Category: iTechnology

Category: iTechnology

From VOA Mandarin: Trump 2.0 and the future of the CHIPS Act
12/17/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The Biden administration is shoring up its CHIPS Act funding agreements before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. Trump has previously disparaged the CHIPS Act and called for higher tariffs instead of subsidies to incentivize companies to build semiconductor factories. What would be the future of TSMC under the Trump administration? See the

Details
Can honeybees and dogs detect cancer earlier than technology? 
11/07/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Washington — Researchers at Michigan State University recently discovered that honeybees, with their keen sense of smell, can sniff out lung cancer on a patient’s breath. “Our world is visual. Insects’ world is all based on smell, so their sense of smell is very, very good,” says Debajit Saha, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Michigan

Details
Canada orders TikTok’s Canadian business to be dissolved but won’t block app
11/07/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Canada announced Wednesday it won’t block access to the popular video-sharing app TikTok but is ordering the dissolution of its Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind it. Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said it is meant to address risks related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc. “The

Details
Australia proposes ‘world-leading’ ban on social media for children under 16
11/07/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

sydney — The Australian government will legislate for a ban on social media for children under 16, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday, in what it calls a world-leading package of measures that could become law late next year. Australia is trying out an age-verification system to assist in blocking children from accessing social media

Details
French families sue TikTok over alleged failure to remove harmful content
11/04/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

PARIS — Seven French families have filed a lawsuit against social media giant TikTok, accusing the platform of exposing their adolescent children to harmful content that led to two of them taking their own lives at 15, their lawyer said on Monday. The lawsuit alleges TikTok’s algorithm exposed the seven teenagers to videos promoting suicide, self-harm

Details
US tech firms warn Vietnam’s planned law to hamper data centers, social media
11/04/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

HANOI, Vietnam — U.S. tech companies have warned Vietnam’s government that a draft law to tighten rules on data protection and limit data transfers abroad would hamper social media platforms and data center operators from growing their businesses in the country. The Southeast Asian nation with a population of 100 million is one of the world’s

Details
California attempts to regulate election deepfakes
11/02/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The state of California has passed several laws attempting to regulate artificial intelligence, including AI used to create realistic looking but manipulated audio or video — known as a deepfake. In this U.S. election season, the aim is to counter misinformation. But it has raised concerns about free speech. From California, Genia Dulot has our

Details
Residents in Ethiopia’s Oromia region report network disruptions as government forces fight rebels
10/31/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

ADAMA, ETHIOPIA — Residents in Ethiopia’s Oromia region say access to phone communication and internet service has been disrupted for months as government forces fight against two rebel groups. The disruption of mobile phone calls and internet data has been concentrated in conflict-hit Oromia zones, where government forces have engaged in fighting against the Oromo Liberation

Details
Thousands of passenger flight signals jammed over war zones in Ukraine, Middle East
10/31/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The navigation systems of thousands of passenger aircraft are being disrupted every day as they fly close to conflict zones, according to researchers. They are warning that the blocking or “spoofing” technology behind it could put lives at risk. Henry Ridgwell has more from London. …

Details
Chinese online retailer Temu faces EU probe into rogue traders, illegal goods
10/31/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

LONDON — The European Union is investigating Chinese online retailer Temu over suspicions it’s failing to prevent the sale of illegal products, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm said on Thursday. The European Commission opened its investigation five months after adding Temu to the list of “very large online platforms” needing the strictest level of scrutiny under

Details
Musk’s X ineffective against surge of US election misinformation, report says
10/31/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The crowd-sourced fact-checking feature of Elon Musk’s X, Community Notes, is “failing to counter false” claims about the U.S. election, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) said in a report Wednesday. Out of the 283 misleading posts that CCDH has analyzed on the digital social media platform, 209 or 74% of the posts did

Details
China launches new crew to its space station as it seeks to expand exploration
10/30/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

JIUQUAN, China — China declared a “complete success” after it launched a new three-person crew to its orbiting space station early Wednesday as the country seeks to expand its exploration of outer space with missions to the moon and beyond. The Shenzhou-19 spaceship carrying the trio blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest

Details
US finalizes rule restricting investment in Chinese tech firms
10/30/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

The Treasury Department on Monday finalized a new rule meant to prevent U.S.-based people and companies from investing in the development of a range of advanced technologies in China, thereby preventing Beijing from accessing cutting-edge expertise and equipment. The rule, which implements an executive order signed by President Joe Biden in 2023, focuses particularly on

Details
Companies find solutions to power EVs in energy-challenged Africa
10/29/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

NAIROBI, KENYA — Some companies are coming up with creative ways of making electric vehicles a more realistic option in power-challenged areas of Africa. Countries in Africa have been slow adopters of battery-powered vehicles because finding reliable sources of electricity is a challenge in many places. The Center for Strategic and International Studies described Africa as

Details
Cryptocurrency promoters on X amplify China-aligned disinformation
10/29/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Washington — A China-linked disinformation operation is using so-called “Spamouflage” networks to ramp up Beijing’s propaganda aimed at social media users in the West who regularly promote cryptocurrency-related content on X.   Spamouflage accounts are bots pretending to be authentic users that promote narratives that align with Beijing’s talking points issues, such as the COVID-19 pandemic,

Details
Small modular reactors could give developing countries access to nuclear energy
10/29/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Experts say small modular reactors, called SMRs, are bringing affordable nuclear energy to less wealthy countries. But what are SMRs and why are proponents so excited about them? VOA reporter Henry Wilkins explains …

Details
US military, intelligence agencies ordered to embrace AI
10/24/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

washington — The Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies have new marching orders — to more quickly embrace and deploy artificial intelligence as a matter of national security. U.S. President Joe Biden signed the directive, part of a new national security memorandum, on Thursday. The goal is to make sure the United States remains a leader in

Details
AI decodes oinks and grunts to keep pigs happy in Danish study
10/24/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

VIPPEROD, Denmark — European scientists have developed an artificial intelligence algorithm capable of interpreting pig sounds, aiming to create a tool that can help farmers improve animal welfare. The algorithm could potentially alert farmers to negative emotions in pigs, thereby improving their well-being, according to Elodie Mandel-Briefer, a behavioral biologist at University of Copenhagen who is

Details
China space plan highlights commitment to space exploration, analysts say
10/24/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Chinese officials recently released a 25-year space exploration plan that details five major scientific themes and 17 priority areas for scientific breakthroughs with one goal: to make China a world leader in space by 2050 and a key competitor with the U.S. in space, for decades to come. Last week, the Chinese Academy of Sciences,

Details
Chinese official urges Apple to continue ‘deepening’ presence in China
10/23/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

A top Chinese official has urged tech giant Apple to deepen its presence and investment in innovation in the world’s second largest economy at a time when supply chains and companies are shifting production and operations away from China. As U.S.-China geopolitical tensions simmer and tech competition between Beijing and Western countries intensifies, foreign investment

Details
‘Garbage in, garbage out’: AI fails to debunk disinformation, study finds
10/21/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Washington — When it comes to combating disinformation ahead of the U.S. presidential elections, artificial intelligence and chatbots are failing, a media research group has found. The latest audit by the research group NewsGuard found that generative AI tools struggle to effectively respond to false narratives. In its latest audit of 10 leading chatbots, compiled in

Details
Microsoft to allow autonomous AI agent development starting next month
10/21/2024 iNews,iTechnology iMaster

Microsoft will allow customers to build autonomous artificial intelligence agents starting in November, the software giant said on Monday, in its latest move to tap the booming technology. The company is positioning autonomous agents — programs which require little human intervention unlike chatbots — as “apps for an AI-driven world,” capable of handling client inquiries, identifying sales

Details