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  NEW YORK (AP) — As artificial intelligence continues to grow at a rapid pace, more and more businesses are grappling with how to adapt both quickly and responsibly. Dan Priest is the new Chief AI Officer at PwC, one of the world's largest consulting firms, where he works with companies across industries as they adopt this burgeoning technology both into their day-to-day operations and future business models. He says 2024 was all about proving what AI brings to the table — and expects 2025 will shift more into scaling it. Priest recently spoke with The Associated Press about his new role and other AI business predictions his team has for the year ahead. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Q: When did PwC decide it wanted a Chief AI Officer? A: We launched the role in early July, on the heels of us doing an AI impact analysis and strategy for the firm. The motivation was simply to make sure we were tapping into AI's full potential, responsibly, to best serve our clients. We work with companies across a range of sectors — including tech, health care and hospitality. Q: What have the companies you work with told you about how they're adopting AI? A: AI is showing up in some form or fashion for the majority of our clients these days. In a recent survey that we did of Fortune 1000 companies, nearly half of respondents said AI is fully embedded in their workflows — and then about a third had even embedded it in their products and services. And AI is more than just a tech initiative, it's also adjusting business strategies. CEOs overwhelmingly recognize that AI will impact their business model in some way — with about 73% of those we spoke to in a predictions report saying that they believe AI would cause a shift in their business model. In particular, we're increasingly seeing generative AI both in the presence of the consumer and throughout product development. Q: Can you give me examples of what that looks like? A: To be competitive, companies can’t just predict what consumers want anymore. You have to give them a way to personalize the specific products and services they want — and gen AI has a means of doing that. Take a business in the cruising sector, for example. In the past, cruise lines would have to predict what each type of foods, products and excursions people wanted. Now, with gen AI, they can have a personalization engine that says, “I’m a fan of these luxury products,” and then make sure those types of luxury products are on board. Or, “I’m a fan of this type of food," and they can make sure that food is on the menu. It gives companies a way to personalize the experience that wasn't possible before. Q: What risks should companies keep in mind when approaching AI? A: AI is not monolithic, and there are different maturity levels for different uses. You’ve seen issues in contact centers, for example, where AI agents were introduced and in some cases gave customers hallucinations with wrong information. And so having a “maturity test” to make sure they tech you're using is ready for prime time, particularly when it's customer-facing, is important. Those same disciplines are critical for protecting internal data, which you don't want inadvertently training a large language model. That’s one category of risk. On the other side of all of this, another risk is not moving quickly enough and falling behind. Your AI strategy will either put you ahead or make it hard to ever catch up. If we take a lesson from the Internet era, a lot of those early movers ended up being winners for the next ten, 20 years. We expect to see something very similar for companies that embrace AI today, both early on and in a trustworthy way.  

The technology sector is poised for substantial growth in 2025, with specific skills set to dominate the job market. From cutting-edge advancements in AI to cybersecurity expertise, here’s a look at the tech skills expected to be the most sought-after in 2025 and beyond. 12 Top In-Demand Tech Careers in 2025 Learning the following high-demand tech and IT skills, one can ensure a stable income through full-time jobs and freelancing. Full-Stack Development Following the process of digitalization, diverse sectors like business, healthcare, education, administration, etc require apps and software to carry out their operations.  Proficiency in front-end and back-end software development enables the creation of comprehensive web applications. Not to mention, like the previous and passing years, full-stack developers will be highly sought after in the coming years too. Read more: How to Submit Zero Income Tax Return Online in Bangladesh Cloud Computing Proficiency in cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud can boost your career as businesses continue to migrate to cloud infrastructures. Roles such as cloud engineers and architects will be in high demand in 2025 and afterward. UI/UX Design A software or app might lose its potential if its UI/UX design is not user-friendly. Creating user-centered designs that enhance user experience is critical. By learning User Interface and User Experience design, one can earn money from full-time jobs or freelancing in the outsourcing platforms. Cybersecurity Many small to large financial organizations, banks, and even government organizations are falling prey to hackers. Individual users are also not safe in this digital world. Read more: Best Free Blockchain Development Courses With the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyber threats, people and organizations require experts to protect their digital assets. It can be anticipated that skills in network security, ethical hacking, and risk assessment will be valuable in the job markets in 2025.  Data Analysis and Big Data The ability to analyze large datasets to extract actionable insights is invaluable. Skills in SQL, Python, and data visualization tools are particularly important. The business, marketing, banking, finance, academic research, and diverse sectors are employing data analysts and data scientists nowadays. This wave will flourish in the new year. Besides computer engineering professionals, statisticians, and mathematicians, many people from other sectors are learning these skills to shift their careers to more potential dimensions. DevOps and Automation Ranging from food shops to large factories, automation is in high demand to increase production in less time. Experience with DevOps practices and automation tools facilitates efficient software development and deployment, making these skills highly desirable. Read more: Best Free Data Science, Machine Learning Courses Online Extended Reality (AR/VR) Besides gaming, e-sports, and entertainment sectors, augmented and virtual reality technologies are expanding into diverse sectors like healthcare and retail. Therefore, expertise in VR technology in creating immersive experiences will become increasingly valuable in the coming days. Internet of Things (IoT) With the proliferation of connected devices, skills in IoT development and sensor technology are in demand to support smart infrastructure and products. In the coming years, IoT-skilled professionals will be required in diverse sectors like smart cities, connected factories, health care, agriculture, autonomous driving, smart homes, smart grids, wearables, etc. Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML) The integration of AI and ML across various industries is driving a surge in demand for professionals skilled in these areas. This trend is expected to continue in 2025. Expertise in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will be applied in diverse research and development sectors. The job markets around the world will require more professionals to develop and implement AI solutions in business, technology, management, finance, and other sectors. Read more: Read Free Online Basic Programming Courses for Beginners Robotics and Automation Engineering In the coming year, the application of robotic technologies will flourish in diverse sectors like healthcare, engineering, manufacturing, transportation, etc. As industries and service-providing sectors are adopting automation, job opportunities in robotics and automation engineering will be created for designing, controlling, and maintaining automated systems. Digital Marketing and SEO With the digital transformation of businesses, news portals, etc. skills in SEO, and digital marketing are vital. Digital marketing experts can lead content development teams, monitor the web readers’ priorities, and develop user engagement plans for social media platforms. The job scope of digital marketing professionals will increase more in 2025.  Low-Code and No-Code Development Gone are the days, when only IT experts could develop or use web applications. Nowadays, diverse digital platforms allow application development with minimal coding skills. This trend has increased the demand for professionals who can leverage these tools to quickly deliver solutions.  Conclusion By investing in these highly demanding tech skills, you can enhance your employability and career prospects in the evolving digital landscape of 2025 and beyond. Read more How to Get a Job in Google from Bangladesh?

Creating professional infographics has now become quite easy with AI-powered tools. The free AI infographic generators save time and money while streamlining the design process effectively. Utilizing digital infographic tools, you can simplify a complex concept, plan, or idea through a graphic presentation. Here are the top-rated infographic tools for Android, iOS, and web platforms to simplify your infographic creation journey.  Top 10 Free AI Infographic Generators in 2025 . Canva Canva is a versatile and user-friendly design platform celebrated for its drag-and-drop simplicity. It offers various templates tailored to multiple purposes, including education and marketing.  However, the free templates might lack the premium quality found in paid options. Notable features include team collaboration tools, an extensive library of visual assets, and the Magic Switch tool for resizing designs to fit social media platforms. Canva’s free plan is robust, but advanced features like branding tools require a Pro subscription starting at $15/month. Read more: Apple iOS 18.2 Release: Key Features, Updates, Pros, and Cons You Need to Know Visme Visme is a dynamic design tool ideal for creating infographics, presentations, and more. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and customizable content blocks simplify the design process for beginners. Visme excels in data visualization with animated graphs, interactive maps, and flowcharts.  Additional features include an AI Image Generator and text writer to assist with content creation. While the free version is comprehensive, premium plans with advanced options begin at $12.25/month. Visme is perfect for educators, businesses, and designers seeking polished, professional visuals. Venngage Venngage focuses on crafting infographics, offering a wide range of templates tailored to different industries. Its Accessibility tool ensures inclusive designs with real-time feedback on color contrast and font size. Data visualization is supported through over 35 widget types, though customization options are less advanced than some competitors.  Read more: Best Free Bangladeshi Online Doctor Apps for Android, iOS  Collaboration tools allow teams to work efficiently on shared projects. Free users can explore the platform’s basic features, while Premium subscriptions start at $10/month. Venngage is best suited for small business owners, marketers, and bloggers. Piktochart Piktochart offers a polished approach to infographic design with professional features like alignment tools and a unique “Download as blocks” option for micro-graphics. Its templates are spacious and resemble websites, making them excellent for embedding.  Data visualization tools include radial and hierarchy charts, although the platform lacks a dedicated mobile or desktop app. Free plans are suitable for basic use, while Pro subscriptions with advanced capabilities start at $14/month. Piktochart is ideal for educators, team leaders, and marketers needing detailed, data-driven visuals. Read more: How to Detect an AI-generated Image Snappa Snappa is a vibrant design platform geared toward creating social media graphics and informational infographics. Its simple interface makes it easy to create colorful, uncluttered visuals. While it lacks features like advanced data visualization or interactivity, Snappa’s resizing tool helps adapt designs to different formats seamlessly.  Integration with Buffer allows for efficient social media sharing. The free plan offers limited downloads, while Pro subscriptions with unlimited access start at $10/month. Snappa is a solid option for educators, bloggers, and social media managers seeking attractive and simple designs. Easel.ly Easel.ly is a straightforward infographic design tool catering to students and educators. It features a minimalist interface with simple templates and basic editing tools. While its library is smaller than competitors, it includes essential data visualization options like static charts.  Read more: 10 Best eBook Reader Apps for Android, iOS Easel.ly lacks interactivity and real-time collaboration, making it ideal for solo projects. Pricing starts at just $2/month for students and $5/month for businesses, offering affordability alongside functionality. Its casual design style is best suited for educational purposes and small-scale projects, providing a solid starting point for beginners. Infogram Infogram excels in data visualization, offering diverse charts, graphs, and interactive elements. Its AI-driven generator simplifies creating visuals based on user data, while “Callouts” enhance interactivity. Infogram supports importing data from SQL databases and CSV files, making it perfect for professional reports.  Export options include high-quality PNGs, PDFs, and interactive HTML embeds. The free plan offers basic functionality, while Pro plans start at $19/month. Infogram is a top choice for data analysts, marketers, and educators seeking dynamic, data-driven infographics. Read more: Best Video Editing Apps for Android, IOS Whimsical Whimsical simplifies visual storytelling with tools for flowcharts, mind maps, and diagrams. Integrated with ChatGPT, it enables users to generate infographics using AI-driven prompts. Its interface prioritizes clarity, making it easy to create basic, process-focused visuals.  Even though it lacks advanced design elements, Whimsical supports team collaboration for streamlined workflows. Pricing starts at $10/month for Pro features, making it accessible for professionals seeking quick, clean designs. Whimsical is best for users prioritizing simplicity and efficiency in visualizing data or processes. PicMonkey PicMonkey blends infographic creation with robust photo editing, making it a versatile tool for visual design. Users can customize text layouts, access cloud storage, and collaborate using Shared Spaces.  Read more: How to Activate Earthquake Alerts on Android, iOS Phones While it excels in photo enhancement, it lacks interactivity and advanced data visualization tools. The platform’s pricing begins at $7.99/month, making it accessible to bloggers, small business owners, and social media enthusiasts. PicMonkey’s intuitive interface and stylish templates make it ideal for creating eye-catching visuals with a personal touch. VistaCreate VistaCreate is an intuitive tool designed for beginners seeking vibrant, professional-grade infographics. Its user-friendly interface provides access to a rich library of icons, animations, and illustrations. Though it lacks interactive charts and advanced data tools, its animation effects and resizing options enhance visual appeal.  Pro plans start at $13/month, catering to freelancers, educators, and marketing teams. VistaCreate is a great choice for those seeking simplicity and versatility for basic infographic needs, making creative projects quick and easy. Read more: Best Free Personal Safety Android, iOS Apps for Women Final Words These most popular AI-powered infographic generators can offer an ideal blend of simplicity and efficiency in 2025 and beyond. These tools simplify creating infographics, catering to diverse needs like social media posts, educational designs, and data-rich reports. Whether you are a beginner or a professional, these tools make crafting visually appealing infographics seamless and affordable.

OpenAI’s popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT, experienced its second significant outage in December, leaving users worldwide frustrated. This time, the issue also impacted OpenAI’s video model, Sora, and its API services. The downtime lasted for several hours, with widespread reports of functionality problems starting around 1:30 PM ET (12 AM IST) on December 11. What Happened? Outage-tracking platform DownDetector recorded a surge in user complaints, particularly from the United States, where users reported encountering “internal server error” messages. Although the number of reports began to decline within 30 minutes, the service disruption persisted for hours. OpenAI acknowledged the issue on X (formerly Twitter), stating it had identified the root cause and was actively working on a resolution. The company’s exclusive cloud partner, Microsoft, later revealed a “power issue” at one of its North American data centers was the likely cause. This issue coincided with problems reported in other Microsoft services, including Xbox cloud gaming. Extent of the Outage OpenAI confirmed that the outage affected ChatGPT, its API, and Sora. Hours after the disruption began, OpenAI announced that the issues with Sora had been resolved, while fixes for ChatGPT and the API were nearly complete. Read: Italy fines OpenAI for ChatGPT data privacy violations This is not the first such incident in recent weeks. Earlier in December, ChatGPT experienced a similar outage affecting the same platforms. According to DownDetector, that event garnered over 2,400 outage reports. A Pattern of Service Disruptions December’s outages follow a larger pattern of reliability challenges for OpenAI. On November 8, ChatGPT became unavailable to over 19,000 users worldwide for approximately 30 minutes. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, addressed the incident on X, expressing regret and noting that while the platform’s reliability had improved significantly, further work was needed. Unprecedented Growth Amid Challenges Despite these setbacks, ChatGPT continues to grow at an extraordinary pace. Since its debut in November 2022, the chatbot has amassed 250 million weekly active users. Earlier this month, Sam Altman revealed that this figure had climbed to 300 million weekly users. OpenAI’s valuation has soared to $157 billion, a dramatic rise from $14 billion in 2021, while its revenue has grown to $3.6 billion—far exceeding initial projections. December 11’s outage coincided with the launch of iOS 18.2, which features GPT integration in Apple’s Siri. Users relying on this integration also reported service interruptions, adding to the day’s challenges. Looking Ahead While OpenAI has made strides in enhancing the reliability of its services, recurring outages underline the need for more robust infrastructure and contingency planning. Read more: ChatGPT being used to influence US elections, alleges OpenAI As the company’s technology becomes increasingly integrated into everyday applications and platforms, maintaining uninterrupted service will be critical to sustaining user trust and growth. Source: With inputs from wirers

Japanese automobile giants Honda and Nissan have unveiled plans to merge, potentially creating the world’s third-largest car manufacturer by sales, as the industry shifts focus towards electric vehicles and sustainability. Both companies confirmed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on Monday. Mitsubishi Motors, a smaller Nissan alliance partner, is also set to participate in discussions to integrate operations. Honda’s president, Toshihiro Mibe, stated that the companies aim to consolidate under a joint holding company, with Honda initially taking the lead in management. The brands will maintain their unique identities, and a formal agreement is anticipated by June, with completion targeted for August 2026. Although the merger's financial details remain undisclosed, Mibe emphasized that talks are in preliminary stages, acknowledging uncertainties about the outcome. Japan’s automakers are striving to reduce costs and accelerate their transition to electric vehicles to keep pace with global competitors. Speculations about the merger surfaced earlier this month, linked to reports that Taiwan’s Foxconn was exploring ties with Nissan. Nissan currently operates in alliance with France’s Renault and Mitsubishi Motors. Albanian prime minister says TikTok ban was not a 'rushed reaction to a single incident' Should the merger proceed, it could result in a combined market valuation exceeding $50 billion. The integration would enhance competitiveness with industry leaders like Toyota, which produced 11.5 million vehicles in 2023, and Volkswagen. The combined output of Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi would total approximately 8 million vehicles annually, based on 2023 figures. In August, the three companies had already announced plans to collaborate on electric vehicle components, including batteries, and to develop autonomous driving software, building on a preliminary March agreement between Honda and Nissan. Honda, Japan’s second-largest automaker, is seen as a potential stabilizing force for Nissan, which has struggled since the 2018 scandal involving its former chairman Carlos Ghosn, who fled to Lebanon after being charged with fraud—charges he denies. Ghosn criticized the proposed merger as a “desperate move” during a video press conference from Tokyo. Industry analysts believe Honda could benefit from Nissan’s expertise in large SUVs, hybrid technologies, and battery development. In November, however, Nissan announced plans to cut 9,000 jobs globally and reduce production capacity by 20% after posting a quarterly loss of 9.3 billion yen ($61 million). HAISON, UNIDO ITPO Tokyo to host Bangladeshi business mission to Japan in 2025 Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida took a 50% pay cut and emphasized the need for improved efficiency and responsiveness to market trends. Uchida expressed optimism about the merger’s potential to deliver more value to customers. Despite recent challenges, Fitch Ratings downgraded Nissan’s credit outlook to “negative,” citing profitability concerns but acknowledged its strong cash reserves of 1.44 trillion yen ($9.4 billion). Following reports of the merger, Nissan’s shares rose 1.6% on Monday, having surged over 20% last week. Honda’s shares also gained 3.8% despite reporting a near 20% profit drop for the first half of its fiscal year. This proposed merger highlights the broader trend of consolidation in the automotive sector amid intensifying competition and technological advancements. Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi refrained from commenting on specific merger details but stressed the importance of maintaining competitiveness in storage batteries and software to meet global challenges. “As the automotive industry undergoes major transformations, we expect companies to take the necessary steps to remain competitive internationally,” Hayashi remarked.

Albania’s Prime Minister clarified Sunday that the recently announced TikTok ban was not a hasty response to a single event but rather a well-considered measure. On Saturday, Prime Minister Edi Rama declared that the government would block TikTok for one year, citing concerns over its role in promoting violence and bullying, particularly among minors. Authorities have engaged in 1,300 discussions with educators and parents since a tragic incident in November, where a teenager was fatally stabbed by another teen following an argument that began on social media. Reports indicate that 90% of participants supported the ban. Italy fines OpenAI for ChatGPT data privacy violations “The one-year TikTok ban is not a knee-jerk reaction but a thoughtful decision reached through consultations with parents in schools nationwide,” Rama stated. TikTok has since requested “urgent clarification” from the Albanian authorities regarding the teenager’s stabbing. The company maintained that neither the victim nor the perpetrator had TikTok accounts and asserted that videos linked to the incident had circulated on another platform. Rama countered that dismissing TikTok’s connection to the tragedy overlooks the broader risks posed by the platform’s algorithms. “Albania may lack the leverage to compel TikTok to safeguard children, but we will not hesitate to shield our youth from its harmful effects,” he said. Rama accused the app of perpetuating hate speech, violence, and bullying. Meta to build $10 billion AI data center in Louisiana as Elon Musk expands his Tennessee AI facility Studies indicate that children constitute the majority of TikTok users in Albania, prompting rising parental concerns about reports of students bringing weapons to schools, allegedly influenced by TikTok content. While many Albanian youths oppose the ban, viewing TikTok as a source of entertainment and self-expression, parents back the decision. “We either ensure TikTok protects Albanian children, or we protect them from TikTok,” Rama emphasized.

YouTube has announced plans to tighten its regulations on misleading titles and thumbnails, commonly known as "clickbait," in India. The platform aims to enhance the user experience by ensuring that content meets the expectations set by its headlines and visuals. This move is part of YouTube's ongoing effort to build a more trustworthy environment for its growing audience, particularly in the realm of news and current events. Starting in the coming months, YouTube will begin enforcing stricter measures targeting videos that feature titles or thumbnails that misrepresent their actual content. For example, a video titled "The President Has Resigned!" that does not discuss such an event would be flagged as "egregious clickbait." Italy fines OpenAI for ChatGPT data privacy violations Similarly, thumbnails promising "Top Political News" that contain no substantial political content will be removed. Clickbait has long been a source of frustration for viewers, who are often lured into clicking on videos only to find content that bears little resemblance to the initial promise. This not only wastes time but also damages trust in the platform, particularly when it involves breaking news or current events. In these cases, the stakes are higher, as people rely on YouTube for timely and accurate information during critical moments. The initiative will be rolled out gradually, giving creators time to adapt to the new rules. Initially, YouTube will focus on removing offending videos without issuing strikes against creators' channels, allowing them to adjust without facing immediate penalties. This approach is designed to educate creators on what constitutes clickbait and to help them align their content with the updated guidelines. RSF urges Apple to scrap AI feature after misleading headline incident One of the driving factors behind this move is the sheer volume of news and current affairs content produced by Indian creators. As YouTube's user base in India continues to expand, the platform seeks to ensure that users are not misled by sensational or false titles and thumbnails. The new policy will prioritise the removal of recent uploads that violate the guidelines, though older content may not be targeted immediately. However, creators are encouraged to review their existing content and make necessary adjustments to avoid future complications. To further assist creators, YouTube will provide educational resources on identifying and avoiding "egregious clickbait." For viewers, this is a welcome development. Misleading titles and thumbnails often leave users feeling tricked and frustrated, and this crackdown is expected to foster a more reliable and user-friendly platform. With these new measures, YouTube hopes to provide a more transparent experience, where viewers can trust that the videos they click on will deliver the content they were promised. Source: India Today

Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26. Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products. “We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir’s loved ones during this difficult time,” said a statement from OpenAI. Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said “appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation.” The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide. His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a “happy, smart and brave young man” who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends. Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT. Italy fines OpenAI for ChatGPT data privacy violations “Suchir’s contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn’t have succeeded without him,” said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what made him such an exceptional engineer and scientist was his attention to detail and ability to notice subtle bugs or logical errors. “He had a knack for finding simple solutions and writing elegant code that worked,” Schulman wrote. “He’d think through the details of things carefully and rigorously.” Balaji later shifted to organizing the huge datasets of online writings and other media used to train GPT-4, the fourth generation of OpenAI's flagship large language model and a basis for the company's famous chatbot. It was that work that eventually caused Balaji to question the technology he helped build, especially after newspapers, novelists and others began suing OpenAI and other AI companies for copyright infringement. He first raised his concerns with The New York Times, which reported them in an October profile of Balaji. He later told The Associated Press he would “try to testify” in the strongest copyright infringement cases and considered a lawsuit brought by The New York Times last year to be the “most serious.” Times lawyers named him in a Nov. 18 court filing as someone who might have “unique and relevant documents” supporting allegations of OpenAI's willful copyright infringement. His records were also sought by lawyers in a separate case brought by book authors including the comedian Sarah Silverman, according to a court filing. “It doesn’t feel right to be training on people’s data and then competing with them in the marketplace,” Balaji told the AP in late October. “I don’t think you should be able to do that. I don’t think you are able to do that legally.” He told the AP that he gradually grew more disillusioned with OpenAI, especially after the internal turmoil that led its board of directors to fire and then rehire CEO Sam Altman last year. Balaji said he was broadly concerned about how its commercial products were rolling out, including their propensity for spouting false information known as hallucinations. But of the “bag of issues” he was concerned about, he said he was focusing on copyright as the one it was “actually possible to do something about.” He acknowledged that it was an unpopular opinion within the AI research community, which is accustomed to pulling data from the internet, but said “they will have to change and it’s a matter of time.” He had not been deposed and it’s unclear to what extent his revelations will be admitted as evidence in any legal cases after his death. He also published a personal blog post with his opinions about the topic. Schulman, who resigned from OpenAI in August, said he and Balaji coincidentally left on the same day and celebrated with fellow colleagues that night with dinner and drinks at a San Francisco bar. Another of Balaji’s mentors, co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, had left OpenAI several months earlier, which Balaji saw as another impetus to leave. Schulman said Balaji had told him earlier this year of his plans to leave OpenAI and that Balaji didn't think that better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence “was right around the corner, like the rest of the company seemed to believe.” The younger engineer expressed interest in getting a doctorate and exploring “some more off-the-beaten path ideas about how to build intelligence,” Schulman said. Balaji's family said a memorial is being planned for later this month at the India Community Center in Milpitas, California, not far from his hometown of Cupertino.  

Italy’s data protection watchdog said Friday it has fined OpenAI 15 million euros ($15.6 million) after wrapping up a probe into the collection of personal data by the U.S. artificial intelligence company's popular chatbot ChatGPT. The country’s privacy watchdog, known as Garante, said its investigation showed that OpenAI processed users’ personal data to train ChatGPT “without having an adequate legal basis and violated the principle of transparency and the related information obligations towards users”. OpenAI dubbed the decision “disproportionate” and said it will appeal. “When the Garante ordered us to stop offering ChatGPT in Italy in 2023, we worked with them to reinstate it a month later,” an OpenAI spokesperson said Friday in an emailed statement. “They’ve since recognized our industry-leading approach to protecting privacy in AI, yet this fine is nearly 20 times the revenue we made in Italy during the relevant period.” Amazon workers strike at multiple facilities as Teamsters seek labor contract OpenAI added, however, it remained “committed to working with privacy authorities worldwide to offer beneficial AI that respects privacy rights.” The investigation, launched last year, also found that OpenAI didn’t provide an “adequate age verification system” to prevent users under 13 years of age from being exposed to inappropriate AI-generated content, the watchdog said. The Italian authority also ordered OpenAI to launch a six-month campaign on different Italian media to raise public awareness about ChatGPT, specifically in regard to data collection. The booming popularity of generative artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT has drawn scrutiny from regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. Regulators in the U.S. and Europe have been examining OpenAI and other companies that have played a key part in the AI boom, while governments around the world have been drawing up rules to protect against risks posed by AI systems, led by the European Union's AI Act, a comprehensive rulebook for artificial intelligence.

In an effort to address the growing challenge of misinformation in today's media landscape, a two-day fact-checking training workshop led by India’s premier news agency, the Press Trust of India (PTI), began at Cosmos Centre in Dhaka on Thursday. The training programme, organised by the Press Trust of India (PTI), one of India’s leading news agencies, in collaboration with the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), emphasised the critical role of accurate reporting in upholding the credibility of journalism. Pratyush Ranjan, PTI’s Head of Digital Services and Fact Checking, and Abhinav Gupta, PTI’s News Editor, are conducting the training sessions. The sessions aim to enhance the skills of journalists at United News of Bangladesh (UNB), equipping them to identify and counter misinformation, disinformation and malformation in the news cycle. UNB’s Editor-in-Chief Enayetullah Khan, Executive Editor Nahar Khan, Editor Mahfuzur Rahman, Senior News Editor Shayan S Khan, among others, attended the opening session. Speaking on the occasion, Enayetullah Khan emphasised the need for rigorous fact-checking to uphold journalistic integrity in an era where digital platforms often amplify unverified information. He said the rise of social media and rapid digital transformation has dramatically altered information dissemination, democratising access to news but also leading to an alarming surge in misinformation, disinformation and malformation. Nahar Khan said UNB’s decision to partner with PTI for this training reflects its dedication to maintaining the highest standards of journalism. “The challenge of combating misinformation today requires vigilance and skills. This fact-checking initiative reflects our commitment to countering falsehoods and protecting the integrity of our reporting at UNB,” she said. With a history spanning 72 years, PTI stands as a paragon of trustworthy, unbiased journalism in India. Its fact-checking unit within its editorial department exemplifies the agency's commitment to accuracy and responsible reporting. During Thursday’s training session, Pratyush Ranjan highlighted the tools and methodologies essential for effective fact-checking, while Abhinav Gupta discussed real-world applications in newsroom operations. The workshop will conclude on Friday (December) with focus on fact-checking tools use for further empowering the journalists to uphold the sanctity of truth in news reporting.