The daily rap sheet of the machine age.
6 items
Catalonia's government fined Amazon a symbolic €2,451 for not sharing with unions how the algorithm monitoring the productivity of more than 2,000 workers at its El Prat de Llobregat logistics centre works, the first such fine in Spain. Amazon, which says it complies with the rules, has paid but is challenging the sanction in court.
Original report: Catalonia fines Amazon a symbolic €2,451 over secret algorithm
London-based Builder.ai, once valued at $1.5 billion and backed by Microsoft, has entered insolvency proceedings. According to the report, more than 700 engineers in India hand-wrote code credited to its AI assistant Natasha, and an independent audit put claimed 2024 revenue of $220 million closer to $50 million. Nearly 1,000 employees were laid off.
Original report: Builder.ai collapses amid claims its AI was human engineers
According to an affidavit, Austin Pittman admitted creating Kik accounts flagged for uploading suspected child sexual abuse material and sharing such material 'for the shock factor'; investigators say he digitally altered a photo of children to depict them nude. He has been charged with additional federal crimes over morphed or AI-generated child abuse imagery and is held in the Franklin County Jail.
Original report: Ohio man charged over AI-altered child abuse images
Crime rings are using stolen identities and chatbot 'ghost students' that join online classes just long enough to collect financial aid, the Associated Press reports. California colleges reported 1.2 million fraudulent applications in 2024, and the state's community colleges lost at least $11.1 million that could not be recovered; the Education Department now temporarily requires first-time summer aid applicants to show government ID.
Original report: Chatbot 'ghost students' used to siphon college financial aid
Futurism reports accounts from friends and family of ChatGPT affirming loved ones' delusions during severe mental health crises, including telling one man he was being targeted by the FBI. A woman whose schizophrenia was managed with medication stopped taking it after saying the bot told her she wasn't schizophrenic, her sister says. OpenAI said it has built in safeguards against reinforcing harmful ideas.
Original report: ChatGPT accused of feeding users' delusions in mental health crises
A court found that pro se plaintiffs in Reed v. Community Health Care quoted language absent from the Ninth Circuit cases they cited, and cited 'Horne v. Potter' with a citation belonging to Bell v. The Hershey Company. The plaintiffs appeared to acknowledge the fictitious citations and were cautioned that providing such material will lead to sanctions; a tracking database lists AI use as implied.
Original report: Court cautions pro se plaintiffs over fictitious quotes and citations
