Instagram adds features to help stop sextortion, Richard Branson back to balloon roots
Instagram will stop people from being able to screenshot or screen-record images and videos intended to be viewed once, as part of “ongoing efforts” to prevent sextortion on the platform. Its parent company Meta announced features on Thursday aimed at protecting teens from being tricked into sending intimate images to scammers and blackmailed over them. Previously tested tools that blur nude images in messages, and hiding the follower and following lists of users from potential sextortion accounts, will also be made permanent. BBC
Child sexual abuse imagery generated by artificial intelligence tools is becoming more prevalent on the open web and reaching a “tipping point”, according to a safety watchdog. The Internet Watch Foundation said the amount of AI-made illegal content it had seen online over the past six months had already exceeded the total for the previous year. The organisation, which runs a UK hotline but also has a global remit, said almost all the content was found on publicly available areas of the internet and not on the dark web, which must be accessed by specialised browsers. The Guardian
Richard Branson is going back to his balloon roots. The Virgin Galactic founder made record-breaking hot-air balloon flights across the Atlantic and the Pacific in 1987 and 1991, respectively — and he’ll soon take to the winds again, serving as co-pilot on the first crewed flight by Space Perspective, a Florida-based stratospheric ballooning company. That landmark mission is expected sometime in 2025. “Some of the most magnificent experiences of my life have happened on ballooning expeditions, and I’m excited to support Space Perspective in its journey,” Branson said. Space
One of the emerging features of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that is perhaps something of a surprise to non-specialists is quite how much energy it is going to involve. Google recently announced that it is buying six or seven small nuclear reactors from Kairos Power (a California-based engineering company) to power the data centres that future AI will require. A day later, Amazon announced a similar scheme, investing $500 million in small modular reactor (SMR) technology firm X-energy (based in Maryland), to provide energy not only for its data centres but also its electric delivery vehicles. Telegraph
Dealers are offering discounts of more than 50% on ex-demonstrator electric cars as they battle slowing demand. The incentives mean that low-mileage examples of EVs such as the Nissan Leaf and Vauxhall Mokka Electric can be bought for less than their nearest petrol-powered equivalents with similar mileage. They are being offered in part to ensure the ex-demo EVs undercut new models, which are also being offered with sharp discounts to boost sales as manufacturers try to hit their zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate targets. Autocar
Amazon’s Fire TV products offer affordable price tags and access to plenty of streaming content, making it a great way to turn your dumb TV into a smart one. We haven’t seen a new entry-level Fire TV Stick in a few years, but Amazon has finally launched an upgraded model. The new Fire TV Stick HD starts at just $34.99 and the most notable addition is a remote that lets you also control your TV, receiver, and soundbar. By contrast, the remote included with previous HD models didn’t include controls for your TV and other peripherals. Android Authority
