AI driving explosion of fake nudes, Bitcoin tops $100,000
Campaigners are warning the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create realistic but fake nude images of real women is becoming “normalised”. It’s also an increasing concern in schools. A recent survey by Internet Matters found 13% of teenagers have had an experience with nude deepfakes, while the NSPCC told Sky News “a new harm is developing”. Ofcom will later this month introduce codes of practice for internet companies to clamp down on the illegal distribution of fake nudes, but Sky News has met two victims of this relatively new trend, who say the law needs to go further. Sky News
The boss of Vodafone has insisted the telecom company’s merger with rival Three – which has finally been approved by the regulator – will not result in higher prices. The £16.5bn tie-up will create the UK’s biggest mobile network, with 27 million customers. It has been given the go-ahead conditional on the merged companies agreeing to invest billions in the country’s 5G network and to cap certain mobile tariffs for three years. Vodafone’s chief executive Margherita Della Valle told the Today programme, on BBC Radio Four, the deal would be “self-funded”, which meant “no extra costs from public funding and no extra cost for our customers”. BBC
Bitcoin has crossed $100,000 for the first time, scaling a fresh record high amid a euphoric rally sparked by Donald Trump’s election victory. The world’s largest and most valuable cryptocurrency – prone to volatile market surges and routs – has been lifted in recent weeks by hopes that the president-elect’s return to the White House will usher in a new era of lighter regulation and supportive policies. On Wednesday it hit an all-time high of $103,619. Since election day, it has rallied by about 45%. Other cryptocurrencies have enjoyed similar gains. Guardian
Elon Musk rejected reports he’s planning to give Brexiteer Nigel Farage’s party a cool £80 million. The Sunday Times set hares running over the weekend as it reported on fears among “leading businessmen and Conservative Party officials” that the X owner is preparing to hand the right-wing, populist Reform UK outfit up to $100 million — a potentially game-changing sum of money in British political terms. Politico
While Ikea’s smart lights – bulbs, fixtures, and lamps – are generally much less expensive than the likes of Philips Hue products, a new update sees the furniture giant taking a page out of the more expensive smart lighting brand’s book. Oh, and Apple’s, too. The Ikea Home Smart app for iOS has added the ability for dynamic adaptive lighting, which means the various connected lights can intelligently change brightness and color throughout the day. Ikea succinctly sums up the feature as “It’s great for mind, body and soul.” Tech Radar
Facebook could soon be powered by nuclear energy as its parent company seeks to build multiple power plants to supercharge its artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has called for bids to build up to 4 GW of nuclear power capacity, equivalent to four full-sized nuclear reactors, amid surging energy demands from the technology industry. The technology giant is also considering developing mini-nuclear reactors, known as small modular reactors (SMR), which can be placed near its data centres to provide clean power. Telegraph
