Russia

Internet propagandists aligned with Russia have duped at least seven Western celebrities, including Elijah Wood and Priscilla Presley, into recording short videos to support its online information war against Ukraine, according to new security research by Microsoft.The celebrities look like they were asked to offer words of encouragement—apparently via the Cameo app—to someone named “Vladimir” who appears to be struggling with substance abuse, Microsoft said. Instead, these messages were edited, sometimes dressed up with…

After Palmer Luckey founded Anduril in 2017, he promised it would be a new kind of defense contractor, inspired by hacker ingenuity and Silicon Valley speed.The company’s latest product, a jet-powered, AI-controlled combat drone called Roadrunner, is inspired by the grim reality of modern conflict, especially in Ukraine, where large numbers of cheap, agile suicide drones have proven highly deadly over the past year.“The problem we saw emerging was this very low-cost, very high-quantity, increasingly sophisticated and…

It often takes actual physical courage to be different anywhere you grow up – but it takes superhuman courage to be different in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Queendom is a study of queer drag performance artist Gena Marvin (born Gennadiy Chebotarev), who challenges the machismo of the Putin regime, the attack on Ukraine and the Russian state’s homophobic attitudes in general by taking to the streets in Moscow, either as part of a demonstration or on her own, always in extravagant, surreal outfits and vertiginous heels, like a…

A spokesperson for US tech conglomerate Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has been added to Russia's wanted list, according to an online database maintained by the acountry's interior ministry, Voice of America has reported.The spokesperson, Andy Stone was reported on the list by Russian state agency Tass and independent news outlet Mediazona on Saturday. In October, Russian authorities classified Meta as a "terrorist and extremist" organization, opening the way for possible criminal proceedings against…

Russia on Sunday put Meta Platforms spokesperson Andy Stone on a wanted list on unspecified charges as the US social media giant -- which owns Facebook -- is classed as "extremist" by Moscow. Russia has hugely cracked down on media and social media freedom since launching its Ukraine offensive last year and banning criticism of it. Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill CoursesOffering CollegeCourseWebsiteIndian School of BusinessISB Digital TransformationVisitIIM KozhikodeIIMK Senior Management ProgrammeVisitIIM…

Russia has added the spokesman of US technology company Meta, which…

 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a plan to endorse a national strategy for the development of artificial intelligence, emphasizing that it's essential to prevent a Western monopoly.  Speaking at an AI conference in Moscow, Putin noted that “it's imperative to use Russian solutions in the field of creating reliable and transparent artificial intelligence systems that are also safe for humans.” “Monopolistic dominance of such foreign technology in Russia is unacceptable, dangerous and inadmissible,” Putin said.…

 Artificial intelligence employed by the U.S. military has piloted pint-sized surveillance drones in special operations forces' missions and helped Ukraine in its war against Russia. It tracks soldiers' fitness, predicts when Air Force planes need maintenance, and helps keep tabs on rivals in space.Now, the Pentagon is intent on fielding multiple thousands of relatively inexpensive, expendable AI-enabled autonomous vehicles by 2026 to keep pace with China. The ambitious initiative — dubbed Replicator — seeks to…

Today, November 24, governments took center stage in making major artificial intelligence-related announcements. IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the government of India has launched a crackdown on deepfakes, particularly their usage in videos. In other news, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the West should not be allowed to develop a monopoly in the sphere of AI at an AI conference in Moscow. This and more in today's AI roundup. Let us take a closer look.Govt to crackdown on deepfakesIT minister…

US prosecutors claim Binance processed around $275 million in both deposits and withdrawals to BestMixer, a cryptocurrency “mixing” service designed to make cryptocurrency transactions harder to trace before Dutch law enforcement shut down that service in May of 2019 as part of a money laundering investigation. The charging document goes on to allege that Binance users included ransomware gangs, hackers who had plundered crypto from other exchanges, and scammers.For years after its founding in 2017, the prosecutors say,…