分类： technology

MARSEILLE, France – In a landmark collective move to defend media intellectual property and sustainable journalism in the age of generative artificial intelligence, around 30 major media organizations from Europe and North America have joined a growing coalition launched by three of the UK’s most prominent news players: the BBC, Sky News, and The Guardian. The coalition, known as SPUR (Standards for Publisher Usage Rights), was formed specifically to push large AI developers to compensate news outlets fairly for utilizing their copyrighted content to train large language models.

Newly announced members of the expanding alliance cover leading national and regional media groups across multiple continents, including France’s CMA Media, Switzerland’s Ringier, and leading Canadian organizations such as The Globe and Mail and public broadcaster CBC/Radio Canada. Jean-Christophe Tortora, Deputy Chief Executive of CMA Media, outlined the coalition’s core mission to attendees of the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) global gathering hosted this week in Marseille, the coastal port city in southern France.

Tortora emphasized that leading news publishers across the globe are ready to rewrite the rules of their long-standing imbalanced relationship with big technology firms and global regulatory bodies. He called for a sweeping “new deal” that centers three non-negotiable priorities: equitable value-sharing between news creators and AI developers, robust legal protections for copyrighted journalistic content, and the preservation of independent, fact-based journalism that serves public interest.

SPUR was first co-founded earlier this year by a core group of major European and UK-based media companies, which in addition to the BBC, Guardian, and Sky News, includes the Financial Times, Telegraph Media Group, and pan-European publisher Mediahuis. The alliance’s expansion to more than 30 member organizations comes as the entire global news industry grapples with growing existential uncertainty over its future business model, a topic that dominated discussions across the three-day WAN-IFRA conference. The widespread uncompensated scraping of news content to train AI systems has emerged as the most pressing threat to publisher revenue in decades.

The urgency of the industry’s concerns was highlighted just days before the Marseille conference, when New York Times publisher Arthur Gregg Sulzberger told U.S. lawmakers that major tech companies engage in outright “strip-mining” of news websites, harvesting millions of articles without consent or any form of payment to build and improve their AI products. In line with this criticism, SPUR’s core position holds that professional news content requires enormous financial investment from publishers to produce, and AI companies that profit from this content have a clear obligation to pay a fair market rate for its use.

To turn its mission into action, the coalition has laid out two key initial goals. First, it plans to develop dedicated industry infrastructure that will allow publishers to accurately track and measure how often and in what ways AI systems access and utilize their journalistic content. Second, SPUR will lead collective negotiations to establish clear, scalable frameworks that let AI developers license news content legally and transparently.

Anna Bateson, chief executive of Guardian Media Group and one of SPUR’s founding members, called the rapid expansion of the coalition a turning point for the global movement. “Welcoming 30 new members… gives SPUR the scale required to turn its mission into a global mandate,” Bateson said. She added that the collective weight of the alliance will lend legitimacy to the industry-led standards SPUR is developing, protecting publishers’ intellectual property while also giving AI developers a clear path to enter into legal, sustainable licensing agreements that work for both sides.

Looking ahead to the upcoming G7 leaders summit being hosted this month in the French Alpine town of Evian, Tortora called on French President Emmanuel Macron to prioritize the global publishing industry’s concerns during the gathering of world leaders, pushing for regulatory and political support for the coalition’s push for fair compensation.

A new large-scale global survey has uncovered stark generational and geographic gaps in public attitudes toward AI-powered romantic and intimate companions, revealing that nearly half of young adults across six major economies expect these AI tools to boost human happiness over the coming decade through reliable emotional support.

Conducted by polling firm YouGov in partnership with Tokyo-based media company Star X Gen, the research polled nearly 10,000 respondents across the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, Indonesia and Hong Kong, and shared its findings exclusively with AFP on Monday. The work comes as rapid advances in artificial intelligence have already pushed millions of people to turn to chatbots for emotional confiding and romantic connection, while parallel progress in robotics has enabled the development of far more sophisticated AI-integrated intimate devices, sparking widespread debate over how these technologies will reshape human relationships.

The survey’s most striking trend is a clear generational divide in optimism. Among respondents aged 18 to 24, 48 percent agreed that AI intimacy companions — a category encompassing everything from text-based chatbots to physical AI-enabled sex dolls — will improve overall human happiness in the next 10 years. For 25 to 34-year-olds, that figure fell only slightly to 47 percent. Optimism drops steadily with age, however, with just 25 percent of adults aged 55 and older sharing that positive view.
When asked specifically about deeper personal connection and sexual wellness, the generational gap remains consistent: 32 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 38 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds expect AI companions to improve outcomes in these areas, with older age groups holding far more negative outlooks.

Beyond generational differences, the survey also revealed a profound ideological split between Western and Asian regions, with Asian populations far more accepting of technology-driven romance and intimacy than their Western counterparts. Poll organizers told AFP they were caught off guard by the size of this regional disparity.
Indonesia topped the regional rankings, with half of all respondents across all age groups saying they believe AI companions will improve personal connection and sexual wellness. That figure stood at 34 percent in Hong Kong and 24 percent in Japan, while Western markets recorded far lower acceptance: 20 percent in the United States, 15 percent in Germany, and just 9 percent in Britain.
“While Western audiences largely view synthetic intimacy as a threat to authentic human closeness, Asian audiences appear increasingly ready to integrate AI into their personal and physical lives,” explained Philippe Chan, a YouGov researcher working on the project.

Despite growing mainstream conversation around AI intimacy, the technology remains in its early stages, particularly for physical products like AI-enabled dolls. Across all respondents, only 17 percent said they would personally consider using an AI intimacy doll, compared to 59 percent who ruled out the idea entirely. Even so, younger adults were far more open to testing the technology than older groups, and in Japan and Germany, the share of young people willing to try an AI doll was nearly double the national average.

The report concluded that while the general global population remains wary of AI romantic companions, younger generations are actively redefining what counts as companionship in the modern era. In Japan specifically, more than a third of young adults believe AI dolls can provide a genuine sense of love — a share that outnumbers young people who reject that idea.

The growing popularity of AI chatbots for romantic connection has also drawn scrutiny from mental health experts and family advocates, who have raised concerns about the technology’s potential psychological impact on vulnerable groups. In several recent high-profile cases, families have linked the deaths of teenagers to excessive unhealthy reliance on AI tools.

In a landmark legal action that has sent ripples across the fast-growing generative AI industry, Florida’s top law enforcement official has filed a civil lawsuit against AI developer OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging that the company’s flagship ChatGPT chatbot puts underage users at severe risk through unregulated access, addictive design, and facilitation of harmful behavior.

Announcing the suit during a public press conference on Monday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier framed the action as a critical step to hold the AI giant accountable for deceptive practices that put children in danger and mislead parents about the platform’s safety. “Today we’re here to announce that we recently filed a monumental civil lawsuit against Sam Altman and ChatGPT for endangering our kids and deceiving parents into believing that this application is safe for use — it’s clearly not,” Uthmeier stated. “People are getting hurt, parents are getting deceived, and they need to pay for it.”

Central to the state’s allegations is the claim that ChatGPT is intentionally designed to drive compulsive usage: Uthmeier argued the tool mimics human empathy and conversational traits to encourage users to share increasing amounts of personal data, leading to addiction that disproportionately harms developing young minds. The suit further accuses OpenAI of gross negligence in failing to implement robust age verification systems to block access for minors, who are officially barred from using the platform under the age of 13 and require parental consent for ages 13 to 17.

Per court documents reviewed by Agence France-Presse (AFP), the free tier of ChatGPT has no age verification or access controls whatsoever. The paid subscription tier only requests users self-report their age, with no system to confirm the submitted information or notify parents about the content of conversations their underage children are having on the platform. While OpenAI rolled out a preliminary age-estimation tool with extra safeguards for detected minors in January, Uthmeier argues the measure is far too little to address the documented risks.

To back its claims, the lawsuit cites independent research and advocacy analysis. Uthmeier points to a 2024 Drexel University study focused on competitor Character.AI that linked heavy adolescent chatbot usage to measurable negative outcomes including chronic sleep deprivation, dropping academic performance, and reduced in-person social interaction. He also references an investigation from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), where researchers posing as teenagers found ChatGPT willing to provide step-by-step guidance for harmful activities, including hiding disordered eating patterns from family members and planning suicide or self-harm.

As of Monday morning, OpenAI had not issued an immediate public response to the lawsuit when contacted for comment by AFP.

Florida is seeking statutory damages of $10,000 for each documented violation of state deception and negligence laws, a figure Uthmeier says could add up to billions of dollars in total liability for OpenAI and Altman personally. Beyond financial penalties, the state is pushing the court to order sweeping new safety protections for minor users of the platform. To build broader momentum for stricter AI safety rules, Uthmeier has issued an open invitation to other U.S. states that share concerns about unregulated AI access for minors to join the ongoing litigation.

On a transformative Wednesday in western Kingston, Jamaica, female students from Denham Town High School and Tivoli Gardens High School gathered for an immersive day of collaborative, hands-on innovation that bridges cutting-edge technology and urgent climate action. The event, a Girls in ICT Artificial Intelligence and Climate Change Hackathon, was hosted at Denham Town High through a partnership between the Digicel Foundation and STEM Spark Solutions, growing out of the foundation’s long-running mission to shrink the gender gap in the technology sector.

For years, the Digicel Foundation’s Girls in ICT initiative has worked to equip young women with the technical skills, professional confidence, and real-world industry exposure required to build successful careers in an increasingly digital global economy. This hackathon expanded that mission by tying technology proficiency directly to a crisis that hits close to home for Jamaican communities: climate-related natural disaster resilience.

Throughout the day, participating students explored the many practical applications of artificial intelligence to address pressing climate and disaster challenges. Central to the event’s curriculum was exploring how AI can be leveraged across all stages of a major weather event: from forecasting extreme storm trajectories more accurately, tracking gradual environmental shifts that increase disaster risk, and building community-centered solutions that help local populations bounce back faster after catastrophe.

Digicel Foundation Chief Executive Officer Charmaine Daniels emphasized the critical urgency of including young women in the growing AI sector. “We stand at a defining turning point in global history, where artificial intelligence is reshaping every industry, every career path, and every part of daily life,” Daniels explained. “If we do not make intentional space for our girls to join this space right now, we will risk leaving an entire generation excluded from the opportunities shaping our future. Introducing girls to AI and information and communications technology is about giving them the tools to protect their families, their communities, and the environment they depend on — that is the core of what this day was built to achieve.”

This year’s hackathon centered specifically on disaster preparedness, a theme that carries deep personal meaning for most participants. Just one year prior, in October 2023, Category 5 Hurricane Melissa swept through Jamaica, leaving widespread destruction in its wake across communities including Denham Town and Tivoli Gardens. Against that backdrop, students worked through practical exercises to test how AI can strengthen early warning systems, streamline emergency response coordination during a storm, and speed community recovery and rebuilding efforts after the event passes.

Dianne Plummer, CEO of STEM Spark Solutions and a professional engineer, explained the personal, community-focused vision that shaped the event’s design. “These young women already know firsthand what it looks like when a Category 5 hurricane rips through their neighborhood — when power goes out for days, when roads flood, when entire communities have to put themselves back together piece by piece,” Plummer said. “Our goal today was to show them that artificial intelligence gives us the power to prepare more effectively before a storm, respond faster when it hits, and recover smarter after it passes. When a young woman from Denham Town or Tivoli Gardens can build a climate model or design a functional early warning system, she stops being just someone affected by climate disaster and becomes a core part of the solution.”

Observers noted the tangible energy and purpose that filled the space throughout the day, with participants diving into their collaborative projects with remarkable creativity and drive. For many attendees, the event marked their first meaningful introduction to artificial intelligence as a tool for good. Ameerah Burke, a ninth-grade student at Denham Town High, said the experience changed her perspective on what she can accomplish through STEM. “When the team showed us how AI can predict exactly where a storm is going to hit and help planners map out safe evacuation routes, it made me rethink what I can contribute to my community,” Burke shared. “We lived through Hurricane Melissa, and I’ll never forget how scary it was not knowing what was coming next. If AI can help keep people safer through that, I want to be one of the people building those systems.”

At its launch facility on South Padre Island in southern Texas, aerospace giant SpaceX is gearing up for a second attempt to launch its next-generation Starship rocket on Friday, just one day after technical issues forced a last-minute cancellation of the initial test flight.

The company announced the new launch timeline via its official account on X, noting that forecasters give an 85% chance of favorable weather conditions throughout the 90-minute launch window, which opens at 5:30 pm local time (2230 GMT). This highly anticipated test marks the debut of SpaceX’s third-generation Starship design, coming at a pivotal moment for the company as it prepares for what analysts project will be a record-breaking initial public offering as early as June 2025.

Thursday’s aborted launch featured multiple pauses and restarts of the countdown clock before teams called off the attempt. Shortly after the scrub, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to X to explain the root cause of the delay: a hydraulic pin designed to hold the launch tower’s supporting arm in place failed to retract, a glitch that could not be resolved within the remaining window on Thursday.

The launch attempt comes on the heels of SpaceX completing its regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its public debut, a move that has already generated massive excitement across global capital markets. When the flight finally proceeds, it will be broadcast live to the public, offering a transparent look at the company’s progress developing the 407-foot (124-meter) reusable rocket – a system central to both SpaceX’s long-term commercial goals and NASA’s Artemis program, the U.S. government’s initiative to return astronauts to the lunar surface.

This test will be the 12th overall Starship flight, and the first in seven months. The fully stacked third-generation vehicle stands slightly taller than its predecessor, capping out at just over 124 meters. SpaceX has designed Starship to be a fully reusable launch system, a breakthrough that the company says will drastically cut the cost of access to space and enable ambitious missions ranging from large satellite deployments to future crewed flights to Mars. The primary objective of this test is to prove that the rocket’s redesigned systems perform as expected in real flight conditions.

The stakes for this test could not be higher. NASA has awarded SpaceX a multi-billion dollar contract to develop a human-rated modified version of Starship to serve as the lunar lander for the Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and person of color on the Moon. As China advances its own independent lunar program, which targets a crewed landing by 2030, officials within the current Trump administration have grown increasingly concerned that schedule delays in the private sector could allow China to beat the U.S. back to the lunar surface.

While recent Starship test flights have been marked as successful by SpaceX, the program has not been without high-profile setbacks. Previous test articles have ended in dramatic explosions: two mid-flight tests broke up over the Caribbean Sea, one test ended in an explosion shortly after reaching space, and a 2024 ground test of the rocket’s upper stage resulted in a destructive blast. That last incident, which occurred last June, is what pushed this third-generation test back seven months. Now, all eyes are on southern Texas as SpaceX attempts to prove its latest design is ready to move the program forward.

Jamaica is stepping into a new era of streamlined public and commercial services, as the government pushes forward with a sweeping digital transformation agenda anchored by two key citizen-centric tools: a secure digital document wallet and the recently launched Jamaica Data Exchange Platform (JDXP). The new initiatives were laid out by Efficiency, Innovation and Digital Transformation Minister Audrey Marks during her first policy address to the House of Representatives’ sectoral debate this Wednesday.

Drawing on the successful cross-agency rollout of electronic motor vehicle certificates, the upcoming digital document wallet is designed to give Jamaicans a single, secure space to store and share official government-issued identification and civic documents electronically. Eligible documents will include national ID cards, birth certificates, motor vehicle records, and any other civic documentation citizens choose to add to the platform. Beyond cutting down on physical paperwork, the tool will bring measurable improvements to convenience and administrative efficiency for everyday users, Marks noted.

For residents who struggle to keep track of expiring documents, the ministry is also rolling out a complementary centralized alert system called GovNotify. The service will aggregate all government updates and reminders, sending notifications via email, SMS and WhatsApp. Key alerts will include upcoming expiration dates for passports, driver’s licenses, and other official documents, mirroring the reminder system already in place for motor vehicle registration and fitness certificates. As Marks, first-term Member of Parliament for Manchester North East, put it: “we all need reminders sometimes.”

These projects are not disconnected one-off programs, the minister emphasized; they represent a coordinated push to reimagine Jamaica’s public sector as a more agile, efficient institution that serves citizen needs. To deliver these digital services seamlessly at a national scale, all systems must be interconnected — a gap filled by the JDXP, a foundational digital infrastructure launched by the Prime Minister’s Office last month.

For generations, Jamaicans have been forced to navigate a fragmented administrative process: traveling between multiple government offices, filling out identical forms repeatedly, and waiting extended periods to complete even routine tasks. The launch of the JDXP will render this outdated process a thing of the past, by enabling authorized government agencies to exchange verified user information electronically through a secure, standardized framework. Instead of requiring residents to carry physical documents to every appointment, institutions can now verify credentials directly at the source through the platform.

Marks framed the JDXP as a trusted digital bridge that connects not just government agencies, but also private sector entities including financial institutions. One of the most immediately visible changes will be faster bank account opening: with real-time identity verification through the platform, users will no longer need to provide justice of the peace letters, reference forms, or go through lengthy back-and-forth processes to prove their identity. Marks set an ambitious target to bring Jamaica’s account opening process in line with first-world standards, cutting wait times from days to under an hour.

This transformation is rooted in what the ministry calls the “Once-Only, Zero Bureaucracy Principle,” which eliminates the requirement for Jamaicans to submit the same personal information to government agencies multiple times. Powered by the JDXP, information submitted once to the government can be securely shared and reused across ministries, departments, and agencies with the user’s explicit consent. The framework cuts down on redundant administrative work, reduces processing delays, and creates a more seamless, user-focused public service experience.

Marks closed by noting that these initiatives are part of a deliberate, structured long-term plan to modernize Jamaica’s public services and improve quality of life for all Jamaicans. “The foundation has been established, the systems are being integrated and the direction is clear,” she said, signaling steady progress toward the government’s digital transformation goals.