Tag: researchers

  • Exclusive: Elon Musk’s X fails to deal with Russian disinformation, breaching EU rules, study says

    Exclusive: Elon Musk’s X fails to deal with Russian disinformation, breaching EU rules, study says

    Some 125 reports of Russian disinformation were reported to X, but only one was removed. The rest went largely ignored.

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    More than 100 pieces of content published on X from Russian state media and disinformation actors that fail to comply with European rules still appear on the social media platform despite being reported to X, according to a new report.
    The report commissioned by pan-European non-profit group WeMove Europe, which was shared exclusively with Euronews, found “125 clear sanction-violating posts” on the Elon Musk-owned platform.

    Some of the posts included programmes from the Russian state broadcaster Russia Today (RT), which has been banned by the European Union since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 
    In one instance, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs account on X shared an excerpt from a documentary produced by RT, which shared a false narrative about an Adolf Hitler collaborator who was “elevated to the rank of national hero by the Kyiv regime”. The post also provided a link to bypass sanctions and access the full film on Telegram.
    The researchers behind the paper had reported to X all the content deemed illegal under Europe’s Digital Services Act (DSA), the bloc’s digital transparency rules. The report found that only 57 per cent of the reports of illegal content received acknowledgement receipts, which breaches the DSA.
    Among the 125 reports, only one post was removed by X. The company said that there was no violation of EU law.

    Related

    Elon Musk’s X says French probe into algorithm is ‘politically motivated’

    In some cases, X responded to the researchers’ complaints within two minutes, the report said, suggesting that automation is playing a big role in X’s content moderation.
    The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, launched a formal investigation into X this year for breaching the DSA and said it would finalise the investigation before the summer recess, which begins on July 25.
    However, the Financial Times reported last week that the Commission will miss this deadline as it aims to conclude trade talks with the United States.
    Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told Euronews Next that it is continuing to investigate potential violations by X of the DSA’s illegal content rules.

    “The Commission is aware of these reports and is continuously assessing incoming information,” Regnier said.
    Earlier this month, the Commission told X it appeared to be in violation of other parts of the DSA, including “areas linked to dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers,” Regnier added.
    In January, French prosecutors also launched an investigation following allegations that X’s algorithm was being used for the purposes of foreign interference.
    The researchers filed the reports to X on July 8 and 9, 2025. While they were met with automatic replies in most cases that X would look into their complaints, in the majority of them, they did not hear back. 
    Euronews Next has also contacted X for comment about the report but did not receive a reply at the time of publication. 

    Russia’s online war

    Under the EU sanctions regime, it is prohibited to offer content hosting services for sanctioned entities, such as broadcasters or sanctioned individuals. 
    Russia has intensified its disinformation campaign in Europe since it invaded Ukraine in 2022, the researchers said.
    Along with official Russian government accounts spreading fake news, there were also accounts likely operated by the “Social Design Agency,” a Russian company known to produce Russia’s influence campaign “Operation Doppelgänger,” as well as anonymous users repeatedly posting such material.

    Related

    ‘Threat is ongoing’ as Russian Doppelganger operation continues on X and Meta despite EU probe

    “Overall, the volume indeed exploded [since the war]. It’s much more significant,” said Charles Terroille, a project and investigative research officer at the fact-checking group Science Feedback who worked on the paper. 
    “A lot of the posts that we flagged to X are for instance, documentaries, if you can call them that, so 40-minute videos hosted on X that are Russia Today showing, for example, how Ukraine deserved it all or how [President] Zelenskyy and all the government people and officials in Ukraine are just fans of Nazi figures and all these widely false and reported stories that Russia is propping,” he told Euronews Next.
    Terroille said another Russian method is to fabricate pages that look like well-known Western media outlets and spread them on X.
    He added that fake news about public health and misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines are still running, among other topics, such as misinformation about the environment and are “absolutely weaponised” by Russia.
    For Taïme Smit Pellure, a digital campaigner at WeMove Europe who led the report, the most shocking part of the research was that the content is also translated into people’s home languages, such as French, and is “everywhere” on X.

    Related

    Does Ukraine’s first-in-Europe internet deal with Starlink mean more dependence on Elon Musk?

    She told Euronews Next that both the Commission and X should be acting faster and that her organisation has reached out to the Commission but it has not had a “positive response yet”.
    “We know they are working on this, we know they are, it’s not like they’re looking away completely, just taking their time because they want to do it right and we completely understand that,” she said.
    Another recommendation for the Commission is for European governments to work together in a more coordinated manner to address this issue, said Saman Nazari, lead researcher of civic campaign group Alliance4Europe, who also worked on the paper.
    “As long as we stay only working in our own little bubbles, we do not stand a chance against a multi-billion euro influence apparatus,” Nazari said.
    His recommendation for X is that “there is not that much nuance. It’s straight-up illegal content,” and that “it doesn’t take much time” to find such content and address it.
    “This is incredibly low-hanging fruit,” he added.
    Updated July 23: This story has been updated with comment from the European Commission.

  • DeepMind\’s Genie 3: A Game‑Changing World Model That Moves Us Closer to AGI

    DeepMind Drops Its Latest AI Marvel: Genie 3

    Imagine a brain that can whip up realistic scenes, wild fantasies, and everything else in between—all on the fly. That’s exactly what Google DeepMind’s new brainchild Genie 3 promises.

    What Makes Genie 3 a Game‑Changer?

    • Real‑Time Interaction: Unlike those old, specialized models that only knew a single setting, Genie 3 can chat and build worlds in real time.
    • Versatility: Whether you want a photo‑perfect forest or a made‑up cosmic adventure, it’s got you covered.
    • Future‑Ready: The team claims this is a huge leap toward Artificial General Intelligence, basically a machine that thinks like us.

    Behind the Magic

    Genie 3 isn’t a lone star—it’s the star in a trio. It leans on the earlier Genie 2 for generating new environments and the cutting‑edge video engine Veo 3, which brings a deep understanding of physics into the mix.

    For Now: A Sneak Peek Only

    Just like a secret demo at a tech expo, Genie 3 is still in research preview. Public users won’t see it in full glory just yet, but the hype suggests it could be a cornerstone in building truly general AI agents.

    Meet Genie 3: The AI That Turns Your Words Into Real‑World 3D Playgrounds

    DeepMind’s newest brainchild, Genie 3, takes the boom‑and‑blow of AI animation and gives it a serious upgrade. Tell it anything—a beach bonfire, a bustling market, or a sci‑fi spacewalk—and it swerves into an interactive 3‑D universe that runs at a tidy 720p, 24 fps. That’s a big leap from its humble cousin, Genie 2, which could only clank out a 10‑ to 20‑second sprint.

    But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Genie 3 lets you give it promptable world events. Want a sudden rainstorm? Or a rogue robot uprising? Just drop the request in your text prompt, and the scene shifts on cue. It’s like having a living storyboard that listens, obeys, and responds in real time.

    Physics‑Powered Consistency

    One of the most mind‑blowing features is how it keeps the physics tidy across minutes. Early AI models would often forget the rules of the world as they progressed. Genie 3, however, remembers its earlier calculations—so a rock stays in the ground when you drop it, a car doesn’t glitch through the skyline. DeepMind says this isn’t magic; it’s the result of a hidden memory trick they didn’t program in—more like a side‑effect of the model’s awesome architecture.

    Why This Matters Beyond the Fun

    Jack Parker‑Holder, a research lead at DeepMind, spilled the beans: “World models are the backbone to AGI, especially for embodied agents. Think of simulating a real street with cars, people, traffic lights. That’s the kind of complexity we need to break the AI ceiling.”

    Fruchter, the media whisperer, added his own take: “While educators could use Genie 3 for immersive learning, the real game‑changer comes when we start training agents to tackle everyday tasks. That’s the pathway to a general‑purpose, all‑encompassing AI.”

    In short: Genie 3 isn’t just a flashy demo; it’s a stepping‑stone toward AI agents that can navigate our messy, physical world with finesse—like a Swiss Army knife of neural networks.

    Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda

    Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $600+ before prices rise.

    Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda

    Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise.

    Get Ready for San Francisco!

    Save the Dates: Oct 27‑29, 2025

    It’s going to be a whirlwind of tech, coffee, and good vibes. Grab your spot before the rush!

    • Day 1 – Keynote & cool networking moments
    • Day 2 – Hands‑on workshops & plenty of laughs
    • Day 3 – Gala dinner, prizes, and the grand finale

    Don’t miss out – REGISTER NOW!

    Genie 3: The AI That Learns Physics the Same Way We Do

    DeepMind’s latest brainchild, Genie 3, tackles the old “simulation bottleneck” with a fresh twist. Instead of pulling in a rigid, hard‑coded physics engine, it teaches itself how the universe behaves—how things move, fall, and bounce off each other—by remembering everything it has rendered and reasoning over long time horizons.

    One Frame at a Time: The Auto‑Regressive Mystery

    “The model is auto‑regressive, meaning it generates one frame at a time,” explains Fruchter to TechCrunch. “It has to look back at what was generated before to decide what’s going to happen next.” Think of it as a movie director who keeps rewatching earlier scenes to make sure the action stays punchy.

    Consistency That Makes Sense

    Because it constantly revisits its own history, Genie 3’s worlds stay coherent. When a glass teeters on a table edge, the model feels the imminent drop just like we do, and swears an imaginary duck would be a good idea. That intuitive grasp of physics is what lets the AI predict something will happen, instead of just throwing random numbers out.

    Training Other Agents: A Real‑World SOS

    DeepMind also shows the model can push AI agents to their limits, forcing them to learn from their own experiences—almost exactly how humans lock down new skills through trial and error.

    • In a warehouse simulation, the SIMA agent was tasked with: “approach the bright green trash compactor”.
    • Another challenge: “walk to the packed red forklift.”
    • In all cases, the agent hit its goal because it was operating inside Genie 3’s consistent, forward‑simulated world.

    So, that’s the scoop: a clever, self‑aware AI that not only simulates reality but also learns and adapts like a human in a sandbox. DeepMind’s Genie 3 might just be the best set of “physics lessons” we’ve ever had for machines.

    Genie 3: A Step Ahead… but not a Giant Leap

    While the buzz around Genie 3 is hard to ignore, it still has a few hiccups that keep it firmly in the “learning‑to‑learn” phase.

    Physics Puzzles

    • Snow drift drama: In one demo, a skier zooms down a slope, but the snow just—well, it doesn’t behave as it should. The model can talk physics, but when it comes to the actual movement on a snowy track, it fluffs up a bit.
    • It’s like someone giving you a physics textbook and then asking you to predict the plot twist in a thriller movie. No easy feat.

    Limited Action Toolkit

    • World‑wide prompts only: Genie can shuffle the environment with a few random “world events.” However, it rarely takes action itself; the user steps in to steer the scene.
    • When you mix multiple independent agents in the same sandbox, the results can get tangled. Think of each agent as a dancer—when they’re all on the same floor, it can feel a bit chaotic.

    Time‑Bend Shortcomings

    • Continuous interaction has a short lifespan. You can keep it running for a few minutes, but not the eight hours some training regimes demand.
    • It’s like a short‑lived coffee buzz: great for a quick sprint, but you can’t rely on it for marathon training.

    Why It Still Matters

    Despite these setbacks, Genie 3 is still a genuine leap forward in turning agents from reactive beings into proactive explorers. Think of an agent that can plan, wander, chase uncertainty, and learn by doing—that is the core of general intelligence, and it’s closer than ever.

    “Move 37” without the Concrete

    “We haven’t had a Move 37 moment for embodied agents yet,” says Parker‑Holder. The reference harks back to the 2016 showdown where DeepMind’s AlphaGo dropped a wild, game‑changing move against world champ Lee Sedol. That was symbolic of AI discovering strategies beyond human vision.

    “But now, we can start the next chapter,” he added.

  • Geoengineers Pitch Boeing 777s to Release Sulfur Mid‑Air, Spark Acid Rain Warnings

    Geoengineers Pitch Boeing 777s to Release Sulfur Mid‑Air, Spark Acid Rain Warnings

    Scientists Propose a Wild Fly‑by Plan to Cool Earth

    On JonFleetwood.com, a crowd of researchers hinted at a bold, and frankly laughable, idea: take a Boeing 777, slap on a couple of fancy spray‑nozzles, and launch sulfur dioxide straight into the stratosphere. The goal? To try to lower the planet’s temperature, all in the name of what some critics call “debunked” climate change.

    The Irony – Acid Rain and Other Chaos

    While the scientists swear that they’ve ticked all the boxes on safety, they’re also openly warning that the big risk is real acid rain and a slew of environmental nightmares. It’s a fine balance between pitching a high‑altitude “cool‑down” plan and admitting that the side effects could be downright disastrous.

    Why It Sounds Like Science Fiction

    • Using jetliners to spray gases—sounds more like a sci‑fi gag than a policy.
    • Sulfur dioxide is a nasty chemical that can turn clouds into corrosive weapons.
    • The idea raises eyebrows thanks to the authorities’ relentless support of the planet‑warming discussion.
    The Takeaway

    So, here’s a punchline: think about the world’s attempt to cool down by shooting a chemical into the sky, all while acknowledging the risk—like saving a battered ocean by dropping a bomb into a lake.

    Oops, Low‑Altitude Geo‑Foolery: SAI’s New Flop

    What the Study Actually Says

    According to a brand‑new paper in Earth’s Future, the trick of dropping sulfur into the lower sky would double the acid rain hazard compared to the classic high‑altitude route. The authors are shouting a warning: “Three times more aerosol means three times more acid rain!”

    Why the UCL‑Yale Duo Went for 42,000 Feet

    • They wanted to avoid building brand‑new planes that could reach the sweet spot of 65,000 ft.
    • Instead, they plan to pop a modified 777 off the floor and dump sulfur at 42,000 ft—just what the engines can already handle.

    The Ironic Twist

    Low‑altitude aerosol hangs around too long, so it rainships faster into the lower layers. That means more pollutant ends up on Earth—exactly the opposite of the goal.

    The Numbers That Make Me Sweat

    • 12 million metric tons of sulfur dioxide per year.
    • That’s the same amount the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption spewed—cooler temps but a nasty acid‑rain streak.
    • The researchers admit the plan will increase the side‑effects per unit cooling. Human exposure to falling dust will go up.

    Another Little Fun Fact

    The plan to retrofit Boeing 777s is just a magnified version of the daily sulfur dumping that commercial jets already do. So, the “cure” is basically the same kind of “cancer” we’re already dealing with.

    Bottom Line

    Short story: Dumping sulfur lower down doesn’t solve the climate problem—it adds more acid rain, more particulate fallout, and essentially just pumps more of the same toxins into the sky. Better go back to the 65,000‑ft solution before we drown in our own chemistry.

    A Blueprint for Accelerated Environmental Collapse?

    Sky‑Spraying on the Horizon: How a “Shortcut” Could Turn Our Atmosphere into a DIY Project

    Picture this: one of the world’s biggest science projects has turned into a pre‑order sale for the skies. The UCL‑Yale plan, painted as a “quick fix,” is basically saying, “Why wait ten years for fancy new planes when you can jazz up the old ones and start dropping dust at high altitudes?” The upshot? A floodgate opens to whatever chemical can be tossed into the atmosphere, with no oversight. It’s like giving everyone the power to spray the sky without a master permission slip.

    The Alarming Trade‑Offs

    The study itself is the honest trail‑blazer that warns of a tangle of potential problems:

    • More actors get a shot at the sky: Anyone with a modded cargo fleet might jump in.
    • Too early a launch: The “start date” could be shockingly soon.
    • Unilateral risk: If one nation’s flight deck decides to fly solo, the rest of the world is left wondering what’s next.

    The gist? The sky could feel like a quick sprinkling ceremony—no global council to give a thumbs‑up.

    Why It’s Not All Rainbow Sprays and Sunny Days

    Our past reports have been clear: this geoengineering gig is increasingly being portrayed as a “crisis‑mode” solution. But listen—sulphur aerosols do more than cool the planet; they’re the real troublemakers.

    Single‑pocketed harms include:

    • Acid rain that disintegrates forests piecemeal, poisons rivers, and zaps wells.
    • Corrosion of everything from car brakes to ancient monuments.
    • Shifts in agriculture patterns—your corn may decide to stay home.

    The researchers themselves admit that dropping sulphur at lower altitudes isn’t much of a glow‑up:

    “It’s an inefficient deployment, with a batch of side‑effects that pack more punch than a cerberus.”

    The “Simple Scene” Booting Up

    Despite all those warnings, the chessboard is already being moved. Groups like Britain’s Aria are lining up fleets to test this little bit of sky‑spice. The planning is happening at a pace that would make any policy‑maker break a sweat.

    Bottom line: If we treat our atmosphere like a game of “unlimited fireworks,” we may be the next host of a global power‑play we never imagined.

    Global Weather Control by Cargo Plane

    Weather Warfare: The Hidden Gas Tactics of the 1%

    Ever heard of that old story about the elite dabbling in cloud seeding? Turns out, they’re up a serious trick—throwing sulfur up into the sky on a whole fleet of modified commercial jets. Picture a bureaucracy’s version of wildfire, except the blaze is invisible.

    How the Plan Seems to Work

    • Low‑altitude, high‑latitude sulfur injection (SAI) could slow the global temperature rise—by naps at the “stop‑the‑heat” level from a tiny fraction of the big jet fleet. Think just two more jets a year in the mix.
    • These jets’re retro‑fitted, so each one is a chemical aerosol delivery system—essentially turning entire planes into atmospheric sprinklers.
    • The goal is a permanent hazy sky—and not the kind that’s nice on a beach, but the persistent cloud that keeps Earth cool.

    Why This Is a Bad Idea

    • An engineered dependency on “aerosol cocktails” means we’re betting on technology that can’t be switched off easily.
    • Sharp “termination shock”: if we abruptly stop the sulfur stream, the planet could flip the switch and go into a rapid, catastrophic warming—like a thermostat that comes on all at once.
    • Instead of a clever fix, this feels like a dangerous shortcut—resembling a high‑stakes experiment where the collateral damage is all of us.

    Putting It All Together

    In short, the idea is “bottom‑line cool” via chemical haze,” but the price tag is a future that’s impossible to roll back. For any responsible policy, the cloud‑seeding experiments were a learning opportunity, not a launchpad for full‑scale atmospheric tinkering. If we’re really looking to control the climate, let’s keep the smoke in the lab and the big ideas in the open discussion—no more sultry chemical weather kits to worry about.

    The Bottom Line

    Hold Up—Geoengineers Want to Turn the 777 into a Sulfur Storm?

    Picture this: a crew of high‑tech scientists, calling themselves Geoengineers, is bragging that they’re planning to retrofit the Boeing 777 so that it spits out a hot shower of sulfur dioxide. More than just “engineering magic,” they say it’ll blow up the planet’s weather. Talk about a cliffhanger.

    The Triple Threat

    • Full‑on acid rain in your backyard
    • Widespread climate destabilization—think of your favorite weather app turning into a reality TV show
    • And, as a cherry on top, the flawless patching of industrial policy failures—all under the sweet banner of “saving the planet.”

    Basically, these folks are saying, “If you don’t protest, we’ll just roll this plan through and pretend we’re rescuers.” It’s like handing a tool used for building castles to a kid with a hammer—and the castle’s actually a fortress built from sand.

    What the Heck Is Going On?

    You’ll find out that the same powerhouse that abandoned nature for profit—think wild industrial factories, endless pipelines, and sky‑wreathing tech—now wants to finish the job. And this time, they’ve dressed it up in corporate IT perks. A shiny phrase, “Geoengineering.” But take a closer look, and you realize it’s a new way to re‑package our own environmental blunders.

    Time to Get Steam‑rolled (Not Literally)

    If the public doesn’t band together—because if you don’t voice out you’ll end up with less moderation and an even hotter climate—you’re basically giving the world a giddy, “oops” moment that’s all too familiar. Let’s get ourselves to the front lines and say enough!