Category: News and Views

UK drops ‘safety’ from its AI body, now called AI Security Institute, inks MOU with Anthropic | TechCrunch

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The U.K. government wants to make a hard pivot into boosting its economy and industry with AI, and as part of that, it’s pivoting an institution that it founded a little over a year ago for a very different purpose. Today the Department of Science, Industry and Technology announced that it would be renaming the AI Safety Institute to the “AI Security Institute.” (Same first letters: same URL.) With that, the body will shift from primarily exploring areas like existential risk and bias in large language models, to a focus on cybersecurity, specifically “strengthening protections against the risks AI poses to national security and crime.”

Alongside this, the government also announced a new partnership with Anthropic. No firm services were announced but the MOU indicates the two will “explore” using Anthropic’s AI assistant Claude in public services; and Anthropic will aim to contribute to work in scientific research and economic modeling. And at the AI Security Institute, it will provide tools to evaluate AI capabilities in the context of identifying security risks.

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TikTok is back on the App Store and the Play Store in the U.S. | TechCrunch

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After more than 25 days, Apple and Google restored TikTok in the U.S Thrusday evening. Both companies removed the app from the App Store and the Play Store on January 18 in response to a national security law.

Other ByteDance apps such as video editor CapCut and social app Lemon8 were also restored on these app stores. Apple, which published a rare support document detailing these removals, has deleted the support document now.

On January 19, TikTok started restoring services to existing users, but Apple and Google kept the app out of their stores. That meant if you had uninstalled TikTok, you wouldn’t have been able get it. Earlier this month, TikTok urged users on Android to sideload the app via its website.

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JPMorgan Is Reportedly Laying Off Around 1,000 Workers | Entrepreneur

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JPMorgan has begun laying off what is expected to be fewer than 1,000 employees, according to a report by Barron’s.

The outlet notes that this round of layoffs affected “several” Houston offices and some now-former employees were notified on February 5. However, this isn’t the end.

JPMorgan is set to announce job cuts in mid-March, May, June, August, and September, though Barron’s states it is not clear how many roles will be impacted by the planned layoffs throughout the year.

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T-Mobile Starlink is offering free (temporary) access even if you’re not a T-Mobile customer | Mashable

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T-Mobile’s Starlink satellite messaging service is free for everyone to try — even AT&T and Verizon customers.

During the Super Bowl on Sunday, T-Mobile announced the public beta launch of its direct-to-cell program with Starlink. Customers can sign up, free of charge, until it moves out of beta in July. And you don’t have to be a T-Mobile subscriber to try it out.

“When your service is amazing and different, you want as many people to try it as possible,” reads the announcement. “T-Mobile is giving AT&T and Verizon customers the opportunity to try out T-Mobile Starlink satellite service on their existing phones.”

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McDonald’s was having a rough 2024. An E. coli outbreak made it worse | CNN Business

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Visits to McDonald’s plunged because of an E. coli outbreak last fall — and so did its profits.

Fourth-quarter sales at McDonald’s locations open for at least one year fell 1.4% in the United States, a reversal compared to the same time period a year prior when sales rose 4.3%. The rough quarter only compounded with the rest of a tough 2024, with McDonald’s value perception slipping among its cash-conscious customers, many of whom ended up eating elsewhere.

“Our performance in 2024 did not meet our expectations,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said on a call with analysts Monday. “It was a big year, and at times it felt like McDonald’s was part of almost every major news story, reflecting the reach and visibility of our brand.”

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Trump instructs Treasury to halt penny production | CNN Business

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President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt the production of pennies, citing the high cost of producing one cent.

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” Trump said in a post to social media as he returned to Washington from the Super Bowl.

The penny has been under fire for years, with the movement to eliminate the penny picking up steam last month after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency posted on X calling attention to the high cost of producing the single-cent coin.

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Ford lost $5 billion on its EV business in 2024—and things could get worse this year | Fast Company

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Ford Motor on Wednesday projected up to $5.5 billion in losses on its electric vehicle and software operations this year, a loss similar to last year and a sign of the severe difficulties in cutting costs on battery-powered models.

The automaker forecast overall profitability for 2025, but even that was lower than in 2024. For the fourth quarter, it reported a net profit of $1.8 billion, up from a loss of $500 million in the year-ago quarter as pension-related costs weighed on results.

The company’s shares were down nearly 5% in after-hours trading

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Nevada dairy cows have been infected with a new strain of bird flu | Fast Company

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Dairy cattle in Nevada have been infected with a new type of bird flu that’s different from the version that has spread in U.S. herds since last year, Agriculture Department officials said Wednesday.

The detection indicates that distinct forms of the virus known as Type A H5N1 have spilled over from wild birds into cattle at least twice. Experts said it raises new questions about wider spread and the difficulty of controlling infections in animals and the people who work closely with them.

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February is ‘a month of bright planets,’ NASA says in new skywatching update | Digital Trends

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The moon has “many engagements” with the planets in February, NASA said in its monthly update on what to look out for in the night sky.

Throughout February, so long as clear nights prevail, you’ll be able to see the moon in the night sky along with many of our solar system’s planets.

The easiest to spot is Venus, looking brilliant in the west after sunset. “February is a month for love, so what better time to spotlight Venus, which is associated with the Roman goddess of love?” NASA said in its latest skywatching video (above).

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Facebook owner Meta to pay $25m to settle Trump lawsuit over ban | BBC News

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US President Donald Trump has signed a legal settlement that will see Facebook and Instagram owner Meta pay out roughly $25m (£20m).

Trump sued the social media giant and its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, in 2021 over the suspension of his accounts after the 6 January Capitol riots that year.

In July 2024, Meta lifted the final restrictions on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in the lead up to US presidential elections.

The settlement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

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