Weekly bulletin from AIport, issue #36

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the AI Bulletin. We hope you enjoy this week’s selection of the most significant developments in ML and data science. Give us a thumbs-up, have a great weekend, and see you next Friday!

North America

• The latest episode of the Gadget Lab podcast by WIRED explores the strange world of AI-powered dog and cat collars that interpret pets’ needs: listen here (skip to 08:30 to get right into it).

• YouTube introduces new labels to mark unaltered, non-AI-produced videos originating from real cameras.

• The New York Times sends a cease and desist letter to Perplexity, warning the AI search engine to stop using its published content without authorization.

• Google becomes the first AI developer in the world to harness nuclear power for its data centers, signing a groundbreaking deal with Kairos Power.

Africa

• Is AI transforming Africa or reinforcing inequalities? The Financial Times takes a deep dive.  

• Abu Dhabi’s AI71 and Morocco’s Ministry of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform sign an agreement to facilitate Morocco’s AI advancement and enhance the nation’s computing power.

• UNESCO issues the main talking points from the Southern Africa Regional Panel on AI for Information Accessibility, held in Gaborone, Botswana.

Asia

• Japan’s Toyota and Boston Dynamics, owned by South Korea’s Hyundai, forge a partnership to accelerate the development of AI-backed humanoid robots.

• Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency (CSA) presents Guidelines on AI Systems to “help system owners secure AI throughout its lifecycle.”

Europe

• Paris-based Mistral unveils Ministral 3B and Ministral 8B: two AI edge models created for on-device computing.

• In England, Sotheby’s announces it will sell a portrait of machine learning pioneer Alan Turing, painted by an AI robot, at one of the upcoming London auctions. Meanwhile, at Cambridge University’s Museum of Zoology, animals from the new exhibition come alive with AI-generated sounds, enabling them to communicate by voice or text through visitors’ devices. 

Latin America

• According to Microsoft’s AI Tour, Colombia and Brazil are embracing AI solutions to tackle deforestation, strengthen the financial sector, and teach their citizens new skills.

• The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) releases its “Human Rights Standards for Government Use of AI in Latin America” report: a short description along with the full document can be accessed here.

Australia and Oceania

• The Australian Treasury publishes a discussion paper titled Review of AI and the Australian Consumer Law: here’s a useful summary by Bell Gully, a top New Zealand law firm.

• As summer approaches in the southern hemisphere, a group of innovators in the state of New South Wales launches an AI lifesaver for beach patrol: here’s a short video report from 9News.