Technology & democracy
Opinion
Trade wars
Higher and higher: America keeps raising its fence against China
Concerned about the transfer of know-how for military or intelligence-gathering applications, the Biden administration restricts investments by US firms in Chinese tech companies.
- by Stephen Bartholomeusz
Latest
Opinion
AI
It’s called artificial intelligence, which sounds scary, but that doesn’t make it bad
Advances in AI could make our lives nicer in previously unimaginable ways. If we can shake the image of an AI boogeyman.
- by Tim Biggs
Europeans take big step towards regulating AI, including for facial recognition
Questions remain about whether exemptions for banning live facial recognition should be allowed for national security and other law enforcement purposes.
- by Adam Satariano
How a fake AI photo of a Pentagon blast wiped billions off Wall Street
The falsified photo is possibly the first instance of an AI-generated image moving the market.
- by Davey Alba
Opinion
For subscribers
Bored of social media, terrified of AI: give me a flip phone and log me out
When even Elon Musk is saying “woah, let’s put the brakes on”, you know things are getting out of hand.
- by Michael Koziol
Opinion
South China Sea
The future of the internet depends on who controls the South China Sea
The strategic waterway is one of world’s most important shipping lanes for oil, minerals and food – but the biggest asset up for grabs in the South China Sea is Big Data.
- by Maurizio Geri
How these Kiwis created the go-to destination for movie buffs
It began as a way to fill in the downtime between paying gigs, but now Letterboxd has 8 million members and it’s growing fast.
- by Karl Quinn
Trump arrested? Putin jailed? Fake AI images flood the internet, increasing ‘cynicism level’
Experts warn the images are harbingers of a new reality: waves of fake photos and videos flooding social media after major news events and further muddying fact and fiction.
- by Arijeta Lajka and Philip Marcelo
Opinion
Media & marketing
Murdoch succeeded where Putin failed. Time for a Fox hunt
We believe a royal commission into media concentration is now needed to defend our democracy. For the Coalition parties, this is a crucial moment.
- by Malcolm Turnbull and Sharan Burrow
Opinion
USA
‘Stop this crisis now’: Silicon Valley creates the risk while US taxpayers pay the price
In the US, if you’re poor and struggling, that’s your own problem. But if you make enough money that a significant swath of the economy depends on you, preventing your collapse becomes a matter of public interest.
- by Will Oremus
Release the bots: Thousands of pro-Trump accounts attack DeSantis, Haley
When it came to Ron DeSantis, the bots aggressively suggested that the Florida governor couldn’t beat Trump, but would be a great running mate.
- by David Klepper