TAOIST ASTROLOGY

Hundreds of millions in Asia celebrate Year of the Snake


By AFP
January 28, 2025


A group of women pose for photos under decorations for a temple fair ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in Beijing - Copyright AFP 

GREG BAKER

Hundreds of millions of people across Asia celebrate the Lunar New Year with their families on Wednesday, as they bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon and usher in the Year of the Snake.

The Chinese enjoy eight consecutive public holidays for the 2025 Spring Festival, an opportunity to share meals, attend traditional performances, and set off firecrackers and fireworks.

Train stations and airports across the country have been jam-packed for weeks as millions returned home to spend the holidays with their loved ones in an annual migration that is expected to be a record.

And high streets, shopping malls, offices and homes are bedecked in festive red banners — believed to ward off evil — across many parts of East and Southeast Asia, including South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.

“When a new year comes around, I think most people hope to get rich, for work to go smoothly, and for family happiness,” Yang Longhua, a catering company manager, told AFP by a frozen lake where people went to ice skate in Beijing this week.

“In previous years, we were locked down because of the pandemic, so I want to take advantage of this long holiday to experience China, a better, more beautiful China,” said the 26-year-old from Zhoukou, Henan province.

During the traditional 40-day period that runs before, during and after the Lunar New Year holidays, about nine billion interprovincial passenger trips on all forms of transport are expected to be made, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Train and air travel are expected to “hit record highs” during this year’s migration, Xinhua said, with the transport ministry saying it expects 510 million train trips and 90 million air trips during the period.

In Shanghai, Ming Dong said she hoped for “good health and good work” as she visited a lantern festival at the popular Yu Garden to mark the arrival of the Year of the Snake — which symbolises wisdom and vitality in Chinese culture.

“This place has a very Chinese New Year atmosphere, so I came here to take a stroll, and it has a really Chinese feel to it,” the 30-year-old told AFP.



– Snow slows travel –



In South Korea, heavy snowfall caused disruption to train, plane and bus schedules nationwide, as people went to visit their families in the countryside this week.

Passengers were seen at Seoul’s main train station carrying gifts wrapped in colourful cloth and luggage as they prepared to leave the capital.

Images released by local media showed vehicles covered in snow stuck on South Korea’s major highways as heavy winds and snowfall persisted.

Traffic authorities warned it could take more than seven hours on Tuesday to drive from Seoul to the country’s port city of Busan, a journey that typically takes around four hours.

Many others opted to spend the break abroad. The operator of Incheon International Airport announced that more than 2.1 million passengers — averaging 214,000 per day — were expected to use the airport to travel overseas from January 24 to February 2.

“This is projected to be the highest average daily passenger count during the Lunar New Year holiday since the airport opened (in 2001),” the operator said in a statement.

The festivities even extended to space, with Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze sending New Year’s Eve greetings from the Tiangong space station on Tuesday.

In a video released by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), the trio could be seen dressed in blue jumpsuits with traditional red cloud patterns, holding two pieces of paper-cutting featuring the Chinese character “fu”, for good luck.

“In the new year, may all your dreams come true,” Wang said, forming a heart shape above her head.

burs-je/dhc

Tears of joy for Thai hostages freed in Gaza


By AFP
January 30, 2025


Wiwwaeo Sriaoun weeps after hearing confirmation that her son Watchara Sriaoun was among the Thai hostages freed by Hamas

 - Copyright AFP Lillian SUWANRUMPHA

Thanaporn PROMYAMYAI

The families of Thai farm workers held for over a year in Gaza cheered and wept with relief Thursday as they were freed in a hostage-prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

Five Thais were freed along with three Israelis held by Hamas as part of a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the Gaza war.

When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, 31 Thais were abducted, with 23 released by the end of that year and two confirmed dead in May.

“It is confirmed everyone, my son did not die. Thank you God,” Wiwwaeo Sriaoun said as she heard the confirmation that her son Watchara Sriaoun was among those freed.

“I will hug him when I see him. I want to see if his health is OK, I am worried about his health,” she added between sobs.

“Thank you, thank you God he did not die. We trust in God.”

Around 10 family members had gathered to support Wiwwaeo as she waited for news at the modest house on the family rubber farm in northeast Udon Thani region.

Before her son’s release was confirmed, Wiwwaeo spent the day watching news on a tablet computer, hoping for a good outcome.

“Come, come home back to your father, mother and daughter,” she said as she watched.

When Watchara appeared on screen, the family erupted into cheers and shouts of elation.

“It’s him, it’s really him! He does not look thin at all, he looks the same weight but his hair is shorter than before. They probably cut his hair,” his mother said.

Watchara was freed along with Pongsak Tanna, Sathian Suwannakham, Surasak Lamnau and Bannawat Saethao, according to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

One Thai citizen remains in captivity.



– ‘Could not sleep’ –



Hailing from the poor, rural region of Udon Thani, Watchara moved to Israel three years ago to work as a farmer for better wages.

“My friend called around 10:00 pm and said the ambassador told her five Thais will be released, and my friend said my son could be one,” Wiwwaeo told AFP as she waited for news of the release.

“I could not sleep from then until now. I was up until 3:00 am and my husband and I went out for rubber tapping and since then I have been monitoring the news.”

In Buriram, another part of northeast Thailand, the family of freed hostage Pongsak were similarly elated, sobbing with relief as his release was confirmed.

“I’m so happy,” his father Wilas Tanna said through tears, in footage posted on social media platform X by a Channel News Asia correspondent.



– Farm workers –



Watchara’s younger brother, who was also working in Israel, returned to Thailand after Watchara was kidnapped.

“We told him to come back because we were worried,” his mother told AFP.

Watchara’s aunt Ratana Sriaoun said that after earlier disappointments, the family refused to believe he was coming home until they had official confirmation.

“I am so happy, finally I get to see my nephew,” she told AFP.

“I can’t put these feelings into words. My heart is full, and my tears are of pure joy.”

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said she was “elated”, thanking Qatar, Egypt, Iran, Turkey and the United States for their work to secure the releases.

The foreign ministry said the five would be taken for medical screening and treatment, and were expected to return to Thailand within 10 days.

The Southeast Asian nation has about 30,000 citizens in Israel, most of them working in the agricultural sector, where they earn significantly higher salaries as farm labourers than they would at home.

A total of 46 Thai workers have been killed since the October 2023 attacks, according to the foreign ministry in Bangkok.

Thailand’s labour ministry said last week that the country will expand its workforce in Israel by 13,000 positions.

The sound of silence: Why fear and profit protection are slowing AI progress in Canada


By Chris Hogg
January 28, 2025

DIGITAL JOURNAL


Nicole Janssen is CEO of AltaML. - Photo courtesy AltaML

Nicole Janssen remembers the discomfort of looking around the room trying to figure out why nobody would talk to her.

She had been invited to speak at an insurance summit in Canada, addressing senior executives from some of the country’s top firms.

As the Co-CEO and co-founder of AltaML, Janssen was there to talk about AI and she was scheduled for an opening talk, and a panel later in the event.

But after her opening remarks, something unusual happened — no one approached her.

“No one would talk to me, which usually is not a problem when you’re the speaker,” she says in an interview with Digital Journal in the AltaML head office in Edmonton. “I thought maybe it just didn’t resonate.”

The next day, things only got worse and attendees seemed to be actively avoiding her. So when she sat on her second panel, Janssen decided to address the elephant in the room by turning around and asking the audience directly.

“Why is everyone so afraid of AI?” she recalls asking attendees from the stage. “I’d like to know please. Anybody?”

Later, a participant approached Janssen to talk and admitted the reason nobody was commenting or discussing AI is because nobody at the event wants to see change.

“I came off stage and a woman approached me and said, ‘You don’t understand —in this industry, we make a lot of money and the first person who innovates forces everyone else to innovate, and we’re all friends here’,” Janssen recalls.

The woman also explained that the group consisted of senior executives and actuaries who specialize in analyzing financial risks and use statistical models to make predictions. Many of these leaders began their careers as actuaries (a role that AI is poised to disrupt significantly) and as a result, they were reluctant to discuss or embrace changes that could upend their industry and their own career paths.

This interaction, for Janssen, underscored a deeper issue.

It wasn’t just about AI — it was about an entrenched resistance to change. That reluctance is not unique to the insurance industry. Across Canada, Janssen has observed a striking trend where companies that are using AI are reluctant to admit it.

“What we’ve seen is that even when Canadian companies are using AI, they often don’t want to talk about it publicly,” she says. “That hesitancy can hold back the momentum needed for broader adoption and innovation.”

This silence often stems from fears about how AI will be perceived by customers, or concerns about data privacy.

However, Janssen argues that this secrecy stifles growth and undermines trust.

“One of the principles of responsible AI is transparency,” she says. “What we really need to do is figure out how Canada can win in AI, and I believe we win by carving out a niche where we’re the global leader of responsible AI.”

Part of the winning formula: openly sharing how AI improves processes and outcomes in order to demystify the technology and encourage others to explore its potential.
Resisting innovation is part of Canada’s problem

Janssen has seen this pattern play out across industries in Canada.

While companies often acknowledge the potential of AI, and many are already using it, there are many who also remain hesitant to adopt it openly or invest in transformative change.

Janssen points to several contributing factors, including prolonged decision-making cycles, fear of change, and structural complacency within certain industries.

“AI for the average person, is still a robot coming for your job, which that isn’t the case,” she says.

Recent statistics underscore the challenge: As of 2024, only 6.1% of Canadian businesses were using AI in producing goods and delivering services. And perhaps most surprising for those who follow tech, a whopping three quarters (74.2%) of businesses are not planning to use AI because they feel it’s not relevant to the goods produced or services delivered.

“AI is relevant to every business,” Janssen says. “There isn’t a business we have talked to or connected with where there aren’t relevant use cases that bring return on investment. It’s just a matter of businesses not being ready for it yet.”

An important data point to clarify is that this resistance isn’t universal.

In industries like information and cultural sectors, AI adoption is higher, with 24.1% of businesses already using generative AI and an additional 7.1% planning to adopt it.

However, broader uptake across sectors is needed for Canada to remain competitive.

One glaring example is the difference in sales cycles between Canada and the United States.

“The sales cycle in Canada on the services side of our business is 18 months long,” Janssen says. “In the U.S., it’s four months. That’s a massive difference.”

This isn’t just an operational inconvenience. It’s a critical barrier to growth.

The drawn-out timelines in Canada make it harder for companies to experiment, iterate, and scale AI projects. This is a stark contrast to the fast-paced decision-making culture in the U.S.

“Canadian companies often approach AI as if it’s a one-time, all-in commitment,” Janssen explains. “There’s a lot of fear and misunderstanding of what it can and can’t do. People look at AI as this big project that’s going to revolutionize their business when, in reality, it’s about integrating AI throughout existing processes.”

Nicole Janssen is CEO of AltaML. – Photo by Digital Journal

AltaML is growing into the U.S.

For AltaML, resistance combined with being a scaleup with experience and ambitious growth goals, means it’s now growing beyond Canada’s borders.

The company has completed more than 400 projects across industries, including public sector, energy, health, and agriculture, and it’s now expanding its operations into the U.S.

Beyond faster sales cycles, there are other challenges that set the U.S. apart as a necessary market for growth.

In Canada, industries with limited competition often lack the incentive to innovate.

“I think part of [the problem] is that many of our largest industries are monopolies, created by government funding and regulation,” Janssen says. “Monopolies don’t need to innovate.”

This lack of competition, combined with cultural risk aversion, has created a perfect storm of resistance in Canada’s innovation landscape.

The result? Companies like AltaML are increasingly drawn southward to find partners who are ready to act.

The economic imperative to embrace AI

The global race for AI dominance has accelerated, with recent developments demonstrating the high stakes for countries and companies alike.

China’s DeepSeek made headlines this week by open-sourcing a powerful AI model at a fraction of the cost of its competitors, shaking up financial markets and challenging the dominance of Western tech giants. This bold move showcases how aggressive adoption strategies can redefine industries almost overnight.

In the U.S., the Stargate Project — backed by OpenAI and Oracle — represents a $500-billion investment to cement American leadership in AI infrastructure, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company will invest $60 billion on AI in 2025 alone. And late last year, Alberta shared details about a massive data centre play to support AI growth.

For Canada, these global advancements should serve as a wake-up call.

Canada’s slower adoption of AI isn’t just a business hurdle — it reflects a broader economic challenge tied to staying competitive in the global economy.

As the global economy shifts toward technology-driven industries, Canada’s reliance on traditional sectors like energy and natural resources makes diversification critical.

As John Ruffolo, Co-Founder and Vice Chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators put it: “The new Cold War is a front based on technology.”

Ruffolo points out that today, technological superiority is the equivalent military superiority of past generations.

AI presents an opportunity to modernize Canadian industries and create new avenues for growth, but that requires a willingness to embrace change.

To move forward, Canada’s business leaders must take a proactive stance in embracing AI.

This means looking beyond fears of disruption and focusing on the long-term benefits of adopting cutting-edge tools. The opportunity to modernize industries and remain competitive globally is within reach — but only for those willing to take bold steps.

“We have an exceptional foundation right now in talent and research,” Janssen says in summary. “But we aren’t commercializing or adopting it, and if we don’t get to doing that, we will lose this advantage that we have.”

This article was created with the assistance of AI. Learn more about our AI ethics policy here.

Written By Chris Hogg
Chris is an award-winning entrepreneur who has worked in publishing, digital media, broadcasting, advertising, social media & marketing, data and analytics. Chris is a partner in the media company Digital Journal, content marketing and brand storytelling firm Digital Journal Group, and Canada's leading digital transformation and innovation event, the mesh conference. He covers innovation impact where technology intersections with business, media and marketing. Chris is a member of Digital Journal's Insight Forum.

White House urges TikTokers to apply for press passes

By AFP
January 28, 2025


White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House - Copyright AFP ROBERTO SCHMIDT

Donald Trump’s new press secretary on Tuesday invited TikTokers and podcasters to apply for White House press passes, in an effort to reach beyond the mainstream media that the US president often slams.

In her first time at the White House podium, Karoline Leavitt said an additional seat for “new media voices” had been reserved at the front of the cramped briefing room.

Trump has repeatedly criticized traditional media as the “enemy of the people,” and he credits a series of podcast appearances for aiding his return to the White House.

“As the youngest press secretary in history, thanks to President Trump, I take great pride in opening up this room to new media voices,” the 27-year-old Leavitt told a packed briefing room.

“Whether you are a TikTok content creator, a blogger, a podcaster, if you are producing legitimate news content… you will be allowed to apply for press credentials to this White House,” she said.

The shake-up was more modest that some news organizations had feared, after the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. talked in November about “opening up” the press room.

The 49 seats in the room are allocated to a number of news organizations, including AFP, that are members of the White House Correspondents Association.

Reporters without seats are allowed to stand at the side if there is space — as they did for Leavitt’s packed-out debut on Tuesday.

The new press secretary also vowed to hold reporters accountable for what she said were “lies” about Trump.

“We know for a fact there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in this country about this president, about his family, and we will not accept that,” she said.

The briefing at the iconic White House podium was Leavitt’s first since Trump was inaugurated eight days ago. She has so far largely spoken to conservative television outlets including Fox News.

Trump sidestepped interviews with some major US TV networks during the election campaign, opting instead to speak to several largely right-wing podcasts including the hugely popular Joe Rogan Experience.

OpenAI tailors version of ChatGPT for US government


By AFP
January 28, 2025


ChatGPT Gov -- designed for use by the United States government -- builds on an 'enterprise' version of the artificial intelligence tool used by businesses - Copyright AFP/File SEBASTIEN BOZON

OpenAI on Tuesday launched a bespoke version of its ChatGPT artificial intelligence tool for use by the United States government.

Big money government contracts are often tech firm targets, and OpenAI already boasts some 90,000 users of ChatGPT across federal, state and local governments in the United States.

The new ChatGPT Gov version of OpenAI’s popular chatbot provides a tailored AI tool to assist the work of US government agencies and their employees.

“By making our products available to the US government, we aim to ensure AI serves the national interest and the public good, aligned with democratic values, while empowering policymakers to responsibly integrate these capabilities to deliver better services to the American people,” OpenAI said in an online post.

The cost of ChatGPT Gov, if any, was not disclosed.

ChatGPT Gov builds on an enterprise version of the chatbot designed for use by businesses and can run on Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, according to OpenAI.

“Self-hosting ChatGPT Gov enables agencies to more easily manage their own security, privacy, and compliance requirements,” OpenAI said.

The company believes the new offering will speed up authorization for OpenAI tools to be used to handle sensitive non-public data in government agencies, according to the post.

In his first full day in the White House, US President Donald Trump announced a major investment to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence led by Japanese giant SoftBank and OpenAI.

Trump said the venture, called Stargate, “will invest $500 billion, at least, in AI infrastructure in the United States.”

Op-Ed: The price of AI unrealism — $1 trillion disappears on US markets as China’s DeepSeek drops in


By Paul Wallis
January 28, 2025
DIGITAL JOURNAL 

Chinese firm DeepSeek's artificial intelligence chatbot has soared to the top of the Apple US App Store's download charts, stunning industry insiders and analysts with its ability to match its US competitors - Copyright AFP 

For all the hype, babble, and actual achievements, America’s new cash cow AI has just had a jolt of very expensive reality. Despite the Stargate Project, designed to maintain America’s edge in AI, China’s DeepSeek has just punctured the balloon.

Somehow, no doubt in a flurry of macho meetings for tiresome rodents, the idea of American exclusivity in AI was taken seriously. No form of tech is exclusive and never has been. Fire and the wheel are good examples.

There are hordes of AI businesses trying to create a space for themselves in this market. The highly publicized variety of AI is nothing like the whole story. The next generation of AI hardware is also up for grabs.

Then there’s theft. China is the bogeyman, but does anyone have the inbuilt level of extraordinary stupidity required to believe that nobody else is swiping AI tech?

Tech media has been saying for a long time that the hype has been out of control in the investment markets. Billions of dollars have found obliging rabbit holes in this techno-mythology.

DeepSeek also had the market perceptiveness to bring some credentials with it. DeepSeek is an actual open source AI. It’s also affordable and pretty cheap. Current gossip is that it’s better for technical tasks, while ChatGPT is more chatty… hard to avoid that analogy because it’s a better chatbot.

The markets, meanwhile, had a demure fit. Nvidia, long said to be due for a major correction, corrected itself and accounted for most of the $1 trillion downward move. Other tech stocks were also hit, and tech indices must be feeling pretty queasy, too.

This undignified stampede caused by the mere presence of a credible competitor has a much deadlier if almost too obvious message.

This is a true global market.

America is not the only player.

Big money wants returns.

Investments in AI must deliver hard dollar values.

Another good idea is not bleating about the cost of AI processes and doing something useful, like making them market-ready and cheaper.

One of the reasons for the instant and ongoing extreme skepticism in the tech sector is that this drivel been hyping the wrong things. The chat-related functions are all just large language models hooked up to old software ideas and chatbots. The market has been seeing what it wants to see, as usual.

You can write an essay based on a search, sure. So what? This is almost literally playing with alphabet blocks in kindergarten at a cost of billions of dollars.

The next generation of AI will make a big leap in capabilities. From what I’ve seen, AI analytics are generally pretty good. I have also caught a few indicators of bias. I’d have to see a lot more and cross-check to spend a cent on any of it, but OK-ish.

For example – AI peer review is an interesting option. How does an AI oversight another AI? Does that add a level of difficulty that an AI will respect? If you tell an AI its work will be checked, does it behave differently?

I mention this because the market doesn’t seem to know what constitutes good performance by AI. That’s the incredible weakness DeepSeek has just exposed.

You’re not buying an iPhone, an air fryer, or some showy peripheral.

You’re buying a lot of money’s worth of something, and you don’t know what? Fix that.

__________________________________________________
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.

DeepSeek’s ‘Sputnik moment’ exposes holes in US chip curbs


By AFP
January 29, 2025


DeepSeek has stunned investors and industry insiders with its new chatbot

 - Copyright AFP PETER CATTERALL

Oliver HOTHAM

US export controls on high-tech chips may have inadvertently fuelled the success of start-up DeepSeek’s AI chatbot, sparking fears in Washington there could be little it can do to stop China in the push for global dominance in AI.

The firm, based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, has stunned investors and industry insiders with its R1 programme, which can match its American competitors seemingly at a fraction of the cost.

That’s despite a strict US regime prohibiting Chinese firms from accessing the kinds of advanced chips needed to power the massive learning models used to develop AI.

DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng has admitted the “embargo on high-end chips” has proved a major hurdle in its work.

But while the curbs have long aimed to ensure US tech dominance, analysts suggest they may have spurred the firm to develop clever ways to overcome them.

The company has said it used the less-advanced H800 chips — permitted for export to China until late 2023 — to power its large learning model.

“The constraints on China’s access to chips forced the DeepSeek team to train more efficient models that could still be competitive without huge compute training costs,” George Washington University’s Jeffrey Ding told AFP.

The success of DeepSeek, he said, showed “US export controls are ineffective at preventing other countries from developing frontier models”.

“History tells us it is impossible to bottle up a general-purpose technology like artificial intelligence.”

DeepSeek is far from the first Chinese firm forced to innovate in this way: tech giant Huawei has roared back into profit in recent years after reorienting its business to address US sanctions.

But it is the first to spark such panic in Silicon Valley and Washington.

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen described it as a “Sputnik moment” — a reference to the Soviet satellite launch that exposed the yawning technology gap between the United States and its primary geopolitical adversary.

– Fraction of the cost –

For years many had assumed US supremacy in AI was a given, with the field dominated by big Silicon Valley names like OpenAI and Facebook-parent Meta.

While China has invested millions and vowed to be the world leader in AI technology by 2030, its offerings were hardly enough to raise hackles across the Pacific.

Tech giant Baidu’s attempt at matching ChatGPT, Ernie Bot, failed to impress on release — seemingly confirming views among many that Beijing’s stifling regulatory environment for big tech would prevent any real innovation.

That was combined with a tough regime, spearheaded by the administration of Joe Biden, aimed at limiting Chinese purchases of the high-tech chips needed to power AI large language models.

But DeepSeek has blown many of those ideas out of the water.

“It’s overturned the long-held assumptions that many had about the computation power, the data processing that’s required to innovate,” Samm Sacks, a Research Scholar in Law and Senior Fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, told AFP.

“And so the question is can we get cutting-edge AI at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the computation?”

While DeepSeek’s model emphasised cost-cutting and efficiency, American policy towards AI has long been based on assumptions about scale.

“Throw more and more computing power and performance at the problem to achieve better and better performance,” according to George Washington University’s Ding.

That’s the central idea behind President Donald Trump’s Stargate venture, a $500 billion initiative to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence led by Japanese giant SoftBank and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

But the success of DeepSeek’s R1 chatbot — which its developers claim was built for just $5.6 million — suggest innovation can come much cheaper.

Some urge caution, stressing the firm’s cost-saving measures might not be quite so innovative.

“DeepSeek V3’s training costs, while competitive, fall within historical efficiency trends,” Lennart Heim, an associate information scientist at the RAND Corporation, told AFP, referring to R1’s previous iteration.

“AI models have consistently become cheaper to train over time — this isn’t new,” he explained.

“We also don’t see the full cost picture of infrastructure, research, and development.”

– ‘Wake-up call’ –

Nevertheless, Trump has described DeepSeek as a “wake-up call” for Silicon Valley that they needed to be “laser-focused on competing to win”.

Former US Representative Mark Kennedy told AFP that DeepSeek’s success “does not undermine the effectiveness of export controls moving forward”.

Washington could choose to fire the next salvo by “expanding restrictions on AI chips” and increased oversight of precisely what technology Chinese firms can access, he added.

But it could also look to bolster its own industry, said Kennedy, who is now Director of the Wilson Center’s Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition.

“Given the limitations of purely defensive measures, it may also ramp up domestic AI investment, strengthen alliances, and refine policies to ensure it maintains leadership without unintentionally driving more nations toward China’s AI ecosystem,” he said.

Rebecca Arcesati, an analyst at Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), told AFP “the very real fear of falling behind China could now catalyse that push”.

Upstart DeepSeek faces heightened scrutiny as AI wows


By AFP
January 29, 2025


After surging ahead in the global AI race this week, DeepSeek faces an uncertain future in China, its home country - Copyright AFP Mladen ANTONOV

Peter CATTERALL

With around six million dollars and a stockpile of chips acquired before Washington banned their export to China, startup DeepSeek has produced what Chinese tech titans couldn’t — a world-class AI chatbot.

The success will come with heightened scrutiny, both from Western governments with long-held suspicions about Chinese technology but also from Beijing, whose stern regulatory crackdown on the sector, though eased in 2022, still has a chilling effect.

After surging ahead in the global artificial intelligence race this week, DeepSeek faces an uncertain future in its home country.

In 2020, Beijing unleashed a severe regulatory campaign against China’s sprawling tech sector, which officials feared was growing beyond its control.

The crackdown saw authorities intensify local compliance efforts and slap eye-watering fines on domestic champions including Alibaba and Tencent for alleged monopolistic behaviour.

Beijing finally relented after a dire sell-off of Chinese tech stocks in March 2022.

But the sector has yet to find its way back to the flourishing growth of its boom years.

And China’s leaders have since stressed their desire for the country to become a world AI leader, pumping huge sums into a fund set up last year to help firms develop advanced computer chips in response to US shipment curbs.

Meanwhile, tech giants — including TikTok parent company ByteDance and internet search and cloud computing giant Baidu — have raced to develop an AI chatbot on par with ChatGPT, released by US-based OpenAI in 2022.

– No subsidies –

But in the end, it was the low-key hedge fund project DeepSeek that accomplished the feat, outstripping domestic juggernauts and triggering a Wall Street rout that wiped over half a trillion dollars off of US chip titan Nvidia’s market capitalisation.

“It is interesting that this breakthrough was achieved not by government-backed research institutes and large (state-owned enterprises), but by a hedge fund with no government subsidies,” noted Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.

Beijing is unlikely to be discouraged, however, with Zhang adding that DeepSeek’s success “will likely motivate the government to further promote technological innovation by the private sector”.

The road ahead for DeepSeek will also feature major challenges overseas, with calls mounting for US authorities to act more urgently to prevent the flow of advanced chips to Chinese firms.

And with President Donald Trump vowing to impose blanket tariffs on China in coming weeks for its alleged role in the US fentanyl crisis as well as “unfair” trade practices, a relaxation of curbs on advanced chip exports appears unlikely.

Beijing’s policy is also increasingly driven by national security concerns — with President Xi Jinping remarking in a speech this week that the country had faced “complex and severe situations” throughout the past year.

Despite growing fears of an intensified trade war, DeepSeek surged to the top of Apple’s App Store download charts this week as curious consumers flocked to test it.

– TikTok fate? –

The firm’s growing user base overseas may lead to fresh challenges stemming from Western governments’ long-standing concerns about the Chinese government’s potential espionage via locally developed apps, as well as heavy state censorship of content deemed by Beijing to be undesirable.

Authorities in the country have in recent years rolled out new regulations for the burgeoning field of generative AI, ensuring that content it produces aligns with Beijing’s official narrative on sensitive issues such as the status of Taiwan or alleged human rights abuses.

In addition to screening out obscenity and encouragement of violence, Chinese chatbots are required to adhere to the government’s “core socialist values” — a decree regulators say is to promote “social stability”.

Another potential pitfall in DeepSeek’s quest to become the global go-to chatbot is how it handles the personal information of its users.

The potential ban of TikTok in the United States is fuelled in large part by concerns that user data stored on servers owned by a China-based company poses a major national security risk.

“DeepSeek’s cost efficiency is praiseworthy, but the privacy implications of its data collection would raise significant concerns,” said Saeed Rehman, senior lecturer in cybersecurity and networking at Flinders University.

“This situation may evoke similar concerns to those raised for TikTok, where data privacy and security have been hotly debated,” he said.

DeepSeek — whose founder Liang Wenfeng once said he became convinced as a student that AI would “change the world” — arrived on the world stage this week with a clamour.

How long it stays on top will depend on how it manages the litany of potential perils that lie in its path.

European watchdog takes aim at online gambling, gaming among youths


By AFP
January 28, 2025


Online gaming and gambling can lead to mental and physical health problems for children - Copyright AFP/File SAUL LOEB

Alexandria SAGE

Online gambling and gaming can cause depression and other mental health issues in young people, which the Council of Europe rights watchdog is trying to counter with a new project encouraging good policy and awareness raising.

The 46-member bloc, which launched its project at the start of a two-day conference in Rome on Tuesday, is seeking to help countries tackle the problem as online gambling and gaming grow in popularity among young people.

“It is only a minority (of adolescents) who experience addiction-like symptoms,” Orsolya Kiraly, a researcher at the Eotvos Lorand University’s Institute of Psychology in Budapest, told the conference.

“But in these cases these lead to severe negative consequences and functional impairment,” she said.

Excessive online gambling and gaming are particularly dangerous for children, whose brains and personalities are still developing, she said.

The dangers include mental and physical health problems ranging from family conflict and sleep disturbances to bad eating habits and poor physical hygiene, Kiraly said.

The Council of Europe’s Pompidou Group, which coordinates anti-drug and addiction policy and is in charge of the new project, said in a 2024 report that gambling and gaming products were deliberately crafted to make the activities “as immersive and addictive as possible”.

Detailed research on the topic is not yet widely available, but the World Health Organization has already identified disorders from online gambling and gaming as public health concerns.



– ‘Conflicts of interest’ –



Gambling disorders could affect 26.4 percent of adolescents who are gambling on online platforms, and 16.3 percent of those gambling using sports betting, Kiraly said, citing recent research.

More video games, meanwhile, are incorporating gambling-like features, including “loot boxes” — items that can be bought within video games that contain other unknown objects.

Boys are more affected, while girls are more at risk of addiction-like disorders from social media, Kiraly said.

“There is a great need for more research in this area,” she said.

“The industry has a lot of data but they don’t share it or they share it only with researchers who have conflicts of interest.”

The global gaming industry could exceed $300 billion in revenue by 2028, doubling since 2019, according to a 2024 report by the consulting group PwC.

Italy is one of the largest gambling markets in the world, with 148 billion euros ($125 billion) spent in 2023, up from 89 billion euros in 2012, said Elisa Benedetti from Italy’s National Research Council.



– Adults ‘desperate’ –



The Council of Europe hopes to help states to fix a problem that most of its members do not even have strategies for yet.

Experts said one of the issues was the contrasting ways in which people of different ages deal with the stigma and the difficulties.

Simona Pichini, director of the addiction centre at Italy’s National Health Institute (ISS), pointed out that the national Italian gambling hotline most often received calls from adults.

“When do they call? When they’re desperate, when they arrive with no money, no house, outside the family. They call at the end of the problem,” she said.

It was a marked contrast with young people.

“Not youngsters. They don’t perceive the problem,” she said.

'Everything I say leaks': Mark Zuckerberg loses control as Meta employees spill the beans

Matthew Chapman
January 30, 2025 

RAW STORY

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaking at the Mobile World Congress on March 02, 2015, Barcelona, Spain. (Shutterstock)

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to be losing control of the company behind the scenes, as leaked footage of a company meeting obtained by 404 Media appears to show him complaining — about leaks.

This comes as Zuckerberg has drawn heavy fire for his increasingly stark attempts to ingratiate himself to the Trump administration, from replacing Facebook's fact-checking system to arranging a $25 million settlement for a frivolous lawsuit Trump filed for Facebook suspending his accounts after the Jan. 6 attack — all of which appears calculated to get out from under years of antitrust investigation.

The meeting began with Zuckerberg explaining why he would not follow the company's usual practice of polling employees to decide what questions he would have to answer.

“I want to be able to be able to talk about stuff openly, but I am also trying to like, well, we’re trying to build stuff and create value in the world, not destroy value by talking about stuff that inevitably leaks,” said Zuckerberg. “There are a bunch of things that I think are value-destroying for me to talk about, so I’m not going to talk about those. But I think it’ll be good. You all can give us feedback later. Maybe it’s just the nature of running a company at scale, but it’s a little bit of a bummer.”

During the meeting, the report continued, Zuckerberg "repeated many things he has said publicly, such as the possibility of replacing software engineers with AI, the fact that he thinks open source AI will soon overtake closed-source AI, and the fact that he believes the company can now work more easily with the Trump administration that he has changed his platforms to align with."

Blurred posts, banned accounts: Abortion groups decry Meta ‘suppression’

By AFP
January 29, 2025


Abortion pills, sometimes procured over the internet, are a key means of accessing the procedure in the United States 

- Copyright AFP/File Olivier DOULIERY

Issam AHMED

Blurred posts, downranked searches and deleted accounts: Since President Donald Trump’s election, groups sharing information about abortion pills say they have faced a surge in online censorship—hindering their ability to reach women urgently seeking the procedure.

Reproductive rights organizations accuse Meta of leading the latest wave of digital suppression on Instagram and Facebook, drawing attention to CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s pledge to refocus on free speech.

Meta confirmed to AFP that groups including Aid Access, Women Help Women, and Plan C had experienced varying degrees of issues with their content.

“These groups encountered both correct enforcement and a variety of issues, including overenforcement and a technical bug,” a spokesperson said, citing prohibitions on the sale of drugs without proper certification as an example of legitimate enforcement.

“We’ve been quite clear in recent weeks that we want to allow more speech and reduce enforcement mistakes — and we’re committed to doing that.”

But the accounts were only restored after AFP and other news outlets initiated queries, with the organizations crediting media pressure for the change.

– Anti-abortion administration –

Zuckerberg’s recent overtures to Trump, whose inauguration he attended with other tech moguls, could point to alignment with the new anti-abortion administration, observers say.

In its first days, the Trump administration took down reproductiverights.gov and targeted abortion access at home and abroad, including by rescinding orders that protected access to abortion pills and women’s ability to travel to states where the procedure is not banned.

It also cut off funding to foreign groups providing such services.

“Meta has said that they’re trying to get back to the roots of free expression — but right now, it’s hard to tell who exactly is going to be able to exercise that right fully,” Jane Eklund, author of an Amnesty International report on abortion information censorship, told AFP.

“It really is a wait and see in how these tech bros are cozying up to the new administration and trying to gain favor with it — I am concerned about how this is going to play out.”

Aid Access was founded by Dutch physician Rebecca Gomperts to provide abortion pills over the internet, a key means of accessing the procedure in the United States, where abortion has been outlawed or restricted in nearly half of states since a landmark court ruling in 2022.

“It was in the beginning of January that we first noticed it,” the 59-year-old told AFP, referring to pages removed on Instagram and Facebook.

They were later restored, though some posts were still blurred. Gomperts, known for her “abortion boat” that anchored off coasts of countries banning the procedure, said she was no stranger to censorship having previously lost her personal Facebook account and access to Google ads.

Though Aid Access’s pages are now back, she remains concerned for the future. People “need to have the help they need, period,” she said.

– Perpetuates ‘stigma’ –

Another group, Women Help Women, only regained its account after AFP queried Meta.

“On December 26, Meta blocked our Instagram account, @womenhelporg, without warning, claiming it violated ‘community standards,'” Lucia Berro Pizzarossa of the group told AFP.

“This account had been reaching thousands with crucial, evidence-based information and messages aimed at reducing stigma around abortion.”

“Search engines have deprioritized our website, and shadow banning has invisibly suppressed our reach on social media, making it harder for individuals to find accurate and timely resources.”

Advocates worry that such measures perpetuate stigma, with abortion-seekers at times resorting to “algospeak” or coded expressions to circumvent automated moderation measures.

“People try to share information and they can’t, and then they tell us ‘we don’t know what we did wrong,'” said Martha Dimitratou, digital strategist for Plan C, a US group that provides information on self-managed, at-home abortion with pills.

Plan C lost access to its Meta advertising account in December, severely curbing how many people it could reach, Dimitratou said. That too was restored after AFP made inquiries.

Even with accounts now restored, Berro Pizzarossa of Women Help Women said there was no clear process for appeal if suppression happens again.

Meta agrees to pay Trump $25 mn to settle account ban lawsuit

By AFP
January 29, 2025

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed support for US President Donald Trump - Copyright AFP/File Drew ANGERER

Meta has agreed to pay President Donald Trump $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit he filed claiming he was wrongfully censored by Facebook and Instagram after the US Capitol riot, the company said Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the settlement of the suit brought against Meta and its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, in what was seen as a victory for Trump.

According to people familiar with the agreement, the Journal said, $22 million of the payment will go towards funding Trump’s future presidential library, with the remainder covering legal fees and payments to other plaintiffs in the case.

Meta in the settlement will not admit wrongdoing over the suspensions of Trump’s accounts.

A spokesperson for Meta confirmed the settlement to AFP.

Trump had widely criticized social media platforms for suspending his accounts after the January 6, 2021 insurrection by his supporters, and comments he made that were seen as praising people engaged in the violence.

But he has recently courted tech titans including Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk, both of whom attended Trump’s presidential inauguration last week in Washington.

Zuckerberg has expressed support for Trump, and he has tweaked Meta’s policies to lift restrictions on some content within the company’s apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp.

Meta would be “restoring free expression on our platforms,” Zuckerberg, who reportedly dined with Trump at his Florida estate in November, said this month in announcing a rollback of fact-checking operations.

The settlement is the latest bow by media corporations as they gird for a second Trump presidency.

In December, ABC News agreed to pay a $15 million settlement payment to resolve a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump stemming from on-air comments about him made by a top anchor.

Earlier Wednesday Meta reported its net income soared by 59 percent to $62.36 billion for the full year.

Influential podcasts fuel ‘harmful’ health misinformation


By AFP
January 29, 2025


Health misinformation on popular podcasts often goes unchecked. - Copyright AFP MANDEL NGAN
Anuj Chopra with Rachel Blundy in London

Unfounded cancer cures, dubious anti-vaccine narratives, and false claims that neurological disorders can be “reversed” through diets: influential American and European podcasters are peddling harmful health misinformation while largely escaping scrutiny, researchers say.

The problem will come under the spotlight this week as Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a vaccine skeptic with a longstanding reputation of promoting health misinformation, faces US Senate grilling over his nomination to be President Donald Trump’s health secretary.

Falsehoods on podcasts, which experts warn are fueling mistrust in conventional medicine, often go unchecked as fact-checkers must sift through hours of transcripts.

They can quickly be amplified when short clips extracted from podcasts ricochet across social media.

Earlier this month, actor and director Mel Gibson said on the Joe Rogan Experience — the number two podcast on Spotify in the United States — that some of his friends had overcome stage four cancer after taking the antiparasitic drugs ivermectin and fenbendazole.

The Canadian Cancer Society said those treatments were “not scientifically proven,” adding that such misinformation was “dangerous” as it gives false hope to people battling the disease.

The podcast garnered millions of views, while posts focused on Gibson’s claim spread across platforms such as Facebook, X, and Instagram, AFP’s fact-checkers reported.

– ‘Off the cuff’ –

With podcasts easy to launch, huge volumes of audio content are being produced.

“The nature of medium itself makes it challenging to detect misinformation and also makes it more likely that false claims will circulate,” Valerie Wirtschafter, a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, told AFP.

“Often these conversations are really off the cuff, which is part of their authentic appeal, longer than your average media clip, and more frequent — sometimes for hours, multiple times a day.”

A study she published in 2023 examined over 36,000 episodes produced by 79 prominent podcasters. It found that one out of every 20 episodes — and more than 70 percent of those podcasters — included at least one “unsubstantiated or false claim.”

And with the popularity of podcasts soaring around the world, the phenomenon is not limited to the United States.

In December, a BBC investigation found that prominent host Steven Bartlett was amplifying health misinformation on “Diary of a CEO,” his top-ranked podcast on Spotify.

Its analysis of 15 health-related episodes found that each contained an average of 14 “harmful health claims.”

Flight Studio, the podcast production company owned by Bartlett, told the broadcaster their guests were offered “freedom of expression” and were “thoroughly researched.”

– ‘Duty of care’ –

One London-based fitness coach, Richard Holley, told AFP he was drawn to a “Diary of a CEO” episode that featured a guest advocating for a keto diet to treat cancer.

Holley said he did not feel the need to “fact-check” the dubious claim, floated casually as a lifestyle recommendation rather than scientific fact, but added in hindsight that “one has to be cautious.”

Podcasts reaching millions of listeners are a lucrative business, with Bartlett telling UK media his show was expected to generate 20 million pounds ($25 million) last year, mainly from advertising.

Some leading podcasters regularly featuring guests accused of undermining evidence-based medicine — and failing to challenge them — have created financial incentives to amplify misinformation, experts say.

“Prominent podcasters have invested in wellness and health ventures at the same time as they have given airtime to health misinformation,” Cecile Simmons, a researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, told AFP.

Last year, a Rogan-backed health supplement company was hit with a lawsuit over false advertising about one of its products, which was regularly promoted on his podcast.

Researchers say the medium, which has also strongly influenced political discourse, has long been poorly regulated for accuracy.

In a rare action in 2023, YouTube removed a video of podcaster Jordan Peterson interviewing Kennedy for violating its policy prohibiting vaccine misinformation.

“Given podcasts’ reach and popularity, we need to think about how to ensure duty of care towards users, while preserving some of the creative freedoms that the medium allows,” said Simmons.

burs-ac/des/sms

PETTY POTUS

Pentagon strips Trump foe Milley of security detail


By AFP
January 29, 2025


The Pentagon says security protection will be scrapped for former general Mark Milley, who is pictured speaking during a Senate hearing in September 2021, when he was the top US military officer - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File POOL

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is removing the security detail for former top US military officer Mark Milley — a foe of President Donald Trump — and suspending his security clearance, the Pentagon said.

The retired general, who reportedly once labeled Trump a “fascist” to a journalist, is the latest official-turned-critic to see their security protection pulled since Trump began his second term last week.

Hegseth informed Milley “that he is revoking the authorization for his security detail and suspending his security clearance as well,” Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot said in a statement late Tuesday.

Milley was named by Trump during his first administration as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but their relationship deteriorated sharply.

Milley is believed to be under threat from Tehran for overseeing the 2020 US drone strike ordered by Trump that killed powerful Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

“The secretary may determine whether it is appropriate to reopen his military grade review determination,” Ullyot added.

Milley retired as a four-star general, but that process could see him demoted in retirement.

Trump has repeatedly promised “retribution” against his opponents and threatened some with criminal prosecution.

Trump was enraged after Milley told journalist Bob Woodward that the Republican was “fascist to the core” and a “dangerous person.”

Milley also revealed he had secretly called his Chinese counterpart after the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump’s supporters to reassure Beijing that the United States remained “stable” and had no intention to attack China.

Trump subsequently wrote on his Truth Social network that “in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” for Milley.



– Death threats –



The general stepped down as chairman in 2023 at a ceremony in which he took a final swipe at Trump.

“We don’t take an oath to a king, or queen, or a tyrant or a dictator,” Milley said of American troops. “And we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator.”

Milley’s portrait honoring his service as chairman of the Joint Chiefs was taken down at the Pentagon on the day that Trump was sworn in.

The removal of the painting came after former president Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Milley and other Trump opponents in one of his last acts in office.

Trump has also revoked security from former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and former national security advisor John Bolton, believed to be facing the same threat from Iran.

Bolton has become one of Trump’s most outspoken critics since leaving the White House, while Pompeo briefly considered a Republican run for president, reportedly annoying Trump.

The president has also removed security protection from Anthony Fauci, who led the country’s fight against Covid-19 starting in Trump’s first term, and has received death threats over his handling of the pandemic.

Senior Republican senators have urged him to reconsider.

But the White House remained defiant over the decision Wednesday, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoing comments from Trump that officials were not entitled to security protection and clearances for life.

“The individuals you’re mentioning are quite wealthy, I understand, so they can get their own private security if they wish,” she told reporters.