TECHNOLOGY

Thousands of car lovers and company representatives descended on Beijing this week for the Auto China show -- a chance for industry giants to show off new designs and cutting edge technologies aimed at getting ahead in the fiercely competitive sector.

Darktrace chief executive Poppy Gustafsson said the group's "technology has never been more relevant in a world increasingly threatened by AI-powered cyberattacks".

The company founded by Mark Zuckerberg said that net profit in the January to March period rose to $12.4 billion with total revenue, mainly from selling ads, up an impressive 27 percent, at $36.5 billion.

The consumer tech giant is the latest entrant to China's cut-throat EV market, with its new SU7 model the star of the show.

The award, to be announced by President Joe Biden as he travels to Syracuse, New York, is the latest in a series of efforts by Washington to bring semiconductor production back to the country.

Tesla reported profits of $1.1 billion, down 55 percent from the year-ago quarter on revenues of $21.3 billion, down nine percent as the company described EV sales as "under pressure."

The measure was part of a $95 billion foreign aid package, including military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, which has now cleared Congress and heads to President Joe Biden's desk.

The federal government as well as the province of Ontario, where the plant will be built, will both provide some financial incentives for the deal, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

TikTok Lite arrived in France and Spain in March allowing users aged 18 and over to earn points that can be exchanged for goods like vouchers or gift cards through the app's rewards program.

Australia's Federal Court on Monday gave the platform 24 hours to remove videos of an Assyrian bishop being slashed in the head during a recent attack.

A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch.

Meta AI is smarter and faster due to advances in the publicly available Llama 3, the tech titan said in a blog post.

The medics are seeking 1.4 million yen ($9,000) in total damages from Google in a bid to hold the US tech titan accountable for inaction over the reviews.

Mainland China has some of the world's most extensive internet censorship, with web users unable to access everything from Google to many foreign apps without workarounds such as a virtual private network (VPN).

Another Musk-owned business, satellite internet operator Starlink, is set to receive initial approvals to operate in India, a government source told AFP.

The visit comes as US President Joe Biden's administration seeks to boost other Asian trade partners' roles in the global tech supply chain to reduce American dependence on China.

The move by what is referred to as a Meta "supreme court" for content moderation disputes comes just months after the widespread sharing of lewd AI-generated images of megastar Taylor Swift on X, formerly Twitter.

The black hole, named Gaia BH3, was discovered "by chance" from data collected by the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, an astronomer from the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Observatoire de Paris, Pasquale Panuzzo, told AFP.

The award is the latest from the US government as it looks to cement its lead in the chip industry -- especially for chips needed for the development of AI -- both on national security grounds and also in the face of competition with China.

Thanks to the stratospheric success of its generative tools that can create text, images and even video, OpenAI has become a leader in the artificial intelligence revolution and one of the most significant tech companies in the world.

Tech giants like Microsoft, Google and Meta have made headlines talking about their own foundational models, or those of their close partners, that are key to AI and its ability to produce written works, images, videos or even computer code from simple user prompts.

The Silicon Valley tech titan blamed a software bug for the prompt, which sparked accusations Apple was showing anti-Israel bias amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The halving, held every four years and next due this month, exposes the weakest mining companies and individuals because it slashes their main source of income, according to experts.

"World of Warcraft" is returning to China this summer, its developer and local partner said Wednesday, more than a year after dismayed fans saw the hugely popular video game and other titles pulled from the market in a contract dispute.

The announcement coincides with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to Washington, underscoring Tokyo's commitment to becoming a major AI power.

The country is home to Samsung and SK Hynix -- the world's top two makers of memory chips, including the premium high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in the hardware that powers AI.

In an order seen by AFP, Judge Alexandre de Moraes accused the owner of X of "criminal instrumentalization" of the platform.

Adecco, the world's biggest temporary staffing agency, and Oxford Economics conducted a survey to see how companies are preparing for a technology that is growing fast but also raising concerns about what it means for jobs.

Before Musk, the blue check mark was used as a verification system for major accounts including celebrities, institutions and journalists.