Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an investigation into DeepSeek over its privacy practices and claims about its AI model, sending information requests to Apple and Google about the app. Paxton, who said DeepSeek "appears to be no more than a proxy for the CCP", said he notified the company that its platform violates the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act.
DeepSeek halted new downloads of its chatbot app in South Korea from 6 p.m. Saturday, the Personal Information Protection Commission announced Monday, until it brings its privacy policies in line with the Personal Information Protection Act. The watchdog is investigating DeepSeek's data handling; the company acknowledged on Feb. 14 that it had overlooked some Korean data protection laws.
U.S. federal judge Stephanos Bibas granted Thomson Reuters summary judgment against legal tech firm Ross Intelligence, finding that Ross's use of Westlaw headnotes to train its AI legal research platform infringed Reuters' intellectual property. Bibas found the use was not transformative and held Ross was not entitled to summary judgment on defenses such as fair use; the case continues to trial.
Meta removed over a dozen sexualized deepfake images of famous female actors and athletes after a CBS News investigation, yet CBS found dozens of AI-generated sexualized images of Miranda Cosgrove and Jennette McCurdy still public on Facebook after flagging them. Meta's Oversight Board told CBS the company's current rules on sexualized deepfakes are insufficient.
Canada's Competition Bureau has confirmed it is investigating the possible use of AI-driven algorithmic pricing in Canadian rental markets, after The Breach first reported the probe on Nov. 27, 2024. A spokesperson offered no further details. A U.S. antitrust lawsuit alleges companies used such software to collude and artificially inflate rents.
Scam posts overlay an audio deepfake on a November 2022 Times of Malta interview, making Prime Minister Robert Abela and journalist Mark Laurence Zammit appear to promote an AI-driven trading platform that turns a one-time €250 payment into €30,000 a month. The original 56-minute interview, in Maltese, covered corruption, abortion and the environment, not trading platforms.
San Miguel Corp. chief Ramon Ang warned the public on Monday against fake news articles and deepfake videos making it appear he endorsed an online investment promising weekly income, saying he has never endorsed any investment opportunity online. "Why are these fake ads being allowed to circulate?" he asked, calling for real action against deepfake scams.
NetEase Super Member's Feb. 13 Valentine's Day push used Hongxian, an underage female character from the game Yanyun Shiliu Sheng, angering players. In a Feb. 17 apology, NetEase said the copy was AI-generated, had not been reviewed by the game's team and had been taken offline, and pledged stronger content review.
