NCSC warns of deepfake threat to general election, AI to take iOS18 to ‘new level’
Advances in artificial intelligence pose a growing threat to the integrity of the next general election in the UK, Britain’s cyber security agency has warned. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said countries such as Russia would likely seek to meddle with the outcome of the poll – which must take place by January 2025 – as well as other major elections in western democracies in the coming year, including in the United States. In an annual review of a broad range of cyber security issues, the agency, which is part of GCHQ, warned about the prospect of increasingly realistic, deepfake videos and other forms of disinformation designed to influence voter preferences. Sky News
Google gives Apple a 36pc cut of advertising revenue from its searches made in its Safari browser, a court has heard. The previously unknown figure was supposed to remain confidential but was revealed on Monday during the antitrust trial against Google, where it stands accused of illegally maintaining its monopoly. The US Department of Justice has accused Google of abusing its dominant position by paying billions to ensure that its search engine remains the default on smartphones and browsers. Telegraph
It sounds like a scenario straight out of a Ridley Scott film: technology that not only sounds more “real” than actual humans, but looks more convincing, too. Yet it seems that moment has already arrived. A new study has found people are more likely to think pictures of white faces generated by AI are human than photographs of real individuals….However, the team said the results did not hold for images of people of colour, possibly because the algorithm used to generate AI faces was largely trained on images of white people. The Guardian
Apple internally believes its iOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11, and tvOS 18 updates next year will be “ambitious and compelling,” thanks to major new software features and designs in the works for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Mac. That’s according to the latest information relayed by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman.
While little is known about the specifics, many of the changes are believed to involve generative AI, including a smarter version of Siri that takes the virtual assistant’s integration with the operating systems to a new level. MacRumors
Renault’s new EV arm, Ampere, is set to announce the launch of an affordable electric city car this week, according to news agency Reuters. Ampere will be holding its capital markets day on Wednesday when the announcement is expected. Renault set up Ampere as a separate division to focus on electric vehicles, although it will be making Renault-branded vehicles like the new, all-electric Renault 5, due to go on sale late next year. By focusing on EVs only, Ampere hopes to be able to reduce costs in the development and production of EVs. AutoExpress
A YouTuber who left his council job to play the hit computer game Football Manager full time says he has doubled his salary since ditching his post. Tom Kelsey, 26, from Lincoln, started a YouTube channel dedicated to the popular game while he was a student at Nottingham Trent University. He now posts about three videos a week on average and runs his channel from his bedroom at his parents’ house. “It’s the freedom that I get from it, that’s what I love,” he said. BBC
