22 h. ago Musk’s xAI sued over Grok deepfakes – this time, by mother of his child

The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children is suing his AI company, saying its Grok chatbot allowed users to generate sexually exploitative deepfake images of her that have caused her humiliation and emotional distress. Ashley St Clair, 27, who describes herself as a writer and political strategist, alleged in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in New York City against xAI that the images have included a photo of her fully dressed at age 14 that was altered to show her in a bikini, and others showing...

Politics

23 h. ago Unaware of owner’s death, loyal China dog waits daily in corridor for his return, moving many

A pet dog in China has been waiting outside his owner’s home for weeks, unaware of his passing. Refusing to eat or drink, the loyal canine has captured the hearts of countless social media users. This touching story, centred around the dog nicknamed Ah Wang, has drawn comparisons to the 2009 film Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, inspired by a true story from Japan in the 1920s. In the film, the dog Hachi waits every day for its owner at a railway station for 10 years following his death, until the day it...

Events

35 h. ago Hong Kong’s latest office landmark nearly full as segment upturn simmers

The newest landmark office tower in Hong Kong’s main business zone is nearing full occupancy a year and a half after it welcomed its first tenants, suggesting improving fortunes in the city’s office property segment. The Henderson – the prime commercial development and namesake tower for one of Hong Kong’s largest developers – reached 90 per cent occupancy recently, Henderson Land said on Friday. The 36-storey building in Central counts among its tenants auction house Christie’s, alternative...

Politics

38 h. ago Alibaba’s upgraded Qwen chatbot app receives warm consumer reception

Alibaba’s ambition to turn its chatbot app into a powerful AI assistant that dramatically changes the way people interact with smart devices appears to be paying off, according to users and analysts. Instead of repeatedly swiping a screen to complete a task, a user can tell the Qwen app to conduct a range of tasks from ordering drinks to paying electricity bills after the Hangzhou-based technology giant links it to the group’s existing apps like shopping platform Taobao and payment interface...

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61 h. ago Hong Kong watchdog warns against using Musk’s Grok AI bot to create indecent images

Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has raised concerns over the potential misuse of the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok, developed by Elon Musk’s company, warning that using its image-generation function to create indecent or malicious content could amount to criminal offences. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) issued a statement on Thursday after various countries raised concerns about Grok’s image-editing function that allowed users to digitally “undress” real...

Events

64 h. ago Malaysia says X must prove Grok is safe before ban is lifted: ‘abuse is not freedom’

Malaysia is amenable to lifting its ban on Grok – but only if Elon Musk’s microblogging site X proves that its AI chatbot can no longer be used to generate sexualised images of women and minors, according to its communications minister. “X must prove that there will no longer be incidents of videos or images that can be misused by users. If that is settled, we can release the temporary ban,” Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said on Thursday. Over the weekend, Malaysia and Indonesia became...

Events

65 h. ago Mapping issues in 7 of 8 power bank rental platforms tested by Hong Kong watchdog

Seven out of eight power bank rental platforms tested by Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog displayed inaccurate navigation or positioning data on map applications, a problem that may waste users’ time and incur extra charges due to delays. The Consumer Council on Thursday also found a significant variance in rental fees across different stations within the same platforms, with charges for a 30-minute rental differing by nearly 1.3 times and the daily cap on charges differing by more than 2.3...

Politics

66 h. ago Alibaba’s Qwen AI app hits 100 million users as upgrade broadens role in daily life

Alibaba Group Holding has rolled out a major update to its flagship Qwen artificial intelligence app, integrating it more deeply into the company’s expansive ecosystem, from online shopping to travel booking, as it pushes to make the service an AI-powered gateway to daily life. The upgrade came as Qwen surpassed 100 million monthly active users (MAUs) as of January, said Wu Jia, vice-president of Alibaba, at a corporate event on Thursday in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province, where...

Events

69 h. ago Trip.com shares plunge more than 20% as China opens antitrust probe into company

Trip.com shares plunge more than 20% as China opens antitrust probe into company  CNBC

Politics

69 h. ago Trip.com shares plunge over 20% as China opens antitrust probe into Asia's largest online travel firm

Trip.com shares plunge over 20% as China opens antitrust probe into Asia's largest online travel firm  CNBC

Politics

69 h. ago Trip.com shares plunge almost 20% as China opens antitrust probe into Asia's largest online travel firm

Trip.com shares plunge almost 20% as China opens antitrust probe into Asia's largest online travel firm  CNBC

Politics

69 h. ago Trip.com stock falls over 15% as group faces China antitrust probe

Trip.com stock falls over 15% as group faces China antitrust probe  Nikkei Asia

Politics

69 h. ago Musk’s Grok barred from undressing AI images after global backlash

Elon Musk’s platform X on Wednesday announced measures to prevent its AI chatbot Grok from undressing images of real people, following global backlash over its generation of sexualised photos of women and children. The announcement comes after California’s attorney general launched an investigation into Musk’s xAI - the developer of Grok - over the sexually explicit material and multiple countries either blocked access to the chatbot or launched their own probes. X said it will “geoblock the...

Politics

2 d. ago Jailed Chinese AI chatbot developers appeal in landmark pornography case

In a landmark case in China, two AI chatbot developers have appealed against their convictions on pornography charges over software that generated sexual content for paid users. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court began on Wednesday hearing the appeal by the two defendants against an earlier decision by a lower court to sentence one of the developers to four years and the other to 1½ years in prison for “creating pornographic material for profit”. The hearing has been adjourned,...

Events

3 d. ago Does Trip.com (TCOM) Face a Deeper Platform Power Test From China’s Antitrust Probe?

Does Trip.com (TCOM) Face a Deeper Platform Power Test From China’s Antitrust Probe?  Yahoo Finance

Politics

3 d. ago OpenAI expects another ‘seismic shock’ from China amid speculation of new DeepSeek release

The race between the US and China to dominate the world’s artificial intelligence industry has become “complex and challenging to forecast”, according to ChatGPT creator OpenAI. In a blog post this week, published ahead of the first anniversary of DeepSeek’s release of breakthrough reasoning model R1 on January 20, OpenAI said another “seismic shock” from China could be on the cards, as anticipation heightened about a potential new major release from the Hangzhou-based start-up around the Lunar...

Events

3 d. ago OpenAI sees another ‘seismic shock’ from China as talks swirl of DeepSeek launch

OpenAI sees another ‘seismic shock’ from China as talks swirl of DeepSeek launch  South China Morning Post

Events

3 d. ago WBD downgraded by Guggenheim, China launches probe into Trip.com

WBD downgraded by Guggenheim, China launches probe into Trip.com  Yahoo Finance

Politics

3 d. ago China Opens Antitrust Probe Into Trip.com Ahead of Lunar New Year Travel Surge

China Opens Antitrust Probe Into Trip.com Ahead of Lunar New Year Travel Surge  Yahoo Finance

Politics

3 d. ago China Online Travel Leader Trip.com Stock Sinks On Antitrust Probe

China Online Travel Leader Trip.com Stock Sinks On Antitrust Probe  Investor's Business Daily

Politics