In the occupied Palestinian territories, there are cameras everywhere. In Silwan, in occupied East Jerusalem, residents say cameras were installed by Israeli police up and down their streets, peering into their homes. One resident named Sara said she and her family “could be detected as if the cameras were just in our house … we couldn’t feel at home in our own house and had to be fully dressed all the time.” Surveillance cameras now cover the Damascus Gate, the main entrance into the old city of Jerusalem and one…
Tag: Technology
Nvidia to release three new AI chips for China after US restrictions – report
Nvidia is planning to release three new chips for China, according to local media reports, weeks after the US blocked it from selling two high-end artificial intelligence (AI) chips and one of its top gaming chips to Chinese firms. Nvidia could announce the chips – the HGX H20, L20 PCIe and L2 PCIe – as soon as 16 November, the Star Market Daily news outlet reported, citing people familiar with the matter Nvidia declined to comment when asked about the report. Last month, the US AI chip giant said new…
Chinese influencers using AI digital clones of themselves to pump out content
In September, Chen Yiru, a Taiwanese influencer with nearly nine million fans on Weibo, livestreamed footage of himself eating chicken feet for a jaw-grinding 15 hours. His followers were suitably wowed – until some started to question if such a feat was humanly possible. The small print on the video stream confirmed their suspicions: “For display purposes only, not a real person.” Many of Chen’s fans were outraged, and he reportedly lost more than 7,000 followers between 24 and 26 September. Even the legal community weighed in. Quoted in Chinese…
The great powers signed up to Sunak’s AI summit – while jostling for position
Sitting in a purpose-built hut in the grounds of the historic Bletchley Park country estate, British officials believed they had pulled off a diplomatic coup. On stage in front of them was the UK’s technology secretary, Michelle Donelan, and behind her were high-level representatives from the US and China, together for the first time to discuss the international regulation of artificial intelligence. Even better, both countries were among 28 signatories to the “Bletchley declaration”,an agreement to work together on safety standards that may prevent AI systems turning on humanity. Rishi…
UK, US, EU and China sign declaration of AI’s ‘catastrophic’ danger
The UK, US, EU and China have all agreed that artificial intelligence poses a potentially catastrophic risk to humanity, in the first international declaration to deal with the fast-emerging technology. Twenty-eight governments signed up to the so-called Bletchley declaration on the first day of the AI safety summit, hosted by the British government. The countries agreed to work together on AI safety research, even amid signs that the US and UK are competing to take the lead over developing new regulations. Rishi Sunak welcomed the declaration, calling it “quite incredible”…
US orders immediate halt to some AI chip exports to China, says Nvidia
The chip designer Nvidia has said the US has told it to bring in new curbs on the export of some of its high-end artificial intelligence chips to China immediately as regulators advanced the deadline. The restrictions were supposed to come into play 30 days after 17 October, when the Joe Biden administration announced measures to stop countries, including China, Iran and Russia, from receiving advanced AI chips designed by Nvidia and others. Nvidia did not say why the US government had accelerated the timing but does not expect a…
China launches tax investigations into Apple iPhone maker Foxconn
China’s tax authorities have launched multiple investigations into the company that makes the iPhone, months after its billionaire founder announced he would run in Taiwan’s presidential elections. Foxconn faces tax audits of its operations in China, as well as investigations into land use in two Chinese provinces, according to reports by local media. The investigations, which were confirmed by the Taiwan-based manufacturer but have not been officially announced by any of China’s government departments, are thought to be politically motivated. Foxconn’s founder, Terry Gou, announced in August he would run…
The advanced silicon chips on which the future depends are all made in Taiwan – here’s why that matters | John Naughton
When the history of our time comes to be written, one thing that will amaze historians is how an entire civilisation managed to impale itself on its worship of optimisation and efficiency. This obsession is what underpinned the hubris of globalisation. Apple’s famous slogan “Designed by Apple in California, manufactured in China” became its guiding light. So long as products could be made available to consumers everywhere, it no longer mattered where they were made. Until it did. We first twigged this when the pandemic struck, and we became suddenly…
Europe and the US should work with China. Joint climate action could be a win-win
Our polarised world is failing to tackle the climate crisis at the required speed. The only way to reverse this catastrophic situation is to get the three largest historical emitters – the US, Europe and China – to join forces, directly or indirectly, to accelerate the global shift to green energy. After months of rising tensions, the possible visit to Washington of the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, later this month could pave the way for a highly anticipated but still unscheduled summit between presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping,…
US Imposes New Chip Export Controls on China
The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday tightened its export controls to keep China from acquiring advanced computer chips that it could use to help develop hypersonic missiles and artificial intelligence. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the new controls are “intended to protect technologies that have clear national security or human rights implications.” The new controls could increase tensions between the United States, the world’s biggest economy, and No. 2 China. In recent talks over several months with high-ranking U.S. officials, Beijing had appealed for “concrete actions” from Washington to improve…