references for creating AI-generated images. The decision, announced on Friday, came less than a week after Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, introduced Muse Image through its artificial intelligence assistant, Meta AI. AI brings challenges and opportunities for office assistants In a statement, Meta said the feature was intended to provide a creative tool while allowing users to control whether their public content could be referenced. However, the company acknowledged the criticism, saying it had "missed the mark" and confirmed the feature is no longer available. Like other AI-powered image generators, Muse Image creates images based on user prompts. However, it also automatically allowed photos from public Instagram accounts to be used as reference material, sparking privacy concerns. The feature prompted widespread criticism on social media, with users sharing instructions on how to prevent their Instagram content from being accessed by the AI tool. The entertainment industry also voiced concerns. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) urged its members to update their Instagram privacy settings to protect their likenesses. Following Meta's decision, the union welcomed the move, saying that encouraging the creation of non-consensual digital replicas was inappropriate and that discontinuing the feature was the right step.