Month: April 2024

Month: April 2024

LogOn: Nigerian Artist Creates AI Fashion Show for Elderly
04/30/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Images of African senior citizens walking a fashion runway created a buzz on social media, with AI-generated pictures challenging traditional depictions of elderly Africans. VOA’s Karina Choudhury has all the looks in this week’s episode of LogOn. Videographer: Samuel Okocha …

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Tesla clears key regulatory hurdles for self-driving in China during Musk visit
04/29/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

BEIJING — Tesla has cleared some key regulatory hurdles that have long hindered it from rolling out its self-driving software in China, paving the way for a favorable result from Elon Musk’s surprise visit to the U.S. automaker’s second-largest market. Tesla CEO Musk arrived in the Chinese capital Sunday, where he was expected to discuss the

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China set to launch high-stakes mission to moon’s ‘hidden’ side
04/29/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

BEIJING — China will send a robotic spacecraft in coming days on a round trip to the moon’s far side in the first of three technically demanding missions that will pave the way for an inaugural Chinese crewed landing and a base on the lunar south pole. Since the first Chang’e mission in 2007, named after

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African farmers look to the past and the future to address climate change 
04/28/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

HARARE — From ancient fertilizer methods in Zimbabwe to new greenhouse technology in Somalia, farmers across the heavily agriculture-reliant African continent are looking to the past and future to respond to climate change. Africa, with the world’s youngest population, faces the worst effects of a warming planet while contributing the least to the problem. Farmers are

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Nigerian company creates taxi system fueled by electric vehicles
04/26/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

As climate change wreaks havoc around the world, the need for sustainable solutions grows more urgent. In Nigeria, a private company recently introduced an Uber-style taxi system made of approximately 200 electric vehicles. The company says the fleet is a step toward a greener future. Gibson Emeka reports from Abuja, Nigeria. Amy Reifenrath narrates. …

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Biden grants $6 billion to Micron to boost chip production
04/25/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden was in Syracuse, New York, Thursday to tout a deal to provide memory chip maker Micron Technology with $6.1 billion in federal grants to support the firm in building factories in the states of New York and Idaho. “We’re bringing advanced chip manufacturing back to America after 40 years,” Biden

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US communications regulator restores net neutrality annulled under Trump
04/25/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

washington — The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 on Thursday to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules and reassume regulatory oversight of broadband internet rescinded under former President Donald Trump.  The commission voted along party lines to finalize a proposal first advanced in October to reinstate open internet rules adopted in 2015 and re-establish the commission’s

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Japan’s moon lander still going after 3 lunar nights
04/24/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

TOKYO — Japan’s first moon lander has survived a third freezing lunar night, Japan’s space agency said Wednesday after receiving an image from the device three months after it landed on the moon. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the lunar probe responded to a signal from the earth Tuesday night, confirming it has survived another

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Generative AI threatens voter confidence in what’s real   
04/24/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Artificial intelligence surrounds U.S. political life, from fundraising to campaign advertising. Some lawmakers are looking to better police the use of generative content in this year’s presidential election as they say it threatens voter confidence in what is real. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns reports. …

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LogOn: Hologram-like experience allows people to connect
04/23/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The Dutch company Holoconnects are experts in the field of holographic illusions and are now delivering life-size personal connections with a 2-meter-tall box that make it feel like the person you are talking to is physically present. Deana Mitchell has more from Austin, Texas in this week’s episode of LogOn. …

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Taiwan attracting Southeast Asian tech students
04/23/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Taiwan is looking to Southeast Asia as a pipeline to fill its shortage of high-tech talent. The numbers of foreign students coming to the island has been growing, especially from Vietnam and Indonesia. VOA Mandarin’s Peh Hong Lim reports from Hsinchu, Taiwan. Adrianna Zhang contributed. …

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EU may suspend TikTok’s new rewards app over risks to kids
04/22/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

LONDON — The European Union on Monday demanded TikTok provide more information about a new app that pays users to watch videos and warned that it could order the video sharing platform to suspend addictive features that pose a risk to kids.  The 27-nation EU’s executive commission said it was opening formal proceedings to determine whether

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Connected Africa Summit addressing continent’s challenges, opportunities and bridging digital divides
04/22/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Nairobi, Kenya — Government representatives from Africa, along with ICT (information and communication technology) officials, and international organizations have gathered in Nairobi for a Connected Africa Summit. They are discussing the future of technology, unlocking the continent’s growth beyond connectivity, and addressing the challenges and opportunities in the continent’s information and technology sector. Speaking at the

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Doctors display ‘PillBot’ that can explore inner human body
04/21/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

vancouver, british columbia — A new, digestible mini-robotic camera, about the size of a multivitamin pill, was demonstrated at the annual TED Conference in Vancouver. The remote-controlled device can eliminate invasive medical procedures. With current technology, exploration of the digestive tract involves going through the highly invasive procedure of an endoscopy, in which a camera at

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Apple pulls WhatsApp and Threads from App Store on Beijing’s orders
04/21/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

HONG KONG — Apple said it had removed Meta’s WhatsApp messaging app and its Threads social media app from the App Store in China to comply with orders from Chinese authorities. The apps were removed from the store Friday after Chinese officials cited unspecified national security concerns. Their removal comes amid elevated tensions between the U.S.

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EU politicians embrace TikTok despite data security concerns
04/20/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Sundsvall,  Sweden — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s short videos of his three-day trip to China this week proved popular in posts on Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok, which the European Union, Canada, Taiwan and the United States banned on official devices more than a year ago, citing security concerns. By Friday, one video showing highlights of

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Meta’s new AI agents confuse Facebook users 
04/20/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts — Facebook parent Meta Platforms has unveiled a new set of artificial intelligence systems that are powering what CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls “the most intelligent AI assistant that you can freely use.”  But as Zuckerberg’s crew of amped-up Meta AI agents started venturing into social media in recent days to engage with real people,

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Developers: Enhanced AI could outthink humans in 2 to 5 years
04/19/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

vancouver, british columbia — Just as the world is getting used to the rapidly expanding use of AI, or artificial intelligence, AGI is looming on the horizon. Experts say when artificial general intelligence becomes reality, it could perform tasks better than human beings, with the possibility of higher cognitive abilities, emotions, and ability to self-teach and

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Google fires 28 workers protesting contract with Israel
04/18/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

New York — Google fired 28 employees following a disruptive sit-down protest over the tech giant’s contract with the Israeli government, a Google spokesperson said Thursday. The Tuesday demonstration was organized by the group “No Tech for Apartheid,” which has long opposed “Project Nimbus,” Google’s joint $1.2 billion contract with Amazon to provide cloud services to

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