Tech companies have made ads part of nearly every large free web service, video channel, and social media platform. But the latest AI models could take this practice to a new level of risk for consumers.
Massive new data centers are the physical foundation for tech companies’ hopes and dreams for AI. But the rush to expand warehouses full of energy-hungry servers has also kicked up fights across the world over their impact on power grids, utility bills, nearby communities, and the environment.
From audacious plans to launch data centers into space to the latest legal battles over pollution, The Verge has the biggest news and reporting surrounding data centers.
43 percent of Americans blame data centers as a major reason for rising power bills.
Senators are pushing to find out how much electricity data centers actually use
How the spiraling Iran conflict could affect data centers and electricity costs
Seven tech giants signed Trump’s pledge to keep electricity costs from spiking around data centers
Trump claims tech companies will sign deals next week to pay for their own power supply
Anthropic says it’ll try to keep its data centers from raising electricit
French prosecutors said Wednesday that they have opened an investigation into Elon Musk and social media platform X over the distribution of child sexual abuse images, deepfakes, disinformation and alleged complicity in denying crimes against humanity linked to the platform’s artificial intelligence system, Grok.
Jimmy Wales remembers a toxic internet even before social media and says AI is ‘not a disaster’ for the free – and freely edited - online encyclopaedia
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Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, has branded the Australian social media ban an “unmitigated disaster” and an “embarrassment” that is teaching kids to accept surveillance from tech companies when they go online.
The online encyclopaedia that anyone can edit was born in a world before social media, in 2001. But Wales told Guardian Australia that many of the ills of social media existed even in the earlier stages of the internet.
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After subscribing to the Claude chatbot, mystery payments started to appear on one family’s credit card bill. They are not alone
David Duggan* was so impressed with the ability of the Claude chatbot to answer medical questions and organise family life, that a $20-a-month (£15) subscription seemed like money well spent.
But then his wife spotted two $200 payments on his credit card bill for gift cards to use the artificial intelligence tool.
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Google is trying out an AI Mode-like search experience for YouTube. The company is now testing "a new way to search on YouTube that feels more like a conversation," with results pulling in things like longform videos, YouTube Shorts, and text about what you're searching for. The "experiment" is now available if you're a YouTube Premium subscriber in the US who is 18 or older.
I turned it on for my account. Now, in the search bar, I see an "Ask YouTube" button, and clicking the search bar shows prompts to ask like "funny baby elephant playing clips," "summary of the rules of volleyball," and "short history of the Apollo 11 moon landing." If …
Read the full story at The Verge.
Massive data centers are rapidly being built all over the nation to provide computing power that tech companies need to train artificial intelligence or power other emerging technologies.
