The daily rap sheet of the machine age.
7 items
Spanish law enforcement, working with international authorities, dismantled a criminal network behind a $20 million scam that used artificial intelligence to target victims, according to the report. Authorities seized luxury cars, real estate and cryptocurrency holdings said to be directly linked to the operation.
Original report: Spanish police dismantle $20m scam network that used AI
Microsoft terminated software engineers Ibtihal Aboussad and Vaniya Agrawal after they interrupted speeches by Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman and CEO Satya Nadella at its 50th anniversary events in protest at the Israeli military's use of its AI, according to documents viewed by CNBC. Microsoft told Aboussad her "misconduct was designed to gain notoriety and cause maximum disruption"; Agrawal's planned resignation was made immediately effective.
Original report: Microsoft fires two engineers over Israel AI protests
A finance director of a multinational corporation transferred over US$499,000 (S$670,000) from the company's HSBC account on March 26 after a Zoom call where the CEO and others were impersonated with deepfakes, police said. The scam surfaced when the fraudsters asked for US$1.4 million more; Hong Kong police withheld the funds sent there and Singapore's Anti-Scam Centre seized the rest.
Original report: Deepfake executives on Zoom nearly cost firm over US$499,000
Chinese cyber police say a university student hacked a school system, took more than 20,000 students' records, then, to seek thrills and show off, used AI to write a program that exploited a mini-program flaw to register accounts with their numbers and send obscene text messages to over 2,000 of them. The student has confessed to illegally obtaining computer system data; the investigation continues.
Original report: Police say student used AI to text obscenities to schoolmates
The City of Baltimore has sued FanDuel and DraftKings under the city's Consumer Protection Ordinance, seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties. The complaint claims "proprietary algorithms help identify just the kind of push-notification that is most likely to induce the next bet" and that the platforms "are designed to create disordered gamblers and then exploit them."
Original report: Baltimore sues FanDuel, DraftKings over bet-pushing algorithms
Jianwei Xun, the supposed philosopher behind the much-cited "hypnocracy" theory, is a pseudonym of essayist and publisher Andrea Colamedici, who co-wrote the book "Hypnocracy: Trump, Musk and the New Architecture of Reality" with two AI platforms without disclosing it, L'Espresso's Sabina Minardi revealed. The report says the unlabelled work breaches EU AI rules.
Original report: Philosopher behind 'hypnocracy' theory turns out not to exist
The Telangana government asked the state High Court to issue directions against AI-generated fake videos and images it says spread false narratives about 400 acres of land at Kancha Gachibowli, adjacent to the UoH. Officials told the Chief Minister that public figures including Union Minister G Kishan Reddy and film celebrity John Abraham unwittingly shared them. The matter was adjourned to April 24.
Original report: Telangana seeks court action over AI fakes in land row
