Amid controversies, Facebook trumpets massive new supercomputer

Facebook's parent company Meta announced on Monday it was launching one of the world's most powerful supercomputers to boost its capacity to process data, despite persistent disputes over privacy and disinformation.

The US tech giant said the array of machines could process images and video up to 20 times faster than their current systems.

The supercomputer, built from thousands of processors, will be used to "seamlessly analyze text, images, and video together; develop new augmented reality tools; and much more", the firm said in blog post written by two of its Artificial Intelligence (AI) researchers.

They envisage developing AI tools that will, among other things, allow people speaking in several different languages to understand each other in real-time.

Meta said the machine, known as AI Research SuperCluster (RSC), was already in the top five fastest supercomputers and would become the fastest AI machine in the world when fully built in the next few months.

Platforms such as Facebook and Google have long been criticized for the way they process and utilise the data they take from their users.

The two firms currently face legal cases across the European Union that allege data transfers from the bloc to the United States are illegal.

And the AI algorithms that funnel Facebook users towards appealing posts have been criticized for helping to fuel disinformation and hate speech.

- 'Metaverse' hopes -

Facebook has apologised repeatedly about the adverse effects of its algorithms and has long flagged its investment in content moderators and other measures to tackle problematic posts.

The blog on Monday stressed that weeding out harmful content was among the "critical use cases" for its AI development.

The researchers wrote that high-definition video was creating ever greater demand for processing power at the same time as the company was pushing for AI tools based on trillions of examples.

"We hope RSC will help us build entirely new AI systems that can, for example, power real-time voice translations to large groups of people, each speaking a different language, so they can seamlessly collaborate on a research project or play an AR game together," wrote the researchers.

"Ultimately, the work done with RSC will pave the way toward building technologies for the next major computing platform -- the metaverse, where AI-driven applications and products will play an important role."

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has been pushing harder than his big tech rivals to develop the idea of the metaverse, which envisages an immersive 3D internet enabled by virtual reality headsets and sensor equipment.

Facebook has not yet confirmed the location of its supercomputer, telling AFP the information was confidential.

Agence France-Presse

Dating apps face US inquiry over underage use, sex offenders

A House subcommittee is investigating popular dating services such as Tinder and Bumble for allegedly allowing minors and sex offenders to use their services.

Bumble, Grindr, The Meet Group and the Match Group, which owns such popular services as Tinder, Match.com and OkCupid, are the current targets of the investigation by the United States House Oversight and Reform subcommittee on economic and consumer policy.


In separate letters Thursday to the companies, the subcommittee is seeking information on users’ ages, procedures for verifying ages and any complaints about assaults, rape or the use of the services by minors. It is also asking for the services’ privacy policies and details on what users see when they review and agree to the policies. It also seeks information on what data is collected on people, including sexual orientation, drug use and political views.

Although the minimum age for using internet services is typically 13 in the U.S., dating services generally require users to be at least 18 because of concerns about sexual predators.

“Our concern about the underage use of dating apps is heightened by reports that many popular free dating apps permit registered sex offenders to use them, while the paid versions of these same apps screen out registered sex offenders,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the Illinois Democrat who heads the subcommittee, said in a statement. “Protection from sexual predators should not be a luxury confined to paying customers.”

Match Group said it uses “every tool possible” to keep minors and bad actors off its services and continues to invest in technology to keep users safe. In an emailed statement, the company said the problem was broader and requires other parties, including app stores that know who their users are, “to do their part as well.”

Match added that the national sex offender registry needs to be updated so that perpetrators’ digital footprints can be tracked and blocked by social media and dating services.

Grindr and The Meet Group did not respond to messages for comment on Thursday. Bumble had no immediate comment.

Besides safety issues, the investigation also seeks to address concerns about data the services request to make matches. Such information may include sexual orientation, gender identity, political views, and drug, alcohol and tobacco use.

The subcommittee cited a report by a Norwegian consumer group this month that found that dating apps including Grindr, OkCupid and Tinder leak personal information to advertising tech companies in possible violation of European data privacy laws. The Norwegian Consumer Council said it found “serious privacy infringements” in its analysis of how shadowy online ad companies track and profile smartphone users.

In response to that report, Match had said that it shares information with third parties only when it is “deemed necessary to operate its platform” with third-party apps. The company said it considers the practice in line with all European and U.S. regulations. CL/RGA

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Samsung Messages app randomly sends photos to phone contact list

Samsung Galaxy owners have complained about unauthorized texts and photos being sent out at random from their smartphones through Samsung’s Messages app.

Users’ complaints on the official Samsung forums and Reddit indicated that their Samsung devices including the more recent models Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S9 have been texting contacts at random without any notification. These text messages also included photos stored in their respective devices, reports Gizmodo.

Furthermore, the messages do not leave any trace that they were sent, leaving phone owners clueless on what just went out of their devices.

Users theorize the issue has something to do with the recent Rich Communication Services (RCS) update, which rolled out on American mobile carriers like T-Mobile. RCS was meant to update the old short messaging system (SMS) protocol with new features. These features include improved media sharing, read receipts and typing indicators. Unfortunately, these updates may have interacted badly with Samsung’s Messages app, according to the report.

Observations from some users showed the issue did not happen on other messaging apps.

Samsung acknowledged an inquiry from Gizmodo that it was aware of the bug and that it is currently working on a fix. T-Mobile, on the other hand, insisted it was not an issue from their end.

For now, Samsung smartphone users are advised to revoke storage access permission from Messages through the device’s app settings until the bug can be patched up.   Alfred Bayle /ra

source: technology.inquirer.net

Kate Winslet's husband wins UK photo court battle

 

LONDON - British actress Kate Winslet's husband won a court battle on Tuesday stopping The Sun newspaper printing photographs of him "semi-naked" at a private fancy dress party several years ago.

 

Lawyers for Ned RocknRoll, 34, who married the "Titanic" star last month, argued that there was no public interest in the Sun publishing the pictures, that it would be a breach of his privacy and it could lead to Winslet's children being bullied.

 

According to the Press Association, the judge at London's High Court ruled in favour of RocknRoll and ordered The Sun not to publish the pictures pending any trial, adding that he would give the reasons for his decision at a later date.

 

"We have stopped The Sun from publishing semi-naked photos of Ned taken by a friend at a private 21st birthday party a few years ago," the couple said in a statement.

 

"The photos are innocent but embarrassing and there is no reason to splash them across a newspaper," they added.

 

"We recognize that in the internet age privacy is harder and harder to maintain. But we will continue to do what we can, particularly to protect Kate's children from the results of media intrusion.

 

"We refuse to accept that her career means our family can't live a relatively normal life."

 

Winslet, nominated for six Academy Awards including the best actress honor she won for "The Reader", has a son and a daughter and has been married twice before.

 

She wed RocknRoll, who changed his name from Abel Smith, in New York in a small, private ceremony that took even family members by surprise.

 

RocknRoll is a nephew of airline tycoon Richard Branson and, the court heard, had been head of marketing at his space travel venture Virgin Galactic before he took up sheep farming.

 

His lawyer David Sherborne said RocknRoll was not a public figure and did no court public attention.

 

"It is simply because he is married to Miss Winslet," Sherborne told the High Court. "I am sure he would not mind if I described him as a relative nobody up until the point he married Miss Winslet." — Reuters

 

source: gmanetwork.com