Camera-enabled Meta spectacles are already restricted in UK and US because of fears about covert recording Norway is planning a temporary ban on smart glasses in some public places, amid rising global concern at the spread of the AI-enabled recording devices. The Oslo government is planning a bill to prevent the use of the camera-enabled spectacles in parks, beaches, museums, shopping centres, schools, daycare centres, healthcare facilities, gyms and public events, although private use would still be allowed. Continue reading...

The very mechanisms that allow the census bureau to resist partisan interference are coming undone. And Congress is silent

As Google incorporates more artificial intelligence into search, people are spending more time on Google. Some website operators are crying foul.

Declining traffic and AI overviews have made some publishers threaten to part ways with the internet's principal gatekeeper.

Lawsuit filed by dozens of employees says people who took maternity or disability leave were disproportionately selected for layoffs

Google Chrome is downloading a 4 GB Gemini Nano model onto users' machines without consent, with no opt-in, no opt-out short of enterprise tooling, and an automatic re-download every time the user del...

A web page that tells you what your browser gave away the moment you arrived. No login, no form, no permission. Most pages do this. None of them tell you.

In the past week alone, the US president has depicted himself as Jesus and picked a row with the pope

There are lots of potential nightmares when it comes to artificial intelligence. In a recent Torment Nexus I wrote about how the U.S. government seems hell-bent on using AI to engage in mass surveillance of American citizens (and probably lots of other people as well) and also to pilot autonomous murder drones. Obviously both of these things would be bad, especially given the fact that AI models love to hallucinate or "confabulate," as AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton likes to call it.

Democratic backsliding and the decline of journalism are connected. A panel at the Media Freedom Forum discussed how one can save the other.

Employees who are impressed by vague corporate-speak like “synergistic leadership,” or “growth-hacking paradigms” may struggle with practical decision-making, a new Cornell study into “corporate BS” r...

I wanted a blue badge on LinkedIn. To get it, I gave a US company my passport, my face, and my biometric data. Then I read the fine print.

It’s chilling to watch as Trump and Netanyahu adopt the methods of regimes their countries once condemned, says war correspondent and author Janine di Giovanni

The most disturbing revelation so far

Ken MacLeod discusses his work’s political themes: failed modern systems, rising nationalism, and the struggle to find common interest in a fragmented world.

Or what the US press would say if this was happening on the streets of a "shithole" country overseas

Open comment thread on the PM's Davos speech

I hadn’t fully grasped how the idea of a better future sustained me – now I, like many others, find it difficult to be productive

On Wednesday morning, the FBI executed a search warrant on a Washington Post reporter's home as part of a probe into a government worker accused of illegally retaining classified information. The…

The idea that we should reduce sleep to an efficient minimum in our lives gets something fundamentally wrong

Algorithms ensure that people who click on scams are likely to see more of them

Europe chose regulation. China chose manufacturing. America chose extraction. What should you choose now?

Whether I like it or not, the first line of my obituary...

My vision was based on sharing, not exploitation – and here’s why it’s still worth fighting for

“It is possible to build excitement around journalism if you reach out and invite engaged citizens to help and guide you."

After witnessing the murder of her colleague and finding no help, Leona O'Neill is challenging the 'toxic mindset' that treats journalists like robots

The white Christian nationalist provocateur wasn't a promoter of civil discourse. He preached hate, bigotry, and division

It’s not just you. Survey says: “Twitter sucks now and all the cool kids are moving to Bluesky”…